The well traveled 1979 Starcraft 18' V5 SS

[Decker83]

I am with you on cutting or welding on gas tanks.. Better left to the experts..
Glad the osprey didn't get your pet fish.

 

[Watermann]

I am with you on cutting or welding on gas tanks.. Better left to the experts..
Glad the osprey didn't get your pet fish.

Yeap I'm glad too Decker. In the pic above that's what he does when I go sit on the bench by the pond. He pokes his head out and looks at me, waiting for his treat. I have a tub of crawlers in the garage fridge for him. :lol:

 

[coostv]

Ha, we had a pond... Now filled with dirt and landscaped over with rocks due to our now 6 year old St Bernard killing off all of the fish and destroying the plant life in the pond... He is older now, but not any wiser I am afraid.

Boat is looking great, huge strides have been made in short order!

 

[Watermann]

I'm trying to keep busy on the SS so the fuel tank issue doesn't make me loose my enthusiasm. It sucks that I haven't overcome that issue yet. Tonight I rolled on some dark gray that I used on the trailer mixed with Epiphanies poly beads and catalyst hardener on the bow cover and in rectangles for the gunnel step pads rather than popping for new rubber ones with shiny trim. There won't be much shine on this one being a fishing boat. Still working on taking some dent out and filling holes on the consoles so I can get them primed and painted up some day. I still need to shoot the gunnels with paint though.

I like the poly bead additive for non skid but the cheap fur started pulling out of the roller... oh well guess I'll give it a shave once dry :lol:

 

[oldhaven]

Furry non-skid eh? I used the Epiphanes beads and really like the texture, the ease of use, and the hardened paint has held up to construction in the boat quite well. (aside from some red over spray I managed to get on it), I also like the fact that it makes the paint less shiny and reflective in bright sun.

 

[StarTed]

Looks good.

You might consider calling your boat "The Seal".

Keep the furry look, it might become a new fad. Then again what will the fish slime look like over it? And worse, how will you keep nice and pretty?

Too many options. Time to look at my own pile of things to keep me busy.

 

[Watermann]

Well I finished the painting yesterday before the soaking rain started today. Drug out the rub rails to clean them up and remove paint over spray from the factory, can't have any blue/white showing on a gray/black boat.

So I have a question about annealing AL for anyone who knows. I've read about it some and see that some people use soot and heat until it's gone and then do the bending while others that use soap, heating until it's black before bending. My plan is to try and bend the mashed rub rail straight but since material is missing it won;t be perfect just fit again to the hull and allow the vinyl insert to fit in too. Here's a couple pics Glen took.

 

[StarTed]

I've used the soot method satisfactorily for me. I sooted it up using a propane weed burner on low with a very yellow flame. The same as I use on my molds for lead release. I've managed to bend back a 90 degree bend that was in the wrong direction without breaking the aluminum.

I think it greatly depends upon the grade and temper of the aluminum you're bending.

My rub rail on one side is much worse than yours so I'm thinking of alternatives. I'll need to replace 3' of the old style (much larger than later ones).

Maybe you can find some old rub rail from another boat re-builder and install a section. I don't think mine would be the same dimensions. Maybe you can post the dimensions and someone may have some.

 

[Watermann]

Today I had a successful/uneventful leap frog from the old trailer to the new now that the hull painting is done. Wheeled her out into the sun after the SC decals were put on the stripe. Just need to adjust the bunks and cinch them down tight with the rattle gun before adding any weight. Paint is going to like being baked as it's still gassing off some after a couple days inside and the cool weather we had for the past couple days.

Will put the old trailer up on CL now to see if someone needs it worse than me.

I still have a couple inches to winch her forward but I don't want to put the fresh paint on the bow roller yet so the hull should fit perfectly and the boat buckles won't touch at all

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Cant help any with the bending of the tin but that paint job/boat/trailer combo is a sweet looking rig!

 

[budski]

Looking really great nice paint scheme with the boat and trailer.

 

[Watermann]

The plan is to paint the consoles and splashwell the same dark gray as the trailer and gunnels which should all tie together I hope.

 

[BWR1953]

As always, lookin' great! :thumb:

 

[DLNorth]

That is an ugly rail.

I can't help with shop methods but:

most aluminum used in boats, including SC is 5052 H34, a medium strength, weldable alum that is hardened by cold work, ie rolling.

Strength is dependent on the temper, which is unknown, but typical tensile strength is about 38 ksi.
It is annealed at 650 F and air cooled, with a resulting tensile strength of about 7.5 ksi, yes, it's this much lower, which is why you can rebend it.
Also note that you can't re-workharden it, ie you can't get the strength back to the original.

If this is a critical part, you would be better off finding an unbent replacement.

Dan


"So I have a question about annealing AL for anyone who knows.

 

[oldhaven]

You are doing this to show car standards it seems. Nice looking hull, and it looks like is fast planing just sitting on the trailer.

 

[Candutch]

Looking really nice Rob. My rub rail was bashed up on the port bow side in 2 spots. I fixed it up best i could with a screw driver to pry and some pliers that I taped the jaws up to pad them. Worked alright to open up the grooves to get the rubber strip back in and get the rail to fit. It wasn't as bad as yours though.I'll take some pics if I remember tonight.

 

[Watermann]

Looking really great nice paint scheme with the boat and trailer.

Thank ya kindly!

As always, lookin' great! :thumb:

I appreciate you swinging by, looking forward to seeing your Chief on the same road.

That is an ugly rail.

I can't help with shop methods but:

most aluminum used in boats, including SC is 5052 H34, a medium strength, weldable alum that is hardened by cold work, ie rolling.

Strength is dependent on the temper, which is unknown, but typical tensile strength is about 38 ksi.
It is annealed at 650 F and air cooled, with a resulting tensile strength of about 7.5 ksi, yes, it's this much lower, which is why you can rebend it.
Also note that you can't re-workharden it, ie you can't get the strength back to the original.

If this is a critical part, you would be better off finding an unbent replacement.

Dan

Thanks for the info Dan.

You are doing this to show car standards it seems. Nice looking hull, and it looks like is fast planing just sitting on the trailer.

I don't know about the show boat part but she'll get me on the water! I love looking at these hulls, they just have the shape that pleases my eye.

Looking really nice Rob. My rub rail was bashed up on the port bow side in 2 spots. I fixed it up best i could with a screw driver to pry and some pliers that I taped the jaws up to pad them. Worked alright to open up the grooves to get the rubber strip back in and get the rail to fit. It wasn't as bad as yours though.I'll take some pics if I remember tonight.

Well I have 2 options, since I fixed the smashed in portion of the hull now the RR won't fit as it was mashed into the hull. I can cut the mangled part off and cover the area with a trolling motor plate with an angle that overlaps where the RR goes or anneal and try to reshape the mangled mess with missing material.

The major crushed part of the RR where material was lost has a bunch of fissure cracking so I think even annealed it's going to fall apart on me when heating or bending. So I think I know which way this is going, good thing it was at the end of the RR.

 

[Candutch]

I think the same way you do, if it can't be fixed cover it up.

 

[Patfromny]

I think the same way you do, if it can't be fixed cover it up.

You both must be politicians...

 

[DLNorth]

Or either buy a piece from Smoker or find a parts boat and splice in a unbent section.
Dan


"Well I have 2 options,"