My new Starcraft Project

[wvmedic]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Jerry, while I don?t have my SC yet I am in pre plan mode and what I have been pondering is removable seats.

The boat will be predominately be used by the wife and I for fishing and we want an open rear deck, but on occasion I?m sure we will have guests and just want to cruise.

One thing I have been considering is maybe a bench type seat similar to NB?s, I want to be able to attach them safely and securely but to be able to remove them easily.

Jeff.

 

[APPALOOSA2]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Jcup06 Nice find ! You will like that Starcraft Holiday they are a decent boat for a lot of different things.
You have my reverse paint scheme....

http://i1012.photobucket.com/albums/af244/appaloosa-2000/07-09-08015.jpg

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Ok so I ran into a little snag today. Yesterday I replaced the water pump, and the lower unit oil. Now when I run the motor there is a loud clanking/knocking noise which sounds like it is coming from above the water pump in the merc outdrive. It didn't make this sound before I changed the pump, and oil. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

J hows that new toy comming along havent heard much out of you since you got it .


Rick

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

I have been pretty busy at work so I haven't had as much time to work on the boat as I would like, but I have done a few things. First, I discovered that the outdrive is pretty much trashed and needs to be replaced. I had planned on replaceing it over the winter, so it's not a huge setback but I would like to have had the boat on the water already. I found a guy by me that will come to the boat and install a newly rebuilt merc drive for $1,700 with a 3 year warrenty. Not sure if this is a good price or not, but it should be installed within a few weeks.

I ripped all the seats out, picked up two white captain chairs and started to reupholster the drop in seats on either side of the dog house. Took Rick's advice and tried vinyl paint, and was pleasantly suprised! The green is being replaced with Navy Blue. Not sure how long the vinyl paint will last, but it looks much better than I thought it would.

I think I am going to go with two captains chairs up front, a big cooler seat with a flip back rest in the middle, and keep the drop in seats on either side of the dog house.

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Jerry the interior is looking great . I dont know if you hve looked but you can get the outdrive here on iboats new . I sem to remember seeing someone mention a price around $1000.00 for them . I think you will be quite happy with the vinyl paint . I have a chair in my shop I have been sitting on for years it was pinted gray from white when it showed up in my shop nd although a little worse for wear it is still 99% gray .


Rick

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Okay, so it has been a while since I posted, so I have tons of things to update. This is my first restore, so things have been pretty frustrating.

The brand new outdrive is installed and working great! The gimbal bearing was shot, so that had to be replaced also. The alternator was dead, so that was replaced. Brand new trailer tires are installed, which is how we noticed the broken equalizer bar, which has been replaced on both sides. Finished the rest of the vinyl, except the doghouse which I am going to make out of aluminum and paint white. Ripped the vinyl strips off the bow and stern, and painted that area navy blue. Replaced the bow and stern lights. Rewired the trailer lights. Replaced the dead power winch. Changed the grey colored motor oil (will get to that later...) Purchased a year subscription to Tow Boat US. Ummm I think that might be everything...

Okay, so after all that we decided to take her out this past Saturday. Left the house around 5am and headed for Cape May. Launched the boat, which looked great in the water btw , and headed for the Delaware bay. Everything was running and sounding great, surprisingly. We were greeted with very rough water (the pictures don't do it justice). I guess it was a good test for the new boat. She handled great! Plowed through the waves without and problems and felt extremely safe. I am really happy with the way the boat handled out there. We drove around for about 4-5 hours and everything was pretty much perfect until we checked the oil. The new oil was back to that grey color and the trip was over, we headed straight home. I know that the most probable cause is a water leak, but shouldn't the oil level have risen if water is leaking into it? We made sure to take note of the exact oil level on the dip stick when we changed the oil, and when we check it now its at that same level, just grey. Any suggestions would be appreciated! Right now I'm pretty much stuck with this oil issue, not sure what to do.

Sorry for the long post had a lot to catch up on, and better pictures will be up soon... I took these on my phone.

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Here are some more pictures of our trip.

(This was about 2 minutes before the guy sitting in the white shirt puked over the side


http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac222/jcupo6/IMG_1338.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac222/jcupo6/IMG_1339.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac222/jcupo6/IMG_1329.jpg

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac222/jcupo6/IMG_1340.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac222/jcupo6/IMG_1322.jpg

http://i902.photobucket.com/albums/ac222/jcupo6/IMG_1321.jpg

 

[Andy in NY]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Jerry, sorry to hear about the oil issue... i wish i could help you... anyways glad you got her on the water.

 

[windsors03cobra]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Nice looking old boat, which motor is in the old girl ?

I would try chaging the oil again and maybe a little flush to push some of that sludge out of the oil pan, is there a white glop of wateroil in the underside of the oil filler cap ?
What temp does the engine run at ?
I would surely think the level would increase if there was a cracked block, I had a straight six with a cracked block and there were 2 gallons of water in the crankcase in addition to the oil.

 

[CheapboatKev]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Nice Holiday!
I'm shocked I missed posting yet! You got on the water pretty quick, well compared to me..lol

I agree 100% with Windsor..

Change the oil (& filter) again and go run her. You may have to do this another time after this 2nd change.

Water in the oil will turn the oil a mocha cream color and will have bubbles whip up in it from the crank..I do not think you have any water intrusion.

This is the kinda repair that I'd like the most...ya have to go run her, change the oil and go hit the water again!

Let us know and welcome to the SC club.

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Thanks for all the help! She has a Mercruiser 3.0 140hp which ran great, minus the oil color!

I agree with all of you, I am starting to think condensation from the boat sitting for 2-3 years is causing the oil to turn. There was just a little bit of the white sludge on the oil cap, but the oil itself looks nothing like that. We changed the oil and filter and are planning on running her this weekend and are going to change the oil right after. We may do this 3-4 more times depending on how the oil looks. Hopefully this will take care of the situation!

 

[Huron Angler]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Hey nice Holiday you've got there! Glad to see you got her out on the water so soon...many in these forums take longer to splash their resto projects.

What kind of fish are you after out that way? Boat looks great...I agree those waves looked pretty rough but I'm sure the 22' holds her own in some chop. Congrats

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Hey nice Holiday you've got there! Glad to see you got her out on the water so soon...many in these forums take longer to splash their resto projects.

What kind of fish are you after out that way? Boat looks great...I agree those waves looked pretty rough but I'm sure the 22' holds her own in some chop. Congrats

Thanks! Really, we are just going after anything we can catch... Gettin ready for the Striped Bass in the fall. There is lots more that I am planning on doing to her, but that will happen in the winter. I am just going to try and use the boat as much as I can until then!

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Okay, so here is an update of things we have done in order. We changed the oil again. Bought a new themostat and installed it because the previous owner removed it. Took the boat out again and noticed more water than ever. Took the boat home and did a compression test - 1-150, 2-170, 3-150, 4-120. Great, right... So we took the head off. Gasket looked okay. No cracks, a bit of water in 4. Cleaned everything out and it looked pretty good actually. We did notice that the bolts on the head were rather easy to remove. Put a new gasket on and tightened everything up with a torque wrench. Redid the compression test and got 1-130, 2-130, 3-130, 4-120. Motor ran and sounded solid, but it always had. Unfortunately the oil quickly turned back to the grey color.

So here are my thoughts. Let me know what you think, I need all the help I can get!
1. The head gasket seemed okay, but the bolts did not seem tight enough. Maybe the previous owner changed the head gasket and didn't use a torque wrench when putting the head back on. Could that have been the source of the water, and now it's just a matter of multiple oil changes to clean the milky oil out?

2. I am concerned about the thermostat. Like I said, when we put one in it seemed like there was more water than ever and the motor ran hot. It ran in the red for about a minute before cooling back down. Could there be a leak in the cooling system leaking into the oil? How would I check that?

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Another update...
We decided to take the exhaust manifold off. The manifold was cracked. We also found that the flapper valve was missing. We replaced the flapper and the manifold and changed the oil. Ran the motor for about 8 minutes and the oil changed back to the greyish color. We are hoping this is because there was still water in the system and a couple oil changes will get everything back to normal. I am a bit hesitant to say that we fixed the issue after everything we have done, but the exhaust manifold was cracked and needed to be replaced so it is not like we did it for nothing. I am not really sure what to do if there is still leak, I guess the only thing left would be a cracked block?

 

[Rickairmedic]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Jerry hopefully you got her fixed . Worst Case theres plenty of 120 Mercs out there in worn out Glass hulls .



Rick

 

[Captmills]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Hey appolossa, thats the color of my starcraft!!! is it original? mine appears to have been hunter green.Thinking about going back with that.

 

[jcupo6]

Re: My new Starcraft Project

Okay, so I am tired of trying working on this current motor so I decided to replace it. Found a newly rebuild replacement that I will install over the winter months. Hopefully this one will give me better luck!

Over the last two weeks I have been working on the floor. The old one was in really bad shape, so I ripped it out. Most of the foam was fine, I only replaced the pieces that were in bad shape. I used 1/2" marine grade plywood which I sealed with Spar Varnish. The old floor had vinyl covering glued to it. It looked okay, but I wanted something different so I got a couple sheets of 1/2" Marine Board and screwed that down. I know this will add more weight, but I like the look and added strength. It will also be easier to clean.