18' Starcraft SuperSport bowrider restoration

[burroak]

Just taking the opportunity to post some photos of an 18' bow rider that my son and I have recently. As you can see it is not a faithful restoration. The goal was to get the best boat for the least money possible. We had the boat and trailer but the boat was stripped down to bare ribs and redone.

The trailer is next: paint job, telescoping tongue extender for the shallow ramp in our area, replace rollers, beauty rings and center caps for the wheels.

 

[_brad_]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Damn that looks nice! *drool*

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Thanks. We worked on the boat for a year and a half---so long that one of my grandsons asked if this boat goes into the water. I asked my self that question a couple of times.

 

[Brimauster]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

That is a beautiful boat!! It is the exact type of boat I'm looking for... I only hope I do half as good a job!

 

[HONKER1]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

That was a beautiful job. Your deserve all the prays you must be getting. Love the idea to put the trottle controls in the back for the trolling motor. I am considering adding Panther remote steering to my trolling motor, but I still have to do something about the trottle and shifting. I think you just solved my problem.

 

[_brad_]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Hey burroak, did you re-paint the inside blue? I ask because I have the same boat except mine is a 16 foot and the inside blue is faded to a sky blue after sitting in the sun for 30 years by the previous owner..

Yours is an extremely dark blue and I was wondering how you preped and painted it.. Of course, this is if you even painted it! And what paint did you use if you did in fact paint..

I'm jealous. Thats a nice boat!

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

That was a beautiful job. Your deserve all the prays you must be getting. Love the idea to put the trottle controls in the back for the trolling motor. I am considering adding Panther remote steering to my trolling motor, but I still have to do something about the trottle and shifting. I think you just solved my problem.

I'm toying around with 12v linear actuators that are used in the hot rod business for steering while trolling. I think the 12" travel with a 250# force will be good. The idea is to put toggle switches fore and aft for control. Remotes can be installed with the actuators for more convenience. Take a look on ebay for "linear actuator", it'll get you to thinking. The total cost should be somewhere around $125.

That old Morse control was payment for a day on Lake Michigan fishing for salmon. For me it was a good deal, I was going fishing anyway.

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Hey burroak, did you re-paint the inside blue? I ask because I have the same boat except mine is a 16 foot and the inside blue is faded to a sky blue after sitting in the sun for 30 years by the previous owner..

Yours is an extremely dark blue and I was wondering how you preped and painted it.. Of course, this is if you even painted it! And what paint did you use if you did in fact paint..

I'm jealous. Thats a nice boat!

Thanks for the compliment. As far as the paint goes, that interior and deck blue was more of a sky blue from the factory; but it seemed to fade and powder up. The boat was sanded down, primed, and painted with an acrylic blue that I liked on the bargain shelf at a local auto paint store. The hull was treated the same way, but I did not repaint the bottom. That paint was fine. I figured, if it isn't broke don't fix it.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

I really love this boat. It is definitely what I wish mine was. I'm not a big fan of my closed bow. Waste of space. I think yours would be my ideal starcraft because I do really like having an aluminum. I don't have to be as careful with it. I'm going to try to upgrade to a 17-18' bowrider in a couple years. We have a new baby coming soon so I'm glad just to have a boat at all right now! You did an awesome job on yours. I like all the white accessories and seats.

To address your question to me you posted in the other thread....I ordered the wedge kit from teleflex to give me a 20 degree angle on my steering wheel and replaced the wood dash. I got a 1x8 piece of PVC "wood" they had at Lowes. It is white and is woodgrained on one side and very smooth on the other. I used my old piece as a template and remounted all the gauges, etc. I moved the hole for the steering a little higher and it (plus the angle) was enough to clear the aluminum shelf underneath it with no further modification. I'm very pleased with the results.

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

You'll never regret getting an 18' bow rider. They are the "jack of all trades" in the boat world. The gunwales are high enough to be secure for little ones and the back to back seats gives Momma a sun tanning place; and when she's happy........ These open bow Starcraft boats show up fairly frequently on ebay, donation auction sites, and craigslist.

 

[_brad_]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Hey burroak,

So did you end up taking off all the aluminum trim prior to painting or did you just tape off the trim all around the boat and paint around it?

Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to do mine.. I was looking at the trim and it looks like most is all riveted down..

Man that thing is nice. I need to stop drooling over it.. Its making mine look like a POS!

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Hey burroak,

So did you end up taking off all the aluminum trim prior to painting or did you just tape off the trim all around the boat and paint around it?

Sorry, I'm just trying to figure out how I'm going to do mine.. I was looking at the trim and it looks like most is all riveted down..

Man that thing is nice. I need to stop drooling over it.. Its making mine look like a POS!

arou
Anything that was attached with screws, nuts and bolts, or pop rivets, was removed. The rest was taped off and painted. Some of the trim was fabricated from aluminum channel stock, i.e., the trim around the dash boards, the interior edges of the sliding back panels, and the top edges of the interior side panels. Just a thought for you if you are going this far, an 1 1/4" pvc conduit was riveted to the underside of the storage channels on either sides of the boat to provide chases for electrical and other gauge connections. When you pull wires or tubes always have a light cord pulled at the same time, in case you want to add other wires.

 

[_brad_]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Great stuff! Thanks for all the little tid-bits.

Your time spent on your boat was well worth it!

 

[iwombat]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Nicely done. Are those sliding panels in the back original? I've been wondering what mine originally had back there.

Mine also has carpet on the top of the gunwales. I've been wondering what to replace it with.
Now that I see yours, paint looks like a pretty decent option.

 

[ER Guy]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Nice job on the boat. My dad and I just redid his 15' trihull, he bought it from a neighbor and first trip out sat in the front fishing chair and it went throught the floor. The whole floor was rotted out. It had about 3 layers of plywood where they just stuck a new piece on after the last rotted too much. We had to cut the floor out and then cut out the stringers and refiberglass the whole thing. I can really appreciate all the work you put into it. Good job!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

I'm sure his sliding panels are original. Mine had them as well. However one was missing when i got the boat so I ditched them.

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Nicely done. Are those sliding panels in the back original? I've been wondering what mine originally had back there.

Mine also has carpet on the top of the gunwales. I've been wondering what to replace it with.
Now that I see yours, paint looks like a pretty decent option.

The rear panels are direct copies of the original and the screens are original. The were made out of 1/2" PT plywood and covered with woodgrain PVC coated aluminum coil stock and trimmed on the inside of the openings with 1/2" aluminum channel stock run through a table saw to reduce the sides of the channel to 3/16-1/4 " and shaped to conform to the opening. This trim pieces were secured with spiral shanked aluminum screws. The original panels were covered with a textured vinyl and wrapped around the inside opening. All the flat panels on the interior are covered front and back with the aluminum coil stock. When it is contact cemented to the plywood it can be worked with a carbide straight shank router bit and a utility blade. Just score the straight lines with the utility blade 2-3 times and bend it back and forth and voila!

As far as the tops of the gunwales are concerned, there were originally painted and I just put them back that way. I can see the benefit of carpet or a nonskid surface, either the glue down or the roll on stuff. I've always thought it encouraged one to step ON the gunwale instead of IN the boat, which keeps a lower center of gravity (in a boat that's always a good thing)

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Nice job on the boat. My dad and I just redid his 15' trihull, he bought it from a neighbor and first trip out sat in the front fishing chair and it went throught the floor. The whole floor was rotted out. It had about 3 layers of plywood where they just stuck a new piece on after the last rotted too much. We had to cut the floor out and then cut out the stringers and refiberglass the whole thing. I can really appreciate all the work you put into it. Good job!

You had one nasty job on your hands. Fiberglass boats have some advantages over aluminum but when it come to restoring them, aluminum boats a a breeze. No rotting stringers, no glassing, no gel coat, etc.

Compared to the job you undertook, the floor replacement in the Starcraft was very easy.

 

[Se2002]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Love it, really. I love seeing old boats/cars with new life. Keeps the classics around.

 

[burroak]

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Re: 18' SupoerSport bowrider restoration

Love it, really. I love seeing old boats/cars with new life. Keeps the classics around.

I'm sure that I'm biased, but these old Starcrafts and other aluminum boats are what boats should look like. Fabricating in metal does not allow you to do things that look like space ships, race cars, and other neo-modern art forms. To me it just has a clean, straight forward design that tells you exactly what it is and what it does.