1981 Starcraft Super Sport 180 - Gonna try a Restore

[Candutch]

Thanks John, that means a lot coming from a master builder such as yourself.

 

[Candutch]

So last night I picked up the paint for the trailer anticipating that I would get to get some spraying done today as it was supposed to be 15 degrees out. Well that never happened, it was only 8 most of the day until the sun came out late in the afternoon.
Since I couldn't paint I decided to do some fabricating and hone my welding skills.
I cleaned up the rusty angle used for the plywood steps on each side of the fender and then made up some frames that will be used to support the checker plate that will replace the plywood.

I also started piecing the trailer back together to get the new fenders lined up over the wider tires and will drill through to attach the steps to them.
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Hope to get it all pieced back together Sunday since I'm taking some time off to go open the trailer next week and after that hoping for some warm weather to get it painted.

 

[budski]

Trailer is looking really good so far.

 

[Watermann]

Down for the trailer struggle. Good idea to get rid of the plywood, now to work on the fir trailer jack. :lol:

 

[No-AH]

Trailer is coming along nicely mate! I will be adding a swing away tongue to mine soon.

 

[Candutch]

Look what I got in the mail today. Thanks Watermann! Now I can fix that annoying hole and dress the boat up a little. I have just the spot picked out for those decals.

 

[Candutch]

Well, not a lot accomplished this weekend. I did spend a bit of time fitting the fenders onto the trailer but nothing picture worthy. I also got the battery trays mounted and batteries in place. Had to grind down some large flange rivets so they would fit the mounting holes but it all went alright. Slowly but surely everything is falling into place.
I was also thinking that I would fore go covering my hatches with the nautolex I have and try using ducan tufdek on them. It's a paint on rubber textured coating. It will save me some time and I'm not sure I have enough nautolex left for all the hatches and doors. What do you guys think? Anyone use any of that stuff before?

 

[No-AH]

I am also contemplating painting an anti slip paint to the bow hatches in my holi. My neighbor used a product called marine durabak http://www.durabakcompany.com/marine.htm inside his AL fishing boat last spring and tbh I am quite impressed with his results.

 

[Candutch]

Thanks No AH...that stuff looks awesome. It looks like it would make a good solid coating for the trailer to. I will have to look into this some more. If it doesn't chip tge trailer would be rust free for years.

 

[No-AH]

Btw when he takes the boat out of storage this weekend my deciding factor if I go that route will be when i see the results on how it stood up to a full year of use .

 

[Candutch]

Lol, keep me posted that may be mine as well.

 

[Candutch]

Well I decided I'm out on the durabak, turns out it is no different than the spray in box liner you can buy for diy. I bought one of those diy kits for my trailer which I will top coat with rustoleum and use the left over for my hatches. Hope it all works out. Now I just need it to warm the heck up.

 

[Candutch]

Still plugging away at the ol' trailer. Managed to fit and drill the fenders and frames for the step ups. Also welded some tabs on the back for the retractable transom tie downs and pulled the hubs and installed new races. The left hub was in terrible shape, rusty and bearings were shot. There's a some bad wear spots on the spindle, I cleaned it up bit may need to get it replaced.
Dressed the boat up a bit with some starcraft logos. Thanks again Watermann, they fit perfect.
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[Watermann]

Hey the decals look good there.

On the spindles I filled the grooves and pitting on mine with marine tex and sanded smooth. The thought of using a cutting torch to remove the old ones and weld in new ones straight wasn't appealing to me and neither was the cost of those spedi sleeves.

 

[Candutch]

Thanks for that idea Rob. Is marine Tex the same as jb weld? I'm going to give the local axle shop a call and see what they will charge to replace the spindle but if it's outrageous I may go your route.

 

[Watermann]

Thanks for that idea Rob. Is marine Tex the same as jb weld? I'm going to give the local axle shop a call and see what they will charge to replace the spindle but if it's outrageous I may go your route.

Yikes, shops scare me... expensive and you never know what you'll end up with.

Yeah 2 part epoxy JB and MT, I just had it on hand.The area where the seal rides is most important. and if you sleeve it you have to get the oversized seal.

 

[Candutch]

Yikes, shops scare me... expensive and you never know what you'll end up with.

Yeah 2 part epoxy JB and MT, I just had it on hand.The area where the seal rides is most important. and if you sleeve it you have to get the oversized seal.

They scare me as well. We have a Standens axle and springs here and I've heard good things about them so I will look into it. I can get a brand new axle for 300 so it should be way below that I hope.

 

[Candutch]

Got some decent temps today so I quickly got the trailer parts wiped down with acetone and managed to get the etching primer on. I then got the compressor all set up to spray primer and when I went to mix up the rustoleum I had left over from the boat I couldn't tell if it was the right stuff, it looked too white and of course I didn't have it in the original can. In the end I decided to play it safe and will pick some more up later and I will just have to sand this coat now. Back to work tomorrow and the weather is all over the place so not sure when the next oppurtunity will be.
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[budski]

Trailer is coming along nicely going to look great.

 

[Patfromny]

I think they makes sleeves that slip over the spindle and give you a new surface for the bearing to ride. I'd look into that before changing the whole spindle.