New to Starcraft...

knehdn

knehdn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
133
Just picked up a Starcraft, model 16SSCT, s/n STR11931M74J. Just an open 3 seater with a '61 Johnson 40 on it. Though I've been told the SS stands for SuperSport, I've no idea what the CT stands for, and I'm guessing by the serial number that it's a '74. I may have paid a little too much, especially without a trailer, but I wanted one, and it was the only one I've seen around in a 16 footer for quite a while.

Anyway... being my first aluminum boat, I do have a few questions.
Are there any fasteners I should not use?
I guess marine plywood should be used to replace the floors and seats, but at a quoted price of over $80 for a 4'x8'x1/2" sheet, I don't think so. Maybe a G1S exterior plywood will suffice...it's only $30 a sheet.
The floor cross braces? ... ash? cedar?, what's been the concensus?
The steering is mess of clothesline wire and pulleys and springs... does one upgrade to something better? Or is the upgrade too expensive and maybe I should just replace the wiring and such?
Re: cleaning the hull... I tried my powerwasher with that spinning head. It'll drill a hole in cement, but it didn't remove much, if anything at all from what's below the waterline. Would be OK to use a wire brush on my electric side grinder?
I've read about the cleaning/pre-paint methods, but that won't happen for a while...(I have a helluva honey-do list).
Once I rewire and fiddle with the motor and know that it works, I'll remove it and flip the hull. Can't weigh that much. But again, that may not happen till the fall.

So that's what I have, and that's what I plan on doing, or thinking of doing at this time. But I do nickel and dime it here and there.
While I'm at it, what would be the best way to mount a transducer at the stern? On a small block of wood, screwed to the hull from inside with copious amounts of polysulfide between the wood and the aluminum and then screw the transducer to the wood?
As I mentioned, this is my first 'tin can', and I would like to do things in an apppropriate manner, again, as time permits.
All and any advise, precautionary tips, etc. will be more than greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
 

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B

BigB9000

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Dec 5, 2007
Messages
1,154
Re: New to Starcraft...

Thats what the SS on my Chevy means!
 
Bob_VT

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
Staff member
Joined
May 19, 2001
Messages
26,022
Re: New to Starcraft...

knehdn said:
Anyway... being my first aluminum boat, I do have a few questions.

Are there any fasteners I should not use? Use aluminum or stainless steel only

I guess marine plywood should be used to replace the floors and seats, but at a quoted price of over $80 for a 4'x8'x1/2" sheet, I don't think so. Maybe a G1S exterior plywood will suffice...it's only $30 a sheet. Exterior plywood sealed properly will do the chore just fine ;)

The floor cross braces? ... ash? cedar?, what's been the concensus? Plywood attached to the existing aluminum or make braces from scrap aluminum or aluminum angle.

The steering is mess of clothesline wire and pulleys and springs... does one upgrade to something better? Or is the upgrade too expensive and maybe I should just replace the wiring and such? Upgrade to a single cable system for about $120 (US) and get rid of that ancient technology rat's nest!!


Re: cleaning the hull... I tried my powerwasher with that spinning head. It'll drill a hole in cement, but it didn't remove much, if anything at all from what's below the waterline. Would be OK to use a wire brush on my electric side grinder? Are you going to paint the hull? Be careful with a wire brush since it will eat through the aluminum fast!!

I've read about the cleaning/pre-paint methods, but that won't happen for a while...(I have a helluva honey-do list).
Once I rewire and fiddle with the motor and know that it works, I'll remove it and flip the hull. Can't weigh that much. But again, that may not happen till the fall. Easy to flip two people can do it safely

So that's what I have, and that's what I plan on doing, or thinking of doing at this time. But I do nickel and dime it here and there.
While I'm at it, what would be the best way to mount a transducer at the stern? On a small block of wood, screwed to the hull from inside with copious amounts of polysulfide between the wood and the aluminum and then screw the transducer to the wood? Worry about that LAST ;)

As I mentioned, this is my first 'tin can', and I would like to do things in an apppropriate manner, again, as time permits.
All and any advise, precautionary tips, etc. will be more than greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

Congrats on the Starcraft. Here is an interesting link you should look at ;) http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=385090
 
brobrad

brobrad

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
246
Re: New to Starcraft...

knehdn said:
Just picked up a Starcraft, model 16SSCT, s/n STR11931M74J. Just an open 3 seater with a '61 Johnson 40 on it. Though I've been told the SS stands for SuperSport, I've no idea what the CT stands for, and I'm guessing by the serial number that it's a '74. I may have paid a little too much, especially without a trailer, but I wanted one, and it was the only one I've seen around in a 16 footer for quite a while.

Anyway... being my first aluminum boat, I do have a few questions.
Are there any fasteners I should not use?
I guess marine plywood should be used to replace the floors and seats, but at a quoted price of over $80 for a 4'x8'x1/2" sheet, I don't think so. Maybe a G1S exterior plywood will suffice...it's only $30 a sheet.
The floor cross braces? ... ash? cedar?, what's been the concensus?
The steering is mess of clothesline wire and pulleys and springs... does one upgrade to something better? Or is the upgrade too expensive and maybe I should just replace the wiring and such?


Re: cleaning the hull... I tried my powerwasher with that spinning ead. It'll drill a hole in cement, but it didn't remove much, if anything at all from what's below the waterline. Would be OK to use a wire brush on my electric side grinder?
I've read about the cleaning/pre-paint methods, but that won't happen for a while...(I have a helluva honey-do list).
Once I rewire and fiddle with the motor and know that it works, I'll remove it and flip the hull. Can't weigh that much. But again, that may not happen till the fall.

So that's what I have, and that's what I plan on doing, or thinking of doing at this time. But I do nickel and dime it here and there.
While I'm at it, what would be the best way to mount a transducer at the stern? On a small block of wood, screwed to the hull from inside with copious amounts of polysulfide between the wood and the aluminum and then screw the transducer to the wood?
As I mentioned, this is my first 'tin can', and I would like to do things in an apppropriate manner, again, as time permits.
All and any advise, precautionary tips, etc. will be more than greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the starcraft madness. Above you were given a link that will list many starcraft resto threads. These guys so their homework and are a lot of help. I did not make the list, but i have two threads on the starcrafts myself. I haven't linked it all together as they have, but you can find my threads.

One thing i would caution you to check befor you do very much is the floor of the boat. Ionization (i believe that's what you call it) can ruin a boat from the inside out. THis happens from softer metals migrating to harder metals in water as it is polarized. My first one was discovered to be "no-good" as the bottom was deeply pitted from the use of pressure treated wood (contains copper) that attached the bottom of my boat.

THese threads will lead you through using exterior plywood for your floor that has been epoxied. I am doing that in my 18'SS right now.

It is definately not a cheap thing to do, but it is fun along the way. Another consideration is the floatation. (all in the threads) You'll need some floatation beneath the floor to help if you are swamped for some reason.

Steering- definately get rid of the cable steering. You can search the forums on what to get, but teleflex has it all.

Cleaing the floor of the boat- i would not use the brush on an angle grinder. It will eat right through the boat very quickly. I used some degreaser and a lot of elbow grease with a heavy bristled brush to finally get mine clean. My floor was open so it was a bit easier.

Read lots of threads before you can begin. The pics are great on many threads, but be sure to read the details in between. It is really helpful. Hang in there and work at it hard. Its worth the time.
 
Huron Angler

Huron Angler

Admiral
Joined
Apr 7, 2009
Messages
6,025
Re: New to Starcraft...

Welcome to the Starcraft armada knehdn, glad to see you got yourself a restoration thread started.:)

I agree with what Bob said, all of it;)

One thing to add is that make sure you seal any wood with epoxy resin if you want it to last 10+ years. We like working on boats, but not the same one over and over again.

That 40hp should be a good fit for the rig, hopefully it will be a good runner for you.

For the transducer you can use a small piece of cutting board that won't rot between the hull and the bracket. Also use 3M 5200 to seal the threads/holes since they will be under the waterline.

I like the open bench style boats, great for fishing. I've got a 12' AeroCraft myself. There is a link to my resto on that rig in my signature. It's similar to yours only 4ft shorter(and it's not a Starcraft).

One final note...that is not a SuperSport. There are some brochures(also linked in my sig) that you can check out to find out more about your hull.

Good luck with the project!
 
knehdn

knehdn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
133
Re: New to Starcraft...

Thank you both. It's not a supersport? Hmm, wonder what the SS and CT stand for then? I've been looking at dozens of threads, and yet to find a photo which resembles my boat. I'll go and have a look thru all the brochures to see I can come up with a match. As to floatation... all three benches are filled with foam their entire width and depth and length. There's also a large foam v-shaped block under the deck very near the bow. I figure that's just over 10 or 11 cu.ft. of floatation. Seeing that it's all original, it should suffice if need be... I hope.
Thanks again, and will keep you informed with all and any progress.
 
knehdn

knehdn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
133
Re: New to Starcraft - upon further inspection...

Re: New to Starcraft - upon further inspection...

No wonder I couldn't find another Starcraft that resembles mine. The fore deck was an afterthought. Like 'let's do something this weekend'. Some 1x4 pine, ordinary nails, a sheet plus some pieces of aluminum, and lot of standard rusting screws. The helm was a sloppy setup, there were fairleads on the bow plate, and extra bumper hooks, again with ordinary screws.
Like the title reads 'New to Starcraft', I didn't know better and I figured it was all original with some minor homemade repairs along the way. Now that I've looked around and read thru lots of posts, I'm a bit more knowledgeable... I hope. I guess a dead giveaway was the open style rivets securing the forward steering cable pulleys thru the hull. So with the deck removed, it takes on a whole new appearance. I think I'll need to come up with some sort of centred/offset console for the helm. With that said, I would greatly appreciate some advise on the best way to build such a helm.
Thank you.
(more photos in next post)
 

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knehdn

knehdn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
133
Re: New to Starcraft... more photos without deck

Re: New to Starcraft... more photos without deck

The deck was even screwed thru the hull using ordinary screws, which of course, were rusted to all hell. So I need to rethink this whole restoration. Do I replace the deck? Build a console as mentioned in the previous post? Build a fishing platform? Not sure which direction to take. Suggestions appreciated. Thank you.
 

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Bob_VT

Bob_VT

Moderator & Unofficial iBoats Historian
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26,022
Re: New to Starcraft... more photos without deck

Re: New to Starcraft... more photos without deck

If it was mine..... I would sit on the middle aluminum seat and build a single steering console on the right side. ........ you could even design it as a center console.

I would run the single steering cable and the controls down the right side...... and maybe mount a swivel bucket on top of the seat.

Depending on the type of activities fishing or play.....would determine what seat goes up front...... you might even consider floating it and standing up front to plan a casting deck at current seat height...... bring a piece of plywood, a friend and a sense of humor. You might fall overboard doing it!!
 
S

shikard

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
May 28, 2010
Messages
39
Re: New to Starcraft...

I agree with Bob...I just helped my buddy redo his 16' starcraft that looks a lot like yours. I rebuilt his right side steering counsel for him using aluminum. His controls were ran along the right side. His boat really fishes nicely for a smaller boat. It quite often is seen carring 3 adults perch fishing on Lake Michigan with no problems.
 
knehdn

knehdn

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
May 7, 2008
Messages
133
Re: New to Starcraft...

Well, I bought the boat for me for fishing. It's hardly my wife's idea of boating. Hell, her idea of roughing-it is when room service stops at 10. Anyway... I'll look into building a helm on the right as suggested. I'll see if I can build one out of fibreglass. But first I'll look around at the different steering applications available and their costs. I'm not sure how much of a console I'll need for those new steering packages. I don't think I'll be able to pull off the cable/pulley system I just removed. But I'll look into it.
Right now I'm just waiting for a few small parts for the motor to get it going, then see how well my 'honey-do' list dwindles to allow some time for more of 'my-do' list.
Thanks again guys. Will keep you posted.
 
brobrad

brobrad

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 19, 2009
Messages
246
Re: New to Starcraft...

knehdn said:
Well, I bought the boat for me for fishing. It's hardly my wife's idea of boating. Hell, her idea of roughing-it is when room service stops at 10. Anyway... I'll look into building a helm on the right as suggested. I'll see if I can build one out of fibreglass. But first I'll look around at the different steering applications available and their costs. I'm not sure how much of a console I'll need for those new steering packages. I don't think I'll be able to pull off the cable/pulley system I just removed. But I'll look into it.
Right now I'm just waiting for a few small parts for the motor to get it going, then see how well my 'honey-do' list dwindles to allow some time for more of 'my-do' list.
Thanks again guys. Will keep you posted.
Click to expand...

Hey, Hang in there. I don't think that the "goof-ups" are enough to trash the boat. If i were doing it, i think i would go with the aluminum if i could make it look nice. Definately use a new steering set up. Teleflex has many different setups on the new steering.

Yeah, some time other issues of priority stand in the way:)
 
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