1985 StarCraft Islander 221v fixer upper.

[DCampbell]

I was thinking ahead and started contemplating my paint job. Has anyone ever polished that bare bottom on one of these, lol. it would be a huge job and not at all worth it if it dulled up in a couple years, lol. Maybe there is a clear coat I can spray ? or maybe just silver with a clear over it ? What kind of paint other than implement paint ? BC/CC ? Im thinking a really nice white over the silver bottom or polished. White looks so clean . I plan on using a hvlp . any paint links for aluminum boats would be great. thanks guys .

 

[SHSU]

Reference @classiccat 's thread. He polished his 1975 18ft hull. A lot of work, but well worth it.

As for paint, most use implement or rustoleum. A couple have used epoxy. A lot depends on what you want and how much work you want to put into it.

Are you going to turtle her or paint on the trailer?

SHSU

 

[DCampbell]

Reference @classiccat 's thread. He polished his 1975 18ft hull. A lot of work, but well worth it.

As for paint, most use implement or rustoleum. A couple have used epoxy. A lot depends on what you want and how much work you want to put into it.

Are you going to turtle her or paint on the trailer?

SHSU

I have been debating that, If I turtled her I would definitely polish the bottom. I know it seems a lot of work , but I turtled my 18 foot Crestliner, it wasnt that hard. and it was way easier to sand and prep .I took that time to redo the trailer at the same time. Thanks for the link to Classicats boat , WOW ! yup that what I want ! thank you .

 

[SHSU]

I have been debating that, If I turtled her I would definitely polish the bottom. I know it seems a lot of work , but I turtled my 18 foot Crestliner, it wasnt that hard. and it was way easier to sand and prep .I took that time to redo the trailer at the same time. Thanks for the link to Classicats boat , WOW ! yup that what I want ! thank you .

Yep, turtleing her is the easiest all around, and like you said, good time to redo the trailer at the same time.

SHSU

 

[JimmySmackdown]

Great thread and very timely. I just finished chopping out frozen foam from my 1984 Islander 221V. I'm really interested to see how your bracket installation turns out. I'm also going the bracket route, but I haven't settled on a design yet. Are you putting wood back in to support the transom? I'm trying to figure out how to do it with 1/4" aluminum plate and knee braces.

 

[DCampbell]

Great thread and very timely. I just finished chopping out frozen foam from my 1984 Islander 221V. I'm really interested to see how your bracket installation turns out. I'm also going the bracket route, but I haven't settled on a design yet. Are you putting wood back in to support the transom? I'm trying to figure out how to do it with 1/4" aluminum plate and knee braces.

I will build the new transom out of wood , but use aluminum for the knee braces. I plan to attach the braces to the stringer drives mounting stringers , they are beefy. In reality the support for the bracket will all be from those stringers just as the previous motor and outdrive were. after I put the top panel back on it will brace it even more. I did the same to a previous crestliner and it performed well. If I could offer a suggestion , try your best to get a 25 inch outboard. the added clearance will benefit you . When you measure for the bracket to go on , use a straight edge on the bottom of your Hull and take your measurements from where the outboard will be . not close to the transom. The plane of the hull will sit deeper than you suspect. I am hoping the length of this hull will keep the stern from digging too deep . Trim tabs help if this becomes a problem. I plan on putting mine back on regardless just for a slower cruising speed. You are going to love the way these perform.

Edit ; try to tie in your knee walls and bracing direct by bolting your bracket through the wood and through the bracing as well. the bottom is just as important as the top. the engine pulls at the top and pushes in at the bottom. Im not even accounting for sideways torque . I over build to make up for my lack of engineering degree, lol. Seems engineers have the ability to design using the least amount of material (money) . Not me , lol

 

[JimmySmackdown]

Thanks so much for the advice. I think I'll just go with the standard marine double 3/4 ply encapsulated with epoxy. It will probably outlive me and the boat. My bracket will have an oversize backing plate which corresponds to the footprint of the bracket and is through-bolted to form a transom Oreo cookie. I'll weld my knee braces from the backing plate to the inboard mount stringers for the lower support. I also plan on incorporating a swim deck with the bracket and that will be through-bolted to a piece of channel on the inside. My friend thinks we might need to have some support braces from the edge of the swim deck to the back corners of the transom, but we might not. Like you, I don't have an official engineering degree, so I tend to make up for it with extra material. I've got a 25" Suzuki 150 four stroke that I'm picking up this Thursday. I think this is going to be a great combo.

 

[DCampbell]

Thanks so much for the advice. I think I'll just go with the standard marine double 3/4 ply encapsulated with epoxy. It will probably outlive me and the boat. My bracket will have an oversize backing plate which corresponds to the footprint of the bracket and is through-bolted to form a transom Oreo cookie. I'll weld my knee braces from the backing plate to the inboard mount stringers for the lower support. I also plan on incorporating a swim deck with the bracket and that will be through-bolted to a piece of channel on the inside. My friend thinks we might need to have some support braces from the edge of the swim deck to the back corners of the transom, but we might not. Like you, I don't have an official engineering degree, so I tend to make up for it with extra material. I've got a 25" Suzuki 150 four stroke that I'm picking up this Thursday. I think this is going to be a great combo.

you got it , lol. perfect plan.

 

[JimmySmackdown]

Did you find a set of plans to build your bracket or are you going to design it on the fly? I'm trying to connect with another iboats member that goes by the handle Weldzilla because he has a thread about building a bracket for his Sylvan Offshore (which is a rebranded Islander). It is a really nice design and I hope I can get measurements from him.

 

[dproctor1]

Did you find a set of plans to build your bracket or are you going to design it on the fly? I'm trying to connect with another iboats member that goes by the handle Weldzilla because he has a thread about building a bracket for his Sylvan Offshore (which is a rebranded Islander). It is a really nice design and I hope I can get measurements from him.

Not to thread jack but I'm in the midst of building a outboard bracket for my islander got a pretty good start on it too always up for sharing ideas

 

[DCampbell]

Did you find a set of plans to build your bracket or are you going to design it on the fly? I'm trying to connect with another iboats member that goes by the handle Weldzilla because he has a thread about building a bracket for his Sylvan Offshore (which is a rebranded Islander). It is a really nice design and I hope I can get measurements from him.

I bought mine from a company in florida.

 

[DCampbell]

Im still here ! life took a twist like it is apt to do on occasion. I havent made much headway. I have moved and had to pack up all the boat parts. wow. more than I remember. Going to get started again this week. will get picks when something happens. Just stopping to say ahoy !

 

[DCampbell]

Well , I am still here , all finished with the move. getting the garage cleaned up ready to work on the boat. garage is 14 x 20 not big , but maybe enough i can pull it most of the way in, lol. I'm going to extend the garage entrance a little. I have held of because of high lumber and supply prices. whew! Plywood is coming back down finally.

 

[Watermann]

We're still hanging around too and yeah it's going to be a tough one to find a garage large enough to fit a 22'r all the way inside. That reminds me, I need a big ole shop for my 22'r.

 

[DCampbell]

well , I finally cleaned out 12 x20 garage so I could store my parts and work on the parts. I have a fabric shed that is 14x20 I am going to attach to the front of the garage so I can work on the actual boat, lol. Im ready to start scraping the remaining foam and cleaning. I'm going to check for loose rivets ,then use Glovit. hopefully in the next two weeks. I need to beat the cold weather . Then its cleaning aluminum and cutting plywood using the patterns I kept. I should gain space as I get rid of old plywood, lol. I am going to use parts off of a previous project I did. I installed a bracket on a 18 foot crestliner, meh. did alright when it got on plane but sank to low in the back during take off. I switched it out and cut down the transom, much better performance. The 18 footer was too small for a bracket. well at least an aluminum 18 footer. I sold the bracket for a good price. I am going to convert this one over to a outboard. I have saw some of the outboard versions and they really dont lose that much room inside the boat. storage is needed anyhow. I had to decide if I wanted to keep the welded hull Crestliner or keep the Islander...duh! I love my islander, lol. Funny cause I just rebuilt the Crestliner, lol. But man there is just something about these Starcrafts......dreaming of a 25 foot chieftain.Pics are kind of scrambled sorry. i showed pics of the crestliner when I finished it then some of when Im tearing it back down. you can see the 1/4 inch aluminum plate that is still attached to the stringers but unbolted from the transom. Anyone thinking of doing a bracket they are pretty easy if you read up on it. I should have listened when they told me not to try it on under a 20 footer. it did ok but wasnt idea. I didnt care for the engine getting a bath sometimes when trolling in some bigger waves. My outboard is a 25 inch leg too. I cant imagine trying that with anything shorter. Saginaw bay has some decent waves but man do they come close together sometimes. Sorry about this post being all over, lol. but thanks for checking out my build.

 

[DCampbell]

I need opinions guys. I am going to cut the transom on my I/O and convert it to an outboard. I sold my bracket, because I didn't care for the performance or handling with it. I have seen some different versions and styles of transoms for islanders . I am not sure which is correct for my year. The smaller cut out will keep more water out but I don't see that as being a problem. it will be used on Lake Michigan, Lake Huron , and Saginaw bay. I plan on making the removable splash board the same height as the gunnels. I have a kicker motor bracket that came on the boat stock so I can mount a kicker either on a bracket or hang on the back. believe it or not there isnt a lot to be done to convert it. there are only a few support brackets that mount to the sides and the brackets that connect to the stringers to the transom on the stringer drive are way more substantial than the outboard model. Really a splash well is going to be a piece of cake there are plenty of brackets to anchor to both sides and transom and gunnels. Here is the pics of different transom cut outs. I have a 25 inch outboard if that makes a difference

 

[DCampbell]

these are the support for the transom on the I/O they seem more robust then the actual outboard version. I am assuming that is because of a lack of structual support of a splashwell on a I/O/ . by adding a splash well correctly supported it should be even stronger than stock. edit , I included a pic of the outboard version .

 

[DCampbell]

Here is where I am currently, ready to wire wheel, clean , power wash and gluvit.

 

[Watermann]

I would for sure model is after the V5 style SW. My Islander transom is 25" with a PO hack job to 20".

 

[DCampbell]

I would for sure model is after the V5 style SW. My Islander transom is 25" with a PO hack job to 20".

I would for sure model is after the V5 style SW. My Islander transom is 25" with a PO hack job to 20".

which one is the v5 ? like the yours ?