Shoestring Starcraft SS160 Resto-mod - let the long slow road begin

[ShoestringMariner]

I forgot who, but someone built a removable base that sits at the cushion level in the bow. That way you are up higher while fishing, and the post is average height. Although I have bow seating, I have a spot for a swivel chair up front as well on my “casting deck”. Either way I think you would be fine, but a backing plate should be used. I put a 1/8” plate behind my seat mount, sandwiching the casting deck floor. Extremely solid.

Like this one? I can’t remember where I saved this photo from. I have a full folder of all kinds of great ideas. If this was somebody on Iboats. Kudos. I hope you don’t mind me copying it!

Actually, I’m thinking about doing this very thing or going one step further by building a portable livewell/seat base that fills the whole void below this board. Like a plug or cassette.

Instead of a board, it’s the whole live well system. Maybe even put a step on the front of it.

Family boat or pro fishing boat as needed.
I was thinking about this concept a while ago and forgot all about it

 

[Michigan Lakes]

I think I asked my question poorly. I was referring to the swivel seat up in the bow section.
Hey, where did you find the white glove box door? It is not original, is it?

After rereading your post, it seems rather obvious that you were referring to the swivel seat in the bow area. My apologies on the off topic response.

As for the glove box, it was an ebay item....
Five Oceans Glovebox

 

[Moserkr]

Yea something just like that! I want to say it was maybe @SHSU that had the removable casting deck piece. Its nice having the full casting deck level with your seat. I got a flush base so when the seats gone, theres nothing to trip on. But i cant remove my center section. Still have bow seating up front as well for when the chairs out. Depends on the outing, but fishing chair comes. Family, stays behind. Both? Can always leave it in the truck once the Admiral shows up - she doesnt do dawn patrols lol.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

After rereading your post, it seems rather obvious that you were referring to the swivel seat in the bow area. My apologies on the off topic response.

As for the glove box, it was an ebay item....
Five Oceans Glovebox

No apology needed, thanks for the link

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Still have bow seating up front as well for when the chairs out. Depends on the outing, but fishing chair comes. Family, stays behind. Both? Can always leave it in the truck once the Admiral shows up - she doesnt do dawn patrols lol.

That’s exactly what I want. Flexibility at any time

 

[ShoestringMariner]

I decided to shorten the rod locker to 5 feet only. I want more flotation foam under the floor. The 7 foot I originally planned doesn’t leave much foam under the floor upfront. I’m just going to double up the rods when I put them away. No tubes. Just an open box. I’ll figure out and bend up some sort of liner pan‘s week.

Today’s slow progress was extending the stringers to the front. I added a few channels in between the main stringers for rigidity. It’s a little bit cobbled but it’ll work fine. Doesn’t have to be pretty. I might add one more cross channel towards the front just in case I put the batteries together over the keel in front of a shortened foot well. I’m currently back to my original thought of one battery in front of each console. Keeps a them little further back. And the batteries are lead acid. I’m not fond of putting that kind of weight that far forward. And they might get slightly less pounding further back. Eventually they’ll be AGM batteries. Just not in my budget for this round. Open do your thoughts.

Now on to figuring out my bilge pump mounts and insulating the rest of this thing so I can get on to finalizing the floors.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Before I finalize my foam and floor, I’m trying to figure out where I’m going to mount my battery charger and batteries so I know how I’m going to route the cabling….

Thinking about placing the charger up under the drivers helm on the divider/back board. This way I can see the charge indicator/fault lights, either from the dock or from beside the boat when it’s in my garage.

I have enough length on the charge leads to place the batteries front and centre over the keel or in front of both consoles.

What I don’t like about the latter, as I have to run one of these charge leads under the floor whereas if they were upfront I can run the wires up high underneath the bow seat.
For console located batteries, I would run the wires under the floor through a piece of PVC tube or something, however these wires could be submerged at times if the bilge pump fails to evacuate all the water while I’m away.

Another thing I don’t like and probably even more critical is that I have to drill a 1 1/2” hole through the underfloor stringer, or I have to run the wire right down along the bottom of the hull beside a rib to get under the stringer if I don’t want to drill through stringers.
Assembling floors and then fishing charge leads through could be quite challenging.
I know they are water sealed wires but I don’t really like the idea of it.

I guess another option I could do is run a charge lead all the way around the bow underneath the gunnel to get to the other side. This would require a bus bar to connect factory leads to extended leads. But then my concern is whether this charger will be affected by the longer leads. I don’t know that much about These Noco Gen 2 marine Chargers to know if they are very sensitive or not.

What do you guys think?

Also seeking recommendations on through hull shore power fittings. I’d like to just plug an extension cord into the side of the hull.

Thanks

 

[Moserkr]

I dont see why you cant add more wire onto the charger so long as its the same gauge. It cant be putting out so much energy to affect it. For battery placement, I like the areas around the consoles. Its where mine were prior to resto and adds balance nicely. When I put the fuel tank up front, batteries went to the back. I would never run electrical under the floor or low. Always run cables high and make them accessible. Water and electronics dont mix, dont care how waterproof anything says it is. Batteries too far forward will bounce a lot with hitting wakes. Midship or stern is best imo.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

I dont see why you cant add more wire onto the charger so long as its the same gauge. It cant be putting out so much energy to affect it. For battery placement, I like the areas around the consoles. Its where mine were prior to resto and adds balance nicely. When I put the fuel tank up front, batteries went to the back. I would never run electrical under the floor or low. Always run cables high and make them accessible. Water and electronics dont mix, dont care how waterproof anything says it is. Batteries too far forward will bounce a lot with hitting wakes. Midship or stern is best imo.

Thanks. I think that’s what I’m going to do

 

[SHSU]

I added wire to mine to get to my batteries. I didn't cut the charging wire though as it would void warranty. Just twisted the extra wire around it, liquid electrical tape, followed by electrical tape. Haven't had an issue thus far.

SHSU

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Slow progress again this weekend, but we’re getting there! Not much to look at but I feel that I’ve hit another milestone.

I decided to use the rough-in pvc line for the future (and likely never to to happen livewell) to evacuate the front bilge. I’ll bet the front bilge will never cycle but I’d rather have it up there.

All the tedious underfloor floatation foam is done, so now it’s time to figure out my underfloor seat base blocking and the rod locker tub and lighting. Very happy to be at the floor panel development stage.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Will the wood deck still sit on the rib ends? The foam looks high.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Will the wood deck still sit on the rib ends? The foam looks high.

Yes, I marked the line using a level across the stringers

 

[Paulwise]

I made an error on my styrofoam calculation. I think I may only be able to get 8 cu ft or so of foam in the boat if I go with an in-floor rod locker.

I think my boat may be running at about 1400-1500lbs equipped weight (with all batteries, both trollers, tools, anchor etc)

I can’t recall where I got the displacement values of the boat should it be submerged, but I think I recall that I need in and around 10-12 cu ft of styrofoam, which means no rod locker.

Does this sound right?

Im wrestling with this question. Ive decided to not put one in the floor but ive considered a couple other ideas. One is to create one out of one of the gunwale recesses and the other is to put one under the bow/casting deck similar to new lund boats. This would force me to build that deck out to the back of the consoles like in this pic.. Let me know if you have any other ideas. Ive not landed on a decision.

 

[Paulwise]

Just checked on how the g/flex cured. It’s been sitting in about 15deg C and looks like it’s all cured. I was a little liberal with the syringe dispensing, but I wonder if the epoxy actually expanded as it cured. The build looks a lot higher.

It files down easy enough, but aside from heavy runs and drips, I’m wondering if I need to smooth down the sags around the rivets or if the drag/friction will be minimal? This isn’t a performance hull so I’m wondering if it will make any impact to performance/economy. There’s the “Shoestring” surfacing. Well not entirely…my grown kids want to go tubing. I’ll only have a 50hp triple Evinrude on it for a season until I can re build my 70hp. I have to do a final 80 grit sand before priming, so some of it will be feathered but not enough to breech the coating build.

Im wondering how to seal my hull. The only places i had leaking during leak test were transom seams and main stern seem(very slow leaks). No rivet leaks. What process did you do to seal it after stripping? Im leaning towards gluvit but im not decided yet.....

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Im wrestling with this question. Ive decided to not put one in the floor but ive considered a couple other ideas. One is to create one out of one of the gunwale recesses and the other is to put one under the bow/casting deck similar to new lund boats. This would force me to build that deck out to the back of the consoles like in this pic.. Let me know if you have any other ideas. Ive not landed on a decision. View attachment 357210

Thanks, I did decide to put one in the floor but only ski locker size so to speak, not a custom rod locker. I like the design you showed and if I was doing a full raised deck up front it would have likely been the design of choice. Not sure it would be deep enough however in a 16’ boat though?

I did Gluvit inside, Gflex on the outside

 

[PaulyV]

Slow progress again this weekend, but we’re getting there! Not much to look at but I feel that I’ve hit another milestone.

I decided to use the rough-in pvc line for the future (and likely never to to happen livewell) to evacuate the front bilge. I’ll bet the front bilge will never cycle but I’d rather have it up there.

All the tedious underfloor floatation foam is done, so now it’s time to figure out my underfloor seat base blocking and the rod locker tub and lighting. Very happy to be at the floor panel development stage.

wow Fantastic work on that flotation, impressive.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

wow Fantastic work on that flotation, impressive.

!! Wow thank you very much for your kind words.

 

[ShoestringMariner]

My battery hold down kits have come in. Concerned that they might not be heavy duty enough for the front of the boat. Remember these are going to be underneath the bow seats/platform. The threaded tiedown roads seem to be beefy but they’re plastic.

Wondering if I should go with something like the one in the other photo with the metal hold down rods.
There’s going to be a fair bit of bouncing at the front. (pounding through waves or wakes)

Anybody have any experiences with the fully plastic ones?

 

[dingbat]

My battery hold down kits have come in. Concerned that they might not be heavy duty enough for the front of the boat. Remember these are going to be underneath the bow seats/platform. The threaded tiedown roads seem to be beefy but they’re plastic.

Wondering if I should go with something like the one in the other photo with the metal hold down rods.
There’s going to be a fair bit of bouncing at the front. (pounding through waves or wakes)

Anybody have any experiences with the fully plastic ones?

It's look exactly like mine....
Saltwater boater.... not to mention battery acid attacks on metal.
10+ years of running in the rough. No problem whatsoever