Another Maine Starchief

[oldhaven]

Hello all,
I just acquired a 1966 Starchief OB. I don't even have it home yet, waiting to get the trailer registered. Mostly there and showing its age, but in pretty OK condition on first look. I know enough to be wary of first looks, but no dings or dents and it already has bare hull sides, so no stripping there. No motor included, which is fine, but it has a reasonably good Cox Superloader galvanized trailer. I have followed the restoration and trials of several of the other owners, including the incredible work done by MichaelP and I am very excited about getting started on this. That splashwell reduction looks like something I will have to try. I think that will make at least three in Maine? I am in the southern part of the state, so I look forward to seeing some local owners in person over the next year. I am in the middle of a restoration of a 1957 Fleetcraft Imperial, A 15 foot fiberglass hull with mahogany topsides and furniture, so this SC will likely be next summers work, though I may get some parts off it before cold weather to work on in the house and garage this winter. I will post in the restoration forum once I get started. This should be ideal for the Kennebec River and Merrymeeting Bay.

Can someone point me to a list of numbers built for this type of boat?

Thanks,

Ron

 

[oldhaven]

My current project Fleetcraft as it looked when I did it the first time 25 years ago. I hope to have it done by November. It is upside down right now with all the wood removed. I can't imagine flipping the Chief, so I'll likely be working on my back to take off the bottom paint.

Ron

 

[oldhaven]

Lets try that picture again

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: to iboats oldhaven and once you get your Chief home you'll be our newest Starmada member.

Looking forward to another Chief being worked on, not much regular activity with the ones being worked on. Not sure why you would want to take your resto to the general resto forum, it'll get lost in the hordes of rotten glasser threads.

 

[GA_Boater]

Welcome to TinLand, OH.

Looks like you have a nice project to work on.

Here's the Starchief page out of the 1966 brochure.

 

[oldhaven]

Thanks WM, I did not realize I could keep the restoration here, but I'll do that. I enjoyed going through yours. What a lot of work, but what a result. I have an old land Rover and a Grumman sport boat, so aluminum is not a foreign material to me. Since the Fleetcraft is half wood and half glass, it is a half glassed project.

Thanks to GA for the brochure. I'll get into the library a bit more, but I wonder if the bare aluminum sides are factory or a previous owners work? The brochure says they were green that year. I also will have to check the serial # when I get it home to make sure it is really a '66. This one has the curved side windows, so may be titled in another year from the build date.

Ron

 

[laurentide]

Really cool boat, and I actually like the current color scheme with the bare sides. I think somebody along the way put some thought into that and it came out looking pretty "classic" tin. The wood boat looks great, too.

I'd keep the Chief project here as well.

 

[Flivver250]

Looking forward to seeing your progress on that old jewel. I will be looking for a similar project myself.

 

[classiccat]

Welcome to the Starmada! :welcome:

Thank you for the pics! hoto:

+1 on the color scheme (and lack-of!)...very unique! :thumb:

 

[oldhaven]

The Starchief is still not here. maybe next week, but I am thinking ahead and reading what others have done to their projects

Here is a shot of the Merc 4 stroke 8HP kicker that is on the boat. I changed my mind about not getting it so it is now part of the deal. The main motor was a Merc 50 and too small for the boat, so it is gone. I hope to find a suitable OB in the 70 to 100 HP range that is economical, eco-friendly, and reliable. I can't afford new, but would appreciate any advice about what would work on this hull. I know form reading that that HP range would be best, though I have seen some monster 140's and 150's in the pictures and videos. I know a Merc 4 stroke 90 weighs about 350, so that would be about right, I think. the E-tec's seems like a good possibility too.

I am still curious about the year of manufacture. the hull number is 15412BT72144. Is there a table of numbers somewhere on the site?

I will have to get a new right upper windshield glass, since mine is cracked. Is polycarbonate OK or does it really require tempered laminated glass? All the glass is getting fogged at the edges somewhat. the windshield looks a lot like my Land Rover Series windshield. I got new panes for that seveeral years ago, so it is possible with this flat type glass. The LR glass is 14 x 28, but without the boat here I will have to wait on dimensions.

later,

Ron

 

[Watermann]

On the windshield, I think safety glass would be best.

The HIN, decoding it looks to be a 1972 "15412BT72144"

 

[jbcurt00]

72 is a possibility, but actual HINs start w/ a 3 letter code to ID the manufacturer 1st, since 1972, for both pre and post 1984:
http://www.boatsafe.com/nauticalknowhow/hin.htm

perhaps that's a ser# or a state issued HIN.

Unless you need it for something specific, like state title/reg, I wouldn't be overly concerned about nailing an exact date down.

 

[oldhaven]

OK, thanks all, I guess I need to get this thing here and look at it more closely. I'll look up the glass place I used before and I can check out the data plate that is still on the starboard side cuddy bulkhead when I see it again. Tthe number is from the Maine registration, so may not mean much after all these years.

later,

Ron

 

[oldhaven]

Picking up the Chief tomorrow morning. I will post pictures when I get it back here.

Has anyone thought of using a flattened 3 piece bow rider type windshield to replace the lower plexi windscreen to allow better bow access and ventilation?

Ron

 

[laurentide]

Oldhaven, I have basically the same boat. My power is an early 80's OMC 70 hp and a 4 stroke Honda 8 hp kicker. The 70 gets decent GPH, and gets the boat on plane no problem. It tops out at 30 mph GPS, though it may be slightly slower now that I have canvas, a big electric motor and 4 batteries on the boat. If you don't desire a speedboat the old triples are excellent engines...eco-friendly? Not really, but also not terrible.

I saw that you mentioned the Merc 4 stroke. The newer models (I think from 2014 on) are as light as the 1st gen etecs and optis. I think the 75-115 all weigh about 350#'s...they're all the same engine with different tuning. So if you can swing it the 115 would be just about a perfect engine for this boat. And you can ditch the kicker because you can troll all day on the big 4s with a Merc RPM control gauge. I've done a fair amount of research on this and this is what I'll do when my antique gives up the ghost. Mercury has financing, too if that's something you can do.

You can't go wrong with an older etec, either. A 90 should be great on the back, but you'd probably want to keep the kicker I think. I don't know that the DI 2 strokes like to go slow all day if you slow troll.

 

[oldhaven]

Thanks for the recommendations, CW. I have read through all 66 pages of your work twice, picking up good information each time. I can't even imagine starting with a pile of parts in a stripped hull. You did a fantastic job. The PO of this one actually used it last summer, and had no problems he would mention, but it is pretty rough. I am hoping to do a good safety survey and run it for a bit before I start anything serious in deconstruction. That is what rheagler did and it seemed to make sense. Some use will help me decide on what the future should look like. I will likely take off the upper windshield and do it and a few other low hanging fruit type things this winter in my basement. That will make covering it for the winter easier anyway, and it may even fit in my barn for occasional shoulder season work with the upper WS removed. This forum is a great resource. I only wish that some of the other restoration threads had used something else than a photobucket picture link that is now no longer working. Its a loss of information that is very frustrating to later readers.

I was thinking along those engine lines and that a newish 115 Merc 4S would be my ideal wish. Anything I do will be with light weight in mind, and if I can get a 90-115 engine that weighs only a bit more than the '59 Fat Fifty Evinrude on my FleetCraft weighs, it should help with cruise and MPG. The trolling speed availability with a bigger 4S is good to hear, and a newer engine should be more reliable, another reason not to carry the 84 pound merc 8 kicker on the transom.

Wish me luck on the tow tomorrow. I hate to trust trailers I have not maintained, but I will have some spares along. It is coming the 25 miles to my place in upper Maine, and I will do some serious looking at hubs and axles before attempting the 125 mile tow home. I may also poke a bit at the bilge, if it seems too heavy.

Ron

 

[oldhaven]

All went well and I am super pleased. I will post some pictures and a report when I get back in civilization and not using my iPhone hotspot

Ron

 

[oldhaven]

I will be replacing the floors and transom. Gutting looks pretty straightforward except for the splash well. I have searched for some help in the way of a picture journal here, but have mostly found them to magically appear on someone's garage floor overnite. Can someone point me to a good description please? I can see the fasteners I will have to go spelunking for underneath, and some at the rear port and starboard, but what about at the gunwale covers, the forward cover and trim?

Really a step by step description would be nice, and maybe I am missing where that is documented already.

Thanks,

Ron

 

[laurentide]

I will be replacing the floors and transom. Gutting looks pretty straightforward except for the splash well. I have searched for some help in the way of a picture journal here, but have mostly found them to magically appear on someone's garage floor overnite. Can someone point me to a good description please? I can see the fasteners I will have to go spelunking for underneath, and some at the rear port and starboard, but what about at the gunwale covers, the forward cover and trim?

Really a step by step description would be nice, and maybe I am missing where that is documented already.

Thanks,

Ron

You'll figure it out when you get under there. I'd pull it out while the deck is still there so you have a surface from which to work. There will be maybe 2 dozen pop rivets to drill out and then a ton of wood screws securing it to the transom. It's not complicated. You'll want to inspect all the corner areas for stress cracks...mine had several. They can be fixed with thin aluminum plate/sheet backer and jb weld. My repairs have held up fine this way. Good luck, we'd love some pics! I really like this boat.

 

[Watermann]

To remove the rivets in the gunnels, You'll need to pull the vinyl insert. Once you pull the end caps there's a 3/16" blind rivet securing the vinyl. The bow end cap is a bugger to get off and takes some delicate work as to not ruin it, that's been well documented. To remove the rub rail, they have bolts that hold the rails on, then the gunnels are held on by 5/32" blinds that are under the rub rail.