18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

[dozerII]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Coming a long real nice Chris, that is one big fuel tank under the splash well.

 

[classiccat]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Looks good Gib!! The interior lights are AWESOME!

That tank is HUGE!!!! I believe premix weighs between 6-7#/gallon (like having a 3-cylinder johnny-rude kicker :lol ...something to consider when figuring out your weight distribution.

Is the penguin on neighbor-watch? :lol:

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

I paid about $4 a foot for 7/8" stainless that I picked up locally (about 30 miles away) at JT's Top Shop. Georgian Bay Ontario Canada - Sunbrella Boat Tops, Canvas Covers, Custom Biminis, Marine Upholstery, Boat Fabrics & Carpeting - JT's Top Shop
I don't know what's in your neighborhood. Shipping 10'-14' lengths of tubing can be problematic and expensive. If you settle for anodized aluminum over stainless, I think you should still buy stainless fittings instead of plastic or chromed die-cast that will pit before long. I found that the 7/8" diameter (outside measure) bent well with a 3/4" (inside measure) EMT bender without using sand or heat. Heat can cause aluminum to melt and stainless to dis-color (goes blue, I think). If you're experienced at bending EMT, this should be no problem for you as long as you keep the foot pressure on it and make your bend in one shot. I tried to adjust one of my first bends and kinked it slightly, but for $50, it wasn't worth buying and bending a new piece. - Grandad

Thanks for the info, and yeah there is a place in town that will build the tops and covers.
It's a tent and awning shop.

I have not talked to them yet, but they mostly deal in custom stuff from what I heard.

I'm not ready to deal with stainless yet, I'll stick to the aluminum due to cost, but if I crush it bending I'll try stainless.

I do like the idea of a stainless bow rail though...

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Coming a long real nice Chris, that is one big fuel tank under the splash well.

Yeah lol.
I got that tank from the boat took the windshield off of.

I tried to stick it under the floor, but it was to tall, nose of the boat; wrong shape/to long.

I thought about having it sticking up through the floor somewhere, but I could never decide on a location...

Now with it in the back + the 140... will it be to heavy...

Looks good Gib!! The interior lights are AWESOME!

That tank is HUGE!!!! I believe premix weighs between 6-7#/gallon (like having a 3-cylinder johnny-rude kicker :lol ...something to consider when figuring out your weight distribution.

Is the penguin on neighbor-watch? :lol:

Penguin is on neighbor-watch :lol:

and yeah... I'm not to sure about that tank... I want a kicker on the back there... looking more and more like that 9.8hp on the jet is going on this boat.

but all of that weight in the back... :facepalm:

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

And I had some minor issues with the lighting on the starboard side, first the bulkhead broke the string, so I cut it, soldered... that worked for a few tests but the solder did not stick right...

so I finally got some good solder, worked much better!
put it back up with that 3M spray glue, then found I broke it again near the end... so I cut it near the break and decided f-it, soldered wires on both ends.

I did find another break testing, and just turned it so I had enough to finish up, then cut off the spare end for a short run somewhere else.

so I learned something... don't go to crazy trying to worm that stuff around, keep it straight... :facepalm:

anyways I need to order a bunch more of that light rope, I want to go crazy in the cabin area. :watermelon:

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

only thing I'm not to sure about is the control box mounting location...

It works, does not hit my leg when relaxing (as I do when trolling around), but I have to bend down to move the lever...

My other choice would be to build a mounting bracket higher and cut holes in the side for the lever to stick out of...

but that will be later... maybe winter, I want this thing on the water this season.

 

[classiccat]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

anyways I need to order a bunch more of that light rope, I want to go crazy in the cabin area. :watermelon:

Throw-in a few tapestries and patchouli incense...to match the dorm room fridge! :lol:

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Also in the control box mounting picture, I slapped together a little key switch mount, I still need to run the wires through the back so it comes out high and down... (wire runs to be trimmed off/covered up in the cabin later).

anyways the key switch is to short to go through the console, I had looked at getting a key switch that can mount through a deeper hole... $30, but I forgot to toss the key switch on my cable order... so I just made this little thing, it's pretty much a Z shape, used the torch to soften the aluminum, then tossed it in the vice and rubber hammer to get the bends.

Once done sanded with some 600 grit, and then hit it on the polishing wheel to get a nice mirror finish.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Throw-in a few tapestries and patchouli incense...to match the dorm room fridge! :lol:

nice!

I need a lava lamp too

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

I was thinkin' disco ball and beaded curtains for the cabin door. :watermelon:

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

today I went and picked up a 1in conduit tube bender, it worked great on the 7/8 aluminum tube.

I just need more :lol:
And I did not need to use sand, no issues bending as is.

tomorrow I'll see about finding some more, the truevalue I got it from only had 2 of them, so I'll need to try another one on my way home.

 

[rheagler]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Looking good Gib! I like the horns and the lighting. Nice penguin!

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

thanks, funny thing... that penguin came with the house, and I was on a toss everything spree (they left us a pile of garbage and weird stuff).

My FIL made me keep the penguin, and I'm glad I did.
The lil dude cracks me up, during the winter there was just a head of the penguin sticking out of the snow, and the magpie's like to mock it with their wings out squacking, it's a riot. :lol:

There was a cute lil duck statue on the bird feeder, not my style really.. wife thought it was cute tho.

I have been thinking about getting one of those lawn gnome zombies eating a pink flamingo for the bird feeder... :lol:

and I'll give Jas the full credit for the lighting idea (I stole it from him).

I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

 

[barato2]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

wow....this is too timely. i was about to begin bending up the tube for my bow rail and grab bar. i bought thick wall 1" SS, so we'll see how well that bends with a hickey. my welder buddy thinks i'll need to go to muff shop to have em hydraulic bend it.

for gauges too thick for dash, what i've done is make a cutout in the dash and a plate to cover it with switches mounted in it. alum works fine, or go to StewartMacDonald or Luthiers' Mercantile for a snazzy wood headplate.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

harbor freight has a tube bender/roller, says good for copper - steel if all else fails.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

also I found more 7/8 in today, stuff is kinda hard to find or what?
I cleaned out another truevalue, but this one had polished stuff for the same price.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

I still have more adjustment to make on the top tubes, but I'll say this... the polished tubes are harder, slightly larger OD, slightly thinner, and they dent slightly when bending... but they also fit the top fittings slightly better.

and on the first tube I bent I wrapped in paper towels, but i had a heck of a time trying to keep the bend straight as the towels hid the curve I was making.

if I were doing a bunch more tubing I might work out a nice leather lining for the tool, but it's good enough.

This weekend, I'm working on cleaning the hull up, and giving it a good polish.

I noticed while prepping the splashwell, some of the aluminum cleaner leaked down the back of the stern, areas that I polished turned out much better than areas not cleaned... so I bought a gallon of aluminum cleaner and spray bottle, turned the hull into a nice uniform white, much eaiser to polish.

And I have some very small areas that still have a touch of paint, and the cleaner is lifting that off of the hull... I was worried it would remove newly painted areas but so far my paint selection is living up to it's chemical resistant promises.

to polish I'm using a foam cutting pad on a high speed harbor freight 8in buffer, even with the buffer it's a pain in the butt.

My hope is to get this thing on the water no later than the end of next month, right now the biggest thing holding me back is getting the hull ready to put the numbers and registration stickers, and I don't want to strip them off later...

and I have a set of numbers ready to put on, I did cheap out a little, but I have a feeling I might end up having to remove them...

Also with the front bow railing that came with the boat, it had a nice bend like somone fell or sat on it...

I straightened it, looks good, but I noticed while getting the fittings back in place, the conduit bender did deform it a little, but it looks much better.

when I pulled the bow railing off, the prev owner used steel plates as a backing... they rusted and started to eat the aluminum a little, maybe in 5 more years it could of done some serious damage...

to mount I'm using large SS washers.
I had planned on using ss nylon lock nuts, but I had a heck of a time getting them tightened down, so I switched to normal SS nuts with a touch of blue loctite.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

The list must be getting short for a late September splash, Gib. It will be nice to see some on the water pics.

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Well still working on the polishing of the hull, one thing worrying me tho...

All of this sanding and polishing, maybe I'm removing to much metal?

Also the cleaner I used left some striping on the metal, it's pretty hard to polish out... I may just leave it alone for now, get the hull to a uniform shine, and worry about it during the winter or spring.
Other option is to run the cleaner once more, and work it with a rag to get everything uniform and start over with the polishing...
Right now I have about 2/5 of the boat polished...

This weekend the tasks are; replace ball joints and look at tie rods in the blazer, then get back to work on the boat.

And I also got rear-ended in my wifes car, yesterday my neck started hurting bad... took some asprin to keep me going... :facepalm:

And it's a real funny story so I'll share ,
I got rear ended by this guy, I think he realized he was not on the ins, and the car was not his + I think if he screws up at all he would get like 10+ years... lots of drama there... he was nuts and I ended up calling the police just so I could get his ins info.
I saw the look of dread him and his friends faces, and I expected no ins, or warrants, all went fine for him other than a long private talk with the officer, so I googled his name when I got home and clicked on a mug shot :lol:

I don't think I can handle any more drama this year... :watermelon:

 

[Gibbles]

Re: 18' Starcraft Starchief OB Rebuild

Also, the trailer crank winch, I had planned on buying a new one since this one I'm not sure if I can use straps on, seems to be setup for rope... then I saw the prices of the new cranks.

So my plan is to sand blast the current one (rusted, and all ugly), I might need to take it apart tho... then paint.