'79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Always good to see your progress. I like the safety chain & might put one on mine. I use a rope now. I have lots of chain but my issue is cutting it, I don't have any bolt cutters and just haven't gotten the ambition to hit it with the hack saw. Way better than rope though.

There is a fella on this site that once taught us the importance of those safety chains. Hope I never test it.

And you're moving there when???

Here's where we stay when we visit to let the boys catch frogs and fish in the summer, and also hunt in the fall/winter.

It's one of the larger/comfortable deer blinds you'll see around these parts.

HA - Nice pond, are we invited? Maybe put and take.

Nice work on the boat, The bow stop looks good.

You might want to look at getting a strap to replace that rope. Hate to see a day ruined ( or worse the boat) when it breaks.

Thanks 64...I agree 100% and I plan on getting a real strap on there asap. It's ugly in addition to being unsafe.:facepalm:

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

So things went well up north at Hubbard Lake Marina and I now own two keys for the 70hp

I figured that if the downstate dealers were not willing to help out I'd look elsewhere...and we had a mini vacation planned up on Lake Huron so that worked out well.

I got extremely lucky as it turned out, since we tried all the old keys from the inventory and none worked.:facepalm:

I was pretty close to walking out of there but they didn't want to give up on a cheap solution. My kind of folks for sure.

Once we discussed swapping the ignition out of a similar control box as an option, we headed to a shed out back...American Pickers style...and proceeded to sort through boxes of old two-lever OMC controls for some time.

The guy helping out noticed a white Johnson control box that was nearly identical, but beat up beyond all recognition. After initially eyeballing the ignition on the unit, he yanks the keys out, tries it on the controls and it worked.

Five dollars later and I was on my way to enjoy the rest of our long weekend up north.

While all of this was happening they also provided advice on catching walleye in Hubbard Lake as a bonus.

My dad was with me and we took his Sea Nymph out to fish the lake for the first time afterwards. It's a huge lake and over 100' deep with lots of fish, so perfect for trolling

I need to fuel up and test the motor on the muffs, or finish the interior and wiring to lake test the rig.

 

[lakelover]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I was pretty close to walking out of there but they didn't want to give up on a cheap solution. My kind of folks for sure.

That's the way to do business and retain customers, I bet they have great customer loyalty. Glad your persistance paid off for you!

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

5 bux well spent

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Here is a shot of the bow safety chain attached. Still planning on getting a new strap for the bow. The rope's gotta go.

I bought this steering link on ebay cheap. It's for a newer Johnson/Evinrude so it doesn't fit perfectly.

I removed a small bracket and I think it will work once I get the steering wheel installed.

New bow line ready to go.

I have a nice white helm seat, and a grey one for the starboard side. I think it looks kinda goofy, Roslynn agrees.

We also have two high-back seats that are white grey and blue.

We are considering trying out the yellow vinyl spray paint on them and see how it turns out.

You can also see the blue and green wiring for the bow light ready to go.

I've been steadily getting the electrical sorted out for the boat.

I've realized that the reason the cleats and bow light look nicer...with the grey on the gunnels the contrast is better so they stand out.

With all the yellow from the factory you could hardly notice.

 

[sprintst]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Nice score on that key. She's coming together man.

 

[lakelover]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I bought this steering link on ebay cheap. It's for a newer Johnson/Evinrude so it doesn't fit perfectly.

I removed a small bracket and I think it will work once I get the steering wheel installed.

I don't have the exactly correct link either. The motor turns slightly sharper in one direction than the other, and when I'm going straight, the steering wheel points slightly to the left. I think I can fix that by either adjusting the trim tab, or disconnectng and reconnecting the cable at the rack....if I can fudge that little bit of extra cable length I have. Those links are pretty cheap and the right ones come up once in a while on ebay, so I may pic one up if I decide I can't live with it the way it is.

I'll be curious what you find with your link when it's installed.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I have a nice white helm seat, and a grey one for the starboard side. I think it looks kinda goofy, Roslynn agrees. We also have two high-back seats that are white grey and blue.

We are considering trying out the yellow vinyl spray paint on them and see how it turns out.

I don't know about yellow, or the coverage it'll give you on an all white & an all grey seat, but extremely faded to tan went on pretty well:

Covered well, laid down well, not to difficult to prep or spray, even along the welting/edging on the seats. Just like most sprayed paint: it's very sensitive to inconsistent nozzle distance & the speed you move the can from left to right. It even left the vinyl 'grain' looking almost exactly the same as before spraying. Satin tan was the only tan available, but other colors were gloss. I don't know if satin/gloss is available in all colors.

I used:

Have a great last of the weekend! And a safe & fun 4th!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

HA - I like the new vertical bow stop a lot better than the horizontal version. Better support now. One positive note - The new dock line means you're thinking ahead to tying up at the dock. And that says only one thing to me, the day is almost here for wetness.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Nice score on that key. She's coming together man.

Thanks Sprint Yeah I was really glad to get 2 keys for $5.

I don't have the exactly correct link either. The motor turns slightly sharper in one direction than the other, and when I'm going straight, the steering wheel points slightly to the left. I think I can fix that by either adjusting the trim tab, or disconnectng and reconnecting the cable at the rack....if I can fudge that little bit of extra cable length I have. Those links are pretty cheap and the right ones come up once in a while on ebay, so I may pic one up if I decide I can't live with it the way it is.

I'll be curious what you find with your link when it's installed.

It's not a perfect match, but I think it will work. I have some photos to post up.

It does seem like it turns to starboard more than port as you mentioned.

I don't know about yellow, or the coverage it'll give you on an all white & an all grey seat, but extremely faded to tan went on pretty well:

Covered well, laid down well, not to difficult to prep or spray, even along the welting/edging on the seats. Just like most sprayed paint: it's very sensitive to inconsistent nozzle distance & the speed you move the can from left to right. It even left the vinyl 'grain' looking almost exactly the same as before spraying. Satin tan was the only tan available, but other colors were gloss. I don't know if satin/gloss is available in all colors.

I used:

Have a great last of the weekend! And a safe & fun 4th!

Wow those turned out well. I think we'll give it a go. The vinyl paint we have is not Rusto though.

HA - I like the new vertical bow stop a lot better than the horizontal version. Better support now. One positive note - The new dock line means you're thinking ahead to tying up at the dock. And that says only one thing to me, the day is almost here for wetness.

Thanks GA, it's a good fit. We actually had the boat in the water friday night to test a few things(not the 70hp).

More along the lines of where to mount the three rod holders I have to install.

In order to do this we had to troll Rapala's for Crappie with the Minn Kota. Tough work let me tell you!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Here are a few photos of us attaching the port windshield last night.

This weatherstripping is way better than the foamy type stuff we used last time around.

One of the Black Crappie my fishing buddy's wife caught.

We were able to determine a few good locations for the rod holders, though I wish I had the rail mounts for them so they can be moved anywhere in the bow to run planer boards.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I used the price from Zorotools.com ($4.53/can) instead of AutoZone's $8. In July Zoro's has free shipping. I don't know, but I suspect that there is a minimum order amount to get free shipping, but may be not...

Those 4 seats & backs used just over 3 cans. If I had been more careful, I suspect 3 would have done it:facepalm:

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Some photos of the steering arm link bolted in place.

The action on it is smooth, I used some white lithium grease on the cable to keep it that way.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Here you can see the position of a full turn on each side. It seems to be about what the Merc had so it should be just fine.

I'm thinking about hooking up the controls and starting the motor up.

The starboard and port dash panels need to be dealt with before I can rig up any steering.

What do you guys think? Lake test or driveway?

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Roz is such an awesome boat builder!

Hey, the OB looks great back there, way better than the Merc!

 

[sprintst]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Nice solid work man. So tempting to hit the lake

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I'd muff it so when you get the dashes finished it's wet time knowing the motor runs with the new electrical and fuel systems. Also it's a little more motivation if you need it. And you have to hook up the controls, so you might as well test them at the same time.

You are getting close to the real splash. I think this is the first time I've seen a mini test pre-splash with fish pics. A good sign of things to come!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

We got the starboard side panel installed today, as well as the the controls for the 70hp Johnson.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Here's a look after we got the cables routed properly.

Plenty of room under the gunnels, and the previous restorer even attached some hooks.

That helped make this an easy job.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

BTW does anyone know what the red wire is for?

I'm assuming it's for a kill switch based on it's location, but not sure.

If so I'd like to get it properly rigged up.

From what I've read in the manual the lead for a tachometer is a grey wire(or at least from the factory).

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