Rough and ready '74 Starcraft Chieftan 18' rebuild

[BonairII]

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

If the kicker motor isn't peeing...make sure to check for obstructions in the pee hole(and hose). Def a good idea to inspect the impeller, even if pee stream is good.

Unless the impeller is in pristine condition, just replace it for peace of mind.

 

[MichaelP]

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

Just catching up on your thread. Finally gug out of the snow around here.
If I had a 70 I'd run it for sure. Likely hit the high 20s and that's still moving along nicely for me. I wouldn't expect to pull up a skier tho. Add the tabs later if you think you need them. Keep an eye on over all balance of the loaded boat with regard to battery and fuel placement. With 2 batts in front and belly tank mine is always 'on plane' position.
Nice bottom feeder score on the tomato.
The 2 gallon epoxy kit was enough for my resto but I didn't use more than 2 coats on anything.

Cheers

 

[laurentide]

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

If the kicker motor isn't peeing...make sure to check for obstructions in the pee hole(and hose). Def a good idea to inspect the impeller, even if pee stream is good.

Unless the impeller is in pristine condition, just replace it for peace of mind.

Thanks, I'm still waiting for the new impeller to arrive (both of them, actually). I guess it's not a stock item for many online retailers. I'll blow everything out with my compressor when I get it apart.

 

[laurentide]

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

Just catching up on your thread. Finally gug out of the snow around here.
If I had a 70 I'd run it for sure. Likely hit the high 20s and that's still moving along nicely for me. I wouldn't expect to pull up a skier tho. Add the tabs later if you think you need them. Keep an eye on over all balance of the loaded boat with regard to battery and fuel placement. With 2 batts in front and belly tank mine is always 'on plane' position.
Nice bottom feeder score on the tomato.
The 2 gallon epoxy kit was enough for my resto but I didn't use more than 2 coats on anything.

Cheers

Cool, the only difference will be my fuel tank placement...I'm just going to put it back under my hugh jass splashwell. Both batteries will be mounted under the helm seat in a hinged box, so their weight should offset the port side fuel tank.

Thanks for the reply...I'll just see how she does without the tabs for now.

I'm finally getting started on some stuff just now. We should have decent, mild weather here this week. I'll post up when I've made worthwhile progress.

 

[ezmobee]

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

I'll do fine with the 70. My buddy's 21' Chieftain was seemingly woefully underpowered with just a 90 and yet it planed out quickly and nicely. Top speed was around 25MPH.

 

[laurentide]

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

I'll do fine with the 70. My buddy's 21' Chieftain was seemingly woefully underpowered with just a 90 and yet it planed out quickly and nicely. Top speed was around 25MPH.

Thanks, EZ. That's good to hear. I'd be happy with 25ish...I'm obviously not going offshore and the only thing I'll be pulling is lake trout and the occasional salmon...hopefully.

 

[laurentide]

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

Not much doing here in VT other than me wasting time and money. That outboard "score" turned out to be a total bust. It was a saltwater engine and I found tons of irreparable corrosion once I started messing with it.

This is the base of the powerhead. Yucky.

Anyway, I'm just going to junk it and move on. I didn't put any money into it, fortunately, other than an impeller, plugs and gear oil. BTW, Paul over at the Tohatsu section is super helpful, despite my bad luck. I'm just going to go without the kicker until I find a deal on a FW only 2 stroke. I do have a "happy troller" that came with the glass boat that I've never used.

On the plus side, I did find some nice BCX (not that plytanium junk) at my local Lowes, and it's getting warmer and lighter out. I hope to be dry fitting some decking in the next week or two. Very slow progress. Most of you guys embarrass me with your work.

Cheers.

 

[Triangleboater]

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

Can't clean up the powerhead, new gaskets and such and call it a day and stick'er on there? Anyway, would love to get an old tinny cuddy. love the look! good luck

 

[laurentide]

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

Can't clean up the powerhead, new gaskets and such and call it a day and stick'er on there? Anyway, would love to get an old tinny cuddy. love the look! good luck

Just to get it to cycle water would mean buying a new drive shaft housing ($150 + gaskets + shipping), and this thing just ain't worth that. For a little more I can just buy a good used kicker with no salt water use. Until then, I'll troll with my big motor and get Boat US towing insurance. It may also be a good excuse to get the Nauticus trolling tabs

Thanks for checking it out!

 

[laurentide]

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

Cheap kicker acquisition quest, take two. Another CL find, though I had to spend real money on this one ($175). I was able to start it at the seller's place, and it's a runner. It also looks to be freshwater only. It's a 1969 model. I seem to be purchasing subsequently more ancient stuff. Started with an '82 Johnson, then a '74 Starcraft, now a '69 Evinrude. The only newer thing I got was that Tohatsu, and it was garbage.

Anyway, it's a cool old OB:

My digital camera is also ancient, so I couldn't get the sound codec to upload for this vid. You can make outboard "vroom vroom" sounds if you like. It sounds like every other old two cylinder two stroke. (I hope this embedded link works)

Most importantly, it runs, and I can hang it off the transom without a bracket...it's just long enough. It does need a fuel pump kit and carb rebuild, but all the parts are still available, probably because they built tens of thousands of these. It's kind of funny, but there's no neutral or reverse on these. You start it in gear...there's no "out of gear." Cheers guys.

Oh, and yeah, I'm going to rebuild that boat at some point too. Epoxy weather is right around the corner!

 

[laurentide]

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

OK guys, enough is enough of my procrastination. It's a beautiful early spring day, one of many soon to come, and I'm finally getting started on this project.

Just moving the boat into the "project location," and now I've got myself a miniature boatyard.

Of course the first thing I encountered when offloading the boat from the trailer was a kind of major problem. This is an old tilt trailer, and the pivot point, where the hinge bolt is supposed to go through the tongue, is totally $#@&ed. The bolt, at some point, ripped right through the steel frame:

This is part of the tongue frame that is now broken and bent over the pin bolt:

This is how it sits:

So, I wire brushed the tongue on my old bunk trailer, and uncovered the capacity engravings. 3500#s. I can get another foot by sliding the winch tower forward, but I'd still need to extend the bunks back about 2 feet. I think it should still be balanced, and, honestly, the Chief isn't much heavier than my waterlogged glasser was, if at all.

It's a single axle leaf spring trailer:

Any opinions on this? Thanks in advance.

Just editing to add that I won't be going far with this rig...it's just over 1 mile to the ramp, and all our city streets are posted at 25 mph.

 

[ezmobee]

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

I think it'll handle it fine. An outboard 18' aluminum Starcraft is nowhere near 3500 lbs.

 

[laurentide]

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

Thanks, EZ. Do you think the tandem is worth anything at all? Scrap steel? Somebody with welding skills?

 

[ezmobee]

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

People make landscaping trailer out of anything so someone will definitely take it. However, not sure how much money you'll get for it. Prolly less than $100.

 

[laurentide]

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

Yep, thanks man. It's a sturdy beast. Now off to make some new friends on craigslist :facepalm:

 

[kjdunne]

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

Why not cut the tongue section back beyond the damage and drill new holes for the pivot bolt? You end up with a slightly shorter trailer. Is the trailer in need of major repairs and not worth any work at all? You say you only need it for very short trips to and from the launch ramp.

I'll be following your project, I would love to find a Chieftan or Islander for my next project.

Kal

 

[laurentide]

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

Why not cut the tongue section back beyond the damage and drill new holes for the pivot bolt? You end up with a slightly shorter trailer. Is the trailer in need of major repairs and not worth any work at all? You say you only need it for very short trips to and from the launch ramp.

I'll be following your project, I would love to find a Chieftan or Islander for my next project.

Kal

I'd have to move the tilt lock assembly as well, which is welded to the tongue. I'm not a welder, unfortunately. This thing also needs axles, hubs, 2 sets of shocks, 3 new tires, rollers, all new electrical, and paint. This is the first I've really seen it without the boat...it's kind of a mess. My bunk trailer just needs paint and rollers (only 3 compared to about 50 on the tilt). Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'll let this be someone else's project. I'm going to focus my energy on getting this boat ready to float. Cheers.

 

[jasoutside]

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

18' alum boat on a single axle trailer? Bah, no sweat!

 

[laurentide]

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

18' alum boat on a single axle trailer? Bah, no sweat!

Cool. Thanks, and welcome back!

 

[dozerII]

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

Glad to see you got under way Andy. I agree with you on the trailer, they are just a pain in the @#$ we have to deal with.