1974 Starcraft SS16 Restortation

[FIGMO]

BTW DID I MENTION THAT WE JUST FINISHED 9 MONTHS OF WINTER IN WINTERPEG!

Deep breath, I'm better now. And yes that was me shouting, but I'm okay now....

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Looks great, we had the same weather here in Ontario. Coldest spring I can ever recall. Snowed twice 2 weeks ago and now a heatwave. I know a guy who left to go back to BC who was calling it “Onterrible”

 

[classiccat]

Nice progress FIGMO! :thumb:

it's been a strange year for sure; we've had similar weather where it went from late-winter weather to mid-summer.

Cheers to being on the home-stretch! :tea:

 

[Watermann]

Oh man that's a long stretch of cold and snow. Makes me glad I'm just south of the 49th.

SS is looking great and you should be able to get it on the water before it turns hard again up there.

 

[SHSU]

Those are some SWEEEEET Pics, Sir!!!

Looking really good. The side carpet looks like it adhered better then mine did (Mine being vinyl though). What did you settle on for the glue? I may need to pick some up to try. I still got a couple spots.... Nobody notices them, but I know they are there.... :blue:

SHSU

 

[Zaphod]

FIGMO, that is a lot of really nice, well-thought-out work, especially the bow area...seeing lots of PA wire there, I've been doing some similar shopping (in the same place) over the winter. I am/was unsure about how I would deal with the bow section in mine, so for the moment, it's going back to the stock shape, minus the cushions. House battery in front of the port console like yours. Was thinking about a removable deck, but will settle for floating and moving on it's own first...

 

[FIGMO]

Those are some SWEEEEET Pics, Sir!!!

Looking really good. The side carpet looks like it adhered better then mine did (Mine being vinyl though). What did you settle on for the glue? I may need to pick some up to try. I still got a couple spots.... Nobody notices them, but I know they are there.... :blue:

SHSU

Hey SHSU,

Sorry for the delay, the contact cement that I used I got through Budski, here at a local distributor. Here are some pics of the can, but I don't know that it will help there.

 

[FIGMO]

FIGMO, that is a lot of really nice, well-thought-out work, especially the bow area...seeing lots of PA wire there, I've been doing some similar shopping (in the same place) over the winter. I am/was unsure about how I would deal with the bow section in mine, so for the moment, it's going back to the stock shape, minus the cushions. House battery in front of the port console like yours. Was thinking about a removable deck, but will settle for floating and moving on it's own first...

Hi Zaphod,

I should have some better bow shots for you in the next couple of posts. I have already riveted the aluminum and wood supports in the bow.

 

[FIGMO]

Hello again,

The next series of pictures is the finishing of the trim painting. As indicated earlier, I had to wait for warmer weather in order to get the paint to stick properly. Everything went very well until I pulled the tape.....


Its official, I hate taping stuff to paint. A lot of work for a small amount of paint.






I found this great colour, Metallic Maui Ocean Blue, for the boat motor. I liked it so much that I thought I would try it for the trim colour as well tying the boat to the motor. The other colour was Arctic Silver. You can see the two test samples above. In the end I went with the Maui Ocean Blue as it looks good and its a cool name.



I think this is the best shot of the colour comparison.


I think the greys and the blues complement each other quite nicely.



This is my nightmare. The tape pulled a bunch of the sapphire blue paint off. Its a good thing I was the only one in the garage at the time, as I pretty much lost my mind for about 30 minutes. In all there are about 7 spots that I now need to fix. However, I have thought it over and I think a have a workable solution to the problem. I intent on just spot painting areas with my airbrush. Very little over spray and I will not have to do a bunch of taping. That will allow me to continue working until I get some good calm days with little to no wind.

next up will be some bow structural work. I am currently working on laying all the wiring.

 

[FIGMO]

Got another post already. I have some time, and a load of pics so here we go. This is the structure going in for the bow of the boat. I plan on getting the support framing in and then running the wiring prior to securing the decking to the supporting structure. Pics as follows:


The aluminum framing is all riveted in in place. Made sure to coat all the rivets with 5200. It looks a bit flimsy, but once the 3/4" ply goes in, it will be rock solid (at least I hope it will be).






All the ply supports are in, again using 5200 on all the rivets to ensure the wood is protected. You can see that I was fitting the battery boxes in place, and you can see roughly where the power switch will be placed.


More of the same.


Laying out the NOCO dual bank battery charger.



Playing around with the cables that will run to the back of the boat for the motor. The wiring is from a booster cable (2AWG). It was around 40 bucks for a 20' length. Considerably cheaper than buying 2AWG wiring on its own. Looks like it should work pretty well.


NOCO charger in place. I tested the system with the batteries and everything seems to be good to go.

Next up will probably be some wiring pictures. I started with the nav lights to make sure I had a grasp on what I need to do, and it seems like I am on the right track.

 

[SHSU]

You are moving right along!!! Really like the paint scheme that blue and Metallic Maui Ocean Blue really makes it pop.

Bummer on the paint. Aluminum is a pain. Did you use any acid etch paint primer? It took me a while to come to terms that the boat would get scratched. For a long time she was a trailer queen and scratches were the Devil!!! LOL, know scratches all over the place, but the pictures have a smiling Admiral and little admiral so I am happy.

For the wiring, you using tinted marine wire?

SHSU

 

[FIGMO]

You are moving right along!!! Really like the paint scheme that blue and Metallic Maui Ocean Blue really makes it pop.

Bummer on the paint. Aluminum is a pain. Did you use any acid etch paint primer? It took me a while to come to terms that the boat would get scratched. For a long time she was a trailer queen and scratches were the Devil!!! LOL, know scratches all over the place, but the pictures have a smiling Admiral and little admiral so I am happy.

For the wiring, you using tinted marine wire?

SHSU

Hey SHSU,

I really need to finish the boat this year, it has already taken too long. So I make the effort to try and get out there every day I can while the weather good. That is the key factor in making progress. That and my admiral is on to me daily to get to work. Good motivator.

I think the Maui over the Arctic Silver was the right choice. It will be interesting to see the motor painted the same colour and added to the boat.

I think I did everything right in the paint preparation. I made sure the aluminum was clean, wiped it down with acetone and cleaning vinegar. Used the tack cloth. I used the self etching primer with normal primer, but it some areas it just doesn't seem to have bonded as well. I also made sure the temperature was right and not too humid, and Wpg is pretty dry normally. All I want is for the boat to look good for the first launch, and get a bunch of pictures. I accept that it will get scratched, just not until I get the pics!

For wiring I am just using normal automotive wire. I will not be seeing any salt water where I am at, and as Watermann has pointed out "the boat will spend most of its time in the driveway on the trailer". What I am doing to confront corrosion is using solder on all the connections. For "T" junctions I have been coating the connection with the liquid tape. Normally 2 good coats, it seems to work really well. I guess we will see how well it holds up over time. For all the other connections I have been using heat shrink with a heat gun, after soldering.

Here are some pics of my wiring work space set up, its pretty messy:


All the tools I really need to get it done. I borrowed the soldering gun from my neighbour Gordy, its really good. I love that heat gun, works like a charm.


Some of my handy work. I freely admit that I am a green horn when it comes to soldering, but I am starting to get the swing of it. These will be connectors on the gang switch for the USB, Cig ligther etc. They have their own fuses.


Better picture of that


That third hand with the magnifying glass is awesome! Has made my life considerably easier when doing the soldering.

I will post some electrical pics in the very near future.

 

[SHSU]

Ya, even with all the propper prep Aluminum can still be a bear. At least it can be repaired and you don't have issues with mixed paint colors.

Nice work with the wiring, ya I mostly run in saltwater (Texas/Galveston Bay) so I needed tinted, but agree with what you are doing. I did similar but with butt splice crimps, followed by liquid tape, and then electrical tape, thus far seems to be holding up, but only time will tell

SHSU

 

[FIGMO]

Not related to wiring, but my Bimini top showed up last week so I took the time to fit it to the boat in order to get the mounts attached before I got any further with the wiring under the gunnels. It went together pretty smooth, and I like the look of it. Here are some pics:







I have taken it off for now, and put it back in the box. It will be another 6 weeks or so before it makes another appearance.

 

[BWR1953]

Nice!! :eagerness:

 

[Watermann]

Hey buddy I think you put it together wrong, the piece that attaches to the gunnel goes back to the rear support not forward. Was trying to figure out how you folded it back into the retracted position.

Like so.

 

[FIGMO]

Hey buddy I think you put it together wrong, the piece that attaches to the gunnel goes back to the rear support not forward. Was trying to figure out how you folded it back into the retracted position.

Like so.
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:facepalm: that was about my reaction. You are of course correct. Easy to fix, thanks for seeing that Watermann!

 

[FIGMO]

I have a question for the group. I had purchased jumper cables to act as the power feed from the batteries in the front of the boat to the engine in the back. Unfortunately I did not realize that the cables are copper clad aluminum, or CCA. Some of the information that I have read isn't all bad, but it isn't all good. I am wondering if anyone has some words of wisdom when it comes to using CCA?

If I decide to go with 100 percent pure copper wiring for the engine start, would I be able to get away with 4 AWG copper wire over a 20 length, or would I need to stick to 2 AWG?

 

[Zaphod]

If you are so inclined, Chrysler products like chargers and 300s have a trunk-mounted battery, and use serious cable that goes from the trunk to the passenger's footwell...most of the ones I have grabbed say, "welding cable" on them. Car stereo types pilfer them fairly quickly. Figure they're 7-8' long...

 

[Watermann]

I'm not a fan of moving the starting battery further from the motor and using extended cables. I just don't see the benefit of moving a 50 lb gp 24 as being worth the hassle.