1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

The original splash date is this July 4. It's looking pretty good so far. There are only a couple small details that could screw that up.

Whew! I'm thinking yur way ahead of that date

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

That's gonna be a fun splash. Michael. Yep, you owe the missus a nice dinner and night out.

EDIT - Todays cartoon seems appropriate.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Or months in my case... (face palm here)
Emoticons aren't working for me lately.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

EDIT - Todays cartoon seems appropriate.

My world......

:redface::facepalm:

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

I think the toon hit close to home for a lot of us.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Now that the chief is backed into the soon to be torn down garage I can make some progress during this rainy weather. I have lots of empty sandwich bags thes days. Last night I trimmed the transom drain tubes with a die grinder and 36 grit wheel. That only took about 2 minutes. Added a piece of trim along the side of the cuddy door so now it can be closed off to skeeters. Installed the first set of end caps I made.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Looking super sharp

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

The helm is installed. The 15' steering cable is a bit long but it will work. Id suggest 14' max on this kind of boat, 13' would probably work too. Tomorrow a couple friends are stopping by to help hang the 90 rude. YE HA!!!
VRO is diabled. Its very simple to do with the help of tashasdaddy, boobie and Reeves. I wanted the space the oil tank was taking up and don't trust a 22 year old VRO system. On the list is replacing the pump and starter gear later on.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

I was actually just measuring up steering cable yesterday for the Islander. I have a 16' and a 14', sure looks like 15' would be the sweet spot for me. I think I remember the Chief boats having an extra 2' of cabin so that would add up just right at 13'.

Hey, I saw that you posted up over on the J/E Forum on your VRO. Would you mind snapping a photo of what you did on your pump if you have the time? I haven't yet picked up a manual to identify all the parts on my engine yet and I'd rather not clip stuff I shouldn't eh.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Pictures of that mess might be too confusing. It's simple. On the J/E thread go to Tashasdaddy sticky and select the VRO thread.
In short. 1) Disconnect vro tank at the engine. 2) Disconnect the 3 wire plug originating from the fuel pump. (The plug should be around the thermostats). 3) Pull oil line from fuel pump and seal it off well. Then as TD says.."go boating" But don't forget the 50:1.

As for the manual I got mine from a local guy for $10 used. He might have more of those but he definately has a bunch of parts for our motor. Search CL in Maine for J/E manual or parts. Sorry I don't have the link available at the moment. I can dig it out for you if you cant find it.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Thanks man, I'll check it out

I think I'm pretty well set on my outboard, she's a runner I've got the T&T assembly on the way so all set there too.

 

[adamjr]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Looking Good Mike!

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Hey thanks Adam. How's that new 2 you Islander working out?

Big day yesterday. Hung the 90 rude and got it all hooked up. Just need to get the fuel tank connected. A big thanks to EZ for taking some great measurements of his motor/splash well for me. As you can see I shortend my well quite a bit and the motor just barely clears. I took 7" out the well and made a new head board thats 2" narrower neting 9" of additional space. One problem is cable management. The shift and throttle cables have to bend quite a bit. Worse case they have a 2 1/2" radius. Is this too tight? I threw on the original steering wheel. The dash screams for a new one but I like the fact that it's stock.

 

[Teamster]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

A jackplate with a 6 inch setback might make the cable geometry a little better,...

It wouldn't have to be a power jackplate as manual one would do the trick,....

I should add that the boat looks great!!!!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

That is totally awesome work right there man!!!

For your cables, I'm kinda thinking that you really don't always have to tilt it all the way up ya know. I'm guessing we are seeing worse case scenario there, which I tend to think isn't really that bad anyway.

Super job Michael!!! I bet you are pumped about that extra space you gained

 

[Teamster]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

I-Boats sells the jackplates I was talking about, If you think it would work,...

http://www.iboats.com/Boat-Motor-Parts/dm/*******.028855147--current_category.--keywords.jackplate--search_in_category.f--session_id.405272808--view_id.268604

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

That's close at full tilt, MP. Good thing EZ read the tape measure right. Are you smelling a splash? It's getting close.

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Thanks Teamster, I'm looking into it.
GA_B--- OOOOOYEAAAAA man I can smell it!!!!! Finish line frenzy going on here. Got a hickup with the shifting and the trim switch on the controls has to be replaced. I just hope I didn't mix the cables on the engine. The one with the longest stroke moves the big arm. Right guys? Seems too logical to screw up.

 

[dozerII]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Coming a long real nicley Mike. I always move the fast idle lever up to see which is the throttle cable.
glen

 

[adamjr]

Re: 1974 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB refit

Actually it turned out to be a Holiday-V with a 120 I/O. I need to go through it and I'm going to do a transom re-seal whether it needs it or not because it missed out of 16 years of maintenance while in storage.

New pics look great.

Hey thanks Adam. How's that new 2 you Islander working out?