Starcraft 14ft. V advise/tips needed

My grandpa purchased a 1979 Startcraft 14' Seafarer boat with a Evinrude 9.9 horse motor new and the whole setup was given to me a couple years ago. I'm looking into modifying the boat a bit. I've already bought a new bow mount TM, so first thing I'm going to have to do is build a mount for that. Next, what I would like to do is put a flat floor through out (with possible storage built in) and replace the benches with a couple of pedestal seats for comfort and to free up some more room. My biggest concern is that the benches provide essential support and how I could possibly make up for that support. Here are some pictures to show what I've got to work with (the discoloration in the paint is because i had rinsed it off and it was still drying haha):


Any advice/thoughts are welcome

I just bought almost the exact same boat (I am not sure of the exact model) but it is a 77' Starcraft and looks identical. Im excited to watch your thread, hopefully I can get some ideas from you. Let me know if you figure out a good live well set up. My plan was to put a casting deck over the 1st 2 benches, and put my Swivel seat in the middle of those seats with storage on one side and livewell on the other, but I cannot get a cooler to fit well on the side because the "V".

Good Luck!

Unfortunately I have no intentions of putting a livewell in. I don't ever keep fish so I'm not going to go through the added cost/planning/space use of a livewell. Something you might want to think about is if you plan on adding the decking over the first two seats, I would put it in the water and stand on top of one of the benches. I had originally planned on putting the decking over the first benches as well, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would end up being too tippy, especially since my main fishing partners will be my wife and kid. This is why I'd like to take the benches out and put a flat floor in. My main concern with this is I'm not sure how vital the bench seats are to the support of the sides of the boat. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

hoamskilet said:

Unfortunately I have no intentions of putting a livewell in. I don't ever keep fish so I'm not going to go through the added cost/planning/space use of a livewell. Something you might want to think about is if you plan on adding the decking over the first two seats, I would put it in the water and stand on top of one of the benches. I had originally planned on putting the decking over the first benches as well, but the more I thought about it, the more I thought it would end up being too tippy, especially since my main fishing partners will be my wife and kid. This is why I'd like to take the benches out and put a flat floor in. My main concern with this is I'm not sure how vital the bench seats are to the support of the sides of the boat. Anybody have any thoughts on this?

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I am not sure how much, but from what I read everyone says if you take them out to re-support the sidewalls with some additional aluminum supports. I would try to add something like bracing down the sides and across the bottom. I will have to try out the walkining on benches, I am fixing up my trailer first before i can even test the boat for holes/stability. Good Luck!

Looks like you've got a long shaft motor on a short transom.

Nice rig BTW and welcome to TinBoats.

Whart part of the world are you from?

The picture of the motor is deceiving. the concrete on my garage floor steps up under where the motor is at, so it looks a lot longer than it is. I'm from Machesney Park, IL which is just north of Rockford (northern part of Illinois)