1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

[captainQ]

Well here she is our ( captainQ & Portsider ) first resto job. This will be a complete resto that we hope will turn into a dual purpose fishing machine for Trout and Bass.

It had been refloored with 3/4 PT and custom aluminum fabricated consoles. We've started the tear down beginning with the rotted transcom.

Here she is in the winter home.

We know it will come out great with all the knowledge you all have.

Pic's are not to size, this will take me sometime to figure out.

 

[djpeters]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Nice boat! Set up for twin OB's, that would be cool!!! Did it come with engines, and if so what size? Looks very much like a Starcraft, make sure you check out the Starcraft Forum here on Iboats. Have Fun!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Nice rig, love the twin binnacle throttles The custom consoles are very nice as well, they look factory.

Be aware that PT wood causes corrosion with aluminum so it's really not the best to use. The chemicals can leech out into the bilge and cause issues.

Welcome to the site, good luck with the rig

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Thanks Dave, it came with twin 20 hp Evinrudes but we are going to only reinstall one of them. The issue is hp ratings on the resivour we fish and it's 20- 2 stroke or 25- 4 stroke max. To save wieght only ones going back and we'll use the other for another project. I have spent some time looking at the Starcraft Forum and that's why we are jumping into this. It is pretty much the same as a SC SS.

More pics coming soon of the tear down.

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Nice rig, love the twin binnacle throttles The custom consoles are very nice as well, they look factory.

Be aware that PT wood causes corrosion with aluminum so it's really not the best to use. The chemicals can leech out into the bilge and cause issues.

Welcome to the site, good luck with the rig

Yes HA, we have already pulled half of it out knowing this and we will replace with another product to be determined. It was still very solid but the PO told us he had just redone the floor with PT sooooo, see ya new floor.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

I forgot to mention...love that boat barn

Plenty of room for boats in there, so don't be shy if you find another one to restore

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

I forgot to mention...love that boat barn

Plenty of room for boats in there, so don't be shy if you find another one to restore

Thanks, It's a cool place to work on boats, we load up the woodstove and get the barn up to 60 ish so it's comfy in it. We are always on the hunt for a new ScC project rig

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Here's the next level of work.







Transcom was rotted quite badly, so she's out, but came out in one piece

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Day 2 and we are hacking it apart now. It's coming along pretty easily so far.

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod


Still going on day 2, trying to get into the floor by the end of the day.

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod




Well we are moving along now, just getting to the end of day 2.

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod



Well that's all for day 2, got down to the hull and peeled some of the old carpet but it's not coming off near as easy as it came off the wood decking. Thinking about leaving it on the inside of the hull.

Next work is pulling the rest of the floor out and a few left over wires. At that point it's cleaning of the inside hull to prep for leak test and glu-vit.

It actually looks in great shape under the floor, hopefully no leaks with pop up.

Any reccomendations on cleaning the inside rusty hull? Type of cleaner you all use etc.....

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Looks like a great template you can use for the deck. That's a bonus.

To wash the hull a vinegar/water 50/50 mix works well. Pressure washing is an easy way also.

Some guys even drag the boat up to a self-service car wash.

I really don't see any differences in the hull design from my 16' Starcraft SS. Nice work on the teardown.

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Looks like a great template you can use for the deck. That's a bonus.

To wash the hull a vinegar/water 50/50 mix works well. Pressure washing is an easy way also.

Some guys even drag the boat up to a self-service car wash.

I really don't see any differences in the hull design from my 16' Starcraft SS. Nice work on the teardown.

Cool, thanks, we have a pressure washer so that's probably how we'll approach it.

We hope to get the inside prep done this week so we can flip it over and start removing all the paint, although there isn't much left on it, we'll take it down to bare metal and prep it for painting. I know I'll have questions regarding painting. I've been on the Interlux site looking at the products they offer. I really wanted to use the speed formula paint but I'm not liking the color options for that. So she might end up being all done in White Brightside, not sure yet.

I'll take some insight if your offering

Thanks

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Cap,

Nice work on the tare down. You are well on your way.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

My understanding is that the Interlux products are great, if you don't mind paying for the quality.

Many of the Starcraft restos have been done with Rustoleum with good results. For freshwater trailer boats the premium marine paint is not required, but probably looks a bit nicer and holds up better.

I'm going to use an HVLP to spray rustoleum on my SS I believe, this spring hopfully.

 

[LonLB]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

I think if I had two sets of controls I'd consider using the 2nd on a kicker motor with a tie bar between the main and kicker motor....

Some of the Lund boats are rigged with two binnacles just for a kicker motor.




NICE BOAT BTW!!

 

[djpeters]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

I think if I had two sets of controls I'd consider using the 2nd on a kicker motor with a tie bar between the main and kicker motor....

Some of the Lund boats are rigged with two binnacles just for a kicker motor.

NICE BOAT BTW!!

If I had two sets of controls they'd be hooked to a pair of 120's. LOL.... CaptainQ's main motor has to be his kicker motor as he has horsepower limits where he boats.....

 

[captainQ]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

I think if I had two sets of controls I'd consider using the 2nd on a kicker motor with a tie bar between the main and kicker motor....

Some of the Lund boats are rigged with two binnacles just for a kicker motor.




NICE BOAT BTW!!

Thanks LonLb, It is rigged that way, both 20's with a streering arm connection and was setup that way new to be used on the same body of water. Whenever they are setup like this rules say remove one of the props before launching. Seems like a waste to me and in the grand scheme of things we are trying to reduce wieght through out this project as speed is our main concern. So one less engine, controls etc.... is one of the things we'll do. The lake is 20 miles long and can take forever to get between fishing holes if you run 13 MPH.

If the boat is stripped down in wieght and rigged properly you can achieve 20 mph. This also means replacing the intake with one from a 30HP and rejetting the carb, in reality the 20HP will be a "legal" 30HP.

Additionally we won't replace the composite side panels that go 18 pounds each as well as anything else that's not critical to structural integrity. Everything is coming out and very little is going back in.
The floors are undecided yet, I'm looking into aluminum first, then lighter plywood than 3/4 pt for sure if that doesn't pan out.

We''ll see, it's still in the planning mode.

I really like the twins, looks awesome and a great safety backup, but on the other hand we'll have a spare setup for the next rig we build

Another issue we have is we have to deadicate the boat to this body of water, they inspect it prior to launching, it is washed and sealed to the trailer and can't ever go into any other lake. Every time you launch they inspect the seal for tampering, then you launch and upon coming out and retrailering the boat they reseal it to the trailer.

 

[djpeters]

Re: 1980 Blue Fin Sportsman Restomod

Another issue we have is we have to deadicate the boat to this body of water, they inspect it prior to launching, it is washed and sealed to the trailer and can't ever go into any other lake. Every time you launch they inspect the seal for tampering, then you launch and upon coming out and retrailering the boat they reseal it to the trailer.

Wow, I've never heard of such a thing....you must like this lake.