Need advise on how I should put a new deck on a 16' starcraft

[thegipper]

No Title

Ok just to be abundantly clear, I found a picture online of a different boat deck but it illustrates what i'm working with. Imagine the bracket that I have circled in the picture but that bracket is on the floor and it runs about 10 feet long on both the port and starboard side of the boat. The wood deck is under these bracket on BOTH sides. The bracket HAD to be put on AFTER the wood deck was already down.

 

[BWR1953]

Howdy! :wave: Having fun yet? :lol:

It's odd for sure. The pix of your boat show the lip bending downward, below the deck, hiding the "lip" from view once the deck is in place. The one in the "demo" pic in post #21 show a lip bent upward which would be easier to deal with because it's easily visible.

I wonder if some Prior Owner installed that lip/bracket on there. And even if not, wouldn't it be simpler/easier to just install the deck on top of the bracket instead of trying to force it underneath? :noidea:

 

[jbcurt00]

It seems the lip on your boat isnt quite as stout as the one on the bow deck pix you grabbed elsewhere. Is that correct?

If you can slowly bend it up and outta the way, I would do so. Cut the deck slightly shorter then the entire width of the boat (you want to do that anyway, leave a 1/4in gap on both ends), slide the deck under 1 side that you only bend up a little, just enough to slide the plywood under it. Then drop the other end of the deck past the bent up aluminum. Once you get most (all?) of the deck in place, go along and bend the 2 aluminum strips back down and fasten it to the new deck.

Again, its not required, but I would seal both sides and all the edges of the new deck. Esp under carpet. See the link in my earlier post.

I suspect however it was installed, it was to hold the deck down along its edges. As I mentioned earlier, some SCs came w interior plywood side panels that had a similar aluminum angle installed between the side panel and the deck. But those were installed sticking up, not down.

The rivets holding down this aluminum strip, thats giving you fits, are thru the hull, below the deck and in or around the chine/spray rail along the exterior of the hull, appear to be factory original, correct?

And remember this is a family friendly forum, and skip the profanity.

 

[thegipper]

My apologizes.

JB understands it perfectly now. The lip sits on top of the deck not underneath. Trying to bend the bracket upward may be too difficult. If I cant bend it upward, I will have no choice but just make the deck smaller and not slide underneath these brackets at all.

The brackets were 100% original to the boat, these were not added afterwards. Its a terrible design for the exact reason I am having. If you ever need to replace the floor, it becomes a nightmare. I just picked up the wood so I'll keep ya posted.

 

[Slager]

What ever you do, make sure you tie the deck to the sides of the boat somehow, otherwise the sides will flex too much which could cause cracking over time.

 

[jbcurt00]

My apologizes.

JB understands it perfectly now. The lip sits on top of the deck not underneath. Trying to bend the bracket upward may be too difficult. If I cant bend it upward, I will have no choice but just make the deck smaller and not slide underneath these brackets at all.

The brackets were 100% original to the boat, these were not added afterwards. Its a terrible design for the exact reason I am having. If you ever need to replace the floor, it becomes a nightmare. I just picked up the wood so I'll keep ya posted.

But is the aluminum you need to bend up a lighter (thinner) gauge then the aluminum bracket pix you found elsewhere?

I ask because I think that one is actually a bench seat bracket and fairly stout, I doubt you could bend it much or succesfully up and outta the way and back w ease.

Hard to say for sure on the older Starcrafts, even being a 1982, which makes it younger then most, its still a 35+yr old boat.

FYI: On the closed bow SCs, it seems the factory hung the dash from a rafter then built the boat around it :facepalm:

So sometimes its a mystery how to either disassemble them or rebuild them after.....

Reminder: seal the deck before install....

 

[SOG3]

Just my 2 cents worth,cut the floor the the width of the boat minus the width of one of the lips,then slide the floor half the distance of the lip width after you put it under the first lip.You should still have enough wood to screw into to secure it .

 

[GA_Boater]

The plate is a light duty version of the chine reinforcement used on some of the bigger hulls. The plate help minimize chine cracking, which we have dozens od examples in the restos.

Drill out the rivets and remove the plate/lip on both sides. Install the deck and re-rivet the plate. The deck needs meat under the lip to hold it securely.

If you don't remove the plate, I see it cracking because it will need to be really bent to get it out of the way and the chances of the rivets holding the plate to the hull developing a leak are high.

BTW - Have you checked the foam for water?

 

[bunnymoney]

19825.jpg photo by Lac_Huron

 

[thegipper]

No Title

Well I managed to get two pieces of deck in the boat so far and I got both under the lip. what I did was push the board as far as I could under one side under the lip and kept trimming it until it was able to lay flat. I then slid the deck under the other lip on the other side and just equalized how much deck was under each lip. The holes in the brackets are right on the edge of the lip so I was able to secure the deck down on both sides (and obviously in the middle on the joist).

I did screw up in one area (cut too short) so I put a thin piece of aluminum over the gap and screwed it down to the deck and brackets. It is what it is, it's not perfect but it will have to do.

PS.I did seal the deck and I did take foam samples, the foam is bone dry.

today will be the next half of the boat, wish me luck!

 

[Watermann]

My V5 SS has similar side deck supports but the wood decking goes on top of them, not underneath.

 

[thegipper]

No Title

Well, I got the entire deck done this weekend. Wow, what a total pain in the butt but at least its done. I did two layers of 1/2" marine plywood on the top deck so its extra stiff. The rest of the floor is also very solid so I'm happy with that. All the wood has been treated with deck sealer. I just need to install the trolling motor, paint the console, mount the electronics, clean up the trailer and fix a few rollers, mount the batteries, make some kind of rear storage doors, carpet it and a few other odds and ends. Getting that wood deck underneath those brackets was a total nightmare.

I'm guessing another 3 solid days of work.

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[Watermann]

. Getting that wood deck underneath those brackets was a total nightmare.

I've not seen one single Starcraft 80's, 70's, 80's or 90's rebuilt here that had decking shoved up under side brackets.

 

[thegipper]

I've not seen one single Starcraft 80's, 70's, 80's or 90's rebuilt here that had decking shoved up under side brackets.

I don't know what to say, it is 100% the way it came from SC. It had the original deck on it with the original rivets and the deck was under those brackets. I tried putting my first piece on top of them but than the deck was about a 1/2" above the foam and joists. Maybe mine was a screw up from the factory? It's hard to say but I'm glad its done.

 

[Watermann]

What's under the deck for those blind rivets to bucktail against? The rib end? What did you use to secure the deck? As you can tell I'm a bit confused and want to understand your SCs setup.

I can't tell from the pic.

 

[thegipper]

The rivets went through the bracket and into the wood, that's it. The brackets had holes pre drilled for the rivets to go through. I used coated deck screws and pre drilled the holes into any aluminum they were going through.

I reinforced each seam with a piece of marine plywood (and deck sealed) so that the seams wouldn't flex. The floor is rock solid. I also doubled up the front area so its extra strong.