New Project, First "adventure" into boating

So my cousin started restoring this, and then left it neglected. He had no intention of returning to it, so he handed it over to me to finish. I am a pretty handy guy, but I have never done work on a boat like this, so I am sure I am in for one hell of an adventure.

Problem is, I don't know for sure exactly what this boat is. My cousin seemed to think it was a 1969 Starcraft Imperial, and I have measured it to just over 20' from transom to bow.

Anyone have a positive ID on this thing?

He said he has an 85hp Mercury outboard for it, though it will need a new lower unit.

Once we figure out what this thing is, does anyone have any good pointers about this specific boat?

Thank you for all the future help.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Welcome to the Dry Dock zryder!

That's a very cool hull....Can you find a HIN # on the transom? Any CG tags in the boat for max HP and load?

Get a bunch of pics up so we can check out what your working with.

Lots of good people here with vast knowledge on bringing it back to life

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Welcome to iboats!

Is that tin(aluminium) or fiberglass? Tin - I believe it's a Cheiftain, but I'm not near as educated as the rest of the starmada so maybe they'll stop in and tell us what it is.

Check out the brochures thread there's not one for 69 but the one in 70 looks close to yours.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

TruckDrivingFool said:

Welcome to iboats!

Is that tin(aluminium) or fiberglass? Tin - I believe it's a Cheiftain, but I'm not near as educated as the rest of the starmada so maybe they'll stop in and tell us what it is.

Check out the brochures thread there's not one for 69 but the one in 70 looks close to yours.

Click to expand...

It is fiberglass. Also not shown is an angled windshield that goes on the top most "roof" of the cuddy.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Then its not a Chieftain, this might be the best advise to get started.

rickryder said:

Can you find a HIN # on the transom? Any CG tags in the boat for max HP and load?

Get a bunch of pics........

Click to expand...

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

There are no markings anywhere on the outside of the hull that I can see. I am going to start cleaning out the leaves and junk that has piled inside of it, and take a better assessment in a little bit. In the mean time, I snapped a few crappy photo's last night, that I thought might aid in the identification just a little bit.

Thanks for all your help guys.

This is the back Transom area, with what I think are seats on either side of the motor area.



And this is the pilots station. As far as I know, in front of this goes a wall, where the door opens to allow passage to the cuddy.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Here are some more photo's.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Apparently there is an image limit. Here is 2 more.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Looks like the first thing to do is take the pressure washer to it! BTW watch your head on that drywall soffit!
Kinda cool looking boat ! Got your work cut out for ya on this one but the guys here will steer you in the right direction !
Good luck! S.P.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

That was my old boat. It is a 1969 Sportcraft Imperial 20' cuddy cabin. It has a 85 hp Johnson with electric shift but the lower unit was seized up. I purchased it back in 03 with my ex wife out in NY. I popped the question on that trip. I worked on it for about a year. I removed the top and replaced all the wood in the boat. The floor, the transom, and the stringers. I had just gotten to polishing the rub rail to reinstall it when I had to quit working on it. I got deployed to Iraq. To make a long story short, my marriage did not survive my deployment. When I got back, I had no ambition to work on it. I pulled it into the trees, tarped it over and left it. Over the years the tarp wore out and it filled with leaves. I was getting ready to haul it to the dump when my cousin said he wanted it. I wish him the best. I'll try to post some pictures of what it looked like I got it.

JR

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Here is how I got it

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Well, now that I got a little more info, I am trying to come up with a plan of action for restoring her.

for the moment I am going to assume the transom needs to be repaired, but the flooring and stringers are good (my cousin replaced these with treated and fiberglassed lumber).

So, that being said, I thought the first step, after cleaning it out as best as I can would be to make a caddy for the boat to sit in, then take the boat off the trailer by jacking the weight off the back from the corners, then slowly pulling the trailer out, resting it on some more jacks under the keel.

Once it is sitting on jacks, I would position the caddy, and lower it down onto that, so that I could move it around the garage easier, and give myself more height to work with. Removing the trailer also allows me to have the boat on one half of the garage, as opposed to taking up both stalls now.

once she is sitting on the caddy, I thought I would remove the rub rail, and seperate the top half, hoisting it up to give clearance, and giving me access to the transom.

Once I can see the transom, and am able to repair, I had thought I would put the 2 halves together and go paint it.

However, this is my first rodeo, so I am looking for advice on things to do first, things to do at the end, and then figure out the best order to tackle this project.

Thanks for your help everyone.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Very nice hull,Ill be watching this one!
Regards I mike

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Your'e a brave man, my first one was a 16 foot Smokercraft, trasom and floors, paint and sell. Then I jumped to the 17 foot Lone Star which is a glass boat, it too needed transom, floor, interior and both outboards gone through, then some body work and paint. I should be done with this one in 2-3 years LOL
Jumping right into the one you have will be fun, and lots of work, but you sound like you are prepared and ready. That's a good looking project boat, keep sending us pictures.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Get her resting in the cradle... if you can take any measurements gunnel to gunnel and record them....take a lot
Then you can pull the cap and check if the hull flexed outward.... You can now make adjustments to get the hull back to the original measurements and the cap will fit back on....

Once you have the access to the transom you can get the angle grinder and slice around the edges of the glass covering the transom wood core......get all the rotten wood out and grind the glass outer skin remove stuck on wood to good clean glass...36 grit pads with a rubber backer on the angle grinder makes quick work of it... Be carfull when cutting things out....take your time...you don't want to cut thru the hull or outer skin....it can be fixed....many of us have done it :facepalm:

That should get ya started

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

^^^YES to that. I'd build that support low, mine is too high and climbing in and out 100 times a day gets old. Good luck on the rebuild! That'll be a sweet boat when it's done.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Looks like a fun job. I too am starting a first time boat restoration. Kenner KenCraft SkiBarge 19ft 1969. I will be posting a thread on it as soon as I find the thread starter. I am fairly new to this site. Been surfing it about a month, but just became a member.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

Thanks for the advice guys. I plan to build the cradle as low as reasonable to make it easier to get in and out, and to give me the most "clearance" between the cap and hull when I hoist the cap to the ceiling.

I am in the process of cleaning out the boat, and the years of leaves and dirt that have accumulated in it. Once I get a bit of the solids out, I intend to hose down the whole thing to rinse out as much dirt as I can, then pressure wash the whole thing.

Once I get things cleaned out, I will need to determine if the floor is good.

My cousin replaced the stringers with treated lumber, and glassed them in. He then put the floor on, and glassed over that as well.

However, years of leaves have composted to dirt, and it has been setting on the fiberglass over the floor the whole time. How do I determine if the floor is still good?

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

zryder94 said:

Thanks for the advice guys. I plan to build the cradle as low as reasonable to make it easier to get in and out, and to give me the most "clearance" between the cap and hull when I hoist the cap to the ceiling.

I am in the process of cleaning out the boat, and the years of leaves and dirt that have accumulated in it. Once I get a bit of the solids out, I intend to hose down the whole thing to rinse out as much dirt as I can, then pressure wash the whole thing.

Once I get things cleaned out, I will need to determine if the floor is good.

My cousin replaced the stringers with treated lumber, and glassed them in. He then put the floor on, and glassed over that as well.

However, years of leaves have composted to dirt, and it has been setting on the fiberglass over the floor the whole time. How do I determine if the floor is still good?

Click to expand...

Stamp around the floor,You will hear if its rot,You can try a hammer,Or try prying around with a screwdriver once you suspect rot.In my humble opinion,If the deck is properly glassed,both sides(?) as you stated I think you might be alright.What I find weird is that the transom was never replaced,Most of the time if the stringers are gone,And the deck,The transom is almost always rotten too.You might want to check that.

Re: New Project, First "adventure" into boating

I'm not a real big fan of pressure treated wood in a boat.... unless it was left to dry out a few months before glassing over it....What kind of resin was used to do the stringers and new deck??? Poly or epoxy ?

Stomping aroud the deck won't tell ya much....If you want to know if there is rot you need to do core samples....

Tri-Sodium Phosphate is excellent to scrub it down with. You can get it at Lowe's and follow the directions on the box. Look around after you have it power washed out and post up pics of any areas you think have a problem