Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

[laurentide]

When that time comes send me a PM.
I'm fully plugged in to that southern XJ hoarding network.
Don't be scared of the 0331 head either. The TUPY castings that fix the problem can be had reman for like $300.
If the PO hasn't wasted the lower end with coolant it's a great way to pick up a cheap XJ that's an easy fix.

Will do, thanks!

 

[laurentide]

I finally got my '15 shakedown cruise in yesterday. Everything worked as it should, which is an achievement in cheapskate boating! The Johnny ran like a top, the Honda didn't have a hiccup after sitting all winter, and the autopilot on the TM is the best money I've spent on the boat (and also the most ). I locked the kicker straight with the tensioner bolt, and used the "regular" autopilot (as opposed to advanced, which lays out a series of waypoints to follow on a track, while the normal AP is more like using a compass to keep you on a heading while your track may vary due to wind/current/waves). It's pretty awesome. I still have to figure out what I'm going to do with the transducer cable that I'll probably never use.

Picked up a couple of fat lakers, no salmon showing their aerial stunts yesterday.

Here's the helm view of the deploy/stow...I know y'all have already seen this thing. Not that exciting :lol:. If you don't like corny old country music, you should turn the sounds off on this one...I forgot I had the Marty Robbins google radio station going :watermelon: (BTW, the cheap bluetooth speakers are great for boats!)

 

[Watermann]

Super cool Chem!

Now I want to get out in my Chief but our unsettled weather this week with wind, rain, lightening and the likes isn't a very solid plan..

 

[laurentide]

Super cool Chem!

Now I want to get out in my Chief but our unsettled weather this week with wind, rain, lightening and the likes isn't a very solid plan..

Thanks! I hear you on the weather thing, Watermann. I actually have the whole weekend off, which is rare, and I get a lake wind advisory. Bummer.

On the plus side, plenty of free time to install new shocks on the trailer and interior LED's for those early morning trips!

 

[Watermann]

Yeah... no... 4 foot wind whipped whitecaps are not my idea of fun.

Forgot to ask about which bluetooth speaker you have. I've been thinking about getting one too and keep coming back to this one.

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Sou...p/B00U7W838M/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[laurentide]

Rob, that's the one I have. It won't blow you away with amazing full sound, but it's pretty darn decent for a cheap water-resistant boom box. It's very small...I just velcroed mine to the dash area. It reflects off the windshield and sounds pretty good. I've also got ram mounts for a tablet and phone, so I've got navionics on the tablet and music/weather/whatever else on the phone. Ain't technology awesome?!

 

[laurentide]

Warning: very boring content: so I have this old Honda tiller kicker that runs great. Only problem is that the throttle linkage is really sloppy, so it's either in gear at idle or pushing too fast for trolling (2.5 mph or so for these fish). The solution is a manufactured product inspired by RC models, a servo throttle control. I found an open box deal on eBay and made it work with zip ties...it may need some drilling and through bolts at some point.

So the servo mounts on top of the capacitor discharge unit, and a rod goes from the servo arm to the throttle linkage rod. The servo is controlled by a helm mounted remote.

Tested it out today and it works way better than I expected. The servo is very sensitive to minute adjustments, and dials the speed right in.

Just another thing to spend money on chasing fish!

 

[g0nef1sshn]

I think I know what your talking about, and its a pretty cool thing!

 

[laurentide]

I think I know what your talking about, and its a pretty cool thing!

:thumb:

 

[GA_Boater]

That's pretty slick, Chem. You and Aqua are taking RC boating to new levels. But you're playing with the real thing.

 

[laurentide]

That's pretty slick, Chem. You and Aqua are taking RC boating to new levels. But you're playing with the real thing.

First world problems, GA. "My boat won't go slow enough [whiny voice]"

 

[jbcurt00]

Nice work Chem!

Great idea.

 

[Watermann]

Hey that's really thinking "outside the box"! Too cool :happy:

 

[GA_Boater]

Hey that's really thinking "outside the box"! Too cool :happy:

Both of you are now drone pilots. LOL Whatever works to stock the freezer.

Chem - Does the original throttle still work or did the servo replace it completely?

EDIT - I owe an apology, Chem. For some reason I was thinking WM had the ipilot on the bow. But it's Rough and Ready. :doh:

 

[laurentide]

GA, it's remote throttle full time, but pull start

Thanks for checking it out, guys!

 

[Tnstratofam]

That's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. I can hear a collective " Why didn't I think of that?:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:" coming from the peanut gallery. Very ingenious chem:encouragement:.

 

[classiccat]

Nice Mod there chem!!

Awesome overall setup....you're running out of "places" for the skunk to hide on the boat

 

[laurentide]

That's one of the coolest things I've seen in a while. I can hear a collective " Why didn't I think of that?:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm:" coming from the peanut gallery. Very ingenious chem:encouragement:.

I can't really take credit for this one, it's used a lot for Pacific and Great Lakes salmon fishing. I read about it on a forum and started looking for a used unit. It's really simple: a servo, a rheostat, and a couple of switches. It beats the heck out of the tiller grip throttle.

Nice Mod there chem!!

Awesome overall setup....you're running out of "places" for the skunk to hide on the boat

CC, I'm getting really close to being "finished" with the setup. Once I get the enclosure done I'll have a 3 season Champlain boat with all the tools! But there's always something...one of my riggers stripped its internal gears yesterday, so a new high speed one is on the way, the jeep needs new leaf springs, etc...

The state of VT stocked 150,000 walleye this week, so there's a whole new species to learn about. They've always been here, but not in great numbers. My hat is off to the NY and VT wildlife management folks for continued improvements to an already great fishery.

Good luck with your move, CC!

 

[laurentide]

Hey guys, hope you're having a great weekend. I just wanted to post up an unfortunate but fixable issue that I'm having due to a build material decision that I made to save a couple of bucks. I'm currently installing a new fixed mount kicker bracket due to the reliability concerns of the adjustable models, so I've been under the splashwell sweating my butt off. What I found down there was that one of the sheets of ACX that I used in the transom is delaminating. Right under the port side hull bracket, and above the z-channel. It's not catastrophic and I can run it like this for a bit, but kind of disappointing seeing as it's only 3 years old. Note, this is not where I bonded the two sheets together, it's one of the sheets itself.

So, moral of the story, if I had just gotten one sheet of 3/4" marine ply I wouldn't be replacing the transom within 3 seasons. No big deal, I can get the transom out with the splashwell in place, and I'll have all my holes in the transom skin as templates for drilling. Just a minor PITA. I think I'll go with spar this time so I don't have to order epoxy.

I've got a couple of changes to the Chief in the works soon. I'll be stripping the hull paint to bare aluminum, 'cause I'm too lazy to use fenders and the paint looks pretty cruddy with dock rash. I'm going to give Citristrip a try, covered overnight. I'm just going to let the metal oxidize, no polish (it's the rat rod look!). And I'm finally getting my canvas finished next week, which I'm super psyched about. Oh, and the fixed mount for the kicker that I mentioned...the thing is bomber...rated up to 150 #'s or 35 hp. One less thing to worry about.

Cheers guys. And maybe double check your ACX transoms for those who used it . If you used the wood screw method you're probably good. I didn't :facepalm:

 

[classiccat]

Hey guys, hope you're having a great weekend. I just wanted to post up an unfortunate but fixable issue that I'm having due to a build material decision that I made to save a couple of bucks. I'm currently installing a new fixed mount kicker bracket due to the reliability concerns of the adjustable models, so I've been under the splashwell sweating my butt off. What I found down there was that one of the sheets of ACX that I used in the transom is delaminating. Right under the port side hull bracket, and above the z-channel. It's not catastrophic and I can run it like this for a bit, but kind of disappointing seeing as it's only 3 years old. Note, this is not where I bonded the two sheets together, it's one of the sheets itself.

So, moral of the story, if I had just gotten one sheet of 3/4" marine ply I wouldn't be replacing the transom within 3 seasons. No big deal, I can get the transom out with the splashwell in place, and I'll have all my holes in the transom skin as templates for drilling. Just a minor PITA. I think I'll go with spar this time so I don't have to order epoxy.

I've got a couple of changes to the Chief in the works soon. I'll be stripping the hull paint to bare aluminum, 'cause I'm too lazy to use fenders and the paint looks pretty cruddy with dock rash. I'm going to give Citristrip a try, covered overnight. And I'm finally getting my canvas finished next week, which I'm super psyched about. Oh, and the fixed mount for the kicker that I mentioned...the thing is bomber...rated up to 150 #'s or 35 hp. One less thing to worry about.

Cheers guys. And maybe double check your ACX transoms for those who used it . If you used the wood screw method you're probably good. I didn't :facepalm:

Bummer Chem!

Are you sure that it's not just checking / grain-popping? Technically epoxy should be used with glass cloth (I know...dirty word around these parts! ) ...or is it really the layers separating ?