1974 Starcraft build.

This is just a picture tour of my boat as i was building it, it is a 1974 21' starcraft, it was just the outer skin when i got it.I paid 250 dollars for her. She was headed to the scrap yard to be sold for scrap. I hope to have a video walk through of her soon. i also built a hard top that is removable. If you have any questions just ask Thanks for watching

[@authenticallywildoutwest]

I'm currently researching my own '74 restoration and this video brought a ton of inspiration. Thanks so much!

[@bowl830]

Awesome thanks for watching and commenting

[@bigken3057]

Just purchased a 1981 Mariner 180 with Johnson 75hp 2-stroke and it need a full resto... Wish me luck, perhaps I make a little picture tour of my own. Thanks for the info & inspiration.

[@poej79]

Turned out beautiful

[@bowl830]

Thank you. I just came in from putting all new batteries in her. Lol. Thanks for watching and commenting

[@patriotcatfishersofamerica7985]

Dang right that turned out great. Jett you are a man of many talents. Thanks for sharing this. Watching this makes me want to get started on my old pontoon.🇺🇸

[@bowl830]

Thanks. I hate I didn’t shoot video of the build. I get a lot of request for one. So I hope to build one from scratch next winter.

[@unsaltedlife5998]

It’s ready for the next 45 years great job

[@bowl830]

Yes sir she’s still going strong. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it

[@fishinghippie958]

250 + a lot of work = a very nice boat. im glad you suggested this video to me. Very nice.

[@shakira1784]

Well I have no excuse to tackle my 1970 starcraft super sport now. You inspired me. I have a trailer so I wont have to build one.

[@bowl830]

Lol. Get it don’t. Just take it one task at a time. It’s easy to get overwhelmed if you stare at the big picture lol. Good luck and thanks for watching I appreciate it

[@lennspringer5208]

Very clean build love the console

[@bowl830]

Thank you.

[@Reeser00]

Looks like fun! Turned out great!

[@bowl830]

She’s a tank

[@buynsell365]

EXCELLENT Job !!! That is one beautiful boat. Thanks

[@bowl830]

Thank you. I appreciate you watching and commenting.

[@teamwampuskatoutdoors4275]

Heck of a job. That things super nice

[@bowl830]

Team Wampus Kat Outdoors thanks I hate I didn’t do a video of the build.

[@1Cast1Fish]

Wow what a project...amazing how much work you put into her...looks great though and a perfect custom layout for what you want. Gotta hand it to you on a awesome job that most everyone would not be willing to tackle.

[@bowl830]

Thank you sir

[@CastFromTheHip]

You’ve got some serious talent, what a beautiful boat!

[@bowl830]

Thank you

[@glennscatfishing]

Man that’s a sweet boat. I wish I had the skills to do a complete custom job like that.

[@bowl830]

Thank you brother

[@kyhunter26]

Very nice Jeff. Looks great and to know she has a lot more fishing trips is awesome!

[@bowl830]

Yea I love the old aluminum yachts lol. I hope to do a full restore on video this fall

[@KBAnglers]

Absolutely AWESOME!!! That's some great workmanship!!! The boat is going to see a lot of future Fishing trips!!!!!!

[@borfishing7690]

Wow, that was a great build. 👍🏼

[@bowl830]

Thank you sir. She’s a fishing machine for sure

[@WeekendPursuitOutdoors]

Wow boat turned out AWESOME! My current catfish chaser is a 1996 Lowe deck boat. Love the room! Working on a bigger livewell for this season!! Enjoy your videos thanks for sharing!

[@bowl830]

I truly appreciate it

[@ScottyhillakaFishn4Him]

wow! awesome craftsmanship!!!!

[@gregbryant9673]

Great job Jeff. It is amazing what one can do when the have they have the mindset to get it done.

[@bowl830]

Thank you I appreciate it

[@rickshackleford6478]

Beautiful... Great Job.....

[@mauricecason5369]

That's awesome 👍👍👍 👍 you have mad skills

[@bowl830]

I appreciate it

[@kentuckycatmanoutdooradven4643]

Awesome boat Jeff great job!!!!!!

[@bowl830]

Thank you sir

[@mc2000Gmc]

Great job on your rig bud👍👍

[@JuniorProctorBlueDogFishing]

Great job Jeff nice

[@rhinohd]

GREAT JOB! I love that boat! You should do an updated video after you put on the hard top!

[@bowl830]

Thank you. I will

[@mattwatson6597]

love to see more on the top u made for it thanks

[@bowl830]

Yes sir I’m doing it now.

[@peedeefishing]

Great video jeff

[@bowl830]

Thank you sir

[@countrycookingwithtwerking969]

Great job on the build.

[@TheReelFishermen]

Heck of a vessel

[@mattwatson6597]

nice thanks

[@paulfennell01]

Holy cow! This boat will last for 2 hundred years!! I just brought home a 16' starcraft 1986 and If I were to just do the floor and center console in diamond plate I'd be thrilled- what's a normal price for this work to be done professionally? The outside is fine the way it is and no live wells needed..

[@bowl830]

Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it. I love my old Starcraft. Not sure what the price would be. I’m lucky that we have a salvage yard that sells to the public. I built the boat for about 1500 including buying the skin. But it was about 100 hours of labor. I was figuring it out as I went lol.

[@jamesstewart5371]

Awesome it turned out like a starcraft mariner mr21 . I like the 4stroke and the tandem trailer does the diamond plate get hot in the sun? Is the 1/8 thick enough? I have a sea nymph great lakes special that l would love to outfit like this. Especially the Suzuki 4 stroke.

[@bowl830]

Thank you. No it doesn’t get hot at all. I love it. I use 3/16” on most my projects if I can get it. This one has ribs really close together. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it

[@PopPopJoe]

I like the Starcraft side wall rod storage. Is that 3/8" SS rod and u-bolts cut down ? Also the diamond plate walls that the rod storage is attached to , how did you go about attaching and making the shelving/storage. Thanks for answering all my questions.

[@bowl830]

I custom make the loops and the holders. The side shelves weren’t hard. I added a piece top to bottom on the factory braced. Then added the shelves and skin over that

[@PopPopJoe]

Floor question. When you replaced floor. You used PVC sheets for the flooring instead of wood. Then covered in diamond plate. The PVC sheets that were used were screwed down into supports. Did you ever try pop riveting the PVC sheets down when installing floor. or is the floor just diamond plate ?

[@bowl830]

Floor is just diamond plate.

[@billroyals7223]

Really liked the job you did on this boat, from your storage areas to the floors.It looks to be well put together. Just wondering if you welded the aluminum plates in or did you rivet them. I hate to pester you so much but i really like and relate to your videos. You seem to be quite knowledgeable in all aspects of fishing, boating, repairing, rebuilding and everything in between. Thank's again, Bill

[@bowl830]

The floor is screwed down with stainless screws. Everything else is solid and pop rivets. I wanted the floor where I could pull it up for quick access and for just general maintenance and inspection purposes. It’s no problem. I enjoy when people ask questions, that usually means they’re genuinely interested.

[@gilfredooquendo9969]

Omg what a beautiful job how can I hire your expertise I have the same boat

[@bowl830]

Thank you. I appreciate the kind words.

[@bowl830]

Look at my videos tournament boat. It shows a lot more detail of what I did.

[@charlesrusso4300]

Great job, can you give us a look at the hard top you made?

[@bowl830]

Lol you are the third person this week to ask. I wish I would have videoed that build. I’m gonna do a walk through just showing what I did and how it’s built in a few weeks. Thanks for watching. Click that bell do you will know when it’s up. Again thanks

[@PopPopJoe]

I was wondering if the very cold temps had an effect on PVC panels. I saw a video and it said it could shatter like glass in very cold weather. Have you seen this problem ?

[@bowl830]

No this stuff is tough. I use it in new home construction

[@joesmith306]

I would have built a cuddy with a potty. You could be out on the water a long time.

[@bowl830]

Look at my other video of it after she was complete lol. I built a military looking cabin on it. Lol. Thanks for watching.

[@billroyals7223]

Jeff, i know you said you started with just an outer skin. I was wondering if you could tell how the boat was originally laid out. I have been thinking about trying a project like this myself, but pretty much all the boats i have found are closed bows. I'm afraid these boats would probably require quite a bit of extra fabrication to completely open the boat from front to back like yours. I haven't found any boats close enough to me and priced reasonably to justify going to look at as of yet so i really don't know,and can't tell by the pictures what all would have to be done to convert from a side console closed bow to an open bow center console. Would you rather start with an original center console than the side console? The older 21' aluminum boats, Starcraft or any other brand are hard to find and I probably won't find one priced as good as yours was but i don't want to pay 3 grand for a 40 to 50 year old rig and all i have to work with is a hull. I appreciate any imput you might have on this. Thanks again, Bill

[@bowl830]

Mine was probably a split console or a cabin. It’s not that big of a deal to convert to center console. And the ones with cabins are just as easy to convert. Just a little more trim to be made but structurally they are all about the same. Good luck finding your project boat and thanks for watching

[@billroyals7223]

@@bowl830 Thanks Jeff

[@TheNick08332]

Love it now is this a second boat or the one we see u in already

[@bowl830]

It’s the one I got now. I just get questions All the time do I figured this would answer most lol. But I’m about to do another. Jett probably

[@johnjohnson-sm3yf]

I recently sold a Lowe boat that was all aluminum ( kicking myself in but ) . I’m looking now at building something like you have done . What model Starcraft did you use ?

[@bowl830]

Back then they were all about the same. It’s 84”wide at back. 88”at bow and 21’ long

[@codylee8736]

Did you ever do a walk through once it was done with the cab can’t find a video of it

[@bowl830]

Lol. I’m working on it now Hope to have up first of the week. Thanks for watching. I appreciate it.

[@matthewluck7682]

Where did you get your diamond plate from?

[@bowl830]

I have a local metal supply place. Most machine shops can get it.

[@davidc.9933]

What kind of speed do you get w/ that suzuki? What HP?

[@bowl830]

It’s a 140 I’m running a 21 four blade prop. It will run mid 40’s normally . If it fully loaded with both livewells full and 2 people it’s still around 42

[@davidc.9933]

@@bowl830 Nice, thanks. Just picked up an 21' blue fin CC from 1982, refitter her this winter. Trying to decide flat plate or diamond plate floor. I've used diamond plate and it makes it tough to mount flat thing without grinding down the diamonds.

[@PopPopJoe]

What brand "Epoxy Sealer" did you use on boat?

[@bowl830]

I like the G Flex line

[@PopPopJoe]

@@bowl830 I mean when you painted the bottom of the boat or top side?

[@bowl830]

Sorry I used automotive paint. It was PPG commercial paint and primer.

[@bighosty555]

Where did you get the channel to put the stringers in

[@bowl830]

I actually used aluminum brackets. I riveted then to the side of the factory stringers. Then when I cut the PVC ribs I made sure they were bearing on the factory ribs. The 4” PVC PIPE strengthens and give you a nice wire chase. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it

[@bighosty555]

@@bowl830 how big is the boat and how big of a motor did you put on it

[@bowl830]

It’s a 21’ Starcraft. 88” wide

[@bighosty555]

@@bowl830 is there any other way I can contact you not on KZbin I just got a bunch of questions I want to ask cuz I got a very similar boat that I want to do the same thing too

[@bowl830]

Anthony Hostetler go to my Facebook page team Reelin the blues or send me a friend request on Facebook

[@mattwatson6597]

i just bought me a old boat and trailer blue fin boat going to make it in to old winter fishing boat i will have lots of questions

[@bowl830]

Awesome I love old boats especially old aluminum ones. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it

[@PaulyV56]

no flotation?

[@bowl830]

Yes it has closed cell foam sheets cut to fit the bottom I installed it front to back. There’s a recent video where i did a tracker boat.

[@billarnold6166]

Is PVC board the same as what they call coosa board?

[@bowl830]

Coosa board is more like starboard. This material is smooth on both sides and has a porous interior. It’s lighter by weight. And a lot cheaper. A 3/4” 4x8 sheet runs around 130-150

[@billarnold6166]

@@bowl830 thanks for the explanation Jeff.

[@captainsmate5770]

A fuel tank under deck

[@bowl830]

Mine is tucked on the left side above the deck. It’s a upright. It takes up only 9”x13 of floor space and holds 21 gallons. Which is way more than needed with this 4 stroke. Thanks for watching and commenting I appreciate it

[@allstate125]

No foam flotation? Not a good idea. Foam keeps it from sinking like a rock loosing all your gear and the boat.

[@bowl830]

It has foam from end to end. I just use sheet closed cell foam It has about 2500lb of floatation in it