Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

[GA_Boater]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

All of us could use a 1 ton lift. I'm dreaming motor pulls and hull flips.

One nice thing about the Jeep - That 4.0 has guts and if you have 4 wheel low, no ramp can stop you. Also 20-22 MPG highway when not towing isn't bad.

 

[classiccat]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Thanks, BF! After watching this local PBS segment on the Hudson striper run, I've got to put your neighborhod on my short list of fishing destinations within trailer distance: Outdoor Journal - Hudson River Stripers, Doe Camp, Podunk ... | TV Schedules | Vermont Public Television

pm me around mid-April and we'll line somethin' up! I'll bring the bait & pay the launch fee...anything for a ride in that chief!!

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

^^Nice!!!

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

As we all know, craigslist is, for the most part, a seedy wasteland of overpriced garbage. However, once in a great while you get to meet a seller who is not only honest, but goes above and beyond to make sure his merchandise is not going to let you down. I just met that guy .

I posted the jeep up above^^^, knowing that he was going to be doing an engine swap (he left it outside without anti-freeze, so it was easier to just get a new junkyard engine than replace the block), but what I didn't expect was a complete re-seal: valve cover, oil pan, and manifold gaskets, plus an extra alternator and PS pump. And he's sending me update text messages with pics!

Anyway, I realize that this is pretty far off-topic from boat rebuilding, but pics or it didn't happen, right?

Have a great evening fellas!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

The inside of the motor looks pretty clean, not sludgy at all. Glad you hooked up with a good seller.

 

[classiccat]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

scrollin' up from the bottom, i thought you were using the jeep as a donor

(then I remembered you have an outboard :facepalm

Good on that seller! proud of that old jeep!

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

The inside of the motor looks pretty clean, not sludgy at all. Glad you hooked up with a good seller.

Me too, GA!

scrollin' up from the bottom, i thought you were using the jeep as a donor

(then I remembered you have an outboard :facepalm

Good on that seller! proud of that old jeep!

AMC tower of power? :lol:

Hopefully I'll have some boat project stuff happening around here for my next updates. Gunwale reinforcement, as I was in a hurry to get her splashed and skipped a bunch of backing plates, order and install a bimini with a zipper package, fold down seat bases with actual, real seats, and then think about a good spot for two more deep cycle batteries for the i pilot. That last one may have to wait on funding.

Cheers!

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

So lots of folks have been asking, "Hey, CW, what's been going on with the Chieftain?" Actually, nobody has asked, but I'm going to tell you anyway!

You can see that I picked up that "rust free" XJ a few months back^^, and encountered kind of a big problem when I went to mount my hitch:

Ripped the rear unibody frame apart with a breaker bar, and found a huge hole under the exhaust hanger:

Both sides were pretty bad. So I got a friend with a stick welder to basically help me build a new frame out of 3/16" box steel. It looks a bit sketchy but it's probably more solid than the factory "frame" on these:

continued....

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

...and, the hitch finally installed:

Good to go:

Then I put on my poor man's thinking cap, and came up with this $60 helm/passenger seating arrangement:

Plywood scrap, $30 dollar seats from amazon, and the original SC seat hardware (I need to clean these up a little):

I used PVC board to build out from the gunwale so I can drop the seat base down over the throttle/shift cables:

Nothing fastened down yet on that...just tacked in place.

continued...

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

And it'll fold down with the folded seat like so:

And just some random stuff here. I finally figured out a trailering solution for my OB, which was made difficult by a too-short trailer frame. One of these works great, and with the ratchet straps holding it straight it's not going anywhere:

Got my probe rigged up, but with the late ice out this year and crappy weather on my days off so far, I haven't been able to try it out:

Oh, and I have to cut out a piece so I can use full throttle in reverse, 'cause ya never know when you'll need that!

I guess that's it for now. I also just ordered a Sunbrella bimini (navy) which should be here in a week or so. I should have my seating rig painted and bolted in by then with a little dry weather. I'll post a couple of pics of the seats in the shade when I get there.

Cheers guys!

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Pictures of everything except what I've been waiting for... a Walleye caught off of that boat!:laugh:

Just kiddin' ya CW, everything's looking good and it looks like you're coming out of the annual ice age up there. I'll be it feels real good to piddle around with the boat again, doesn't it?

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Pictures of everything except what I've been waiting for... a Walleye caught off of that boat!:laugh:

Just kiddin' ya CW, everything's looking good and it looks like you're coming out of the annual ice age up there. I'll be it feels real good to piddle around with the boat again, doesn't it?

Yep, it feels great. If I'm going to catch a Walleye, it's going to be real soon. This is basically the only time that all the fish are up at the surface looking for warm water. Unfortunately, we had a huge Alewife die-off, so the bite is pretty light with thousands of dead/half dead Alewife floating around waiting to be eaten by predators. Or so I hear, 'cause between working 50+ hours a week and non-stop high wind and rain, I haven't gotten a line in the water yet. I'm hoping Saturday afternoon clears up.

I hope you're enjoying some fishing down your way, jig.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

I hope you're enjoying some fishing down your way, jig.

Oh yeah!... been practicing up on the Crappie whoop-azz:
http://forums.iboats.com/freshwater-fishing/spring-crappie-report-pics-647730.html

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Oh yeah!... been practicing up on the Crappie whoop-azz:
http://forums.iboats.com/freshwater-fishing/spring-crappie-report-pics-647730.html

Excellent! That's a freezer full of panfish, or a couple of great meals for a bunch of people. Nice job! Those must be fun to catch in bunches on ultralight tackle.

EDIT: Oh yeah, I did a drain and fill on the trans in the Jeep and threw one of these in, 'cause it can't hurt:

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

EDIT: Oh yeah, I did a drain and fill on the trans in the Jeep and threw one of these in, 'cause it can't hurt:

Excellent!

Now you can tow the Chieftan over to the Bay of Quinte on lake Ontario, they have a phenomenal fall run of huge Walleye there and they troll for them like you would for those salmoon-oids.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

You've been makin' hay while the sun don't shine from the looks of things, CW. lol The seat is pretty ingenious. :smile: jbcurt isn't missing his hitch, is he? :lol:

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Carp, lousy bolt on hitch assemblies, any nut w/ a wrench can steal it at any time

Looking good CW.

GA: That's going in your permanent file

 

[laurentide]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Carp, lousy bolt on hitch assemblies, any nut w/ a wrench can steal it at any time

Looking good CW.

Thanks, JB. I didn't do it.

You've been makin' hay while the sun don't shine from the looks of things, CW. lol The seat is pretty ingenious. :smile: jbcurt isn't missing his hitch, is he? :lol:

I spent more time than I care to admit trying to come up with something that would allow that seat to swing down. Now I'll probably never use that feature .

GA, I think you chimed in over on the trailer and towing post I made about the load leveling shocks. Well, I had some major sag going on with the factory leaf springs once the trailer was hooked up, so I replaced the shocks with these and no more sag:

I wouldn't use them to "fix" shot springs, but for towing they're great. And pretty cheap...under $100 for the pair if I recall correctly. No wrestling with rusty shackles: priceless.

 

[Watermann]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

Welcome back from the ice age CW. The Chief is looking great and like she's close to the finish line :thumb:

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

GA: That's going in your permanent file

JB - I just saw your name on the hitch, so I was wondering - Not accusing. :smile:

I spent more time than I care to admit trying to come up with something that would allow that seat to swing down. Now I'll probably never use that feature .

GA, I think you chimed in over on the trailer and towing post I made about the load leveling shocks. Well, I had some major sag going on with the factory leaf springs once the trailer was hooked up, so I replaced the shocks with these and no more sag:

You'll drop the seat when you want some cockpit room fighting fish. :joyous:

Are those air shocks or some coil-overs? I added single helper leaves on my Cherokee when I was hauling a heavily loaded UHaul trailer from PA down to GA. Stuck them on in an AutoZone parking lot in the rain. :embarassed: The swaying slowed down enough that I could get back home.