1961 Starcraft 15' Jet Star conversion

kmercury · Jun 23, 2012

Thanks for the compliment. I had thought about that and will probably buy a rubber backed 4'x6' entry rug from Lowes or HD and lay that in. I like a carpeted boat but carpet can hold water. With this, I can pull the rug out for drying and cleaning if needed and also let the deck fully dry out. Also, I can always just pop 1 or 2 board up if something of importance falls below. But it does make me think about my full bench in the back... that would prevent me from pulling deck boards up... I will have to think about that...

Thanks

kmercury · Jun 24, 2012

Got 2 seat boxes done. I am trying to use lumber I have on hand. I ripped a 2x4 in half to get some 2x2. Used those as corner bracing and cut some 1/4 ply to 11" by 11" square panel. Nailed them up with my brad nailer, painted them then added some leftover vinyl angle to the corners as trim... not to shabby. They will be filled with foam and will have 1/2 ply tops added.

Moved on to the console. I nailed some scraps together to get an idea of where I wanted the wheel. With that I measured out my side pieces, cut them from 3/8 ply and nailed and glued nailers around the perimeter to hold the back, top and front. Cut those pieces, glued and nailed them with brads then secured with screws.

Couple coats of painted I will install it along with the controls.

kmercury · Jun 24, 2012

Got the console painted and installed. Steering now works. On to completing the seats and the rear bench.

fool4fish1226 · Jun 25, 2012

Man thats turning out real nice - you got some mad skills

kfa4303 · Jun 25, 2012

Looks great kmercury. Can't wait to see her on the water.....

kmercury · Jun 26, 2012

Thanks for the comments.

Got the seat boxes mounted, filled them with some left over foam and secured/painted 1/2 ply tops onto them. On to the rear bench now.

kmercury · Jun 26, 2012

Side wall blocks installed for the rear bench. They are 1/2 ply with 2x2 and 2x4 glued and screwed to them for cross member framing. I secured them to the bottom of the gunnels and the floor decking. I needed a way to help reduce the flex in the gunnels when you pushed down on them from the top. I am planning on having a collapsible ladder off the side to get out of the water with and the support will be needed. In addition, these will tie the two sides of the boat together when the cross framing is installed.

kmercury · Jun 29, 2012

I got the rear bench fully framed in and the side pannels on. I left the lower part of the center section open so I can remove the middle 3 deck boards if needed. I also made the center section of the side pannels removeable.

kmercury · Jun 30, 2012

Rear bench completed today. Just got done with the first coat of paint. I am now going to look for 4 fold down seats at a fair price.

fool4fish1226 · Jul 2, 2012

=D> You are doing a really nice job - it looks great, thanks for sharing.

kmercury · Jul 2, 2012

I was able to find some seats at a local sporting goods store. They just got a shipment in and had these marked down at $20/piece. That is a good price!! I was hoping for gray but you take what you can get sometimes. I am planning to paint the exterior of the boat white so these will match just fine. Seats installed, last bit of trim installed to cover my cut line along the bow and the trolling motor mounted. I hope to have it in the water Wednesday for a test run to see how it does with all this extra weight.

fool4fish1226 · Jul 2, 2012

Great deal on the seats and they look good to - good luck on the 4th with putting it in the water.

kmercury · Jul 2, 2012

Thanks. Picked up a battery for the trolling motor today and all of the necessary wiring. Should be able to hook that up tonight. I plan to just do a test run Wednesday and see how the tolling motor works as well. I may buy a boat ladder tomorrow so the kids can jump in a few times if they would like. Sure wish I had the hull painted since it looks pretty beat up. That will come later over the summer but the nice thing is, I can now go fishing on the weekends. Still need to hook up the lights, fish finder, GPS and so on. That will come down the road as well. Also need a bildge pump fairly soon.

kmercury · Jul 3, 2012

All set to go. Fresh fuel, batteries secured and charges, life jackets stowed, purchased ladder and stowed, reinstalled rope tie-downs on bow... hopefully it will go well tomorrow. Ill try and take a few picks.