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1984 Starcraft SF-1616T Conversion
- Thread starter GalacticJello
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GalacticJello
Member
Wow, thanks for the nice words, g0nef1sshn, jasper60103, IT_Guy, ADIBOO, and GYPSY400. I really do appreciated them!
The process was a deliberate step for me, I have been watching sites like these for years, some projects peter out, but a bunch go into so much detail that it makes you wonder if you could really do the same thing...
I am here to tell you that you can. The most mods I have done in the previous decades were to add decking ON TOP of existing benches, sloppily drilling into the transom to add transducers and filling with goop, that type of thing. This time I seriously looked at what the rest you you awesome folks were doing with you boats, and it gave me a spark...
Back to the deliberate step... I knew that if I publicly started this project, I would HAVE to finish it. I have a track record of starting big projects and just letting them linger. Not this one.
I wanted to finish it before the fishing opener, but life got in the way. But, my wife supported me and pushed me every spare weekend I had, which was really nice, even though she couldn't see the plans in my head translated to what eventually ended up in the boat. As stuff got more "finished", she got more and more excited as the vision (constantly changing) came about. I have to say I like the end result vs. what I had planned.
Before, I planned some minimal stuff: floor, deck on the front, open all the way back and a simple pedestal seat for the back. You guys showed me stuff that really made me think I could do more, and so I did, little by little.
It is not the best worksmanship by far (not by a long shot) but it turned out FAR better than my even MINIMAL plan. I learned that I can learn at 45, and now I am going to use the stuff I learned on other projects that I never would have thought to take on before...
Again, thanks for the comments, I appreciate them!
The process was a deliberate step for me, I have been watching sites like these for years, some projects peter out, but a bunch go into so much detail that it makes you wonder if you could really do the same thing...
I am here to tell you that you can. The most mods I have done in the previous decades were to add decking ON TOP of existing benches, sloppily drilling into the transom to add transducers and filling with goop, that type of thing. This time I seriously looked at what the rest you you awesome folks were doing with you boats, and it gave me a spark...
Back to the deliberate step... I knew that if I publicly started this project, I would HAVE to finish it. I have a track record of starting big projects and just letting them linger. Not this one.
I wanted to finish it before the fishing opener, but life got in the way. But, my wife supported me and pushed me every spare weekend I had, which was really nice, even though she couldn't see the plans in my head translated to what eventually ended up in the boat. As stuff got more "finished", she got more and more excited as the vision (constantly changing) came about. I have to say I like the end result vs. what I had planned.
Before, I planned some minimal stuff: floor, deck on the front, open all the way back and a simple pedestal seat for the back. You guys showed me stuff that really made me think I could do more, and so I did, little by little.
It is not the best worksmanship by far (not by a long shot) but it turned out FAR better than my even MINIMAL plan. I learned that I can learn at 45, and now I am going to use the stuff I learned on other projects that I never would have thought to take on before...
Again, thanks for the comments, I appreciate them!
k2sno070
Member
I am currently in the process of restoring my 96 sea nymph and am trying to figure out what pedestal bases and seat systems to use. What did you use on your boat and do you like the performance so far? My boat is a 14 footer and I also had the two large bench seats fore and aft, with the two storage containers on the sides. I had originally planned to keep the large bench seats in place and just build a casting deck over them, but after looking at your build I am considering a design similar to yours. How did you brace the sides of your boat? Did you use some brackets or did you just install the storage. Also, how did you fill in the voids of the previous rivet holes? I was planning on using some structural pop rivets with 5200 to seal them. The main reason I want to remove the benches is because I am having difficulty designing a place to store my rods with the limited length of my boat. Thanks for any advice! I really love your project. It turned out great!
GalacticJello
Member
k2sno070:
First, thanks for the compliements! Lots of questions, I'll go through them in order:
>> What pedestal bases and seat systems to use. What did you use on your boat and do you like the performance so far?
I used a "pin base" type of system. This system was in use when I started my first mods on my first boat when I was in my 20's (a 59 14' Starcraft that I still own). It was all I knew so I chose it for this project. I went "on the cheap" because the bases were pretty damn spendy, as well as the posts. The expensive ones have brass inserts for the pins, and thus, do not flex or shift very much. The ones I have use plastic fittings, and will eventually wear out, and definitely flex far more than the brass inserts. This is not a big deal on the shorter bases (like on the front deck for my fishing buddy) but when you get a longer base (like mine in the back, I am 6'3" and over 2 bills) the torque I can place on it is definitely not supportable. I bought a chair-like mount for a boat seat, thinking I would use it for the middle seat that could be removed easily and left on the dock for people to sit on (shown in the pictures). I ended up using that in the back instead of the cool angled pin base seat that I was planning on using to allow me to swivel from one side of the boat to another, and not have to offset the pin base for when I was underway and need to be driving. The torque was FAR too much for the pin base. I would eventually rip out the flooring, even though it was anchored to the underside of the wood with aluminum strips, and bolted to the aluminum I-frame center beam.
Instead, I would go for the taper-lock style system (really wide pin base, basically). The benefit to this is that you can buy a ton of accessories that fit that system like a table top like you find in many pontoons, or a grill stand, whatever... nothing is made to fit a pin base for accessories like this.
>> How did you brace the sides of your boat? Did you use some brackets or did you just install the storage.
First was the flooring. I ran structural supports from the I-beam to the tips of the stringers and riveted them down. The flooring is over that, and screwed to the supports in the middle, and to the tips of the stringers at the edges.
Next, the framing for the storage is fastened to the flooring and the sides of the boat. I used aluminum angle and cut off 2" sections and riveted them to the sites for support. Those were tied to aluminum that ran the length of the boat that were anchored on structure like the split seats or the casting deck. To support the runs, I ran vertical posts that were fastened to the flooring. I then ran cross-beams connecting the runs to give everything rigidity. I can easily stand and jump on everything with no worries of anything breaking. I did extensive research on other folks doing the same thing, so the takeaways are: use non-big-box aluminum (6061 for strength). All I did was google stuff like "6061 aluminum boat deck" and watched and learned and refined my searches for more specific details. I reused the seat brackets on the front for support, but I also framed in what I believe is a pretty damn sturdy foundation for the casting deck (you can see it in the pics). No flex anywhere on that deck.
>> How did you fill in the voids of the previous rivet holes?
I used rivets! I coated them with 5200 and then popped them in place. For under the waterline holes, I used closed end blind rivets. It worked great, and looks natural, as there were rivets there in the first place. For the huge holes in the top of the aluminum in the front of the boat where I removed the original carpeted trolling motor mount (at least 3/8" holes) I used 1/4" rivets with over-sized heads, it worked awesome, and those holes look like they are factory rivet bumps. On the sides where I replaced all the removed benches and added brackets, you don't notice them at all with the paint job. They blend in just like it was a new boat.
First, thanks for the compliements! Lots of questions, I'll go through them in order:
>> What pedestal bases and seat systems to use. What did you use on your boat and do you like the performance so far?
I used a "pin base" type of system. This system was in use when I started my first mods on my first boat when I was in my 20's (a 59 14' Starcraft that I still own). It was all I knew so I chose it for this project. I went "on the cheap" because the bases were pretty damn spendy, as well as the posts. The expensive ones have brass inserts for the pins, and thus, do not flex or shift very much. The ones I have use plastic fittings, and will eventually wear out, and definitely flex far more than the brass inserts. This is not a big deal on the shorter bases (like on the front deck for my fishing buddy) but when you get a longer base (like mine in the back, I am 6'3" and over 2 bills) the torque I can place on it is definitely not supportable. I bought a chair-like mount for a boat seat, thinking I would use it for the middle seat that could be removed easily and left on the dock for people to sit on (shown in the pictures). I ended up using that in the back instead of the cool angled pin base seat that I was planning on using to allow me to swivel from one side of the boat to another, and not have to offset the pin base for when I was underway and need to be driving. The torque was FAR too much for the pin base. I would eventually rip out the flooring, even though it was anchored to the underside of the wood with aluminum strips, and bolted to the aluminum I-frame center beam.
Instead, I would go for the taper-lock style system (really wide pin base, basically). The benefit to this is that you can buy a ton of accessories that fit that system like a table top like you find in many pontoons, or a grill stand, whatever... nothing is made to fit a pin base for accessories like this.
>> How did you brace the sides of your boat? Did you use some brackets or did you just install the storage.
First was the flooring. I ran structural supports from the I-beam to the tips of the stringers and riveted them down. The flooring is over that, and screwed to the supports in the middle, and to the tips of the stringers at the edges.
Next, the framing for the storage is fastened to the flooring and the sides of the boat. I used aluminum angle and cut off 2" sections and riveted them to the sites for support. Those were tied to aluminum that ran the length of the boat that were anchored on structure like the split seats or the casting deck. To support the runs, I ran vertical posts that were fastened to the flooring. I then ran cross-beams connecting the runs to give everything rigidity. I can easily stand and jump on everything with no worries of anything breaking. I did extensive research on other folks doing the same thing, so the takeaways are: use non-big-box aluminum (6061 for strength). All I did was google stuff like "6061 aluminum boat deck" and watched and learned and refined my searches for more specific details. I reused the seat brackets on the front for support, but I also framed in what I believe is a pretty damn sturdy foundation for the casting deck (you can see it in the pics). No flex anywhere on that deck.
>> How did you fill in the voids of the previous rivet holes?
I used rivets! I coated them with 5200 and then popped them in place. For under the waterline holes, I used closed end blind rivets. It worked great, and looks natural, as there were rivets there in the first place. For the huge holes in the top of the aluminum in the front of the boat where I removed the original carpeted trolling motor mount (at least 3/8" holes) I used 1/4" rivets with over-sized heads, it worked awesome, and those holes look like they are factory rivet bumps. On the sides where I replaced all the removed benches and added brackets, you don't notice them at all with the paint job. They blend in just like it was a new boat.
GalacticJello
Member
Forgot... I added the original aluminum straps back and riveted them to the sides, and screwed them into the newly installed storage. There is no flex in the sides at all if you pull on them, there was considerable flex when everything was pulled out!
Coolvtfly
New member
- Joined
- Mar 2, 2013
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- 4
- Reaction score
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Have the same boat, just a 1985 with a 91 30 hp Evinrude for power. Pulled everything out and used aluminum stock gunwale to gunwale riveted to the top of the ribs. Put the same layout back in, I stand on the bench seats to flyfish. I've used the boat in the ocean for stripers and Lake Champlain for bass and pike. Every now and then I get the urge to "upgrade", but every time the versatility and simplicity of the boat win out. Was very happy to finally see another SF1616T out there. Very nice work.
Plumbcrazy
Member
Very nice work.
You make me wish I had gone with the vinyl, but I'm not about to turn back and start over now.
You make me wish I had gone with the vinyl, but I'm not about to turn back and start over now.
Jello, great work.... great craftsmanship
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Knowing what part of the country you hail from helps
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