1996 Starcraft Fishmaster 140 Restoration/Rebuild

[Stimputello]

So I have acquired a decent hull for the right price and am doing a full restoration with my brother and hoping to get the boat on the water by July. Transom was looking very dicey due to old pressure treated wood, but the rest of the hull is pretty spotless albeit some minor corrosion from carpet bunks.

Here are the plan's so far:

• Anneal/fit a new transom due to an unhealthy amount of corrosion
• Fabricate an all aluminum transom with my Tig from some spare aluminum sheets a buddy spared me
• Paint interior/exterior after Alodine treatment and zinc chromate primer
• Foam the boat to be unsinkable because it will get flats usage and light bay usage when whether permits
• Extend casting deck and add storage underneath
• Replace all flooring due to rot, seal with epoxy, then cover with raptor liner for more water resistance and UV protection
• Remove factory rod locker and install new rod storage for more floor space and easier access to rods
• Re-wire electronics, livewell, and re-locate bilge pump outflows

Quite a project on our hands, but the price was just right for us. We’re both in our mid 20’s and wanted to build something from the ground up. Until one of us gets a house, this boat will live in a trailer in a storage unit. This boat will definitely hold some sentimental value for us and we definitely have our work cut out for us.

 

[Stimputello]

We have worked on the boat a few full days so far and here is where we are at now.

Initially thought transom *may* have been save-able, but after removing the old PT I seem to have found corrosion on the seams and quite a bit of thinning. Drilled out all rivets, removed transom, and treated the seam with Alodine and Zinc Chromate. Man was getting all of those rivets a real tedious task….

Boat has been fully gutted and will be cleaned and prepped for foam. We will be putting much more than they did at the factory, we want every crevice filled so if we take too much water in the bay we’ll still float. Can’t put a price on your safety!

Next couple of weeks will be annealing a new sheet of 1/8” 5052 for the transom. Will use a MAPP torch, temp stick indicator @ 650F, and build a form out of plywood to get the shape right. Shoutout to @DaleH for all the info on your old post and transom rebuild!

 

[LDUBS]

Welcome to Tin Boats.net.

You sure aren't messing around with the transom. I look forward to following your work.

 

[Stand Up]

I'm making the popcorn now! Should be an interesting show. Thanks for posting and welcome to Tin Boats.

 

[airshot]

Whew....that transom was a bunch of rivets to drill out !! Looked forward to your progress. What are ya gonna hang on the back for power ?

 

[Stimputello]

Whew....that transom was a bunch of rivets to drill out !! Looked forward to your progress. What are ya gonna hang on the back for power ?

Yeah it was quite the tedious task hahaha... I'm gonna hang an older 25hp mercury on the back, I believe this year the block was made by Yamaha. Ended up buying a motor from a retired owner of a local marine shop who fixes and flips them!

Whew....that transom was a bunch of rivets to drill out !! Looked forward to your progress. What are ya gonna hang on the back for power ?

 

[Stimputello]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

So I got caught up at a wedding most of this whole weekend but cut the piece for the transom and got a short amount of time annealing/bending. Here is what I have so far. Didn't have time to build a full form to bend it, so used a variety of clamps and 2x4's cut/routered to fit. It's a bit rough of a start and I can tell this will take quite some time, I was running into problems with the piece cooling extremely quickly and realized I would need a full form to cover both top and bottom to allow the piece to not dissipate heat so quickly. The plywood would cost around $80 to build the form out.

I realize annealing and hammer forming this by hand will be a LONG process so I decided to get the piece bent at a sheet metal shop. I can get it bent and corners welded to match the factory piece for around $150 which sounds way worth the money over the labor hahaha; was told to just bring in the old piece and new sheet, and they said they'd get me right. Only an extra $70 to save me weekends of work? Seems well worth it to me. Hopefully if they can get it out the shop by this week I can drill the holes and get it mounted back to the boat this weekend.

 

[thill]

Yes, that's a deal for $150, in my opinion. Puts you way ahead, if they can turn it around quickly.

 

[goggle-eye]

Yes, that's a deal for $150, in my opinion. Puts you way ahead, if they can turn it around quickly.

Good call for using the Pros! It would sure brighten my outlook!

 

[Stimputello]

Small update, so the sheet metal shop that was bending the new transom piece totally snapped the sheet of aluminum I gave them. They gave me a call and told me I was most likely sold the wrong grade of aluminum (6061), which would make sense since annealing/bending that sheet by hand felt like I was hardly making progress (6061 anneals at 100F higher than I was heating it!). I'm going with the sheet metal shop's material so if they mess up this next piece it's on their dollar.

Luckily the metal supply store is willing to own up to their mistake and is giving me a free sheet of 5052 hahaha. Guess I'll be using that new sheet to fabricate the new transom brace.

Originally I was going to use the 6061 as the face plate for my transom brace since it is a stiffer material, but have heard that using dissimilar materials has the potential to introduce galvanic corrosion so I will steer clear of that for now. Especially since I'm adding in a whole new transom, last thing I'd want is to set it up for failure by doing something like that.

 

[thill]

6061 is crazy-strong material, but needs a lot of heat to anneal, as you found out. I've never heard of it corroding other aluminum, though. What did the metal shop tell you about that? I would ask, if you haven't.

 

[Stimputello]

6061 is crazy-strong material, but needs a lot of heat to anneal, as you found out. I've never heard of it corroding other aluminum, though. What did the metal shop tell you about that? I would ask, if you haven't.

Thanks for the tip! I called around and asked some of the boat builders I know who said I shouldn't have a problem with it if I treat it with alodine & chromate primer. I got sketched out by a welding forum saying that mixing different grades of aluminum can cause galvanic corrosion problems.

Guess I'll be using the broken sheet of 6061 for most of the transom, the extra rigidity is very nice!