1979 Starcraft 16’ SS Refresh

[benfish909]

Quick questions regarding the transom - should I glass it then drill the holes, or holes first then glass? In the end it will have glass and cloth with oversized holes drilled out so no bolts/screws contact the actual wood.

Also epoxy calls for temps between 70-80 in a well ventilated area... I have a garage with electric or propane (big buddy) heat. Doubt I can get it to 70* being uninsulated. I remember reading about heat lamps. Any advice as far as temps go? I mainly have the transom to epoxy, and later on parts of the deck.

Thanks guys! Lots of tools and pieces are in so Im about to kick it into high gear. Doubled the blind rivets along the gunnels and redid the bow to tighten the supports. Compared to when I first got her, she is already more stout. Will be light years ahead once Im done.

Also got a plan in mind for my rear bench/ down rigger setup... cant wait to get to that point. Boat will be unique compared to any Ive seen online so far.

Not sure the best way to the holes. What epoxy and hardener did you go with? I used total boat with fast cure at 55-60 degrees and it cured well.

 

[Moserkr]

Thanks. I have the same company - total boat - except I got the table top version? Probably a slower hardener since it doesnt say fast. Not sure if thats a bad thing going with table top vs marine - i didnt know there was a difference. Says store above 40* so put it in the house lol. I can at least get my garage to 55-60* so looks like I will be okay then. May just take longer to cure. I think I will glass first, then cloth/glass, then drill holes, then fill holes, and drill to finish.

 

[SHSU]

Quick questions regarding the transom - should I glass it then drill the holes, or holes first then glass? In the end it will have glass and cloth with oversized holes drilled out so no bolts/screws contact the actual wood.

So I didn't glass, but if I did and doing what you are thinking, I might drill the oversized holes and fill/glass all at the same time. That way when I go to drill the small holes for the bolts I don't have to worry about drilling out and filling with epoxy waiting and then drilling again for the bolts. Plus you could even do a thin peanut butter mixture to provide additional abrasion resistance.

Just my thought

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

@SHSU i like that idea cause then i can smooth all the hole edges too before laying the glass. I know i need to do a thin layer of epoxy first. Not sure what you mean by peanut butter mixture. Do the holes need a filler or just pure epoxy? Havent messed with epoxy and glass much since i poorly fixed my surfboards back in the day.

 

[SHSU]

@SHSU i like that idea cause then i can smooth all the hole edges too before laying the glass. I know i need to do a thin layer of epoxy first. Not sure what you mean by peanut butter mixture. Do the holes need a filler or just pure epoxy? Havent messed with epoxy and glass much since i poorly fixed my surfboards back in the day.

You mix cabosil into the epoxy. It gives it a peanut butter consistency. I have heard of people use fine chip fibers added as well to help with strength.

Thinking on it again though, it is possible to get air trapped as it is so thick. Works great for filling cracks and holding to vertical surfaces, but might not be the right choice when I think about it again.

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

@SHSU Thanks I will look into stuff to fill the wood holes. I got the transom shelf in today and test fitted the transom, along with its matching AL backer. What a tight squeeze! Going to be interesting getting it in once its even thicker with glass. Also sprayed the AL down with vinegar to stop corrosion, read somewhere that would help. Need to fill the transom hull holes with putty too. Not sure how a backer would fit back there with it being so tight but we will try. Last i got a bunch of junk out of the ribs with a rare earth magnet. Made it easy and Ill feel better that its as clean as i can get it under there. Will be busy this weekend. Need to get a bunch done and I have all the time n resources ready to do it.

Learning curve today was the new rivets. A lot harder metal, especially when you accidentally have the rivet gun down at 25 psi . I did redo 3 of them when they werent flush. All good now. Dont have clecos so plan is to drill em out one by one and replace with a piece of tape over the head, holding it in place. Then when its time to rivet, dip in 5200 and send it home. Figure that will buy me time so I only need a helper for a short while. Luckily I only got around 100 solids left to do that require help.

 

[Moserkr]

Got an early start on the weekend! Today was a good day! Not great, but good. Learned more lessons but at least I stopped and thinked some.

Got the transom fit and drilled, so its ready for epoxy and glass tomorrow. Took longer than expected to fit and finish. Sanded the transom wood flush and ground the extra AL plate in a few places. Had to remove the rear gunnel braces to make life easier but thats ok. Took my time lining up the transom, checking everything twice. Feeling really good about it. Will try to epoxy tomorrow and sunday if I have time. Also going to start either drilling for future rivets in the hull, or start working on brackets. We will see but both are on the short list. All the extra holes in my transom fit 1/4 rivets pretty well, so I ended up making small holes for the rivet tail to sit within the transom wood. Keeps it flush and allows a better repair than just the AL putty. Ill still add the putty after and 5200 with the rivet when i send em home. Enjoying some well deserved brews while i prep some elk back strap for dinner. After that maybe we call it a great day

 

[benfish909]

Got an early start on the weekend! Today was a good day! Not great, but good. Learned more lessons but at least I stopped and thinked some.

Got the transom fit and drilled, so its ready for epoxy and glass tomorrow. Took longer than expected to fit and finish. Sanded the transom wood flush and ground the extra AL plate in a few places. Had to remove the rear gunnel braces to make life easier but thats ok. Took my time lining up the transom, checking everything twice. Feeling really good about it. Will try to epoxy tomorrow and sunday if I have time. Also going to start either drilling for future rivets in the hull, or start working on brackets. We will see but both are on the short list. All the extra holes in my transom fit 1/4 rivets pretty well, so I ended up making small holes for the rivet tail to sit within the transom wood. Keeps it flush and allows a better repair than just the AL putty. Ill still add the putty after and 5200 with the rivet when i send em home. Enjoying some well deserved brews while i prep some elk back strap for dinner. After that maybe we call it a great day

Looking good!!! Would love to get a chance to hunt some elk. We have plenty of white tail here in Ohio but an elk and a moose are on the bucket list.

 

[SHSU]

I see you mentioned the transom is tight without glass. Did you make sure to account for the 1/8-1/4 of extra space needed for each side including the 2 faces? Once you epoxy and lay the glass you wont be able to trim it anymore without significant rework. That also goes for the areas you drilled out for the rivets. Once you cover with glass, you are going to drill them out again? Did this also account for the extra height that will be achieved with the glass? Plus any of your seams is going to be doubled sized from the fiberglass laying over.

Sorry to ask so many questions, but hope you already have it accounted so you wont have to redo any of it and this is redundant.

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

@SHSU Way to rain on my parade... lol. Transom was tight W and H wise, but plenty of room L. I didnt realize glass would take up that much space! When i removed the gunnel braces in the stern it made it easy to slide the transom and extra AL in. Just enough space for a little glass on the sides. Top and bottom need to be shaved.... so sanded them a bunch today for nothing lol. I appreciate the questions - i didnt stop n think enough apparently lol. Shouldnt be too hard at least, I had to clean up the edges and bore out the holes anyway.

For the extra rivets to just fill holes, yes I was planning on over sizing the holes, filling with epoxy, and drilling again. Basically just leaving an open space for a rivet tail to stand out without much contact. Ill test fit and add extra 5200 to these holes when i finish putting in the transom.

 

[Moserkr]

@benfish909 Elk are out there to be found! Go do it and dont wait! (See grandpa below). But there are no easy elk hunts. I mainly do otc archery spike/cow in utah for meat, and have hunted MT, ID, and OR for bulls. Put in for a bunch of draw hunts too but that will be a bit. I love hunting and eating elk, but backcountry mule deer hunting is my favorite. Buddy n I usually backpack miles in to wilderness areas to hunt. I shot 2 small MT whitetails and they eat well too! Will hunt just about everything lol. Heres a few pics of the last few years elk, my cousin in law’s big SD whitetail mount, my CA blacktail, some gear, and my 93 year old grandpa’s first elk. (Last pic is my dad holding gpa’s elk). Grandpa couldnt get to it after he shot it. Public land, 53 yards, crossbow, otc, 93 years old!! Only 400 yards from the atv and still took 3 hours to pack out.

 

[benfish909]

Very cool thanks for sharing

 

[Moserkr]

@benfish909 Happy to share. Hunting is my passion, and compared to boat building or fishing, Im actually decent at it. I bet you chase some monster whitetail in ohio!! I was born in the midwest so always been drawn to the great hunting out there. Started on pheasant, ducks, n geese, got into big game when I got older. Moose, sheep, mtn goat, and a bunch more are on my bucket list.

Question about the transom since thats my project again today... The extra AL backer I have is not the same height as the transom, it kind of sits higher so my transom top is slanted. Is it supposed to be flat?? Probably a stupid question... Its just maybe 1/8-1/4” higher. If a PO cut that AL backer i used as a template too big, then I could easily rework it and the wood to match the hull shape. Wouldnt move the important holes i drilled, just the transom cap little screw holes.

 

[Moserkr]

Live update: I know y’all like looking at pictures of stuff dry, so here ya go! Figured out the transom and cap, made room for glass everywhere. First coat of epoxy down. Second coat later today, and glass tomorrow. Using the sun to keep it hot enough to set properly. Also going to strip the paint off the gunnels/trim while I wait on the epoxy to dry. Was going to half ass it and just paint over, but decided to do it right... at least our weather is nice today.

 

[SHSU]

@SHSU Way to rain on my parade... lol. Transom was tight W and H wise, but plenty of room L. I didnt realize glass would take up that much space! When i removed the gunnel braces in the stern it made it easy to slide the transom and extra AL in. Just enough space for a little glass on the sides. Top and bottom need to be shaved.... so sanded them a bunch today for nothing lol. I appreciate the questions - i didnt stop n think enough apparently lol. Shouldnt be too hard at least, I had to clean up the edges and bore out the holes anyway.

For the extra rivets to just fill holes, yes I was planning on over sizing the holes, filling with epoxy, and drilling again. Basically just leaving an open space for a rivet tail to stand out without much contact. Ill test fit and add extra 5200 to these holes when i finish putting in the transom.

It depends on the number of layers and type you use. Plus the overlaps double whatever you lay.

SHSU

 

[Moserkr]

@SHSU All good now. If you hadnt said something it wouldnt have fit. It didnt take long for me to shave it to fit. Left 1/8”+ on all edges and the faces now. Only got one coat of epoxy done on one side, it was very slow drying. Also had a heck of a time trying to remove my gunnel paint. I remember why I despise paint stripping lol. Will do another coat of epoxy tomorrow on the other side, and try to strip more paint.

The type of saran wrap you use is important. Used some thin stuff and it melted. Found the old thicker stuff for tomorrow. For how toxic paint stripper smells, its pretty much worthless lol.

 

[Moserkr]

Only the trim and consoles left to strip!! Boats finally as done as its going to get with me. After stripping the painted splash guard trim, i almost feel bad painting it! What a pain.

Got another coat of epoxy on the transom too, so now its covered on both sides. Next will be adding glassing and filling holes.

Grind, sand, drill, and fill... thats whats next for the hull. Need to get it ready for rivet day. Weather is cooperating right now and I plan on taking advantage of it.

 

[Watermann]

Live update: I know y’all like looking at pictures of stuff dry, so here ya go!

Oh yeah, my favorite is watching gluvit dry

 

[Moserkr]

Oh yeah, my favorite is watching gluvit dry

You will have to settle for coat-it! Coming up kinda soon hopefully lol. Here’s another shot of epoxy drying lol. This time filling holes. All in all they filled pretty well, learned I should have gone overkill on the tape. Little leaks were annoying. Glass will be next!!

 

[SHSU]

When installing the end caps and nose piece, make sure to use bolt or similar. Rivets seem to break and those things are as rare as a live dinosaur. So if you lose them, its custom fab to have them replaced.

SHSU