1979 Starcraft Holiday

I have read a lot of posts which has helped a lot. I bought this project last week and after 4 days in a heated garage I was able to start working on it. Everything seems to be moving along fine but I have a concern with the keel strip. Looks like someone hit a rock and put a nice dent and looks to me like there is a small crack in the aluminum. Not sure how to approach this, do I pound it out with a hammer and have it welded with 5356 welding wire after any help would be great.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Is that some kind of goo/sealant on each side of the keel and on the dent?... don't know how that stuff will react when the keel strip starts heating up from being welded , if that's what that stuff is. A marine epoxy may be a suitable fix for that dent with the right prep.

On another note, the inside of that transom skin is looking pretty gnarly. You may want to hit that thing with a wire cup brush in a grinder and then skim it with marine epoxy or JB weld.

That should be a real nice tinny when you get her all fixed up.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

I think that the PO put some reson or epxy on the keel strip.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

ekosch, welcome to the iboats drydock and the Starcraft brohood:welcome:

I think you'll find the Holiday is a excellent "do all" hull and she should be a fairly straight forward rebuild for ya!

Hey, can we talk you into snapping a few more photos of that damage? Inside and out?

The guys may be able to give you a little better advice with a more clear view of what you have there eh.

Cheers

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

I have added 3 more photos of the front keel. I not sure if I can just build it out with jbweld and sand prim and paint or if I need it welded first. Thanks for all the help.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Welcome ekosch. One of the design features of these Starcraft tinnies is a one piece lower hull section. The keel strip with the dent is riveted to this piece.

I would be against trying to pound out the dent because you could pop or loosen rivets. I try to treat this old aluminum gently My advice is fill the dent but don't beat on it to make it perfect. It's a battle for her to wear with pride. The stuff you see on the inside of the keel - brownish stuff in pic 3 - is factory, I think I've seen it in other bigger Starcrafts.

Have fun in the drydock and out on the water.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

I will take this advise into consideration and I think I will fill with boat with water and see if the keel leaks and if not fill dent with JBweld but if it leaks I will have it welded and then fill with JB weld and get ready for paint. Thanks for the help.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Looks like there's two dents....one that's at the roller below too or is that just the lighting on the photo? If there is two.....might be that the PO hit the trailer while attempting to load it. I would think he'd have to be running at a pretty good clip to make a dent like that.....but you never know what people will do at a boat ramp.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

there is no dent at the roller just poor lighting. Looking at the boat in person it looks like it hit a rock just under the waters surface while going a good clip.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

If I recall right, I remember reading on here somewhere where a welder refused to weld anywhere near the keel strip because the goo that SC used to seal the keels would run into the weld affecting the weld quality; don't know if it's weldable or not. Probably best just to make sure it don't leak and live with it.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Stevens520 said:

If I recall right, I remember reading on here somewhere where a welder refused to weld anywhere near the keel strip because the goo that SC used to seal the keels would run into the weld affecting the weld quality; don't know if it's weldable or not. Probably best just to make sure it don't leak and live with it.

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Yep, some refuse because of the splatters & spitting when the goo gets hot...

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Yup, that's a war wound and I'd let it be. I'm with GA, pounding on it could cause more damage/cracking. If it bugs ya, JB Weld or Marine Tex, sand smooth paint it up.

On the welding (besides besides messing up the weld), heating that area up will also wreck the adhesive (brown stuff you are seeing in there) properties causing the boat to leak, eh.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Well as I thought there is a small crack on the keel and it is leeking. So I see everyone says JBweld is the way to go, the dent does not bother me the leeking does. Do I put JBweld on the inside as well as the outside? and will the JBweld stop the leeking as well as build up the dent and will the JB weld break away after some wave pound? Again I'm new to this kind of project.

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Well, cracks can be tricky as it's easy for them to get worse. Can you shoot up a photo for us so we can check it out?

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

Here are some better photos of the crack. I'm wounding if a piece of aluminum riveted over the damaged area might be the way to go or do I need to weld?

Re: 1979 Starcraft Holiday

ekosch said:

Here are some better photos of the crack. I'm wounding if a piece of aluminum riveted over the damaged area might be the way to go or do I need to weld? View attachment 180884View attachment 180883

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Hi ekosch, As I was reading through the post, I was formulating a suggestion to do exactly like your last post. Don't get too abusive trying to flatten out the dent. I'd avoid welding. As others have mentioned, heat can destroy the sealant in the surrounding area and aluminum conducts heat very well. I'd cut out whatever won't easily flatten and dress the offending aluminum as flat as possible. Remove the rivets in the area and place a shaped aluminum patch over the damage. Dry fit the patch carefully, then with help from a friend, drill a couple of rivet holes through the patch. Put a couple of temporary nuts and bolts to hold the patch in alignment and then through-drill the remaining rivet holes.

Before re-rivetting the patch in place, you'll need to fill any voids between the patch and hull with a good sealant such as 3M 5200. I would use solid rivets, but to do this you'll need an air rivet tool, an air supply and a buddy to help. Others have successfully used closed end blind (pop) rivets. With these, you'll need a good heavy duty rivet pulling tool, but no air and you can do it without a buddy.
- Grandad