New to site and new to me 1972 Starcraft Super Sport 18

[Big Flounder]

Hi everyone! First post here and I can't say enough about how glad I am to find this site. It came highly recommended by some folks over on Facebook. Anyway, here's my story...Up until about a month ago I had no interest in boats unless it was camo and I could hunt waterfowl out of it. However, my grandpa passed away a month ago and I inherited his old 18 foot 1972 StarCraft Super Sport. Grandpa had bought a 1976 model just like it brand new while living in southern Wisconsin. Grandma and him took that 1976 model all over the place ...from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. I wish I had a dollar for every mile they traveled in that boat or for each fish caught from it. Anyway, gramps sold the 1976 model when they moved here to northeastern Indiana to be closer to family. That was in the late '90's. One day a few years ago, gramps noticed an 18 foot 1972 Sport sitting in a guy's front yard. It was in really rough shape, had trees growing out of the inside, was uncovered in the weather, etc. Grandpa bought it for $100 and towed it home after putting new tires on the trailer. I can just imagine the look on Grandma's face when he pulled into the driveway with a boat that had small trees growing out of it. Anyway the two of them, both in their early 80's, gutted that boat and fixed it up enough to use it. Gramps put in new flooring and such while grandma fixed all of the upholstery. Together they took it to a few local lakes just to tool around until Grandpa's health took a turn for the worse earlier this year. So now here I sit, owning a boat that I had no intention of ever owning, and looking forward to a fishing trip with my brother next summer to Canada in the boat. The boat still needs some work, like painting the exterior, and I look forward to doing some of the work myself. I'm sure I'll be posting a lot of questions in the near future. I don't have many pics of the boat yet, but here's my favorite. I'll post up some more pics when I can. Rest in peace Gramps, the boat is in good hands.


https://flic.kr/p/2aK4cVdhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

 

[BWR1953]

Great boat and awesome story! :encouragement:

 

[classiccat]

Welcome! +1...terrific back story for your old tinny!

 

[bchaney]

Welcome. Nice boat with a great history.

 

[Watermann]

:welcome: aboard and to the Starmada!

Great back story and here we all love the SS and it's popularity is bar none.

 

[No-AH]

Nice memento to have! Great to see another SS given the opportunity to bring memories to last a life time.
Welcome aboard and enjoy!

 

[crankbait cowboy]

great story, and a sweet ride. i have been restoring the exact same boat over the years, and you have hit the right place for ideas and advice. plenty of knowledge in the forumn to ponder. good luck to ya. not sure how to post link to my project but it is 1973 ss restore in progress

 

[Big Flounder]

Thanks everyone for the welcome! I'm pretty excited about the boat. I seem to be eating, sleeping and breathing all things StarCraft boat related lately. These forums are an AWESOME resource! Crankbait Cowboy, I found your rebuild thread. That's a great looking boat my friend!

So my SS is actually still in my grandfather's barn until next spring. I probably won't get to work on it until then, but I was over at Grandma's today and took a few pictures of the boat. I also asked Grandma some questions about it as well. Grandpa was one of those old guys who could fix anything from a vacuum cleaner to a combine and everything in between. When he bought this '72 SS he went through the 60hp Johnson real good and determined it didn't need rebuilt. Also, the boat's transom was still good, so he didn't need to repair or replace that. The floor and some of the upholstery is all that needed fixing, so they fixed/replaced that stuff. He had the boat for about 6 years and never had any problems with it or the motor at all Grandma said. Anyway, here are some pics I took today of the boat, trailer, 60hp Johnson and the 2hp Evinrude that they used for trolling. Grandma had bought the Evinrude brand new for Grandpa as a birthday present back in the day. It runs like a top, as Gramps always took really good care of his stuff. Also are some pics Grandma e-mailed me of her, my grandpa and my aunt the day they put the boat on the water for the first time after getting it fixed up a bit.

If anyone has any info (model, year, etc) on either of the motors, I'd GREATLY appreciate some info. I'd like to pick up a manual on the motor if I can find one. Heck, an owner's manual for the boat would be cool too but I see they are fairly hard to come by.

Oh, and as you can see my first purchase for the boat is going to be a replacement cover. Gramps just used those cheap tarps you see in the one picture but I want a better cover for it. I also plan on painting the boat and eventually the trailer. Other work will depend on what I find once I get it and go through it good.


https://flic.kr/p/2duzrK5https://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

https://flic.kr/p/2cbnzfPhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

https://flic.kr/p/2duzrP3https://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

https://flic.kr/p/2cbnzhThttps://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

https://flic.kr/p/2cbnzkthttps://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

https://flic.kr/p/2aNvmbwhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

https://flic.kr/p/2aNvmfQhttps://www.flickr.com/photos/157931854@N07/

 

[Watermann]

I love my boats and can only imagine having an heirloom Starcraft boat. :thumb:

On the motors, there should be serial plates on them which you'll need for parts, otherwise it would be a bracketed guess based on cowl decals.

 

[Monmouth00]

They look like a really great couple who are really proud of their boat. Awesome pictures. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Big Flounder]

Thanks again everyone. I'll get those serial numbers this week and see what I can find out about the motors. Is it spring yet? Lol

 

[Watermann]

Thanks again everyone. I'll get those serial numbers this week and see what I can find out about the motors. Is it spring yet? Lol

Yeah I'm ready for some warmth and boat work.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Great back story and great boat! Looking forward to see future posts

 

[GA_Boater]

Flounder has not returned.

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