Starcraft Chieftain

[TimelessDave]

starcraft chieftain

Tyrell, I just bought a 21 ft. 1974 Starcraft Chieftain and was hoping to find any info online and the iboat site came up and I saw your post. I, like you want to honor the era of the boat except for color. I think there was a sink inside the cab because there is a drain hole in the sidde of the boat that looks factory to me. I would love to see a brochure to see the 'as built' factory OEM. I can tell you that the color of the side panels behind the cab are 1970's avacado green. I won't be using that! Do you have any info that you can pass on that may help me in my project. I love the look of these Chieftains. Mine is not an I/O transom. I wanted one that was made for an outboard and I'm not sure if there hard to find but when have looked on e-bay I don't see very many. I want to fish in the St. Joe river in Southwest Michigan and you can't use an I/O. They don't raise enough to run the river in certain conditions. I fish in November and will use the cab to stay warm. Many charters have cabs built but they are high enough to walk through. I think the original cab will work for me and the room to fish will be more than ample. Hopefully by next year I will have it operational. Again if you have any info please pass it on. Thanks,
'TimelessDave'

 

[TN-25]

Re: starcraft chieftain

Re: starcraft chieftain

Welcome TimelessDave. I happen to have the 1974 Starcraft cruisers brochure right here. The 2 top-of-the-line cruisers were the Chieftain 24 Mark IV (yellow & white) with an open cockpit and a closed galley; and the Chieftain 24 Mark IV Express (avocado green & white) with a covered cockpit and an open galley. Next down we have the Chieftain 21 Mark IV (yellow with black) that has a closed galley. That one had been in the lineup a few years at that point. That model was i/o only at that point but by 1976 they also offered an outboard version. The base Chieftain was the Chieftain 18 o/b (white). It also had been around a few years. It had an enclosed cabin but no cabinets, sink nor stove. The other cruisers offered were 2 different versions of the low-slung Islander 21. The Islander 21 had a bright blue hull and a white deck. It had an open floor with just 2 seat in the open cockpit (fishermen liked it). The other was the Islander 21 Mark IV with a black hull, silver deck and red interior. It had back to back sleeper seats and 2 stern seats.

 

[TimelessDave]

I am new to this group. I bought 21' Chieftain in 2007 up in Kenosha, Wi. I brought it back to Indiana (probably only 60 or 70 miles from its birthplace of Northern Indiana). I have not tackled the restoration as to date but have been watching some amazing restorations of various Starcrafts. It is a 1974 outboard model which seem to be more rare than the I/O's. I have a 120 Evinrude (1980ish) for the power plant. I will post some pictures in the future. The hull is in great shape and not even much paint damage. I think the transom will need replaced and the floor of the cabin is sound. The windshield will need a new piece of Lexan or auto glass. I'm looking forward to posting pictures and hear from the veteran Starcraft rebuilders. Thanks k, from Dave

 

[jbcurt00]

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/forum...pload-tutorial

Pix posting help ^^^

I moved this to its own topic and merged it w your previous topic about this Chieftain.

The 2015 Splash topic is for boats that get a makeover or complete rehab and are dropped back in the water (ie: Splash) in 2015.

Get the deck and transom pulled and put back, and we'd love to include it in the 2015 Splash list.

Welcome back

 

[Watermann]

Welcome to the tin loony bin Dave, not sure what's going on with the pics but photobucket is the best way to get them posted up here.

 

[oldhaven]

Hi Dave, I look forward to your progress reports. I have something similar going on and it has been hugely satisfying so far. The Chief and similar Starcraft restoration pieces on here are a great help to me.

Ron