'79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

After dark it's much easier to work on the port side since it's facing the house lights.

Lots of zc to remove from the hull but getting the paint off is the task at hand.

I try to scrub as much off as possible but it really is a 2 coat procedure to get to shiny aluminum.

I'm sure a pressure washer would make this a ton easier, but more harmful to the environment and nearby houses and vehicles.

 

[Piece715]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Man you're makin quick work of that! Awesome job!

 

[Triton II]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Looking good with the strip HA. Looks like the trailer needs a little cheering up too!
TII

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Man you're makin quick work of that! Awesome job!

Thanks Piece, I've been happy with the Citristrip it's a good product.

Looking good with the strip HA. Looks like the trailer needs a little cheering up too!
TII

Thanks TII, I've been giving the trailer some attention with the wire brush attachment once in a while. It'll be painted soon hopefully.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Plenty of progress last night, all the white paint is now removed from the boat

Still some zinc to brush off, but that is only a few spots.

We left the yellow stripes on the port side and it looks nice with the bare metal, so I think we are gonna be going with that style.

I have some photos to post...but iboats changed the way we post photos and it doesn't seem to work with picasa web.

I wish they could stop fixing stuff that isn't broken.:facepalm:

 

[Jayb123]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

We left the yellow stripes on the port side and it looks nice with the bare metal, so I think we are gonna be going with that style.....

Cool I am a fan of some bare aluminum. Cant wait to see it HA.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

View attachment 106390

Here is my best attempt to post a photo. Not sure how things work around here anymore.:facepalm:

There's still plenty of zinc chromate to remove so I might be headed outside to work now.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Cool I am a fan of some bare aluminum. Cant wait to see it HA.

Thanks for stopping by Jayb, I agree.

It might not be quite as shiny as the Big Hoss SS but it should turn out decent.

My grandpa-in-law has restored quite a few aluminum Airstream campers to perfection and told me to bring the Starcraft over to his farm once it's back on the trailer and ready to polish.

He's equipped with all sorts of buffing tools, just told me I have to pay about 50 bucks for a really good compound and he will show us how it's done.

He had a 16' tin Lonestar that he was going to restore at one point but never did so he's curious to see what we are doing with the Starcraft.

I'm looking forward to getting the trailer all squared away within the next week or two

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Hey HA,

I went to my Picasa Acct. and went to full screen view, Did a Right click on the Photo, Clicked on Copy and was able to return to iBoats and right click in my post area and PASTE the photo directly into my post.

Try that and see if it works for ya.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I went back to photobucket and it worked fine. Here are some more photos.

We still have some work to do stripping, but thru the woods for the most part.

I think I need to remove the sealant here and replace it with some gluvit, epoxy or 5200.

Might be a good chance to use the black 5200 that I've seen, not sure.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

BTW...last night after working on the boat for a while a buddy convinced me to take a break and go troll for crappie.

We caught some big ones right away, then some smaller ones...and then I got a 10.5" and my buddy caught a 12.5" slab.

Great night trolling, nobody else on the water despite the brand new launch ramp...and the skeeters weren't even that bad.

I can't wait to get the SS back out there, much more comfy for trolling around all day reeling in fish.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Registration numbers were removed last night.

Remaining yellow paint was removed today.

Adhesive from Starcraft badge is now history too.

 

[jasoutside]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Man, nice work on paint removal Mike. She is looking really good!

I don't believe I have ever seen a foot long crappie, woh!

 

[lakelover]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Looking very good - lots of elbow grease showing there, I wasn't nearly so patient with mine. That was more like slash and burn. On mine I left that rubbery sealant alone, it's a bear to remove, and I'm counting on the Gluvit inside to do the trick "if" there are any leaks. I may be in for a surprise the first time it touches the water.

I also used a hose after each scraping session, often wished I had a pressure washer. I think you're way more patient than I am!

Keep up the good work!

 

[tallcanadian]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

This is starting to get interesting. Awesome work so far Mike.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Not much progress to report, we have been on the road since saturday, all over Michigan going to more family reuinions and stuff

I got a chance to meet up with jasoutside on saturday.

He generously donated 4 trailer bunk brackets, gas/vent lines and fittings, and a beefy winch stand to my cause so I'm ready to ge to work on the trailer. Thanks again, Jason

I will post up some photos tonight, and we will be getting back to work as well.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Man, nice work on paint removal Mike. She is looking really good!

I don't believe I have ever seen a foot long crappie, woh!

Thanks Jason, yeah that was the biggest Crappie I've seen caught. Course I've only been fishing for crappie for two years now.

My buddy caught a 15 incher or so apparently in our local river a few years ago.

Looking very good - lots of elbow grease showing there, I wasn't nearly so patient with mine. That was more like slash and burn. On mine I left that rubbery sealant alone, it's a bear to remove, and I'm counting on the Gluvit inside to do the trick "if" there are any leaks. I may be in for a surprise the first time it touches the water.

I also used a hose after each scraping session, often wished I had a pressure washer. I think you're way more patient than I am!

Keep up the good work!

Thanks LL, glad to know I'm not the only one that might leave that stuff alone. Not sure it it's worth all the effort. I can always go back and do stuff like this later on too.

This is starting to get interesting. Awesome work so far Mike.

Thanks TC, hoping to get real interesting soon. Might even get a motor!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

Here are the 4 bunk brackets.

I've been staring at the trailer for some time now trying to figure out the best way to bolt these on.

I've got a few options, just need to make sure the boat sits as low as possible without hitting the keel.

Here are some photos of the gas and vent line fittings and lines.

This will make the installation a breeze since everything already matches up perfectly.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I am wondering if I should just bolt the bunks to the roller supports already on the stern end of the trailer?

I would lose the ability to angle the bunks, which might be important. Just throwing ideas out there.

Here's the new winch post. I will probably order a new winch crank since my other two are not the greatest.

Here's a side-by-side shot with the old post. The new one is considerably heavier, but still the perfect size.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: '79 Starcraft SS 16 restoration

I removed the roller support arms from the stern of the trailer. If I ever need to convert back to rollers, or more likely when I sell them all it will be a complete set.

I had some help picking out what tools to use. They like helping sort out rusty bolts and stuff too.

Since I already have these brackets in the right spots, I experimented a bit to see what might work.

I think that I will need to do something to get these high enough to keep the keel from scraping the cross beams.

I checked out Big Hoss' trailer set up and it's very similar, I will just need to get some keel rollers.

I wish my trailer was more low-slung in the middle so the boat could sit a little lower.