1951 14' Starcraft Semi-V Conversion

[Dyin2Fish]

I found this website a couple of months ago and was instantly inspired to find myself a project boat to start on... A buddy and I have been working hard on her for about a month now and she is really coming along. Here it is, as I found her. I will add more pics showing our progress as of today as soon as I can find the cable to download them from the camera. What do you guys think of the old boat? Will it make a decent conversion?

 

[Jim]

:WELCOME:

Thanks for joining! :beer:

Old School! Now we are talking! Cant wait to see the progress on this

 

[ben2go]

:WELCOME:

Thanks for signing on.

Get rid of all the rusty hardware.It will cause corrosion on the hull.Strip'er down,replace all the old wood with fresh water sealed wood,paint,and play.

 

[Waterwings]

Welcome Aboard, and neat rig! 8)

Concur with above. Remove all of the rusty steel components. They don't get along with aluminum at all.

Going to be a great looking restoration boat! 8)

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Here are more pics showing the progress as of today. It has been slow progress removing all the old layers of paint and primer bringing it down to bare aluminum. Then we primed it with self-etching duplicolor primer and put 3 topcoats of Interlux Brightside glossy white that I ordered from Jamestown Distributers. We sanded with 320 grit between coats. It's a real deep "wet looking" glossy that almost looks sprayed on. We first tried applying it with a cheap 3/8" nap roller from walmart, but it was almost a disaster as the little white hairs started falling out of the roller into the glossy white paint... being the perfectionist that I am, I was Freakin out. Luckily, we decided to try a 4" foam roller and had WAY better results for the final coat. I have to say this Interlux paint is hard to work with because it is so thin and prone to dripping and sagging, but the end result is well worth it. You absolutely must put it on very thin. We used the roll and tip method using a small foam brush to do the tipping. We also removed all the rusty old hardware and replaced with new stainless bolts and cap nuts. Another tip, don't get your stainless at Lowe's unless you want to pay more for the hardware than you probably did for the boat. I purchased all my hardware from boltdepot.com it wasn't cheap, but a heck of a lot better than Lowe's. We replaced the old rotten gunnels with new white ash from Noah's boat building supply and beefed up the transom, but somehow along the way I forgot to take any pictures of the transom. We had all the wood together including the transom before taking it all off again to paint. It seems like a strange order of doing things, but money and waiting on parts has dictated the timeline and sequence of this project. All of the wood has been water treated with Thompson's water sealer except the outside faces of the White Ash gunnels. I plan on varnishing those with Cabot's Spar Varnish to bring out the grain and protect the wood. I hope by Thompsoning the inside faces of the gunnels and varnishing the outside faces, I get good protection from the elements and still look really nice. Tonight, I plan on putting all the wood and hardware back on and will update with more pics. Future plans are to Steelflex the bottom (this weekend) and then do some fishing before starting the boat's interior modifications. Lot's of plans for that, but I can't reveal any yet... still working them out in my head. Any ideas, advice, constructive criticism or just some adaboys are all welcome. Keep posted for updates as there will be lots more to come... I'm obsessed with this project and need to get it done soon so I can get back to focusing at work, get some sleep, and most importantly do some serious fishing before the summer passes us by!

 

[russ010]

Looks great - it's amazing what a little elbow grease and paint can do to the looks of a boat... that sucker looks brand new!

 

[Loggerhead Mike]

looks like a brand new boat already cant wait to see how it turns out. the wood on the new paint is going to look killer

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Thanks Mike and Russ for the compliments. This project has been the most fun I have ever had working so darn hard! I would recommend that everyone restore an old boat sometime in thier lifetime. I'm looking forward to the next project already!

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Up past 2:00 again last night... got the gunnels back on and the first coat of varnish. The varnish darkened the wood up more than I expected it to, but I'm still pleased with the results. Today I will put the corner brackets and transom together to prepare for the flip so we can do the Steelflex tonight or in the morning... keep posted for more updates later.

 

[Zum]

Your doing a great job,gonna lookk sweet when your done.

 

[ober51]

Sharp as hell, nice job.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

We put the Steel Flex on yesterday and I'm just now getting used to the way it turned out. This stuff is like painting with glue - not easy to work with at all!. I started out using a 1/4" nap high quality roller made for epoxies and did not like the results... too much orange peel and looked like Rhino liner. We waited a couple hours then put another coat on using a foam roller. If you decide to use this stuff on your boat and decide to do a second coat, do it before it dries and turns slick. 2 - 2.5 hours worked about right for me. We had a little better results with the foam roller, but it's still more textured than I thought it was going to be. The looks have started to grow on me though and the stuff is as slick as a greased pig. I think the benefits I will get out of it as far as the rivet sealing and performance gains will outweigh the appearance. It is however, more about function than form. All that's left for the exterior of the boat is a couple more layers of varnish on the gunnels and put it all back together. I have ordered a Starcraft decal and pinstriping for the final touch. I will keep updating with pics along the way.

 

[Zum]

Looks fine to me,,,better then fine.
Nice job.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Thanks man... it's good to hear that from someone else.

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Took the maiden voyage yesterday and it floats and fishes like a dream, but the engine won't start. Time to learn a little something about old outboard engines! It won't even try to turn over... like there is no spark. Either that or I have a fuel problem. Any advice on where to start would be greatly appreciated. Or if anyone knows where to get an old service manual for a 1972 Johnson, please let me know. Thanks and enjoy the pics. I'm going to fish for a couple of weeks then start the interior of the boat.[attachment=4]504.jpg[/attachment]

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Sorry I can't help with the motor. You need longer bunks on your trailer. Can you move the bow stop above the winch and run the winch strap so it comes from the bottom of the winch.

 

[Zum]

That wood trim(gunnels)looks great,nice job.
I agree with the above statement,might want to lengthen your bunks to support your transom.
Do you have a history on the outboard?
Getting good fuel,spark,compression...is a place to start.
Man,theres alot of vehciles on that street.

 

[thudpucker]

You got lucky with your Starcraft. And you deserve all the commnents your getting. =D>

Years ago I wound up with a 57 Starcraft Marlin, 16' boat with three seats and a fordeck.
I called the Factory in Lima Ohio several times for some things, and recieved no help at all! :evil:

That boat was actually several pieces riveted together.
Down along the stem or keel they had a keelson and the two side/bottom pieces all riveted together with a triangular piece of Rubber in between all those three pieces for a seal. You can imagine what I went through with that mess.
At least three times I had to replace rivets as they corroded and let the water in at a pretty fair clip. In made my wife pretty nervous.

One time I took some Green water into the boat. OK I thought, it has floatation under the floorboards.
Same thing with the Starcraft rivets. The Rivets holding the FLoorboards down had corroded, the holes were too eroded, and the floatation just ripped the floor boards up and the floatation just floated away.
I was pretty busy there for awhile.

I see yours dont have that. That's why I say your lucky.
As for Starcraft boats, I think your gonna enjoy yours. It looks well designed for safety afloat and should travel truley through the water.

I love the way you did your oarlocks. I had two sets, one for each of the middle seats. That way I could row with other heavier people in the boat to ward the stern. More fun with more guys!

 

[Dyin2Fish]

Thanks for the tip on lengthening my trailer bunks. I've never noticed or thought anything about it. I'm going to fish one more weekend before I dive into that project though. Thanks Thudpucker for the info. So far I've been lucky... it has not leaked a drop of water. I'm really liking this boat so far! With new spark plugs, points, condenser, kill switch wiring, throttle coupler and some tweaking on the ignition plate to make it a little tighter, it runs again. I'm going out in the morning to test it on the lake. I'm anxious to see what kind of performance I get out of the 25 horses on this small boat... it should clip right along. I hope we built the transom strong enough! Does anyone out there run a similar setup that could give me a little insight? I will be starting the interior decking, electronics, lights, livewell, etc. soon because I'm already getting bored and ready to get started again. I'm glad I've taken her out a few times beforehand though to see how it floats. I don't plan to deck it as high as I had originally planned. I think I will keep the front and rear decks at the seat level and just deck up to the rails in the front for my trolling motor. I'm going to keep the floor as low as possible with just enough room to store some oars below it. Rod and tackle storage along the sides and somewhere cram in a livewell... wish I had 2 more feet of boat!

 

[fishinchef]

The boat looks great. You should have plenty of room for the storage ideas that you are looking to do.