Appleo's 1985 Starcraft Supersport 18 foot - Restoration 2019/2020

[appleo]

Picked up this 1985 18 foot beauty on Clist.. Finally got around to getting started ....I was able to finish gutting before the snows arrived........Been in the hangar for almost a month ..working as fast as i can to get ready for spring panfishing!
Progress photos to follow !

Cheers!

.

 

[appleo]

The "gutting" of the beast commenced with assistance from a neighbor student .... at a burden rate of 10.00 per hour.... well worth it to get the progress moving !!!

Used what I could from the rotted woods for templates..........alot of trim pieces had gone missing

Nasty!

Foam was tested with cross-sections and found dry and will not need to be be replaced

Motors removed and sold for parts on Clist

Hull has minor dings . Baby Blue Starcraft paint severely weathered from sitting in the prior owners back yard

Steering cable amazingly loose and functional

 

[appleo]

Decided to attempt to rub out that weathered hull to see if it would come to life.


TIP: Megulars Ultracut from Harbor Freight

 

[appleo]

Before and after. .......

 

[oldrem]

Looks like a fun project.

 

[appleo]

A lot of gunwale rash. Any ideas how to clean up?

 

[appleo]

Twin bilge pumps installed. One controlled from starting battery at dash panel. Other redundant hooked to trolling battery via internal float switch and fused

 

[oldrem]

A lot of gunwale rash. Any ideas how to clean up?

I started with Alumiweld but got too much warp from the heat. I then used Marine-Tex to finish which would have been paintable after sanding.. Then I decided to cover it all with Nautolex anyway.

 

[appleo]

Sidewalls covered with 22oz marine carpet grey. No need to remove prior glue.Just sand any high spots
Weldwood Contact Cement Original formula used


Floor panels started to be laid
Ribs marked on sidewall with distance to center braces
5/8 Advantec flooring with 3 coats spar poly.
Nautolex Floor covering Shark color
Weldwood again
Stainless screws from Albany fasteners

 

[appleo]

Old floor had ski locker. I am not a fan of those as they collect water and not dry. Old hatch plastic was warped and bad. So instead i filled under the floor with additional flotation closed cell foam.

Ran a spare hose and some 12 gauge 3 conductor wire from stern to bow

 

[appleo]

Nautolex main floor is done. Used a gallon of the Weldwoo contact cement

Good thing I have a detached garage. Stuff really stinks




Decide to now tackle the gunwale rash and the bow area.

Need to remove all snap buttons, patch holes , remove pitted cleats, remove black rubber mat glued to the bow. What a mess..

 

[appleo]

Pita

 

[appleo]

Bow patched with bondo Sanded and prepped.
Coated with Intetlux Seattle Gray. with inter grip poly beads mixed in for antiskid

Dollar tree mini sponge rollers

Two coats 24 hours apart

 

[appleo]

Some of the heavy damaged gunwales sections were hard to cleanup perfectly with Bondo and Anti-skid paint

Made some 7" x 3" "rash covers" from nylon cutting boards i picked up at Walmart for 88 cents
Shaped and Trimmed them on the band-saw ...2 covers from 1 nylon cutting board

Placed under the cleats and bow rails

New Sea-sense horn was installed with a bamboo cutting board piece I picked up at Dollar Tree for a buck and spar varnished

 

[oldrem]

Some of the heavy damaged gunwales sections were hard to cleanup perfectly with Bondo and Anti-skid paint

Made some 7" x 3" "rash covers" from nylon cutting boards i picked up at Walmart for 88 cents
Shaped and Trimmed them on the band-saw ...2 covers from 1 nylon cutting board

Placed under the cleats and bow rails

New Sea-sense horn was installed with a bamboo cutting board piece I picked up at Dollar Tree for a buck and spar varnished

Neat idea

 

[appleo]

Today was bow rails day ,

Original Starcraft boat had no bow rails

I like bowrails. To help keep the captain from
going overboard when he's fishing up front and one of those speedboats zooms by with s 4 foot wake

Found these rails at garage sale for 18 bucks. trimmed them with grinder. drilled and tapped screw holes as this stuff is harder than self tapping screws

Had a few gripper cleats found in the barn i added for light duty roped up front

Used a backer plate under the gunwale to make it sturdy.

 

[jbcurt00]

Nice work, great dealnon rails

 

[oldrem]

Rails look nice

 

[appleo]

Thought about ice fishing today but couldn't get a partner

Decided to install the trolling motor bow plate.

Made a few support plates for underneath with Advantec scraps and coated them 3x with spar varnish

Topside I had some mahogany kitchen table pieces from a prior restoration. Used them under the Minn kota power drive mounting plate .

Stainless bolts 1/4-20 I salvaged during tear down

I have three old Minnkota bow mount power drives V1 i bought and repaired years ago So I can swap them between boats

Someday the pedals will crap out and since replacements are not available I will have to repower

 

[appleo]

Rear side panels fanned and being installed

Had no templates so I built then from info from other starcraft owners

3/8 plywood with spar varnish
3/8 foam attached with spray weldwood contact cement
Grey marine vinyl from Joanne's Fabris. look for the40% coupon online
Stainless staples for hand staple gun t-50 arrow

Prior owner left some speakers in the boats. they were still good so i reused them and added new grilles