1958 Starcraft Jet-Star, Pt. I - Stunning Boat, Hideous Motor
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2025
- First ride out in a recently purchased 1958 Starcraft Jet-Star aluminum runabout / vintage boat. We tried to get some informative video for our viewers, but ended up goofing off and griping about the garbage powerplant that came on it. This was hard to refrain from doing, and we did not do a very good job of exercising restraint.
Needless to say, an ENGINE SWAP is in short order - we have some ideas of what we are going to install next. What suggestions do you guys have? Feel free to comment with your suggestions, or blatant disgust and hate towards our opinions :)
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#boating #vintageboats #driveoldboats #periodcorrect #newmotorssuck #runabout #engineswap
Gorgeous boat.
Thanks! It's definitely in its own class. Once we find a more appropriate motor for it, it'll be even better. We're tossing around a few options that we have.
The 83 35 horse is nicely enough refinished, it's probably worth fixing the lower unit before we pull it though. Either sell it, or find a boat that needs it 😅
@@retro_grade I've got a 55 evinrude 15 that I'm constantly machining the dogs on. I used to rebuild the lower end right on the beach with the boat in the water lol.
@@Shornandkenny - hah! I've never actually tried machining them. I have access to a CNC mill though.....maybe I need to write a program where I could just load a set up.
With the price of the clutch dogs increasing and NLA, I could see reconditioning of them and the gear dogs to be a good option.
@@retro_grade do it on a manual mill. On mine, the radius on the dogs is .1875. You can tip the gears a bit in the vice and undercut the dogs a tad so they STAY engaged, just a bit, .25 degrees or so.
@@retro_grade and cool, I've been a cnc machinist/mould maker for 20 plus years.
These were great motors in the day . Thousands on the water along with its Evinrude twin.
The term "garbage" that we used in the video was a bit strong, yes. The 1970's and 1980's OMC engines are built like tanks. I have two 1974 Loop Charged 50's on my 1960 Alumacraft that are great engines. They've run year after year with little maintance since my great grandfather purchased them new and have hit so many rocks and logs over the years everyone has lost count. (Would I rather listed to a 1957 Evinrude Lark or a 1957 Mercury Mark 55 run - Yes).
However - installing a 1980's long shaft Johnson 35 HP engine on a boat this beautiful and modifying the transom to do so is purely criminal. All because someone simply "had it laying around". I think the only thing worse would be installing a new 4 stroke :)
We're currently working on fixing this....
Kept me entertained the entire video!
Glad that you were entertained with the banter!
I never ran the motor wide open so I did not experience problems with the "shift dogs." It ran fine for my purposes and is cosmetically excellent. I have no interest in high speed. When my wife learned that before they were effectively outlawed by pollution standards, two-stroke outboards were dumping the equivalent of 15 Exxon Valdez spills into American waters every year, she wanted me to replace the '83 with a four-stroke. Clean water matters more to some people than it does to others. My wife could not in good conscience continue to use that motor. I would have replaced the '83 with a four stroke if they had not been on backorder. People have different values and different reasons for enjoying boating. I've decided I don't want to run two strokes anymore despite the fact that they are not aesthetically pleasing on a vintage boat.
I really enjoy the new four stroke motors as well...I have a 1991 Riviera Cruiser pontoon boat that I recently updated motors on. I went from a 1991 two stroke Johnson to a 2014 Yamaha four stroke when I redid the whole boat. I can't even hear the new one run, whereas the old one we couldn't even enjoy the ride on with all the noise and smoke in our face constantly. And then yes, I couldn't even imagine the oil in the water as well!....not sure I'd want my wife and child swimming in the same water as that oil POLLUTION, just sickening!
@Wilcox Garage - we wouldn't expect somebody who's peferred choice of boat transportation is a pontoon boat and remembers its exact make and model years to have much sense of class or style when it comes to outboard motors. (That two-smoke and sweet harmony of an old outboard singing to you is the biggest REASON to own one!) OF COURSE you replaced your junk with newer junk.
Next thing, you're going to tell us that we should put an electric motor on it? 😉
@dba12123 - no hard feelings at all from Retro-Grade towards the previous owner of this vessel - as much as we hold our opinions, we don't purchase any older machine with (at least worst case) the full expectation that we may have to do a significant amount of work to it. As aggravating in the moment that it may be when issues arise.
Surprisingly or not, the name of the actual intended wear part is the Clutch Dog (as odd as that may sound). This moves betwen the forward and reverse drive gears when shifting - the contact surfaces are termed "dog teeth". When talking about that interface being worn, I (Brock) many times just use the term "shift dogs". (Not sure how many people just say that). Many times, it's the Clutch Dog that gets the most damage and not as much the forward and reverse gears, and in this case only one part needs replaced and not the whole set.
If you never had the pleasure of going Full-Send with your old boat, you wouldn't have known there was an issue. Never the end of the world if you know how to work on old motors, but many times a nuicance.
This problem is actually very common, mostly on motors that have been sitting for years. Typically, the motors start running rough, so rather than tuning it, the owners will rev it our or raise the idle above what it should be, which puts increased wear on the parts described above. Then, when the engine starts jumping in an out of gear it gets removed from service. (This happens on all of them, including ones from the 1950's).
In lucky circumstances, the old motors would sit (hopefully in favorable storage conditions) for a long time until somebody wants rid of them and they get picked up by a new custodian. In unlucky cirumstances, they get pitched and end up at the dump :(
@@retro_grade Do they make electric motors bigger than the Minn Kota trolling motors...Like that I could use for full time instead of the fourstroke?? If not, I think a a manufacturer like Tesla is really missing the ball big time on this one. Lots of MONEY to be made for them if they ventured into the boat market.
@@retro_grade I have spend my life in sail boats and kayaks. I wouldn't be caught dead in a modern powerboat. Until three years ago, I never owned a power boat. The fifties boats are a joy because of the way their design captures the spirit of the age. I don't need to careen down a lake or river in noisy two stroke to enjoy them. Of course, a modern motor on the transom clashes harshly with the beautiful fifties design. But modern motors are a lot quieter and over 98% cleaner. I was not aware until recently that the two stroke motors were as polluting as they are. I do my boating mostly in the pristine waters of the Adirondack Park. The park is constitutionally protected as forever wild. I can't in good conscience poison those waters with two stroke gas. In a place like Kentucky, "forever wild" doesn't exist. It is a great place to speed around in a fifties or sixties two stroke. I'm glad my boat has found a good home.
Can’t wait to see this thing with a ‘50’s Johnson 35. Hard to find a boat like that in this area and if you do people think they’ve won the lottery and want you to pay for it. 😖
@pauld5530 - it sounds like you have good taste in outboards.....that option may be on the table for sure! If so, likely a 57 (best year in Brock's opinion) or 58 Johnson or Evinrude. A Golden Javelin definitely would go well against this boat's color :)
Tiddy bashing 😂
Yeah none of this dialogue was rehearsed for this one, can't you tell?. Just footage captured, while trying to take the boat out for the first time while we had daylight. Glad you found something entertaining!
An oil pressure gauge???? I think you need a better mechanic. That engine is a very reliable one. But only if you get rid of the aftermarket parts that are all over it...and only if you have the knowledge to work on it.
The oil pressure gage was just for looks on the dashboard. We were poking fun at it because it didn't make sense. Alot of older boats have oddball stuff like that on them, filling in voids that were cut of previously at some point in the boats lifetime. My 53 Feathercraft had a water pressure gage plugging a hole on the dash when I bought it also.
The engine actually ran fine, there's nothing mechanically wrong with it aside from the clutch dog being worn out and needing replaced and a bad voltage regulator (not covered in video). The disgust was more geared at the sound and styling in general, when compared to a 1950s Era one. Personal preference. No real aftermarket parts on it, original. We will fix the lower unit and put if for sale, or keep it around if we ever come across and appropriate boat for it.
I've been messing with old outboards since grade school and have become very passionate and opinionated on them 😅
Thanks for the comment!
-Brock