1981 16’ Starcraft Seafarer Finished (New pics 6/5/12)

[devilmutt]

I don't know how much, Starcraft boats have changed from year to year. I like that red, white, and blue paint job.

 

[devilmutt]

While looking for a fix for this,

I found this at Cabela's.

https://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0080976020106a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=transducer+mounting+board&Ntk=Product_liberal&sort=all&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1

So I came up with this.

After I came up with this great and innovative idea of using a cutting board I did a google search and found out I'm far from the first. :LOL2: So to solve the problem of holes in my transom, I drilled four more. #-o

 

[Brine]

Looks like a good fix. Did you put some sealant around/behind it?

 

[devilmutt]

Not yet, but that's the plan. I may also run some screws from the backside through the existing holes.

 

[devilmutt]

Got the trailer pretty much done, just need to make some final adjustments once the boat is back on. I also need to touch up some paint if it ever stops raining for more than 5 minutes. The trailer has a bit of a twist to it, but it tracks fine and will have to do for now.

Before.

Now.

Before.

Now.

 

[nyjay75]

Your project is looking good. I'm getting ready to convert a Starcraft bassboat from side console to center console. I hope it goes as well as some of these other ones on here. Looking forward to seeing your rig once it's completed.

 

[devilmutt]

Thank you, I hope it turns out half as nice as most of the projects on here. Good luck with the build.

 

[devilmutt]

I managed to get the boat back on the trailer tonight. I have the next week off and one of my girls is going camping with her grandmother, I hope to make some good progress. I was thinking of using 2x2 for the bracing, but now I'm leaning toward aluminum angle. Will the 1x1x1/8 angle do, or should I use the inch and a half angle?

 

[arkansasnative]

looking good man! where did you get that blue paint and what kind did u end up gettin? i just painted my boat blue (ford blue) using tractor paint with hardener added to it and i like the way it came out for being rollered out...

 

[Brine]

If I had it to do over again, I'm fairly certain I wouldn't use angle. At least not exclusively.

You can't attach angle (at least the size I bought of 1.5 x 1.5 x .125) at right angles without using a spacer. I bought different size angle to accomodate the spacer. Might be hard to visualize, and I need to post some pics of what I'm talking about. Unfortunately, I remembered reading this same thing on the site once upon a time but didn't remember it until I went to join my first piece.

IMO, tubing is a much better option and makes engineering the deck much easier and cleaner. Seems as though lots of folks use angle, so I'm not sure if they just aren't attaching it what I would consider "correctly". Not to say it didn't do exaxtly what someone else wanted it to do though.

I'd guess that the problem using 1/8" angle is much more noticeable than 1/16", but I wouldn't use 1/16" angle for any framing.

 

[Brine]

Here's what I mean....

Here are two pieces of 1.5 x 1.5 x .125 angle.

Notice the radius shown in the horizontal piece prevents the vertical from butting up tightly at right angles to both sides of the horizontal. In my case, the gap is 1/8" wide. Also notice that once joined like this with a spacer of .125 behind the vertical, that the vertical now sticks out from the horizontal a total of .25

Therefore, I used 1.5 angle as the horizontal, with 1.25 as the vertical. Once the spacer is installed, the pieces align like this...

On the boat, it looks like this...

Doing it this way added material, more labor, and longer rivets than originally planned, and this finished product (although extremely solid) just isn't clean enough for my taste. Tubing simply attached with angle brackets would be easier and cleaner IMO.

 

[devilmutt]

looking good man! where did you get that blue paint and what kind did u end up gettin? i just painted my boat blue (ford blue) using tractor paint with hardener added to it and i like the way it came out for being rollered out...

I used the Rustoleum Marine Topside paint. If I did it again I wouldn't use the gloss, I had a tough time getting a decent finish.

 

[devilmutt]

Wow, thanks for the info Brine. I never considered that the inside of the angel wasn't squared off. I'll have to keep thinking this through.

 

[devilmutt]

I made the decision to stick with wood bracing on this boat for a number of reason, the tow biggest reasons being cost and a lack of a local supplier. I have a week off from work and it would take at least that long to get the aluminum delivered.

 

[perchin]

I wouldn't count out the aluminum angle..... what brine used is only one type of angle. The stuff I used didn't have any radius to it.

really woods only advantage is price.... That being said my next one will be with wood :lol:

 

[Brine]

I wouldn't count out the aluminum angle..... what brine used is only one type of angle. The stuff I used didn't have any radius to it.

Figures.... #-o

I guess I did use the one designed for Structural support though.

6061 angle has rounded corners and is generally used for structural applications where strength is important.
6063 angle has sharp corners and is generally used where surface finish is more important than strength.

 

[Brine]

Acutally, now I don't feel so bad......

6063 Aluminum

6063 is often called architectural aluminum for two reasons - first, it has a surface finish that is far smoother than the other commercially available alloys, and second, its strength is significantly less (roughly half the strength of 6061), making it suited for applications where strength is not the foremost consideration.

I'm a big boy :mrgreen:

 

[devilmutt]

Okay, I've been doing some work on this project over the past few days. I've reworked this bracing more than a few times and I'm still not sure this is what I want, but I figured I post up some pictures.

Rough fit with nothing attached.

 

[MassFisherman]

That looks really good....What don't you like about it?

 

[devilmutt]

I'm just not sure how strong the deck is going to be out on the edges. I guess I'll know when I get everything fastened down good and tight.