GrumpyPenguin
Recruit
- Joined
- Nov 6, 2022
- Messages
- 1
All, a few photos of my 1964 Starcraft Holiday with original 1963 Evinrude 40hp "Big Twin" outboards. I acquired this boat from my Uncle's estate, and the last sticker was 1978. Amazingly, the local wildlife board still had the boat in their records! Rumor has it my Uncle went, and taught, offshore diving with this boat for a US Army special forces diving club in the early 70s. I believe there to be a large element of truth to this story. This summer, 2022, was her first time in the water since. After being a silent follower of this forum for a while I thought I would share.
It blew my mind that both Evinrudes were in excellent shape, and I think they were last run in the 70s. Each engine had 100-105psi compression on both cylinders, and no corrosion. Standard stuff of gearbox oil, carb clean, fuel pump diaphragm, points, plugs, one ignition coil and plug wires and we were in business. I changed one impeller, will wait till winter to do the other one (which is still working).
I believe the twin outboards was a "hidden option" from the dealer for those that wanted to take it offshore with redundant engines. This boat was heavily marketed for diving, and I have brochure of it from the time period. I have seen a photo of another Holiday that was exactly the same but with twin 50s. Also, reviewing the construction of the boat, it is way nicer than a hack job, but at the same time not quite as nice as a standard option. Items like how the lower outboard bracket ties into the reinforcing brackets of the hull, the kicker plate on the transom, the original dash, etc.
All the wood on the boat from the dash back was rotten, though a few original stringers in the bow remain. The wooden transom was not hard to replace, though the 50+ fasteners that ran through it were a pain. I made a newbie mistake and did not use the right plywood for the floor, and even coating with epoxy I have some bubbling. Live and Learn. Pandemic made it hard to acquire marine grade plywood in my area, though I sourced enough for the transom and rear floor section.
I redid the dash and added a teleflex style steering system. The teleflex steering on the old outboards was a challenge, reworked a transom mount bracket to the splashwell and a reinforcing plate. Works great. The instruments are not in standard spots, and the steering wheel is shifted left a bit to clear stringers.
I repainted the light blue paint, and the dark blue is my touch. I left the original offwhite on the hull. Was going to repaint but decided I like the worn look. I also like to use the boat and not worry about it. Amazingly, the boat is incredibly dry. Yes I should have flooded it and inspected rivets. Instead I installed an overly large bilge pump. It doesn't run. Half day in the water and back on the trailer, no water comes out of the plug. Lucky, I guess. The windshields had the lexan replaced, but the frames stayed original.
So is it stern heavy? Yes. But not terribly so. I did move the battery to bow, and my too large anchor helps out the balance a bit. I have also removed the original generators and regulators from the outboards. I found that a fully charged battery will last all day and still be at 12.4V even with 2 dozen starts (before I fixed the ignition coil) and the electric shift transmissions. As I charge the battery at home regardless this is no change to how I would operate it.
Performance? 24kts. top speed, but it winds out the motors past 5500rpm with the current props. It also vibrates the boat and rattles loudly from the 60s era 2-strokes. Pull it back to 4000rpm each and it does 15kts and you can at least have a conversation with the guy up front. When I take it out on the lake over a 4 hour period I burn about 8-10 gallons of fuel, though at least 1.5 hours is me with engines off fishing/eating/etc.
I routinely put 6 people on the boat, 2-3 adults and 3 kids is common. Having the big open area behind the back-to-back seats is nice for teaching kids to fish. I only have 5 seats in it right now, the 6th sits on the cooler.
Any questions or comments please let me know! Photos include the original photo as I bought it, the boat in the water, and various other photos.
It blew my mind that both Evinrudes were in excellent shape, and I think they were last run in the 70s. Each engine had 100-105psi compression on both cylinders, and no corrosion. Standard stuff of gearbox oil, carb clean, fuel pump diaphragm, points, plugs, one ignition coil and plug wires and we were in business. I changed one impeller, will wait till winter to do the other one (which is still working).
I believe the twin outboards was a "hidden option" from the dealer for those that wanted to take it offshore with redundant engines. This boat was heavily marketed for diving, and I have brochure of it from the time period. I have seen a photo of another Holiday that was exactly the same but with twin 50s. Also, reviewing the construction of the boat, it is way nicer than a hack job, but at the same time not quite as nice as a standard option. Items like how the lower outboard bracket ties into the reinforcing brackets of the hull, the kicker plate on the transom, the original dash, etc.
All the wood on the boat from the dash back was rotten, though a few original stringers in the bow remain. The wooden transom was not hard to replace, though the 50+ fasteners that ran through it were a pain. I made a newbie mistake and did not use the right plywood for the floor, and even coating with epoxy I have some bubbling. Live and Learn. Pandemic made it hard to acquire marine grade plywood in my area, though I sourced enough for the transom and rear floor section.
I redid the dash and added a teleflex style steering system. The teleflex steering on the old outboards was a challenge, reworked a transom mount bracket to the splashwell and a reinforcing plate. Works great. The instruments are not in standard spots, and the steering wheel is shifted left a bit to clear stringers.
I repainted the light blue paint, and the dark blue is my touch. I left the original offwhite on the hull. Was going to repaint but decided I like the worn look. I also like to use the boat and not worry about it. Amazingly, the boat is incredibly dry. Yes I should have flooded it and inspected rivets. Instead I installed an overly large bilge pump. It doesn't run. Half day in the water and back on the trailer, no water comes out of the plug. Lucky, I guess. The windshields had the lexan replaced, but the frames stayed original.
So is it stern heavy? Yes. But not terribly so. I did move the battery to bow, and my too large anchor helps out the balance a bit. I have also removed the original generators and regulators from the outboards. I found that a fully charged battery will last all day and still be at 12.4V even with 2 dozen starts (before I fixed the ignition coil) and the electric shift transmissions. As I charge the battery at home regardless this is no change to how I would operate it.
Performance? 24kts. top speed, but it winds out the motors past 5500rpm with the current props. It also vibrates the boat and rattles loudly from the 60s era 2-strokes. Pull it back to 4000rpm each and it does 15kts and you can at least have a conversation with the guy up front. When I take it out on the lake over a 4 hour period I burn about 8-10 gallons of fuel, though at least 1.5 hours is me with engines off fishing/eating/etc.
I routinely put 6 people on the boat, 2-3 adults and 3 kids is common. Having the big open area behind the back-to-back seats is nice for teaching kids to fish. I only have 5 seats in it right now, the 6th sits on the cooler.
Any questions or comments please let me know! Photos include the original photo as I bought it, the boat in the water, and various other photos.
