1980 Starcraft SS160 Restoration

baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
Another question for the Starmada: How are your side walls attached to the gunwale, shelf, and floor? My boat didn't come with any and it seems like many people skip over this detail in their posts. Is there a bracket or a channel that runs along the floor? Any pictures would be appreciated!
 

66Holiday924

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
525
I hope these pictures help. I'm not sure if it is the original way they were attached. There are aluminum pieces that serve as trim and the means for attaching them. You can see a small bracket at the top, in the picture showing the forward section. Mine attaches there, similarly there's a vertical piece in the back, and then there is an aluminum piece that runs the length of the panel across the bottom, which attaches the panel to the floor. Additionally, mine was fasten with bolts down the middle (about every 12" - 18". I can post more pictures if you need them.

I would mount the horn on the bow. If it's going to get in the way of canvas, I would go under the gunwale somewhere. It's a nice a horn and it's a shame to hide it, but the canvas has to work...
 

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MNhunter1

Ensign
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
970
Yep, pretty much as 66Holiday924 explained it. Large head rivets through the side panel and into the aluminum shelf on top, and the same through the bottom and into the aluminum trim piece. The bottom of the aluminum trim gets screwed into the floor. If your panels were missing, the bottom aluminum trim pieces probably were as well. Some have used aluminum angle as an alternative replacement for the bottom trim (ezmobee?) if I recall.
 

MNhunter1

Ensign
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May 12, 2014
Messages
970
[No message]
 

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baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
Oh boy, it's been a busy week. But I managed some time for the boat.

I found a tube w/ rope for $10!! So that'll be great for the kids.

bracket plan.jpglight brackets.jpg

Planning on getting the rest of the lights wired up soon!
 

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66Holiday924

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
525
It's coming along nicely. Awesome find on the $10 tube. I was thinking why spend that money now, with so much to do on the boat, all the way up until I read $10. lol. Horn looks good up there. I would seal the connections pretty good, just in case you get a rogue wave over the top, that happens to hit it.
 

nrf414

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 16, 2008
Messages
573
+1 on dash panel. Phenomenal and good to know the right people sometimes! Great score on tube also!
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,747
Dash panel is looking super nice, I do have a question and i may have missed it but doesn't your outboard controls have the ignition switch?
 

baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
Dash panel is looking super nice, I do have a question and i may have missed it but doesn't your outboard controls have the ignition switch?

Not on mine. The control box only has the throttle arm with the trim switch built in. The ignition cable harness run all the way up to the dash. You did give me a mini heart attack though...:lol:

Control box.jpg
Control box2.jpg


66Holiday924 The horns on the bow are air powered. The compressor and relay are hanging from the underside of the bow and sealed up with shrink wrap connectors. The air line has a large drip loop in it too so water won't run down to the compressor.

All the ugly holes and scratched up paint will be a project for future years.
 
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baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
So my buddy brought over a present yesterday....

dash1.jpg
dash wiring beginning.jpg
IMG_1616.JPG

So yesterday, I got the wiring harness ran up to the bow and got the negative terminal block mounted up there.

But then I got distracted by the new dash and went to work on that. I needed to figure out how to wire the nav lights on my SPDT switch realizing after-the-fact that I should have got a DPDT switch instead. Well, after a few Google searches I found this diagram that may work for a SPDT switch. The diode will only allow current flow in a single direction so I think this will work.

I'll continue working on the dash wiring over the weekend. Should I mount the dash with aluminum blind rivets or stainless bolts?
 

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66Holiday924

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
525
All the ugly holes and scratched up paint will be a project for future years.

My boat is at a shop. I'm having the holes on my transom tig welded shut. They're doing about thirty of them and about 10 of the 30 holes are 3/8" or 1/2". I couldn't believe it when I counted how many holes are in the transom of a boat. I have 30 that I don't want, that need to be patched. I figured, tig weld them and have a clean slate. The shop said they could absolutely be sanded down and you would never know there was a hole there. They're charging me for 3-4 hours labor and like I said, I have a few pretty significant holes, especially when you're talking about how thin that aluminum is. Anyway it should be a permanent fix for those holes. Then I'm going to be very careful about what I mount and use stern savers for my transducer(s). Keep tig welding in mind though. It's not that expensive really.
 

MNhunter1

Ensign
Joined
May 12, 2014
Messages
970
Dash turned out great! I always just keep it simple with the nav lights and switch the bow and anchor lights separately. Keeps it straight in my simple mind:)
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,747
Yeah that's super nice work he did on that dash panel :thumb: and whew on the ignition switch thing :lol: that sure is a simple control box, should last for about ever, like the Mercontrol in my SS, no plastic all metal.
 

baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
Keep tig welding in mind though. It's not that expensive really.

Thanks for the tip!! Actually, I can TIG weld myself and have access to a TIG welder. It may just be easier to fill most of the holes with JB Weld and sand it down. That thin aluminum blows through pretty easily if you're not careful.

Before I do that I need to fix my rusted out door on the truck. It got really bad this year and is now a void along the entire bottom of the door.:fear:
 

66Holiday924

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Aug 21, 2017
Messages
525
I was going to back my holes with aluminum mesh (5200 to secure the mesh in place), then use the JB Weld Water Stick to fill in the holes. The JB Water Weld is a tried and tested method of patching holes. I have about 30 holes to fill though. It seems like there's a reasonable chance to end up with a few bad patch jobs that will pop out when the hull flexes, or leak. My project being on the transom, it won't be all that easy to correct later. My options would be limited to re-filling. I would have to remove everything again (engine, gimbal, transom wood, etc.) if I ended up with a bad patch job and wanted to go with welding after the fact.
 

baldwibr

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
128
So I got my fuel filler hose and vent hose today, so I will be installing them this weekend. Now I believe I read that the filler cap needs to be grounded to the aluminum tank to prevent static build up between the tank and the cap.But the aluminum tank also needs to be grounded to the negative bus bar going to the negative battery terminal, right? Earlier in this thread, it was mentioned that I do not want to ground the hull of the boat to the negative terminal on the battery. But if I ground the metal filler neck, wouldn't that also ground the hull it's attached to?

:help: How should the fuel system with aluminum tank and filler neck/cap be properly grounded to prevent static discharge?
 

Watermann

Starmada Splash of the Year 2014
Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Messages
13,747
The filler neck is already grounded to the hull where it's attached so... the redundant ground wire from the filler to the sender ground... to the battery which connects to the motor which is bolted to the hull... sheesh lots of grounding going on isn't there? :lol:

images-of-wiring-diagram-for-boat-gas-tank-boat-building-regulations-boat-fuel-system-fuel-tank-diagram.jpg
 
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