196X Starcraft Mariner 16

[junkman306]

Well, thanks to some help in a Starcraft Facebook group, we have confirmed that this is a Mariner. It is titled as a 1966, but it doesn't look like they made a Mariner that year. Anywho, it had been parked in a field, nose down, slightly downhill, for a few years. It was about 1/3 full of water and moss when I picked it up.

https://flic.kr/p/2oQaTDu
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The first thing I did was to lift the trailer tongue and put the jack back on. Then, I hooked up to it and parked up hill while filling out the paperwork so it could drain.

https://flic.kr/p/2oQcoEC

 

[junkman306]

Then, the cleaning started. I scraped all of the leaves and moss out with a rake, then let what was left dry for a day or 2. Then, I removed the seats, pedestals, and mounts. I power washed the inside in order to see what shape it was in.



https://flic.kr/p/2oQ6VRG


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After that, I started pulling out the homemade casting deck and all of the carpet. Up next will be floor removal so that I can finish cleaning out the debris underneath and the old styrofoam so that I can start replacement and then a decision on flooring.



https://flic.kr/p/2oQcow1

 

[junkman306]

https://flic.kr/p/2oQ9Wyw
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https://flic.kr/p/2oQaTqy
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[Watermann]

Great project and another one saved from field oblivion.

 

[junkman306]

Great project and another one saved from field oblivion.

Thanks! I just hope I actually follow through with it. Lol.

 

[junkman306]

I got the floor removed and the waterlogged foam out. I need to finish some clean up, remove those runners, and start planning and framing the new floor. I really want to lay aluminum back in, but my budget says 1/2 exterior grade plywood with some sealer.

https://flic.kr/p/2oQQCNn
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https://flic.kr/p/2oQVBA5

 

[Watermann]

Those piano hinged port side doors, a previous owners add-on?

Not sure where the rest of the SC gang is, must be out having fun on the water but they would know about those side hatch doors if add-ons or factory.

 

[Moserkr]

Welcome junkman! Nice save from someones junk pile. Im no expert but the console, transom, and those side hatch doors all look like PO work to me. Nice boat you have though. Turning it back into a fishing boat?

1/2” ply was what starcraft originally used, nothing wrong with that. Just dont reuse the factory floor joiners. Too thin of AL sheet metal and could leave you with a bowed floor.

 

[junkman306]

Those piano hinged port side doors, a previous owners add-on?

Not sure where the rest of the SC gang is, must be out having fun on the water but they would know about those side hatch doors if add-ons or factory.

Watermann, I was wondering the same thing. The vertical frames seem a little rough cut to be factory, but I really don't know. On one of the shelves inside has some more hinges in a package. Looks like a homemade job.

 

[junkman306]

Welcome junkman! Nice save from someones junk pile. Im no expert but the console, transom, and those side hatch doors all look like PO work to me. Nice boat you have though. Turning it back into a fishing boat?

1/2” ply was what starcraft originally used, nothing wrong with that. Just dont reuse the factory floor joiners. Too thin of AL sheet metal and could leave you with a bowed floor.

Thanks for the welcome Moserkr! The console is definitely home brew. It is ugly up close. Same for the transom, but it is in pretty good shape so I will probably leave it alone. As much as I want to go with an aluminum floor, I think I am going to install some more floor bracing and lay 1/2" down. The goal is to build something that my wife and 4 kids can join me on. I have a 1436 jon boat that myself and my 2 oldest kids ( 9 and 11) go out on and they are addicted. It's just too small for all 6 of us to go out on.

 

[Moserkr]

I fully understand! Before I bought my starcraft I had a 1436 jon boat too! One kid, Admiral, and 2 big dogs - it was way too small and tippy. Your family will enjoy this boat much more when you finish it! Definitely carries a sense of pride cruising in a boat you built vs one that someone bought.

 

[junkman306]

I have been a little lazy with the boat lately. It has been floating around 100 degrees the last few weeks here and our humidity stays around 50% or above so, it's hot. One of these days I will clean my garage out and have some work space. I am currently scavenging Facebook for scrap aluminum materials to build the floor frame. I am also looking for a used console and some seats. My thought is a pontoon bench a few feet in front of the transom, leaving space behind it for a fuel tank and battery. Then a pair of captains chairs for driver and passenger and then some sort of semi circular seat similar to what may have been in it originally. In the mean time, I am rebuilding the carb on my Johnson 9.9 for my jon boat. It has been having some idle/low speed issues. Hopefully I can get it out again soon. We have a small lake on the north side of the city I live in that is perfect for testing and only requires a small annual use fee. I may take it there to do some trial runs.

 

[junkman306]

It is supposed to cool back into the low 90s next week, so I am planning on starting some floor work. I went out before work today to do some measuring as I have been gifted a 16ft aluminum ladder for some floor framing. Then I remembered that the boat came with a 9ft long aluminum 2x4. YES!

https://flic.kr/p/2oSHzBH
So, my plan now is to lay that aluminum 2x4 down the middle across the top of the ribs and use it as the center support. It will stop just short of the same length of the factory runners. It is 4 inches deep from the top of the ribs in the bottom to the edge of the sides so the floor should sit flush. I'm undecided on whether to re-rivet the original runners in there to add support or not. I also have these 29 inch long 1 inch square tubes from the home brew fishing deck I removed. I may use them as cross supports towards the front. And then I don't know whether to leave the front section (I don't know my boat terminology yet) open and build the curved seats over it or not. The area in front of the runners in the pic below is what I am referring to. I'd like to use it for storage.

https://flic.kr/p/2oSJ4nq

 

[Moserkr]

Front section is the bow. Start by getting your new foam and floors in first. To keep the floor from bowing you have to use a backer between the floor sheets, either AL or wood. AL is lighter and stronger. The AL starcraft used though is too thin and will let the floor bow. Then use some LF (large flange) rivets to hold it down. I countersunk mine to hide em under the hydroturf.

You have a lot of AL so thats good. Easy to cut with a jigsaw or skilsaw.

Once your main floor is in, its fun to decide on the next part then - casting deck or bow seats. I made mine both and your imagination is the only limit for seating and storage.

 

[junkman306]

Front section is the bow. Start by getting your new foam and floors in first. To keep the floor from bowing you have to use a backer between the floor sheets, either AL or wood. AL is lighter and stronger. The AL starcraft used though is too thin and will let the floor bow. Then use some LF (large flange) rivets to hold it down. I countersunk mine to hide em under the hydroturf.

You have a lot of AL so thats good. Easy to cut with a jigsaw or skilsaw.

Once your main floor is in, its fun to decide on the next part then - casting deck or bow seats. I made mine both and your imagination is the only limit for seating and storage.

In the bow, I'd like to do bow seats. This boat is 99% pleasure/ 1% fishing. Lol. My plan right now is to put it on water to make sure it doesn't leak (closest boat ramp is 40 minutes away) and make some adjustments to the rollers on the trailer. Then I want to finish cleaning it and possibly paint the inside. Then lay floor. I want to build frames/boxes for the seats to add storage and strength for the seats. I am not a pedestal fan. My dad recently remembered that he still has the 3 person bench seat from his old bass boat. It is 60 inches wide. I'd like to place that around 2 feet in front of the transom. Then I will have room behind it for the battery and fuel tank. I'll build a frame for it also. Then onto building a console.

 

[Moserkr]

That all sounds like a good plan. Seal the rivets inside the hull, below waterline, with gluvit or coat-it. Other than that you will never see under the floor boards so painting down there is just unnecessary.

 

[junkman306]

I changed the float, needle, and seat on the carb to my Johnson Seahorse 9.9 to try to solve some low speed/idle issues on my jon boat and decided that I would put it back on today to get it ready to go to the lake tomorrow. Got it all installed and it won't even try to fire. So I got mad and shuffled some boats around. I moved the Starcraft onto the driveway so that I will have a better spot to work on it.

https://flic.kr/p/2oUf9QC
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As seen in the picture above, the side bunks need covered and adjusted. There is some wear on the boat where those rollers touch. I assume it if from years of sitting on the trailer not strapped down and allowed to move around in the wind and such. The roller trays underneath are quite a ways off also. I need to get the boat off the trailer and get that adjusted as well as rewired.

https://flic.kr/p/2oUkTfM
https://flic.kr/p/2oUhZwb

 

[junkman306]

The bow light was crooked and it has been driving me nuts, so I pulled the inch and a half sheet metal screws out and centered it. It will get redone later. I also pulled all of the hokey wiring out and tested the light with my 12 volt Milwaukee battery. It works!

https://flic.kr/p/2oUmSbd
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I don't exactly know what they had wired up on this boat, but this is a small example of what I stripped out of it today.

https://flic.kr/p/2oUosqc
And at some point, they decided to replace the runner rivets with screws.

https://flic.kr/p/2oUi36d

 

[junkman306]

Well, nothing exciting to report. I keep thinking I will have time to work on it and I get side tracked with other stuff, or the weather fails to cooperate. I did test the lights again after dark. I think they'll work for now.

https://flic.kr/p/2oUmAg5
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https://flic.kr/p/2oUmAem
https://flic.kr/p/2oUrzTu

 

[junkman306]

Still nothing new to report. I keep forgetting to buy a drain plug for it. It is holding some water well. It has rained a lot lately and we are supposed to get up to another 7 inches of rain tonight. I could leak test it if I had a plug in it.

https://flic.kr/p/2oVy5cS