Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

[ryand895]

I recently picked up an 18' Starcraft aluminum boat hull for rebuild. I am planning on powering with a Johnson 150 (Off my bass boat with rotten transom and stringers.)

I want to open up the bow, add pedestal seats, rewire everything and hopefully put some fish in the cooler this coming summer.

If anyone has any suggestions, please comment.

I will attach pictures as I get started with the project.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Welcome to iboats! Lots of fellow Starcraft owners on here. That 150 should make that boat FLY. I have a 90 on my 18' SS and I was able to hit 39 with 3 adults in the boat. Mine is rated for up to 150. Looking forward to the pictures.

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Welcome to the Starcraft club(after we see some photos of course) Ryan

Sounds like you've picked up a 18' Holiday with a closed bow, check out CheapBoatKev's resto thread for a similar rig(he is keeping the closed bow as original).

If you want to convert it to open bow you could mimic the SS design like mine or Ezmobee's SS or go with an open center console layout, both good for fishing.

Good luck with the project and will be checking out the pics when you add them(use photobucket/flickr to host images and then post

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Welcome to the insanity of Starcraft!!!!
It does sound like you have a Holiday there!
Hafta warn you, pics are pretty much mandatory and hordes of angry SC zealots will be at your door with pitchforks & torches to see your boat!!!


We also have a Starcraft forum, from the main forum page, there is FORUM BY MANUFACTURER...We have a tight, close knit community here on iboats.
Look forward to pics soon..the mob is gathering

 

[sprintst]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Oh yeah... Post some pics so we can all see what you've got there

Welcome aboard.

 

[PaulyV]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Congrats on the purchase!! I have a problem tho..cant see your pics on my pc screen....Hurry and download em again..We are all waitin..

Happy New Year!

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Sorry so slow on the pics. I should get them on here this weekend. Had a problem getting them to attach (my pic files are too big.) Thanks for all the comments.

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

For all you picture people:

http://s922.photobucket.com/albums/ad66/Ryand895/72 Starcraft restoration/

My 7 year old took this set of pics, so sorry some of them are sideways, way to close to know what you are seeing, etc.

The pics were taken about 30 minutes after getting the boat home.

So far, I have thrown out the trash, pulled out the seats (those Seaswirl loungers will have to go,) started pulling up the rotten floor.

Before I go too far on this one, I stripped the old bass boat down and am getting ready get rid of its hull.

The next plan of attack is to pull the engine off the bass boat and then swap the boats on their trailers. The trailer that the SC is on sits way too high and needs a good bit of repair. The bass boat trailer already went through a complete rewire and is in much better shape, not to mention is sits about 10" lower and pulls great.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Cool!
That is a Holiday...
Most of us use photobucket..
When you upload pics to photobucket, you can have them pre sized to 640x480, which is the max size for this site.
When you want to insert a pic in your reply..simply click on the yellow pic box, then paste the image code from photobucket!

Those arent bad for a 7 yr old, BTW

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Thanks for the tips with photobucket.

Yeah, the 7 yr old took good pics, but he is NOT impressed with the boat.

He thinks that I should of took the $400 used to buy the boat and got him some new legos instead.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Thanks for the tips with photobucket.

Yeah, the 7 yr old took good pics, but he is NOT impressed with the boat.

He thinks that I should of took the $400 used to buy the boat and got him some new legos instead.

When you guys are on the water..Pull a lego outta your pocket and ask him if he wants to steer, or play with this lego

 

[sprintst]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

At least you don't have to worry about what shape the inboard is in It's amazing show similar most of the boats are though the years.

It's all just time and some place to work on her... Little by little you'll get there as well.

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

After a couple hours sawing and screwing (and a thanks out to dh4winn79 for his thread on building an O/B engine stand over in the completed boat projects section), I now have a place to put the engine that will power the SC.

I thought the assembling the stand would be the time consuming part of todays project, but it turned out that getting the engine off the bass boat and onto the stand would take the most time.

After 2 hours of wrestling, I managed to get the engine on stand.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Older Starcrafts tended to sit pretty high on their stock trailers. My '76 trailer has a little bit of a V bend to it which helps a lot. I'm sure you'll prefer the bass boat trailer. I want that motor

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Well you won't hear any more griping about pictures

Nice looking rig, it's cool that you have the Starcraft emblem on the portside dash and on the steering wheel. The kicker bracket is a nice bonus as well.

Good luck with the project and I agree that riding around on that old classic will soon trump legos for your 7 year-old

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

After helping me build the engine stand yesterday, the boy is all gung-ho to help me swap the boats on trailers. Haven't exactly figured out how I am going to do it, but the use of a forklift along with a stack of old tires is in the mix. Since it is a great looking winter day outside, I think I will get off the computer and try to get something done.

 

[mikezohsix]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

tin boats can be fun to fix, much more straight forward then a glass boat.

Your son's pictures are better than my (much older) wife takes.

Nice Garbage pail !

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Looks like fun, we'll be watching how you 'guys' progress, I'm not sure what your motor weighs, but I'll pass on a good tip I received right after joining here...strengthen the stand with some plywood for the face{clamp area} and maybe add a couple of gussets to tie in everything, better safe than sorry.

ps: I luv that steering wheel!

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Well, the boat swap was an interesting adventure. Since I have no regards for the scrapped out bass boat, I took it off the trailer with a forklift and then set it down in the gravel parking lot at work. After getting my good trailer empty, I picked up the back of the SC with 1 forklift (with old tires on the forks for padding) and then used a strap and second forklift to lift the front. Once clear of the trailer, just drove the trailer out from under the boat.

Park good trailer under the SC and gently set the boat down. Lucky for me, the trailer bunks don't need too much adjustment to set properly.

I was supposed to have pics, but my photographer was much more interested in helping to drive the forklifts that take pictures.

I did get the boat about 10" lower than it was on the other trailer. This will be great when launching/loading.

 

[ryand895]

Re: Starcraft restoration/rebuild project

Finally making some progress. I have the interior removed.

I don't know if the wooden transom insert was made in three pieces or if mine was broken.

Also, the heel plate? has a crack on both sides.

Updated pics on photobucket.