Starcraft American 16 restore project

[Belgian starcraft]

Hello

I am new and have some questions for you guys.
1) Do any one knows from which year the boat is?
2) I am trying to restore it on my own, but I am a dummy at this part. So now, i just took out al of the instruments and uphilstery, seats and carpet. After that, I began with the deck (floor), cutting it away, peace by peace because it was rotten. I also taking out all of the foam underneath. What about the stringers? Would you replace them, and houw, because they are encapsulated in fiber glass.
3) The cap is in a good shape (I think). Is it necessary for taking it off?
4) The motor was not complet. What would be the best? Buying a 2nd hand inboard engine (I have one in option , a Volvo Penta 2000series, 25HP, is this enough??), or convert it to an outboard conversion?
5) Any tips when I am working on the boat?

You can see al the pictures by the link beneeth

 

[sphelps]

Welcome aboard !
Nice Starcraft you have ! You need to check the stringers for rot ... You can drill small holes along the bottom of the stringers to check for wet or dark colored shavings ... Chances are you do have some rot ... If so you would definataly need to replace them ..

 

[Belgian starcraft]

No Title

Today I did continuing breaking down the deck. One stringer is complet, tommorow I hope to see the seconde one. The middle one wouljd be for next week.
But about the stringers.... Their are encapsulated in FB, what should I do for best? Pull theam also out, or.... And if, how should I do that? The FB will also be pulled out or have I unlding it and pull than the stringers out.

Here is a picture.


And after that, just before the stern, there are 2 increases. I think the wood is rotten, what is the function of these increases? Is it good to also change them?

 

[sphelps]

You can cut the stringers out by using a sawzall or I prefer a 4.5 inch angle grinder with the thin metal cutting blades ... Be careful not to cut through the bottom of the hull .. Cut the fiberglass along the inside curve of the stringer ... If you get through the glass sometimes you can knock them loose with a hammer ... If it does not pop loose then cut further with a sawzall with a coarse blade ...Take many pictures and take a lot of measurements so you put new stringers in at the same height and location ..
Not sure what you mean by 2 increases .. Generally if it's rotten than it needs to be replaced .. The area where the engine mounts are very important to be solid ... I have never worked on an I/O boat so not real sure how all that is fabricated ..
Hope this helps some !

 

[Belgian starcraft]

Thank you sphelps. By THE increases I mean the parts behind the stringers in the boat, at the back left and who are are now in black. I think this is the place where is a lot of foam because the engine studs in between.
About the stringers, other told me not pulling them out completely. I put some more detailed pictures on the website. Thank you very much for the advice!

 

[sphelps]

Ok yes those do look like flotation boxes .. If not waterlogged you could leave them in place .. That is unless the stringers need replacing in the area .. Then you may be able to remove the boxes in one piece then re-install after stringer and or transom replacement .. You should check the transom also while you have access to it ....

 

[Belgian starcraft]

No Title

Today pulled the 2 flotation boxes out. The foam underneath was wet and some of the wood was rotten. But the right part of the transom, were the foam was, I can push in the FB, would you say it is also rotten? At the other side (left) when I'm tapping on the transom, it feels tight.

 

[sphelps]

Take a small drill bit and drill a few holes down low along the bottom and in the weak feeling area's ... If the shavings come out wet dark and mushy then you have rot ... Dry light colored shavings and you may be ok ... If it is bad now is the time to replace it ...Be careful not to drill all the way through the transom ..

 

[Belgian starcraft]

Hello, some new udate

In meanwhile, I cut out the transom. It was all rotten at the hole in the stern. With hammer and chisel, lots off work but now it's again naked fiber.
Second, I cut all the stringers. I did cut it out, just the top of the tabbing and lifted the stringers out. Just the middle stringer I didn't cut out out full. This because there is some wire that is attached to this stringer from the front of the boat. It thaught it would be better to leave it this way, because i was scared of the strength of the boat would reduce by working on this wire.

Now I have one serious question. Which would do you prefer to use for the stringers:
Padouk, Sipo, Cambara, Douglas, RND, Meranti, Afzelia, Lariks, Afrormosia, Ayous, Azobe, Massaranduba

Should I use the same size of the stringers? Because the old tabbing isn't that straight placed. But if it can avoid that extra work...
The tabbing that isn't fastened that good in the corners (stringer too the hull), when installing new stringers, should I lift/fill it up it with foam? What do I use that the old tabbing connect with the new stringer (poly resin?)?
Just because now it's a gap, wouldn't it be better to cut away 1 side of the tabbing, instal the new stringer and also new tabbing?