What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

[OldStardust]

I know it's been a while, but it's been a cold winter and my garage isn't heated. All last summer, other projects were taking priority. I've been looking for a OB motor. Maybe, if somebody reading this knows, please let me know your thoughts. I'm looking at a 1985 Mercury 75 hp with power trim and really low hours. It also comes with all the controls. The price is like $1,000, which seems reasonable. This boat requires a short shaft, like 20" I think. The longer shaft on this motor, I'm assuming 24" should be okay, right, especially with the power trim? The boat is rated for up to a 75 hp. This OB is a 2-cycle. It should be lighter too than the motors they had back in the early 60's, right?

 

[OldStardust]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I just received the following information in another thread, so I thought I'd post it here too:

This should help you figure out what motor length to shop for:

Having T&T is great, but won't be able to lift the motor to compensate for the wrong length. Unless the T&T unit is also an adjustable bracket that has some adjustment up & down. T&T tilt the motor at an angle in & out from the bottom of the transom:

NOT up & down.

Tilt also only works when the motor's not in gear. Or at least shouldn't..

 

[OldStardust]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I'm still wondering about the different weights. Are the older Mercury's 1960's lighter or heavier than the newer ones... 1980's?

 

[MikDee]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

Be careful of the shaft length, you might be able to shorten the leg length,,, sometimes a long adaptor kit is installed on the motor, & can be fairly easily removed. With a long shaft motor, and a short shaft transom, if you had the motor clamped on the back, instead of bolted, the water flow at speed can lift the motor right off the transom and into the Drink! It happened to a friend of mine many yrs ago, he thought he was "hot stuff" racing around with his new long shaft motor, until this happened.

 

[OldStardust]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

Be careful of the shaft length, you might be able to shorten the leg length,,, sometimes a long adaptor kit is installed on the motor, & can be fairly easily removed. With a long shaft motor, and a short shaft transom, if you had the motor clamped on the back, instead of bolted, the water flow at speed can lift the motor right off the transom and into the Drink! It happened to a friend of mine many yrs ago, he thought he was "hot stuff" racing around with his new long shaft motor, until this happened.

The guy measured it for me. He said it measured 18-19" from the top of the mounting bracket to the anti-ventilation plate. It doesn't have the clamping-type bracket. It mounts and bolts to the transom. I could mount it high and be close, but I think I should wait. From what I've read, there's 15's, 20's and even 25" shaft length. I think he's got a 20" that he's measuring sympathetically. I think I need to just hold my horses and wait, hope and hunt for a 15".

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

seems like a period motor would be a good choice (my opinion). '62 Evinrude 40hp Lark is a nice motor, and boat would be pretty quick with that motor. If you're a Merc guy, could do that too (to go with that control box....) Check in at the Merc site to see if you can get weights, J&E forum if you want technical info on an OMC. In my opinion, the '85 Merc 75 with T&T is probably too much motor (have to balance weight vs power), but my opinion is probably colored by preference for period rigs. If you can get the 33 up and running without a lot of difficulty, it wouldn't be a bad idea to try that first and see if it gets you close to what you want, then go from there. Make real sure that transom is very sound, with no wood rot. Replace it if any doubt.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

Measure your transom from the center to the bottom of the hull. I think the Stardust is 20" give or take a skoosh. A 15" motor is to too short, a 24" motor is too long and a 20" motor is just right.

BTW - Power TnT doesn't add or subtract to the shaft length. You still need a 20" shaft motor to match the transom.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

..sometimes a long adaptor kit is installed on the motor, & can be fairly easily removed.

This swap requires a short shaft driveshaft if you remove the long shaft adapter.

Not all short shaft motors had an optional extension to make them long shaft motors. Not all long shaft motors have an adapter installed that can be removed.

Can the seller send you a pix of the 18-19" motor? A serial & model #?

Unless you WANT a period motor, and if you're shopping a 1985 I don't think you do, and IF it's in fact a long shaft motor, AND your Stardust has a 20" transom, I doubt GA is wrong unless a previous owner modified the transom, I'd suggest you grab that 1985 75hp motor w/ T&T ASAP! Assuming it's a runner.....

It may not remain for sale long.....


Post some pix of your Stardust transom....

IDK, but I'm not sure this is a 20" transom GA:

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

Yup. In that period, "regular" shaft was 15 inches (above measurement for boat transom height). "Long" shaft was 20". (Sometimes sellers will refer to the regular as a "short" shaft, so you have to be able to recognize -- and verify -- the correct shaft length yourself.) On the old motors, there was a 5" shaft extension that was clearly visible. The vent plate should be even with the bottom of the boat, plus or minus an inch. The diagram you have is a good representation.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

confused with all the threads, but think you said you measured your transom at 16"? and that Merc has something like a 19" shaft, by somebody's (seller's?) measurement? need a regular shaft motor. looking to buy a longshaft model. You will want to find out whether that motor can be converted if you intend to use it with the Starcraft.

 

[GA_Boater]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I was reading the brochures as best I could with the fuzziness. A tape measure is the best way cuz who knows what has transpired in 52 years of prior ownership.

The other thing - Motors are short shaft - 15", long shaft - 20" and extra long shaft - 25". There is not a "regular" shaft motor. You may be able to add a kit to stretch a short to a long or a long to an extra long, but there is no kit to convert a factory motor to a shorter shaft unless was stretched using a kit. Anything else requires changing the lower unit input shaft and the mid-section - That is not all that easy to do. Possible, but not easy.

My advice on this - If the transom is 15", buy a short shaft motor and if it's 20", buy a long shaft motor.

 

[oldboat1]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I was reading the brochures as best I could with the fuzziness. A tape measure is the best way cuz who knows what has transpired in 52 years of prior ownership.
******
My advice on this - If the transom is 15", buy a short shaft motor and if it's 20", buy a long shaft motor.

Agree.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I missed it if the transom dimension of your boat was posted somewhere. I looked thru the brochures too, GA, and didn't see a transom height listed for the Stardust. I wasn't sure if we'd all seen the transom of the Stardust....

My comment & post of the OP's transom was more a question of IS IT ACTUALLY A STARDUST? If the Stardust is supposed to be a 20" transom, it didn't look like the OP's was....

Multiple threads about the same boat, motor etc made it difficult.

BTW: To the best of my knowledge, Merc's didn't come w/ conversion kits available for making shorts into long shaft motors.

Since you aren't shopping vintage motors, as I mentioned before, I'd consider a jack plate & that T&T Merc if it's a runner & priced right.

In the least, if it's a runner & priced right, you could buy it & trade 'up' to the short shaft you want, or sell it if it's a great deal or needs just a little TLC.

So I'm clear, you have a short transom & need/want a short shaft motor, correct?

 

[steelespike]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I'm still wondering about the different weights. Are the older Mercury's 1960's lighter or heavier than the newer ones... 1980's?

The trend is as newer motors come along they get heavier I believe you will find a 60 Merc is lighterr than a 70s or 80s motor.
You may find the occasional model change creating a lighter motor where a 3 cylinder replaces a 4 cylinder etc.
A 1960s 40 hp Evinrude is about 125 lbs. a 77 about 135 lbs. Todays 40 hp Evinrude Etec is 240lbs.
however the 40,50 and 60 hp Etecs are all 240lbs. Based on the same motor.

 

[OldStardust]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I apologize for the other thread. I've tried to just use this one, since the other one was so old. It's from my original post right after the purchase. I did measure the transom from the top to the bottom of the keel. It's definitely 16" or thereabouts. I want to get the right size without any adapting. And yes, the transom is not sound. I have to change it out this summer. When I bought the boat in the dead of winter, the spots where it was soft were frozen solid. I couldn't tell on each side of the transom there's crushable, rotted wood. It starts to get hard about 4" in from each side. It's a beauty of a boat, but it has its issues. The specs on the boat call out a 10-75 hp motor. I'd like to be able to take my girls out waterskiing with it, so I was thinking no less than a 60 hp. Here's the brochure with some specs:

 

[OldStardust]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

I like the idea of getting a period motor, but I'm afraid of a breakdown. If I were to buy a 1962 or so, it will have been made before unleaded fuel came out. I just want to get something that will keep everyone safe and not stranded somewhere. I have a 55 lb. trolling motor for it and a couple of deep-cycle batteries, but if we go out on Lake Erie, I want something pretty dependable.

 

[OldStardust]

Re: What motor is good for my 1962 Starcraft Stardust

The trend is as newer motors come along they get heavier I believe you will find a 60 Merc is lighterr than a 70s or 80s motor.
You may find the occasional model change creating a lighter motor where a 3 cylinder replaces a 4 cylinder etc.
A 1960s 40 hp Evinrude is about 125 lbs. a 77 about 135 lbs. Todays 40 hp Evinrude Etec is 240lbs.
however the 40,50 and 60 hp Etecs are all 240lbs. Based on the same motor.

The guy emailed me to let me know it sold. It sounded real nice, a runner and at $1,000.00 for a 75 hp that pretty good. It had the controls, keys everything and low hours. A 1985, he said it only had 2 to 300 hrs on it.