Monmouth's 1979 Starcraft Kingfisher Rebuild

Monmouth00

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
198
Man, those are some nice fatties! Can you get on the water with a buddy?

Well, my kid's got a Tae Kwon Do tournament in upstate New York this weekend. Next weekend my wife is away. And I just found out my first two weeks of April will be spent in Scotland and Germany for work. So, no. Sadly, no fishing or even boat work for the next month or so.

I told you this weather screwed up my schedule! It's been a month since I was able to do anything major, and it will be another month before I can again.

A May splash is the best I can hope for.
 

66Holiday924

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
525
I'm over here hoping for an April 2019 splash... It sucks, but it is what it is. I can say that accepting I'll be missing this season and looking at a next season splash relieves a lot of stress. I have a lot of time to pace myself, I'm not racing the clock, I can spend as much time as I need to make sure each step of my project is done to my satisfaction. I don't have to spend all the money within a couple months either. I can let this nickel and dime me for the next year or so, and save myself from having to explain the cc balance to my wife. :D
 

Monmouth00

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
198
Another Nor'Easter. Another missed opportunity to actually work on the boat.

I did seal the bench tops with the "Old Timer's Formula". I got the mixture on last week, and it dried enough to let me seal with the coat of Helmsan Spar today.

I also had a buddy order me a bunch of stuff from his distributor friends, and saved myself $300 off retail on lights, battery switches, switch panels, USB outlets, cig lighter outlet, and a bunch of other stuff.

Since I got that delivered last weekend, I took the opportunity to cut the dash panel to fit everything. It will be fitted with a six gang switch/fuse panel, digital voltage meter, three toggle switches, a 12 volt cigarette light socket, and a dual USB socket (left to right). I have too many switches right now, since I really only have LED lights, a bilge pump, bow light, stern light, and a few other minor things to connect. One of the switches and the volt meter will be able to toggle between the two batteries to read voltage.

My metal guy is going to skin the dash with aluminum, and it will be painted to match the interior. Either red or grey, I have no idea yet.

Tiny steps. I can't wait until I can install all of the boxes and boxes of stuff in the garage.
 

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BWR1953

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
5,802
You're cruising right along! Great score with the buddy!

That storm up there affected lotsa folks. I have friends and family up there and they've had enough winter and are ready for spring! :lol:
 

Monmouth00

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
198
You're cruising right along! Great score with the buddy!

That storm up there affected lotsa folks. I have friends and family up there and they've had enough winter and are ready for spring! :lol:

I live in the Northeast for a reason. I like winter. Snow doesn't bother me.

But, 20 days into March and we're still seeing 12" of snowfall in a single afternoon?

Yeah, I'm pretty much done with it too.
 

BWR1953

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Messages
5,802
I live in the Northeast for a reason. I like winter. Snow doesn't bother me.

But, 20 days into March and we're still seeing 12" of snowfall in a single afternoon?

Yeah, I'm pretty much done with it too.
When I lived in Spokane, WA my dad came up to visit me. The day after he arrived in shorts and slip-on sneakers we had an inch of snow. It was May 4th! He had to borrow my combat boots (too small for him) in order to keep his feet warm. :lol: :p
 

nrf414

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
Messages
573
We got around a foot yesterday, and it was 50 and sunny Today!

Same here crazy. River will be high and muddy for a while. All my snow removal efforts seemed like a waste when the sun came out and started melting every thing. Still have about 4" left.
 

baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
Well this is awkward. :noidea: We haven’t had snow in a few weeks in west Michigan and it’s been sunny! :eek:
 

Monmouth00

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
198
Same here crazy. River will be high and muddy for a while. All my snow removal efforts seemed like a waste when the sun came out and started melting every thing. Still have about 4" left.

Right? All that sweat, and a sore back, just to watch most of it melt the very next day. I feel like mother nature owes me a massage.
 

DLNorth

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
432
In southern MN maybe but here in the Cities, nothing, 40's the melting snow.
Dan

"We're at 42 here in MN today, with 4"-8" of snow expected Friday night into Saturday..."
 

coostv

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 21, 2010
Messages
230
Well this is awkward. :noidea: We haven’t had snow in a few weeks in west Michigan and it’s been sunny! :eek:

Nope! I usually put about 4-500 miles on y snowmobile in the Newaygo and Muskegon areas every year! All the miles I have done have been in the UP this year!
 

Monmouth00

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Messages
198
Slow forward progress.

I got the carpet on the benches today. It was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be - which scares the hell out of me and makes me think I did something wrong.

Troweled out the glue with the notched trowel they gave me, and let it flash for 30 minuted before applying the carpet. I rolled it out as best as I could with a hand-held that I bought to do the vinyl.

I feel like I used 1,000 stainless staples, hitting the carpet what felt like every other inch. I didn't glue the underside of the carpet. Just the top, and whatever slopped over the edges. I'm getting a bit lazy, admittedly. But I figure I can always fix these later if needed, as plywood is cheap, and I over-bought glue and carpet.

I even wrapped the edges on the bench for the console seats. This too was easier than I thought. I folded to a point, trimmed the excess, and finished the stapling. I was surprised to see that there was no puckering on the top side when I flipped it over.

I had the wood, carpet and glue inside the house for 36 hours before starting, so it had ample time to warm. The finsihed product will stay in the house another 48 so the glue can set properly.

I am a bit ahead of myself right now. To keep things moving forward, I had to cut, seal and carpet the benches without taking exact measurements. I'm sure it's going to bite me in the future. Unfortunately, without the boat going to the metal guy for the back bench fabrication, I basically had to use the old bench tops as templates for the new plywood.

The middle portion of the front and back benches will flip open for storage access. That's why I cut off the end pieces you see in the pictures, and carpeted them separately. The end pieces will be permanently attached to the benches, while the middle portion will open. I'm hoping that the benches are the right size, or even a bit short, so there's enough of a gap between the ends and middle that the bench top opens and closes without contacting one another.

Fingers crossed for me, gentlemen!

I leave for a work trip to Europe for two weeks, and am hoping to get the boat to the metal guy before I leave. Then I have to figure out when my engine shop is going to be done with the O/B. I have no real idea how much either guy is going to charge me, which has me nervous. But hopefully they will be the last big expenses for the build.

Thanks for your feedback!
 

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