new owner, old boat

[tide]

Hello fellow boaters and Starcraft owners. I've finally gotten around to posting here after lurking for some time. I bought a 1969 Chieftan 18' w/120 Merc i/o in July of'05. It had to sit for 14 months while I, and the guy that employs me went through relocation issues. (Whew! That sucked!) She was in the water and running September '06 and I am totally impressed with this machine. Sweet '37 year old craft, I'm new to powerboats and I could not have found a better one. I look forward to all kinds of input, pics, advice, etc. I've been a gearhead since my first tricycle, but boats are a new avenue to me. BTW, blew the engine coupler in October. Profanities attached!

 

[tide]

Re: new owner, old boat

Here's two pics. One from August '06 just before trying her out, and one from October just before smoking the coupler. I figure from what I've picked up in other posts that the engine mounts have settled over time and thrown it out of alignment. I doubt the previous owner did annuals or anything like that for quite a while. So, I guess I'm going to learn how to replace a coupler and most likely a transom, too, as long as I've got it opened up.
P.S. I will fix the pics in the next day or two!
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<img src="http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u20/Robo_026/aug-oct.jpg " ><br/>
Yeah!! Fixed. HTML, duh!

 

[HONKER1]

Re: new owner, old boat

Nice boat....that style would have been my first choice, but I listened to people telling me that it was to old. I purchased an '86 Starcraft ( because it was newer, and i've been working on it for a year). It will go into the water in a few months. Can't complain, i learned a lot, and feel confidence that i can handle the repairs needed on a boat like yours. Retired and no schedule to get it done is good therpay. it's more relaxing then the 6:00 news.