1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Thanks, Jim, I'm glad you folks are enjoying watching me pretend to know what I'm doing. When I go to put it all back together you'll see me with the funny hat, red bulbous nose and huge shoes that will trip me up on those aluminum ribs from time to time (already been there and done that as a couple of neighbors were walking by and telling me how it looked like I knew what I was doing)....

Have been putting the boat parts in the garage and was amazed yesterday at the way the garage shrunk in size when I wasn't looking; then it hit me that I'd filled the space we used for the patio furniture and such during winter storage...which will be soon..

Looking forward to getting the last of the parts stripped from the boat so as to be able to scrap the glue from the inner hull and power wash the whole thing before freezing weather. Then I can get on to the woodwork for the transom and decking.

barato2, you may be on to something with the cabin boat as I've long thought of taking a boat trip from Traverse City, MI, south on Lake Michigan, down the Mississippi, around Florida, up the East Coast to the St. Lawrence and back around Michigan to Traverse City. What a trip THAT would be! Have looked at the idea with maps and it can be done without leaving the water. The Admiral thinks it is an interesting idea...., however, I'd better leave it at that for now.

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

barato2, you may be on to something with the cabin boat as I've long thought of taking a boat trip from Traverse City, MI, south on Lake Michigan, down the Mississippi, around Florida, up the East Coast to the St. Lawrence and back around Michigan to Traverse City. What a trip THAT would be! Have looked at the idea with maps and it can be done without leaving the water. The Admiral thinks it is an interesting idea...., however, I'd better leave it at that for now.

Safe boating, Joe

You'll probably enjoy this thread then:
[h=3]Bruno's and Cari's Boating Adventure (iboats owners)[/h]You're certainly doing a great job tearing it down, so I'd say you MORE then know what your doing.

Sometimes I'd rather be lucky then good :watermelon:

A patio set could be a great place to setup in the garage & use for doing some over winter projects like cleaning up & prepping the removed bits & pieces in preparation of re-installation. Well covered of course.........

 

[barato2]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

yeah, honestly, we all stumble along, 3 steps forward and 1 or 2 back.

good news is that these things are ridiculuously simple once you understand a few basic concepts like galvanic corrosion, and that the people who originally built it (the folks who actually cut the floors and aluminum and assembled em on the line, not the engineers) weren't all that much more expert than you or me. the floors on both my 18'ers were cut by hand, by a human with a jigsaw set at 45 degree angle, not some machine that produces perfection. and altho i'm a hack with a jigsaw, let alone at 45 degree angle, i was able to do as good a job as the factory did.

aka KEEP MARCHING, YOU'RE DOING GREAT.

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Thank you, jb, for the link and the kind remarks. The patio table will likely go in the basement to be used as a worktable this Winter. At least if I can sneak it in it will be...

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Thank you, ba, for your kind remarks and encouragement. One thing is sure with regards to putting in new wood items, it's GOT to look better than what I took out! But it was all for good 'cause I think JoyRide likes me now. :cheer2:

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Today I decided it was a good time to remove those rivet "spikes" left over after drilling/removing the rivet heads throughout the inner hull. I just know my knees, back and other body areas will really appreciate me finally getting around to it. After some head scratching it was decided that the Dremel Tool would indeed save the day again. Using a fiberglass cutting wheel (DO NOT use the original thin cutting wheel offered with the Dremel Tools as it breaks easily and throws tiny parts of the wheel...do not ask how I know this) the rivets were cut flush with the sheetmetal or hull ribs and the remaining part of the rivet still in the hole was knocked through with a punch and hammer. Simple, quick and it left lots of little rivet bodies all over the bottom of the hull so that later on I can do another step in this restoration process as I vacuum those up. Let me also say that knee pads were a welcome item today.

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[barato2]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

good plan there. you'll donate enough blood to this project already.

what kind of cutting wheel did you use? it still looks Dremel size. i've hit the same realization as you, that the Dremel wheels are absurdly priced, and so i now just use one about 2" diameter with 1/4" shaft in my die grinder. there's also the issue that a;luminum literally EATS cutting wheels for lunch....they last 4-5x as long when cutting steel.

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Here are a couple of photos of the Dremel Tool, ba, that I use and the fiberglass cutting wheel used for removing the rivets as posted above. Note the photo showing the tool and available cutting wheels below it; the smaller emery wheels on the right of the fiberglass wheel are very brittle and, as a result, have not been used by me in a long time. The fiberglass cutting wheel is much more stable, although as ba noted, the aluminum does wear it down rather quickly. Small price, though, for avoiding small pieces of the emery type wheels hitting you in the face; and you can bet your drain plug that WILL happen. You can see the fiberglass wheel size, texture and thickness and note that it is held onto the mandrel via a small screw. This tool is used quite often during my RC model aircraft build sessions and, for the money, has been a very good purchase.

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[barato2]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

OK, so those are Drmel wheels. now i'm with you. i use those a lot, but only for small stuff where i need more precision than the 2" wheel on die grinder.

anyone who tries to do resto of ANYTHING old n metal w/o a cutting wheel is just spinning their wheels.....

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

...and it REALLY works out swell, ba, when I can show the Admiral how my modeling tools can be used for things other than model airplanes around the house. Now that I'm on my last fiberglass wheel, tomorrow is TOOL RUN DAY!!

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Today was a beautiful day to spend with the boat. Removed the remainder of the protruding rivet "bodies" and vacuumed the metal "leftovers" from the floor. Then I spent time with my best side facing the bow while cleaning out the crud and metal objects from around and under the center transom support in the bilge area...you can see the results of that chore in the orange bowl (photo below). Next, a small putty knife, a 6 inch rule, tweezers and the vacuum were put to use cleaning out every drain channel that runs under the boat ribs...each was clogged and prevented water from running aft. Thank God for knee pads!

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Tool run? Oh yeah!

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Well, Ga, I mentioned to the Admiral, at dinner this evening, that tomorrow I needed to make a tool run. She pointed to the vacuum sweeper and said, "just plug it in and hit the switch...it'll run for you."

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Well, Ga, I mentioned to the Admiral, at dinner this evening, that tomorrow I needed to make a tool run. She pointed to the vacuum sweeper and said, "just plug it in and hit the switch...it'll run for you."

She's going to fit right in w/ the rest of the Admiralty at the annual Starmadian Luau*


* BTW: you're hosting :watermelon:
As the recipient of the SOTY 2012, Dozer might be compelled to chip in for frosty libations......

 

[64osby]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

If the tool run is still open, a Dremel flex shaft is a must buy IMO. Never use mine without it.

225-01 Flex Shaft Attachment / Model: 225-01

Keep plugging away Joe.

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

jb, when next the Admiral and I get down to Clarksburg we will have to get together for a frosty libation and a hogie!

64osby, I have the flex shaft and agree it can be very useful at times. And by the way, it's the Admiral "plugging away" at me that I'm concerned about if I don't get this rowboat turned back into a SuperSport...

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Returned from the tool trip today. Found some more fiberglass cut off wheels for the Dremel as they do wear down rather quickly. In addition, I followed dozer's suggestion and picked up some Goof-Off Aerosol Graffiti Remover (3 cans) to remove the glue and whatever from the inner hull along with a quart of Acetone, rubber gloves, plastic scrapers and stiff cleaning brushes. And then the Admiral reminded me I needed to pick up paint for the living room and foyer, too, as long as we were at the store...so in addition to my supplies we walked out with 3 gallons of freshly shaken (not stirred) paint and rollers...and her smiling.

So, no photos with this post. Will post some when I use the stuff...the boat stuff.

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Was the Admiral smiling because you got some boat stuff? Doubtful!

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

Today I tried some of the Good-Off Aerosol Grafitti Remover on a small section of the starboard aft inner hull. I was surprised to find it sprays a clear mist and doesn't smell bad at all. After letting it set for a few, the glue came off the metal with me using a plastic scraper. You have to work at it a bit and I did spray the area twice. When the main glue residue was off the aluminum I put some Acetone on a paper towel and wiped the area relatively clean. The photo shows the results of cleaning that one small area as a test. I'm satisfied with the test results and will get after the rest of the glue using this technique. Thanks, dozer.

Next, I removed the lower rub rail caps from their respective positions. The rubber and aluminum rail channel will be removed. When the cap was taken off the rubber piece immediately shrank a bit in the channel as the ends were held in place by the cap bolts. Seeing that, after removing an end cap I put back a bolt through the hard rubber and aluminum channel, one bolt on each end, to keep the rubber rub rail stretched to length. When the rub rail unit is actually removed from the hull I plan to place the rubber onto the aluminum channel back with the bolts to hold the proper lenghth and use some plastic ties to hold the rubber to the aluminum along its length. This should allow me to clean both the aluminum and rubber rub rail. At least that's the plan for now...

Safe boating,

Joe

 

[piperjoe]

Re: 1973 Starcraft SuperSport 16ft. restoration questions

GA, actually the Admiral WAS smiling when I was picking up the boat stuff...kind of a funny smile at that as I remember...

Safe boating,

Joe