1959 Starcraft 16' Super Constellation - Winner 2016 Starmada SOTY Award

[jbcurt00]

........... Anyone who thinks an old tin boat can't compete with the old mahogany wood boats ( Another class of beautiful boats ) needs to come read this thread. Absolutely fabulous work.:encouragement:

I meet a guy a couple of weeks ago that won a trophy for the outboard class at a wooden boat show.... In a tin boat Early 50's Feathercraft. Drove the wooden boat owners crazy, so the next years show had a separate class for non-wooden outboard glass or tin boats

Wheel looks perfect Dale. I have a similar wheel by Wilcox Crittenden I need to do some minor touch ups on. Find someone to help you wind the steering drum. Having some tension on the cables really helps.

 

[Watermann]

You're doing some great work Dale! :thumb:

Looking forward to seeing some water under the ole gal. :happy:

 

[59 Fatty]

Hey Dale,
That boat looks amazing! You are a boating artist.
Dave

 

[ssdale]

Hello everyone! Its been a while again since I had time to post progress on the project because of the annoyance of having to make a living!

-Got the steering cables installed. Followed the tips here on iboats and it went like a snap compared to my last project. ALL original hardware cleaned up great!

-Windshield frame stripped of paint and plexiglass cleaned up reasonably well. Shes got one crack and its not too bad so I don't want to monkey with it any more than necessary. New gasket. All original hardware.

-My re-furbished decals installed.

-All aluminum trim stripped with oven cleaner, steelwooled, Mothers polished and re-attached to dash and gunnels. Getting it to look right to cover the lap of the bow cap was a slow chore. Drilled pilot holes for each zinc coated spiral trim nail. Though the trim nails had a neater, more of an original look than the philips headed stainless screws I had access to.

-Rear Starcraft castings and sternlight installed- A previous owner had already drilled the hole in the casting for the sternlight- Not me. I know it probably never had one origonally and this is possibly a little too modern, but I really dig it.

Finishing the windlass anchor instal next. Waiting on finish to cure on the small mahogany mounting plate and weather is soooo wet!

Thanks for all previous kind words and encouragement- Dale

 

[jbcurt00]

Its looking great Dale!

Look forward to seeing it ply Missouri water soon.

And a definite SOTY candidate.

 

[Watermann]

She looks great! :thumb:

I can almost hear the waves lapping at her sides already. :joyous:

 

[ssdale]

Thanks!!!! The SOTY,........ I am truly humbled to even be thought of in that context.:hail:

Almost ready to start wiring the boat. also ready to mount the 1960 Evinrude Lark II. It has a remote starter solenoid box that has an original long cable that will reach the dash for the ignition switch. All seems to be in excellant condition other than the cable sheathing is partially covered with a ugly orange yellow overspray. I am assuming that was the color of the attempted repaint of its original boat to which it was attached.

Is there a way to clean electrical the electrical cable sheath? Can I just give it a light dusting of flat black spray paint? That is the only practical solution that I can come up with. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks again,

 

[jbcurt00]

I might try the bumper back to black stuff from an auto parts place, but it's likely to be glossy.

 

[Watermann]

That sheath is plastic right? Maybe grab a can of Krylon Fusion and see if it hangs on.

 

[ssdale]

It's 1960 vintage so i guess it is similar to todays plastic. The gnition switch harness seems to be in pretty good shape and not too brittle. I think either of your suggestions will adhere and not make it more brittle. I've used the bumper paint before and it is really good stuff-just never thought about it for this. My son says the Fusion paints are good al. Thanks for the jogging my numb brain back on the right path!
I wish I could just get that baby crap yellow hue off of it. Tomorrow it is supposed to be raining-again-so I might try a little paint thinner or acetone on a tiny spot to see what happens. Will try to get a couple of picks of the starter box setup.
Dale

 

[GA_Boater]

Try the acetone or paint thinner with some fine steel wool. Try it in spot that wont show when the cable is installed, just in case. 55 year old plastics are different than many of today's plastics.

The tinny is looking great. Show quality to my eyes. :thumb:

 

[ssdale]

Thanks, but remember-everything looks better on the internet!

GOOD-Tried the acetone today and it was really not cutting it so I got the idea to speed things up by getting a slight bit of paint stripper in the steel wool. It works perfectly and doesn't look to be damaging the sheath. Probably won't take any longer than trying to recoat/paint as discussed previously. Another problem solved with the help of you guys!:clap2: The pic shows a small section (above the box) of the sheath that I got cleaned up between the yellow over spray.

BAD- In my test of removing paint from the cable I accidently got a drip of stripper on the solenoid box! It slowly ran across and damaged the original Evinrude decal before I noticed it :facepalm:. I included a pic of the solenoid box and controls that I got off eBay a couple of years ago for this project. I was planning on stripping the box but masking off and saving the original decal. We have a local person who can remake the decal, but its always tuff to get them just right. Guess now I have no choice. If there is a site to purchase this exact decal on line, let me know. I know it can be custom made, but I can get that locally.
Thanks for everything,
Dale

 

[jbcurt00]

Not sure that exact evinrude solenoid box logo is available, but NyMarine carries them

 

[ssdale]

Thanks for the link. Very informative regarding the styles for the years. I wonder if anyone can identify what year the selonoid box that I have was made? I will make a sketch for the local decal maker and get a price before I give up and order one of the 1956 with the red emblem.

Here is a pic of the duplicate ALCOA sticker that i had our local sign shop recreate for this boat. I could just faintly make out the image, then I found an image on the internet that was similar to get the correct colors. I know its a bit overboard, but its the "forever" qualities of the aluminum that are part of my fascination with these old boats. And it shows what a BIG deal aluminum was in the late 1950's.
Thanks,
Dale

 

[will w.]

It's going to look great when you're finished. I too see a difference in aluminum quality new vs old.

 

[MTboatguy]

I can tell you for a fact, my 1968 aluminum Mirrocraft has a better quality aluminum, than my 98 Western Aluminum utility has.

 

[ssdale]

With the help of my son, Ben, we set the 1960 Lark II into place. The hardware and even the bolt holes for the controls all reflect that an Evinrude was the only motor ever on this boat.
As I mentioned earlier, I have not seen this motor run. I was assured by the guy that I bought it from that it was in good shape, although HE had never seen it run. The last registration sticker on it is from 1971! We got 135 psi and a good HOT spark in both cylinders. Still have to do some wiring and water pump inspection before test firing.

Thanks,
Dale

 

[Watermann]

Nice Dale! She looks great with the 'new' motor.

 

[jbcurt00]

Looks great w the Lark

 

[ssdale]

Finally had a little time to work on the project this week. New impeller from iboats is installed. gear oil is good but will change it out when I get her running. Best of all, Peter at nymarine made a replica decal that is now available for my 1960 electric starter box.

Thanks Peter at nymarine and thanks JB for the link to this great resource!

Dale