1977 18' StarCraft SS

[AquaRoo]

So, I have been lurking around this forum for about 4 months now reading everyones' restoration threads trying to figure out what I want to do with mine. Like the title says, it is an '77 18 foot SS with a '77 Johnson 115. I actually lucked out and got mine for free from an uncle. He said the motor was blown, the steering cable was broken, and the transom and floor were both rotted and he just wanted it out of his shop. I knew literally nothing about boats whatsoever but I love anything DIY and figured it might be fun. So I drove 4 hours down to the coast and picked it up (I live in Temple, Texas and the boat was in Matagorda, Texas). Turns out all that was wrong with the motor was a busted water pump and no TnT. The steering was nonexistent and the floor and transom were definitely no good. Splashwell is cracked but that can be welded. So all-in-all I got a free boat that needs some work. But my other hobby is building jeeps/rock crawlers so I am no stranger to getting my hands dirty and doing repairs.

With all of that said, after reading through all of the countless threads I have been through now, I am thankful to all of you for creating such detailed posts about all of the work that you have done on yours because it has tremendously helped the learning curve as I have been doing research for my project. Originally I did not take many pictures (because i wasn't planning on doing a thread) but plan on trying to take as many pictures as I can from this point on so that maybe I can help some other newbie in the future.

So far I have pulled the consoles, seats, transom, and most of the floor. I also sand blasted all of the old paint off. There was several layers of paint just on top of other layers of paint. As I was sandblasting I found the original "StarCraft" paint underneath but it was really old and messed up. The main purpose of the boat will be fishing in Lake Belton and Stillhouse Hollow so I am trying to figure out the best layout for all of the seats and consoles when I put it all back together.

Thanks for reading, I'm looking forward to getting to know y'all and getting pulled further into this hobby.

 

[Tnstratofam]

:welcome: to the tinsanity! Looks like you've got a good start on a great project. There are lots of great restoration and resto mod projects here to learn from and get great ideas from. The nice thing is you can design her any way you want. Post up your questions if you have any, and good luck.

 

[dozerII]

Welcome to the Starmada AquaRoom, great start to the resto and lots of pictures. Will be following along.

 

[Watermann]

Welcome aboard AquaRoo, nice score on the 18' SS!

The ole gal looks like a great candidate for a second chance at the waves. :thumb:

I see the motor is only equipped with a tilt, having the pump off to the side like that sure looks like one to me. CMC makes a good aftermarket unit if you have to go looking for one.


<<< oh boy full boat admiral at 6001 posts. :lol:

 

[AquaRoo]

Thank you all for the welcome! I have seen an electric TnT on iboats that I plan on getting. I also forgot to mention that the trailer needs a ton of work. Sort of surprised I didn't get pulled over pulling it 4 hours home. Some of the lights went out half way home. Plan on completely redoing it to go along with the restored boat.

 

[g0nef1sshn]

Cant beat free!!!! Teardown is a fun time. keep the updates coming!

 

[AquaRoo]

This weekend I'm going to finish sand blasting it and flip it to get it ready to paint. I know the trailer already needs some work but do y'all think that I should move the axle at all while I have the boat off? I don't know much about trailering boats but it seemed a little funny when I was towing it home originally.