'79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

[captainQ]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Yeah I agree, it could have bad wiring and need a carb rebuild. We will find out eventually. I will get a thread going to get some more opinions before I spend any money.


We could just redo the wiring and use the harness that I have and we talked about it last night. The plugs are fine on it, it's just the wiring and connections that need to be all torn out and redone. That would certainly be cheaper than the brand-new kit.

HA, Did you remove the dist. cap ? I had an 60hp Johnson that had the same symptoms. It would start and idle fine and take off pretty good but when I really put a load on it like towing a skier she'd bog and I'd have to back off a tad to smooth it out. Just a small hairline crack, replaced the cap and she was minty.

Just a thought if you haven't gone there yet.

 

[FJ_Russo]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Hey HA I used a mobile marine mechanic out of lansing last year.... He was a joke. I'm not one to say whether yours was wrong or right with the conclusion of wiring being the problem. I just wanted to know if you knew this guy or not. Cuz if its the one I used let me tell ya GET A SECOND OPINION!
I ended up taking my 50hp rude to Playtime Repair. They are right behind the green door in downtown lansing, good guy and a decent price. 250 bucks he did a lync and sync cleaned and rebuilt the carbs and adjusted the timing. I brought him the carb kit. After that she ran like an absolute CHAMP!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

HA, Did you remove the dist. cap ? I had an 60hp Johnson that had the same symptoms. It would start and idle fine and take off pretty good but when I really put a load on it like towing a skier she'd bog and I'd have to back off a tad to smooth it out. Just a small hairline crack, replaced the cap and she was minty.

Just a thought if you haven't gone there yet.

Might be worth taking a look. Those are the same symptoms that I've been experiencing.

Hey HA I used a mobile marine mechanic out of lansing last year.... He was a joke. I'm not one to say whether yours was wrong or right with the conclusion of wiring being the problem. I just wanted to know if you knew this guy or not. Cuz if its the one I used let me tell ya GET A SECOND OPINION!
I ended up taking my 50hp rude to Playtime Repair. They are right behind the green door in downtown lansing, good guy and a decent price. 250 bucks he did a lync and sync cleaned and rebuilt the carbs and adjusted the timing. I brought him the carb kit. After that she ran like an absolute CHAMP!

Yeah I wasn't overly impressed by the mechanic. Probably the same character. For $40/hour I figured I'd give it a shot and see what happened.

I'm leaning towards working on it myself for a while. Since the compression is all even I should get a Merc manual(just have the seloc now) and start reading. I was hesitant to invest any cash into it but now I may be willing to spend some cash on parts.

The prices you posted might be a little better than Bee's Sports in St. Johns. They are the closest Merc dealer but I don't want to pay top dollar unless I absolutely have to. Thanks for the info.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Well I've got a thread going in the Mercury/Mariner outboard forum...and some folks are claiming that the third compression test results are not accurate since oil in the cylinder will give a false reading, since it fills in cracks in the walls.

If the compression is bad in #4 then I will probably be running this thing until it dies so I can part it out, sell my CMC bracket and buy a 70hp Johnson/Evinrude this spring.

I have not spent much at all on the Merc and should probably be looking at a newer 2-stroke from the late 70s. I'd really like a 75hp Johnson Stinger, but they are quite rare and pricey.

I could also pull a Bob_VT and grab up a 115hp V4 OMC that's for sale locally for $850.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Got some paint prep done on the transom. I used the orbital sander, wire wheel and regular sand paper too.

Here's the snow fort we've been working on as well.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

That snow fort is bomber!

Bummer you are a giant and can't fit in there.

 

[FJ_Russo]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

No Jason, thats what the turtle shell lid is for. HA just takes that off and just steps over the side of the wall. Then his kids go running because some goofy lookin giant just took over the fort.

I'm just playing about that last part HA....Your not really a giant

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

That snow fort is bomber!

Bummer you are a giant and can't fit in there.

Thanks Jason, it's a work in progress...and they are probably working on it while I'm at work today too. I wonder what else they have planned

No Jason, thats what the turtle shell lid is for. HA just takes that off and just steps over the side of the wall. Then his kids go running because some goofy lookin giant just took over the fort.

I'm just playing about that last part HA....Your not really a giant

LOL They hide in there when I throw snowballs at 'em.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Gotta a question for you guys...I have 3/4" Arauco laying around that I could use for my side panels. It seems like the previous restorer used 3/4" as well, pressure treated.

Should I go smaller and use 1/2" or 3/8" to shed some weight? Leave them out altogether?

They are not load-bearing by any means so 3/4" seems like overkill to me. The less weight the better, since my deck is pretty heavy and I like to keep my draft as shallow as possible.

 

[LonLB]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I think I would save the 3/4" for a future project, and find something else to use....

If you find a source of alternate materials you could use about anything. A RV salvage down the road has sheets of 3/16" ABS sheets, that I'm thinking about using to build the walls of rod boxes and things like that.

As for leaving them in is totally up to you. On the port side I'm building a rod box that eliminates that side, and I 'might' replace the starboard one, and add some cargo net or something so I can store things in there and it stays in place....Might be a good place to store towels, sweatshirts or other stuff that is easily stuffed in there.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Yeah 3/4" is too heavy for side panels.

 

[Triton II]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Here's the snow fort we've been working on as well.

Wow... solid water! Not something we get around these parts!

Looks like a great place for the kids (and big kids!) to play paintball.

TII

 

[GT2010]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Cool snow fort. I remember making those as a kid growing up near Marquette, MI at KI AFB. Lots of snow there. Down here, we get lucky to build a snowman from time to time. The only problem is that when you roll it, it takes away the snow in your yard.

I have definetly learned a lot from your thread and appreciate the posts to mine.

I cut my panels out of 1/2 inch ply. That is what it had previously.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I received an order from Great Lakes Skipper yesterday. I pulled an "Azlo" and I'm now a proud owner of the largest diameter tach that I've ever seen.:facepalm:

It's the size of a teacup saucer and I laughed out loud when I opened the box.

I will post some photos for entertainment purposes.

Also got an automatic 500gph bilge pump with a nice float switch to install, and two SS bilge outlet fittings. I might just use the auto bilge pump on this boat and save the other fitting and manual switch pump for my next one.

I'm gonna start prep for paint on the exterior hull and get the transom wood sanded down the rest of the way so I can get going on the epoxy resin.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I have definetly learned a lot from your thread and appreciate the posts to mine.

Thanks GT, you must be referring to the others guys' posts in my thread, they are pretty helpful sometimes

 

[ezmobee]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

When you return your "tach for the visually impaired", just get a basic one from BassPro or Cabela's.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Lots of work on the boat today, but I forgot the camera at the boat garage so no photos.:facepalm:

We had the grandparents watch the boys so Roslynn and I both got to work today

Sanding the transom wood, cleaning up the aluminum skin, and test fitting the pieces to make sure they fit. I've been trimming the port/starboard edges with the jigsaw, and should have taken even more off.

I had to bend the gunwale caps some more, so that once the wood is all one piece it can slide into place. The previous restorers made it easy to remove being 6 pieces of wood with no resin.

I will get some photos up, so you can laugh at my tach. Hoping to get the holes drilled out and start with the resin this week. The garage got up into the 50s with both heaters running today, wow.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Uh, no photos? That means I can't see any of the work you supposedly accomplished. I call fake post.

I think you and Roz dumped the boys on the gparents and had a kidless afternoon!

(musta been nice)

 

[fshngho]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I agree with Jas ^^^. Even a cell phone photo is better than nuttin.
Then again, as hard as you and Roz have worked on the boats in the past rolleyes I kinda hope Jason was right about your afternoon off.

 

[boatguy94]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Lookin great on the transom job and snow fort, HA. We need pictures of this "huge" tach though .