1972 starcraft

I have a 1972 starcraft 15' runabout and motor is shot. I can pick up a tiller motor from a friend cheap but my boat is set up for a remote motor only problem is a metal piece that goes from the transom towards the front of the boat at an angle upwards that would not leave much room for a tiller handl. would the tiller handle work if it were held at an angle? not straight up but an upward angle. could I remove/modify the metal piece? THis metal piece does 2 things it forms a cubbie space at the back of the boat and keeps a big wave that went over the transom from splashing into the boat.
the metal piece is in front of the motor in pic

Re: 1972 starcraft

That piece is called a splashwell. I found on my 7.5 tiller that it would not work if the handle was up much but perhaps other engines would be different. I would highly suspect though that with a tiller it would be impossible to see where you are going!

Re: 1972 starcraft

Salvage, fabricate or buy an adapter that attaches to your steering. I agree w/ Chief, tiller operating that boat is not a great idea.

Re: 1972 starcraft

Yea I have a tiller back up attached next to my main outboard... I've had to use it once and hope I never do again. I have a 15' aluminum texas maid. I could'nt see a thing. Its risky

Re: 1972 starcraft

Yah, you could reduce the size of that splashwell if you wanted to. I went into detail on how to do this on my Jet Star thread in my signature.

Though, I still wouldn't want a tiller with even a medium size splashwell.

If you are bent on having a tiller you'll want a mini splashwell (like a lot of the newer boats have). And, you'll want to convert that closed bow to an open bow so you can see. (LOTTA WORK)

Or, remove it all together. BUT! You'll want to build in structure as the splashwell provides a bunch. I know how I'd do it but I just don't think it's worth the effort unless you are teamster. Er, I mean, a die hard tiller guy (sorry, I slipped there).

Yah, I'd be looking for a new (used) remote ob.

Cheers!