Starcraft Holiday 18 make over

[BOYS & TOYS]

I found this site very helpful to makeover this 18ft Holiday so I thought maybe someone else could get inspiration from some pictures. I will try to answer any questions. I'll try to post in order of repairs.
It has been used each summer since I picked it up so its a longtime rebuild.

It had a older 65hp Mercury mounted on it and a 1999 125hp Mercury that came with.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

The old transom was corroded and full of holes. It must of had an interesting past. It left the factory as a outboard, changed to inboard and back to outboard.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

3/16" 5052 was riveted to the transom .I didn't want to use plywood core for the transom so 2" tube was welded up to fit. I designed the transom to use long and x long shaft motor by adding or removing a piece of 2x4 aluminum that bolts in.
I made a jig to drill the motor mount pattern.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

I turned spacers and welded them to prevent the motor mount bolts from distorting the tube.
Needed to find a spot for the kicker mount.
The outside skin and the support are welded together.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

The Crestliner Commander layout for fishing inspired the splash well.
Made reinforced filler pieces between the splash well and the gunnels to handle being stepped into.
One corner trim piece was missing so I made a pair to match.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

If you want to test your marriage ask your wife for help setting a few rivets. I found random corrosion holes in the hull with some under ribs. More tig welding laying on the remaining ribs.
The stringer design seems weak so I bent another piece and riveted it to the original piece in a box style.
Added a bunch more box style structure to the stringers forward to the bow.
Made a hot wire foam cutter and filled the under deck with foam.
Made inserts to go inside the box stringers for some of the seat bolts to thread in.
Aluminum plates were welded to the stringers for the seat bolts to thread in.

 

[classiccat]

Welcome and thanks for sharing that amazing transformation! That original transom skin was rough; started life as an I/O I presume but took a wrong turn somewhere.

You may get a few PMs about that transom corner trim piece; another old starmada member fabs them out of plastic.

Are you planning to splash her this season?

 

[ShoestringMariner]

Excellent fabrication work, I like your idea of eliminating the plywood.
is that bead board styro down the centre? If so, are you not worried about it water logging or deteriorating causing little floating beads in the bilge? Or mouse tunnelling

 

[classiccat]

Are there still plans to add kneebraces? I'd probably go the v5 route and tie them directly to your beefed-up stringers. @Watermann can probably get you some good close-ups. IIRC they tie the splashwell/transom/stringer together.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Welcome and thanks for sharing that amazing transformation! That original transom skin was rough; started life as an I/O I presume but took a wrong turn somewhere.

You may get a few PMs about that transom corner trim piece; another old starmada member fabs them out of plastic.

Are you planning to splash her this season?

Thank you. The transom had a1/16" sheet of aluminum riveted over the old mess then a piece of 1/4" bolted on top. The 1/4" piece was continued in the splash well.
The tags on the boat said it was an outboard.
It's been in the water each summer.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Excellent fabrication work, I like your idea of eliminating the plywood.
is that bead board styro down the centre? If so, are you not worried about it water logging or deteriorating causing little floating beads in the bilge? Or mouse tunnelling

Thank you.
Good eye
It is in a very thick piece of the original "to last rebuild" foam probably 6" thick that seemed perfect. Blue and pink foam is definitely preferred. All others was tossed. So far all good. These pictures are not new just trying to show in order.
I don't think mice and bugs are fussy about foam types ☹

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Are there still plans to add kneebraces? I'd probably go the v5 route and tie them directly to your beefed-up stringers. @Watermann can probably get you some good close-ups. IIRC they tie the splashwell/transom/stringer together.

I think you're ahead of the pictures because that's exactly what I did. The knee brace was gone when I got it. Probably a victim of the I/O conversion.
I welded a piece to fit inside each stringer to the transom tube then lots of blind rivets to join. If the stringers need removal just drill the rivets out.

 

[classiccat]

I think you're ahead of the pictures because that's exactly what I did. The knee brace was gone when I got it. Probably a victim of the I/O conversion.
I welded a piece to fit inside each stringer to the transom tube then lots of blind rivets to join. If the stringers need removal just drill the rivets out.

Apologies for stealing your thunder!

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

I like the idea of tons of deck space if required. Time to make rear seat mounts. I bought one made of "stainless" so said the package. It did have some ss I think?
This is my all aluminum version.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Seat post time. I dusted off the lathe and made some aluminum and stainless chips. 3/4"thread in mount
I just used loctite type product to join the tube to the ends.
The swivel/sliders attached to the seats were bought along with the front pedestals.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

This picture has been shown before but I forgot to mention the chine reinforcements.1/8" was bent and riveted to the top of the ribs and the sides of the hull. 3/4" plywood treated with old timers mix and then varnish is the first thing I tried on the deck.

 

[MNhunter1]

Nice work! Looking forward to the pictures of the completed windshield after the sneak peek of the cardboard mock up.

 

[Moserkr]

Very nice work! You obviously have skills and tools many do not possess. Looking forward to seeing the rest and how she floats.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

So this is the dash and windshield when I bought it.
I didn't like looking over or through the plastic plus no access to the bow. Getting randomly splashed also no fun.
Previous owners drilled and mounted everything possible to the gunnel tops and bow skin leaving hundreds of holes. The gunnel holes were welded and I replaced the bow skin.
The wood support behind the dash was replaced with 3/16" aluminum bent on bottom and a piece welded into the top to in the shape of the original wood.
I reused the wood supports under the bow skin since they looked good.

 

[BOYS & TOYS]

Keeping with the aluminum theme new consoles and a water tight dash made.
I used "CAD" cardboard aided design
Need to show a picture of my little helper drilling rivets. He helped me with everything he could do.
The last pic has been shown before but it shows the window template.
I have a friend who works in a large machine shop that helped me bend the window frame.