Newbee here looking for some advice on 16ft starcraft.

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njarz

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Good Morning.

I just aquired a 16ft starcraft hull, with cover marine plywood and trailer, for trading 2 rods and reels. I think I got a pretty good deal. I have expierience fixing boats but this is my first time builing one form the hull up. The guy also gave me 2 1/2 sheets of 3/4 maine plywood. I have some questions:

1. Since its marine plywood - do I need to seal the wood?
2. There are aluminum braces on the sides and one in the middle, do I need to add extra supports for the floor? The boat is
6ft wide.
3. I was thinking about coating the inside bottom with something like Tuff Coat to make sure nothing leaks (I believe it
doesnt leek now, but I see it as extra insurance - maybe I am wrong?)
4. I have a 50hp Merc for this - should I put foam in between the hull and floor? If so would spray foam work?
5. On the back of the boat corners, there are usually corner brackets (not sure what you call them), but this one doesnt
have them. Do I need them? If so, could I mount wood on the inside and screw into that, or where can I find those?
6. Last one (for now) - I am going to paint the outside, the guy tried to use strippers and made a mess of it. I was
thinking of sanding the whole thing then primer and paint. Is this a good way, if so what kind of primer/paint?
Roll or spray? I dont want to spend a fortune but I still want it to look good.

Thanks in advance for any advice I receive. I have been going through this forum and you guys have made some great looking boats.


Nick


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Welcome aboard - do a quick search on this site and I bet you find the answers to all your questions.

if not, I am certain that one of our very experienced boat re-builders will jump right in

Where are you from and where do you fish?
 
Welcome:
Sure looks like a nice boat to start of with.Not going to add anything about the mods,just make sure the transom not rotted before straping on that 50hp.Have fun with the modding.
 
njarz said:
Good Morning.

I just aquired a 16ft starcraft hull, with cover marine plywood and trailer, for trading 2 rods and reels. I think I got a pretty good deal. I have expierience fixing boats but this is my first time builing one form the hull up. The guy also gave me 2 1/2 sheets of 3/4 maine plywood. I have some questions:

1. Since its marine plywood - do I need to seal the wood?
2. There are aluminum braces on the sides and one in the middle, do I need to add extra supports for the floor? The boat is
6ft wide.
3. I was thinking about coating the inside bottom with something like Tuff Coat to make sure nothing leaks (I believe it
doesnt leek now, but I see it as extra insurance - maybe I am wrong?)
4. I have a 50hp Merc for this - should I put foam in between the hull and floor? If so would spray foam work?
5. On the back of the boat corners, there are usually corner brackets (not sure what you call them), but this one doesnt
have them. Do I need them? If so, could I mount wood on the inside and screw into that, or where can I find those?
6. Last one (for now) - I am going to paint the outside, the guy tried to use strippers and made a mess of it. I was
thinking of sanding the whole thing then primer and paint. Is this a good way, if so what kind of primer/paint?
Roll or spray? I dont want to spend a fortune but I still want it to look good.

Thanks in advance for any advice I receive. I have been going through this forum and you guys have made some great looking boats.




Nick

1, It wouldn't hurt, If the budget allows for it, I would go for it.

2, At 6 foot wide (AWESOME!) I would think it would need some support between the beams.

3, Tuff coat would work on the inside, It wouldn't add much weight and if its in the budget...why not.

4,Is it at least rated for a 50? Spray foam will work if it is closed cell foam. Do a search for "cell foam" up at the top right for just this topic.

5, Cant help you with this one? :-k

6,Great article on primer and paint: https://tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3090


Lastly,
:WELCOME: Thanks for joining!
 
I am in NW Ohio, I fish some of the inland lakes, Maumee river and Lake Erie.


The boat is rated for 70 hp. I don't think I would put a 70 on it. As far as the foam, do I need it? If I dont then I am not. I just read that post on primer. The boat is painted but he tried to strip some of it. There are some bare metal spots. Do the bare metal spots need etch primer since its only a few spots? Or will acrylic primer work for the whole thing. Sorry if I am getting long winded, I just want to do it right the first time.
 
Is there any foam in the boat at all? That is your call. If the boat was to sink for some reason (God forbid), I would think you would be glad it was there.
 
There was not any foam in it when I got it. But the guy stripped it down to the hull, so I don't know if there was before. Is there a formula for how much foam you should have compared to the size of the boat?
 
njarz said:
There was not any foam in it when I got it. But the guy stripped it down to the hull, so I don't know if there was before. Is there a formula for how much foam you should have compared to the size of the boat?


Not sure of a formula, But I know they stuff foam under the benches on most boats.
 
Put the foam in it! It will not only help in an emergency, but also serves to deaden sound and will make it ride just slightly better. It is cheap and better then paying to get the boat raised in the event is sinks
 
Awesome project boat (especially it being a 16'er). Take some time and read some of the mods that have been done. The info available and different ideas will keep you up at night thinking about your mod. DONT FORGET TO TAKE TONS OF PICS!! :WELCOME: :beer:
 
Tuff Coat won't do diddley on the inside of the hull. It is basically porch paint with tire shreds mixed in. If you do want to coat the inside of the hull, Gluv-it will be your best bet.

As far as deck supports go, I have never liked the starcrafts and blue fins and such from that era. They don't have much at all. One option would be to build more supports, but if you put expanding foam in there, and level it with the deck, you will need less structure. The foam is incredibly strong when you have a sheet of plywood/aluminum over it.

When you ask about spray in foam, I am assuming you are talking about Great Stuff, or the likes, right? That would work, but it would cost a fortune. Your best bet would be a two part expanding foam. There is so much weight that a cubic foot of this foam will hold, so that will determine how much you need. You can get those numbers off the manufactures websites. Quite frankly though, we used it on one build, and it was a pain. My Yazoo doesn't have any, and we probably won't install it on future builds. Just hope that nothing happens, and keep a PFD on deck.

Can't help you on the paint.

Check around the marine store catalogs. I think I have seen corner brackets somewhere.

You do need to seal the plywood. What makes it marine as opposed to regular, is that there are no voids, or knot holes in the inner layers, whereas normal ply only puts footballs in the outer layers. Also, they will sometimes use a different fir as the wood. But, it is still plywood, and still needs to be sealed.
 
As far as the hull goes i would skip Gluvit and go with Steelflex 9x, this stuff is waaaaaay cheaper and designed to be used on the bottom of airboats since the early 1960's. Gluvit is at or over 100$ a gallon where as Steelflex from Fasco is on 42$ per gallon, not to mention the guys there are awesome when it comes to support & answering your questions.

I am in the process of painting my boat as well. I used a zinc chromate primer that comes in a spray can. This is good stuff when it comes to resistance to corrision and since I'm going to be in salt water most of the time this is important to me, Be advised though that this stuff is more expensive that the auto parts store primer. (10$ per can v.s. 4.50$) As for paint i'm using rustoleum topside paint. I used a 4" foam roller and 2" brush to put it on and so far it looks great! It leveled out perfectly where the brush strokes were and dried to a nice smooth glossy finish. It is also only 10$ a quart versus 25-30 for the more expensive brands like Pettit Easypoxy or Interlux Brightside.

If the metal is bare then you must prime it. If the old paint is sticking good then you can just give it a quick sand with some 120 grit and an acetone wipe down and you should be good to go. The bottom line is that the paint you put on is only as good as what it is sticking to.
 
Thank you to everyone for all the advice so far. This site is great. I am going to put in more supports. Need your guy's opinion on this. With my 10' boat I used the 5/4 composite deck board. I was thinking of using that for additional supports. My view is that it won't need sealed since its not wood and should last forever. Any opinions?


Where do you find Steelflex? I can't find anything on it.

As far as the floor itself -

I am going to have this stored inside with a cover on it. Its not going to be docked or sit outside. With that being said would a watersealer do the trick? I am not trying to be lazy with the work, just trying to save some money if possible!!

Thanks
Nick
 
Well I decided I am going to go with steelflex, especially since it is $42 a gallon and can come colored. Does anyone know if primer is needed before I put this stuff onto bare metal?
 
No primer is need before you apply steelflex. The main thing is that you make sure whatever surface you are applying it to has been thoroughly sanded with some 50 grit sand paper and then cleaned of a dirt, oil, wax etc with a good wipe down with something like acetone. The rougher the surface is the better since it gives the epoxy more to grab on to.

When I did mine I sanded on & around all the rivets by hand and then used a grinder with some 50 grit on it for everything else. When I was done it was rough enough to tear up the paper towel I was using to wipe it down, so I don't think I should have any issues with adhesion. :lol:
 
hey bud,on the paint on my boat i used citrus stripper and it worked really well.there was 3 layers of paint.after i used the stripper,i wipped it down with mineral sprits,then it came right off with a sander.hope that helps you on the paint part.
 
Well I did buy the steelflex and put it on last night. That stuff is great, I would definatley recommend for anyone. I will post some pics later today. Need some opinions on this one. I want to put a bow mount trolling motor on. I have a guy who wants to sell me a 28lb thrust. Is that going to be enough for this boat?

Thanks
 
njarz said:
Well I did buy the steelflex and put it on last night. That stuff is great, I would definatley recommend for anyone. I will post some pics later today. Need some opinions on this one. I want to put a bow mount trolling motor on. I have a guy who wants to sell me a 28lb thrust. Is that going to be enough for this boat?

Thanks


It will work, but you will hate it. It is really to small for a 16 footer in my opinion.

Glad to hear the steelflex worked though!
 
What would be a good size? I am not to privy on the electric motors.

Thanks
 

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