1964 Starcraft Sun Chief

[Slewfoot]

Hello everyone, Im new to the forum. Im wondering if you guys can help me out with information about my boat. From what I can tell I have a 1964 21' Starcraft sunchief. Ive only seen one other online and it was an inboard. Ive been working on it since I picked it up a couple years ago at an estate sale. I paid 2000 for it. at the time it had twin 30 horse Suzukis on it, both form the early 90s. It was also on a newer EZ loader trailer. Ive been fixing the old girl up and getting it dialed as a fishing boat.

 

[Slewfoot]

From the day we picked it up.

 

[Slewfoot]

This is the inside before I started changing it up. In one of these you can see the twin 30s then I put on a 100 horse Merc and a 4 stroke Honda 8 horse.

 

[Slewfoot]

I pulled off the wood sides and made custom rod holders and installed down riggers. My plan at some point is to paint the inside sides with a product called Duraback I believe its called.

 

[Slewfoot]

When I moved form the twin 30s to the 100 horse I also had them beef up the transom with some aluminum channel. I would like to replace the floor, replace the windshield to a walk though, and if I can put a gas tank under the floor or move it to the front of the boat. I was changing things up on this boat before I started looking it up and noticed that there aren't any like it that I can find. Im sure they are out there but It makes me wonder if this is some sort of collectors item that im messing up. Ive got all the pieces ive taken out still. Has anyone seen a Starcraft like this?

 

[Slewfoot]

This is the copy form Starcraft that I believe is my boat.

 

[jbcurt00]

The boat is rated for up to a 120hp. Why did the transom need to be beefed up w channel?

the side panels you removed were an integral part of the boats chine support. Vintage Starcrafts are known to have chine cracking esp at the rib ends.


it isnt a particularly valuable vintage tinny, so you wont be hurting its 'value' except to those that value originality, which are often people whose family had 1 when they were a kid.

Google

Starcraft Liquid Limo iboats

seen a few Sun Chiefs, but not nearly as many as several other models

 

[Decker83]

:welcome: Slewfoot. jbcurt00 is 100% correct about the side panels.. Put them back in and add the rod holder to them.

That was a great find. I would do some heavy research on changing to a walk through windshield. You will need to maintain the support that the closed bow is giving the boat now..

What ever you do, you have a great boat and the family should enjoy for a long time..

 

[Slewfoot]

I was worried about the wood sides being integral. I would love to not have to put them back on being this far into it. The rod holders I built are out of starboard and I ran them from the floor to the underside of the gunnel (screwed to the floor and riveted to the gunnel. there are two of those on each side and the lightweight shelf that was there I replaced with a 1/4" thick piece of 4x2 angle. I was hoping the those would replace the wood sides. Is there something else I maybe able to do so I don't have to put the wood back in? One of the reasons I took them off is to build the rod holders out of the way so when my two year old is in the boat she wouldn't be so inclined to climb on them. Also just more space. I love the boat and don't want to damage it. As far as the aluminum channel on the transom, I had several people tell me to be careful with a wood transom so when I had the big motor put on I asked the guy about whether or not I should think about reinforcing it. He told me it was in good shape but never hurts to add the channel. So just for piece of mind I had them put it on.

 

[North Beach]

SF,
Here's the page from the 64 Brochure. They don't show the outboard model but do provide the specs. In the 60's StarCraft offered a specific model in only one paint scheme for each year so I'm figuring you have the year right but the brochure page you show is from 65.
StarCraft only offered the Sunchief for 3 years from 64 to 66, replacing it with the Islander in 67. They even used the same color scheme for the 66 Sunchief and the 67 Islander.
You won't see many of these due to the 3 year production period and yours is the first OB model I believe we've seen here. It is the same hull as the 21' cabin boat.
Your boat is the same hull and interior as mine was. I even had the same blue floor covering.
If you follow the resto link in my signature you can get an idea of how things are put together and how they come apart.

 

[North Beach]

And BTW, your side should be just fine the way you have them.

 

[Slewfoot]

North Beach, Thank you for the info. Your boat is the only one like mine I can find on the internet. Really fantastic job on your restoration. When I first got the boat I read though your restoration thread. I need to go through it again and read up. I want to install a large fuel tank and would like to install under the floor or up in the bow of the boat. I use the boat for fishing as well as taking the family out. When im trolling for salmon it can be a pain because there is no weight in the front of the boat. If there is any wind keeping a straight line can be tough especially when there are 100 others boats out there. I throw a drift sock out the front but would like to get some weight out of the back.

 

[Candutch]

Nice find you got there Slewfoot. It was my understanding that the side walls were an integral part of the structural integrity of the boats as well. I also fashioned rod holders out of starboard but put in new sidewalls, better safe then sorry. I just changed the design of them a bit so they cut even along the ledge which gave more room above. If you are considering putting your sidewalls back in you can see how I did it on my rebuild. I can fit 4 10' mooching rods with reels in mine but I do have to break them down.

 

[Watermann]

Nice vintage tin you have there :thumb:

Just know that running the boat with decking and transom that may be compromised by the years in addition to removing the side rails can and probably will be a structural issue for the hull. That year had no hull stiffeners added inside and that is a long stretch between the rod holders you installed. With the side panels out it will allow the hull to flex which will cause cracks to form at the rib ends or even the spray rail chine to split out as I've seen numerous times here.