14.5' Starcraft project

[jbcurt00]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

With 3/4 ply would you still suggest riveting to the floor without counterbore?

How do you plan to finish the deck once it's laid?

Paint, nautolex, etc?

Some prefer to counter sink & bury deck rivets in epoxy to prevent water intrusion at rivet.

I think Glen rivets the ply down w/out countersinking the rivet heads & lays the nautolex right over them. Hardly notices the 'bumps'...

JigNGrub will be along in a bit to strongly suggest you wrap the ply w/ nautolex 1st, then rivet the deck down 1 vinyl wrapped piece at a time. This leaves the rivets exposed above the vinyl, which makes pulling the deck, to check for a leak or do repairs etc, easy. Done neatly & with some fore thought, it looks great. I like exposed fasteners, the boat is covered w/ exposed rivets, right? But many don't like the look of the exposed rivets on the vinyl........

If you want to countersink the rivet heads, you don't need to drill much of a countersink, unless you want to bury them w/ epoxy over the top of the head. Barely a divot will allow the rivet to countersink below the surrounding surface when you cinch them down. Not even completely thru the top layer of the plywood laminations.

 

[Chip500]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

I want to either epoxy or paint the floor. My plan is to fit the floor, drill the rivet holes, and then remove and seal the floor so everything will be adequately covered. I like the idea of a marginal divot to countersink the rivets.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

Sounds like a good plan. Countersinking the fasteners would mostly be for looks. Some of the guys that use vinyl actually show off the rivets to add a bit of "bling" by leaving them exposed. You should also try to add some sort of closed cell foam below deck for good measure too. Aluminum angle, old aluminum ladders and/or sealed 2" x 2" all make for great bracing materials.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

I countersunk the rivets on my 18' I laid two coats of epoxy, then waited til I installed the floor and put a final coat overtop of everything with the floor in the boat.

I am a big fan of using 5/8" ply for flooring, a little stronger than 1/2" but alot lighter than 3/4"

 

[Chip500]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

Been a while since I posted but a lot has been done and will upload pictures closer to completion. I've cut the floor and coated it with 4 coats of spar oil on both sides and 8 on the edges, painted the boat in flat olive green (standard duck hunting color), and pre mounted all of the hardware.

I have a couple of questions:

I bought a 30 hp 2 stroke yamaha tiller motor which seems to be a good fit for the boat and was wondering what performance numbers I could expect?

I plan on installing pink flotation foam under the floor and inside the bench and wanted to know about how many sheets would be appropriate to provide for adequate buoyancy?

I'm installing hydroturf closed celled eva foam on the floor once the foam is cut and wanted to know if you had any suggestions for an adhesive compound to use?

 

[kfa4303]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

Glad you're making progress chip. These old tinnies go back together pretty quickly once the demo is done. That's a great motor you picked up there by the way. Those late model, Yami 2-strokes are worth their weight in gold down here I live, especially the tiller models. I'm jealous It should easily push you along at around 25mph maybe even a bit more if you take the time to dial her in properly. My '66 20hp Johnson 2-stroke pushes my 14' vintage tinnie along at about 20mph (with a light load). I would think 2-3 boards of the closed-cell, pink insulation foam should be enough. I'm not sure what the best adhesive would be, unfortunately, but I'm sure someone else will know what to use. Good luck. Keep us posted.

 

[wheelin_ca]

Re: 14.5' Starcraft project

i have a 30hp yamaha on my 14' starcraft falcon.... got approx 25mph... but that was also with the motor a little too low, and a half rotted transom...

id expect probably 30mph or so... then it comes down to weight and prop