Here's to hoping...1973 14ft Starcraft "Seafarer" conversion

[tynimiller]

Well the pops and I are going to start tearing into our 1973 Starcraft officially. NO experience at all at this, so you guys better be ready to assist along the way with advice!

We aren't 100% on the model being Seafarer but all my searching points us in that direction. I picked it, the trailer it's on, and a 1983 15hp Johnson (w/electric start) all for $400!!!!! Crazy huh?!

Well as we get set to start this project I have a couple intitial questions.

#1 Question:

Outside of the boat is a concern. Not because it needs it, it's actually in great shape to be honest, but keep debating whether to protect it more. Steel Flex was a thought but it's not in bad shape and it'd be nice to save some extra cash and get something else for the outside of the hull. Anyone recommend anything else that will protect it? Gluvit will be being used on the inside of the entire boat so that sure ensure the seal of the boat even more, thing is holding water just fine so shouldn't leak I wouldn't think. I've heard discussion on a sharkshide? *I do plan on painting the upper half of the exterior in a light to medium green if that makes any difference whatsoever.

We've given thought to just roughing it up priming and painting the entire exterior with marine grade paint, but would that come back to haunt us?

#2 Question:

I've attached a couple diagrams and pictures of the boat....Floor Plan is pretty basic, middle seat is gonna be gone for sure. You'll notice option #1 and #2 are identical except for the area by the transom...looking for opinions on which would work better? #3 is an option we are probably going to do just to save the money on an expensive bow trolling motor mount and the hassle of building a second tier on the front of the boat.

I may do a split hatch in the back of the boat with the switch panel/ bussbars in the middle...all depends.

#3 Question:

Floatation foam. Is it safe to pour into the space between the floor and the boat?? I was going to get 2 part mixing foam (closed cell) for marine use...would that cause problems for any reason?

PLEASE GIVE YOUR .02...IT WILL BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.

 

[bigrog61]

Tynimiller, I have a starcraft seafarer 16' that i am doing right now. I also took out the middle seat for more room. I checked mine for water tightness and it seems fine i bought the bedliner spray cans and went over all the ribs on the inside and rivets just in case $30 total. I will be posting more photos tonight of what i have been doing,everytime i say yep that's what i am going to do i get on this sight and start looking and back to the drawing board!!! :LOL2: Good Luck to you and post lots of pics as you go

 

[tynimiller]

Tynimiller, I have a starcraft seafarer 16' that i am doing right now. I also took out the middle seat for more room. I checked mine for water tightness and it seems fine i bought the bedliner spray cans and went over all the ribs on the inside and rivets just in case $30 total. I will be posting more photos tonight of what i have been doing,everytime i say yep that's what i am going to do i get on this sight and start looking and back to the drawing board!!! :LOL2: Good Luck to you and post lots of pics as you go

My plan is to post pics of absolutely every thing we do, bad or good. Small project right now is getting wheel rims sanded and painted, new tires than we'll have to make the decision on what to do to the outside of the boat...we'll see.

 

[atuck593]

Welcome :WELCOME: .... and sweet boat. I have a 71' Seafarer myself. I look forward to seeing what you do with yours. Mine was basically water tight from the start. A tiny leaky rivet in the back...but after a quart of Gluvit it was gone. I thought about sanding, buffing, and using sharkhide polish the aluminum on the bottom and taper it up the bow, but after sanding the paint to re-paint the boat it seemed like too much work.

I just settled for painting it with a marine grade epoxy. Green up top and light gray on the bottom. Sticks just fine... just rubbed off a little on the bottom from the bunk trailer. (but who looks at the bottom of the boat anyway?) Good luck and I look forward to seeing your progress.

One quick side note.... they make two models from around that time. The Seafarer...and the Superstar. I don't know if they are the same boat or one is bigger than the other but here is an old flyer. Maybe it will help you identify your boat.

 

[tynimiller]

Thanks Atuck! Looking at that it appears the 12 was the one with 3 seats...and the 4 seater was the 14. Ours has only 3 so Seafarer is still top of my "guess" list, although I'm going to get ahold of Starcraft and ask how I can go about being 100% sure.