1979 18' Starcraft SuperSport Restoration

[M2HB]

That Evinrude looks awesome.

 

[FIGMO]

Beautiful work on the outboard. If you had to estimate, how many hours of prep work do you think went into it before painting?

 

[mbroughton02]

Beautiful work on the outboard. If you had to estimate, how many hours of prep work do you think went into it before painting?

I would guess maybe 8 hours. But like I said I was disassembling it anyway. Also the exhaust cover gasket leak and powerhead gasket leak made my outboard absolutely filthy with grease and oil. So it took a lot.

 

[FIGMO]

I would guess maybe 8 hours. But like I said I was disassembling it anyway. Also the exhaust cover gasket leak and powerhead gasket leak made my outboard absolutely filthy with grease and oil. So it took a lot.

Well that is good to know. I have considered doing the same, but it might be a bridge too far at the moment. I have many other tasks before me just to get the boat done. However, having seen your finished work, it does inspire one to give it a shot. It would be a shame to pour a ton of work into boat without doing something with the appearance of the motor.

Again brilliant work on the outboard, it looks magnificent!

 

[Pusher]

Just a heads up if you do it again, simple green is corrosive to aluminum. The clean metal primer might have killed any of that actiity though.

That motor looks real nice. I just painted my 12' boat with tractor paint and a $20 amazon gun and your setup sounds like a lot better deal

 

[mbroughton02]

Finally got the new trailer set up for the boat.

I had my welder friend move the rearmost crossmember back about 6" and I extended the tongue 18" by adding a swing away. This allowed me to move the bow stop quite a bit forward. Only problem was the keel wanted to contact the crossmember at the front of the trailer, so I switched to 4x4 bunks with 2x4 pads underneath to get the boat to sit high enough to scoot forward some more.

Sitting nicely now and only had to overhang the bunks in the rear about 3". Even though the boat sits 3.5" higher than how the trailer was originally set up, it's still lower than it was on the old roller trailer. When I was driving back home I looked in the rear view and could actually see over the boat.

Bunks are pine sealed with 3 coats of spar vanish, and the carpet was fastened with stainless staples. The 2x4 pads are PT but nowhere near my aluminum hull.

 

[Watermann]

Looking comfy cozy on her new chariot, a guy has to do what he has to in order to make things work right. Nice workaround :thumb:

 

[Decker83]

Great job on the trailer.. Custom fit for a awesome boat.. arty:

 

[DLNorth]

Nice work on both the motor and the trailer, it's looking much better now.
With gear and fuel in, do you have decent tongue weight now?

Dan

 

[BWR1953]

Good stuff on the trailer work! :eagerness:

 

[mbroughton02]

Nice work on both the motor and the trailer, it's looking much better now.
With gear and fuel in, do you have decent tongue weight now?

Dan

The tank is about half full right now and I can pick up the tongue rather easily, so I am planning on moving the axle back a foot or so. Fortunately the axle position on this trailer is easily adjustable, but I didn't want to mess with it until I knew where I stood.

 

[DLNorth]

Or just move the boat forward a bit more. Just make sure you have about 75 lbs when the boat is at it's lightest. (IIRC I think they say 10% but I like 75lbs better.)

 

[Watermann]

The tongue weight on my 18' SS is considerably more than 75 Lbs as there's a 90# Minn Kota up there and 2 group 27 deep cycles forward of the WS. If you plan on adding any weight to the bow area you may want to hold off on moving the axle until you do the adding.

 

[mbroughton02]

Or just move the boat forward a bit more. Just make sure you have about 75 lbs when the boat is at it's lightest. (IIRC I think they say 10% but I like 75lbs better.)

I can't go any further forward because I'm maxed out with how far up the bow stop can go before the attaching hardware interferes with the swing tongue's hardware.

The tongue weight on my 18' SS is considerably more than 75 Lbs as there's a 90# Minn Kota up there and 2 group 27 deep cycles forward of the WS. If you plan on adding any weight to the bow area you may want to hold off on moving the axle until you do the adding.

No significant weight will be added to the bow- just the cushions I made. There certainly was some tongue weight but once I fill the gas tank I think I'll be wanting for a little more.

 

[mbroughton02]

First time out since the carb rebuild and powerhead base gasket replacement. This 37 year old engine is running like a top.

 

[Watermann]

Nice, it's always a great feeling when a guy does his own work, especially on old motors.

 

[mbroughton02]

Finally got the bow cushions done and installed. Corners aren't perfect but they will have to do for now.

 

[Watermann]

I think you did some fine work on the cushions, even the pro done corners are not "perfect".

 

[No-AH]

Aw that looks real good! Great job on the sewing of the 2 contrasting vinyls to match the front casting deck bump guard with roping to boot!!!

 

[mbroughton02]

Been away from here for a little while. Had some fun with the boat this summer and have a list of things to do of course. With winter creeping up I decided to take that old crappy roller trailer and make something more useful out of it...

From this

To this

Just in time for wood pellets. Now I can get a whole ton in one trip.

Looking forward to catching up on all the builds here.