1970’s StarCraft 21’ Cuddy Cabin

[Watermann]

Well it's great to see the old Chief found someone to love her again, welcome aboard.

The bow support section was solid mahogany, here's mine prior to putting the cover and cabin on.

 

[IslandExplorer]

Just like those Chieftain 182112 shared would be perfect. It's nice to elevate the seats anyway for better visibility and sometimes you end up with some extra space left for storage pockets and stuff!

 

[AlamoJack]

Well it's great to see the old Chief found someone to love her again, welcome aboard.

The bow support section was solid mahogany, here's mine prior to putting the cover and cabin on.

Do you know what the dimensions on the mahogany are? Almost appears to be a 1x8 or so, cut into a curve. Mahogany is all special order stuff here in Colorado, so it would be very helpful to order the right stuff. Thanks for the picture, that fills in all the information I’ve been missing as far as what is supposed to be there.

 

[Watermann]

Do you know what the dimensions on the mahogany are? Almost appears to be a 1x8 or so, cut into a curve. Mahogany is all special order stuff here in Colorado, so it would be very helpful to order the right stuff. Thanks for the picture, that fills in all the information I’ve been missing as far as what is supposed to be there.

I don't know for sure, it could be it was a 1x8 to start with it is 1" thick. Personally if mine would have been rotten or missing then I would have used some regular lumber and sealed it up well as it's for the most part not even visible and SC had the wood covered with a black vinyl on the outer longest arch.

 

[AlamoJack]

Here’s todays progress. We got the floor cut and epoxied yesterday, finally got it mostly riveted today. Still have to finish riveting, then I can sand and epoxy the top side. Slow but steady progress, anyways.

 

[IslandExplorer]

Great progress, looks like you're diving right in!
Like Watermann said, the wood supports aren't visible really so if replacing you don't have to be as fancy as mahogany or teak. In my 74 Chieftain it has plywood supports under there... I was surprised as my Starchief had the mahogany. In any case- strong sealed wood supports of any kind would do. Definitely important that this area is well reinforced.

 

[AlamoJack]

Interesting thing happened today. So, I was leaving my shop after work and pondering where I might find boat flooring options locally, and to leave my shop I have to cut through the Carpet One parking lot. I figured it was a long shot but I stopped to see if the guys might have any boat carpet. Sure enough, Jared had just ordered a roll to do his own boat and said I could buy it by the yard since he didn’t need it all. $8 a yard, and not a bad color either.

The funny thing is, we were talking about boats and he asked what mine was, so I told him. He got kind of a funny look and said, “StarCraft? My grandfather helped found that company. He helped build one of the first fiberglass boats to be approved by the coast guard.” He showed me a picture in the office of his grandfather sanding on a Starcraft fiberglass boat.

Anyways, thought it interesting. Small world. Here in the middle of landlocked Colorado I run into the grandson of the guy who may possibly have had a hand in designing my boat.

 

[AlamoJack]

Great progress, looks like you're diving right in!
Like Watermann said, the wood supports aren't visible really so if replacing you don't have to be as fancy as mahogany or teak. In my 74 Chieftain it has plywood supports under there... I was surprised as my Starchief had the mahogany. In any case- strong sealed wood supports of any kind would do. Definitely important that this area is well reinforced.

My father in law said I should check with a particular cabinet builder here in town who happens to be an old friend’s dad. Sure enough, he said he’s got several pieces of mahogany laying around big enough to frame up the bow. I figured I could use oak or any hardwood really, but the mahogany will be nice.

 

[AlamoJack]

I forgot my sander at the shop, so we couldn’t sand and epoxy the deck today. Em and I did finish riveting it though. I put 3 in the field down the runners, as opposed to the factory sheeting that had nothing in the middle. Nice and solid. We played around with the tanks and what is left of the cabin aluminum. Question: do the cabin seat boxes slant inwards towards the bow as in my picture, or are they squared out?

 

[1975oday22]

they are squared out. your missing a piece inbetween the 2 seats

 

[AlamoJack]

they are squared out. your missing a piece inbetween the 2 seats

Looks like I’m gonna have to do some fabricating. Other than small brackets and angle aluminum I’m out of big pieces.

 

[AlamoJack]

Here’s a very small update. I got the cabin wall cut. Still have to sand and epoxy. Minions for scale.

 

[junkman306]

Here’s a very small update. I got the cabin wall cut. Still have to sand and epoxy. Minions for scale.

That looks good!

 

[AlamoJack]

Does anybody have any pictures of the box around the engine on your I/O? I’ve been digging around through the build threads and I’m not finding anything helpful. I appear to have most of the framework for that area, but still puzzling it out.

 

[Watermann]

Check some of the Holiday builds, this one has good dog house info.

1976 Starcraft 18'Holiday from the tin out Re-do

I usually travel to the U.S. to liberate old Starcrafts, but I found this nice Holiday in Cranbrook B.C Can. The hull was straight and the drive train looked good, the five coats of paint on here well that was pretty rough. The interior well it was 36 years old and the boat was well used...

forums.iboats.com

 

[Gibbles]

Check some of the Holiday builds, this one has good dog house info.

1976 Starcraft 18'Holiday from the tin out Re-do

I usually travel to the U.S. to liberate old Starcrafts, but I found this nice Holiday in Cranbrook B.C Can. The hull was straight and the drive train looked good, the five coats of paint on here well that was pretty rough. The interior well it was 36 years old and the boat was well used...

forums.iboats.com

Dozer is an artist.
I remember following along with this one.

I did my best to follow his lead and do the polished sides and bottom.

That man surely knows his ****, I gave up and went with the sides on my chief only but not a mirror polish.

That's not something that I'll ever attempt again.

 

[Watermann]

Dozer is an artist.
I remember following along with this one.

I did my best to follow his lead and do the polished sides and bottom.

That man surely knows his ****, I gave up and went with the sides on my chief only but not a mirror polish.

That's not something that I'll ever attempt again.

I hope he makes a comeback here, sad when we lose guys to life and other interests.

 

[Driftless13]

Hi everybody. By way of introducing myself, first off: Before last Sunday I basically knew nothing about boats. I gave my cousin some rolls of barbed wire, and his way of saying thanks was to give me this boat. I do believe he got the better deal.

It was his father-in-laws, and my cousin stripped the entire interior with the intent of remodeling it. What I have is a pile of aluminum brackets, some odds and ends, and a bit of a mystery. After finding this forum and looking at pictures, I have a pretty good idea of what it SHOULD look like. It has the online 6 inboard engine, which was rebuilt shortly before the boat was gutted. The outdrive was locked up, but after I removed it and soaked the linkage it freed up and seems to be OK. I’ve got a bellows kit coming to replace the cracked ones.

At the moment, I think I have two puzzles. I have no idea where the original dual fuel tanks were located. My cousin had put an obscenely large below deck tank it that wasn’t remotely below deck. I ripped that out and rebuilt the aluminum stringers he cut out, and now would like to find some proper tanks and put them back where they go.

Second, when I got it the cabin windshield was cracked. While steam cleaning the boat, I put some weight on the nose of the cabin and the roof pushed down, separating from the windshield. Now I have more cracks. Looking from underneath, there seems to be no framing or support brackets. I find it hard to believe that that section wouldn’t be designed to carry at least a little weight. Does anyone have any pictures of the ceiling area at the very front of the bow?

So far, I’ve finished shredding the interior of the boat. I ripped out the floor, got some of it recut today, still have to stain and varnish. I believe I’ve puzzled out the cabin wall. Thankfully he didn’t toss the door and trim.

Here’s a couple pics - pardon the mess. It started raining about the time Em and I got the stringers fixed and I didn’t get any after pictures.View attachment 387359
View attachment 387358

Nice looking start. Wish I had a helper like that. Mine has 4 legs and is of no help