1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

HA! I bought a bunch of SS hinges from that guys too, great deal there!

Lookin good buddy

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Thanks Jason.
BTW I've also been cleaning up my trim. Using a scotch brite wheel on a die grinder then go over it by hand with more scotch brite and hit it with a coat of clear lacquer. Looks original.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Looks great.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Hey, MP - Shaping up real good there. I see Nautolex in my future too. The up side (if there is one) between jobs is having time to work on the Chief. Glad you have some leads.

 

[rheagler]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Boat is looking great Mike. That Nautolex looks fantastic. Sorry to hear about the job situation, there is way to much of that going around all over.

 

[adamjr]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Michael, I have a question I should have asked before you laid the deck down. I have gotten really busy here and my Chieftain will likely be neglected until spring. Do you happen to remember off the top of your head the distance between the stringers where you mounted the fuel tank as well as the height? I've found a few options locally for a used belly tank at good prices but if the tank is too big it'd be wasted money which is never good.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Michael, I have a question I should have asked before you laid the deck down. I have gotten really busy here and my Chieftain will likely be neglected until spring. Do you happen to remember off the top of your head the distance between the stringers where you mounted the fuel tank as well as the height? I've found a few options locally for a used belly tank at good prices but if the tank is too big it'd be wasted money which is never good.

Finding the right tank was difficult. Between the stringers is 25 1/2". Distance from the top of the rib at its lowest point in the keel to the top of the stringers are: Stern = 8", at the bulkheads = 9". Yours might be a bit different since there seems to have been some "hand crafting" during assembly.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Making limited progress while waiting for my metal fab guy to work on the splash well. The bulkheads and cuddy decking is secure, just waiting for hinges to attach the storage lids. Also have the foam on the sides in with PL and carpet. The wooden side pieces are ready to go but will have to be trimmed to length once the splash well is done. Starting to look at the dash and it seems like I'll need a new tach (broken indicator needle and can't get it apart), speedometer (just ugly) and fuel guage. Wondering if I really need the trim guage.???

8" of heavy wet stuff on the ground to deal with today. :facepalm:

Hope you all have a great Thanks Giving !!!!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Another congrats shout out to jasoutside on his epic splash. Great Job!!!!

I had to make room in the garage for a deer cutting operation this weekend so the Chief goes on the trailer. The dolly is hereby retired. My buddy with the 69 Starchief has it now. Maybe someday he'll get around to using it.
This nice 4 pointer ran by me 10 feet away!. Could have jumped on it to save the cost of a round. Had to post a pic wearing a Starmada hat.

 

[GLG fishing]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Looking good there MP. Yea who needs a trim gauge.
New gauges would look nice on your boat and would suit your restore.
If you want to reuse those switches they can come apart and get cleaned and re greased.
Did that to mine and has worked out well.
GLG

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Hey, MP - The Chief is looking good and a nice deer too. Some new or newer gauges would be nice. Gauges are tough to get apart without messing up the bezel. I say deep 6 the trim gauge. A quick glance over your shoulder is all you need and gives room for whatever else you want to put on the dash. The flooring A-1!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Rebuilding Starcrafts and butchering the harvest, both excellent uses of the workshop!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Just want to show off my new gauges. I think $121 for all four is a good deal. Got my Uflex rotory steering and switch panel too. I'll likely incorporate the push-pull switches as well. Now I can design the dash.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Got the new splash well cut and dry fit. The extra 9" of cockpit space is going to be sweet. I have an extra splash well head board and new brackets that attach the side panels to the deck if anyone is interested. PM me for details.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Oh man, that is some great fab work there Michael! The extra room will make that rig so much more comfortable too

Have ya still got enough room to fully tilt up the OB? If ya do that would be super cool!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

I should have enough room. EZ confirmed some dimensions for me. It does seem pretty shallow but if there turns out to be an issue its all fixable.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Or, even if you couldn't tilt it up all the way I guess I wouldn't care all that much I think. The space gained in the cockpit would be worth it to me

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Great fabbing there Michael. Looks great.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Well guys and gals dispite the weather I'm managing to get some things done. Working under a tarp these days. Installed the side panels. They are padded and covered with vinyl, the small riveets will be hidden by the seat boxes. I added some cut outs to allow access to the strage space behind them. The floor is done with a storage locker in front of the door (you might be able to make it out in one of the pics). The battery tray is installed and the cuddy door is trimmed out. Bilge pump is mounted. It's a brand new in the package Sahara 50 gpm with float switch I picked up for $30 on CL. Slowly messing with the helm and finally decided how to arrange the gauges. The new splash well needs paint but I'm in no rush since it makes it easy to climb in and out with it out of the way. Been collecting odds and ends parts along the way. I figured out what size the seat boxes are but putting a seat on some crates and playing with the steering wheel. Couldn't help but to go Bruum Bruum a couple times and it reminded me of Jason.
I had better get a move on since I'll be starting a new job in a couple weeks. You won't see me around as much as usual but I will be around.

Mike

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Everything looks great and congrats on the job!