Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

[tgp***]

After reading all your threads about your Starcraft restoration's. I switched from looking at fiberglass to aluminum, and low and behold..... Guess what I dragged home today! 1966 Starcraft Nassau w/ a 1965 Evinrude 75 hp. She's rough but I think I can save her. I've never tried to bring one back to life before, but I have doing some research and reading some of the threads here, and though what heck. So I cashed in my scrap copper ($125) and came home w/ '66 Nassau, a motor that does not run, and a trailer thats to short for the boat. Worst case I can scrap the boat for $0.55/lb aluminum. (It did have a brand new battery with it, it may be the only thing that works).


Will be back in the future with questions on how to complete my project.

No longer between boats in Wisconsin
tgp***
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/1966 Starcraft Nassau/

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......

Hello tgp,
Welcome to Iboats.
Be careful about scraping that boat the starcraft guy's are very protective.
Just kidding.
As for posting pic's, just go to "Non Boating Technical Topic's" on this forum Bob VT has a thread there for posting pic's.
Good luck with the rebuild
Bob

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......

I have the same boat in my yard that I will be selling off in the springtime.... mine is a '67. Nice find.

Please resize your pictures to 640 x 480 and repost them at that size. We have forum limits we are striving to stick with. In photobucket it is very easy to do,

 

[BobsGlasstream]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

tgp
Glad you got the pic's up.
Nice find on the boat.
Have Fun
Bob

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

tgp you have a private message

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

HAHA we snagged another one!!!! Welcome to the SC club tgp. That's a great boat. Yeah that trailer is too small and the motor may be iffy but I would find it very hard to believe that you would run across anything with the boat itself that would prevent you from being able to successfully fix it up and use it. Check out the Jupiter link in my signature below to see my restore of a very similar boat. Good luck with your project!

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today......Now w/photo link?

i don't know where you are, BUT don't scrap her.

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now resized w/photo's.

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now resized w/photo's.

Great!

I restored one last year now working on a Holiday

Here is how it turned out:

 

[timfives]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now resized w/photo's.

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now resized w/photo's.

Welcome,

Scrapping a starcraft?? perish the thought.. That is a sweet boat, and i'm sure with a little elbow grease she'll be looking tight on the water soon.

good luck with the restoration!

Tim

 

[tgp***]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

I got some work done on the boat today. (My employer did not have any work for me today so I went home, could not have been happier).

Here's some of my perplexing thoughts on the day......

Interior and old vinyl out. Easy to do, just drill off the head and the panels popped right off. Side panels in good shape, easy recover. Back compartment sliding doors seem short were they all like that? They dont completely cover the compartment (strange).

Why only one air scoop duct on the bow and none anywhere else? Plus its pointed at the windshield. (Is that right?)

This boat has drill holes that I am going to want to fill on the top of the bow and gunwales. Whats the best way to do that? Not sure how I'm going to fix the hole they cut for a radio in the dash. I really don't want to try that, sounded like many a men better than me tried and failed. my dash has all kinds of add on's. I'm going to have to think about this one. Wiring behind the dash is a mess. Lots of junk added. Need better din rail setup or maybey a breaker panel.

I think I want to get that 75 hp beast off the back of this thing befor I start taking the floor out. Disconnect electric, steering, and trailer the boat to service and let them take look to see if its worth attemping to revive it, should be worth an hour or two of professional labor and expertise.

Pulley Steering, keep or replace. Thats a lot of motor. Even if I replace the motor I would still look at 50 to 60 hp. Never had pulley steering. Don't know what to exspect.

Got some things accomplished today, all went well, all thanks to all the restore threads befor mine.

Thanks guys
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/1966 Starcraft Nassau/

 

[PaulyV]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

Very nice boat..not to far gone either. JB Weld will fill the holes..I believe marine tex will also..Welcome to the STARCRAFT club..Look forward to your rebuild..

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

I replaced my dash panel board in my jupiter with a PVC trim board from Lowes. Great stuff. Very easy to work with and will never rot.

 

[tgp***]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

Just measured for marine plywood. Its 4' - 6" across with the section from the stern forward 9 ft. long. Do they make marine plywood in larger than 4' x 8' (that could be $$$, more phone work tomarrow). It looks like the floor was done in two pieces (front and back). I guess I'll learn more when I take up the floor. I also will have to get on the phone and get that 75 off the back of this boat so I can start floor removal sooner than I thought. The floor is not too bad, just soggy (the PO only had the boat for 4 months, the first time I looked at the boat it was full of water beacause the plug was still in it), should come out intact for a pattern.

I have read many threads on floor replacement here and other places. I can see sealing the wood with epoxy or poly. But to glass mat the thing? I'm not so sure. This boat is what? 43 years old, it has the original floor, and its not glassed and matted. I'm 50 and this boat will out live me without glassing the floor I would think.

Tomarrow I have more tear down and pieces to remove before the snow flies so I can park my truck in the garage. My goal is to get it stripped down and outside. Fun project.

tgp***
[http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/1966 Starcraft Nassau/

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

That air scoop is only on the nassau..... it has (or had) a flexihose that leads down under the front piece of decking. I just figured it was to flush gas fumes from under the deck. Yes pointing backwards is just as effective and it will not force water under the deck in case you ever stuff the bow.

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

Re: Rescued a '66 Nassau today.....now w/link to photo's.

This boat has drill holes that I am going to want to fill on the top of the bow and gunwales. Whats the best way to do that? Not sure how I'm going to fix the hole they cut for a radio in the dash. I really don't want to try that, sounded like many a men better than me tried and failed. my dash has all kinds of add on's. I'm going to have to think about this one. Wiring behind the dash is a mess. Lots of junk added. Need better din rail setup or maybey a breaker panel.

photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/

I just fixed a bunch of these on mine. I used the epoxy putty that comes in a variety of brands and uses - I picked the "marine" type. On the smaller holes just push it from both sides - on the larger ones I used a metal backer (actually a penny, a quarter, and a 1" square piece of aluminum gutter). Mashed the epoxy on the backer and stuck it under the hole. On the top puttyed it over, wait and hour and sand. Worked for holes as big as a half dollar.

 

[tgp***]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

Well I finnaly got the that 75 hp beast of the back of the boat. Not a simple task when dealing with a motor of that size by yourself. Put a couple pictures of my feat in the bucket. There were moments when I was questioning my chioce in projects. I wonder if the motor will be salvagable? I wonder if I will be able to get the motor back on?! Getting the motor running on my own I think will be my biggest challenge. I may just take the easy way out, because I did not expect that motor to be the motor for this boat in the end. Although it would keep my costs down.

The transom might be ok surpisingly enough, more inspection is neccessary though. I will be looking at removing the flooring next. Then I can rest. I first have to take the wife on a cruise to the carribean(boat ride w/rum punch, NICE!) in two weeks, so not too much more will get done until after the first of the the year.

Thanks for tips on the JB weld.

Have not found wide enough marine plywood yet. At 4'-6" width I might have to buy extra sheets and do a three piece floor instead of two. I don't really like that idea though.

Thanks again for the all the advise people.

tgp***
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/1966 Starcraft Nassau/

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

Bite the bullet and buy 3 sheets for the floor. Properly sealed exterior ply is fine for the job. Don't skimp on doing the transom. It's such an easy job in a tinny it would be foolish to not go ahead and do it while you have the motor and everything off. It would be cool if you could get that old beat of a motor running.

 

[Captmills]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

tgp, Great little boat!!! Needless to say I'm a little prejudiced since I got one too. These little guy's are easy to work on (save the old floor for a pattern) I used 5/8 ext. ply and used fiberglass resin on both sides and edges and bisquit joints on the seams and it is as strong as if it were solid plywood. Lots of great advice on this forum and helpful folks Welcome to the cult and good luck! Steven

 

[tgp***]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

Floor came out this afternoon after the Packer game. The 1/2-inch plywood Came out easy, and intact. Just drilled the tops of the rivets off, also had to remove the 2 side pieces from the rear storage area, but no big deal. The floor on this boat would have been just fine if the PO would have taken the plug out while he let just it sit there for 4 months and fill with water. It is soggy (but soilid), heaviest 1/2-inch plywood I ever lifted, The old white foam is bagged and ready for the trash (its going to take a lot of sheets to replace).

One thing I noticed was the rubber type inserts for screwing down the seats, I like that and will need to duplicate that feature (I need to photo that) provided I can find something like that. I wonder if I can get them out intact?

Also, that backwards air scoop...it only goes as far as just under the plywood at the front of the bow. I don't understand how it would work.

I have not decided on how to deal with the transom yet. I will need look at some more threads again and see what everyone else has done, I guess. The transom seems fine though. When that 75 hp beast was on the back, there was no wiggle or anything, no caving or bending. How does one tell if the transom needs to be replaced? I stepped on the lower unit and kind of jumped up and down to see if there was any give in the transom and there was none. If I replace it, where does one find those big (looks like stainless?) heavey duty rivets that are holding on the end caps on.

I can't believe I'm considering leaving the truck outside over the winter to work on this boat in the cold.

Many things to ponder have I......
http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/1966%20Starcraft%20Nassau/

 

[tgp***]

Re: Restoring a Starcraft '66 Nassau

http://s940.photobucket.com/albums/ad241/tgp---/1966%20Starcraft%20Nassau/?albumview=slideshowTransom and dash came out today. I had to dismantel more of the boat than I wanted to, both gun wales and splash well, but its done (see updated photobucket). I hope it all goes back together.

The the rub rail channel on the right side had a gouge/nick in it, I had trouble removing the rubber rub strip on that side. I am looking on-line for a fix, it is pretty small not sure yet what to use. I saw a product that used some sort of aluminum brazing rod Dura Fix?). Has anyone tried this? or would JB weld also work?

Dashboard looks like some sort of mahogany. Should be easy to find a replacement.

I updated my photobucket with transom removal for viewing.

Thanks again, all the previous threads were very helpful.