lil' buddy: 1960 starcraft 14' seafarer resurrection

[walleyejustin]

Hello All, my name is Justin. A little history on the boat, I bought it when i was 16, it had nothing in it, no trailer, no engine. I was making about $30 a week and had to buy gas and insurance etc. for my truck but somehow i scraped up the $175 for the boat. then, the girl I was dating at the time had a teenee boat trailer with a bush growing up thru it... her parents gave it to me and with a little work and a 9.8 merc borrowed from my dad I was on the water, every spring break was spent on pymatuning lake camping and fishing. christmas' brought a couple of seats and pedestals, and i had found some 1/2" plywood and made casting decks. eventually a 9.9 johnson with a 15hp hop up replaced the merc, and I ran this setup untill I got into my apprenticeship when life changed, the wood decks rotted and so i pulled it apart and flipped it upside down beside my dads garage. fast forward 10 years to this past wednesday, I got a bug in my rear to go dig the boat out, fix it up and make it into something i can take my kids out on. it took a lot of work to get it out as it was buried under piles of junk my dad had collected. with some lights and grease in the bearings it made it home!

here it is!

 

[walleyejustin]

Plans are:
get the engine running again (ran when set in a climate controlled basement)
maybe upgade to a 20hp (they raised the hp limit here in PA)
new floor, carpet, rod locker, decking, etc.

I got started tonight and have a floor in it now. I dont think I am going to do the decks like i did before, I dont remember actually sitting in the pedestals very much :lol: so i am going to keep it mainly floor with seats on pedestals with a few storage compartments. i am thinking a long rod locker on one side and a small livewell on the opposite side. a compartment in the front that will act as a bow mount trolling motor mount and storage. I do want to keep it as light as possible so I am not going to get crazy (keep it simple) heres floor progess pics

here you can see the plocks i used as a kid to mount the front casting deck to

starting on the floor

fitting the floor and making the front piece

I have a lot going on with work and kids, but ill try to keep this updated as i get to work on it :mrgreen:

 

[atuck593]

Welcome and nice boat you got there man. I have a little later model Seafarer myself, but they are great.. stable... little boats to run. I also like the truck you have pulling it. Good luck with your build... you have come to the right place for anything you may need with your build.

 

[Buddychrist]

Looking good man! I'm looking forward to following your build!

 

[walleyejustin]

Thanks for the kind words!

atuck593, your build is how i stumbled onto this site. I googled the model of my boat and when yours popped up i was mesmerized by the quality of your work, and the restoration of those outboards =D> . I have run this boat through some of the nastiest weather on Pymatuning when it kicks up some nasty whitecaps, and this boat never felt the slightest bit unstable.

I am still undecided as to how i am going to do the rear seat arrangement, Leave it open or make a small deck to cover the fuel tank and have some more storage.. we shall see how today goe I guess

 

[walleyejustin]

well, I made a lot of progress today, hopefully i'll be on the water very soon!

https://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f214/justinsbig7/7744df25.jpg

then I started laying carpet

The kis bet me I couldnt fit in the front compartment...

they lost :lol:

ran out of daylight but i am really close!

 

[Buddychrist]

Dude!!! How much for the station wagon???? I friggin love those ol grocery getters!!!

 

[walleyejustin]

Dude!!! How much for the station wagon???? I friggin love those ol grocery getters!!!

That is my '88 jeep grand wagoneer (I have a heavy jeep obsession ), I stumbled across it last year with very minimal rust and a brand new engine, its one of the nicest rides i have owned.

 

[Buddychrist]

Yeah I had a 95 wrangler sahara that was green and has a beige soft top and then I agreed to give my brother half ownership for $2,000... He took the title to the courthouse and removed my name and then did a quick sale on it at $6,000... I never saw a dime for any of it not even the 2 thousand....

I miss my old jeep

 

[walleyejustin]

the jeeps are definitely a hit to the wallet, I have in my collection a '46 willys, a 67' cj6, and my "not so much a jeep anymore" trail rig, 85 cj7 with a v8 chevy, 1 ton axles and 40" competition sticky tires.


Heres some better daylight pics, I think this is as far as I am going to go with the interior parts for now. I need to decide on a livewell size and type (or if i want one at all), what fishfinder i want, new trolling motor or not, battery placement, and wiring, etc. I still like the idea of a long rod locker type box too. but anywho, untill i get into the mechanicals here it is for now.

 

[walleyejustin]

well, I didnt take a break. :mrgreen: i added a rod locker and now, am officialy done untill i decide otherwise... basically I need to spend funds on other things to make the boat useable. but heres the pics!

 

[walleyejustin]

I replaced the water pump impeller today and fired it up, two pulls and it was running! I need to clean the carb though, it did not run great and took a lot of choke play to keep it running but its another step closer =D> .

 

[walleyejustin]

I cleaned up the carb and the engine runs like a top! Got the lights working and my gear loaded, im gonna drop it in the lake tomorrow mornin and see if we cant find us a fish or two! [-o<

I ordered a humminbird 385 ci di finder but its not here yet, guess ill be using the old fashioned way #-o

 

[walleyejustin]

It floated! Everything went very well today, i really like the layout too!

I hooked up on a 15" largemouth, another 14 LMB, and a very nice surprise 32" tiger muskie on a rapala. I did not have a net, however mr muskie was kind enough to leap into the boat! I think i have a new favorite lake

 

[walleyejustin]

almost time to dig this out of storage and get ready to fish this year!

I need to make the rod box lid longer, and add a few other things, but this was a very comfy setup to fish from last year

 

[Ringo Steele]

Glad to see another old tinny put back in use! I don't think I'll be trying to fit in any of the storage compartments though! [-X :mrgreen:

 

[walleyejustin]

me neither! that was hard to fit into :lol:

I think I am going to put a dual battery setup in the bow this year, I got a 20hp spirit outboard but it doesn't charge my battery like the Johnson. duals I think are going to be a necessity. the 20 horse pushes this lil guy at about 27mph GPS (23 with three in the boat), so I need some more weight in the bow.

 

[walleyejustin]

I found some old pictures of the maiden voyage when I was 16.

 

[Pweisbrod]

That's great man, nice work!