Need help identifying a 1978(?) Starcraft, 27' long

[Coracular]

Hi - I'm looking at buying a 27' aluminum Starcraft, from the hull number (STR13637M78F) it looks like it'd be a 1978, but there's nothing in the various catalogs on the Starcraft site that size. I've asked the owner to re-measure but the longest boat I could find in the catalog is 22' so the difference is not just a rounding error. Outboard, hull looks a bit like the Mariner with the false planking but that only goes up to 21', and the console is Starbord rather than centre. Hard top at the back was I think put on by a previous owner. Anyone have any ideas? Is there another catalog somewhere, or maybe I am misintepreting the hull number?

thanks!

 

[jbcurt00]

It's what's left of a 1978 25ft SC Chieftain.
Measured along the gunwale, it might be 27ft, but along the centerline, 25ft.

 

[Coracular]

It's what's left of a 1978 25ft SC Chieftain.
Measured along the gunwale, it might be 27ft, but along the centerline, 25ft.

Thanks!

What would be the major considerations for something like that? I've heard the rivets can loosen over time?

 

[jbcurt00]

Well cared for riveted boats are more than sufficient to remain seaworthy for decades.

BUT it's a 45yr old boat that's been remuddled by a prior owner. All that matters now is its actual condition, w pontoon furniture and dock curbing et al....

You can't inspect that rig thoroughly enough remotely via a few pix, let alone just 1. It'll be hard enough to do in person w all the poorly thought out changes.

Was a decent looking cabin cruiser, now it looks a mess, IMO.

What motor? OB or I/O?

 

[Coracular]

Well cared for riveted boats are more than sufficient to remain seaworthy for decades.

BUT it's a 45yr old boat that's been remuddled by a prior owner. All that matters now is its actual condition, w pontoon furniture and dock curbing et al....

You can't inspect that rig thoroughly enough remotely via a few pix, let alone just 1. It'll be hard enough to do in person w all the poorly thought out changes.

Was a decent looking cabin cruiser, now it looks a mess, IMO.

What motor? OB or I/O?

Set up for OB but nothing included.

 

[IslandExplorer]

Thanks!

What would be the major considerations for something like that? I've heard the rivets can loosen over time?

The major considerations are how to get her Home!

Pretty sure JBC is dead on, definitely looks like a Chieftain 25. And she got the custom chop top job. Now I'll say up front that I have a Chieftain 25 so my opinions are definitely biased...

A lot of people seem to only like center consoles/no cabin setup and remove the superstructure from these good old boats. I bet it was a Chieftain 25 "Express" originally, floor in back looks deep. I'll find a picture. If so- it had a cabin and two levels of big glass windows wrapping around. The 25 models are more rare so there are less pictures and videos of them floating around.

The later models like that '78 should have the nice rib end reinforcements from the factory that some earlier models did not. That's definitely a big plus! It is a significant strength upgrade and prevents cracking in severe use at the rib ends.

The rivets can definitely loosen over time through rough use, like any riveted aluminum boat, so that is definitely something to inspect. You can tighten up (called "bucking") a few loose rivets here and there but probably don't want to be bucking dozens and dozens, depending on price and your dedication to it. Personally I think they're great, light, low maintenance hulls that are super easy to customize. That one looks like it was setup kinda like a pontoon or tour boat.

This is an outboard powered boat you say?? (may have misread)
My main concern would be how the outboard is mounted. These babies didn't have an outboard option ever for the 25 that I am aware of, you -could- get it brand new without any inboard installed but it wouldn't have a splash-well or notched transom or anything. Could have been very well converted but my attention would be focused there. I saw a build where one was outboard converted with an offshore bracket and it looked great. Interesting boat for sure, have any more shots of it?

 

[IslandExplorer]

These are old original SC brochure shots of a Chieftain Express 25:

 

[Coracular]

The major considerations are how to get her Home!

Pretty sure JBC is dead on, definitely looks like a Chieftain 25. And she got the custom chop top job. Now I'll say up front that I have a Chieftain 25 so my opinions are definitely biased...

A lot of people seem to only like center consoles/no cabin setup and remove the superstructure from these good old boats. I bet it was a Chieftain 25 "Express" originally, floor in back looks deep. I'll find a picture. If so- it had a cabin and two levels of big glass windows wrapping around. The 25 models are more rare so there are less pictures and videos of them floating around.

The later models like that '78 should have the nice rib end reinforcements from the factory that some earlier models did not. That's definitely a big plus! It is a significant strength upgrade and prevents cracking in severe use at the rib ends.

The rivets can definitely loosen over time through rough use, like any riveted aluminum boat, so that is definitely something to inspect. You can tighten up (called "bucking") a few loose rivets here and there but probably don't want to be bucking dozens and dozens, depending on price and your dedication to it. Personally I think they're great, light, low maintenance hulls that are super easy to customize. That one looks like it was setup kinda like a pontoon or tour boat.

This is an outboard powered boat you say?? (may have misread)
My main concern would be how the outboard is mounted. These babies didn't have an outboard option ever for the 25 that I am aware of, you -could- get it brand new without any inboard installed but it wouldn't have a splash-well or notched transom or anything. Could have been very well converted but my attention would be focused there. I saw a build where one was outboard converted with an offshore bracket and it looked great. Interesting boat for sure, have any more shots of it?

Here are a couple of shots of the motor and one just catching the rear quarter. I didn't see those vents on any of the catalog pictures but maybe left over from having an internal motor? Any idea what's the maximum load on that hull? I looked for specs and I could find up to '77 but couldn't find a '78 Chieftain Express (and then for '77 I found "Express HT" and "Express CONV", but I'm not clear what the difference is). Thanks!

 

[jbcurt00]

That rig is a converted i/o (hence the vent) to OB jack plate, not an OB bracket.

Jack plate is mounted to an added plate of unknown attachment and would appear insufficiently sized to carry the weight & torque of an OB verses the original I/O.

Transom thru hole for I/O was also covered by the added plate. Transom for OB, OB jack plate or bracket is completely different tthan what this boat came with.

Did seller do a good job prepping transom to hang jack plate & OB?

Evidence shown doesn't suggest good practices, let alone best practices but maybe they did...

W/out the OB, what's seller asking for this mess? W trailer?

 

[Scott Danforth]

What is the seller asking for this $300 worth of aluminum?

 

[matt167]

The outboard looks to be very small. With that setup, it could probably hold 25-30hp 4 stroke. But I agree with the others. It’s a cobbled up mess. Doesn’t look quite right

 

[flashback]

Reminds me a bit of the African queen. Probably make a fine river boat.

 

[BWR1953]

Reminds me a bit of the African queen. Probably make a fine river boat.

And we all know how the African Queen ended up!

 

[Coracular]

That rig is a converted i/o (hence the vent) to OB jack plate, not an OB bracket.

Jack plate is mounted to an added plate of unknown attachment and would appear insufficiently sized to carry the weight & torque of an OB verses the original I/O.

Transom thru hole for I/O was also covered by the added plate. Transom for OB, OB jack plate or bracket is completely different tthan what this boat came with.

Did seller do a good job prepping transom to hang jack plate & OB?

Evidence shown doesn't suggest good practices, let alone best practices but maybe they did...

W/out the OB, what's seller asking for this mess? W trailer?

Listed at $8k CDN with trailer but we haven't talked about price at all or gone to see it yet (I wanted all this great information I'm getting here first!). What would you think something like this would be worth paying, assuming it's all in good shape? The description says it'll take a 30-60 hp outboard.

I'd be interested in general advice as well - my objective is to build a sort of houseboat / base-camp onto either something like this, or a pontoon, so we can have a kitchen / bathroom / shower and sleeping space, but live outside. Looking for shallow draft so I can beach easily, and narrow enough to trailer without wide-load permits etc. No need for waterskiing speeds, just puttering around on a very big, very slow river. I have an old 650lb EV battery with about 20 kWh capacity and a plan I'm comfortable will allow me to hook it up safely as a solar storage / power system to run the kitchen but also a small electric motor. I have the technical skills to rebuild most things but not the time, so basically looking for a floor that floats and can carry a bunch of stuff. Is this the hull you'd suggest for something like this? Or would a pontoon be better?

 

[Scott Danforth]

It's not worth $8k CDN.

Considering what you are looking at doing, the hull would be an OK starting point.

Here it would be listed as $500 trailer must take "free boat"

The POs guestimate at HP rating just screams run

 

[matt167]

Not anywhere near $8k… if you want a house boat hull it’ll work, and if your thinking non planing speeds, 20hp will scoot it at displacement speed without much trouble. I would investigate the bracket more but it should handle it. CDN, I’d think $2,500. Id have a hard time with $1,500 myself

 

[IslandExplorer]

These guys are right. That price is crazy high unless it has major price tag goodies onboard like a Garmin 9227, solid gold anchor lol, amazing condition motor(s), etc. I bought one of these 15+ yrs abandonned that had a thriving garden/compost pit for a cockpit and surely was destined to be scrapped. No one else was going to save her. But even then the scrap value was fairly high so it wasn't free or anything. Unlike fiberglass, aluminum (as a material) retains a substantial value. I knew what highly customized end result I wanted, always loved the lines of these boats, and recognized the good bones she had so I took on the project anyway. Sometimes what you want doesn't exist really and you just have to make it yourself with a bit more blank, and cheaper of a slate.

Now if you were wanting to restore one of these- that would be a terrible choice bc it is missing a lot of the original structure- forget it.
BUT, just to use as a big, light weight (don't forget light is fuel economy on water AND advantage on land- easy to tow, pull off a beach, etc.) lazy river party barge/mothership with a little rum runner raft- she'd be perfect!

Could do a lower cabin height and still be able to stand inside with the mono-hull vs on a pontoon. To me, that'd be a big deal.

Trailer looks like it has mismatched random tires but otherwise seems ok.. The $1500 estimate from Matt sounds like it would be a reasonable good deal but not much more. Hard to say without more details on motor and stuff. There really is a lot of aluminum there- that's worth a few hundred bucks no matter what ya do. Trailer is worth some too.

For what you're trying to do a pontoon would totally work as well and have a simpler floor plan maybe. The boat definitely has the room and weight capacity to put all the stuff you want on it, they're designed for a 13 person capacity in original form and that one has surely lost a TON of weight with the I/O removed (~900lbs by itself) and the big heavy glass windowed cabin, etc. (guessing at least another 300lbs lost). You could put a truly gigantic battery bank in there nice and low down the center to give it balance and it would still be lighter than average. The draft on this boat must be incredibly shallow now.

Any pictures revealing the inside condition, especially near transom? Owner may even have photos of the conversion project. These can be very telling of whether to definitely run away or not.

 

[redneck joe]

that is a $500 boat that you do not want to put any more money into except a 20-40 hp to push around a quiet lake.

 

[flashback]

Yep, that's a cocktail boat, ease out and enjoy the sunset.