Looking to buy an older Starcraft - Do you know this dash?

[anticon]

Does anyone know what year this boat is? It is an 18 ft Starcraft, I assume a Holiday. It seems all the boats I keep looking at have a different dash configuration though. I could probably just ask the owner or go look at it myself, but I wont be able to do that until the weekend.Thanks.

I've been looking at getting a bigger boat for a while, I currently have a 12 ft aluminum Sea Nymph and I want something I can take the family in. (I have a wife and two young kids). I don't have a ton of experience in a power boat, and I don't want to break the bank. I have pretty much settled on something aluminum with an outboard and enough seats for four and room for some crab pots, that can be pulled by an SUV. My budget is around $3-4k. It seems like these late 70's early 80's Starcraft Holiday's check all the boxes. I have my eye on one now, and I am just trying to do some research. Might as well ask the experts. Thanks!

 

[GA_Boater]

It's a Holiday.

 

[Alumarine]

If it has a HIN located on the starboard side of the transom the last 2 digits will indicate the year.
If it's from before approximately 1972 it might not have a HIN.

 

[bchaney]

Yep it's a Holiday. The dash looks just like mine except the Starcraft plate is on the passenger side - mines centered. You should have no problem finding one in your budget, though it depends on where you're located. Let us know if you have any other questions or if you go check out that boat.

 

[Watermann]

New to boating and on a tight budget you may want to make sure you get an outboard model, the IO's take way more maintenance so you have to enjoy doing your own boat work to save money.

 

[anticon]

I'm going to go look at the boat on Tuesday. Hopefully it works out. It has an 85 hp evinrude.

 

[anticon]

I just realized, I never followed up on this thread. I wound up getting the boat.

Why does it seem like most of these Holidays are IO? Also they don't seem to get a lot of chatter on the forum. Are they to common to comment on, or more rare?

 

[Moserkr]

Welcome @anticon !!! Thats a good looking holiday you picked up. Id love that size motor for my 16’ SS. Hope shes seaworthy and Im sure your family will enjoy it. Hows her condition? What year is she? Lets see some more pics!!! Not that rare, a bunch of tinheads here have the 18’ holiday. @benfish909 is beefing up a 21’ as we speak, you should take a look and will get an idea what yours looks like on the inside.

 

[anticon]

@Moserkr thanks for the warm welcome. She's a 1973, with HIN 1043666. The outboard is a '73 85 HP Evinrude Starflite. I would assume original. She's in pretty good shape I would say. I'll start a new thread with some pictures. In the meantime, an old offerup post is still up that has some pictures from two owners ago. The trailer was swapped at some point and the floor was replaced or at least the carpet was, and it seems the original seats were replaced.
https://offerup.com/item/detail/798313588/

 

[The John]

Saw your facebook post, welcome to the group from a fellow Oregonian.

 

[Moserkr]

@anticon Score! She looks all original to me from those photos. Great buy, better deal than I got but can’t find em like that in CA too often. Motor alone could fetch that much around me. Will look forward to your new thread, curious what she needs done to her.

 

[classiccat]

Welcome! That's a really nice Rig! I love the faux wood laminate on the gunnels...really ties things together.

You may have lucked out with that motor in that it appears to NOT be electric shift (I think i see a power pilot controller).

Now for the honeymoon ender...this splashwell crack is indicative that the transom is rotten if it hasn't been replaced. If its the original transom, that should be top of the list of things to do. There is a good chance that the kneebrace tabs are also busted.

 

[anticon]

Welcome! That's a really nice Rig! I love the faux wood laminate on the gunnels...really ties things together.

You may have lucked out with that motor in that it appears to NOT be electric shift (I think i see a power pilot controller).

Now for the honeymoon ender...this splashwell crack is indicative that the transom is rotten if it hasn't been replaced. If its the original transom, that should be top of the list of things to do. There is a good chance that the kneebrace tabs are also busted

Good eye. That must have gotten taken care of before I bought it. The floor, seats, and trailer were also replaced before I got it.

 

[racerone]

The electric was last used in the 1972 models.------The 73 use oil pressure and a mechanical servo to make for near effortless shifting.----Compression test first on the motor.----New impeller before launching the boat.

 

[classiccat]

Good eye. That must have gotten taken care of before I bought it. The floor, seats, and trailer were also replaced before I got it.

ah man...I kinda like the avocado seats !

Hopefully they addressed the cause and not just the symptoms.

Besides just looking for new transom wood, fasteners, etc, a test would be grabbing hold of that outboard leg when it's tilted, push in and out and see if the transom flexes. If it flexes at all, time to replace.

 

[anticon]

ah man...I kinda like the avocado seats !

Hopefully they addressed the cause and not just the symptoms.

Besides just looking for new transom wood, fasteners, etc, a test would be grabbing hold of that outboard leg when it's tilted, push in and out and see if the transom flexes. If it flexes at all, time to replace.

Yeah, I wish I had those seats back. I like them a lot more than the blue ones that replaced them. I tilted the motor up and pushed it back and forth and didn't feel or see any flex, it seems pretty solid.