1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

[CheapboatKev]

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Wow...Joe would have a stroke if he saw ya tearing into her like a Tazmanian Devil! lol

Well..ya gotta break some eggs to make an omlette..and you are busting up some Dino sized eggs there!


Sad about the dang mop applied paint..Just more work for you..

 

[LastDollar]

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

5 days Wow!!! Good work Alpheus Glad my boat is not too close I might find it ready for new wood!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Nice wrecking ball man!

Man, that corrosion there is a real bummer. Was this a salt water boat?

 

[fshngho]

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Have you stopped to eat or sleep? Not sure if the pole set up would be strong enough for skiing or tubing, my guess is it was used as a tower to hold poles, or maybe a canvas top. It looks like your going to have to re check for leaks after the paint removal since no way water could get through that armor. Great work Alpheus. I'm tired just watching you.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Man, that corrosion there is a real bummer. Was this a salt water boat?

Yes, Joe said He used it most of the time in Cape May New Jersey.

Not sure if the pole set up would be strong enough for skiing or tubing, my guess is it was used as a tower to hold poles, or maybe a canvas top

It is very thick and heavy tubing Feels almost like chromoly steel and it has a hook in the middle of it...

 

[Alpheus]

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

Re: 1969 Chieftain Restoration

I got started late today rippin and tearin. While I was diggin up front and I found a stash of flares. I opened up the package and seen this:

I wander if it still works?










































Oh he!! Ya it still works!!!

One scratch with the striker and she fired up.

I finished removing the door,bulkhead,steering cable and all the wiring. I will be custom making a new wiring harness for this old girl.

I am almost done with the demolition stage. I have to remove the top windshield,plexiglass in the front of the cabin and the transom. Then it on to stripping the armor plating off. (paint)

Tomorrow I am going to take the Shopvac to her and haul her down to the carwash to power wash the inside. Till then...

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I know when I got to that point, with everything ripped out like that, it's almost like the boat can breath for the first time in a long time.

A little more work and you'll have a clean canvas to work on. Nice job Bruce!

 

[Bwana Don]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

Moving out like a tall dog in short grass. I'm moving my boat inside my brothers garage this weekend, where I can work over the winter. You've lit a fire under me.

Good job Bruce, thanks for the updates. I love Chieftains and sometimes wish I would have found one.

Don

 

[Alpheus]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I worked on the boat for about 2 hours today but there is no major differences from yesterday. I managed to get all of the screws out of the perimeter of the transom. I was working on getting the nuts off of the back of some loops on the inside when I noticed that 2 of the nuts were buried inside the wood under some paint. I figured that Old Joe must have over tightened them and then painted over then with that thick paint he used. I grabbed my grinder with the wire wheel and started to removed the paint when I noticed a familiar smell from my working in the body shop days.
BONDO!!!

It looks like they patched the rotten transom about 18" diameter.

You can see the starboard side is nice and smooth.

And the port side is all Body filler.

I am pretty upset about this. Not because the transom needs replaced (I knew that) but because Old Joe argued with me over that transom being solid. I was planning on naming this boat "Old Joe" as a tribute to its previous owner but not no more. He knew that the transom was rotten. Who else would have used that much Bondo to patch up that hole. Its almost an inch thick over 18" in diameter. Thats allot of Bondo...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

Good lord....who Bondos wood????

 

[Alpheus]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I have a question about removing the transom. I removed one side of the cap on the rear deck.

Under that piece of aluminum there is another piece of aluminum that covers the corner of the transom.

This piece of L channel aluminum runs the entire length of the boat as the cap along the sides. How does one move this out of the way to allow the transom to be removed???

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I'd cut it. Doesn't it get covered with the end caps anyway?

 

[fat fanny]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

Alpheus man I don't know how I missed this thread. As par for the course I can tell you'll be on this one like white on rice and have all the starcraft guys drulling (no offense) in no time what are your plans for the interior of the cabin or are you going a different route? Well I do know one thing for sure you will be able to keep Jason motivated with your progress.

 

[sprintst]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I bent that piece up right at the red line. You also have to get under there as there is a bracket that holds the sides to the transom with 2 wood screws.

You can see the heads of the rivets that hold the bracket in case you haven't gotten to it yet. I think I just used a piece of wood or something to hold it down flat on the red line and bent it up with pliers if I recall correctly.

You can just hammer it back down flat after the transom is in. I kept it in to keep the side supports in line with the top of the transom at the same level and any support it would offer.

 

[fshngho]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

Alpheus, I know a couple guys rigged a way to hold that metal back (Jas for one) but I agree with EZ. Just cut it off and the cap should cover it. Sorry about the Bondo Dude, but it is a boat and I'm sure you expected suprises. How about this name: NO JO NO MO

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

Yah, I keep looking at those photos and I am not sure that is the same setup as what I have

If it is the same you can just pull that transom straight out no problem. Just make sure to pry the rubrail bracket away so the gunwale cap will lift. To get the transom back in you'll need to lift them up and out of the way.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I went back and checked out your restoration thread and I did not see anywhere where you had to deal with this. I think I am just going to trim it off. It has no structure to it. Just an inch of over hang over the ends of the transom...

 

[sprintst]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I left it in and hammered it down because if you rest your butt on the side of the boat and on that piece then the only thing holding in place are those two screws into the transom.

Once you get the screws out and the transom out you'll notice how much it can move when it's not supported in any way. It tends to want to splay either in or out.

Cutting it is no big deal either way cosmetically as you'll never see it when the cap is back in. Hopefully no one will crawl around on the top cap to test the theory out on our boats anyway

Keep on plugging away as the transom job wasn't as big a deal as I made it out to be in my head. It went much faster than some of the other tasks I though were going to be simple.

You are really moving along at a great pace. If something start pi$$ing you off in one area like the screws just move on to the next thing. You've totally got the right idea there.

Just imagine it all done up with new upholstery that isn't baby ***** green or at least with a new deck in it and a stereo. At least you can have a beer and listen to some tunes to that it doesn't feel like a second job.

 

[Bondo]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I think I am just going to trim it off.

Ayuh,... I'm with sprintst,... My Islander still has the tabs...

Bend 'em over,... If ya don't like 'em later, cut 'em off,...
But,..
Once they're Gone,... They're Gone....

lookin' back,... I wish I'd added more diagonal supports up further along the gunnels, from closer center of the transom...

 

[Alpheus]

Re: 1969 Starcraft Chieftain Restoration

I couldnt get those tabs to bend in the right place so I just trimmed them off. I will add supports to the gunnels later.

Those darn screws up in the top corners of the transom were in a spot that my big sandwich makers (hands) couldnt fit, so I called out the old lady to give me a hand.

I then totally copied Jasons idea and hooked up my cherry picker to the transom via a nylon tow strap I had laying around.
I started lifting and and the boat lifted up off the trailer with my girlfriend (Amy) still in it. I jumped in and the strap snapped. I then wrapped a bunch of rope around and started again. Once again the boat lifted up, I jumped in and started jumping up and down and it wouldn't budge. I grabbed my screw driver and scraped away a small piece of Bondo and KABOOM!!! she lifted out.

I lifted the transome as high as it would go but the one corner wouldnt come out.

Amy missed a single screw so Back to work she goes.