1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

[ts]

Hi all! Hope I'm doing this right. Just wanted to introduce my "new" boat and join the crew on here. I've been reading some of the rebuild threads and its great to see so much info being shared. I'm going to attempt to post a couple picks of my new project, then hopefully start a new rebuild thread. If I'm doing any of this wrong PLEASE let me know!

Thanks!

 

[CBGale2]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Welcome to iboats and the Starcraft cult... I mean club.

Looks like you've got a nice project boat there, dont look half bad as it sits.

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

wellll, it's a real 20 yarder if you know what I mean. Up close (within 10 feet) it looks like someone painted over the original paint with latex house paint

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

let's try this photobucket thing

http://s1013.photobucket.com/albums/af257/ts-/

will put more pics up if this works...

 

[motorpsykler]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Welcome, TS, you got off on the right foot posting a picture right away. Nice boat, that one will keep you busy. Keep us posted.

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

okay, figured out how to get pics off one of the wife's cameras so I am putting a mess of the deconstruction up on photobucket. there are a lot of details that some folks might be interested in. I tore out the typical - new carpet, plywood, more carpet, more plywood, original vinyl, and finally the original 1/2" ply...what a mess!

Should I go ahead and start a build thread?

 

[fshngho]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Welcome TS. Looks like a great project and a good choice of boats You are automatically accepted in the club/cult since you have met the requirements....PICS Yes, start your resto thread and keep up the great work.
Dale

 

[bananaboater]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Welcome. That old foam sure looked clean compared to mine and a lot of others. Interesting since you said the decking was really bad underneath. Looking forward to seeing progress.

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Thanks for welcoming me on board

Yeah, the foam was just dirty, but mostly in good shape. Based on other pics people have posted I think they ripped up the center foam long ago for whatever reason. It was in pieces and chunks up and down the keel. It was also weird because it was like they just started adding layers of ply to the floor as it got soft underneath instead of tearing it out and replacing it. So the original vinyl was still there a couple layers down.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Welcome to the insanity!
Great looking boat!
You will shed a bunch of pounds getting all that old decking outta there..Shame they just built on top of the old stuff

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Thanks! It looks like I'm in good company! Would you believe I'm already talking to my wife about the "next one"? :redface:

This is SOOO much better than doing a fiberglass boat. Those were so frustrating and fruitless. With these aluminum boats its like unwrapping a new boat underneath the rotten wood. With fiberglass its like you get to the bottom only to find a useless, soft fiberglass wrapper...

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

New photobucket link:

http://s1013.photobucket.com/albums/af257/ts-/1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18/

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Very nice boat. Tough to find in an outboard verions. I thought the 18's were called "StarChiefs" ?

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Hi EZ, I really like what you did with your SuperSport!

I had to look my boat up in NADA Guides 'cause I wasn't sure what it was, but it looks like they stopped building StarChiefs sometime before '75 and Chieftains took their place. They look the same though. It's hard to find real definitive info on these. Who's the iBoat expert on Starcraft lore? It would be great if someone could post a Starcraft guidebook!

 

[robnst]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

I"m in the process of restoreing a chieftian as well, It has a chieftian tag on the side but the registration says its a 73, so you have me wondering now, it doesnt really matter, its still going to be a great boat. Ill probabaly run it this year then this winter "take it down"

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Not sure how much stock to put into the NADA Guides, but check out this forum post and look closely at the pics. The last pic shows the "chieftain 18" label on the side, and it's a '76. Nice boat too. It would be great if someone had an old flyer for the larger starcrafts from '79.

http://www.coloradofisherman.com/forum/index.php?topic=45229.0

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

hey robnst, does your HIN end with 73?

 

[robnst]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

I dont know I'll check and post some pics.

 

[ts]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

Um, oops...:redface:

Don't quite know how to put this, but how do you change the name of a thread???

So, here's the story. I decided to get the power washer out today after work...aaaaaaannnndddd.... I'm spraying away all the grime, having a good time. Trying to get some of the paint off if I can...and what do I find?

 

[ezmobee]

Re: 1979 Starcraft Chieftain 18 - and the new guy

That's weird, cuz Holidays are closed bows.