Got me a Starchief

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Have to acknowledge my $30 CL find chain hoist, comes in handy!

This is a project that's been eating away at a lot of my time lately. Flag display boxes for our boys in the green suits.

They will be similar to this one I made a couple years ago for another unit...

Thanks for passing through!

 

[InMotion]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Nice work RH. The chain hoist makes pulling the head off a lot easier... great find! What's the plan with the engine now that you have it pieces... forgive as you may have said it earlier in the thread and I've just forgotten!

Ya there seems to always be something that sneaks in as a top priority.... gotta do whatcha's gotta do!!!

Your're chewin ' away at that elephant though, so to speak!

IM

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Thanks IM... The plan with the Merc is to clean it up, rebuild carbs, rewire, replace cover gaskets and seals, water pump and see how it runs. Then I'll go from there. I know it seems like a lot of work to do for a questionable motor, but as is I've only got $200 in it, that number should get smaller as I get rid of stuff from it's donor.
Have a great day!

 

[bucket of rivets]

Re: Got me a Starchief

I managed to squeeze in a few hours on the Chief last night and today. Got the dash installed, seats installed, control box mounted and under dash wiring almost under control.
Here's a pic....

I'm liking the original type folding seat hardware.
I'm going to try to get up early tomorrow (not quite as early as Jason) to get started putting the railings back on.

I'd be curious as to how those seats feel in rough water since your basically sitting at gunwale level.
A fast maneuver and you may end up swimming.
Are you going to put the factory side rails back on?

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Thanks for your concern of my safety, Bucket.
The seats are not any higher than original..
Yes, the factory side rails are going back on.

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Thought I would give a little update.
I've got the Merc 850 powerhead as far apart as I am taking it. There were a few corrosion issues that I'm taking care of and I ordered all the parts today to get it back together.
Hopefully I'll have time to dive into the lower unit while I wait for the parts to come in.
In the meantime, I picked up the lettering and insignias for the army flag boxes today, so I'll be able to get those out of the shop by the end of the week and have more room for boat parts.... Chewin on the elephant as IM put it

 

[MichaelP]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Those boxes look sweet. Nice work. Side projects can eat up a bunch of time. Last weekend my wife got me to build a new desk for her home office citing ergo conserns. Aint nobody happy if momma aint happy. :facepalm:

 

[starcraftkid]

Re: Got me a Starchief

That boats is looking great, can't wait to see it all done.

If you find there's anything you can do to that Merc 850 to get a bit more power from it, do it. I was on a buddies Holiday the other day, with a freshly rebuilt Mercury 850, and with three guys onboard and a cooler full of ice it was struggling to stay on plane. He had a worn out 135 V6 which he removed when he got a deal on this freshly restored 850, but I think the worn out 135 did much better. I'd say top speed with the 850 is around 28 mph with three men and some fishing gear in the boat at around 5800 RPM.

My Starchief didn't perform right until I hung the 115hp on it, plus, the modern 115 was a major improvement over my first 115 too. The difference in hp ratings before and after 1984 is pretty noticeable.
I ran a 1977 140hp for a while too, but the 1994 Mercury 115 is way stronger and a much better fit for the boat.
I think a lot what makes a motor work well on an aluminum boat is its hp to weight ratio. A light boat is far more sensitive to balance and weight distribution.

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Ok, I have been really consumed by my business lately and have not had much time to spend working on the boat or the motor. I have managed to make enough progress that I am ready to hang a motor off the back. I will try to get some pictures up this weekend.

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Finally some progress and pictures....
Over the past few weeks I've managed to pick away at putting on the navigation lights, stern light, rails, anchor roller and deck pipe as well as a few other tasks the escape me at the moment. Last weekend I put on the bimini top with sliding hardware that I'm not very wild about. This morning I put in the steering cable and wired up the GPS and fishfinder, I also put a nice piece of mahogany across the top of the splashwell header.
Here's the latest pics...

New transom plate...

New Starcraft emblems..

 

[jasoutside]

Re: Got me a Starchief

She looks great, love the green/alum combo

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Interior with mahogany splashwell header..

Electronics and old school compass....

So the short list of what's left is....
Outboard
Fill a couple screw holes in the floor from my first seat setup
Make up some sliding panels for under the splashwell
Install some kind of clips to hold the seat legs when they are on the down position, as well as a restraint system of some kind to keep them from flopping around
Make up some footrests... Most likely something similar to the boxes Barato2 send me pics of.

The long list...
I'm not happy with the sliding bimini hardware. I need to do something different
I have not done anything inside the cabin yet. I need to make a new seat for the left side and clean and paint the whole inside.
I'm also not happy with the nautalex on the cabin roof. I used 3M spray adhesive. Bad choice.
For now I hope to have it in the water by next weekend....Hopefully that pans out, I overbooked myself workwise this week...again:facepalm:

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Looks Awesome - Obviously I am a big fan of the paint job!!

Be ready to get compliments!!

 

[barato2]

Re: Got me a Starchief

love that splashwell header, and may have to steal that idea for my starchief. boat is really beautiful overall and will generate a lot of tin envy at the lake

curious to hear what you didn't like abt the sliding bimini track?

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Thanks guys.
B2.. I got the sliding bimini hardware from my donor Thunderbird. The tracks are at least 36" long, I only really need about 6 inches of movement so I can slide the top back to lay it on the splashwell header when the boats on the trailer. What I don't like about it is that there isn't a way to lock the sliding hinges into position on the track. I might not need to, I won't really know until it's in the water for real use but raising/lowering and sliding the whole apparatus is kindof like wrestling an octopus with one arm in a sling the way it flops and slides around. Maybe if I cut the tracks shorter and adjust them so that all the way forward is up position, and all the way back is down position it would help. The priority now though is to get the boat in the water, I've already missed out on too much fishing time!
Feel free to steal the mahogany splashwell header idea, I don't think I was the first to do it

 

[dozerII]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Looks real good rh, Ireally loke your color choice. You need a couple of these from Iboats with a set screw.
http://www.iboats.com/Convertible-T...69403092--session_id.561917354--view_id.39694

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Finally some progress and pictures....
Over the past few weeks I've managed to pick away at putting on the navigation lights, stern light, rails, anchor roller and deck pipe as well as a few other tasks the escape me at the moment. Last weekend I put on the bimini top with sliding hardware that I'm not very wild about. This morning I put in the steering cable and wired up the GPS and fishfinder, I also put a nice piece of mahogany across the top of the splashwell header.

Any pics ofyour anchor roller/deck pipe setup?

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

Thanks Glen. Do those gizmos with the set screws act as stops?

ShowMeGuy - I'll get some pics of the roller/deck pipe setup. It's going to need some tweaking, and an anchor winch is definately in the list of things to get. I want to keep it below deck. How far is Foley from St. Louis? I consider it my home town even though we moved away when I was in 2nd grade. I did go back to Rolla for 3 years at UMR.

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Re: Got me a Starchief

How far is Foley from St. Louis? QUOTE]

Busch stadium is about 50 min drive....or a 1 or 2 Lock/Dam boat ride depending on where you decided to put in..

 

[rheagler]

Re: Got me a Starchief

ShowMeGuy - Here are a couple pics of the anchor roller setup. The roller is a Windline URM-2, deckpipe is SeaDog 322080-1. I made a mounting base out of Azek PVC, the deckpipe uses the hole from the original cabin vent. The only thing is where the wood bracing is under the deck, the rope/chain has to be pulled straight though. I was kind of looking for an excuse to get an electric anchor winch anyway. I'll mount it verically so the rope goes straight through the deckpipe.

In other news, I stopped by the boat store the other day and the owner showed me this. I went back this afternoon and we put it on the boat. So another thing on the list to do is to figure out how to wire up my Mercury controls to work the tilt/trim on the Yamaha. Hopefully I can also make it so I can use the key switch and choke in the Merc controls on it too.

The new goal is re-splash by July 4