1976 Starcraft Chieftain 18' OB - restomod

[BWR1953]

There's going to be a ton of work needed.

The starboard engine doesn't have tilt and trim (TnT) but I have a TnT unit under the blue tarp in the cabin area. That'll have to get mounted and I've never done that before. As always, I'll have to learn as I go.

We got the big stuff out of the boat.


Then pulled it into the garage.


And got to work.




Pulled the starboard engine first.


The boy has grown a bit.


It turned out that a clamp on the starboard engine wouldn't open enough to fit on the engine stand, so the boy suggested that we put the port engine on the stand and use the shop crane to hold the starboard engine. Fair enough!


Yeah, he's grown. Got his learner's permit last week too.


Starboard engine temporarily back on the boat while we pulled the port engine.

 

[BWR1953]

Port engine on stand.


Mulched deck was next.


Starcraft OEM foam still in place.


Foam removed.


I was very happy to see that this Chief has the factory reinforced splash rail and rib end braces installed. Whew!


Next steps will be additional cleanup followed by pressure washing at a local drive through car wash.


This 20 gallon fuel tank came with the boat and I stuck it in between the stringers. No joy! Too tall.

 

[BWR1953]

And that's where we are as of now.

 

[BWR1953]

Got a little more cleanup done today. Next step will be pressure washing at the car wash.

 

[BWR1953]

Today we got the pressure washing done, then headed to the water for some sunset pictures.

Pulled the Chief out of the backyard.


Six years of mold and grime about to be blasted off!


The boy has grown quite a bit over the last year and is very useful.


Getting it done.


Yes, I was able to help a bit. I did about 1/2 of the cleaning myself.


Much better!


Time to drive and dry it off!


The little truck pulled the big Chief with total aplomb.


I do like this spot for pictures.




I'm really looking forward to getting the Chief finished!

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Twin 70’s?? How cool!! Looking forward to see this one come together.
That tarp has seen better days!

 

[BWR1953]

Twin 70’s?? How cool!! Looking forward to see this one come together.
That tarp has seen better days!

Yeah, me too!

And it was two tarps...

I really regret having neglected this old beauty for so long, but will do what I can to get it back on the water. I have no idea how long it's been ashore, but there were several owners prior to me who had it as a project and they never did anything with the Chief either.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Did you go with twin 70’s cause you had them, or was reliability a factor? One gets you home if you have troubles etc? Or just way cool factor?

 

[BWR1953]

Did you go with twin 70’s cause you had them, or was reliability a factor? One gets you home if you have troubles etc? Or just way cool factor?

I bought the pair of 70s specifically for the Chieftain to provide reliability and adequate power to get back to shore quickly if the need arises.

Cool factor is definitely a bonus!

 

[racerone]

Those 3 cylinder Mercury motors are not my favourites.------Make sure you maintain cooling system on them.

 

[BWR1953]

Those 3 cylinder Mercury motors are not my favourites.------Make sure you maintain cooling system on them.

Yah, I read a ton about them when I was searching to power the Chief. The light weight was a big factor. I know about re-jetting the top carb one size richer to prevent leaning out.

 

[BWR1953]

Just want to bring y'all up to date.

No work done since my last post. I had surgery and other (new) health issues (again) but still did some research and other stuff.

One option that I'd hoped for, to just "buff out" the existing paint instead of repainting, is not happening. The power washing we did on the hull removed a bunch of paint in a lot of places, right down to the bare aluminum. So a paint job is definitely required. And I learned my lesson from the Kingfisher project; I won't be painting anything myself ever again.

A one-man company had done a great detailing and scratch repair on my wife's truck last year and he actually had to repaint her truck tailgate. (She backed into our mailbox and did a number on it.) So, I talked with him face-to-face about painting the Chief and he agreed to come check it out at our place.

But he never showed or called. Dang.

I got a tip elsewhere and will be talking with a different auto body painting place to see what they have to say about painting the Chief.

I'm hoping to get back on the job in the next couple of days, but we're supposed to get another cold front passing through this weekend, so it may not happen. It was 24 degrees here just a few mornings ago. Brrrr!

 

[Watermann]

Painting isn't for everyone, my first attempt was not good either but after getting the hang of it then it wasn't such a frustrating chore. Saving the 1000's and having a decent paint job is the goal.

 

[BWR1953]

Painting isn't for everyone...

And that would be me!

I spent way, way, way too much on my Kingfisher paint job. It would have been far cheaper to pay someone else to do the job.

And it was months and months and months of failures and frustrations.

 

[BWR1953]

Well, I caught up to the detailer/painter guy this afternoon. He has Covid-19 and is having a tough time of it. But, once he's cleared of that, he'll come over to give me an estimate.

I've been mulling over a lot of Chieftain painting options lately and am considering having the hull completely stripped with either soda blasting or dustless blasting; right down to the bare aluminum. Then it would be a simple matter to shoot the primer, followed by the color.

Using this approach, I can have it painted by a body shop like Maaco, Econo Painting or other such place. Possibly a regular car painting place. And maybe the detailer guy. He'd likely be least expensive.

 

[BWR1953]

As far as color schemes go, I've decided to keep it pretty simple. I'm going with white with a black stripe along the splash rail.

The old idea of color matching the boat to a specific tow vehicle is outmoded. My original plan was to trim the Chief in the same color as my old 1995 F-150, which I no longer even own! And I'll likely be trading my Santa Cruz within a few years too. Who knows what color the next one will be.

And big a shout out to Watermann...

I'm going to keep the lower hull beneath the splash rail as bare aluminum. No maintenance and no worries. Thanks!

 

[BWR1953]

I've been doing some photo-editing. My hands are not as steady as they were 5 years ago when I started refurbing the KF. Heck, they're not as steady as they were a year ago! So, the editing isn't as good as my prior work. But, I did edit out the duck tape!

The gray area on the hull represents the bare aluminum.

I'd appreciate y'alls thoughts.

Here are a few ideas:
1. Traditional. This is pretty much what the Chief looks like already.


2. I extended the swoosh and enclosed the logo name.


3. I extended the swoosh and modernized the logo font.


4. A more simplified look. I'm liking this one a bit more. The graphics intensive look of the original reminds me of the old 1970s cars with their "bold graphics" and anemic performance.


5. Simplified even more.


6. Simplest of all. Doesn't require making, buying or painting logos, stripes, etc.

 

[Berdink]

Beautiful

I've been doing some photo-editing. My hands are not as steady as they were 5 years ago when I started refurbing the KF. Heck, they're not as steady as they were a year ago! So, the editing isn't as good as my prior work. But, I did edit out the duck tape!

The gray area on the hull represents the bare aluminum.

I'd appreciate y'alls thoughts.

Here are a few ideas:
1. Traditional. This is pretty much what the Chief looks like already.
View attachment 355387

2. I extended the swoosh and enclosed the logo name.
View attachment 355388

3. I extended the swoosh and modernized the logo font.
View attachment 355389

4. A more simplified look. I'm liking this one a bit more. The graphics intensive look of the original reminds me of the old 1970s cars with their "bold graphics" and anemic performance.
View attachment 355390

5. Simplified even more.
View attachment 355391

6. Simplest of all. Doesn't require making, buying or painting logos, stripes, etc.
View attachment 355392

Beautiful!

 

[classiccat]

the upside-down puma sneaker with the "Starcraft" interruption catches my eye the most.

 

[BWR1953]

Hahaha! I never knew about the Puma shoe thing. Funny. I wonder if they stole the idea from Starcraft?

I see your point about #2 though.