1985 Starcraft SS 160 with 75HP Mercury Outboard restoration and upgrades

[SHSU]

You went though all that work just to put back a raw piece of wood in the wettest part of the boat. Okay.

He covered it with a couple quick coats of epoxy. He is going to add more when he pulls it again

 

[EchoNovember]

You went though all that work just to put back a raw piece of wood in the wettest part of the boat. Okay.

Yep, totally. Lol. Give me SOME credit. Two layers of epoxy, every screw and drill hole sealed with 5200.

 

[EchoNovember]

Although my fianc?e over sanded the bottom edge a tad and went through the epoxy a bit. Not terribly worried about that right now, though since the ends that will be under the stern caps are too high and will need to be sanded down, I'm thinking after sanding them down the whole transom will be coming back out to have all exposed parts sealed with epoxy again to be safe. I also want to apply a couple thin layers to the inside of the motor mount holes and the splashwell drain hole. She's not going to be happy about us pulling it out again, though...

 

[Watermann]

I didn't see the post about sealing the transom with 2 coats of epoxy resin. It was yesterday's post about rotten wood removal to today it's installed. Most of the guys love to take and post pics of sealed wood for some reason. :lol:

If you used 5200 to seal the through hardware in the transom then there's really no reason to pull it back out other than to do the inner skin clean up, repair and sealing with paint. From what I've seen actually most guys don't go that extra mile unless they have some serious corrosion issues with the inner skin.

 

[SHSU]

I didn't see the post about sealing the transom with 2 coats of epoxy resin. It was yesterday's post about rotten wood removal to today it's installed. Most of the guys love to take and post pics of sealed wood for some reason. :lol:

He does magic!!!! LOL

 

[EchoNovember]

Lol. I still need to upload the rest of the photos and updates.

 

[EchoNovember]

We are in the middle of removing the transom again to reseal some exposed parts of it. Unfortunately, we stripped a screw, and now I can't find it. It's a 2.5-3 inch long aluminum machine screw with 1/4-20 thread and a button or pan head with phillips drive. We need a few spares, and can't find them anywhere. Can anyone point me in the right direction for these?

 

[Watermann]

Aluminum machine bolts? I only use stainless with nylocs for every bolt through the transom/hull (as did SC at the factory) but I take the extra step and seal/isolate with 5200. Aluminum is way too weak in this high stress area and there's no way to use AL bolts to hold on an outboard so you have to go SS.

 

[EchoNovember]

It's not for the outboard itself.

It's for the below ones, plus the one attaching the transom to the knee brace.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah SS machine bolts and nylocs go there, you won't find any other restores here using aluminum for through the transom fasteners. With one exception, Mercruiser has 2 anode bolts that go through the transom assembly that are AL, the rest are SS.

 

[EchoNovember]

That is very good to know, and will make the hunt for new machine screws one hell of a lot easier. I will pick up some new screws this week.

Side question, what could that patch crap be to the lower right of the motor? From the inside, there is zero sign of a repaired hole or other damage. Corrosion a PO attempted to cover up? The aluminum on the other side is pristine, so I have zero idea what the purpose there was.

 

[Watermann]

My guess is the PO had glued on a piece of some kind of board, probably that cutting board material on there as the location would be right. Maybe to put a transducer on or something like that and it fell off since not much sticks to that cutting board stuff. :lol:

 

[SHSU]

Man, I would go crazy if I had to find Aluminum bolts!!!! LOL

I agree with WM on that crap being some kind of glue. When you do your restore, take some acetone to it and see whats underneath.

You get to test out your new transom?

 

[EchoNovember]

Man, I would go crazy if I had to find Aluminum bolts!!!! LOL

I agree with WM on that crap being some kind of glue. When you do your restore, take some acetone to it and see whats underneath.

You get to test out your new transom?

I WAS going crazy. Starting contemplating renaming the boat "Tinsanity"... I will be able to find SS button head machine screws much easier.

We have not been able to test it yet. It's coming back out and getting resealed in areas. It was too tall at the stern caps, and they wouldn't fit, so we need to trim it down and reseal the top. Also, the admiral accidentally over-sanded the bottom edge while trying to remove epoxy runs, so we need to reseal that, too. It wasn't quick coats, though we did apply the coats within about 4-5 hours of each other to get the chemical bond. The bonus about redoing it is that we can now overdrill the holes a 1/16 to 1/8 inch and coat the inside of the holes.

Oh, and pro tip: When liberally coating the transom eye threads with 5200, which is marked permanent, to ensure a solid seating and seal, permanent means PERMANENT. It was a pain to get the nuts off (giggity), and it took a 3 pound mini-sledge and many hits to knock them back out... That stuff HOLDS. We were prying, pulling, hitting with a normal claw hammer, and it didn't budge. I started joking that we didn't need the nuts on the backside, that the 5200 would hold strongly enough. I started thinking it really would...

Btw, the extra prop that came with the boat is about a 1/4-1/2 inch shorter at the exhaust than the damaged one on the motor. It just has a shorter bell at the exhaust end, everything else matches from what I can see. Both have 15 splines, though I need to measure the diameter, too. The old one is a Michigan Wheel 13.25 x 17P, the new one I think might be 13x 17P. Will the diameter affect anything? I'm probably now in the market for a new or new-to-me propeller, though. I will have to check the measurements when I get home.

 

[EchoNovember]

Okay, the newer prop is this:

http://boatpropellers.iboats.com/Me...344A45_Propeller/298/39355/?cart_id=302994964

The numbers on it were 48-77344-17, so I am fairly confident it is an older Black Max and fully compatible, so I will use it for now.

Not to start a propeller war, but what is going to be the best propeller for towing a skier, tube, disabled boat, etc, and still get high top speed for joy rides? For fishing the propeller just has to get us there, and the trolling motor will take over. Should I stick with a 17P 3 blade? Or switch to a 15P or 16P 4 blade for the extra traction? I don't want to go to tow a skier or disabled boat and end up dealing with cavitation and a free spinning propeller, but I also don't want to switch if there is no real reason to. I still want a high top speed, but also fuel savings, good holeshot, and good traction for skiing.

 

[SHSU]

The bonus about redoing it is that we can now overdrill the holes a 1/16 to 1/8 inch and coat the inside of the holes.
.

I have seen where guys used some painters tape to seal one end of the hole and fill it. Makes a puck and then drill that out. I would be concerned that i might have wiggle if I just drilled it out, coated it, and then stuck the bolt in. You don't want any movement, as movement means wear, and wear means failure over time.

Not to start a propeller war, but what is going to be the best propeller for towing a skier, tube, disabled boat, etc, and still get high top speed for joy rides?

I have no experience with props or top speeds; however, does it really matter for what we are doing? In the end, are you going to really notice a huge difference?

 

[EchoNovember]

I like the puck idea to avoid the wiggle room. So I will still overdrill it by a 1/16 inch, but I will make it an epoxy plug that gets drilled out later for the final fitment.

For the power part of the boat, I need it set up for skiing and tubing so I need to make sure I set it up right for that. The rest of the boat is going to be pleasure and fishing, and fishing could use oars to power it, as long as it gets the boat to where the fish are. I need to make sure I have the right power and traction to be able to get the admiral up on her skis fast enough or she's going to wear herself out quickly.

 

[EchoNovember]

I saw this today and got to thinking, could I install a large fuel tank under the deck?













I was thinking it'd be great if we ever decided to take a day or weekend cruise up and down the Mississippi. I was talking to the admiral about maybe venturing down the river and stopping at campgrounds along the way, then head back up. The only concern would be our whopping 12 gallons of gas and where to fill up along the way. This tank is too big at 65" L x 27.5" W and 8" D, although 47 gallons would last us the weekend and then some. Anyone have thoughts about putting a built in fuel tank in a 16' bowrider? Too much weight? Assuming 8lbs per gallon of gas, that's an additional 376 lbs in fuel, not to mention the weight of the tank... What about a smaller in floor tank?

 

[SHSU]

I saw this today and got to thinking, could I install a large fuel tank under the deck?

I was thinking it'd be great if we ever decided to take a day or weekend cruise up and down the Mississippi. I was talking to the admiral about maybe venturing down the river and stopping at campgrounds along the way, then head back up. The only concern would be our whopping 12 gallons of gas and where to fill up along the way. This tank is too big at 65" L x 27.5" W and 8" D, although 47 gallons would last us the weekend and then some. Anyone have thoughts about putting a built in fuel tank in a 16' bowrider? Too much weight? Assuming 8lbs per gallon of gas, that's an additional 376 lbs in fuel, not to mention the weight of the tank... What about a smaller in floor tank?

So I am looking at having a custom tank made to fit under the deck. Personally looking at 16-20 gallons. You can have Moeller make one. Just have to account for cost, custom tanks are not cheap. I am also looking at this one: [FONT=&quot]Moeller Poly Fuel Tank FTA001044BR[/FONT]

You can find it on e-bay and it might fit, I just don't have my boat put together enough to measure everything exactly to know if it will work or not where I want to put it. I want it to go under deck right at center console area to help disperse weight.

 

[EchoNovember]

Should probably stick with just one, right? Two would be awesome, though. Stick one on each side, under the seats, have connector hose(s) to ensure fuel disperses evenly between the tanks, that way it's just one fill nozzle. You're planning on saltwater use in a bay, iirc, so you have more of a need for extra fuel than I do. I'll be on lakes where I can pretty much drift into shore, not out to sea. I have a paddle for emergencies, though, and a trolling motor.

I would love the under deck fuel tanks, though, to free up space at the stern for fishing gear, camping gear, etc.