My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

[GA_Boater]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

better yet, he'll be inspired to do an iboats.com themed chopper...sporting 2 chrome props...one on each tail-pipe staying true to thru-hub exhaust



I usually watch it to see if they drive past my house on the show :lol:

Then he'll show here with a prop question. :facepalm:

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Then send em' a bill for having your house on TV yes its dirty but hey I have a nasty boating habit to pay for $1300.00 at a time.

I'm not a lawyer however I don't think they need consent to show my house...however I had an idea for some yard art: life-sized cut-outs of me and the fam

Then he'll show here with a prop question. :facepalm:

:lol: we'll let the folks over at "Prop Questions and Topics" deal with that one!

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Weekly Update

A whole bunch of tiny-steps forward on multiple aspects of the project this week.

Considerable amount of work on the LU, smoothing-out rock-bites and giving the skeg some definition:




LU and lower powerhead cover sanded and ready for ZC:


The exhaust adapter was spiffed-up and reattached to the new inner housing with a brandy-new gasket & water tube grommet. Verifying the positioning of the water tube by mating-up with the LU/Waterpump:


Nicely centered in the external housing!


Lastly, after finding a TON of corrosion in the exhaust adapter, I've decided to pull the cylinder heads and exhaust manifold. In the process, I'll add a tell-tale. (i'm guessin' that some of you aren't that surprised..hehe)

continued...

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

I experimented with several strip techniques this week and eventually settled on something

First, I tried the gator disk on the transom and did not like the nonuniformity of it...plus the mess. SS wire wheel had similar results but less effective. In addition, you can't use it near rivets or they'll grind the heads off.

So enough for brute-force mechanical removal (Port-side of transom). I was inspired by InMotion's successful implementation of "tree hugger" stripper...unfortunately I could not find the exact brand and settled (that's an understatement) on "Ready Strip" (SB-side of transom):


Well, ready strip is ready for the garbage. What a waste of time...my only consolation is that i bought the smallest container available.

None of the Big Box stores in my area carry the proven high-octane strippers (Aircraft & Zip Strip) so I decided to hop-off the beaten-path and found a Ma-and-Pa hardware store. Sure enough, gallons of ZipStrip and actually got help from the very knowledgable owner! I was in the driveway for 10min before smearing some on the transom with a rag...made short work of the paint left behind from mechanical and TreeHugger (TH) stripper.


This morning I started on Port-side Hull; the aft-most portion was treated w/ TH stripper friday/saturday and you can see where it got me



I probably picked too large of an area because you don't want it to dry-out...otherwise you have to wet it with more Zip.


So I think i have my technique down to tackle the rest of the Hull without the use of any powertools:

1. Working in 3' sections, apply a thick coat of Zip with a chip-brush.
2. after 30min, scrape off paint (if you have to put effort into scraping, apply more Zip and come-back to that spot in 5min)
3. remove the residue with a 3M stripper pad
4. wash down with dishsoap and water.
5. have a beer!

Lastly, I've found a sheet metal fab shop literally 2min from my house. I left the gentlemen a message...hopefully he can hook me up!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

So I think i have my technique down to tackle the rest of the Hull without the use of any powertools:

1. Have a beer.
2. Working in 3' sections, apply a thick coat of Zip with a chip-brush.
3. Have a beer.
4. after 30min, scrape off paint (if you have to put effort into scraping, apply more Zip and come-back to that spot in 5min)
5. Have a beer.
6. remove the residue with a 3M stripper pad
7. Have a beer.
8. wash down with dishsoap and water.
9. have a beer!
10. Have another beer.
11. Repeat as required.

Blue - You need to go to list making school. I fixed it for ya! :lol:

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Blue - You need to go to list making school. I fixed it for ya! :lol:

Thanks for the lesson GaB...I'm a fast learner!

here's my technique for removing the cylinder head and exhaust:

1. Apply PB Blaster
2. have beer
3. Apply heat
4. have beer
5. Impact driver F/R till she budges
6. have 2 beers
7. repeat steps 1-6 52 times

:drunk:

EDIT: Cylinder head bolts all came-off no problem using a little 18V Makita impact driver (not to be confused w/ impact wrench...basically a screw-gun on steroids)...no PB, heat necessary :thumb:

 

[ShowMeGuy]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Thanks for the lesson GaB...I'm a fast learner!

here's my technique for removing the cylinder head and exhaust:

1. Apply PB Blaster
2. have beer
3. Apply heat
4. have beer
5. Impact driver F/R till she budges
6. have 2 beers
7. repeat steps 1-6 52 times

:drunk:

EDIT: Cylinder head bolts all came-off no problem using a little 18V Makita impact driver (not to be confused w/ impact wrench...basically a screw-gun on steroids)...no PB, heat necessary :thumb:

Nice.. When I took off my exhaust manifolds and diverters on my Old Merc... I used my little 3/8" impact with fairly low PSI.. Worked like a charm.. No broken bolts!!!

Good progress with the stripper....

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

A low impact driver works wonders with iffy bolts. I think it's the lighter tapping/jarring in F/R that loosens them. Unlike the a big impact's shear (I mean shear) force or over torquing with a socket. Good deal, Blue. :thumb: Time for a beer.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Nice.. When I took off my exhaust manifolds and diverters on my Old Merc... I used my little 3/8" impact with fairly low PSI.. Worked like a charm.. No broken bolts!!!

Good progress with the stripper....

A low impact driver works wonders with iffy bolts. I think it's the lighter tapping/jarring in F/R that loosens them. Unlike the a big impact's shear (I mean shear) force or over torquing with a socket. Good deal, Blue. :thumb: Time for a beer.

Thanks guys!

53 cylinder cover, head and exhaust cover bolts came-out in 1 piece...however I needed 54 to come-out :lol: I was mentally prepared for a few more casualties in the exhaust cover so I still consider this a success

I hit the exhaust cover this evening...5 bolts weren't budging. hit them with PB, jacked-up the engine to hit them with heat and upsized to a 3/8" drive/socket (still in my little micky driver) and popped the bottom most exhaust bolt:


Thankfully its the most benign location as long as I don't dork-up the threads with my left-hand bits. If i had known that the bolt extended into the exhaust port, I would've cleaned-it up and hit it with PB/heat from the backside.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Exhaust manifold is off...a considerable amount of deposits/blockage however the bigger find is the watery sludge in the cylinder #2 exhaust port.



I have a feeling ol' Murphy is starting to become irritated with me! :mad-new: :lol:

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

I think this is where the motor guys say to check the exhaust cover for flatness and look over the old gaskets and diverter plate (I think that's what it's called in your motor). Was the plug clean in #2?

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

I think this is where the motor guys say to check the exhaust cover for flatness and look over the old gaskets and diverter plate (I think that's what it's called in your motor). Was the plug clean in #2?

Hey GaB,
neither appeared as though they were being steam cleaned; I recall all-3 being brand-new & drenched w/ fuel/oil at the PO's residence (last time it ran).

The plan is to dress all of the surfaces once I get the crud off...good rainy-day work

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

As far as I know, the water can only get in there during operation is from a bad seal between the cover, gaskets and plate. And you've had all the lower stuff off so no water got in unless you turned the whole thing upside down when water was still in there. You prob have a bad gasket.

Good rainy day work after finding more beer. I know you drank it all during the stripping and bolt removal. :watermelon:

 

[dozerII]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

You keep running into lots of snags on the out board BF, but it looks like with lots of beer you are powering through them all.

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

As far as I know, the water can only get in there during operation is from a bad seal between the cover, gaskets and plate. And you've had all the lower stuff off so no water got in unless you turned the whole thing upside down when water was still in there. You prob have a bad gasket.

Good rainy day work after finding more beer. I know you drank it all during the stripping and bolt removal. :watermelon:

Definitely a bad gasket; you can see the dark discoloration on the left-side of the port along a big water-way. Once I get the gasket off, i'll looking for pitting and/or warpage in the cover, manifold and powerhead surfaces.

I didn't have a single sip of barley soda...I reserve that luxury for weekends...guess i have some catchin' up to do :lol:

You keep running into lots of snags on the out board BF, but it looks like with lots of beer you are powering through them all.

Thanks Glen! Its funny because if I didn't investigate the exhaust housing alignment, I would've taken my chances. The simple fact that I had full access to the bolts, prompted the deep-dive into the powerhead. It's raining cats&dogs here in the north-east so at least I have something to keep me occupied :thumb:

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

A short/sweet update for this week...rain kept me in the garage this week so the outboard got some TLC

Most of my free-time was spent cleaning-up exhaust gasket surfaces.

The cylinder head came-off without a hitch. Cyl#1 has some dents/dings in the piston/head and light scoring (J/E Forum Link)..not enough to justify a full tear-down but something we'll be keeping an eye-on.

There is very little room on the top of this 3cyl block for a tell-tale so I put it on the top of the cylinder head...talk about threading a needle (the inner-line is the back of the water-way).





old head-gasket makes a nice template for making cylinder plugs:




despite some surface rust, the head-temp switch still works (tested with a heat-gun and a continuity tester). At $135 a pop (new), we'll be cleaning-this guy up.


Happy Father's Day!

 

[dozerII]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Getting right into that motor BF. Is the damage on #1 old do ya think?

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

Getting right into that motor BF. Is the damage on #1 old do ya think?

Hey Glen, I'd say it's fairly old based on the discoloration...good question though! Hopefully it was something sucked-up through the carb intake and not a piece of the reeds...regardless, front of the engine is staying on until I get this boat built :lol: I need my garage back for the SC!

 

[dozerII]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

BF the telltale hole you put in is that 1/8npt? and you just tapped into the top of the head into the water jacket? I want to put one on the 70 Johnson I just picked up. So from the fitting you will just run a 1/8 id hose out the cowling?

 

[classiccat]

Re: My First StarCraft; 1975 18' SuperSport

BF the telltale hole you put in is that 1/8npt? and you just tapped into the top of the head into the water jacket? I want to put one on the 70 Johnson I just picked up. So from the fitting you will just run a 1/8 id hose out the cowling?

That's pretty much it...it's tough to miss the water jacket...unless you're in the cylinder head like mine.

Instructions for adding a tell-tale.

11/32" bit and a 1/8" pipe tap . The hose I believe is 3/16" ID...will let you know when it arrives in the mail. I plan to use unibit for the cowling (11/16" hole).

I bought the OEM fitting that goes into the head...which is actually plastic or nylon. Since it's a 90-degree fitting, I had to offset it to clear the flange.

It creates alot of shavings...so if you're not pulling the head, use alot of grease on the bits to catch as much as possible.

Let me know if you need me to make additional measurements...I haven't put the cyl head back-on yet so I have full view of the water jacket.