1977 StarCraft 18' SS restore

[Decker83]

Been reading the StarCraft Boats for a long time.. I finally broke down and bought one..
I have been restoring a 1983 deck boat for the last 3 years.. Now I am ready for the tinny..
Brought this boat home back in Nov. 2013 and it has just been sitting in the driveway until this year..
Here are some pics in the driveway..

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Its gonna be fun to follow along. Im not done with mine and Im already looking for the next bigger one thats making me think I should have done a pre-nup.

 

[jbcurt00]

Great base for a project Decker

Looks great!

 

[Decker83]

Thanks g0nef1sshn.. Welcome aboard..

Well there is some good and bad with this one.. It has the white leg of death on the back..





and a 140 hp omc 4 cylinder..




I am going to repower with a mercuriser 3.0 140 hp..
I have some more pics of the tear down..







Just tearing out the bad stuff.. No foam on this one..:cheer2:

Have a few more pics to come..

 

[jbcurt00]

Whats the plan for plugging the hole left by the WLOD?

 

[Decker83]

Thanks jbcurt00..
Have a uncle that has a complete sheet metal shop.. I will have access to a tig welder. Going to do the opposite of what jasoutside did..
He put a large patch on the outside of the hull.. I will cut a piece to fit the hole and weld it, then put a larger piece of 1/4 or 3/16 5052 on the inside..
I don't plan on welding the lager piece to the transom.. I will use 3m 5200 to butter both the transom and the patch plate and use a countersink rivets
from the inside to hold in place.. I then plan to use a router to cut out the depth of the transom wood to match the plate..
Hope that makes sense..:lol:

I wanted to get some pics of how I removed the back deck over the engine but didn't have my camera with me..
I tried to find a thread with someone showing how and could not find one..

What I did to remove it was 1st take some of the rubber off the rub rail.. About 2 feet.. Then I reached up under the gunwale with a wrench to hold the nut on the
back of the screw that holds the rub rail and then took them out.. I removed 2 of them on each side.. Then I was able pull the rub rail out and drill out the pop rivets that hold the deck down..
Then I drill out the pop rivets that hold the gunwale down.. I removed enough to go down the gunwale about 2 feet.. This also let me remove the transom wood without having to bend or cut the gunwale that is over the transom..

 

[Decker83]

Here are some pics on 3/15/15..

 

[Watermann]

Nice 18'er with some great potential. What are your plans for her? Restore to same open bow runabout or a fishing machine? Looks like you got your work cut out for you doing a WLOD repower, just the kind of stuff I like to see!

If you patch on the inside of the transom skin then how do you plan on making the transom wood sit flush over the extra material?

 

[Decker83]

Here is where I am at today..
Removed the engine.. Had a little problem with my hoist..



The solution..


Worked great..:frog:



Also I went and found a donor boat and brought it home today..
1985 Glastron Conroy 19' with a 3.0 140 hp merc..
He was asking 1500 on CL.. I got him down to 600..
He told me (as they all do) that the motor was strong and he put all new steering and shift controls on it last year..

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Nice score on the donor. I really wish I could leave boats in my drive. That trailer alone could sell for that price in some places.

Tomorrow it'll be stripped and painted.

 

[Decker83]

Some more pics of the donor..















Has a really nice trailer and decent wheels.. Pulled great on the way home..
Has some back to back seats that I may use on the deck boat..
The gauge's looked good, but I don't know if they work.. PO said all the wiring and gauge's did work..
Had 2 big tubes and some skies and alot of other stuff in the hull.. Windshields were removed and he put them in the boat..
Has a new trim/tilt motor that will need to be installed..
All in all had a very good Sunday..

 

[Decker83]

Some more pics after I removed the transom..
Not sure what thread I read this in but it worked great for me..



I really was worried about the transom skin being pitted.. After I got the rotted wood out the skin looked dirty but was
in good shape..





Here is what's left of the transom wood..



Hope everyone has a great week..eace:

 

[Decker83]

Nice 18'er with some great potential. What are your plans for her? Restore to same open bow runabout or a fishing machine? Looks like you got your work cut out for you doing a WLOD repower, just the kind of stuff I like to see!

If you patch on the inside of the transom skin then how do you plan on making the transom wood sit flush over the extra material?

Thanks Watermann. Read your thread from start to now.. Great work.. May pm you with question down the road..

I am going to use the countersink rivets on the inside so they are flush with the plate.. I will then use a router to cut out the depth and size of the plate in the transom wood.. Should make for a tight fit with no give..

 

[Decker83]

Nice score on the donor. I really wish I could leave boats in my drive. That trailer alone could sell for that price in some places.

Tomorrow it'll be stripped and painted.

Thanks.. The admiral is hoping I can get some return on the old glasser.. (lol)
Maybe when I was 20.. Only in my dreams could I work that fast..:lol:

 

[Watermann]

Jeez forgot :welcome: to the Starmada!

Your ring and secret handshake instructions are forthcoming. :lol:

Awesome load of pics right out of the gate :thumb:

 

[Decker83]

Jeez forgot :welcome: to the Starmada!

Your ring and secret handshake instructions are forthcoming. :lol:

Awesome load of pics right out of the gate :thumb:

Thanks Watermann..
Have 2 questions..
How do I add a link to the bottom of my post for this thread?
How do I do multiple qoutes?
Thanks in advance..

 

[jbcurt00]

Awesome, a new topic, a complete tear down, AND a donor???

What the heck, seems like that SS has rolled into the Texas version of nirvana

Someone HAS been waiting to do some boat work!

 

[dozerII]

Great looking project SS Decker, will be following along as well.

 

[jbcurt00]

Decker: in the top right corner of any forum page is your user name. Click the menu down arrow to the right of your name.

From the drop down menu pick User Settings. Then pick the About tab

Edit post signature is near the bottom of the page that opens showing your profile's details/info. Changing your signature and adding a link to your Starcraft build is similar to before. There's an add URL link tool in the tools that drop down when you click the capital underlined At the top right corner of a post window. The link icon looks like a chain.

For multiple quotes, click the 1st post you want to quote using the quote button at the bottom right corner of a reply window. When you do, notice that the Post Reply button at the top left corner of the reply window changes color and also has (1) after it.

Don't type anything yet, just scroll to the next post you want to quote, and press quote again. Notice the Post Reply button is still a different color, but now has (2) after it.

Continue adding posts to quote until you have selected all the posts you want to quote. Now click the Post Reply button at the top left corner of your browser window. The server will open a reply window that has all your selected quotes posted. Just type whatever you'd like to post before or after each quoted reply.

 

[classiccat]

Welcome to the Starmada Decker! :welcome:

You aren't wasting any time man!

I'm dying to know...how far did you low-ball the donor-owner on 1st-bid??? :lol: