Another Paint Stripping Thread! On a 65 year old Starcraft

[LDUBS]

Don't do this at home:

 

[DanOStarcraft]

Ha. Well, after a lot of thinking and using a puller of sorts, and tapping and wiggling I didn’t like the torque and twisting that was being applied.

So, I’ll just repair it in place. I’ve filled the cracks with thickened epoxy and will just do the refurb in situ.

 

[Sea Antsy]

Thanks. Yeah, that thought crossed my mind. I’ll keep gently trying to pb blaster it off but may need to do that.

I would go with a 3 arm puller.. and hair dryer on the plastic center hub of the wheel... when you get it good and warm wack the center post with a hammer

 

[mbullen]

On the puncture repair, I believe I would go with a scab patch.
Welded or just riveted with a back-butter of 5200 would probably be fine, too.
It seems to be a time proven approach -even below the waterline- by folks on other forums.
In fact, given the location, I would probably get a little creative with the shape of the patch, too. lol

Also fwiw, nice decision on the wheel. I've been unfortunate on a couple and had to rebuild more than I wanted to.
It also looks to be an Attwood design on the mount, though. You may be able to separate the clamshell behind the wheel and drop the entire assembly.
I don't think the shaft goes through the dash on that one. (only the upper clam is attached to the dash)

I may be wrong, though. I've slept since my wheel work.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

Oh, wait! It’s not a puncture! A ding. A nasty ding but not a hole. Could probably tap much of it out from the inside. Thank you thick 1959 Alcola aluminum.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

On the puncture repair, I believe I would go with a scab patch.
Welded or just riveted with a back-butter of 5200 would probably be fine, too.
It seems to be a time proven approach -even below the waterline- by folks on other forums.
In fact, given the location, I would probably get a little creative with the shape of the patch, too. lol

Also fwiw, nice decision on the wheel. I've been unfortunate on a couple and had to rebuild more than I wanted to.
It also looks to be an Attwood design on the mount, though. You may be able to separate the clamshell behind the wheel and drop the entire assembly.
I don't think the shaft goes through the dash on that one. (only the upper clam is attached to the dash)

I may be wrong, though. I've slept since my wheel work.

Really appreciate the input and detail. I think restoring it in place will be fine, just a little more bending of me while working on it.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

Pretty sure I know the answer to this question but maybe not. The bow eye is loose and needs to be replaced. I wiggled my way all the way forward to check and as expected it’s rusted.

So, I can cut it off from the outside but is there a way to attach a new eye without making a new angled block and climbing all the way up there again? I can but I never liked tiny spaces. If I do go up there again would probably be a good idea to goop up the seam with some 5200 or similar.

 

[Ray Clark]

Yeah that one looks like somebody already replaced it at least once. The one picture makes it look like they fashioned a block from wood?

Unfortunately, the best, and probably easiest way is to make a new block and put it in. I think new eye's can be had online for not a lot of money.

I've looked at the one on my boat before. That wedge on the interior side of the bow needs to cover a decent area to spread the load and keep the bow from deforming over time. Use stainless hardware and a nyloc nut to keep it from backing out and becoming loose.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

Well, old girl, we’re getting there.

 

[steven80]

Still nibbling away at the paint removal. I've gotten the other side mostly done. Need to clean that up a bit and then move onto the transom. Need to also make sure the trailer support bunks are set right so I can get in the boat while on the trailer to work on the seats and dash. Walked the paperwork through and all registration is set and clean for both the boat and trailer. I've owned a lot of boats but this is the oldest at 65 years old. I think that's kind of cool. Just don't see too many of these oldies around.

And, yeah, still chewing on how to finesse that bow wound. Not so sure about eyes.

Completing the paint removal and registration for your 65-year-old boat is a significant milestone. Best of luck finessing the bow repair and setting up the trailer support bunks for the seats and dash work.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

Completing the paint removal and registration for your 65-year-old boat is a significant milestone. Best of luck finessing the bow repair and setting up the trailer support bunks for the seats and dash work.

Thanks! Yeah, getting to this point has been a bit of work. All paperwork is done, boat is legal and now just working on getting it pretty and functional.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

I’ve been spending so much time with these strippers I feel like I should be shoving dollar bills in somewhere.

 

[Ray Clark]

That's gonna be one sweet ride when you're done with it.

 

[DanOStarcraft]

That's gonna be one sweet ride when you're done with it.

Thanks! It's coming along. I dig the lines of these old survivors. This one was almost lost. It was dying a slow ignored death behind the house of the previous owner; full of water, leaves, and rusting steel flotation boxes.

When the previous owner passed it was given to a neighbor that screwed down some pressure treated wood to it for seats (NO! Don't do that to an aluminum boat!!) and banged it around for a couple years. Then he decided to sell it. He had the original title, which was amazing, but obviously wasn't signed by the prior owner before he passed. I decided not to try and forge any signatures as the boat was from out of state and a quick online search would show the prior owner had died years ago. And there I'd be holding a "signed" document at the DNR office. Just didn't want to go down that road.

The DNR said I had to get the executor to sign off. And a letter/document from the register of wills showing the executor as legitimate. After I tracked down the register of wills in the small rural town where the previous owner lived (this took a lot of phone time and left messages) she was able to give me only the mailing addresses for the executors. Yes, plural, there were two of them. Argh! No phone numbers or emails. Just years old mailing addresses.

I mailed letters to both of them figuring I'd never hear back and the boat would be relegated to ponds and using paddles or oars. And then, about a week later I got a call from one of them. The daughter who was the responsible one, not her brother, the other executor. And I have to say that there are still really very kind people in this world. She felt so bad that I had a boat with no signed documentation and couldn't really use that she went out of her way to contact the register of wills, got the documentation I needed, and even tracked down her brother to have him sign off. She mailed me all the stuff I needed, wouldn't take any payment, and even apologized that it took her a week or two to get it all done. Amazing. There is kindness out there. Even more so in rural areas. Just people helping people.

I walked all of the paperwork through the DNR here and she's totally legit now with a current state title and registration stickers. We saved this one. No small task for a 65 year old orphan of a boat. Hardly any online data for this boat in this size of this age. I found a few snippits but not much.

 

[Ray Clark]

Cool story on your way to having a nice boat...