1979 18ft Starcraft Fiberglass inboard

[LostInALake]

Got a 1979 18fter that's pretty gnarly.
Needs all new interior, engine hasn't ran in 18 months. The actual body of the boat looks good on the outside and inside from what I've pulled out so far.

It's got a OMC200 inboard.

At moment I am gutting the interior, what should I look for with these old fiberglass boats? I managed to get the wood that the cushions etc are on off without breaking so I can easily cut new ones if the boat still floats.(took me two hours to gut the interior excluding carpet) Going to pull floor and remove the cover that's covering engine tomorrow. So hopefully it'll be gutted down to the hull itself.

 

[SavinRaven]

Look at the transom. Make sure before you do anything with the flooring that its in good shape if not it changes anything.. Make sure you dont have any soft spots in the floor if so thats a good sign there was water intrusion or stored improperly. Does the engine run? OMC is hard to find parts for.. I'd make sure everything is in running order or the parts that are broke are obtainable prior to spending to much on the physical characteristics of it.

 

[LostInALake]

Look at the transom. Make sure before you do anything with the flooring that its in good shape if not it changes anything.. Make sure you dont have any soft spots in the floor if so thats a good sign there was water intrusion or stored improperly. Does the engine run? OMC is hard to find parts for.. I'd make sure everything is in running order or the parts that are broke are obtainable prior to spending to much on the physical characteristics of it.

Thanks for the info. What parts are hard to obtain on OMCs? If the engine runs, should I just scrap it out for engine etc to sell? What's the omc 200 engines sell for typically?

Transom wise what am I looking for? Just damage or?
The floor has no soft spots, but if I'm going to redo interior figured I'd do it all at once. Floor, seats, padding etc

 

[SavinRaven]

On the transom pull your engine hatch and try poking a screwdriver through it close to where the outdrive comes through and where the swim ladder is pick a few different spots. Looking at the photo's you posted I'd be concerned about that.

I know a lot of guys complain about finding parts for there OMC's and i'm unsure of the outdrives but you will definitely want to put a new impeller kit in there and check any of the bellows for tears before you put it on the water thats an easy way for it to sink being that it sat nearly 2 years its good maintenance anyways.

I'd recommend if you choose to repower it to go with mercury as parts are always easy to find. check Craigslist and Facebook markets place some guys getting rid of whole assemblies with outdrives and everything cheap. I'd keep it if you can get it to run. But i'd do that before messing with any cosmetic stuff. you could be in over your head trying to repower it. 5k plus for used alternatives is on the cheap side.

 

[LostInALake]

 

[LostInALake]

Nothing looks terribly rotten. Engine looks like it's bolted straight into fiberglass area. Going to pull the complete cover off (seating etc needs redone& if engine runs I need to redo fiberglass where hinges are)

 

[SavinRaven]

Nothing looks terribly rotten. Engine looks like it's bolted straight into fiberglass area. Going to pull the complete cover off (seating etc needs redone& if engine runs I need to redo fiberglass where hinges are)

Looks (from the pics) pretty solid. You'll know when you start getting into it. Omc was so before there time the looks so retro. Good luck! Let us know if it runs or not.

 

[SavinRaven]

Only issue is it looked like it just rained on it. Get it covered if you care lol

 

[LostInALake]

Only issue is it looked like it just rained on it. Get it covered if you care lol

It did. Working on getting a cover for it. Actually got hailed on.