fishingron
Seaman
- Joined
- May 28, 2009
- Messages
- 62
Here it is...
I found this boat for sale, I live in South Western Ontario, Canada. The owner tells me it is a 1968 but I can not find any thing yet on line for a 1968 Starcraft Chieftan, I did see the brochure for the 1967 Chieftan, looks very similar except for the additional front passenger seat that is in my boat. What do you folks think?? The owner had it for over 20 years and spent a lot of family time on it, fishing, sleep overs at different marinas etc. I also got two old Cannon downriggers with it and a home made downrigger board that attaches at the transom on the cleats. One rigger is electric and one manual, hope the electric works.
I do have a serial number plate, the number is hard to read, maybe I can contact Starcraft to get the year of it.
The boat has an inline 6, merc outdrive, it has been winterized and maintained over the years, I was able to turn the engine by hand at the front pulley using a screwdriver and prying against the mounting bracket.....so I hope all is OK with the engine. I checked and it is full of anti freeze.
The outdrive is amazing, the skeg is perfect, I am able to turn the main shaft and watch the vertical shaft turn into the lower unit,,,,,so hope all is well with the outdrive too.
The trailer is 1/4 inch C channel, all galvanized with a very old hydraulic surge braking system that I hope to restore. The trailer is in amazing condition for being so old. I had to buy two used tires to get it home after regreasing the bearings a bit, no problems on the road for the one hour trip home.
The boat has trim tabs and an old auto pilot that I do not know if it will work or not. The trim tabs, not sure either.
I absolutely love this boat, it will be a lot of work, but well worth it for me. Even my wife and kids like it. I am told the inline 6 engine is great for parts etc, and the outdrive is popular as well.
I am not very good with engine work, I can do some but I will likely have it all assessed by a marine mechanic just to be sure all is good and done right.
I really love this site, looking at other people's restore projects and the wealth of information and help here is amazing!! I would really appreciate any help you can offer me with my project. I restored a 1983 Bluefin which is on the site now but I really, really always wanted a big Starcraft to call my own. Some family think I am crazy for what I am getting myself into here, but I see it differently, beyond all that faded paint and rotted wood, is a very beautiful boat just waiting to get back out on Lake Erie and fishing again!! This is a labour of love and I love to do this kind of work!!!
The inside to the right of the engine at the transom.....the transom is really rotted, I looked at some other threads, I am not worried about getting it out, but my question is how am I going to be able to copy the transom when it will be impossible to come out in one piece.....does someone have a template or some ideas for that??
more photos next post....
I found this boat for sale, I live in South Western Ontario, Canada. The owner tells me it is a 1968 but I can not find any thing yet on line for a 1968 Starcraft Chieftan, I did see the brochure for the 1967 Chieftan, looks very similar except for the additional front passenger seat that is in my boat. What do you folks think?? The owner had it for over 20 years and spent a lot of family time on it, fishing, sleep overs at different marinas etc. I also got two old Cannon downriggers with it and a home made downrigger board that attaches at the transom on the cleats. One rigger is electric and one manual, hope the electric works.
I do have a serial number plate, the number is hard to read, maybe I can contact Starcraft to get the year of it.
The boat has an inline 6, merc outdrive, it has been winterized and maintained over the years, I was able to turn the engine by hand at the front pulley using a screwdriver and prying against the mounting bracket.....so I hope all is OK with the engine. I checked and it is full of anti freeze.
The outdrive is amazing, the skeg is perfect, I am able to turn the main shaft and watch the vertical shaft turn into the lower unit,,,,,so hope all is well with the outdrive too.
The trailer is 1/4 inch C channel, all galvanized with a very old hydraulic surge braking system that I hope to restore. The trailer is in amazing condition for being so old. I had to buy two used tires to get it home after regreasing the bearings a bit, no problems on the road for the one hour trip home.
The boat has trim tabs and an old auto pilot that I do not know if it will work or not. The trim tabs, not sure either.
I absolutely love this boat, it will be a lot of work, but well worth it for me. Even my wife and kids like it. I am told the inline 6 engine is great for parts etc, and the outdrive is popular as well.
I am not very good with engine work, I can do some but I will likely have it all assessed by a marine mechanic just to be sure all is good and done right.
I really love this site, looking at other people's restore projects and the wealth of information and help here is amazing!! I would really appreciate any help you can offer me with my project. I restored a 1983 Bluefin which is on the site now but I really, really always wanted a big Starcraft to call my own. Some family think I am crazy for what I am getting myself into here, but I see it differently, beyond all that faded paint and rotted wood, is a very beautiful boat just waiting to get back out on Lake Erie and fishing again!! This is a labour of love and I love to do this kind of work!!!
The inside to the right of the engine at the transom.....the transom is really rotted, I looked at some other threads, I am not worried about getting it out, but my question is how am I going to be able to copy the transom when it will be impossible to come out in one piece.....does someone have a template or some ideas for that??
more photos next post....
