My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Hi Glen, Here's the test-fit with the fitting if you decide on this location...notice I had to file some of the flange back even with the offset.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Chris are you sure you aren't a surgeon or something this is probably the most meticulous and well documented motor work I've ever seen. Great job you know for sure when you are done you will have a solid reliable motor.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Chris are you sure you aren't a surgeon or something this is probably the most meticulous and well documented motor work I've ever seen. Great job you know for sure when you are done you will have a solid reliable motor.

I'm much too squeamish (and fidgety) for the medical profession but thank you so much for the compliment!

Hopefully It's all downhill from here on the 'Rude!

 

[dozerII]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

The installation looks real Chris, I will attempt the same on mine but not till winter.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Acetone + a pack of razor blades cleaned the cylinder head, exhaust & block surfaces. LONG process but IMO the safest way of removing residue without damaging the surfaces. Apply acetone with a Q-tip, scrape with the blade almost perpendicular to the surface (slightly tilted towards the direction you're scraping) with slight pressure and watch the shavings. If no residue shavings, apply more acetone...if metal shavings, stop scraping.


head & cyl cover cleaned and dressed with emery cloth (boat windshield makes a nice, flat substrate!)


Despite what the FSM states, newer gaskets do not require dressing and are usually marked:


Cylinder head & cover are installed & torqued-to-spec (19ft-lbs & 75in-lbs for the head & cover respectively). I'll retorque after the head goes through a few heating/cooling cycles.


Tight fit! If you're adding a telltale in this location without pulling the head, you'll need a straight fitting:


The exhaust baffle had pitting...worst on #2 cylinder where I found water intrusion. I picked-out all of the residue with a dental pick, then filled the pits with JB (Checked w/ the local OMC guru 1st).

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

With some rain-free days, the hull received some attention.

The entire port side is stripped...moving-on to SB side:

Zip Strip applied:


Scraped & touched-up with a scotch bright pad:


Scraping is a little more work but good exercise and much more kind to the driveway!


I would've finished the SB side but the admiral needed her oil changed & my 8yo daughter planned an end-of-school pool party...at 95-degres, it was the perfect weather for it!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Looking good chris. I am getting really anxious moving towards this splash date had my little one in Douglas Lake on Saturday so I got nothing done on the boat time seems to be at a premium these days.

I swear man we are brothers from another dimension the admiral made me squeeze in an oil change as well. Are we like the last two people in the world that change our own oil?

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

I swear man we are brothers from another dimension the admiral made me squeeze in an oil change as well. Are we like the last two people in the world that change our own oil?

Ah - No. I'm a mistrusting soul and got tired of the selling the oil change places do. No, the belts are, the brakes are ok, the tires don't need rotated, I don't need or want high mileage oil (what ever that is) and so on.

The motor work and de-painting is looking good, Blue.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Looking good chris. I am getting really anxious moving towards this splash date had my little one in Douglas Lake on Saturday so I got nothing done on the boat time seems to be at a premium these days.

I swear man we are brothers from another dimension the admiral made me squeeze in an oil change as well. Are we like the last two people in the world that change our own oil?

Thanks Sig! Work/careers are loaded with timelines & schedules...our boats have been around for 3, 4 and even 5 decades...what's a few extra weeks on drydock due to time-well-spent with the family? ...I hope to splash sometime next year...or the year after :lol:

Ah - No. I'm a mistrusting soul and got tired of the selling the oil change places do. No, the belts are, the brakes are ok, the tires don't need rotated, I don't need or want high mileage oil (what ever that is) and so on.

The motor work and de-painting is looking good, Blue.

Thanks GaB!

Yeah guys regarding oil change...peace-of-mind, $$ saved...plus my buddy Dennis (dude holding the 40lb blue on Page1) would never let me live it down if he got wind of the fact that I let a mechanic at Jiffy Lube touch any of our vehicles :fish:

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

I got tired of Jiffy Lube trying to upsell me and always messing things up so I change all mine myself as well. Also, I use Mobil 1 and I just don't trust that any place is going to use premium oil even if I'm paying for it.

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

a mechanic at Jiffy Lubefish:

HA.. that made me chuckle this morning.....



I change my own engine, tranny, differential oils... In the shop and can afford fully synthetic and save money doing it... I do about everything I can... that doesn't require all the fancy electronic tools...

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

HA.. that made me chuckle this morning.....



I change my own engine, tranny, differential oils... In the shop and can afford fully synthetic and save money doing it... I do about everything I can... that doesn't require all the fancy electronic tools...

I think I know what made you chuckle; it wasn't my 1st choice of words but I wasn't sure whether or not any mob members are part of the proud ranks of JL :lol:

I got tired of Jiffy Lube trying to upsell me and always messing things up so I change all mine myself as well. Also, I use Mobil 1 and I just don't trust that any place is going to use premium oil even if I'm paying for it.

Mobile 1 :first:

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

well guys, I try to keep the updates to one-per-week. I took a vacation week (daughter's 1st week of summer) and squeezing-in some work on the boat in between daddy/daughter QT!

sequence of the paint coming-off of the SB side...kind of neat seeing the progression.






I learned with ZIP that you don't want the metal to go above 105 degrees...sun was hitting the inside of the boat and it reached 120! The ZIP hardens before it can do its job...fun when you're sweating your tail off in the 90+ degree heat already. That was a good time for a lunch break.


This makes hole #5...from the PO's drill!




It was painted & epoxied over; probably wouldn't have seen it if i hadn't stripped the paint completely.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

A very generous donation was received yesterday (Thanks John!!!)...my rub rail caps were pitted/cracked possibly beyond repair.

The bottom one came-off of budski's Sylvan.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Now I've hit a roadblock in the paint-removal department...a gut shot to my enthusiasm.

ZIP strip barely makes a dent in the bottom paint(s) that the PO used...I believe that it's a layer of anti-fouling epoxy covered by a 2-part bulletproof paint.

I even abraded the surface with a cupped wire brush, applied the ZIP...and this was the best they could do (starting at the bow eye):


I think sandblasting might be the next best thing. The question is, do I rent or do I buy something from HF? I'm going to be doing the bottom of the BlueFin when the SS is finished so I'm leaning towards buying something.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Pardon me if it's just a terminology thing but you definitely don't sandblast aluminum. It'll warp. You media blast it. If you really had your heart set on a bare aluminum bottom, then go for it. Otherwise, you'll rarely see this part of the boat so I'd sand it pretty good, feather out what you've done so far and repaint.

 

[budski]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

You're very welcome, glad they work for you.

 

[starcrafter65]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Pardon me if it's just a terminology thing but you definitely don't sandblast aluminum. It'll warp. You media blast it. If you really had your heart set on a bare aluminum bottom, then go for it. Otherwise, you'll rarely see this part of the boat so I'd sand it pretty good, feather out what you've done so far and repaint.

Yeah Baby:joyous:

 

[sdride]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Just a quick suggestion for removing the paint. You can have a mobile soda blast company come to your house and do it. You can search craigslist under services and find a few or the local yellow pages. People do it down at the jersey shore all of the time to remove bottom paint etc.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Pardon me if it's just a terminology thing but you definitely don't sandblast aluminum. It'll warp. You media blast it. If you really had your heart set on a bare aluminum bottom, then go for it. Otherwise, you'll rarely see this part of the boat so I'd sand it pretty good, feather out what you've done so far and repaint.

Ah thanks for the correction..I was thinking either walnut shells or soda blasting. I'm going naked bottom...but the sides turned-out so well, why stop there

You're very welcome, glad they work for you.

I wanted to thank you in pm but your inbox is full Those shiny end caps made my day!! :yo:

Yeah Baby:joyous:

I know you're a fan of the bare bottom...your naked "open bow Holiday" is one amazing boat top-to-bottom!

Just a quick suggestion for removing the paint. You can have a mobile soda blast company come to your house and do it. You can search craigslist under services and find a few or the local yellow pages. People do it down at the jersey shore all of the time to remove bottom paint etc.

Thanks man! I'll definitely look around..."mobile" would be the ticket since the trailer is out of commission at the moment. :thumb: