1977 18' Starcraft SS 140 I/O Restore

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
Good evening all! My name is T.J. from Denver and this is my first rebuild. I currently have a 1971 16' Starcraft and a 1995 Bayliner 1850 (hoping to sell both after SS is finished). I will be picking up the new boat tomorrow from my uncle's house.

Backstory: He found the ad for it last year and the original owner was trying to give it away for scrap but my uncle thought it was a cool boat and worth saving so he grabbed it with the intention of restoring it. He brought it home changed the oil and since winter was approaching and he lives in the mountains went to winterize it, he put some oil in the cylinders, hooked up a battery, cranked the motor and the thing started with the old fuel residue (boat was last registered in 1985!). He pulled off the interior side panels, the dog house, the sliding seats and rear seats as well as some of the deck and let it sit for the winter where it has remained untouched since.

From what I saw the interior is pretty much completely toast but he did save everything but the sliding seats, carpet and one sheet of the deck so I should have everything I need to duplicate with new.

I'm going to split the introduction/details portion into multiple posts so I can hit my 3 posts to be able to upload pictures.
 

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
The exterior is in decent shape and appears to be solid so so it will likely be left as is for the time being besides replacing rivets as needed. It sits on a tandem roller trailer that the original owner told my uncle he upgraded to so he could keep driving if he got a flat haha.

I pulled around on the Alpha 1 and the transom seems solid but after sitting for so long I'm assuming I will need to replace it as well.

My uncle is selling me the boat for what he has into it which is $500 for two new tires, two sliding seats in great shape and a 24v bow mount motor which will all come with the purchase.

As it sits now I know it will need to do:
Two new tires, four trailer bearings, a compression test, lower unit service/water pump and a full rebuild of the interior.

To start I also plan on rebuilding the carburetor, performing a full tune up, replacing the seals in the lower unit and will likely rewire the whole boat.

I fish quite a bit but we also usually do two trips to Lake Powell every year so I'm hoping this boat can do both of the things that my other two boats can do, fishing and water sports but have it in one package.

I'm glad to be part of the forum and really appreciate all of the information everyone passes so freely. It's been great for both knowledge and inspiration.

Feel free to chime in with advice and input and if I'm doing something stupid don't hesitate to tell me. I'll post pictures and my plans on another post.
 

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
Trying to figure out the picture thing
 

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steve_h7

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Sep 16, 2018
Messages
401
I think you got the picture thing down! Looks like a great one to bring back to life!
 

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
Well I got it home yesterday to be immediately followed by rain/hail so I covered it and worked around the house last night.

Even with two completely rotted tires it towed like a dream through the mountains with no issues on the way home. I could not believe how light it felt behind my Suburban and think I'm really going to like the tandem axle trailer on my longer trips. It was night and day compared to my Bayliner and actually felt lighter than my 16' Starcraft with a 50hp outboard.

I had more honey dos to do this morning so I didn't get started until about noon but got a lot done and am really happy with the way it's progressing. I got it almost completely gutted, labeled all the wires, makes the placement of the helm, labeled all the pieces I pulled out, drilled out all the rivets, scrubbed the inside of the hull (this took most of the day), then filled the hull with water and surprisingly did not have a single leaky rivet. I did however have three holes in the transom where it appears the original owner had installed a transducer for a fish finder that is leaking.

As mentioned above the hull took forever to scrub clean (close to 5 hours). At some point it appears that oil was drained into the boat and over time solidified and was a real pain to remove. With the help of some carb cleaner and a couple 3M stripping pads I got it all cleaned and almost ready for the Coat It which will arrive on Tuesday. I'm going to do one more thorough cleaning with 409 and some scouring pads, rinse and then try to apply the Coat It to all seams and rivets one night this week.

I'll post pictures in a following post but would like some input on the transom...aside from the transducer holes mentioned above it seems pretty solid and I'm debating whether to swap it? Does anyone have any recommendations on how to properly test to see if it's good on an I/O?

I'm also curious about the front motor mount and how to properly replace the boards for this? I'll post pictures below, the bottom one is pretty rotten.

Thanks!
 

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
I'm going to have to look at how to upload multiple pictures...I cannot figure out how to get them all to display
 

Redtruck12

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
344
Drilling test holes should tell you what shape your transom is in. I would start with a couple down low and near the keyhole, probably about half thickness (3/4 inch apron.) that would be your most likely area for rot to start. You are looking for light dry shavings from your test holes. If it’s dark crappy or mush it’s time is due. If it’s all good you can easily refill your test holes with thickened resin or 3M 4200.
if decking, stringers and mounts are rotten chances are the transom is too especially if you have leaks from previously drilled, improperly sealed holes.

I look forward to seeing more pictures
 

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
Drilling test holes should tell you what shape your transom is in. I would start with a couple down low and near the keyhole, probably about half thickness (3/4 inch apron.) that would be your most likely area for rot to start. You are looking for light dry shavings from your test holes. If it’s dark crappy or mush it’s time is due. If it’s all good you can easily refill your test holes with thickened resin or 3M 4200.
if decking, stringers and mounts are rotten chances are the transom is too especially if you have leaks from previously drilled, improperly sealed holes.

I look forward to seeing more pictures

Thank you for the reply Redtruck. I'll drill some holes tomorrow to check and report back. I'm guessing it is needed. Might not be a bad thing anyhow as the aluminum skin has a bunch of holes I would like to patch and would like it to be solid once it's back together so I'm not having to rip it apart again.
 

Redtruck12

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 25, 2018
Messages
344
Great clean up. Sorry I mentioned stringers, forgot for a moment this is an aluminium hull👀
 

Tjcolorado

Cadet
Joined
Aug 20, 2017
Messages
11
Good evening! Just got home from work and drilled a couple holes. The one right above the plug appears a bit discolored but the shavings from the bit still feel very firm. Inside the hole it appears wet but when I stick my finger in there it seems to be a really light, clear oil? The other hole I drilled about 1.5-2" up and about 7" away looks pretty good. Let me know what you guys think.

This is the lowest hole, just above the drain plug:
20190610_182701.jpg

And this one shows both holes for reference:
20190610_183236.jpg

​​​​​​​Sorry for the crammed pictures, I'm still trying to figure this out haha

​​​​​​​Thanks!
 

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