New Starcraft Islander?and I have general boat questions!

[jasoutside]

Going through jasoutside's thread now. A few questions:

1) some of the links are dead. I'm having trouble finding information on outboard brackets, is there a good thread or website I should look at? Or do people tend to DIY these? the link on his thread looked like a company that did them, but the link was dead and I can't find other info.

2) jasoutside, can I ask why you kept the IO? I'm still early in the thread, but it looks like the OB/IO vote is skewed towards OB. And given what you mentioned earlier, that you wish you would have done OB, I'd be really curious to hear your thought process then and what has changed at this point. thanks!

For outboard brackets you can check out Stainless Marine or Armstrong Marine to see great examples of what an outboard on how a bracket would work.

Well, like I mentioned previously, I went with the Mercruiser IO transplant mainly because it was more budget friendly than an OB on a bracket. If you were to skip ahead about 400 pages you'd see I had major undiagnosable issues with that 4.3 setup and ended up selling for pennies on the dollar after almost killing my entire summer chasing ghosts. Now, my situation was a bit of an anomaly though. The main reasons I'd go with an outboard is, in order:

1) Major space gained on deck by kicking the engine out of there.

2) Simplicity. The Mercruiser and the outdrive are two major systems connected by some delicate and complex stuff in between - most of the stuff in between is eliminated with the outboard, therefore, also eliminating stuff to go bad and stuff to maintain. I can stand up when working on an outboard. I'm usually on my belly or at least in an awkward position wrenching on an IO.

3) With the outboard my boating season is extended to 12 months out of the year with very little trouble, if I wish. If I wanted to do that with my IO it would be a big pain in the butt and simply isn't worth it.

Now, there have been may IO v. OB wars waged here on iboats so read up, plenty of material out there to help make your decision.

As for me and mine, OB on a bracket for sure. My Starcraft Sportfisherman is certainly going down that road.

 

[oceanfrank]

proshadetree: yep, thanks, that was what I was wondering. Wasn't sure where the pump was located! And I'll look into the alarms. No water flow is a big fear of mine.

ezmobee: thanks for the info. I'm going to see what I'm dealing with as far as the motor and outdrive and I'll report back!

southkogs: thanks for ALL the info. There was a lot over 2 posts and they were all helpful and filed away in my brain, so big thanks

jasoutside: I will look into your thread and others to make a good decision about OB vs IO. Still reading though?it is LONG, and i suspect it's worthwhile though because there's so much great info there! Just looking at mine though, it seems like that doghouse in mine is both way too big and way too flimsy. I could see myself building a new one and making it shorter (it's about thigh almost waist high right now, even though the engine is only maybe knee high) and sturdier and maybe putting some cushions on top to make it sitable or putting storage on top. Did you consider going that route, and if you did consider it and decided against it, can I ask why you decided against it? Or maybe you did just that?i won't know for another 400 pages! ha.
but also, your sportfisherman looks AWESOME. What a great find. I didn't even know those existed, but now I want one! really sweet looking boat you got there, killer find!

 

[redneck joe]

frank - if you got those skills and about 5k - you are golden. I'd go ahead and start the resto thread, or ask a mod to move this to that area as you've got a good jump on it here on this thread.

If you decide to keep the WLOD, southkogs is the expert from what I've seen the last few years here - but I bet the transom is gonna need work and if that is the case swap to a mercruiser now.


looking forward to following this one.

 

[Patfromny]

Keep this thread as the restoration thread and have a mod. Change the name if you wish. You have already gotten plenty of restoring info here so you might as well fold it into the build thread or, I should say, just start posting about the restoration. Good luck. You have the right guys following along. I doubt there is any question they can't answer.

 

[laurentide]

Nothing to add here that the other starcraft guys haven't already said, but that is a very cool and oddball Islander! I love the hardtop. You could eventually hang canvas and clear vinyl curtains on that to have a 3 season pilothouse.

Good luck with the rebuild. There's all the help you'll need right here in this forum and more Starcraft specific stuff in that subforum. Take your time and don't let it become an obligation, have fun with it.

Since we're all talking about how you should spend your money, an outboard on a bracket would give you a huge cockpit. Some of the brackets have incorporated swim platforms if that's something you're into.

Edit: the only photos I could find are of a non-hardtop model:

The hardtop makes yours especially desirable.

I mentioned curtains and this is what I was talking about:

Here's a newer style Islander with a swim platform bracket:

 

[oceanfrank]

jasoutside: I thought of a dumb question that I should have asked sooner, but... I've been looking through those outboard bracket websites you posted, and I'm not seeing much in the way of price without sending them really, really specific specs about my particular boat and asking for a quote. I assume you had some sense of the cost to add a bracket, could I possibly trouble you for just the roughest ballpark estimate on how much something like this costs? are we talking they send you a kit and you DIY it for 50 bucks? Or hundreds? low thousands? Better-off-buying-a-different-boat level of thousands? thanks!

redneck joe and patfromney: thank you both, I will ask to have it moved. I guess I only posted in here first because I didn't anticipate how helpful everyone was going to be, throwing out restoration advice so early! Also, big thanks to everyone who has contributed so far!! being told that moving to the resto section because i;ve gotten too much advice to abandon this thread is pretty much best-case scenario

chemicalwire: those photos were actually SUPER helpful, nice to see what I'm shooting for and where things should go and look like eventually, etc.




I realized I didn't post a photo of the engine yet, so this is what I'm working with. Going to try and jump it and shift through asap, too!




thanks again everyone! looking forward to tackling this project

 

[jasoutside]

Oh man, that Stringer drive needs to find its way to the scrapper prontouke:

Yah, a bracket will run you $1200 on the low end and $3000 for the best of the best.

 

[laurentide]

One thing to remember when you're pricing out all this super expensive gear is that you're going to have a basically new boat at the end of the project. And yours won't cost $40,000. A used Ocean Runner or OX66 can be found for well under $2K with controls...Add $3K for a bracket and you're in business.

'Course I don't know your budget. Mine was pretty close to $0.00, but it does what I want safely and reliably. Your big question is i/o or outboard.

 

[southkogs]

... I will ask to have it moved.

Ala-kazaaam! And it's moved

Closed cooling on the Stringer. That's interesting. And yeah, she's a rough lookin' motor.

Something to add into the discussion of power ... check the thickness of the transom that's currently in the boat. You should be able to feel it around the hole where the drive goes though. Not very many of them ... but some of the boats that came with Stringers didn't have a completely built transom (the Stringer doesn't mount to the transom like a Merc or an outboard). Most likely you've got a typical transom, but just in case give it a look.

 

[proshadetree]

Looks might be deceiving, hope she runs out well reguardless of drive choices. A good running motor will sell for more than scrap.

 

[oceanfrank]

jasoutside: thanks for the info! And these brackets, do I install them myself, or...
Or are there every DIY solutions? Do people build their own?

Chemicalwire: Good point! really really good point. Always useful to keep things in perspective, for sure.

Southkogs: thanks for moving! Closed cooling... I had a suspicion, I thought that may be a cooling system on top, although I haven't really dug into the engine yet. So, does this mean that I am able to run it out of water? I assume it won't have a water pump/impeller per se since it's cooled via a system.
I should also ask, is this like a car, where I run coolant? Or just normal water? or.....

And thanks for the info on the transom! I will be sure to check it out


Proshadetree: I will let y'all know how it runs!




And then, I have another question. Another dumb thing that I've just never had to deal with with my relatively small boats. Covers! I want to keep this one covered while I work on it, but I've never bought a cover before. What's typical? Tarps? A real boat cover? Does the hard top affect anything, do I need a larger cover? I don't need it to look nice, I was almost thinking I would just toss some plywood across the gunwhales for support and then just tarp it, but if that won't be sufficient, I'll gladly spring for something better.

thanks!

 

[laurentide]

A 16 mil tarp will do you fine. Since you've already got the hardtop as support you shouldn't need anything else. A good tarp should last about 2 years.

 

[Grub54891]

Even with closed cooling, it still has a sea water pick up pump, as an impeller, down in the lower unit. It must be hooked to a water source or you will burn up the impeller. It pumps lake water to a heat exchanger, which cools the coolant in the engine. And yes you run anti freeze just like a car in the closed cooling part of the system.

 

[strokendiesel002]

Hi! I wish I could offer up some advice, but anything I know, or think I know has already been said I wish you well on this project an am excited to follow along! I will however, offer a question below for you to answer for yourself.

I enjoy reading resto threads, and have read a few off shore threads regarding I/O vs O/B and one of the more consistent deciding factors for those guys was weight distribution. Those who intended to run hard as possible through rougher weather typically stuck with I/O, but those who valued more deck space went O/B. Don't know how you intend to use this, but answering that question for yourself may help you decide which path to follow also, my Uncle has an 18' Holiday with an outboard, and even with it's monstrosity of a splashwell, it feels much bigger than many of the 21' I/OS I've been on

Best of luck and can't wait to see her transformation!

 

[laurentide]

^^He's right about weight distribution. If you do end up going with an outboard, you'll definitely want a belly fuel tank pushed all the way to the bulkhead (where the cabin entrance is) and batteries in that area too. It's a big lever with likely 400#'s hanging on it. Flotation in the bracket helps, too.

 

[jasoutside]

jasoutside: thanks for the info! And these brackets, do I install them myself, or...
Or are there every DIY solutions? Do people build their own?

Well, you could certainly pay somebody to install them for you, but, be sure you find a marine mechanic who has this kind of experience and knows what the heck he's doing. The install on these is pretty precise, has to be done right.

Building your own?

I have seen fiberglass boat guys build up brackets using wood and fiberglass. However, I don't recommend that in your case. #1 It's too heavy, too expensive, and will look weird. #2 A very high skill level is needed to build a glass bracket - do it wrong and it'll blow apart with your OB will sinking to the bottom of the lake. An OB is meant to push but has poor swimming ability.

Now, fabbing your own out of alum also takes an ultra high level of skill. There are many good welders out there who will never even touch alum as it's so difficult to work with. Again, do it wrong, it'll blow apart, goodby OB.

If you are looking to save $ there are some companies out there who will build the bracket and let you paint it.

So yah, a bracket would be something you would buy, and after a large amount of in depth study, very carefully, and precisely, install yourself.

 

[CrazyFinn]

Just saw this thread... if I got my hands on that boat for free, it could be my next project. Probably. I like the hardtop...

Like others have mentioned, it would be a full restore - that's the only way I could trust it. In the process, the OMC would be replaced with a Mercruiser. Since the transom would likely need to be replaced during the restoration, it would simply mean cutting a different shaped hole in the new transom. The only way I would try to keep the OMC running is if I wasn't re-doing the transom for some reason, but if I was re-doing the whole boat, that's not likely.

So, if you're the kind of guy who likes a challenge, just start pulling it apart and figure out what you're up against!

 

[jasoutside]

The only way I would try to keep the OMC running is if I wasn't re-doing the transom for some reason, but if I was re-doing the whole boat, that's not likely.

This ^^^^ is very good advice

OMC would be replaced with a Mercruiser. Since the transom would likely need to be replaced during the restoration, it would simply mean cutting a different shaped hole in the new transom.

Oh yah, that's another thing ^^^^^ forgot to talk about that.

Yah, simple in theory, but in practice, the process is far from it. The first step is to shore up with a new transom skin. Then you are completely and totally starting from scratch with a bare/raw hull and transom. You cannot use any of the reference points previously used by the OMC. All the measurements are from scratch and extremely precise. Lord knows I studied Mercruiser installation diagrams/instructions along with anything else I could study for weeks/months before I even thought about attempting the keyhole. Then, after the keyhole cut and (partial) Merc installation you'll need to build out the stringers to match that spec for re installation. It's a process man, seriously.

In the end, I got it, but it was far from simple and the potential for mistakes were easy and plentiful.

If your boat were currently a Mercruiser the swap to another Mercruiser would be about a million times easier. On my Islander it took me what, years?? to go from the Stringer to a Merc and then like one long day to from a Merc to a Merc.

Again, as I said before, if I were to hit the do over button I absolutely would have gone the OB on a bracket route.

 

[Teamster]

I see used brackets listed in the buy/sell/trade threads on some saltwater fishing/boating forums from time to time,...

Depending on shipping or distance to go pick up it might be an option,...

 

[Patfromny]

I have to admit, I was for leaving it an IO but after reading Jason's last few replies I would say the outboard will be easier. Easier to change engines in the future too. Cutting a new keyhole out of a blank transom and getting it right in regards to height and side to side is no easy task I would imagine. Then making it all line up inside... buy a bracket and have the omc hole welded shut. Unless you like the challenge. Either way, we'll all be following along. Sounds like a he'll of a project either way.