Just one of many ss 160 redo,s.

[82rude]

Well im joining the long list of star a holics,that are redoing or have redone their starcraft ss 160,s.Mine is a 1976 model with a 2011 60 hp evinrude etec and a 1974 ish johnson 6hp as a kicker.Ive taken out the floor and the left side consol so far.The middle section of the floor was a 48x61 inch vacum job it was that bad.The foam is toast and just a minimal amount on each side will be replaced.The 2 center length wise support beams need to be re riveted.Ive replaced several rivets with 3/16 blind rivets and am planning on washing and cleaning the floor before applying gluvit.tThe new floor will be 5/8 plywood that will be sealed and painted First you paint then apply sand while still wet with a shaker and the repeat a couple of times and you have a no-slip floor that actually works!The more i look at the boat the more im inclined to leave out the passenger side consul.Also no front lockers just bare fishing room for me .For now i will be using the old ss191 starcraft seats and pedestals out of my brothers old boat.Heres a link i hope to a few pics ive taken so far.Constant unrelenting rain is slowing things down somewhat.https://www.flickr.com/gp/156675797@N06/Y23nWo

 

[EchoNovember]

Welcome to the Starmada and the tin-sanity! Lol. I'm sure you've seen or said that on a few threads.

Be careful using blind rivets, they are not as strong as the real bucked rivets. Ask SHSU about a riveting how to. He's re-riveting his entire SS 160 and I think is probably qualified to teach a course on how-to and how-not-to rivet a boat.

My transom was a vacuum job. Not looking forward to seeing how bad the deck is...

I prefer carpeting over bare no-slip floors. It's nice walking on with bare feet, especially when using for swimming or just relaxing. Personal preference, though. The SS160s make great fishing boats when redone. There are lots of them out there being used as fishing boats. Don't forget to build in livewells. If I wanted to turn mine into a straight fishing boat, I'd be leaving the console and windshield as is, raising the deck height around the driver and passenger areas, and adding storage compartments, livewells and baitwells, and turning the thing into a sort of bass boat.

Pro-tip: a 55 lb bowmount trolling more is overpowered for a standard SS 160. We flex our bow cover and set up a small wake at full speed on it. Lol. Fun, though, and we now plan to use it as our emergency motor if the main one fails.

 

[frobotz]

These are great old boats.. Thanks for the pics and good luck on the rebuild.

 

[82rude]

I fish 99 percent of the time by myself, no need for a passenger consul and its space wasted as far as im concerned.Personally i hate carpets and vinyls not far behind in my hate dept,lol.Live well piques my interest.Im all done riveting and have never had issues with blind rivets no more so than solids.I admire SHSU,S riveting adventure but thats not for me as ive only used about 15 blindies total.If i was to replace all the rivets i would do exactly as he,s doing no doubt atall.The passenger consul will be around if needed some day,id just lke to try it my way as i feel it will give me lots of free space.Im watching your restos be assured.

 

[82rude]

Of course i wont be doing anything unless the monsoons here in sault ste marie dont stop!

 

[EchoNovember]

I fish 99 percent of the time by myself, no need for a passenger consul and its space wasted as far as im concerned.Personally i hate carpets and vinyls not far behind in my hate dept,lol.Live well piques my interest.Im all done riveting and have never had issues with blind rivets no more so than solids.I admire SHSU,S riveting adventure but thats not for me as ive only used about 15 blindies total.If i was to replace all the rivets i would do exactly as he,s doing no doubt atall.The passenger consul will be around if needed some day,id just lke to try it my way as i feel it will give me lots of free space.Im watching your restos be assured.

I'm more worried about leaks if they are through the hull. If you are building a boat for just you, I'd convert it into a bass boat with lots of fishing deck space. Take off the forward navigation lights and use LED strips underneath so you can perfectly center the trolling motor. A built in cooler helps to keep worms, leeches, lunch, and some pop cold, too. Livewells and small baitwells are great ways to keep a day's worth of bait alive. Or for sorting fish by species to keep alive until you head back in.

 

[EchoNovember]

Of course i wont be doing anything unless the monsoons here in sault ste marie dont stop!

We had ours here in MN not long ago, was hard to get anything done and we did what we could between rain clouds.

 

[82rude]

We do 2 different types of fishing i believe.I fish on the big water (lake superior) for salmon at 3 to 5 mph .Ive never seen a bass boat or even anything that looks like one out there ,you want a boat with lots of freeboard.Islanders and cheiftiens are popular but out of my range right now as i like to haul to smaller lakes for pike and walleye.Do have smallmouth bass at my brothers camp that average 5 to 8 lbs though.Ive only ever had 1 blind rivet leak and it was because the hole was too big.As i said before this boat redo is a stop gap till i can buy the boat i really want .Doesnt mean im going to do a crappy job just not a perfect redo .Personally id kill for a nice open bow consul style woodboat as im way more comfortable working on them .

 

[EchoNovember]

Personally, I like aluminum. More hull flex, and it will dent rather then crack and break like wood or fiberglass. Easier to work on, too. My brother has a fiberglass project boat and the fiberglass has been "fun" for him. Right now his motor is giving him the most trouble, though, and that can happen regardless of the hull material.

I can see why you would want a lot of freeboard on Lake Superior... I wasn't thinking of trying to make it run lower, just raise the deck to give you more fishing area. If you can keep the weight down, you should be able to maintain enough freeboard.

I'd love a Chieftain, but the admiral would kill me at this point if I tried to get one. We still haven't finished the work on our current boat, and we've only taken it out 3 times...

 

[someone11]

Of course i wont be doing anything unless the monsoons here in sault ste marie dont stop!

SSM Canada or MI?

 

[82rude]

Canada.

 

[82rude]

Vacumed out the bottom of boat and filled up with soap ,water,degreaser.Will let it sit for awhile then scrub her out in prep for gluvit.

 

[82rude]

Here a chief for sale up here.https://www.sootoday.com/classifieds/autos-and-vehicles/boats-and-motors/1424023

 

[EchoNovember]

$2,800 CAD? We paid $2,000 USD for our SS 160 and it's a project boat. How bad must that Chieftain be?

 

[82rude]

Not sure,there another that was for sale for 1500cnd all you had to do was put in the new transom that was already built and motor..My brother has a 26foot zodiac with a cat turbo diesel and jet drive that had a recent rebuild by the local search and rescue that went up for bids.He got it for 1500 bucks,the steal of the century!!

 

[82rude]

Went to homedepot and got 3 sheets of ply(5/8) Also a gallon of behr stain sealer.The ply will look like hardwood flooring after .Also got zep 505 degreaser and tried that in the boat.Wow, the grime and stains came off the al like nothing.

 

[EchoNovember]

Damn! That was definitely a steal...

I need a new vehicle before we can get a bigger boat. We're using an old Jeep Cherokee as a tow pig right now, but it couldn't haul a Chieftain size boat. I'm planning on getting a new SUV in the next year to replace my current car and the Jeep, then in a year or two we can look at a larger boat. For now, we are going to make do with the SS160.

 

[EchoNovember]

Went to homedepot and got 3 sheets of ply(5/8) Also a gallon of behr stain sealer.The ply will look like hardwood flooring after .Also got zep 505 degreaser and tried that in the boat.Wow, the grime and stains came off the al like nothing.

Just be aware that the sealer will only last a few years before needing to be redone.

 

[82rude]

Yes ,im going to design the floor so it can come out easily ,well with the min of screws for sure.Havnt reloaded any pics lately but the zep 505 degreaser made cleaning the floor easy peasy..A miracle might happen, their saying we may get more than 1 day of sunshine,if so i will jump on the boat like a fat kid on a box of smarties.

 

[82rude]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/156675797@N06/