Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

[Watermann]

Yeah the smooth quiet power of 4 cycle motors are over rated anyway. The past few weeks out on the Chief has me missing the vibration, racket and the smell of sweet 2 stroke oil wafting through the air.I need to get my fix of all that in my SN. :lol:

 

[laurentide]

You don't have to rub it in! :lol: Part of my desire for a four stroke main is the fact that lots of guys troll with them here, and it really simplifies everything having one engine do it all. My 2 stroke is too fast, loud, smoky, and thirsty to do that with, so a 4 stroke kicker should be a good medium. And I'll still have the low end torque and get-up that the triple provides to get to the spots.

BTW, your power setup is ridiculous (in a good way). Have you hit 50 yet with the new prop?

 

[classiccat]

Glad to hear that the 3cyl johnny lives to fight another day!! :rockon:

 

[laurentide]

Glad to hear that the 3cyl johnny lives to fight another day!! :rockon:

BF, I used your exhaust manifold thread extensively when diagnosing/fixing my issue. Thanks!

 

[Watermann]

BTW, your power setup is ridiculous (in a good way). Have you hit 50 yet with the new prop?

Thanks Chem! Since you asked... I seem to have hit a wall that is probably a deep V hull design issue and the double windshields. The old Chief just wasn't built to be a speed boat. The increase in pitch worked for my cruising speed perfectly (35 at 3200) but not for top end which is odd that it stayed the same. So I figure what the heck it is what it is as they say and I got what I wanted, a reliable powerful cruiser!

Your set up is for fishing and an OB is way more desirable for that... well at least I think so.

 

[classiccat]

BF, I used your exhaust manifold thread extensively when diagnosing/fixing my issue. Thanks!

Yeah, if you learned anything from that thread...it's to stir the snot out of the gorilla-snot! Glad that you found it useful!!

 

[laurentide]

Back in business, guys. Got it all back together yesterday...took way longer than I thought it would, as those lower cowlings are a pain to align properly. Did a seafoam treatment (speaking of gorilla snot...that's what came out of my hub after the decarb), now it runs great.

Short water test today, dropped some lines in and got some shakers and something huge that snapped a 12# leader, then one of my riggers self-destructed. It's always something. Guess it's time to start making the transition to electrics. Scotty? They look pretty nice, and with all that money I'm "saving" by not doing a repower it seems like a good investment . Anyway, I'm just rambling at this point. Have a great weekend fellas.

 

[laurentide]

These should shut me up for a while. Sweet, sweet electricity. Local score from a fellow Starcraft owner. We talked boats for a minute and he has seven(!) batteries on his superfisherman for four electric riggers and a Minn Kota ipilot. Wow. We sure can spend money to catch a couple of fish.

 

[GA_Boater]

Chem - Never figure out the cost per pound of self caught fish. And never tell the Admiral!

 

[laurentide]

Chem - Never figure out the cost per pound of self caught fish. And never tell the Admiral!

Ha! Good advice as always, GA.

 

[Weep'n Willy]

Nice score on the riggers. No doubt fishing can be expensive but those fresh fish are hard to beat.

 

[laurentide]

Nice score on the riggers. No doubt fishing can be expensive but those fresh fish are hard to beat.

Oh yeah, plus it's the best excuse to get out on the water.

I've got a situation I'm mulling over and I'm looking for input if anyone has any. I'm going to be moving the new riggers forward, to just aft of where the rails end, so I can stand behind them when I clip in. I'm going to move the functioning manual rigger to the top of the splash well with a backer to serve as a dedicated probe rigger with no bait running off the starboard transom (no kicker on that side). So I'm left with a bunch of ugly holes, both mine and a PO's old rigger mounts.

As I can't afford to buy a track system just yet to cover the gunwales, I'm thinking about ditching the old step plate and covering and trimming out some nautolex to cover the holes and provide traction where people will get in/out. Has anyone done this with any success? I like that it's a) cheap 'cause I have vinyl scrap, and b) easier than epoxy and paint. Does this make sense?

 

[iamsaws]

Hey CW,
not to hi jack thread, but when you temporarily lost your mind about a repower, did you ever find anywhere (NEw England local or online) that sold used Hondas over 50 HP?
I had found this, but not sure of the legitimacy. http://blueoceansmarine.com/

 

[Watermann]

Chem will step treads cover the unsightly holes in the gunnels? The thing with the vinyl flooring is that is the ends aren't covered it will shrink, move and peel up sooner or later. Another option is what I did on my trailer steps with the spray on bed liner. Get some JB weld stick that you make into a ball, fill the holes mushrooming the ball on the underside and then sand the top smooth. Tape off and SE primer the area you want to shoot with the anti skid spray.

It covers and doesn't look bad on the trailer steps.

 

[laurentide]

I think there's a dealer at Bomoseen and another by the Crown Point bridge. Good luck.

 

[laurentide]

That looks great, watermann. Yeah, good point on the vinyl not being supported on the ends. Step treads will definitely work until I can score some track system pieces. Thanks. Missed your reply earlier.

 

[pckeen]

Great thread - and loved the rebuild, and in case you are thinking of a repower still, I repowered an 18' Holiday which had a late 60s115 Johnson on it with a one year old 90 Hp Yamaha. We simply looked and lurked on craigslist and ebay for about 7 months until the right motor came along (PO had sunk his boat, but not the motor, and insurance was only replacing his boat, so we got a motor with 28 hours on it for about 60% of the price of a new one). As for trolling, it works, but it trolls a little fast for my taste. If fishing is your be-all and end-all, you may still want a kicker on top of the 75hp. When we were looking, we saw a lot of 60-75 hp 4 strokes coming up mid-winter. We found ebay a good source of information, and there were a fair number of outboards being listed here on iboats. Gas consumption was less than half what it was on our Johnson.

 

[laurentide]

Hey pc, thanks! Regarding the power situation, I've done a lot of thinking about it, and I think I've come to a place that makes sense. I've got the old 2 stroke 70 running great now, so I'm going to continue to run that as the main power. Depending on the day and where I'm going, it can be used from 2% to 10% of the total time under power...the rest is all kicker trolling. This is pretty much exclusively a fishing rig. So the next goal is to grab an 8 or 9.8 or 9.9 hp 4 stroke kicker. They're all pretty good these days. Then I'll just stick the portable tank under the passenger seat. Basically, this arrangement, no matter how much less fuel a 4 stroke main would use, will still save me many thousands and I'll get the quiet, fuel sipping operation of the kicker. I'll save my pennies for a big 4 for the next (bigger) boat. When that day comes, your advice will come in handy in terms of having patience on the ol' CL. Thanks for the insight from someone in the same situation.

I recently spent more time than I care to admit rigging and wiring the new and old gear. For fishing, my setup will work great. However, there's one slight problem: getting into the boat from the trailer.

Here's the new spread. I couldn't get the booms out here due to tight quarters in the side yard:

Starboard side...no getting in here:

Port side is better, I can get in while hitting a high note forward of the rigger:

So, I'm going to get tracks. 36" ones with pedestal mounts, which will cover from the rails all the way to the stern cleats. That way I can slide all this junk back when under way/trailering. I just wish they weren't so pricey. Durable goods, though, right?

EDIT: I'd do a mounting board across the splashwell if I had power tilt, but I don't and need access to lift the engine.

 

[GA_Boater]

Port side is better, I can get in while hitting a high note forward of the rigger:

Oh my! :lol:

 

[GWPSR]

Maybe you can vault in over the splash well?