Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

[crankbait cowboy]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

kinda got the same issue h20. and a thought i had was covering them with nautalex vinyl same as floor. not sure yet and still undecided but have seen it done on new boats and do not feel like my gunnel top rails are going to paint up very nice. anybody else used the vinyl on the top to match the flooring? gonna be a spring or summer thing for me

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

I missed that you had started filling the holes & wanted to skin them after.

I thought you meant fill OR skin them.Shoot them w/ SE, give them 2 coats of a high build primer & then long board them, possibly repeating both the high build primer & sanding, as necessary to make them smooth?

Use a hammered finish to paint them:

In white, by one of our favorite tin boat building paint suppliers :watermelon:

Yeah I planned on filling all the holes with the stick JB no matter what as a first step but there will still be a ton of fill in work with ripples, pits and dents. Or some other material that could be used to skin over the existing gunnels to cover the imperfections without all the work of applying and sanding.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Those are 'deliberate' windshield weep holes, for drainage

But my toes are gonna get wet.

 

[zool]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Yeah I planned on filling all the holes with the stick JB no matter what as a first step but there will still be a ton of fill in work with ripples, pits and dents. Or some other material that could be used to skin over the existing gunnels to cover the imperfections without all the work of applying and sanding.

For an easy way, you could stategically place some non skid tape to the gunnels

JESSUP MANUFACTURING Antislip Tape,Black,6 In x 60 ft. - Anti-Slip Tapes - 12E852|3200-6 - Grainger Industrial Supply

The hard way would be some aluminum sheet goods ripped to size between the edge moldings, then finished with the paint?

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Thanks for some ideas guys, gives me something to think about. If the surface isn't smooth then a vinyl product glued over the top will look wavy and dimpled too. I know nothing is going to be perfect but the main thing is to hide the surface imperfections from being as noticable as being a smooth and flat surface.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

carpet them

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Hey BF some more guessing games here... and can anyone guess what's in my Chief's near future?

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Hmm.. Nice looking set of cleco's & mixed rivets.............

Does it sound like lib races?

 

[classiccat]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

4
3
2
1

:rockon:

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Ding ding ding... the fortune teller has seen the future. 250 3/16ths brazier solid rivets, 300 5/32nds blinds, 100 3/16ths large flange blind, 100 3/16ths blind domed. Clecos, bucking bar and 3/16ths solid rivet set.

Although aptly named by BF as splash rail braces calling them rib braces or hull stiffeners by any other name is still Aluma-Agra!

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Hey BF some more guessing games here... and can anyone guess what's in my Chief's near future?

A lot of BGH usage.

EDIT - Whats a BGH? Of course I meant BFH! :facepalm:

 

[52FordF2]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Here's a bit of an update for the mob with some pics... :joyous:


Transom is all cut out and primed up for painting.

Water, are the cutouts from the steering arm on the otherside or are you just checking if we noticed it?

Keep up the good work.

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Water, are the cutouts from the steering arm on the otherside or are you just checking if we noticed it?

Keep up the good work.

Yeap that's the skin side of the transom, the horse collar side is down.

 

[Bestmason]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

Ding ding ding... the fortune teller has seen the future. 250 3/16ths brazier solid rivets, 300 5/32nds blinds, 100 3/16ths large flange blind, 100 3/16ths blind domed. Clecos, bucking bar and 3/16ths solid rivet set.

Although aptly named by BF as splash rail braces calling them rib braces or hull stiffeners by any other name is still Aluma-Agra!

I feel your pain/excitement WM, hope thats in my near future also, not quiet there yet so I will be watching closely:thumb:

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

I feel your pain/excitement WM, hope thats in my near future also, not quiet there yet so I will be watching closely:thumb:

Hey Ed thanks for stopping by, after seeing your brake I won't be showing a pic of mine I made up in a half hour.

Just came in from the garage spending quality time with my swiss cheese gunnels, got all the holes plugged now with JB, over 100 holes, what a mess. Also beating puckered areas flat and sanding down the JB. Not sure I have the confidence in my body and fender work to make them look good after being painted.

The ideas are all do-able but the worry I have using bondo/epoxy type stuff is how hard it gets and that it would crack after a while from flexing and going in and out stepping on the gunnels.

 

[Grandad]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

The ideas are all do-able but the worry I have using bondo/epoxy type stuff is how hard it gets and that it would crack after a while from flexing and going in and out stepping on the gunnels.

If you're worried, you could consider adding a skin of sheet aluminum to the gunnels. Starcraft simply lapped the stern and bow sheets onto the gunnels on my Holiday, leaving a step in the surface. If you carefully trimmed a piece of aluminum sheet to fit between, she might look better than original, with no worries about cracking or paint adhesion. You could just cement (3M5200?) the sheet to the gunnel without even needing fasteners. - Grandad

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

All options are on the table at this point, I have a supply of aluminum although the length is not sufficient to skin without using 2 pieces and having a joint. Not a worry having the joint, just have to come up with something to disguise or cover it. A second 080 AL skin would be a 100% cover up, a super way of adding strength and without the worry of underlying repairs becoming a problem later on.

 

[classiccat]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

makes sure the rubrail channel will fit over the doubled-up cap + rivet-heads. ...or just replace the darn thing. it will overlap in a few spots but that's no biggie imo. then use that swiss-cheese aluminum for other stuff...like more bracing :madgrin:

 

[Watermann]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

After filling the holes and sanding today I think the gunnels things started to look better. I think they will look good enough with some pit filling and fill in some light dents with MT. I think putting on a tread with a reinforcement section of aluminum underneath should help strengthen the area and cover up. Got tired of lamenting the fact that over 100 holes was huge ugly pain and remembered it isn't going to be a show boat.

 

[dozerII]

Re: Tin addiction 18' Starcraft Chieftain

After filling the holes and sanding today I think the gunnels things started to look better. I think they will look good enough with some pit filling and fill in some light dents with MT. I think putting on a tread with a reinforcement section of aluminum underneath should help strengthen the area and cover up. Got tired of lamenting the fact that over 100 holes was huge ugly pain and remembered it isn't going to be a show boat.

Once you win the battle in your own mind, it's really not that bad a job. My gunwale tops only had 43 holes each though.