1981 Starcraft Super Sport 180. My first project

[poorboy1990]

Just bought my first project boat. It is a 1981 Starcraft Super Sport 160. Now time to restore on a budget. I just bought it on May 3rd.

 

[poorboy1990]

I started out looking for a 16 foot aluminum boat to take to the local ponds to do some trout fishing. I came across this boat sitting in a junk yard. It has been sitting for about 10 years with out any tarp or cover. I got it and the trailer for only $400. The trailer needs some TLC. The boat needs a complete gutting and restore. It came with a US Marine Force 85 OB. Not sure if it runs or not but it rolls over by hand. All the electronics have been ripped out and the motor controls have been unhooked and removed. Only 2 seats were installed. Everything else is junk. Looks like I have alot of work ahead of me. I have been looking at alot of the forums of other boats being remodeled and found alot of ideas. I like the transom and splashguard that Candutch had done to his. Looking to do alot of fishing with mine but probably no skiing or tubing.

 

[Decker83]

:welcome: to the dry dock. Looks like the hull is in good shape..

 

[poorboy1990]

Other than a few old mounting holes in the transom, the rest of the hull seems to be in great shape. A few small dings and dents. No leaks that I have found yet.

 

[poorboy1990]

Not a good sign from the transom. When I took the aluminum top off the transom I was swarmed by a thousand ants. What is good to use for the wood of a transom when marine plywood is not available? Mine measured 1 5/8 inches thick.

 

[classiccat]

Not a good sign from the transom. When I took the aluminum top off the transom I was swarmed by a thousand ants. What is good to use for the wood of a transom when marine plywood is not available? Mine measured 1 5/8 inches thick.

My advice is to check out a few rebuild threads...nearly every one has a transom replacement. :thumb:

In a nutshell: 2 pieces of 3/4" exterior grade PLY laminated together.

the more popular adhesive used in these parts is tite-bond III waterproof glue. I went a slightly different route on my SC and used epoxy with fillers.

Check the warp on the PLY before planning your cuts...you'll want the warp on 1 piece to counteract the warp in the other...not compliment one another.

 

[poorboy1990]

An idea I had for the transon was to use the 3/4 exterior plywood and use fiberglass resin to seal the plywwod after gluing the sheets together. Is that a good idea or is there a better product to use to seal the wood?

 

[classiccat]

An idea I had for the transon was to use the 3/4 exterior plywood and use fiberglass resin to seal the plywwod after gluing the sheets together. Is that a good idea or is there a better product to use to seal the wood?

assume you mean Epoxy resin with fiberglass cloth? That would be the approach I had taken on my 18' SS: #1069 ,1079 and #1102.

 

[Watermann]

Welcome aboard and to the Starmada! :wave:

Another more frugal and foolproof option of sealing your transom and decking is to use clear gloss Helmsman Spar urethane. As with anything always keep the boat covered and out of the elements so it stays like new.

Transom is delaminating so the measurement is off by an 1/8", it's 1.5" originally. As said, you can use a good ACX plywood, I like the Roseburg fir. Laminate the two C sides leaving A sanded sides out and use Titebond III, another foolproof product.

The extra mounting holes in your transom is something most all of us have faced. I made an AL plate to cover mine,secured using original bolts and back buttered with 5200.

 

[poorboy1990]

Somemore transom damage I found after I removed the SW. It looks like the wood was put in in 5 pieces. The water penetrated between the pieces where it was no longer sealed.

Also got it mostly cleaned out.

Some issues with the rollers on the trailer.

After hauling up to my fathers to clean the boat found out that had check the wheel berrings. Good luck that I had. They were bad on both sides.

 

[Watermann]

The 3 piece transom is a common factory corner cutting method, one long piece across the bottom and 2 'wings' on each end.

If you're going to use that motor I suggest you build a stand for it to get it off the ground.

 

[poorboy1990]

Was looking at using that motor but I don't know if it works or not. It has alot of stuck pieces.
Yes I will build a stand to get it off the ground soon.

 

[classiccat]

there's more good than bad in this picture.
- knee brace doesn't look cracked.
- your hull has the brackets that help support the spray rail & outer chine.
- aluminum isn't grossly pitted/corroded.

 

[poorboy1990]

For this weeks update:
I got the motor on a stand and was working on it.
Lifted the cover and found a large mouse nest.
Tested compression: all three tested at 140psi.
Got looking at the wiring and noticed the mice chewed a few of the wires.
Found the plate having the serial and model number of the motor.
Not knowing when the last time this motor ran I figured there would ne a few parts I would have to replace as a preventative measure, likt water pump, thermostat, LU oil, spark plugs, coil packs, carb rebuilt kit, silinoid.
Bad news is I was trying to shift the LU into forward and reverse to see if the gears were good. Could only get it into forward. It would come out of gear but not fully into neutral. Could not get it to move far enough to go into reverse.
My question may sound stupid but will it hurt to wash down the exterior of the motor? Anything besides the carbs that I shold not get wet?

 

[poorboy1990]

there's more good than bad in this picture.
- knee brace doesn't look cracked.
- your hull has the brackets that help support the spray rail & outer chine.
- aluminum isn't grossly pitted/corroded.

Yes Classiccat, The knee brace is in great shape, there is very minor corrosion, There are some rivits missing but only about a dozen or so. I still plan on adding more bracing similar to yours.

 

[kbh121956]

Poorboy1990, On your Chrysler/Force outboard go to the Force forum. We would all be glad to answer your questions there. 140 psi is good!

 

[kbh121956]

Also your 85hp outboard is a 1986 year. Do not remove the screw on the curved side of the gear housing to drain the oil. On the very bottom there is a small allen screw for draining. The easily seen screw is what holds the shifting linkage, once removed you will end up taking apart the whole gearcase in order to get the pivot pin back on right.

 

[poorboy1990]

This weeks update.
I have gotten some work done on the Force:
Got the LU drained. Removed the LU to check out the water impeller. Just what I figured I would find. The impeller was worn out. Replaced it with a new one and remounted the LU.
Got the motor washed off and all the dirt, oil, mouse residue removed from the outside of the motor.
Took off the Carbs and cleaned them, Found out 1 was missing an interior spring, So I have 1 on order.
Hooked up the remote to check out the length of the cables and to make sure everything worked together being that the PO had removed all the cables and wiring except the steering.
Got the motor shifting correctly and adjusted. Just not running yet.
Ran into an issue. The handle that works the tilt release broke off. Now to fix it.
Then to figure out the wiring. Looks like I maybe making a fully custom wiring system.

 

[poorboy1990]

Thank you KBH121956. Your responses helped out alot. Thans for the heads up on the screw not to remove. Being me I would have removed it and added more work for myself.

 

[poorboy1990]

Well its been a couple of weeks and life has gotten in the way of boat work. I finally got the transom out, got the boat flipped, and found that some of the rivets were popping off. Just a few at the moment but I suspect more will soon do the same. Looks like I will be learning how to do rivets soon.