1960 ish 12' starcraft

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nerdtastic

Active member
Joined
Jun 12, 2013
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Location
Benton County OR
So I have been a long time lurker and I finally have the time to start my first full build project. I have a little 12' 1960 vintage starcraft that I got from a friend for a song and a handshake. I have used it for several years with my son for fishing for Kokanee in the lakes here in western OR and night fishing and crabbing the bay in Newport. Right now it is rigged with a 1986 5 HP mariner that runs like a top and a 30 lbs Minn Kota for trolling in fresh water and a few no motor lakes. I run clamp on downriggers for Kokanee. So as you can see this is a bit of a do all split personality rig and with the salt water the trailer has seen better days to put it nicely. so the plan is right now as follows:

pull the bench seats out and replace with new wood
pull the old transom and replace with new wood
inspect and replace flotation foam if needed
built a mount for the battery under the front seat and install wiring for nav lights fish finder and trolling motor
strip bad camo paint job and repaint the bottom with wetlander if budget permits if not rattle can Rustoleum self-etching primer and topcoat white
strip trailer repaint with paint over rust Rustoleum top coat with basic white Rustoleum
replace bearings and races
rewire with all waterproof connections

So now for the newbie questions

for the wood, I have access to some white oak off a friends property. We are looking at cutting it into 2-3 inch quarter sawn strips and edge gluing them together to get the 12" width that I need for the bench seats. so the question is will that work we, of course, will be using Titebond 3 that is supposed to be waterproof any thoughts?

I was planning on running just 1 battery (it is a small boat) but I have heard that it is bad to run the trolling moter and fish finder together like that and it is better to have a separate battery for the fish finder has anyone is it possible to just cheat and use a DC noise filter, something like this https://powerwerx.com/dc-line-noise-filter-oemt

that's it for now until I get home and get some pictures tonight. thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice you guys might have!
 
Boat companies like Lund et al use 5/8" MDO (faced plywood) for their seats and that product lasts and lasts and lasts ...

MDO = Medium Density Overlay; some call it 'signboard', as it has smooth resin-impregnated facings, so it doesn't check.

Here's a link for how I re-did the transom wood on my early 70s vintage Starcraft 12' skiff, link = https://www.forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=43039

I bought some aluminum channel from Grainger.com for the new trim cap on the transom, worked out slick! 'Before' and 'after' photos shown below. I also think that the 'white boot stripe' makes the hull POP!
 

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Thanks, DaleH your boat looks exactly like what I have, the same star on the corner caps and everything! I am still kicking around paint colors and designs. I am hoping to be able to do wetlander up to the chine sense we tend to drag it up on the beach. I really like the blue and white pattern you did though. I may shamelessly copy that 8). I was also wondering how far down I could go on the transom wood and have it be stronger so I will copy what you did there. mine drops down about 1.5" and I never liked it so getting it to go straight across will look nice and get the motor just a little higher and make it easier to get both the 5 HP and the trolling on at the same time. That transom is already pretty short and it can get crowded when they are both on.
 
I’m doing a budget re finishing on a similar boat. Mine is pretty beat and not worth putting a lot of money into. I’m using pine for seat boards for that reason. And just used 2x10 for the transom board. Here is the link if you’re interested. https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=44152


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hey, Weldorthemagnificent thanks for the input.

I had seen your build last week and that was what had pushed me over the edge to start mine :D
How have those pine board benches held up so far? I was planning to go with the oak and like I said earlier get them all into vertical grain strips so they don't sag over time, well and the wood is free. But, if yours have held up well over time I might not need to go to that effort just mill them to a generous 3/4 and call it good.

Again since the Oak is free would it be good to use a solid piece for the transom board or would it be better to go ahead and get some plywood for that piece for dimensional stability?
 
Oak is good. I haven’t finished my seats yet. Just picked up stuff to seal. I used rough pine milled to 7/8” and it just fits in the brackets barely. The angle and the flotation boxes lend some rigidity. Yeah if you can get oak for free by all means go for it.


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Thanks, WV1951 I have been trying to figure out a 2 battery system but with this small of a boat, I am pretty much out of space not to mention additional weight.

So I have some starting pictures

and here she is in all her battered glory

IMG_20180423_200336.jpg


as you can see the trailer is pretty bad but it is still solid but it won't be much longer if I don't get on it.

IMG_20180423_200346.jpg


Seats, of course, need to go and it needs a good pressure washing.

IMG_20180423_200352.jpg


transom wood needs replaced and I am planning to extend it to about 12 inches and go straight across the top, hopefully getting the motor up about 2-3 inches it is a long shaft and right now it drags pretty bad.

IMG_20180423_200359.jpg


I really like the blue with the white stripe like Daveh did but I think I might go hunter green (Rustoleum pro rattle can of course) with a white stripe just above the chine then leave the chine natural and do something light on the bottom but I am open to ideas still just kicking ideas around.

IMG_20180423_200414.jpg


I am really happy it still has the original corner caps after seeing how few still have these. I didn't realize how rare they are until now. I think I might mask off the star and paint it white Just to make it pop a little.

IMG_20180423_200538.jpg


Still trying to figure out how I want to do the wiring I would like to have 2 switches one for the nav lights and one for the fish finder. I have one of the good Minn Kota battery boxes that I think I will build a cut off switch into and I would really like to have a USB plug and volt gauge. but right now that is just dreaming first the fun part, disassembly and cleaning. Hopefully, I can get to some of that this week.
 
I used the hunter green Rustoleum, but I brushed mine on. Three thinned coats over primer and it came out very nice. It took nearly a quart just for the bottom on a 14', so be prepared to go thru a few cans of spray paint.
 
I painted a 14’ boat once inside and out flat green Walmart paint. Used 27 cans! Talk about sore fingers! But that was back when paint was 75 cents a can.


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So progress, however small, has been made. I got the seats out and started the cleaning process

IMG_20180424_191949.jpg


IMG_20180424_191855.jpg


IMG_20180424_191843.jpg


I heading to my friend's house tonight with the old seats to use as a template for milling the new ones. I have an appointment for next week to have the trailer cleaned up. I was going to DIY it but every way I tried to do the cost just kept going up and it still would be quite right, for around $200 they will sandblast it to bare metal, epoxy primer and topcoat in the color of my choice. That will keep it alive for a long time and with the new bearings, races, and bearing buddies, I will be good to go.
 
So got it off the trailer and pressure washed. I had a few minutes tonight to experiment with different methods of paint removal it looks like wire wheel on the angle grinder is going to be the best, but if anyone has ideas to make this any less labor intensive I am sure open to them. I know it's going to be a lot of work no matter what but I am not an expert like some of you guys are.

676eceb6821f0a32b2b5bd2228c11cee.jpg


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weldor


https://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1276387&KPID=962079&cid=CAPLA:G:Shopping_-_Drive_to_Store&pla=pla_962079&k_clickid=f0ea3233-680d-42c9-9131-08b01f02a807&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ZrXBRDXARIsAA8KauSAE8p1sMKcYVfYWw9jInJF0JvcC4uLOY4wsTHf-5-P-6hax2xwYH8aAsZ3EALw_wcB

eb056b10-86eb-4227-929d-fdbdbcd2d2c7_1.4605e52cf65713c8e73bf103d1843dde.jpeg
 
Yeah I started to think along the lines of just giving up and painting over the top of it but the current paint isn't very well anchored, which is part of the problem. I really need to get it down to bare metal with some nice self etching primer. I was thinking about just using the Rustoleum self etching stuff has anybody used that, and if so how well did it stick? Or should I go with some kind of epoxy primer but that stuff is crazy expensive.

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richg99 said:
weldor


https://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1276387&KPID=962079&cid=CAPLA:G:Shopping_-_Drive_to_Store&pla=pla_962079&k_clickid=f0ea3233-680d-42c9-9131-08b01f02a807&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ZrXBRDXARIsAA8KauSAE8p1sMKcYVfYWw9jInJF0JvcC4uLOY4wsTHf-5-P-6hax2xwYH8aAsZ3EALw_wcB

eb056b10-86eb-4227-929d-fdbdbcd2d2c7_1.4605e52cf65713c8e73bf103d1843dde.jpeg
I know I was looking for one. Went to every hardware, Walmart etc. Nothing. Finished painting and went to the grocery store for a celebratory steak and there was a whole rack of them!


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I used the Rustoleum self etching primer on my last project. It worked fine. Prior to priming I did a vinegar wash (50/50 with water). Light coat of etching primer and lightly sand it prior to painting


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I think you'll be surprised how easily that paint will strip off with chemical stripper..

Here's a thread on a similar boat I did.

https://www.forum.tinboats.net/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=44636&p=448844&hilit=mirrocraft#p448844

Once you get most of it off with the stripper use one of these brushes... they're much easier to use than wire wheels, do a good job and don't dig in like wire.

https://www.myhardwaresupply.com/store/p/2988-4-org-Med-Nyalox-Mounted-Wheel.html?feed=Froogle&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInPWb0ufk2gIVjIzICh1b8gr6EAQYBCABEgJ6IvD_BwE

On a small boat like that you can make small removable floors and mount a comfortable chair to them, like this:

IMG_2819.JPG

IMG_2822.JPG

IMG_2824.JPG
 
that is a great build Shaugh I thought about using 2" stock for the seats but I wasn't sure how it would work/look now after seeing yours I will mill my seats thicker, I am hoping that will help keep them from warping as well. I like the idea of the chair with no bench sadly though I need to make sure I have at least some floatation sense we fish and crab in the bay and the last thing I want is the have the coast guard doing a deep water rescue. :oops:

I read a bunch of reviews on the Nylock wheels and they are pretty mixed it looks like they moved there manufacturing to China and a lot of the reviews I read said they just fall apart now. I have the following tools/abrasives that I am going to try and I might even post pictures and a brief report of each:

4-inch angle grinder with a wire wheel

Drill with a wire wheel

Drill with a quick strip disk

belt sander 4X20 with 80 grit and 120 grit

random orbital sander with 80, 100, 150

I have never seen a side by side and I think it might be a useful way to give back to the board a bit. I know I need to be careful with the belt sander it could easily tear straight through the hull but with a little care, it might make short work of the stripping. I know that any one tool will not cover everything and I may very well end up having to use a little bit of everything, but hey whats the use of having toys I mean tools if you don't pull them out and play with now and again right :D

assuming it's not pouring rain out this evening I will get some pictures going tonight after work.
 

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