14' Starcraft Semi-V project. Update Progress Pics 9-5-10

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sturdi87

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 5, 2010
Messages
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Location
Northern Kentucky
The entire goal of this project is to get me off the shore and access to more fishing near where I live. On one hand there are several under 10hp lakes near me, but on the other there are rivers, the closest being the ohio, so I wanted something to use on the under 10hp lakes but that I could possibly also use on some bigger waters. Since I'm a college student and I can't afford a new bass boat with a 250 Merc and a new 9.9 kicker I ended up with this:

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It is a 14' aluminum v; make, model, year unknown. The previous owner went through the process of getting a new HIN assigned to the hull, and it is listed at 13' 11." I bought the boat in ohio which does not require titles for boats under 14,' and live in KY. In KY to register a boat bought out of state, if the state the boat is from does not require a title for the boat, then all you need is the previous registration to get your registration and KY title. So I got it registered and titled no problem, but am curious, can anyone identify this boat?

In the middle at the top of the gunwales it is 64" wide and 48" wide at the floor. At the transom it is 60" wide at the top and 52" at the bottom. It is 23" deep at the center of the transom and 30" deep at the center of the bow.

The first thing I did was begin to strip her, then once I got everything off I started sanding. These pictures were taken after a few hours of sanding had already been completed.

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When I bought the boat it had just a floor in it, no seats, and carpet that had moss growing from it. Also included in the deal was what you see in the picture above, all piled up in my garage after being removed. In the pile is a 40hp long-shaft Mariner outboard (1982-3?), an old console and controls, an old motor guide trolling motor (not all the way in the picture), and lots of leaves. I already bought a new marine battery and battery box that is sitting there as well.

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I already had this 1981 short-shaft 7.5hp Johnson SeaHorse, which will be my 'kicker' motor, if you will, or what I will be running on the local lakes restricted to less than 10hp. I have already ordered a manual jack plate from overtons which it will be mounted to. My dad bought this motor when I was a kid and when we lived in TN we ran it on a 14' Monarch steel flat bottom. That thing was heavy, and it pushed it pretty good, we left the boat (gave it to a local kid that wanted it) and kept the motor, it hasn't been ran in a couple years so its going to need a little attention as well.
 
After removing everything from the boat my first priority is getting it painted. If you didn't notice the trailer looks like a circus; being red, white, and silver; I think he probably just had those colors on hand already, and didn't have any white haha. I would highly doubt much prep was done before this paint job was applied, so I had/have to do a lot of sanding.

Considering it really is just an old aluminum boat and old trailer for the sake of saving time and doing extra unnecessary work I did not strip it completely and started sanding the red portion of the hull. I am not yet done with the hull, some of the sanding can be seen in the pictures in my first post.

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The paint on the inside of the boat was peeling, so I decided to get out the pressure washer, plus it was dirty anyways. The pressure washer did a pretty good job and saved me a lot of time with a wire brush. As I was doing it I decided to stop and take some pictures, you can see on the right the effect of pressure washing and original on the left.

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After I finished pressure washing I took the boat off the trailer, so I could strip it, prep it, and paint it.

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You can see I had already began doing a little bit of sanding here:

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I plan to paint the hull flat OD Green, then painting a camo pattern on top of that; the trailer will be getting semi-gloss black rustoleum.

EDIT: I spent a lot of time sanding, with all different kinds of sanders that I had laying around, I eventually broke down and went to harbor freight and bought a 4" grinder and a wire brush for less than 25 If I recall correctly. If you are considering a project like this, I recommend either just having it sandblasted, or buying a grinder and a wire brush right off the bat if you don't have one.

The wire brush did an awesome job removing the layers of caked on paint around the rivets, which is the purpose I finally bought it for.
 
ohh... your pics won't show up because they are larger than 800 pixels wide. When you upload them to photobucket, set the resolution to 15" screen (800 x 600). I don't remember how to do it right off, but I know if you use the bulk uploader on there, in the bottom left of the screen in small print it will say "more options"... that's where you can set it up.

then all you have to do is use the IMG code underneath the pic and paste that here


boat looks like it's going to be fun to play with
 
Yes it is a fun project but it will be even more fun once I'm catching fish out of it. I have probably spent a total of 10-12 hours working on the boat since I bought it tuesday, or four days ago. I did a lot of sanding on the trailer today and will hopefully get it painted tomorrow, its getting black rustoleum in semi-gloss black sprayed on once the prep work is done.

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I was stripping parts off of it here and there: carpeting off the bunks, lights, the front roller, then I started to remove the bunks when I got to the last mount at the rear of the trailer on the right bunk when i tried to take the nut off I twisted the end of the bolt off as well.

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I tried to use a bolt of the same diameter to hammer the old broken one out. The bolt I was using to try and push it just bent, then I tried again, it bent, finally I decided to quit ruining bolts and said to heck with it and came in for dinner. I plan on working on finishing stripping the trailer tomorrow.

Also, notice that the trailer had new wheels and tires, bearings, lights, swing away jack, and newer winch with strap on it when I bought everything for $700, I think I made out alright.

EDIT: So I really am pushing to get this at least water ready ASAP so I got back to work and finished taking everything off the trailer so I can finish prepping it and paint the thing. My lady friend was actually not too upset about working on a boat trailer instead of going out tonight, she wants to go fishing too, but I told her that the only rule is no girls allowed wearing anything more than a bikini (shoes allowed I guess haha). When it all goes back on it will all be getting shiny new hardware, a lot of bolts broke in the process of removal and I frequently had to use a cut off wheel and a punch (one of the bolts that didn't break) to get everything apart. As I removed everything I took note of the size and length of the hardware for each different thing and the total number of each.

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WD40 it tonight, then tomorrow smack it a couple times with a hammer. If that doesn't do it I would drill the bolt out from the back side. From the backside cause the torque from the droll might help the bolt break lose.

The boat does have a very patriotic vibe, eh?

Definitely a good buy.
 
SrPhatness said:
WD40 it tonight, then tomorrow smack it a couple times with a hammer. If that doesn't do it I would drill the bolt out from the back side. From the backside cause the torque from the droll might help the bolt break lose.

The boat does have a very patriotic vibe, eh?

Definitely a good buy.

I removed the brackets from the trailer frame first which was kind of a pain because there is not much clearance, but once I got the brackets and bunk board off the trailer I used a 5lb persuader (hammer) and a crowbar to get the brackets off the old bunk board and the bolt out of the brackets.

and yes, I'll have to put an american flag decal on the transom when I'm done to pay tribute to the previous paint scheme.

The guy said the mariner "ran good last year," but I'm not betting on it firing right up, but it turns over, feels like it has good compression when you pull the manual start, lower unit looks good (no cracks or anything), propeller turned freely, and I could see the electric choke working/ If that thing cranks right up it will have turned out to be one heck of a buy, but I always have my Johnson too so I gambled a little and bought it just on all that.
 
Alright, took some measurements, drew up the boat roughly to scale, and started toying with setup ideas. I haven't actually fitted anything so this may not actually work, or planned how I will actually build this, and this is by no means is the plan, more a concept that I am toying with and wanted to get some feedback on. Each square is 4 inches, the feet are labeled.

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I want to get some weight up front, as I will often have to motors hanging off the back of this thing, a 40hp and a 7.5. I will probably remove the 7.5 when I'm not on 10hp and under restricted lakes, but removing and putting the 40 on and off would just suck. That is why I have got a battery, fuel cell, and livewell/beer cooler up front. 48 beers and some ice should help keep the nose down, the only problem I was thinking about its what happens when me and my fishing buddy have drank all the beers? I have the front deck lower than the rear for stability, and am covering up the nose because I don't think I will be standing up there and I want as much storage as possible. I'm thinking that might make a nice place to put some plano boxes.

I'm thinking about just two seats, on adjustable removable pedestals, and four bases. Two bases were you see the seats drawn in, and bases in the middle of both decks. That way we can sit comfortably while I am beating you to the best hole and then we can just move them to fish. Also this would minimize "clutter" on the boat and give us maximum space to move around without tripping over anything.

I am planning on building a new console, and will probably put a panel with all my switches for lights, bilge, livewell etc on the side of it, allowing for relatively easy access from both front and rear while fishing. That way no matter where I am I don't have to walk all the way across the boat to get to my switches, they are never farther than half way. Also I was thinking I could build some storage into it, possibly with access from the front deck.

No plans yet for the rear storage, I would like to put a second cooler/livewell but getting access under the part that covers the rear of the boat may become an issue, and I want to avoid putting weight back there.

Feedback appreciated.
 
I just commented about this in another post but watch how much weight you put up front. I hang a 25 hp johnson off the back of my 14 ft deep V lund and have had problems with one guy and a battery up front. Makes my boat really unstable at speed. I am going back to being heavy in the rear where my boat was alot more stable. Could differ between hulls, but i would recommend storage up front and keep the weight in the back.
 
Loggerhead Mike said:
love that red white and blue
Its on its way out the door, just painted the trailer, its drying right now. But once the boat is painted I'm going to slap an american flag decal on the transom to pay tribute to the boats past.

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Mudduck said:
I just commented about this in another post but watch how much weight you put up front. I hang a 25 hp johnson off the back of my 14 ft deep V lund and have had problems with one guy and a battery up front. Makes my boat really unstable at speed. I am going back to being heavy in the rear where my boat was alot more stable. Could differ between hulls, but i would recommend storage up front and keep the weight in the back.
Thanks, I will have to experiment with it and find the right balance. But great info!

Now I'm off to the store to pick up some hardware and odds and ends so I can get this trailer put back together. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have that done and get a little more prep done to the hull as well. I'm a college student and this week is my spring break. Goal for the week is to finish painting and catch a fish by the weekend, I'll probably be sitting on a cooler of beer in a bare hull... but that is the goal.
 
That black looks real nice!

What kind of paint did you end up using on the trailer?

I'm gonna be tearing into my trailer next week...I'm trying to figure out what kind of paint to run.
 
I'm located in northern kentucky currently. Born and raised in Shelby County Tennessee (collierville/fisherville).

The trailer was not only ugly but rough when I got it. I wanted it to have a little shine and look kinda new when I'm going down the highway, but to hide some of the imperfections, so I went with semi-gloss black rustoleum enamel and sprayed it on. If your new to spraying and I don't mean spray painting, remember to thin the paint, or I'm telling you, you need to thin the paint out. I bought several spray cans of the paint as well though for touch ups and such, but I covered the trailer inside and out, top to bottom with less than a quart (Note, I sanded extensively, then washed, then wiped with acetone before applying paint).

Also, thanks to tractor supply, I got all new hardware for everything that was not welded down to the trailer for right around ten bucks or so, I bought a new 2" coupler, some JB weld, new safety chains, and maybe something or two somethings more on the same trip. I think taking the time to disassemble everything before painting instead of caking it on top, in addition to the new shiny hardware, will go along way in giving this old trailer a new life.

I just can't wait to get to the boat, get it on the water, and catch some fish!
 
Looking great so far, nice job.

To be honest who really cares how smootht he paint is on the trailer. Its a trailer, besides everyone will be staring at the boat.

TSC is one of the better places to find boat trailer parts.
Enjoy your spring break!
 
looks like you got yourself a deal there. a great project... it sure was patriotic or circus'y....
i like the idea of the american flag to show a hint of it's past. you should also name the boat as well... i'd call her "CIRCUS ACT".... just as another hint to its past. and if you ever have a bad day fishing and don't catch anything, or you hook yourself, you could tell whom ever sees you and laughs, that's why it's called circus act...lol

but really, you have done a great job so far and i hope to see the end result...
=D> =D> =D>
 
Ha ha thanks for the name idea, I have not settled on a name yet and will throw it in the mix, I was considering just calling it "sunk," because I keep sinking more money into it! But really it most likely would have ended up with a US flag on it somewhere regardless. Any other name suggestions?

Heres another 'pile' of stuff for the project. My manual jack plate arrived the other day, it is pretty slick, and extremely light. Also note the pirate flag I got for the boat! You can see I bought a new coupler, safety chains, hardware for trailer I talked about from TSC (right at $10 for all that; Thank you TSC!) Also, the long thing laying on top of the cans of primer are alumiweld brazing rods, I have read good and bad, but think I want to give them a try for myself.
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It took a lot of searching an multiple stops to get my hands on some suitable primer. I finally got my hands on these three cans of self etching primer. I just have spots on the hull where I have gotten down to bare metal so I will just be 'spot' priming. Also, while I was in town I wanted to get paint for the boat, I was looking for a flat oil-based enamel, but I looked all over and no one carries it, so I ended up buying some flat exterior acrylic latex tinted olive drab green at the last store i visited, and well I was getting a little tired of driving around by that point so I just kinda had a who cares whatever attitude at the point when I bought it.

EDIT 3/11: Needless to say the acrylic latex won't be going on the boat, or at least any aluminum part of it. So I just threw away ~17. I ordered a gallon of Parkers Duck Boat Paint in Hunters Green and am waiting for it to arrive. In the meantime I've been tinkering around with the trailer and finally got it done, well almost, I got the wrong size hardware for a few things so once I pick that up it will be done, for now. I'll get some pictures up soon.
 

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