'74 Starcraft Holiday "186" gut and rebuild project

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Pictures later... I have the aforementioned Holiday nearly gutted.

Problems are many but I own the boat and have a good 90HP for it, and it's got a great Cox trailer.

- stringers are all loose with too-small 1/8" pop rivets. some missing at this point
- a redish, purpley rubbery substance was poured into the hull at several locations along the keel. This will need to be removed. It leaks from the keel and several other rivets near the chine when flooded with water.
- transom is shot. Plan is to replace at full height, fill in aluminum at the cutout, and add several more knee braces. Then fabricate an offshore bracket kind of affair. That will save almost 30" of deck space formerly used up by the splashwell.

The question I have today involves the side panels. The panels I took out had the lower aluminum "foot" /on/top/of/ the carpet/plywood, but it was angled into the hull space a lot and didn't look quite tight. Didn't look right at all, and a toe-biter. Is the OEM arrangement to have this foot piece under the flooring? I can't tell as this floor had been replaced once already along with the carpet. Just looking ahead for install thinking. More questions down the road I am sure

 

[GA_Boater]

This is a pic of my side panel mounting in the starboard rear corner. Might be a little hard to see, but the "Z" is on top of the carpet. It is impossible to put the floor on top of the "Z".



The pic is from when I got her and doesn't look like that any more.

On you other comments;

The stringer is always "floppy" and moves from side to side. The strength comes from the floor being screwed/riveted to it and the floor attached to the top of the outer rib ends. That's why the side panel "Z" sits on top of the floor.

The reddish stuff is Starcraft Smega, A proprietary sealer used in the factory in most all of the tinny models. Does that sound like sales talk? :smile: It does dry out and looses effectiveness after a few decades.

I don't know if you've seen any of the bracket conversions in the SC forum. There are a few - I don't remember who did them.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Ok, so that surely means that I shouldn't use the side panels for a template cuz PO obviously made them too tall! The bottom of the Z on mine was sticking up quite a bit, and they weren't tight to the sheer. Thank you for that picture, exactly what I needed to know.

The stringer floppy side-to-side: got that. Problem on mine is what appears to be 1/8" pop rivets that are either pulled, worn out, or missing. There is a LOT of play in the stringer-to-rib connection. Nothing solid at all. And the port side forward part has so much play and missing rivets that the plywood had a 1/2" or better dip. You can see where the oem 3/16" rivets were in place about 2" to port of the PO's rework. It won't go back like that!

I will follow up later with further questions and pics of progress. no pics on my iPad...

 

[dozerII]

The rivets in the stringers get loose like that once the floor rots out and quits tying everything together. The side panels a very important to the strength of the hull by tying the gunwales to the deck. They are always installed over the completed deck on models with the Z chanel on the bottom, but they should be close to vertical once installed.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Progress. Have a photo but over 2 megs...

All the floor and transom is out and all the ...residue... is rinsed clean.
There is a a 4" split on the port chine someone gooped over that I will get welded.
Removed remnants of three bilge pumps.

I have concluded that the purplish goop is NOT an OEM program because of the number of drilled out rivet barbs it's poured over, and the same product is slathered over a couple of riveted repairs, too. I guess the boat lived hard but PO kept after fixing up damages.

The truth is it's fixable but it's also true that I could probably find a better candidate. Buuuuut, I already have this one and replacing and/or repounding rivets is nearly free.

 

[Watermann]

Oh man, the split spray rail is a problem common to these boats where people run them with rotten decking and loose rivets without hull stiffeners. The old gal can be fixed if you're up for the challenge.

Hold off on the welding until you hear some of the options to repair. Will need to see the pics and know the dimension of the crack.

 

[Alumarine]

This might help posting pictures.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/othe...tep-by-step-with-a-free-hosting-site?t=530391

point 4 is the best approach

• 4: IMG code

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

This might help posting pictures.

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/othe...tep-by-step-with-a-free-hosting-site?t=530391

point 4 is the best approach

• 4: IMG code

Thanks. Going to look for a phone app to reduce resolution and size. One stop shopping that way.
If I was on a computer it would be easy, but I am "portable" currently. Still need to take a minute to photobucket up though...

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

So the split is likely not a stress crack in and of itself. It's more a result of what looks like an incident of it washing up on some rocks after leaving its mooring or tie-up at an unauthorized time. It has multiple dents on that side only.

The three questions today are:
- is/are the rub rails riveted or screwed on? The end caps are riveted... Are they also glued in some way?
- would welding the stringers to the ribs create more of a stress riser than rivets?
- was Taylor Made the supplier of the windshield and if so has anyone sourced replacement glass? The starboard forward light is apparently plexi and I would like to return it to glass as oem. Not being lazy but the forum members here seem to have done it all.

 

[Alumarine]

Thanks. Going to look for a phone app to reduce resolution and size. One stop shopping that way.
If I was on a computer it would be easy, but I am "portable" currently. Still need to take a minute to photobucket up though...

Welcome. If you have an Android then "Send Reduced" is great for sending reduced pics.
You can set a default size - I use 640x480.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

iPad and iPhone - not an apple fan so much but the Air was a gift and the iPhone i got when I got my daughter a 5... I like the portability

 

[Watermann]

The rub rail vinyl insert has some blind rivets holding it in place on the ends under the caps. The rub rails have machine screws and nuts that fastens them.

For the stringers/deck supports I would just replace the blind rivets. You'll be amazed how they tighten right up, there's no advantage to welding them.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Since the split is fiberglassed by PO from the exterior, and it doesn't leak there, and the split is drilled at both ends, I think I am going to pound up a patch and rivet it from the inside with peened rivets. That will be simple and with 5200 will be as good or better than a weld, and won't compromise the iffy yet successful previous 'repair.'

Splitting my time between this and my Edinboro project. At this point the MFG appears closer to splashing so that my win for the moment. Which could be a bonus cuz the Holiday wants a lot of time and money that might be better spent over the winter with the luxury of time to do exactly what I want instead of racing the weather with compromises. The cost will likely be the same rushing or taking my time, but the end product will be different.