1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

[rxb902]

Good Day,

With the onset of warmer weather, I began working on my 78 Starcraft project. It is a decent looking boat at first sight, but needs work. Especially the trailer and Stern. The most frustrating part is the poor job the PO did to make it look better. Pressure treated plank floor, coated the center console with hard plastic sheet, etc. Below is a pic when I drug her home. Sold the motor, although it was not in too bad of shape.



The pic below shows the Center console and Pressure Treated deck planking. I kept it only to use as a template.


View attachment 139631

I was doing pretty well, then one day after a few days of rain I noticed mushrooms growing out of the transom. So after days of gentle convincing and prying, I got the 3-piece transom out.

View attachment 139633

The old transom was rotted mostly towards the bottom. Plan to glue new one with PL 400. Then apply US Composites Epoxy, using white pigment additive.


Everything was going well until I looked closely at the corrosion on the aluminum transom sheet. It is badly corroded. The wooden motor plate that was mounted on the outside of the transom was PRESSURE TREATED PLY. Here is what it looks like.



HELP! WHAT DO I DO ABOUT THIS CORROSION? HOW SHOULD IT BE REPAIRED?

 

[djpeters]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

Welcome! Sorry about your corrosion. I'd prefer a welded in patch for your transom, but some guys would clean it up really good and glue and screw a patch on using 3M 5200. I assume your pulling the deck up as well? Hopefully not too much corrosion under there.....

 

[MichaelP]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

Welcome to the Starmada!!!

I had the same issue. It seemed the boat was soaked in salt for a very long time. I even had 3+ coats of bottom paint to remove and the pitting on the bottom went all the way through. I used a sheet of retasked aluminum and installed it as djpeters said but I can't speak of the longevity yet. I used a whole tube of 5200. More details in my resto thread (in my signature below) somewhere around August of last year. No worries, it's all fixable!

 

[DougyB]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

hey rbx, nice boat, sorry about your luck with the pt wood. I used sheet aluminum, 5200 and rivets to attach a repair on my 14 footer.. If you dont mind me asking how much did your mariner cost you? Im trying so hard to find one to restore, and so far the only one i can find doesnt run and he still wants 900 for it, and it was slipped in saltwater...yikes

I would love to have a resto going at the same time as yours, compare projects and come out with a funcional back bay boat

 

[rxb902]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

Appreciate the responses thus far. dj, I was thinking a weld job, but really hoping not to. michaelP, I'd swear you took a pic of my boat for your pics. You did a nice job to clean it up. DougyB, I paid $1K but sold the motor for $300.

The Pressure treated deck was just installed so the inside and hull are excellent found 1 leaking rivet, not bad.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

Okay.............. Pressure treated wood and aluminum DO NOT get along.

The ACQ (alkaline copper quaternary) treated wood corrodes and eats aluminum at a rapid rate. The only good note is that you will not get arsenic poisoning from cutting it.

 

[starcrazy]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

rbx

Nice hull, I have the same restore going on as well. Although I got a bit luckier on the transom, mine is solid. Other settle differences is your trailer is tandem and yours came with the top. Mine have neither.

Doug

I paid about the same for my 18' CC. $1000, sold the motors that came with it for $450 total. Bringing the price of initial project to $650. Boat was American, but now resides in Canada.

starcrazy
Wayne

 

[Grandad]

Re: 1978 Starcraft Mariner Rebuild

I was thinking a weld job, but really hoping not to.

I'm not a welder, but I consulted an expert welder before repairing the cracks in my Holiday's hull. His advice was to avoid welding unless your welder is very experienced in aluminum boat welding. I was told of horror stories of the aluminum warping severely and in one case "shrinking" away from the weld area. A new piece of 5052 aluminum in about #14 gauge or thicker as a patch thoroughly cemented with 3M 5200 is a good DIY choice with predictable results. - Grandad