1968 StarCraft Holiday restoration

[jdvasher]

Hi all, I'm new on here so still learning my way around. I just picked up this gem after several months of searching. It appears to be mostly all original (from what I can tell anyways). I pulled the motor to disassemble and do good check over. the #4 cylinder picked up some moisture while in storage and rusted so would need to be machined which is not a big deal as I planned to do a total restoration on the motor before anything else. This brings me to my first question, I have been browsing these threads and have seen several people mention upgrading to the 3.0 litre engine. If I go this route, I would need to find a donor engine to rebuild, is there anything in particular that I would need to look for. Were there certain years that were better than others? Any platform changes that would not be compatible?

I have a long journey to go this boat but this is honestly the first project in my life that I can truly afford to do how I want to so it should be a fun one.

Thanks in advanced for any advice.

 

[huggyb1972]

Aluminum boats are fun to rebuild since you don't have to fool with fiberglass as much. Is this gonna be a father/son project?

 

[jdvasher]

That was my thinking in general. I can do some fiberglass work but I am far from an expert and really hate the mess. as far as the father son project goes, Yeah, even if the boys don't actually help much I get enjoyment out of watching them play in the boat. Its something they will remember. Next spring we will be making a ton of memories.

 

[havoc_squad]

If you can pick up a very cheap rotted donor boat for the alpha one gen one/two 3.0L, it might be worth it if you can run it long enough on muffs before buying it to verify the drive shifts properly without noise and turning the steering wheel fully left and right with drive lowered as safely possible.

Lots of old gen ones around being sold very cheap with cracked blocks.

I believe there is very minimal transom differences easy to resolve, but might want verification depending on whether you add Gen 1 or Gen 2.

Depending on the engine block serial number verification, might be as simple as swapping the parts. Might want to direct that question to the Mercruiser section of the forums.

A piece of advice on ignition, if you replace it, go with Delco EST marine ignition kit that works with your engine.

Unless it is something kept to be in 100% original antique condition, there is no reason to keep the points system unless you're super tight on funds.

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: aboard jdvasher,

Nice too see you decided to bring back one of the all time greatest runabouts, the Starcraft Holiday. :thumb:

If you're in need of inspiration and ideas, you can spend half a lifetime reading up in the Starcraft section :lol:

https://forums.iboats.com/forum/owners-groups-by-manufacturer/s/starcraft-boats

 

[jdvasher]

Thanks everyone, here are some updates of the progress. I removed the seats, interior and flooring. Last night I flooded the boat with water to check for leaks. At first there was only one spot leaking, It was along the front keel section. after about an hour I found roughly 15 rivets that were slowing leaking. I circled them for replacement and was going to go over everything with Gluvit on the inside. As for the front keel section, it looks like i will need to remove the whole thing, epoxy or sealant and then reinstall, would 5200 work well for this?

As for the motor, I have decided to proceed with everything else and will drop in a new 3.0 Longblock in the spring.

 

[Watermann]

I was able to seal up my leaky keels by using Gluvit epoxy, surface prep is key.

 

[jdvasher]

I've been slowly working towards getting the Starcraft stripped down. The mahogany is in great condition with the exception of the main dash support and the main support at the stern. Very small amount of rot on each and could probably still be reused but I think I'll replace them anyways. Hull is stripped, transom is out, now to fabricate, add chine supports and replace leaking rivets. I plan to build a support structure with 2x4's to support the hull so I can rotate on its side for some of these repairs. The support structure will double as a dolly when I attach casters for ease of moving into the garage for paint.

 

[jdvasher]

If you can pick up a very cheap rotted donor boat for the alpha one gen one/two 3.0L, it might be worth it if you can run it long enough on muffs before buying it to verify the drive shifts properly without noise and turning the steering wheel fully left and right with drive lowered as safely possible.

Lots of old gen ones around being sold very cheap with cracked blocks.

I believe there is very minimal transom differences easy to resolve, but might want verification depending on whether you add Gen 1 or Gen 2.

Depending on the engine block serial number verification, might be as simple as swapping the parts. Might want to direct that question to the Mercruiser section of the forums.

A piece of advice on ignition, if you replace it, go with Delco EST marine ignition kit that works with your engine.

Unless it is something kept to be in 100% original antique condition, there is no reason to keep the points system unless you're super tight on funds.

Thank you for this, My original plan was to replace with a new GM 3.0 but I might end up going this route instead, I am still leaving my options open for now. I have been finding a bunch of good donor options around with good working engine and outdrive unit. I guess I need to start researching whats years and models would be the best candidate for this. Its seems that with recent searches that its easier and cheaper in a lot of cases to fine a 4.3 setup. I know it has been done one here, wonder what kind of challenges I would face going that route other than the obvious engine mounts.

Cheers
JD

 

[Watermann]

Nice to see your mahogany bow deck supports made it through the decades, they really look nice cleaned and sealed.

The biggest issue with a holiday and the 4.3 is the stern weight, there is really no upfront weight at all in those boats and a 4.3 weighs in at 800 Lbs.

 

[jdvasher]

Nice to see your mahogany bow deck supports made it through the decades, they really look nice cleaned and sealed.

The biggest issue with a holiday and the 4.3 is the stern weight, there is really no upfront weight at all in those boats and a 4.3 weighs in at 800 Lbs.

That makes sense, I would guess the 4 banger weighs probably not much more than half of that. I guess one could relocate the batteries and gas tank to the bow but probably not worth the hassle.

 

[jdvasher]

So I have been looking into alternatives for the wood decking other than plywood and this Coosa Bluewater 26 stuff looks great. I was actually able to stop in where it's manufactured today. Great people there and a very impressive product. Apparently the 3/4" can span 24" no problems and is rock solid. I am definitely looking to go this route as it would be nice not to have to ever worry about rot again. Ill be using this boat for water sports, fishing and swimming. With two kids I'm sure that the interior will see a lot of water over the years. With this product and a good marine carpet, I could hose the whole boat out if I ever needed too. They recommended laminating two 3/4" boards with fiberglass and resin for the transom. They do sell sheets thick enough but for my situation there would be a lot of unusable material going that route.

 

[jdvasher]

I was able to get a couple things done over the weekend. I got the glue cleaned off of the inside the hull. I took note of another members advise of using Xylene, this made really quick work of dissolving the 49 year old glue. After that I put together a pretty cheap stand to hold the boat for the next couple of months. I wanted something easy to move and low to the ground so I would be able to work in the garage. With the benches that I have installed in the garage, the boat is about 3 inches too long so I need to have the boat on an angle. Next on the list, I will replace all of the leaking rivets as well as the front keel section. I have 2 10oz tubes of 5200 coming in the mail today, hopefully that will be enough for everything.

 

[Watermann]

Nice work on the trolley and dismount :thumb:

 

[jdvasher]

Found a deal on a donor boat yesterday with a 86 Mercruiser 3.0 and Alpha One drive. The owner has agreed to keep the fiberglass boat and let me take the parts I want which is a huge bonus. Also included in the deal is a much nicer Shoreland'r trailer. hopefully have time to go get this stuff next week.

 

[jdvasher]

Playing catch up here on post. Working on repairing the leaks that I found when flooding the boat. The biggest of them all was in the front keel section and it was impossible to identify where the leak was specifically coming from. I know that there was a good chance Gluvit would have sealed the leaks but it would forever be on my mind as potential problem that i could have easily fixed the right way. I do plan to go over everything with Gluvit when all the problem rivets have been replaced and support pieces are installed just as an added measure. I plan to reinstall this over the weekend when I have an extra set of hands to man the bucking bar.

 

[jdvasher]

Last Sunday I started hacking away at the old donor boat to salvage the goodies I wanted. I took the complete drive system, controls, hydraulic trim components, other misc hardware and I will go back this weekend to pick up the much nicer trailer. I wasn't really sure what condition the motor was in but from what I could see and the price I really didn't have anything to lose. Last night I finally had a chance to tear into the engine, and while I don't want to count my eggs, this thing looks very promising. There are no visual cracks in the block, The cylinders all measure 4.001"ish front to back and 4.005" ish side to side. The only real damage I could see was some gouging on the crank and rod bearings on the No. 1 cylinder. I'll get the block to a machine shop hopefully this week and have them go over it. If the block is good I'll have them check the crank and rods and head to see what, if anything needs to be replaced. the out drive seems to be in great shape so I think I really may have lucked out on this deal for $350

 

[Watermann]

Yeah the keel is always a place to do your best work sealing it as it takes the brunt of all the punishment when landing on shore so it's very common to see that area needing attention.

Hope the motor works out in your favor, it's always nice to have faith in your power.

 

[jdvasher]

Yeah the keel is always a place to do your best work sealing it as it takes the brunt of all the punishment when landing on shore so it's very common to see that area needing attention.

Hope the motor works out in your favor, it's always nice to have faith in your power.

Thanks, just talked to the guy at the machine shop and they have a 3 week back log so I'll just have to cross my fingers. Its a race shop and the old man that runs it has been building race engines most of his life, he's not cheap but he is an expert on the old iron duke (style) engines. He said they use to build and race them a lot.

 

[jdvasher]

Yeah the keel is always a place to do your best work sealing it as it takes the brunt of all the punishment when landing on shore so it's very common to see that area needing attention.

Hope the motor works out in your favor, it's always nice to have faith in your power.

I wish I could find a brand new keel piece to replace it with but I'm sure that's not going to happen. Its pretty rough along the bottom.