1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

A

arnoldclan

Cadet
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
20
OK here's my situation.. Tomorrow I go to pick up my new project. Its a 1970 StarCraft Chieftain 21'.. I'm excited!! I happen to cross paths with this project as a FedEx courier, its amazing how many boats on deaths door I run across.. at any rate. I got a great deal on this adventure after a little bargaining $400.. now the work will begin. I really won't get started till fall of 2014. too much life between now and then.. farming.. cattle.. hogs.. fishing.. hunting.. grandkids, ect. ..I'm sure you get it.. I plan on total refit. Currently a 165hp with closed cooling(I do 95% in the ocean).
I am virgin at restoring this type of vessel, but feel confident its within my abilities and aspirations.. and budget?? I've restored and kept alive many mechanical machines..
I am willing to listen and and greatly appreciative of any suggestions and advice on this adventure, really!! I enjoy learning from experienced folks and learning from their mistakes so hopefully I won't make the same ones..
I hope to have the Admiral document and record the progress of the refit in a timely manner so as to get current feedback, but I feel there might be some conflicts with facebook priorities.. but we'll see..I'll post pictures when I can figure it out.. Thanks Bill A
 
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jasoutside

jasoutside

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Dec 20, 2009
Messages
13,269
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Welcome Bill! You'll find that there are a whole bunch of great guys hang out around here and they are always willing to give a hand. Looking forward to checking out your new Chief:thumb:
 
Weep'n Willy

Weep'n Willy

Master Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
831
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Welcome aboard Bill. Sounds like a great price you paid. Several Chieftain projects on this site to scan over and glean information from. Looking forward to seeing some pics.
 
classiccat

classiccat

"Captain" + Starmada Splash Of The Year 2020
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
3,412
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Welcome! :welcome:

You're in great company! Several chieftan's currently being restored.

now for those pics ..tic-toc-tic-tock... :hungry:
 
InMotion

InMotion

Commander
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
2,080
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Welcome Bill... you'll be among a rarified group of folks who suffer from things like "getup earlyitis", "obsessive tear apartitis" and "really dear, just one moreitis" --- otherwise know as mbs! :)

Looking forward to seeing some pics and what you do with the Chief.

Have a great Saturday.

Jim
 
cj8mule

cj8mule

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Apr 7, 2012
Messages
660
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Welcome Bill. Awesome to have another Chief in the dock.

These guys (and me :joyous: ) are picture perverts. We just gotta have 'em.....

Get yourself a photobucket account or some other hosting site. Click on the image link here and paste the photobucket link. We'll help ya figure it out.
 
redneck joe

redneck joe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Mar 18, 2009
Messages
11,829
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

welcome. I'm one of those guys (aka a 'glasser') but love me some old tin too.

And my UPS/Fed Ex guys laugh every time they bring me a boat part, many times when I'm home working and they see my truck in the drive they'll come knock on the side of the boat and deliver to the 'correct' location....

You might know a couple on your route, once you start buying and learning the ship from names. Make friends with them - they can help physically and we'll help from afar.
 
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A

arnoldclan

Cadet
Joined
Feb 10, 2013
Messages
20
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Think I got it, These are just quick pics of when I picked it up, I'll add closer more detailed pictures this next week. I have many questions about stuff. Not sure what outdrive?? Whats this for?..whats that for?.. I'll get more pictures up soon. Just wanted to test, see if photos get linked ok. Thanks for the support, Bill arnoldclan's Library | Photobucket
 
A

astor

2018's Starmada Splash Of The Year.
Joined
Jul 31, 2011
Messages
425
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

Welcome aboard Bill! Plenty of helpful folks around here, they're a bit perverted and are obsessed with boat porn. so pics are mandatory or they start getting hostile. Looks like you gotta a great project.
 
barato2

barato2

Commander
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
2,956
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

thanks for posting all those pix.

you mentioned salt water. what part of country are you in? where do you plan on running it, and what sort of budget are you approaching it with? how deep of a resto are you wanting to get into? this will determine the answers to some of your Qs. i'm assuming from your initial descrip that you aren't looking to plow moon-shot $ into boat (ie, no 4-stroke outboards on pods)

the first 3 things you need to assess are soundness of floors and transom, and compression on motor. this will give you an idea of what to do on motor.....motor swaps to a newer motor are easier if you already are pulling transom...in fact, i think you have to pull the motor to remove inboard end of outdrive so you can get trans out. if motor is seized or has bad compression, it might turn out as cheap to find a glasser donor boat with bad floors & transom (dime a dozen) and later model 4.3 V6 as to rebuild the existing motor...plus you often get a trailer and other useful parts, not to mention cheers from the Starmada when you post pix of cutting it up :D speaking of which, how's the trailer?....more of an issue for salt water usage.

if floors are bad, transom likely is too, as is the "flotation" foam under floor (quotes are because lot o folk find that it's waterlogged and no longer floatin much of anything).



run compression test on motor and see how it stacks up....if it's good, i'd consider sticking with that one....durable, frugal on fuel, no need to fab mounts etc.
 
dozerII

dozerII

Admiral
Joined
Oct 25, 2009
Messages
6,527
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

From the pics of the motor you are going to be looking for some parts, the distributor and carb have been replaced with automotive ones, the dizzy could let sparks out into the bilge and I don't see a carb float bowl vent line that goes back to the fuel pump.
 
barato2

barato2

Commander
Joined
Dec 7, 2010
Messages
2,956
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

and the economic irony is that one can often find a whole donor boat with good drivetrain for less than new marine-ized carb n dizzy.....
 
GA_Boater

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
Re: 1970 Starcraft.. a Vision...

For some reason I can't see the last set of pics (cabin/hull) but a couple of things other then the auto parts the other basics mentioned:

The MC 165 6 cylinder is a great motor, good power and fuel economy. Also you have closed cooling on it, which is fairly rare and good to have for salt running.

The other thing I saw is your bilge pump. It's sitting on top of the floor, maybe it got moved around. It should be down under the motor, as low as possible.

Welcome to the tin drydock and hoping for a quick turn-around. :D
 
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