Restoring 1967 Starcraft 15' Fiberglass w/ 1974 Chrysler 75hp motor

[dedlobster]

So we took over ownership of my brother's old 1967 Starcraft this weekend.

What is right/wrong with it:

It floats (mostly - slow leak somewhere)

The motor ran just fine (buuuut... that was 3 years ago)

Steering wheel and instruments and lights are all there (steering wheel's a bit banged up but it works)

Newish seating (although it's home-made)

Flooring was replaced 4 years ago (but didn't use pressure treated wood)

Transom was rebuilt, but in a plywood and bondo kind of way and then the whole back end got painted black or coated in something black... not sure what. It's flaking off whatever it is.

Gel coat looks like it could be restored-ish, but has a lot of cracks in it.

Windshield is in great shape.

Total investment so far - $200 for new trailer tires/wheels and a hitch to pull the boat trailer.

I've got a bunch of questions to ask about restoration. Would it be better to ask about things like "How do I get the weird black stuff off the back of the boat", and "does this gel coat look terrible or do you think it can be restored?" here in the starcraft forum or in some other part of the iboat forum? I'm new to boat ownership and new to this forum. I'm sure other people have asked the same questions I'll probably be asking so I'll look around before I post redundant questions.

In the meantime, what do you guys think of my new project? We call it the S.S. Terrible Idea. At best, it should be a good little boat for us. At worst, it's great patio furniture

 

[jbcurt00]

Look thru some of the topics in the Resto forum, I think you'll get a lot more traffic thru your Topic and loads more advice if this rebuild is over in that forum instead of here.
Boat Restoration, Building, and Hull Repair

This is the Starcraft owners forum, and it's a Starcraft, so you can leave it here too. Most of the fellas hanging around in this dry dock are working on tin boats. Few will have any helpful advice for rebuilding a fiberglass boat.

Where ever YOU want it is fine, but again, for the amount of glass work pending on your new to you boat, you may find the resto forum a better fit.

All you have to do is post a reply here in this topic, and I or another mod will move it for you, no need to start a new topic.

Ok, on to the boat:

Is that black stuff ON top of the red gelcoat, or beneath it?
I'm guessing on top of it:

Looks like you've got wood-free stringers (these round tubes) so no rotten wood below decks:

Some of the texture, patterning and body line moldings will make repairing the gelcoat a challenge:

But it can be done, although I've not seen anyone iboats do much large scale repairs on textured gelcoat.

You DO NOT want to use pressure treated plywood (PT) unless it's kiln dried, which is hard to find and expensive. We are a ways from needing to worry about all that.

1st up, I'd try to see what it's going to take to make that Chrysler OB a runner. Parts and info can be tough to come by for those motors.

Welcome to iboats dry dock, fiberglass division.

 

[dedlobster]

Thank you SOOOO much. Yes, if you think moving the post to the Boat Restoration section would get me more responses/advice, that'd be swell. i really appreciate you taking the time to comment on all the aspects of the boat. Good to know about the pressure treated wood. A guy in Independence, MO got the motor running a few years ago for my brother and it cost him about $100 so whatever it needed wasn't much. We looked inside the case and other than a couple of wasp nests it looked really clean, but that doesn't mean there's not stuff gunking up the lines or bad seals or something else to worry about. My father-in-law has a big workshop and he works on cars and small engines a lot so we might take it out there if we can't get her started.

The black stuff is over the top of the red gel coat. The texturing on the gel coat seemed fairly easy to scrub and clean the dirt out of the grooves, but yeah - I don't know what'll happen when we try to take polish and a buffer to it... can't be any worse than it already is I guess, lol.

 

[hadaveha]

from what little I can see those stringers look like them may be foam filled, if so you job will be a lot les trouble. is it just my eyes are the stringers not rounded and a bit wide to be wood

 

[jbcurt00]

The stringers in vintage fiberglass Starcrafts are made w/ half round tubes of cardboard, and are empty, not foam filled. So they might get wet, and might deteriorate, but don't rot and hold water like wooden stringers can, and because they aren't substantial, the wet cardboard isn't significantly heavier, IMO.

They are often open on the ends, like seen in the bow shot I copied and pasted.

 

[sphelps]

:welcome: Welcome aboard dedlobster ! Is there a flat deck or is that just carpet glued over the hollow looking tubes ? What are your plans ? full restoration , just a clean up , modifications ? We don't see many fiberglass Starcrafts around here so this is kinda cool ! Gunna try and bring it back to life but not break the bank I would assume . Lot of good folks with good advice here let us know how we can help !

 

[hadaveha]

Well I got to say jbcurt I learn everyday so with the cardboard bad does the stringer still need to be replaced or does the strength come from the glass

 

[jbcurt00]

IMO, w/ out significant weight from water, and isolation of the cardboard form for the stringers from the transom and deck, if they are intact, well attached to the hull and doing what they are supposed to be doing, no, IMO, you don't HAVE to replace them.

But, in truth, many of the SC boats w/ the tube stringers posted on iboats have separated from the hull, and at least 1 was a complete wreck below deck. Water below deck and freeze/thaw cycles is still tough on the whole system, wood free stringers or not............

 

[dedlobster]

No Title

sphelps - It's a flat deck - the carpet just runs up the front a bit. Not sure there was a particular reason for it. My brother and his buddy did repairs to it in the "I'm in college and this is what I've got time for - lets just get it out on the water" sort of fashion My plans are to clean it up, find the slow leak and repair it, make sure the motor runs and all the electrical works ok, then move on to a more thorough restoration. We are also replacing the bathroom and kitchen in our house at the moment so I might just get her functional this year and then work on restoring and modifying next year. But who knows. Depends on how quickly everything gets done around here. First things first, I need a boat cover so it doesn't get weathered.... that is, after I dry the thing out. there's mold on the seat boxes inside so I'm trying to get all that aired out

Ideally, I'd like to get the boat trailer repainted (it's got a good coat of rust on it, but it's solid) and all the bits properly oiled and conditioned - and paint it red to match the top of the boat. Just put two brand new tires & wheels on it to get it from my folks house where my brother was storing it to my place.

I'd like to restore the gel coat as best I can. I don't really want to have to re-do the gel coat. I assume that would be prohibitively expensive? Plus I'd hate to ruin it on accident.

Eventually I'd like to get a bimini, replace most of the interior stuff that isn't original - upholstery and seats - and install a dog-friendly ladder system so I can take a dog or two with us. I'd love to be able to scuba dive off the boat (I'm certified), but I don't know if that's a reasonable idea or not. I should probably get an anchor? It doesn't have one.

So... there ya have it. Right now, we'll see about getting the motor running and my next biggest concern is making sure we get all the electrical working properly - all the lights are there but do they work? Dunno... And I'd like to restore that gel coat as best I can.

I've attached a few more photos. One of the front light - blue on one side, white on the other. Apparently the colors aren't right though because my brother got pulled over by the boat cops and they said the lights weren't correct.

The second photo is of the back end weird black patching/paint stuff that my brother's friend applied OVER the existing gel coat when he repaired the transom.

The third photo is of the gel coat with the left half grubby and the right half after just one quick scrub with soap and water. Probably needs a couple good scrubs.

 

[dedlobster]

The deck was replaced 4 years ago, but I don't know what shape everything is in down below right now. It was left exposed to the elements for at least two years with no cover. I'd have to take the deck up to see, I suppose? Everything feels solid to walk on but I don't suppose that means anything?

 

[hadaveha]

Take the carbs off of that Chrysler soak them and then clean them very good, clean and check your fuel pump out good, new fuel lines, new plugs, impeller and lower unit oil if it was running she should be fine

 

[dedlobster]

Thanks hadaveha! I also hear that there needs to be water running through the engine when we start her up to keep it cool. I have some kind of device that looks like a cross between rubber earmuffs and tongs with a garden hose type attachment on it. I assume I need to use that when I am starting it up on dry land. (It should be really clear now that I've never owned a boat, lol :noidea I am just going to assume that my brother didn't drain the fuel lines or do anything to "winterize" it before leaving it in my dad's driveway, so I suspect there will be much cleaning and replacing of things. There were new plugs in boxes IN the boat, but the boxes got wet and disintigrated and the plugs are all rusty now. But at least I know what plugs I need to buy, I guess.

 

[hadaveha]

With it sitting for awhile I would change the impeller first and then plan on trying to get her running on the hose pipe

 

[dedlobster]

I just googled what an impeller is. Learning is fun I guess I've got a to-do list now for the coming weekend. I'll open the motor cover tomorrow and take some photos and post them before I go messing around in there. Maybe I'll take those wasp nests out of there, too, while I'm at it. :eagerness:

 

[sphelps]

You should start a thread over in the Chrysler/force forum on the motor . Lots of good help over there ...
If you just want to clean the gell up a bit you could wet sand ,compound , then buff it out some ...