1966 starcraft chieftain

[bogee]

HELP PLEASE!
So I got some stuff done today. I'm about an hour away from being ready to pull the engine, maybe 2 hours if I don't drink a lot of coffee. Some questions have arisen, one rather large one. I am posting a couple of pics here to show the engine. Nothing at the transom end under what appears to be an engine fastening point. It looks like the whole weight of the rear of the engine is hanging off the inner gimble plate, sorry I don't know all the terms here. Is this normal, or should there be something under that? I know everything flexes in there and maybe it isn't used on these older boats, maybe I gotta make something. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[bogee]

I think after looking at another restore, by the way nice job on your's Watermann, I got my question answered above answered. Looks like that rear engine mount I see isn't used. The 2 on the side that attatch to the inside of the gimball plate are sufficient. If I'm wrong someone let me know please. As I was removing stuff yesterday I was amazed at how shoddy a job was done on the engine replacement when they did this boat a couple years ago. Besides putting that engine on a rotten transom, the bilge pump hose was cobbled together with 3 different pieces of garden hose and the bilge pump was never wired back up, the bilge blower wires were never hooked up, and the fuel line does not look like it has any time left. Good things I found were the styrofoam don't look broken down and the area around the engine the inside of the hull looks clean.

 

[Watermann]

Thanks, my old Chief had one foot in the grave and it was a pleasure to bring her back.

Yeah the rear of the motor hangs on the transom assembly mounts, my heavy V6 still only has the same 2 mounts.

 

[bogee]

Getting there!

 

[Watermann]

It would've made it much easier to remove the transom cover and you still have to pull it off to get the wood out.

 

[bogee]

Actually it wasn't that hard to get it out. I ripped everything out in about 6 hrs. Would have taken a lot less but the engine is now covered in colored tywraps and tags, ever wire and cable I took off has a colored tywrap and numbered tag on it with a matching tag and colored tywrap. I have about 100 pics of everything, and a notebook of the order of the way everything came out. I'm good with the metal and woodwork, wiring, I've had far to many beers to remember in a month where all that stuff goes and which spade connector goes where? LOL

 

[bogee]

getting there, picking up the plywood tomorrow, lucked out the local lumber yard that handles hard woods and specialty lumber has some 3/4 marine grade in stock, not a lot but some! For now I only need 2 sheets

 

[MTboatguy]

Couple of sheets of marine grade? How much of a second you going to have to take out on the house to buy them!?

:rofl:

 

[classiccat]

Actually it wasn't that hard to get it out. I ripped everything out in about 6 hrs. Would have taken a lot less but the engine is now covered in colored tywraps and tags, ever wire and cable I took off has a colored tywrap and numbered tag on it with a matching tag and colored tywrap. I have about 100 pics of everything, and a notebook of the order of the way everything came out. I'm good with the metal and woodwork, wiring, I've had far to many beers to remember in a month where all that stuff goes and which spade connector goes where? LOL

^^^ Smart!! :nerd:

 

[bogee]

MTboatguy it was salty $102.50/sheet, but at least I have it. Could have gotten it a little cheaper at another place, $7.00 cheaper, but ut would have taken 2 weeks to get it.

 

[bogee]

even rotted on the top!

 

[MTboatguy]

even rotted on the top!

Ooops...

 

[bogee]

I had that weird transom board, scoopable, grabbed a hold of it and lifted and it dis integrated. Had to scoop it out of the boat with a shovel. There were about 12 bolts up each side and across the top that someone messed with and put way to long of bolts in and then just broke them off, they were fun to get out! I'm surprised I got this home without the gimbal falling apart!

 

[BWR1953]

Yup. Pretty typical for these old boats. A Dustbuster can get a lot of the transoms out! :lol:

 

[bogee]

OK I could use some suggestions, the first pic is the starboard stringer at the transom, it's bent but there is nothing there. Anything to worry about. I was thinking about straightening it out and putting a stiffener on it. Should these be bracketed to the new transom when I get it in? Other 3 photo's show where the front engine mount sits. I was thinking about remaking it and using aluminum angle to hold a new 2x6 and making it about 12 inches long to spread out the weight on the stringers. Any ideas? I got the rest of the floor out to the cabin and the new transom pieces cut out. Without the original for a template, I used a piece of cheap particle board and had it in and out 4 times to get a good fit, then used it to cut the 3/4 marine plywood. It was worth wasting the sheet to keep from screwing up a $100+ sheet of plywood, or maybe even 2 LOL. Got my epoxy yesterday to glue them and some gluvit on the way to coat the rivets where I have the floor ripped up. Don't plan on ripping it up again in my lifetime!

 

[Watermann]

I suggest cleaning that transom skin of all corrosion, scrub with cleaning vinegar, skin the pitting over with Marine Tex, sand smooth, prime and paint to protect it for the future.

Remove all the old blind rivets that hold down those deck supports (some call stringers) and put in new blinds. Also that Z bracket the bottom of the transom sits in will have lots of corrosion behind it and I would remove it to clean it up.

All that discoloration is corrosion.

 

[bogee]

Yes I planned on that. I am borrowing a power washer to start, hopefully tomorrow. I have all the old rivets out now. I took a scotch brite wheel on my drill and tried a little section of the transom with vinegar, it cleaned it nicely. I found a couple of holes thru the transom aluminum, not corrosion, but nicely round drilled holes where at one time there was something there, but no longer. Will need to patch them also. HEY, I HAVE A DEPTH SOUNDER/FISH ALARM THAT WAS ON THIS THING, A SEA FARER IF MY MEMORY IS RIGHT. OLD OLD OLD, DO I PUT IT BACK ON OR JUST USE A NEW FISHFINDER?

 

[Watermann]

If your going to be fishing then I would upgrade to newer electronics. On my Chief I put on a digital depth finder that matched my gauges.

 

[bogee]

I'm gonna have to get a new fish finder, one with GPS so I can find my way back off lake Ontario easier. There is also a newer decent one on the boat but no GPS. That old ones transducer was still on the back of the boat, I thought maybe for nostalgia purposes putting it back on. I will have to get a pic of it, I have never seen one like it.

 

[bogee]

I think this may be a relic from days gone by!