1981 Starcraft Mariner 180 Resto

[Dock_Attacker]

Hey guys I’m a new member who’s been reading a lot of posts lately. Just bought a 1981 Starcraft Mariner 180 center console last summer and started a full Resto on it. Seems to be kinda rare as I can’t find too much info on these boats. Deck was rotted and electrical looked like it was wired by a monkey so it all got torn out. Most of the new wiring is done and started cutting the plywood panels for the new deck. Trying to get her up and ready to hit Lake Ontario for some kings this summer. More posts coming soon.

 

[Dock_Attacker]

Turn out there’s more info than I thought out there. Got most of the deck sheets cut today. Used 1/2 inch araucoply ACX plywood. Plan on covering the sheets in a few coats of epoxy resin and wrapping the individual panels in Nautolex marine vinyl. Should turn out well

 

[Woodonglass]

make sure to coat the edges a LOT !!! that's the Most important thing on plywood decking. Water can intrude into the interior of the plywood ONLY through the edges. Take your time a pay close attention to the edges

 

[Dock_Attacker]

Yeah I bought plastic bondo spreaders to spread the epoxy on the top and bottoms and a bunch of cheap chip brushes to coat the edges really well. Hopefully get that done this weekend.

 

[Dock_Attacker]

Got all the deck pieces cut and ready for epoxy yesterday. The new arauco plywood is 1/16 inch wider than the original that came out and had to account for the extra thickness of the Nautolex vinyl so the old patterns had to be tweaked slightly. I plan on wrapping the individual panels in the Nautolex and securing it on the back with stainless staples. This way I can pull a single panel if I ever have to get down there and not have to destroy my single piece of vinyl. Still need to order my 3/16 x 1in large head rivets