18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

More Foam!

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

And I wonder if the Hull ID badge was here at one point

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

There is a airshow at Hill AFB this weekend, there was an F16 and a P51 Mustang flying around side by side
Snapped some grainy pictures

Made me smile, and it's amazing how fast that lil mustang is.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Well having some minor issues with a seller on ebay.

I won a windshield posted with free shipping, seller came back stating he won't ship until he gets $70 more to ship the thing.

I gave him ebay policy and wait for a reply, if none I contact Ebay on tuesday...

 

[North Beach]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

is it a Chieftain? i thought Starchief due to the 18' part. rooflines of that vintage are really hard to tell apart.

18 footers of that vintage are Starchiefs. The 22 footers were Chieftains.

 

[InMotion]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Looks good gibb's - nice and cleaned up! Wonder what caused those holes... look more like tear's... fixable but still wow... someone hit something sharp???

Good work man!

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

I agree, it's just an odd tear

I have been trying to figure out what happened, that metal is pretty thick and strong

even getting it flat took some good solid whacks with a hammer but it was in the middle of a dent.

The seller did stay they had some issues with people messing with the boat.

he also said that someone stole the merc off of the back by taking apart the tilt tube.

I have to wonder if someone took a claw hammer to the bottom or something.

The patches will require some work to get off, but any marks on the bottom might give a clue to what happened.


And the ebay seller refunded my $ for the windshield, telling me at the bottom it clearly stated his shipping terms (I bid due to free shipping listed)

I saw no such thing, and him copy pasting two ads into one made the whole thing confusing...

So back to looking for a windshield, and if this thing did not have a broken glass pane I would of paid the $70 shipping.

My FIL had the center glass replaced on his boat at a windshield shop; it cost him about $100 so I'm factoring that into my cost/value.

Oh well, this was my first negative experience on ebay, and I have to decide how to rate this guy...

 

[dozerII]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Hey Gib those tears in the hull look they may have been from a bunk or roller bracket thet failed.
glen

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Hey Gib those tears in the hull look they may have been from a bunk or roller bracket thet failed.
glen

Could of been.

The trailer it sits on now is all bunks, and the wood is rotted pretty bad.

Once I get her off of the trailer it might give me more clues.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

I got that nasty fiberglass itch...

Got a windshield today for $40, just required a sawsall to remove it.

Pictures once I figure out where the admiral hid the camera...

A bit more sleek than I had hoped for, but there should be room for adjustment

I took part of the dash with the windshield so it's still mounted lol

silly fiberglass boats

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

The ad
http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=218&ad=20655037&cat=&lpid=&search=

someone had already taken the engine and out drive
I also took a very clean 28gal alum fuel tank, but I had to cut it out of the floor

 

[barato2]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

and no doubt cried every second of the job at cutting up such a fine piece of artwork

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

and no doubt cried every second of the job at cutting up such a fine piece of artwork

Might of been a tear or two


I even have a chunk with a hull number from where I cut out the fuel tank vent!

The remaining pieces have a nice fitting tombstone (a garbage can lid, as I can't close it)

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Might of been a tear or two

So ya didn't wear eye protection, did you? Are you still itching?

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

So ya didn't wear eye protection, did you? Are you still itching?

No eye protection

Itch is finally starting to subside

I'm just glad I decided to turn around and grab the drill & sawsall
I left planning on towing the entire thing home (to the horror of my neighbors lol)

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

The extra holes flat

I might drill the ends of the cracks before the welder comes to help prevent it spreading, but I'll prob wait till I chat with him in 2 weeks.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

I got a little further these past two weekends

First I decided to re use some of the old decking, so I coated in epoxy, painted, and coated again (it was ugly )
And the piece of wood they used for the nose was to wide and long to make with one piece of 4x8 ply

The roof pannel has the same problem, so I pieced it together using rivets and epoxy
the rough backside pictured, I have the supports spaced to clear the mounting ribs

I also started stripping the paint off, it's going well but not as smooth as I had hoped.

I also called the welder yesterday, he was ready for the boat!

So yesterday I dropped it off, he thinks it should be done in a day or three.

 

[dozerII]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Progress is good Gib, paint stripping sucks
Glen

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Those crackes should weld up just fine. I had my SS welded and did drill holes in the ends of the cracks. But with full penetration I don't think it matters. Good to see your progress. More parts will be in the mail soon.

Stripping the paint was the single biggest PIT$A for me. Try Kleen strip in the orange can. Lakelover discovered it for us and is one of the best short of blasting.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Those crackes should weld up just fine. I had my SS welded and did drill holes in the ends of the cracks. But with full penetration I don't think it matters. Good to see your progress. More parts will be in the mail soon.

Stripping the paint was the single biggest PIT$A for me. Try Kleen strip in the orange can. Lakelover discovered it for us and is one of the best short of blasting.

I mentioned the idea of drilling the ends to the welder

He went into detail on how he would weld the cracks up to prevent any future issues and to control the heat to prevent stress in the area.

He did not seem to worried about future cracking

he also plans on welding a plate over the area, he wanted info on how the boat goes back together to prevent getting in the way of anything.

Nice guy and one heck of a nice garage!

Also only about a 10min drive from where I live (all neighborhood driving).


and thanks for the tip on the paint stripper, I'll give that a shot next.

I forget the brand I'm using, but I got a gallon jug from home depot, I think it was a little cheaper than Kleen strip...

Mostly it worked fine, and I have a pressure washer that's pretty much just for washing/cleaning cars.

I have been using that with the stripper with good results, saves me scrubbing time.

I had it finish off a pair of shoes, several sets of gloves, skin, paint, and I even got those weird dark stains off of the inside of the boat!

Once I get the boat back, I'll get the transom pulled, and I have a can of gulvit on standby for some quality sealing time