First Post: 66 Starcraft Sportsman Transom Redo and Repower

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ronjon1190

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Hi Everybody!
I am a long time lurker here, and I have found there is a TON of information on this site. Before diving into this project, I spent a lot of time reading about everyone else's rebuilds, and learned a lot!

After a bad summer with no boat last year due to ongoing motor problems, I was tossing around the idea this winter of buying a new outboard. On my birthday in December, my 5 yr old niece gave me 2 matching lures, and a hand made card with a drawing of us on a boat. She said “now we have the same lures when you take me fishing this summer!” (her dad said she insisted that she got me lures for my birthday! :lol: )
Just like that, I decided to buy the Tohatsu 50 4 stroke I had been eyeing up. It took a while to get the money together, but March 23, I took delivery, and started tearing the old Johnson off of the boat.

While I had spent a lot of time 2 years ago, patching a few places in the hull, and repainting the interior, When I took the old motor off, I found that the transom board was rotten. I can't put a brand new outboard on a questionable transom! Out came the splash well, and out came the rotten plywood. Underneath I found a dirty holy corroded mess. Interestingly the corroded parts were just where the plywood was. In addition to corrosion, there were about 40 extra holes from where people mounted who knows what over the years, some of which were badly patched, some not at all.

This picture is of the little fisherman that started me down this rabbit hole, and my helper, Scooter. He passed away in October. He never missed a boat ride! This picture was from the last repair I did on the boat a few years ago.20160313_163431.jpg

Heres some pictures of what I started with. (And of course, The Shiny New Powerplant!)
 

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So far I have stripped everything on the transom down, cleaned all the corrosion off, patched the holes using hts 735 aluminum brazing rod, and 3m premium Marine filler on the few holes that were too big to braze. There was one area that was really badly corroded, and when I tried to braze the holes shut, new bigger ones showed up! I cut that area out and rivited a new piece of aluminum behind the old panel, then filled that with the 3m filler.
boat 1.jpg

I got two sheets of marine plywood and fiberglassed them together. Once I cut out the shape of the transom board, I drilled out the mounting holes for the structure of the boat on either side, the mounting holes for the knee, the holes for the outer backer board, and the two drains for the splash well. I then removed the board, re drilled all the holes oversize, and coated the entire outside with the fiberglass resin. Once two coats of that had dried / cured, I used Tyvek tape to Seal one side of the holes, then I filled them completely with the resin as well.
boat 2.jpgboat 3.jpgboat 4.jpg

While that was drying/curing, (for 72 hrs) I straightened out some warping on the aluminum where I got a little too aggressive with the heat while brazing. It is lumpy and ugly, but the primer makes it look worse than it really is. (I don't really care what it looks like anyway, since the FISH don't care! :mrgreen: Then I coated the outside of the aluminum with primer, and the inside with a solid layer of “coat-it” (similar to gluvit). I forgot to take pictures of this before I put the wood in for good.IMG_20180410_195913.jpg
image.jpg

Monday, I put the wood in for good, and re drilled my holes for the mounting hardware. I bought all new hex head SS bolts, SS washers, and SS nylock nuts. I put a ring of 3m 5200 around each washer and squirted some in each hole to create a complete seal as I tightened all the bolts holding the transom in.
Last Night, I cut out a new backer board, and coated it with resin. (I totally forgot to cut this out and coat it when I was doing the inner piece). I reinstalled the top cap, and straightened the aluminum panel a little more.IMG_20180410_195903.jpgIMG_20180410_213952.jpgIMG_20180410_214003.jpg
 
Looks like a cool project! You'll love that Tohatsu. I'm interested in seeing more of the boat.
 
Thanks for the reply Bateman. Ill have to grab some pictures of the rest of the boat tonight. I dont have any good ones.
 
I found some pictures of the last time I did any work on my hull, 2 years ago, I developed a leak where the transom meets the keel. Years of gunk sitting there on the inside had corroded that area to the point of being holy. I inspected the rest of the bottom of the hull, and found that this was the only place where damage was apparent. I cleaned the area down to bare aluminum and scuffed it with coarse sand paper. I cut a trapozoidal shaped piece of aluminum sheet at work, then bonded it to the holy area with a solid layer of epoxy (I think I used PC-7. I then bent the aluminum sheet to match the contour of the boat, and held it there with a floor jack and a piece of azak plastic trim board, because it was flexible. once the epoxy cured, that plate is there forever. I used 3m marine filler to feather out the edges of the sheet, then coated the whole repair with rustolem enamel paint. When this was finished, i filled all the holes in the top of my gunwales, and threw a coat of paint on them. I replaced the crappy old cracked and broken steering wheel with a stainless unit, and repainted the plywood interior (replaced semi recently by the previous owners) with good quality outdoor porch and floor paint.
 

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Last night I spent some time straightening the top cap out, and finished nailing that in. I cleaned it up a little bit with a wire wheel. Then I spent the rest of my night painting the inner and outer transom, and the backer board for the outboard. The Result is starting to look more like a boat!IMG_20180411_211447.jpg

Tonight I will try to get the splash well painted, and figure out how to get the inner rub rails back in place. I think I can pull the rubber out of the aluminum track, use aluminum pop rivets on the track and then push the rubber back into the track? Maybe? Any input on this would be appreciated. Then its just installing the splash well, getting those rails buttoned up, putting the corner caps back on, then I can get to the fun part... THE OUTBOARD!!! :D
 
I had a great weekend. Friday night I got the splash well cleaned up and painted. After the paint was on, I hammered in the two aluminum drain tubes that I made to replace the two drain tubes that I destroyed while removing them to take the transom out. About 10:30pm my shop dog decided she had enough of being a shop dog and she wanted to go home. She sat right against my leg for 10 minutes or so, and gave me this look. IMG_20180413_212751.jpg
Typical girl... she got her way.

Saturday, I was able to install the splash well back into the hull. I also put the new Tach and trim guages into the console.It was a beautiful day, so I worked outside for a change. I brought Jan's (shop dog's) wireless pet fence with me to my dad's garage, where I am working on the boat. She had a blast running around the yard within the radius of the fence all morning, and she mostly slept in the shade of the boat on the driveway in the afternoon. I totally forgot to take pictures on Saturday.

Sunday, a couple buddies came over, and we were able to hang the new outboard. The temp went from 72 on Saturday to low 30s on Sunday, but we still put her into a test tank and fired her up.IMG_20180415_154046.jpg
It seems to run great, and its quiet.

I don't lknow how to upload the video, so here is a link
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZBEnzCc1GCEM79X53

Tonight I need to go over, and mount the control box, clean up the wiring under the console, and connect and mount the fuel water seperator/ fuel filter to the line for a remote tank.
Tomorrow it is supposed to be around 65 again, so I hope I can take it to the lake and start break in!
 
Last night I spent some time over at the garage. I initially had planned to have everything together and take the boat for a shakedown cruise last night. However, I felt like dog doodoo on Monday, so I didn't do anything on the boat. Tuesday, I went to put together the fuel line/filter assembly, to find out that I had the wrong fittings. (after all the stores in the area were closed.) I spent most of Tuesday night cleaning up the garage, and I finally mounted the guages into the console. Last night, I put together the fuel line and filter, (after buying the CORRECT fittings) and mounted it to the transom. As an aside, If you use teflon tape for anything, I would reccomend either getting the yellow, which is rated for gas and oil, or the blue, which it says is rated for 200 psi compressed air, gas and oil, or potable water. Both the yellow and the blue are so much nicer to work with than the white crap.
IMG_20180418_212229.jpg

While I was in this area, I attached the el cheapo inductive hour meter to a spark plug wire, and mounted it with 3m Dual lock heavy duty velcro to the fuse box cover under the motor cowl. I figured I just want to be able to check this periodically to keep good maintenance records, so under the cowl was a good protected place for it.

Then I cleaned up all the wiring under the console. I removed the wiring from the old outboard from the electrical box I made for under the console. (I didnt have plugs for the holes, so I left the old ignition and kill switch in place for now)

Next step was to make a mounting block for the Side mount controls. I cut a piece from left over 3/4 marine ply from the transom, and drilled it for the 3 mounting bolts for the controls, and drilled 3 other mounting holes for the board. You can see where it will mount by the lighter gray patch in the picture. (fresh paint). The reason for the backer board is because where the controls will be comfortable, and the cables will be in the right spot, only 2 of the three mounting bolts will hit the plywood panel on the side of the boat. The backer will go into the plywood with 2 bolts and into aluminum structure with the third. I painted the backer, and it is drying for installation tonight.
IMG_20180418_212243.jpg

As you can see, everything is still a mess, but all that is really left is to physically mount the control box, and clean up wiring along the gunwale. Then I want to swap where my cooler mounts from behind the console, to right in front of the splash well on the left side, and where the wooden box mounts from right in front of the splash well to behind the console. (neither the box or the cooler are where they are supposed to be in the pictures.) Ironically I will be moving the box back to its original position.

Splash down is scheduled tentatively for tomorrow night.
 
RonJon, I hope you don't mind me asking. Is your fuel tank 12 gallon? If yes, I assume you won't be taking it out of the boat to fill it. I think I may be facing the same thing soon.
 
Yes, it is a 12 gallon. it gets pretty heavy when full. I have filled it in the boat, and I have taken the tank out to go to the gas station. I suppose I should look into grounding the tank if I am filling it in the boat...
 
BOAT IS READY FOR SPLASH AFTER WORK TODAY!!! \:D/ \:D/

Yesterday was productive. I cleaned up the wires and cables, reinstalled the bilge pump, mounted the controls, checked all the lights, checked the bilge pump (which I hope I won't need any more!) :roll:

I greased the hubs on the trailer, put the plug in the boat (I have been known to get excited and drop the boat in without it...) Strapped it down to the trailer, rechecked the oil in the outboard, checked the trim and tilt for the 100th time... All I have to forget today is to fill the gas tank. I mean remember.

I have a box of my favorite rubber grubs, and two poles set up with jigheads. I have to run the motor at idle for another hour, as part of break in, so I might as well terrorize some perch and crappies. We shall see how the multi speed idle works on the new TOHATSU!

I didn't move the cooler and box around yet, I want to pull everything out this weekend after some water time, and powerwash and paint the floor, and fix the box, then the box will become the captain's seat again, and the cooler will be mounted aft, in front of the gas tank.
 

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Very nice. All that work is about to pay off. You're going to love that engine.
 
ronjon1190 said:
Yes, it is a 12 gallon. it gets pretty heavy when full. I have filled it in the boat, and I have taken the tank out to go to the gas station. I suppose I should look into grounding the tank if I am filling it in the boat...

My new boat will have a 12 gallon tank. I have no desire to lift it in/out of the boat. Problem is there is no way to ground a plastic tank. I guess I should learn the best way to dissipate any static electricity, then all should be good.
 
LDUBS- I just fill my tank from a plastic 5 gallon jug. I don't really know what to do for static dissapation either...
 
Friday after work, I made plans to meet a coworker at the local reservoir, where he was playing with his stand up jet ski, to take the boat on a little shakedown cruise.

At dad's garage, I had just put gas in the tank for the first time with the fuel water separator, and I must have pumped the ball 500 times (about 5 minutes worth of pumping), then I realized that I did not fill the filter with fuel. So, I took the canister off and it had fuel in it, but not a lot. I filled the filter with clean fuel, then pumped the ball a bunch more. It never firmed up.

So, I got to the launch later than I was planning, Eric was already there playing around. He nicely volunteered to help me get the boat in the water, since he was already soaked (and wearing a wet suit.) I recounted to him that the primer ball wouldn't firm up, so I might have some issues firing it up. I was pretty nervous about it. I had only run it before in the test tank, with the fuel hose stuck into my 5 gallon can, and the ball had firmed right up doing it that way. He said I was worrying too much, and to get in it and fire it up!

So I did. And it Fired right up. No sputtering, no extra cranking, just a few revolutions, and it was running smoothly. and really really quiet. I tied up to the dock, and pulled my truck out of the ramp. When I got out of the truck, probably 100 feet away, I thought that the motor had stalled, because I could not hear it, and it was running so smooth. I grabbed the dog out of the truck and we headed out on the lake for an hour or so of tootling. It was cold and windy, so doggo and I called it after a half hour or so,

Break In Schedule is First 10 minutes at idle. Did that in the tank. 10 minutes to 2 hrs 3000 rpm max. 2-3 hrs 4000rpm Max, with a WOT run allowed for less than 1 minute every 10 minutes. 3-10 hrs, 4000 max, WOT allowed for 2 minutes at a time, every 10 minutes.

So far, I have 2.1 hrs logged on elcheapo hour meter, and I had just about an hour in the test tank, before I installed the meter. Next time out, I will try my first WOT run, which I expect to be ridiculous, since with me and the doggo, the boat planes off at about 3200 rpm. I brought my fiance with us last night, and we spent about an hr out, and with 2 people, and a dog, 3000 doesn't quite get it to plane.

The boat still leaks a little. First time out, I intentionally left the bilge pump off, and when I pulled it out and popped the plug, it drained for 15-20 seconds. Yesterday, the bilge pump kicked on just as we were getting back to the launch, pumped for 20 sec or so, and shut back off. When I popped the plug, it dribbled for a few more seconds. I can't find the leak without pulling the floor, and it really is not much. I am just going to enjoy the he!! out of the new setup this year, and continue to let the bilge pump do it's job.
 

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