My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

[Decker83]

CC -



BTW - Using the Admiral's nail polish for touch-up isn't as bad as the guy using his wife's mixer to stir epoxy. <-- That is a true story buried in the Annals Of iBoats.

I believe it was Trooper82 that did that. :facepalm:

 

[classiccat]

I could see by the smile on your face you were thoroughly enjoying the splash. You set the bar very
high for all the rest of us..
I learned a lot from your build.. Thank you for taking your time to share with us.:yo:

Thank you for the kind comment Decker! Your polish how-to helped me alot...right down to the final trim pieces! :thumb:

CC - We all share your pride with all the hard work we watched you do pay off. :smile:

Throw up the worst before and best after pics you have. Then we can appreciate how hard we worked watching you. :ranger:

BTW - Using the Admiral's nail polish for touch-up isn't as bad as the guy using his wife's mixer to stir epoxy. <-- That is a true story buried in the Annals Of iBoats.

I'm not sure where to even begin on "worst before"...most of the uglies were hidden.

a few of the greatest hits

"Crack me Up" by the Rottens

"Ground-Beef Spray Rail" by the Bunk Carriage Bolts

"Steel your Keel" by the Deaf, Blind PO's

:lol:

CONGRAT's CC,
It looks great.
Go find some fish.
Dan

Appreciate it Dan! Yeah man... now it's time to start outfitting it!

I believe it was Trooper82 that did that. :facepalm:

I recall Sig (Nick) using the Admiral's mixing cups...not nearly as "resourceful" as sneakin' the old kitchen-aid. :lol:

 

[classiccat]

A shakedown wouldn't be complete without at least 1 hole-shot video:

 

[GA_Boater]

Look at that baby go! I caught a few peeks of the Starcraft

 

[BWR1953]

Great holeshot and nice run! Keep on keepin' on!

 

[Watermann]

A shakedown wouldn't be complete without at least 1 hole-shot video:

I guess that Rude is running good, not too many guys get that speed with the same motor in a 16'r. I only get 10 more from a prop rated 115 in my SS.

 

[classiccat]

Look at that baby go! I caught a few peeks of the Starcraft

She boogies! I promise to do a full walk-through video next time :lol:

Great holeshot and nice run! Keep on keepin' on!

Thanks BWR! Hammer-down baby! :madgrin:

I guess that Rude is running good, not too many guys get that speed with the same motor in a 16'r. I only get 10 more from a prop rated 115 in my SS.

The CMC helps when I'm out of the hole. I think the effort to keep weight down since I'm under-powered is also paying off (Light motor, 1/2" deck, 1 house battery and only 15g in fuel.)

The real test will be once I start loading it up with buddies/gear/coolers :lol:. I may have to drop down from 17 to a 15p prop.

I have some troubleshooting to do with this it stalling when I put it in gear. As long as I quickly push it to over 1k RPM its fine.

 

[Watermann]

The CMC helps when I'm out of the hole. I think the effort to keep weight down since I'm under-powered is also paying off (Light motor, 1/2" deck, 1 house battery and only 15g in fuel.)

The real test will be once I start loading it up with buddies/gear/coolers :lol:. I may have to drop down from 17 to a 15p prop.

I have some troubleshooting to do with this it stalling when I put it in gear. As long as I quickly push it to over 1k RPM its fine.

Yeah my SS is way heavy with 4 batteries, livewell, raised rear deck, TM that's 90 lbs, 25 gal belly fuel tank and the speed is with 500+ Lbs of men on board. The CMC does give that perfect amount of set back and trim is essential for sure.

Your motor issue sounds to me like it needs to have a link & sync procedure done on it. Not sure what's all involved in the Johnson procedure from the manual but with my carbed Mercs that's exactly what they do if all the steps aren't followed in particular the carbs idle air mixture set with the boat on the water.

 

[classiccat]

Yeah my SS is way heavy with 4 batteries, livewell, raised rear deck, TM that's 90 lbs, 25 gal belly fuel tank and the speed is with 500+ Lbs of men on board. The CMC does give that perfect amount of set back and trim is essential for sure.

Your motor issue sounds to me like it needs to have a link & sync procedure done on it. Not sure what's all involved in the Johnson procedure from the manual but with my carbed Mercs that's exactly what they do if all the steps aren't followed in particular the carbs idle air mixture set with the boat on the water.

I wish that I had spent more time diagnosing when I was on the water. Link and sync is super easy on these. I set the spark advance using the "Joe Reeves" method. Believe it or not the carbs are fixed jet so I'll definitely be breaking them down and cleaning out the idle circuit and bustin' out the spark tester.

all-3 electrodes look good/similar:

but check out the burnt boot grease on the top plug ceramic (wipes right off)...perhaps a clue right there :nerd::

 

[ctswf]

The real test will be once I start loading it up with buddies/gear/coolers :lol:. I may have to drop down from 17 to a 15p prop.

I have some troubleshooting to do with this it stalling when I put it in gear. As long as I quickly push it to over 1k RPM its fine.

Classiccat in the water!!! I'm excited watching that video!
Boat looks supreme.

After a summer of solid use, my last trip my motor just started doing exactly what you describe. I'll be watching for your diagnosis.

I load up w friends, ice, coolers, gas (only 6 gal) and the. 17 prop still seems OK, but I've never tried anything else. What exactly is your prop? I think you push a tad faster than me, even if I'm empty.

 

[classiccat]

Classiccat in the water!!! I'm excited watching that video!
Boat looks supreme.

After a summer of solid use, my last trip my motor just started doing exactly what you describe. I'll be watching for your diagnosis.

I load up w friends, ice, coolers, gas (only 6 gal) and the. 17 prop still seems OK, but I've never tried anything else. What exactly is your prop? I think you push a tad faster than me, even if I'm empty.

Thanks ct! I can't wait to get on the water again!

The difference with our boats could be the CMC. Trimmed all the way down, I'm in the 30-31mph range. I didn't want to screw around with props so I just went with OEM (Johnson/Evinrude/OMC 13.25x17 0765183). Also, the offshore might be a tad heavier since I believe it's heavier gauge aluminum.

Well I haven't diagnosed the issue yet however what I've found so far.
* burnt boot grease on the #1 plug
* Spark plugs (champion) gapped to 0.030" instead of the 0.040" specified in the fsm

I probably should've run out and tested it with the proper gap but I can't get out of my driveway for another week or 2 (soft; just repaved) so I'm doing the full link/sync again (verify timing pointer, sync carb linkage & cam, set max spark advance).

The carbs are broken down and soaking in cleaner. I visually inspected the reeds and no disasters (broken pieces, missing screws). I'll definitely keep you posted! :thumb:

 

[Watermann]

That's right I remember that about those motors now, no idle air mix screws.

I personally have no use for Champ plugs, went to NGK years ago for my OB's and never looked back.

 

[classiccat]

That's right I remember that about those motors now, no idle air mix screws.

I personally have no use for Champ plugs, went to NGK years ago for my OB's and never looked back.

Apparently NGK's eat up these old OMC ignitions since there's no match for the Champion QL77JC4.

I've also read that new CDI powerpacks for OMC motors have a warning that non-Champion plugs will void their warranty. :noidea:

 

[classiccat]

The Little things add-up.


Fuel:

• Just in case there was some varnish in the idle circuits (from when I was running E10 back in 2013), I soaked the carbs in carb cleaner and a final rinse in the ultrasonic cleaner with near-boiling water and dawn dish soap.
• Re-routed some of the fuel lines for a better air-box fit.

Ignition:

• ! Adjusted spark plug gaps to 0.040” per FSM.
• !! I confirmed that I have a miss on the #1 cylinder…and I’m super grateful that it was simple to resolve…
  • pulled the boot and recut the high tension end..this didn't fix it b/c i didn't do the following...
  • !! Clean carbon from inside of the plug boot...Super important step if you don't have new plug boots on-hand.
  • !! install new plug since I couldn’t get the old porcelain completely clean
  • apply OMC triple guard grease to plug porcelain and install high-tension lead.
• Confirmed that the position of my timing pointer is correct using a piston stop tool; I’ll set the max spark advance last…after we get everything else dialed-in (I’m guessing it won’t move much.)
• rectifier behaving like it should….all 4 diodes acting like diodes.

Linkage:

• Redid the carb linkage synchronizations.
• Reset the idle to 1200 on muffs (when it wasn’t misfiring.)…it required a few turns of the throttle rod yoke. I'll set the final idle RPMs on the water when I'm in -gear.
• NOTE: when you’re adjusting your idle RPM, you’re making an adjustment to the timing base since your cam follower better not be touching the cam (throttle plates are closed)

It’s now starting with a bump of the start switch.

Here's a video I made of that miss... it's kind of cool if you're into motors :lol:

Need this driveway to cure so I can get back out on the water again!

 

[Watermann]

Sounds like you have found your issue with the mis-fire, awesome!

I looked too and yeah there is no other plug listed for those motors. Yeah good choice not to use anything other than what's listed for your motor.

 

[laurentide]

Congrats CC, awesome to see you got it on the water!

On my 18' Chieftain with the same engine I was getting similar performance when I first launched the boat in '13. But I added 3 more batteries (trolling motor + house), an enclosure, 30 gallons of fuel, a 100# 4 stroke kicker, and a bunch of fishing gear, downriggers, weights, etc. It would still get up but performance wasn't great. So I added a CMC (which you obviously already have) and dropped the pitch down to 15. It can hit 30 now in perfect conditions, but running at 4200 @ 22-25 mph seems to be the sweet spot for fuel burn. I love the 70, it's efficient for an old 2 stroke and dead reliable. And my boat is for fishing, speed is not the priority, so a 22-25 mph cruise is fine.

I hope you get to use the SS as much as possible. Congrats again, finally splashed! These boats are great beaters, very minimal maintenance when they're trailered.

 

[classiccat]

Sounds like you have found your issue with the mis-fire, awesome!

I looked too and yeah there is no other plug listed for those motors. Yeah good choice not to use anything other than what's listed for your motor.

I'm dying to run it again with the miss diagnosed + the stronger spark. My freshly laid driveway is still a little tender...afraid to see what these skinny trailer tires will do to it. :lol:

Congrats CC, awesome to see you got it on the water!

On my 18' Chieftain with the same engine I was getting similar performance when I first launched the boat in '13. But I added 3 more batteries (trolling motor + house), an enclosure, 30 gallons of fuel, a 100# 4 stroke kicker, and a bunch of fishing gear, downriggers, weights, etc. It would still get up but performance wasn't great. So I added a CMC (which you obviously already have) and dropped the pitch down to 15. It can hit 30 now in perfect conditions, but running at 4200 @ 22-25 mph seems to be the sweet spot for fuel burn. I love the 70, it's efficient for an old 2 stroke and dead reliable. And my boat is for fishing, speed is not the priority, so a 22-25 mph cruise is fine.

I hope you get to use the SS as much as possible. Congrats again, finally splashed! These boats are great beaters, very minimal maintenance when they're trailered.

Thanks for swingin' by the thread laurentide (Chem)!!

It's impressive that you're still touching 30 with a crank-rated 70 pushing a fully loaded Chief! I agree with you about these 3cyl loopers ...legendary outboard designs;light and powerful. Imitation is the greatest form of flattery...ain't that right Yamaha? :lol: That said, I'm with you on speed especially since most of my fishing is done in rivers...where driftwood likes to pop-up out of nowhere.

I'm sure I'll be making a Champlain run once I'm fully outfitted...I'll be sure to give you a heads-up!

Speaking of outfitting, I finally made up my mind on my stern rod holder situation. I was thinking of a removable rack but decided on throwing a 5' Bert's on there and fabbing adapters for my Monster rod holders.

Bert's track installed...adding additional rigidity to the splashwell.

Cut some 3/16" 6061 stock to 3 1/16"...making sure it has a tight fit with a tiny bit of wiggle room to prevent binding.

Drilled/tapped 2 of the holes for 1" 10-24 SS screws
the other 2 holes come in from the underside for SS flathead screws held-on with nylon locknuts (use anti-seize on all SS fasteners).

The 2 screws coming in from the topside apply upward pressure locking the mount in place:

The holders/bases can be removed in 2mins.

Now that I like the fit/finish/function of these holder bases, I'll be adding more tracks to the gunnels once the bimini arrives (hopefully tomorrow.)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :yo:

 

[GA_Boater]

Looks like a factory install, CC. Maybe it should;



Boy, Bert's stuff is pricey. You saved a chunk of change by fabbing the mounts.

 

[Watermann]

I just had my driveway done with asphalt too, after a couple weeks I parked my Chief on it with 3/4" plywood under the wheels and jack to spread the weight. Had no idea it takes 6 months to a year to fully cure. Already had someone pull in, stop and turn their wheels at a dead stop during 100 degree mid day weather. :mad-new:

 

[classiccat]

Looks like a factory install, CC. Maybe it should;



Boy, Bert's stuff is pricey. You saved a chunk of change by fabbing the mounts.

Thanks GaB! Yeah I'm really liking this approach ...they're crazy strong yet low profile.

You're not kidding about the bert's pricetags...the clone brands aren't that much better. Where they get you is in the accessories... Rod holder adapters alone (for scotties, etc.) are $30 a piece!

I just had my driveway done with asphalt too, after a couple weeks I parked my Chief on it with 3/4" plywood under the wheels and jack to spread the weight. Had no idea it takes 6 months to a year to fully cure. Already had someone pull in, stop and turn their wheels at a dead stop during 100 degree mid day weather. :mad-new:

Dude I know! The good thing about doing it near the end of summer is that it will harden-up faster in the cooler temps.

We had ours put in almost 2 weeks ago. I parked the 5600# Tundra on it for 24hrs... even with an 11" wide tread it started leaving a slight indentation that you can't see with your eye unless you put a straight edge on it.

My neighbor, who also had their's done with mine, had someone do stopped wheel-turn on his...he's fuming!

Good idea with the plywood...I'll have to hit-up the scrap pile!