'74 21ft Chieftain

[GA_Boater]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

I would rather tackle the re-wiring blindfolded than your tin work. Looking much straighter now. :thumb:

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Wow, that section of your bow was beat to heck.

So far so good!:encouragement:

 

[cj8mule]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Great work there double!

I saw some braces on the inside of your lower wind shield. Take some good pictures on your tear down for me because it looks like I need to fabricate some of those braces. It looks like the braces are made out of wood ? ? ? ... which would explain why I don't have them. My boat had a lot of rotten wood including in the cabin. (And, a crushed top from someone sitting up there)

Here's what I'm talking about:

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I don't want to discourage you but to prepare you mentally. That stuff on the bottom of your hull looks like painted over truck bed liner. I used 2.5 gallons of paint stripper and a 4500 psi pressure washer to get that stuff off my hull. I guess it could have been some kind of epoxy bottom paint. I don't know.

 

[Watermann]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Hey CJ, you may want to look first at what the PO actually did to make the supports in his Chief. Found this one in double's PB.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Double, I give ya credit for the keel repair, not an easy task for sure. Yea, outdrive looks pretty rough. It's a shame the way some people care for their "toys".

Water, in re to that pic......well.....certainly not aesthetically pleasing to look at. I know I am still debating the direction to go when installing the new front windshield in mine, be it 2 pieces again or attempt to make it 1 piece. I think if 2 piece a stout center support would help if someone deemed it necessary to climb on top of the cabin.

 

[Watermann]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Double, I give ya credit for the keel repair, not an easy task for sure. Yea, outdrive looks pretty rough. It's a shame the way some people care for their "toys".

Water, in re to that pic......well.....certainly not aesthetically pleasing to look at. I know I am still debating the direction to go when installing the new front windshield in mine, be it 2 pieces again or attempt to make it 1 piece. I think if 2 piece a stout center support would help if someone deemed it necessary to climb on top of the cabin.

Yeah that's a good idea but 3/16" poly carb is VERY strong when compared to the plexi of 40 years ago.

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Cj, I wouldnt copy what the PO did to my windshield. It looked horrible. Those braces were poorly thought out and really block the view out of the windshield. I have removed those pieces and I am going to install one strong aluminum center support. I am going to use a 2 piece windshield. I'm going to have to order some polycarbonate, then I can get started tackling that project. I plan to install my windshield from the inside with automotive windshield adhesive and make some aluminum trim pieces to cover the seam.

 

[cj8mule]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Cj, I wouldnt copy what the PO did to my windshield. It looked horrible. Those braces were poorly thought out and really block the view out of the windshield. I have removed those pieces and I am going to install one strong aluminum center support. I am going to use a 2 piece windshield. I'm going to have to order some polycarbonate, then I can get started tackling that project. I plan to install my windshield from the inside with automotive windshield adhesive and make some aluminum trim pieces to cover the seam.

Thanks for the advice doubleud. I thought those braces may have been something starcraft used, but definitely not after looking at that pic waterman posted. It looks like we both will have to put some thought into all this glass stuff.

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

What thickness is the factory windshield supposed to be? I am debating using 1/8" or 3/16" I dont see why 1/8" wouldnt work. It's not like I have to wory about rock chips and I'm pretty sure 1/8" could handle any waves coming over the bow. I think 1/8" may be easier to work with since it is going to have to be curved. What does everyone think?

 

[Watermann]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

I know the factory thickness is 3/16" and for strength reasons I'm having my windshield redone in the 3/16" polycarb. In fact I took to my buddy glass shop last friday, he's going to do the bending and sealing into the framework.

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

I finally got some time and decent weather to do a little work. Decided on a color and painted the transom. Also got some 3/16 polycarbonate and aluminum ordered for the windshield. I have an idea for how I am going to install the windshield it's kinda difficult to explain but it should be easy to install and look good. It will be two pieces. I'll be sure to get some pics, hope it works out. Heres some pics of the paint on the transom. For a first shot at painting, i dont think it was too bad


Paint stripped


Primed


New paint, this is a rebuild on the cheap so Rustoleum it is.

 

[Watermann]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Hey a guy has to to do what he has to do it get the job done, besides it looks real good from here in WA!

I'm seeing a bunch of holes drilled in your transom though that I'm wondering about. The larger 1/2 hole is probably for a clamshell pass through for speedo hose and transducer but all the little ones?

 

[barato2]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

tranny looks good in blue.

any progress on the keel strip?

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Yeah there are alot of holes in the transom. The 1/2" hole is for the transducer/speedometer. The row of holes at the same height as the 1/2" hole are for a massive swim platform the PO added. I will be reusing the swim platform. The other six holes are for towing eyes. I plan on reinstalling all of these things, so i left the holes there. Amazingly, despite all the holes, the transom is solid and dry. I'm sure that it was replaced fairly recently and it appears to have been well done too, I was surprised.

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Thanks Barato, i thought the blue came out real good. I painted the transom first because i could use the overlap joint where the sides of the hull meet the transom to hide the paint line when I paint the sides, and the transom was small enough for me to test the paint without using all the paint then finding out I didnt like the color or I wasnt a good enough painter to make it look okay.

As for the Keel strip...
Well I made a good first attempt. I think it would have worked, but I cut the piece of aluminum too small so I ended up with about an hour of time invested in a new addition to my scrap metal pile



I didnt realize my mistake until I already had it formed, but since it will not work I didnt bother smoothing it out any further. It is definately a complicated piece to make, it starts out with a sharp V and curves around the hull, then it tapers off to a basically flat piece of metal on the bottom of the hull. My next attempt I will cut it a little larger. i wanted to keep it as narrow as possible to limit the amount of stretching I had to do to make the compound curve.

 

[cj8mule]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Awesome job there double. Paint looks great! That keel guard looks tough to make... keep at it, you'll get it.


I hope you have a lot of paint stripper and a powerful pressure washer for the bottem of that hull,,, wow!

 

[barato2]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

yeah, that keel strip definitely looks like a "Measure 3 times, cut 5 times" sort of job. but fact that you got it that close on the 1st try should be inspiriing. and once you got it done. you'll have the distinction of being the only Starmadan to have gone there (AFAIK)

 

[doubleud]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

Well attempt two was not only a failure, but it actually turned our much worse than attempt number one. Fortunately, I kinked the metal quickly before I wasted too much time.



So with this failure I realized I wouldnt be able to just eyeball this one. I decided to build a forming buck. I found a 1 1/8" piece of scrap steel solid round bar and bent it to match the shape of the bottom of the hull, then using more scrap metal I temporarily welded the round bar to my welding table.





This worked quite well and prevented me from having to stretch the aluminum any more than absolutely necessary. After a short little bit of hammering, I ended up with this.



I am pretty pleased with how it turned out. Next up I am going to trim it to fit, clean up the hull around the new piece and begin riviting it in place.

Does anyone know what sealant I should use to seal this new piece to the hull?

My polycarbonate and aluminum should arrive on Monday, so next update I hope to have a new windshield in it, and some pictures showing an easy way to build a two piece windshield.

 

[cj8mule]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

nice job on that... third try was the charm.

Use 3M 5200 for the sealant. HD has the best price on 5200 where I'm at.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: '74 21ft Chieftain

I say you did purty good there, Doub. In fact almost like the original. :thumb:

+1 on the 3M 5200.