16 ft aluminum starcraft "beauty" operation

[kazek]

greetings,i have 16 ft starcraft aluminum bowrider in need of major repair.i bought this beauty at auction and came with canopy and 75hp mariner.upon close inspection I noticed pitting on transom skin.not good.i then realized that motor's backing plate is made from pressure treated plywood.not good.motor comes off and top transom cover.
yep...some red neck installed a new transom.good quality pressure treated.3 sheets of1/2 inch plywood held with drywall screws.ingenious!!!all comes off before snows falls and makes more damage.
floor needs replacement and boat needs paint job.i was expecting that and willing to throw myself into the battle.but that transom keeps me at stand still.
transom skin has pitting right through.lots of holes where engine was mounted.inside is terrible.even more pitting and green and white corrosion.
I am thinking of cleaning corrosion with wire brush,than sandpaper,than a wash with phosphoric acid.after that,wash with mild soap.
as for reinforcing the aluminum transom skin....layer of thickened epoxy and fibreglass.on top of it sheet of new aluminum skin as long and deep it can go.then epoxied plywood transom.thats on inside.outside would get same treatment,but no wood.
or would be better to cut out infected transom skin and leave some to attach new "brace"
question:is there any hope of bringing this boat back to glory or it is a lost cause.

 

[jbcurt00]

Hmm, I think a re-skin is definitely needed, but I wouldn't use any resin and cloth between the existing and a new aluminum skin.

Truthfully, I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving any of this buried in a laminated aluminum re-skin over the top of it:

And before pursuing fixing the transom, I'd strongly suggest you get it stripped empty and ready to be flipped over. After getting it stripped give it an extremely critical exam looking for other signs of potential problems. On both the interior bottom of the hull and the exterior hull. Even though the damage seems to be from the PT ply, it could extend much further.

This may be the worst transom I've seen posted on iboats, doesn't mean it can't be fixed, and fixed sufficiently to be put back in service w/ out concerns.

If you havent started looking into other Starcraft rebuilds, I encourage you to do so:
Starcraft Boats

I'd also recommend you consider asking a MOD to move this topic over to the SC forum. Lots of helpful guys here and there, but I'd bet you'll get more traffic and better tin advice over there. Either here or there is fine, which ever you choose..

Good luck w/ your project

 

[jigngrub]

Here's a thread with a transom skin replacement in it, it's by one of your fellow Canadian brethren:
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/boat...s-aluminum-mckenzie-cherokee-runabout-rebuild

I've got to say that your transom is a poster child for "why we don't use pressure treated wood in an aluminum boat".

There's nothing on your boat that can't be fixed... yet. Like JBC said, dismantle everything and give her a good look before starting any resto work.

 

[dozerII]

:welcome: to the Starmada Kazek, jb is correct worst case of corrosion I have seen on a Starcraft and we have seen some bad ones. A complete strip and then close evaluation should be your first step.

 

[kazek]

Thans for a cheers. Time to strip her down.i have gluvit ready.just dont want to sink all bunch of mullah on floor enp paint before i tackle the corrosion.outside looks not bad, besides paint job.i dont suspect much to find under the floor.might be original still.previous owner got sick on stepping over soft floor, so he covered it with 1 inch sheet of plywood.yep.another red neck moment

 

[MTboatguy]

Man, that is one ugly transom skin, if it were me, I would be looking at making a new one and although not the least expensive solution, it would go to the aluminum welding shop to get her back in the running.

 

[kazek]

Ok.i have to say that is a bad transom.p/t wood and water took its toll.since day was sunny and temps in high teens.....did not take long to get old flool off.or whats was left of it.on starboard side,plywood almost deteriorate, leaving paper thin laminate.whole floor was saturated.Good news is that bottom of the boat is im pretty good shape.no pits,no sighns of corrosion or any kind of damage.the transom is bad "only" where p/t wood was attatched to skin.so at least i have good aluminum on bottom 6 inches in deepest point and 3 in shalowest.project is a go.i agree with mtboatguy.skin has to come off.i would not feel comfortable, knowing that there is rotted aluminum holding my motor.it has to come of.Plan is to cut outer skin out to the pipoint of good stuff.remove about a foot of rivets on the sides and fabricate totally new skin with bended sides so i can drive rivets through and make solid seam almost as original.hope this works.
any sugestions are welcome

 

[jbcurt00]

Well at least the corrosion doesn't seem to have gotten to the knee brace. The upper thru bolts in the knee probably resulted from the transom that got taken out to be replaced w/ the nasty PT transom.

But still, dag nab it, that's a lot of corrosion:

 

[64osby]

Swiss Cheese transom.

Forming and riveting in a new skin around the corners will be a big challenge IMO. I would look to try and save an inch or two inside of the corner. Clean up any remaining corrosion and seal it. Then make a skin to fit to the edges.

 

[gm280]

WOW, definitely a challenging fix there. I would clean the entire hull to the aluminum and make absolutely certain that the transom is your only issue as previously posted. And after it is all clean to the aluminum, have a component aluminum welding shop weld in a new transom if you plan on keeping it and using it! I am sure others will have better suggestions to fix that then my opinion. But that IS how I would attack that issue if I had too...

 

[jigngrub]

In the thread I linked to in post #3 jhendry takes his mangled piece of crap transom from this:

to this:

I don't think he had the old one removed, just had the new piece cut and welded in to the old and that's what I would recommend for your boat. You can take the corrosion of the old skin with a stainless steel cup brush in a grinder or drill and fill the pitting with JB Weld marine. Then a good coat of self etching zinc chromate primer and a couple top coats and you'll never know what that beast looked like.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

2nd the request to be moved over to the Starcraft side of the house! It will be interesting to follow along as you bring it back to life!

 

[kazek]

No Title

greetings and thanx for support.i would like Moderator to move this thread to starcraft section,as few members suggested.peas and carrots.starcraft bowrider cought my eye long time ago,the one i got happpened to be "bit" out of order.
i do admire jhendery's flip.good job.
today i got a chance to work on cleaning up what corrosion left of my transom.and new eat through showed.i would say dozen of holes are visible in 5 inches from sides.there is more deep pitting on inside of transom.there is no trout about installing new outer skin.i wonder if it could be welded in to seam, where transom meets boards.
i am not sure if even 2 inches left from cutting skin out will be sufficient to take a close to 300 lbs motor.i might be mistaken thou.
looking at the bend transom has against side boards, seems to be 1/2 round bend, not straight edge.maybe fabricating new piece 2 ft deep could be best choice.dunno.

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: to the Starmada kazak and the Starcraft section on channel tin, I missed this one in the open resto forum in amongst all those rotten glassers. :lol:

Please sign up for a free photobucket account and upload your pics there, then just paste the IMg code into your posts. We like to see up close with big pics.

Good on ya for not just throwing in the towel on this one after seeing that transom skin damage. Drill out the rivets and remove the Z bracket at the bottom of the transom skin if you haven't already so you can get a look under there. I'm hoping the Z bracket isn't too bad off. I would also pull the knee brace too.

From what I've seen so far you're going to need a transom re-skin with the extent of damage yours has suffered. So Canada has rednecks too?

Keep moving forward, she can be fixed!

 

[classiccat]

Welcome to the Starmada kazek! :welcome:

Congratulations! You have the holiest transom in rebuild history :lol:

Thank you for stickin' with the project and not opting for a visit to the scrap yard! :thumb:

You'll have plenty of technical & emotional support here!

 

[kazek]

No Title

yey.nice to be part of great community.
now to bad news...corrosion fairy wasn't interested just in my transom.b#&ch took a bite in outside bottom rivets.its safe to say that 70% of bottom rivets are touched.looks like mouse bites.
20 % of that has corrosion around rivet head.some really deep gouges.almost every second rivet on keel,stern end of starcraft 1/3 of the boat,every 98% rivets,took tall.
some time it comes to the point of important decision has to be made.aftet what i have seen on bottom of the boat ....i have made mine (i shead i tear).at this point it is inpractical to continue my project.i am on tight budget now.i cant justify at the moment to disassemble the boat.i have to recope losses in seling parts.sorry.
i will sleep on it and make final decision thou
yep canada has red necks.we call them newfie

 

[kazek]

maybe next one will be floater.
i have noticed few different types of corroded aluminum on this boat.although, transom beeing the baddest of them causrd by pressure treated wood against aluminium.
rivets were goten by galvanic corrosion.i guess at some point when exposed p/t wood got wet, and salts in it reacted with electricity from battery through engine and creating perfect environment for corrosion to happen.
for all of u who put input in here and all who may read this thread....even slight sighn of corrosion may cause havoc in places u cant see.thanx for support

 

[Furrylittleotter]

I agree, it's scrap metal. Sorry. Now you know what to look for though.
EDIT: Solicitation removed

Neil

 

[dozerII]

That really sucks, but better to make the decision now that after a bunch of work. Where are you located Kazek, maybe some of us other Canuks can keep an eye open for a nice deal for ya.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Man sorry to hear, I was hoping it was just the transom skin. Im sure you will be back with another. Im not sure if you can part out boats openly here, But since the word is out. For whats left and detachable, Im sure some people will be messaging you for what might be there and salvageable at least. Good luck.