First Boat /project 16ft Aluminum (Starcraft)

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AZSunDevil

Well-known member
Joined
May 11, 2017
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Location
Phoenix AZ
Hello all this is my first post. First I have to say thank you to all who have contributed to the wealth of information on this site. I've been lurking for a week or so and just absorbing as much as I can from the site.

(Tried Editing and Rotating Photos; Still not working)

I've been toying with the idea of getting a small boat that I can use here in Arizona in our "high country" or Rim lakes where we are limited to 10hp on most lakes or Electric only. Primarily I just want something I can fish for trout from and maybe once in a while I might take on the bigger lakes down in the "low country" on cooler days. A friend in Colorado fixed up a 14ft aluminum v-hull and he initially inspired me to start my search for a budget fishing boat build.

I know an older guy who is somewhat of a hoarder/picker, lives out in the boonies, and has a 16ft aluminum boat sitting on an old rusty tilt trailer. Very little is known about the boat. Somebody owed him money back in the 90s and left it with him as "payment." He offered to give it to me for essentially nothing. He had started to fix up the trailer (new winch, tongue/hitch mount, and rims/tires) so that another one of our friends could drag it back to Montana but he ended up finding something near his home in Montana.

Boat is very straight, no damage or dents, rivets and seams look to be tight and in great shape from what little I know about boats. As you can see from photos there's some trash in the boat but the paint, from my initial look, seems albeit faded, in pretty good shape; not bubbling , a little flaking. Transom wood looks a bit dry rotted and baked from decades in the intense AZ sun. Wood on the bench needs to be replaced as well. The external Hull Identification tag/plate is missing. There are two inside the boat near the transom, one is illegible from fading the other I can barely make out says Max Capacity 5 Persons and I think it said ~800lbs (I'll have to look again more closely). I have no idea of the manufacturer or model of the boat but it seems like something I could work with given the price.

Will try to get better photos when I get a chance to go down and look at the boat again but here's what I have so far:
 

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It's a nice boat. So how do you want make it ? Like a bass boat with the usual stand up carpeted deck ? Or something more traditional like a 50's sittin and fishin type ... Wood floors... a little varnish and paint... ?

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Shaugh said:
It's a nice boat. So how do you want make it ? Like a bass boat with the usual stand up carpeted deck ? Or something more traditional like a 50's sittin and fishin type ... Wood floors... a little varnish and paint... ?

I would prefer a universal approach if that's possible but I'm terrible at envisioning these things so I'll be looking at others examples to get an idea of what I like. I definitely don't want a full up bass boat. I'd like to be able to use it to troll for trout, cast spinners, and if once in awhile I decide to fish for stripers or bass maybe I'll have functionality for that too. So maybe a floor but not super raised up. The sun can get intense here so whatever I pick for flooring id like to be something that does not get too hot and if I could walk on it barefoot even better.
 
I like trolling and doing a little standing too. A pallet type floor is a good choice for that kind of fishing. A nice level surface to walk and move around but easy to take out for cleaning etc.

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Nice find! No idea about the manufacturer. I really like the hull's lines, seems like a deeper hull with some pretty stout bracing by the seats. How many ribs does it have. Knee brace looks 15-30 hp-ish.
 
Shaugh said:
I like trolling and doing a little standing too. A pallet type floor is a good choice for that kind of fishing. A nice level surface to walk and move around but easy to take out for cleaning etc.

I was thinking maybe some plywood flooring with outdoor carpeting adhered to it. Maybe I could screw some d-rings into the top of the flooring so I can reach in and pull it out easily? I think the most difficult part of it will be figuring out how to frame it in, measure it, and cut it correctly. I have a skilsaw but I may need to get a jigsaw or rent or borrow some other type of saw. I need to research how others have done this on here. I saw some folks framed in with aluminum pieces but that would likely be well above my skillset.

For painting I'm lucky that I have a buddy who went to school at Texas State Tech for Auto Body/Painting and paints cars from time to time. He told me I could borrow some of his equipment or I could go over to his place and he'd help me do the painting. Not really sure about the color. I do a lot of upland bird hunting but have never really been into Duck Hunting. I have considered it in the past and maybe this is an opportunity to paint the boat to where it could be multi-purpose Blast & Cast.
 
ProduceMan said:
Nice find! No idea about the manufacturer. I really like the hull's lines, seems like a deeper hull with some pretty stout bracing by the seats. How many ribs does it have. Knee brace looks 15-30 hp-ish.
I hope to pick it up either this weekend or next at the latest. Once I do I'll get some better pictures of it and then I'll be able to answer your questions! Thanks for taking a look and replying!
 
Pallet floors are pretty easy. just cut down 2x4's to run next to the ribs and screw your decking to the top edges. You don't need to be perfectly flush with the sides. Plenty of room for fingers;

m.jpg

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Shaugh said:
Pallet floors are pretty easy. just cut down 2x4's to run next to the ribs and screw your decking to the top edges. You don't need to be perfectly flush with the sides. Plenty of room for fingers;

View attachment 1

That looks really sharp I guess my only reservations would be stuff falling through that gap and then rolling around under the floor when fishing? Also how much heat would it absorb in the AZ sun, if I take my little daughter out is she going to burn herself on the decking? The carpeting might feel better on the feet is all I'm thinking. Not sure though!
 
Looks like a great hull!

CAUTION!

get the paperwork/title/registration out of the way before you start to sink $ into it! My first boat I had over $900 into only to have to wait 6 months to get the paperwork straight!
 
I can't really see the floor ribs in your boat, but you'll see on that one how the ribs pretty much keep you from getting flush to the sides unless you make the floor quite a bit higher. I guess if I drop something I usually just grab another one and clean it out when I get home. The point was that making it flush is quite a bit more work and you seemed unsure about it. Carpeted plywood is just as good as wood for the decking. I was trying to show how the lightweight floor sections could be designed to simply sit in the bottom of the boat. Sun is a problem no matter what you use... You'll want to think about a canopy once you get that far along..

... sounds like you're airborne... good luck.
 
Shaugh said:
I can't really see the floor ribs in your boat, but you'll see on that one how the ribs pretty much keep you from getting flush to the sides unless you make the floor quite a bit higher. I guess if I drop something I usually just grab another one and clean it out when I get home. The point was that making it flush is quite a bit more work and you seemed unsure about it. Carpeted plywood is just as good as wood for the decking. I was trying to show how the lightweight floor sections could be designed to simply sit in the bottom of the boat. Sun is a problem no matter what you use... You'll want to think about a canopy once you get that far along..

... sounds like you're airborne... good luck.
All great considerations thank you and I'll keep the progress updated here once I start working on it.Probably
 
mrdrh99 said:
Looks like a great hull!

CAUTION!

get the paperwork/title/registration out of the way before you start to sink $ into it! My first boat I had over $900 into only to have to wait 6 months to get the paperwork straight!
Thanks! Definitely will.
 
ProduceMan said:
Nice find! No idea about the manufacturer. I really like the hull's lines, seems like a deeper hull with some pretty stout bracing by the seats. How many ribs does it have. Knee brace looks 15-30 hp-ish.
went down-and looked at the boat again today and I saw that it is a starcraft also it has about 13 ribs from what I can count
 
Took some more photos. Not sure if you can make out the Starcraft logo or letters. Looked at capacity plate again best I can make out is 5 persons and 790lbs.

Wonder if this is an old Marlin?? Looks like something was crudely cut out of the bow area on the inside you can see two remaining aluminum strips riveted in.

Also got a pic of the front of tilt trailer where a roller is missing. You can see the handle for the "tilt" function. I bought a 3ft section of steel rod 5/8" and took some measurements to make a couple replacement roller shafts. I bought some 5 inch keel rollers to replace the rotted ones. Originals measure closer to 6 1/4" not sure I'll find those so I guess I'll use some washer mechanism or pvc Pipe to keep the roller centered.
 

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Trying to determine what year the Starcraft is. I looked through all of the brochures on a link someone posted in the forum. Based on the logo used and positioning of the Starcraft lettering my best guess is a late 70s to early 80s Seafarer. But there were quite a few gaps (years) in the brochures and not all of the boats were shown in the years that were available, from what I could tell.

Waiting for the guy to get back into town with title for trailer so I can get it registered and then I'll give him a few bucks for it. Project is on hold until that happens. He's a buddy of mine so I'm just being patient.
 
After a longer than expected delay I got the boat home today.

One question does anyone know what these metal pieces are? Trying to determine if should remove and replace with something else or if they serve a purpose. Also trying to determine what the jagged leftover metal strips were from. They're riveted in.
20170617_172435.jpg

Also took a couple other measurements. Nothing scientific but looks like transom is about 22", rib width toward back of boat (widest point?) is about 51".
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Rivet missing here not sure how hard it would be to replace. Never worked with rivets before. This looks like a large one too.
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This platform looks original. Also riveted in and the wood still feels decently solid but definitely needs replaced... I guess this would be for a gas can? Was this a "unique to starcraft" thing?
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