Starcraft Offshore-V 18' Updates & Help

Hello everyone,

First and foremost, some of you might recognize me from my weird questions regarding this hull and my possible setups.

Here is a bit of a background and summary of my boat;

I have bought the boat this winter when it was all snowy, icy and extremely cold outside here in Canada for a grand total of 500$ CAD.

The boat was FULL of "trash" of which included a few goodies; 2 sawhorses, a portable cooler on wheels, a subfloor aluminum gas tank as well as something that resembles a bimini top (unsure as we didn't assemble it).

After cleaning it all up, I found that there were 4 holes on each sides just before the consoles (they were used for rivets for the bow seats, as this was an open deck design). I also found that the steering is adjustable in height, which is a big positive for me.

After inspecting it all up, I also found that there are a few missing pieces for the motor itself, and I can't identify it (the nameplate's gone), but that doesn't stress me much; I've repaired enough of them Johnson/Evinrude to know where I'm heading when I need parts for it. The control is garbage though, and I wouldn't know where to start with, its an old Evinrude Selectric control box which connects to what seems like an external CDI.

I've been lucky enough to find a perfect center console for me, it is 26" wide, which would give me right around 20" of clearance on either sides, and it is almost brand new (just a scuff at the bow side, it came in a charcoal color with the matching gauge plates, the windshield, the glovebox and the fire extinguisher frame/door (but not the extinguisher itself) for 500$ CAD.

I was able to trade in my old Mercury side-mount control box with 2 "for parts" Evinrude/Johnson motors (1 needed a lower unit and a CDI which I got for 100$ CAD, the other needed a CDI but got it for 0$ CAD) for a top mount + adapter cables for my '06 25hp 4 stroke Mercury that I got for 2000$ CAD.

I have just found 3 livewells from a Legend v-195 Sport Fish that the guy is selling, 2 long ones for the bow and 1 short one which has the bottom cut open, for 100$ CAD.

All in all, if we calculate everything I've been through to get this boat where it is at now, I have spent 12 700$ CAD, but I've sold for 6 800$ CAD and I have had about 2 000$ CAD worth of goodies with the various boats I bought to "finance" this project (everything listed above, a 35# Evinrude bow mounted trolling motor, a transom saver, and my uncle gave me a 35# transom trolling motor alongside 2 almost brand new 100Ah batteries, they're less than 2 years old with the receipt, from a boat I helped him get, he doesn't need that stuff). So, in reality, it is pretty much as if I "only" spent (12 700$ - 6 800$ - 2 000$ CAD) or 3 900$ CAD on the build (3 900$CAD = 2 850$USD). The only things missing is gauges, a sonar, a floor and the side compartments. I'll use my 25hp 4 stroke for now as my main one and see how far and fast it takes me (with it being fully aluminium, with no wood, I assume it'll be somewhat OK, I'm not a lover of speed anyway). I reckon I am underpowered as far as trolling motors goes, but I've never used a trolling motor before, so they'll do just fine for the 1 or 2 times a year I'll use them (most likely to navigate around the docks as its a pretty tight fit and to reposition myself or slowly moving along a bush pile or something like that to cover a wider area, won't be used as trolling motors per say).

What do you guys think of it so far, am I doing good or bad ? (Please keep in mind that this is also a price that doesn't reflect the reality; I have a bass boat fully rigged in that price; in other words, I have an 1984 Astroglass 154v outfitted with a 1988 Johnson 50hp, a 1968(?) Starcraft Offshore-V 18' outfitted with a 2006 Mercury 25hp EFI 4 stroke and an almost finished setup for a TOTAL of 3 900$CAD/2 850$USD, if I am able to sell my bass boat for 6 500$ CAD as I am planing to sell it for, I will be in the profit of 2 600$CAD or 1 900$USD to own the Starcraft dream boat)

What would you recommend that my next move be? I considered selling both trolling motors to buy a better one, but they wouldn't be easy to sell. I considered selling the aluminum tank, but that's also not selling that easy (I see a LOT of Marketplace). My next OBVIOUS move is to see if the Evinrude v4 that's on it starts or not and if I can use a regular remote instead of a Selectric, but what would be the logical next step ?

Note; I will be posting further questions and development on here instead of making new threads as I was doing prior to today.

Sounds like a good deal if you have a lot of time to put her all together! Looks like a major project

Boosh said:

Sounds like a good deal if you have a lot of time to put her all together! Looks like a major project

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In all honesty, it could very well be fished just like that. I have fished worse boats. Weld or rivet the few holes (about 8 of them) in the hull that comes from the previous owner removing the front seats, add a driving seat and install my 25hp 4stroke Mercury on the back and let her not-so-much rip.

On the otherhand, this is my dream boat; I tried a bass boat, I tried an open deck, I tried a lot of "chaloupes" (I think they are called rowboats in English? 2 or 3 transversal seats that you use a tiller with), I tried a runabout, none of them are my jam.

I need space, I need to be able to walk from one place of the boat to another without any obstacles in my way, this boat will do it all for me once I install the center console.

July 6th update;

Acquired a 2000 Evinrude, 70hp, 4 stroke with tilt & trim at the cowling, alongside a top mounted remote control and all of the required connexions, shift cable & throttle cable for a mere 750 USD (1000 CAD).

Only things that are "meh" about it is that the skeg is bent and damaged, the cowling's paint is starting to peel off where the seal is, the prop is basically non-existent and a tiny piece of the anti-cavitation plate is missing. It was on a pontoon, the guy hit a rocky bottom and did substantial damage to the pontoon, he reversed and steered before going into forward, but didn't reverse enough and damaged the lower unit. The owner of the Marina (the one who sold the outboard to me) said that the prop is spinning straight, thus no damage to the internals, only "cosmetic".

Will install it on my Starcraft Offshore-V 18' next week most likely. Can't wait to see if I was scammed or if it really was a jackpot find. It seems too good to be true; I have a hard time even finding an old 5.5hp 2stroke tiller from the 60s-70s at that price around here, so a 4 stroke, 70hp? Heck yeah !

Here are pictures of the previous outboard and of the new to me outboard;
I tried everything I could to revive that old 1970 Evinrude 85hp v4 Selectric, but too much money needs to be spent on it for it to be worthwhile. It would've been nice, as it seems to be the original outboard for the boat (no HIN on it, so pre-1974).
We replaced the spark plugs, we looked at the breaker assembly gaps and cleaned them up, we changed the coil, we changed the spark plug wires, we looked at the electrical side of things. Can't figure it out, it spins, the prop spins as well, it has great compression, but it doesn't do any fire on ANY of the plugs.
As of right now, we are either thinking it is the stator that needs to be replaced (some of the green gel-like substance has melted), or it needs the "amplifier kit", which I can't find anywhere at a decent price. The lowest price I found it was over 500$CAD for the amplifier kit alone; half of what I paid for the 4 stroke with everything you see in the pictures down below.

I believe that motor is a Suzuki under the badging.

I have never worked on a Suzuki 4S. Might be the EMM or power pack, might be a stator, might be something else. I have zero working knowledge of those, but I hope someone here does.

You can always start with an OHM test of the stator. That will at least tell you if it's broken or shorted. You can probably find a used stator on Ebay. I've had very good success that way.

Maybe it's something simple. See if it has a neutral safety switch on the motor. Sometimes they do. Another common thing is to locate the kill wire on the motor side and disconnect it. Sometimes that works. Of course, that often means you need a new power pack, but at least it narrows things down.

Sorry to not be of any help.

thill said:

I believe that motor is a Suzuki under the badging.

I have never worked on a Suzuki 4S. Might be the EMM or power pack, might be a stator, might be something else. I have zero working knowledge of those, but I hope someone here does.

You can always start with an OHM test of the stator. That will at least tell you if it's broken or shorted. You can probably find a used stator on Ebay. I've had very good success that way.

Maybe it's something simple. See if it has a neutral safety switch on the motor. Sometimes they do. Another common thing is to locate the kill wire on the motor side and disconnect it. Sometimes that works. Of course, that often means you need a new power pack, but at least it narrows things down.

Sorry to not be of any help.

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Thanks for your reply, however, you either misunderstood what I meant or I didn't write it properly (blame my french canadian parents for that).
I can't get the Evinrude 85hp v4 to fire, I didn't test the 70hp 4stroke yet.

Aaahhh... I see. Completely my fault. I didn't read, just skimmed a little and saw where you got a new motor, and then where you said you couldn't get spark.

Looking at the 1970 Evinrude, I see the ignition components, but that is a system that I have never worked on. I have no idea what to do with this:



That being said, I would grab a manual, go to the Troubleshooting guide in the front, and see what it tells you to do. I might have a manual for that. I'll look for it later today.

Sorry!

thill said:

Aaahhh... I see. Completely my fault. I didn't read, just skimmed a little and saw where you got a new motor, and then where you said you couldn't get spark.

Looking at the 1970 Evinrude, I see the ignition components, but that is a system that I have never worked on. I have no idea what to do with this:

View attachment 121665

That being said, I would grab a manual, go to the Troubleshooting guide in the front, and see what it tells you to do. I might have a manual for that. I'll look for it later today.

Sorry!

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Thanks ! I already had these diagram from MarineEngine.
My issue is that the motor has been heavily modified, so I don't know where to start.
In the drawing, I do have the part 89 (clipper assembly) and 33 (rectifier) but I don't have 35 (coil) and I am not quite sure about 39 (the big box at the bottom left named Amplifier kit).
The big blue thing that I do have is a coil, we tested with a brand new one and the current one, it still didn't produce spark with either of them.
I DO have a big box similar to the "Amplifier kit" that came with the boat, but I don't know what to do with it; It has 2 big red cables, 2 big black cables and 3 cables coming out of it (if I remember properly, it is a black one, a red one and a greenish blueish one) It doesn't have the stubby connector that you see going to the left on the diagram... and as far as I can tell, it seems to connect to the stator, but the stator only has 2 cables coming out of it, not 4 like my box has... I also can't find a diagram of the terminal block to confirm the previous owner didn't f*** things up...
I could take it apart tomorrow and send pictures if anyone feels like helping with that, but I don't know if that's in the realm of this forum and if it is even worth it.
As a sidenote; I also had a box under the splashwell, but I am pretty sure that was for a makeshift tilt & trim unit as it has a red, blue and green wire coming off of it with what seems like a solenoid in it and a terminal block with a few connections. I could also send pictures of that. I don't remember if it has the regular connector for a trim unit though.

Edit; If you know ANYONE or if YOU do have a manual for my 4 stroke, that'd be great I'm all for DIYers DIYing their repairs, and I can't seem to find one online that doesn't come from sketchy russian-ish websites.

thill said:

Aaahhh... I see. Completely my fault. I didn't read, just skimmed a little and saw where you got a new motor, and then where you said you couldn't get spark.

Looking at the 1970 Evinrude, I see the ignition components, but that is a system that I have never worked on. I have no idea what to do with this:

View attachment 121665

That being said, I would grab a manual, go to the Troubleshooting guide in the front, and see what it tells you to do. I might have a manual for that. I'll look for it later today.

Sorry!

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Here are the pictures of the 2 boxes I had that came with the boat.
As I mentioned before I feel like;
The one that is on the porch is some type of trim system because of the connections on it...
The one that my uncle is holding in his hands MIGHT be the "Amplifier kit", but I don't understand how to connect it if it is, as it doesn't have the same connectors as any of the aftermarket ones I saw online.
Note; The motor itself doesn't have a trim.

I would grab a service manual and see what happens. I've had a bunch of old motors that I almost gave up on, but then put in a few hours and they ran GREAT afterwards. Those old motors were well engineered.

Here is a really old Johnson 85 that I figured out.

I got it running well, swapped out swivel brackets with a newer motor that had power trim, then painted it and put it on a bass boat. That thing ran great! Look here:

Johnson 85 holeshot


If I recall it did a bit over 50 mph which is a comfortable speed for a 16' bassboat. In the video, I was trying to figure out the best trim angle to prevent porpoising and chine walk, but later that day I got it dialed in. That old engine worked really well on that boat. It was a1974, I believe.

thill said:

I would grab a service manual and see what happens. I've had a bunch of old motors that I almost gave up on, but then put in a few hours and they ran GREAT afterwards. Those old motors were well engineered.

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As mentioned the other day, I do not have a service manual, however I do have the electrical plans for it and I can't get the thing to work by myself. I'm not an electrician, I don't have a ton of electrical knowledge either, but I can read plans that's for sure. Also, as I've never seen an "amplifier kit" or don't know what it should do, I can't say for sure if the boxes I have is one of them. Unless someone can help me out on here, the motor's doomed. No one wants to work on it around here...

That's why you need to buy or download a service manual. There is a troubleshooting guide for various conditions, including yours that you can follow step by step

I'd bolt the 70 on there and go fishing. Those old V4s are dependable but pretty heavy and thirsty.

I've ran across a couple situations like the ignition on that V4 in the past, either where somebody fired the parts cannon at it, or tried to diagnose and lost a bunch of stuff, they were nightmares. Perhaps those are simpler, but I wouldn't want to spend much time on it.

MrGiggles said:

I'd bolt the 70 on there and go fishing. Those old V4s are dependable but pretty heavy and thirsty.

I've ran across a couple situations like the ignition on that V4 in the past, either where somebody fired the parts cannon at it, or tried to diagnose and lost a bunch of stuff, they were nightmares. Perhaps those are simpler, but I wouldn't want to spend much time on it.

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This is pretty solid advice, if the other motor is running well.

MrGiggles said:

I'd bolt the 70 on there and go fishing. Those old V4s are dependable but pretty heavy and thirsty.

I've ran across a couple situations like the ignition on that V4 in the past, either where somebody fired the parts cannon at it, or tried to diagnose and lost a bunch of stuff, they were nightmares. Perhaps those are simpler, but I wouldn't want to spend much time on it.

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It is my plan to do so, of course, but I'd still like to be able to restore the v4, either to keep it in case my 4 stroke dies on me, or to resell. I wouldn't be able to go on the water right away anyways as I need to fix a bunch of holes in the hull and money is an issue (about 8-10 holes where the bow seats were; the owner removed those, as well as a few in the transom below the waterline from god knows what)

On the other hand, by looking at a TON of pictures online, I figured out that the box my uncle was holding could possibly be the "Amplifier Kit", as it seems to have the right connexions on the "out" side, I'll try to connect the battery poles to the battery pole side on the box, I have yet to figure out what would be the "motor connection poles" though; I'm assuming it is the magneto/stator, but they are so heavy gauged compared to the stator that I wonder if I am right. I know the real kit connects to the stator, but the difference in gauge has me wondering...

Edit; Curiosity gets the better of me, no one in a few Johnson/Evinrude FB groups can even answer the question lol... I wanna figure it out cause I've always been a curious man and I like to troubleshoot and DIY