The well traveled 1979 Starcraft 18' V5 SS

[Watermann]

Pouring rain outside but inside the hangar I'm staying warm and dry. I've got the smalls that take so much time to clean and restore. Consoles tore down, old blinds removed and paint stripping in progress.

Splashwell is crack free but had some ferrous t-nuts that turned to rust long ago that were holding on ply. Working on breaking the SW down so I can decide to use it as is or shrink it down to size similar to what Candutch did with his. Either way the solid rivets need replaced in it anyway, half of them are no good and the seal is rotten.

Got the last mauled can of liquid stripper that doesn't have that useless gel stuff and a pic to show the misery that lays ahead. :cold:

The speedo got removed and tested out with the compressor, it work great and the admiral was recruited for the clean up on it. I love the SC logo on it but the character dent not so much..Anyone know if it;s possible to dismantle gauges with ruining them?

 

[GA_Boater]

Some gauges can be opened, some are tough, WM. Got a side view and rear pic?

 

[Watermann]

GA I didn't get any of those type pics but I can. I already bubble wrapped and packed it in a box, the metal bezel doesn't even budge and there's no slots around it. The back has the 2 posts and taking the nuts off them did not loosen the plastic case from the bezel. Due to the age of the case I'm afraid to do much uni-brow work on it for fear it'll break. I hope the light bulb works because it's riveted in. :grumpy:

 

[Candutch]

"Anyone know if it;s possible to dismantle gauges with ruining them?"

I would think it's very easy to "ruin" them. JK, I don't have a clue. Glad to see you are getting at her right away WM. Looking forward to the progress.

 

[GA_Boater]

I asked about the pics because it looks like the gauge is an outer shell with a gauge nested inside. But loosening the two nuts on the studs would have shown some wiggle. I wouldn't be aggressive with it either. You won't find many of those with the SC logo.

Just call the ding patina.

 

[64osby]

I was able to pop my old tach apart. It was a pressure fit. Took a lot of effort. Second time I had to pop it apart it broke the lens. Luckily I had a spare.

 

[Watermann]

Happy first day of spring to all you Starmadians!

Yeah still here, plugging away, slogging along with the clean up. Got the toughest parts to strip all done the consoles and splashwell. I plan on stripping the hull before going at the rivets and since I just got in an order from Jaycee of several hundred rivets it won't be long now before the BRRRT sound fills the air.

In the meantime work continues on clean up as long ago a few construction tubes of sealer were used. It looks like silicone but the AL under it is like new.

The tank support sheet... factory sealer, silicone?

No holes for rivets holding this tank support down, only the sealer, SC factory even left a mandrel under there.

All of the blind rivets on this boat will be replaced, the steel mandrels are just powder.

 

[classiccat]

Nice to see you getting down & dirty again Agua! :thumb:

I thought my ribs were cleaned-out of old steel mandrels & flair-outs. After a weekend of pounding my keel-reinforcement into shape, my garage floor is littered with them!

 

[Watermann]

Yeah CC people just don't realize how damaging steel is to aluminum. SC used steel t nuts to hold panels on and the AL where they were attached has a big hole corroded out. They put SS machine screws into the steel nut... what a mistake just to save 5 cents.

I'm going to flush the ribs out real well as it rained inside the hull and now there's white rings forming where the water dried up. More rivet drilling and support pieces need to come out to be cleaned and there's more silicone to remove inside. :grumpy:

Also I was mistaken that fuel tank support panel had 6 x 5/32nd blinds holding it onto the sealer. :cold:

 

[wheeldriver]

After finding rusted mandrels in my SS when cleaning it out as well. I wondered whats under my ribs that I can't see. I taken a large neodymium/rare earth magnet and touched it against the center of each rib in the middle of the hull. On a few I heard a clunk of something bang against the rib at the magnet. I used a string attached to a magnet and feed it into the rib up at the gunwale. Used a second magnet to draw it down to the center of the rib at its lowest point. Ended up pulling out a very rusted nut of some kind. On a second rib I pulled out a fragment of metal that was very rusted, WTH!

Enjoying the thread Watermann, I'm jealous!

 

[oldhaven]

You are speeding right along. I guess practice makes perfect. Having done this all before must make you pretty fearless about tearing things apart that give me pause.

Ron

 

[Watermann]

After finding rusted mandrels in my SS when cleaning it out as well. I wondered whats under my ribs that I can't see. I taken a large neodymium/rare earth magnet and touched it against the center of each rib in the middle of the hull. On a few I heard a clunk of something bang against the rib at the magnet. I used a string attached to a magnet and feed it into the rib up at the gunwale. Used a second magnet to draw it down to the center of the rib at its lowest point. Ended up pulling out a very rusted nut of some kind. On a second rib I pulled out a fragment of metal that was very rusted, WTH!

Enjoying the thread Watermann, I'm jealous!

Interesting idea WD, magnets to remove the steel from the ribs, this V5 doesn't have limber holes either. I'll be interested to see how much crud falls out once she's in the turtle position with an air hammer running on the rivets.

You are speeding right along. I guess practice makes perfect. Having done this all before must make you pretty fearless about tearing things apart that give me pause.

Ron

Well Ron I had some help on her already, Glen did the tear down and filled a dumpster. :lol:

Now I'm pulling apart every last bracket and support piece that was blind riveted or screwed on. Each one is being wheeled clean of corrosion and washed with cleaning vinegar then rinsed so they're all spotless.On the Chief I primed and painted every last one of them too. Not sure about doing that this time around though.

I'm onto the inside of the hull where there's scores of blind rivets remaining that need to be removed, it's pretty dangerous with all those sharp pokey blinds. Next I will strip the hull paint off and tackle the smeared on 5 gallon bucket of carpet glue on the inside, hoping just to knock it down some.

 

[dozerII]

Interesting idea WD, magnets to remove the steel from the ribs, this V5 doesn't have limber holes either. I'll be interested to see how much crud falls out once she's in the turtle position with an air hammer running on the rivets.



Well Ron I had some help on her already, Glen did the tear down and filled a dumpster. :lol:

Now I'm pulling apart every last bracket and support piece that was blind riveted or screwed on. Each one is being wheeled clean of corrosion and washed with cleaning vinegar then rinsed so they're all spotless.On the Chief I primed and painted every last one of them too. Not sure about doing that this time around though.

I'm onto the inside of the hull where there's scores of blind rivets remaining that need to be removed, it's pretty dangerous with all those sharp pokey blinds. Next I will strip the hull paint off and tackle the smeared on 5 gallon bucket of carpet glue on the inside, hoping just to knock it down some.

You shouldn't get to much out of the ribs Rob, she was turtle once already and riveting the keel strip back on shook her out pretty good.

 

[FrankenCub]

After finding rusted mandrels in my SS when cleaning it out as well. I wondered whats under my ribs that I can't see. I taken a large neodymium/rare earth magnet and touched it against the center of each rib in the middle of the hull. On a few I heard a clunk of something bang against the rib at the magnet. I used a string attached to a magnet and feed it into the rib up at the gunwale. Used a second magnet to draw it down to the center of the rib at its lowest point. Ended up pulling out a very rusted nut of some kind. On a second rib I pulled out a fragment of metal that was very rusted, WTH!

Enjoying the thread Watermann, I'm jealous!

Now that's a great idea ! I stripped an old HDD just now for this use

 

[Watermann]

Finally have everything out for clean up. Every blind rivet holding the 2 piece gunnels together are off for clean up and repair.

Transom out, not bad at all the inside skin just needs cleaned there's no pitting.

Lots of glue used for the carpet, from one end to the other all over... :facepalm:

Bummer the only piece of mahogany in the boat was split and it's not even rotten. Oh well I'm making the front bow cover flat so I didn;t want the bowed piece anyway. Marine ply will replace the bow cover supports.

Back to the grind I go with some tough weeks ahead of me cleaning everything up.

 

[StarTed]

Hey, you're putting me to shame. I'm jealous of your find. My little 16' seems tiny compared to yours.

I take it you have someone to put into the echo chamber while riveting.

Will be following your rebuild.

 

[classiccat]

WHAT?! No pitting? No galvanic corrosion? No clouds of alumina? Next you're gonna tell us that there arent any fatigue cracks

Kidding aside...you'll be in rebuild mode in no time! :thumb:

 

[coostv]

That is one solid looking hull you have there! At the rate you are going this thing should be splashed by June!

 

[budski]

Looking great there Water nice progress.

 

[Watermann]

Hey, you're putting me to shame. I'm jealous of your find. My little 16' seems tiny compared to yours.

I take it you have someone to put into the echo chamber while riveting.

Will be following your rebuild.

Welcome aboard Ted, lets hope for a smooth ride!

WHAT?! No pitting? No galvanic corrosion? No clouds of alumina? Next you're gonna tell us that there arent any fatigue cracks

Kidding aside...you'll be in rebuild mode in no time! :thumb:

The spashwell had some corrosion and pitting on the flats where the pieces connect (yeap I disassembled it removing the solids) and there's a 1" crack from someone jumping up on the side wing where it connects to the gunnel but no stress cracks from use down in the pan. There's also a wear spot next to it that needs filled.

That is one solid looking hull you have there! At the rate you are going this thing should be splashed by June!

Looking great there Water nice progress.

Thanks for the encouragement guys, but June is a bit of a stretch :lol: I forgot (almost) how much work goes into the clean up and I haven't even started on the hull repairs and 100's of solid rivets that need replaced on the old gal. I've just about got every single one of the blind rivets out, all of them have had rusted out steel mandrels.