New guy

[bennylt]

Thanks. That isn't to say it is not firmed up in the front some. it isn't a completely open bow. check out the pictures and see the closed bow? interestingly that isn't the original material. the original thin aluminum is under that, but the actual bow top is now a nice piece of much thicker aluminum, the rear edge is folded down to bolt to a bulkhead which I am replacing. it is a little bit forward of where the original dash was though.

I definitely don't want to put anything across where the old dash was because I want it nice and open. suppose i made some 1" thick plywood supports to tie the gunwales to the sides and the floor up where the original dash was. or is that pointless?

 

[MNhunter1]

I think we're walking on each others posts, but on the same thought process. The original closed bow also had some wood supports underneath that tied into the hull and dash...at least my Nova and the Holidays I've seen have. I'll try to find a picture.

 

[MNhunter1]

I replaced all my wood with fresh exterior ply

 

[bennylt]

ok thanks. on mine the front part of that wood structure is still there, from the forward cross-member of yours. Although I don;t think it adds anything. That thick plate with the folded edge when tied in to the bulkhead is REALLY sturdy. but it does bring something else to mind. the gunwale from the front cover i have, back to where the original dash ended, is more or less unsupported. just a wood bracket is holding it up. so that effectively has untied the actual structural gunwales from the bow. that is definitely a weak spot then. I will need to tie that back together. it is like 18" from where the sturdy gunwale ends to where the strong front plate is. I think i'll probably use wood under the gunwale and a knee brace. Yah definitely going to want to do that.

the decision i have to make is whether to remove the front cover, do the build out, then put it back. I do want to keep it. Or leave it in and try to do the work that way.

 

[bennylt]

you can see it here. the true gunwale ends, then it is just the top flat surface until you reach the bulkhead.

 

[MNhunter1]

Yeah, where the true gunwale ends is where it originally tied into the dash. From there forwards, it looks like the original bow cap was just cut to make the open bow. If the forward plate is really that secure and you plan to leave it as an open bow, I'd be inclined to leave that area as it is. Id' build my casting deck out to the original dash location at a minimum and run some angled supports from the top of the casting deck, up to where the gunwale originally met the dash, and another support on each side at the midway point between that and the existing forward plate. You could even enclose each side with some sheet aluminum or ply as a sort of side board/panel that would angle from the gunnel down to the casting deck and provide some storage pockets or a place to add additional flotation. I'd be inclined to mod the supports out of aluminum angle, but some exterior ply would work just as well. Could potentially even add some holes or tubes in the supports to use as one end of your rod storage solution.

I've got a good picture in my head, just not sure if I'm getting it across through my description

 

[bennylt]

Yeah, where the true gunwale ends is where it originally tied into the dash. From there forwards, it looks like the original bow cap was just cut to make the open bow. If the forward plate is really that secure and you plan to leave it as an open bow, I'd be inclined to leave that area as it is. Id' build my casting deck out to the original dash location at a minimum and run some angled supports from the top of the casting deck, up to where the gunwale originally met the dash, and another support on each side at the midway point between that and the existing forward plate. You could even enclose each side with some sheet aluminum or ply as a sort of side board/panel that would angle from the gunnel down to the casting deck and provide some storage pockets or a place to add additional flotation. I'd be inclined to mod the supports out of aluminum angle, but some exterior ply would work just as well. Could potentially even add some holes or tubes in the supports to use as one end of your rod storage solution.

I've got a good picture in my head, just not sure if I'm getting it across through my description

I'm right there with you. thinking along the same lines. My casting deck won't be very high. only a few inches above the regular aft deck. but I was considering just like you said, starting it right there and tieing it to the true gunwale. and maybe cross brace between that vertical and the front bulkhead.

Also if it wasn't clear before, she is going to be a tiller steer, so no console at all. it's already gone actually.

 

[Watermann]

Nice work on the tear down so far. My advice is to live in the moment and not get thinking too far ahead of the progress. Reason being is there could be some repairs necessary to the hull so you want to look it over very closely once the paint it gone. We often find people ran these boat with compromised decks and transoms causing stress cracks in the AL and not to mention damaged rivets.

I don't think we started off calling ourselves tin heads and our boats a tinny, rather the names stuck after the guys with glass boats started calling us and our boats that.

A couple questions.
Is this the first deck replacement? Wondering about how many holes are already through the tops of the rib ends and what's the plan to replace the deck again in 2 years? Your not replacing the transom wood so has it been replaced then since the 1960's?

 

[bennylt]

Nice work on the tear down so far. My advice is to live in the moment and not get thinking too far ahead of the progress. Reason being is there could be some repairs necessary to the hull so you want to look it over very closely once the paint it gone. We often find people ran these boat with compromised decks and transoms causing stress cracks in the AL and not to mention damaged rivets.

I don't think we started off calling ourselves tin heads and our boats a tinny, rather the names stuck after the guys with glass boats started calling us and our boats that.

A couple questions.
Is this the first deck replacement? Wondering about how many holes are already through the tops of the rib ends and what's the plan to replace the deck again in 2 years? Your not replacing the transom wood so has it been replaced then since the 1960's?

that's good advice. from exterior inspection it looks good. but of course that may all come out in the wash. This is not the original floor, and I don't know if the transom is original either. The floor is actually solid except in the rear corner where it rotted because it sat for a long time with a flat tire on the trailer and water pooled on that side instead of running out the plug hole. I am going to replace it none the less.

the boat sat all winter with no trailer jack too so the front was down and it had filled up with snow and rain so there was 2 feet of water in it toward the bow. so it holds water... at least until i clean it and knock stuff loose.

In any case. whoever did the original conversion to an open bow did a really nice job. I don;t know when that was though. and the boat sat uncovered for the past few years until I picked it up at an auction at the end of April.

Oh there was also a hull repair done at some point to the starboard bow side. looks like there was a dent from a dock or something down right at the water line. the paint was stripped, and a dent was hammered out. The one seam looks like some newer rivets and some kind of epoxy sealer. that part was holding water in, and the repair looks good and solid.

I wasn't picky due to the price i got it for. Lets just say, I could dump the trailer tomorrow for several times what I paid for the whole thing.

 

[Watermann]

Sounds like the perfect boat for us types that hang around here! Lots of adjectives are used when describing what we drag home but "is like 'new' " isn't one of them. :lol:

 

[bennylt]

Sounds like the perfect boat for us types that hang around here! Lots of adjectives are used when describing what we drag home but "is like 'new' " isn't one of them. :lol:

HA HA. love that. I'm totally a project guy. i don't look down on store bought stuff that other people get at all. that's great. but for some reason I am always drawn to something that requires me to work on. makes my wife pretty annoyed sometimes. ha ha. She just wants to go buy a new bed for our son. but I'm like, "I could build hiim a kick ass loft instead" she just rolls her eyes.

 

[bennylt]

I got NOTHING done on the boat this past weekend. I did however get my new trailer lights (waterproof LEDs) and a new bilge pump. So that is progress.... sort of.

I also need to rip into my 30hp to figure out where the vacuum leak is. It's sucking air somewhere and running lean, then sneezing. not really bad, but enough that i want to find it, and change the gasket before I take it out on the water.

 

[bennylt]

What about this stuff for on my flooring? http://www.seadek.com/p-10-large-sheet-39-x-77.aspx

it is pricy. But it seems like it would be really nice. and since it is made of CCF, I wonder if it adds any flotations. or even at least if it is even neutral, it wouldn't add any sinking weight.

 

[Watermann]

I got NOTHING done on the boat this past weekend. I did however get my new trailer lights (waterproof LEDs) and a new bilge pump. So that is progress.... sort of.

I also need to rip into my 30hp to figure out where the vacuum leak is. It's sucking air somewhere and running lean, then sneezing. not really bad, but enough that i want to find it, and change the gasket before I take it out on the water.

Hey just sitting inside the tin tub making motorboat sounds is good for progress. :lol:

Carb gaskets, fuel pump gasket would be the easy ones to replace. To check, get her running and shoot some carb cleaner around and see if she picks up RPMs.

 

[bennylt]

Some progress on the paint sanding this weekend.

Major progress; by having my 4yr old son help he is super excited about the boat the he and Daddy are building because "we made it" and "it is going to be his boat some day."

I'll admit there were a couple watery eyes with me and my wife when he said that.

 

[bennylt]

New trailer Jack installed, and light kit in hand. I'll have the trailer street legal by the weekend. Paint wire brushing continues. The old floor is still in because it makes it easier for me to move around and do other things.

I wonder. should i paint the boat before putting in the new floor? I don't intend to paint the inner hull that will be under the floor. and I'm not really worried about dripping paint on the new floor necessarily.

 

[bennylt]

It rained all weekend so I was stuck inside. Instead of working on the boat. I built my engine stand

 

[bennylt]

It has been raining pretty much non stop here for the past 5 weeks which limits my time working outside on the boat.

I have snuck in some time to get the rest of the topside stripped this past weekend when we had a sunny day. I left the floor in as long as I could because it was a lot nicer to have a surface to stand on while doing that stripping.

My next step is pulling out the plywood and old flotation.

Then I'll power wash inside and out. That should knock off a lot of the loose paint.

Then I can assess what i want to do next as far as paint is concerned. full strip, or partial strip, sand/feather.

The boat was repainted at some point, but it seems like the newer layer of paint is what is flaking off, (tan) and the original white paint under it is actually in good shape. I don;t think they primed on top of the original paint.

 

[bennylt]

I am still trying to determine the exact year of this boat. I know it is a Jet Star 15, and I am pretty sure it is somewhere between '65-'68.

It does still have the placard, but it is bady scratched up and the serial number is unreadable. The throttle box was right next to the placard the idle adjustment nut was contacting right where the serial number is and through turning the nut adjustment over the years the serial number got scraped away. All I can get is the final 275. I don;t even know how many characters the serials were supposed to have.

Did Starcraft hide any serial numbers anywhere else on the hull the way some manufacturers do now? and if i find the whole number, does anyone know if I can contact Starcraft for information about this particular boat? maybe even get a new placard?

Here is all I can get of the serial number.

 

[Watermann]

No SC doesn't have any hidden numbers I've ever seen and your boat was prior to the CG HIN requirements of 1972. That placard is damaged too badly to read the first 2 numbers to show the year.