1982 starcraft v220 mariner v5 potential rebuild

[Crabeye]

Hi all..have had this boat for a while now..looking to take off floor and redo it..transom seems very solid..it's an outboard..never been messed with...I've got an issue where some of the rivet heads on bottom fall off when tapped...not too many but enough to give me concern..would this be scary situation when hitting waves etc. And rivets start failing?.what would be best advice from you experienced starcraft guys..looking to put a 140 suzuki 4 stroke on it as well...use of boat would be west coast ocean..(bodega bay area) and sf bay halibut..next question is would this boat be able to handle the salt (corrosion) ..not planning to leave in berth..it hasn't been painted on bottom or bottom paint..thanks JC

 

[Crabeye]

Adding to post now...I guess my fear is that is it actually possible for seams to pop open? Also..does anyone have input on what flotation my 1982 starcraft should have..and could I do a very effective flotation add on..after I do rivets and gluvit?

 

[MNhunter1]

She's a big girl! I'm envious! Galvanized dual axle trailer too!

My assumption is after removing the deck you will find yourself with some saturated spray in foam. I'd yank it all out, give it a good cleaning, and assess all the rivets. You may find corrosion/pitting inside the hull where the saturated foam has sat against the hull, especially if it was a salt water boat. Rivet heads shouldn't just pop off with ease. If they do, I'd methodically go through and hammer in all new solids with a healthy dose of 3m5200, pending the hull assessment and your time investment deems it to be a worthwhile effort. It'll be some work, but will be a wise investment if you are planning on holding onto it for awhile and your intended big water/ocean use. I'd take a hard look at the transom as well and do it as a piece of mind, even though it may seem to be solid at the moment.

If you're lucky, you'll find the foam board flotation under the deck. Not sure when they moved to the pour in on the Mariners/MR, or what the standard was for the V5 hulls, but my 1984 18ft had the pour in foam. Wish it didn't, but it did.

Excited to follow along with this one!

 

[MNhunter1]

Might be a 1983 as well. I couldn't find a 220V in the '82 catalog, but they had one in the '83: https://starcraftmarine.com/sites/default/files/catalogs/StarCraftAluminumRunabouts1983_web.pdf

 

[Crabeye]

Might be a 1983 as well. I couldn't find a 220V in the '82 catalog, but they had one in the '83: https://starcraftmarine.com/sites/default/files/catalogs/StarCraftAluminumRunabouts1983_web.pdf

I just went off the registration..stating 82...but trolling this site I understand this boat can handle pretty big waters..sure has a ton of fishing room to drift fish halibut,lings,and rockfish..am I to also understand it a little beefier as far as ribs,etc.? Has 240 max. Hp rating

 

[Gibbles]

Ooo v5 ribs is that what I see?!

 

[Crabeye]

Ooo v5 ribs is that what I see?!

Gibbles...tell me more please..pm me if you wish..I'd like to be fully informed of what I have here..

 

[Gibbles]

Gibbles...tell me more please..pm me if you wish..I'd like to be fully informed of what I have here..

The better hull!
More reinforcements, tale tale is the long rib on the outside.
I think those earlier ones also had the lattice structure inside of the hull.

My islander is an example of the much later version of the hull design where it became the "V"
Example 221V would be the reinforced hull design, earlier woukd have 221 V5

On my 94 it's on the id plate by the driver position, but they also moved the reinforcements inside of the hull, so all you see is the pattern of the rivets.

On yours, it's clearly presented on the outside.

I have another post where i put in a comparison, someone is just looking for information on what to buy.

 

[Watermann]

Welcome aboard, the V5 designation was the early model of the Vs to come in the 80s and Starcraft was proud of them making emblems and decals to show it off. Another give away is the port side fuel filler.

 

[Gibbles]

Might have been late 70's as well.
One i picked upbfor dozer years ago was a 78 or 79.

If i recall it had V5 decals, but that was a very long time ago.

 

[Moserkr]

Welcome @Crabeye !! Im just east of you in the sierras and Im familiar with the waters out on our coast. Havent taken my boat out there yet as its a bit smaller than yours, but Ive surfed all over and kayak fish for rockfish and lingcod.

Similar to your issues, I had rivets just losing their heads when I first got my boat. Once I almost sank when a rivet lost the head and tail, slowly filling up my boat while fishing... ended up replacing almost 200 (10%) but the PO had hit a log which cause a lot of damage to my boats structure.

In your case I wouldnt be caught dead on the north coast ocean waters without tearing the boat down to a bare hull. As someone else said, check every rivet below waterline with a hammer on the head. It will fall off if its compromised. Fix all the bad rivets with hard solid rivets and 5200 sealant. Check and fix corrosion if any. Then coat-it or gluvit all seams inside. Replace flotation foam with closed cell foam board from the big box stores.

For the bottom, Id personally go bare aluminum if you're going to be primarily in salt water. Add a good anode to help with corrosion. Always rinse your boat well. Replace any dissimilar cheap metal with SS and aluminum. A few big bilge pumps is a really good idea too.

Looks like a great project! Id love a V5 hull and keep my eye out for them. Pretty rare to see them come up for sale, especially in the nice condition yours is in. Once you get it all rebuilt and repowered with a 140, it should handle a lot of the days out there on the big blue.