Need Some Help With a 1967 Starcraft 16' Newport V Inboard Outboard
I am currently working on a 1967 Starcraft 16' Newport V Inboard Outboard (120 HP Mercruiser). It is a new acquisition so I am checking all the systems now. The key is currently lost (I swear it wasn't me) so I am a little limited in what I can do right now.
So far the vessel appears solid. It was obviously well taken care of. I think it lived it's whole life in Minnesota before moving here to South Carolina. All the fiberglass seems solid. No soft spots in the floor; transom is solid; stringers look good.
The interior is in good shape although the seats may need to be re-upholstered. The carpet is in good shape, and all the trim panels are there and in good shape as well.
The boat came without a battery so I bought a Walmart 695 MCA and installed it. By the way, I noticed a thread on this forum about where the battery placement was originally in these boats. . From this vessel, I think original placement was under the doghouse next to the engine. I have a small aluminum tray there about the right size for a battery. In this particular boat though it appears the owner relocated the battery to the port rear corner on the passenger compartment next to the transom. I plan on putting the battery back under the doghouse and installing a Perko switch as well.
I installed the battery and none of the electronics worked. No blower, bilge pump, or tilt/trim. I crawled under the dash to see if I could "hotwire" the ignition switch and at least turn the motor over, though I knew it would not run because, not having a key, the switch was still in the "off" position. Low and behold she turned over nicely! I was relieved that I got something electrical to work. Now that I knew power was getting from the battery to the dash I decided to work on the other electronics.
I reached up and turned on the blower, bilge pump, and nav lights. I heard no noises indicating the blower or bilge had come on but when I pulled the nav lights on the backside of the dash (where my head currently was) lit up nicely. Now I knew I had power to the instrument cluster so I searched around under the dash for possible causes of the other electrical issues. I found a small, five fuse panel screwed to the bottom of the dashboard. I reached up and started to pull out the fuses one at a time to check them. As soon as I touched the panel I heard something electronic come on at the stern. When I took my hand off of the panel the noise stopped. I figured i had a bad connection so I unscrewed the panel from the underside of the dash to take a closer look.
i pulled the fuses out and the fuse holder and the fuse ends themselves were a little corroded. I cleaned those up and turned on the switches one by one. The nav lights still came on (always glad when i don't screw one thing up trying to fix something else). The blower came on (progress!) but the bilge did not. I left the bilge switch on and shined my flashlight under the engine. I then noticed the bilge switch on this boat has a float switch...when I lifted the float the pump came on (yay!).
That only left two none functioning electronic components if you don't count the spot lights (that look OEM??). The cigarette lighter doesn't work (I don't smoke but will have to check the receptacle for power in case I want to plug in an accessory later), and...the real problem...no tilt/trim (booo!!).
I scratched my head over the non-functioning til/trim switch a little. I decided to look under the dash and confirm the fuse panel I had found did not have a wire from the tilt switch. It did not. However, there is what looks a little like a fuse holder next to the tilt switch (See photo). I gently tried the "push-and turn with a screwdriver" method that I use to open those types of fuse holders. The cylinder did not turn and I didn't want to twist any harder in case it isn't supposed to turn. It also appears a key might fit in the slot which would explain why it didn't want to turn (without a key).
There are four wires on the back of the "fuse block" (or whatever that circle-with-a-slot thing is). One of those wires runs to the center post on the back of the tilt switch. There are only three wires on the back of the tilt switch so I feel pretty certain that the wire from the circle-with-a-slot thing is the power wire coming into the tilt switch. I think the other two wires on the tilt switch should be the wires going to the up and down relays for the tilt.
Now the questions:
Does anyone know what that circle-with-a-slot is?
Does it take a key?
Does the ignition swtich need to be in the "On" position for the tilt to work (it seems like it shouldn't, but who knows)?
If I don't find the key can a locksmith make one or should I try to find a replacement ignition switch/key?
I find myself liking this boat more and more everyday. I am looking forward to tinkering with it and getting it on the water someday soon.
Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.
