TRAILER READY FOR ROAD REGISTRATION

Did the final assembly and parts replacement on the Pride's trailer today.

I didn't paint the wobble roller mounts as I will be putting new rollers on in the near future.

Roadworthy & safe at last.

30 year old ROH 14X7 Alloys fitted.

The biggest drama I had was fitting the wheels to the hubs. I bought two packs of mag wheel lug nuts and a pack of lock nuts. The issue was that the supplied washers were about 1.3mm too large in diameter for the recesses in the alloy wheels. I'm guessing the difference is metric to imperial measurements. I had to cut about 1.4mm out of all the washers with a hacksaw, then tap them back into shape gently with a hammer. Worked a treat and nuts are very snug. I may need to fit some rubber wheel arch flare to the guards on the outside, as the sidewalls are sitting proud of the guard. I'll find out next weekend when I go for the Blue slip rego inspection.

A little closer to being road ready

Some more work on the trailer this weekend. Second coat of black epoxy enamel on the mudguards, and the alloy wheel centres.

30 year old alloys cleaned up well

second coat of epoxy enamel

I may replace the steel guards next winter with a set of aluminium checker plate ones if I can find a set suitable.

New gal axle, springs, eye bolts, u bolts and fish plates fitted

 Some great progress on the Starfire's trailer today. Picked up a new gal 73 inch axle from Trailer Sales in Mortdale, and a pair of used 215/65R14 tyres to my bargain ROH alloys.

Pair of used 215/65R14 tyres fitted to my vintage ROH alloys

 I cleaned up both sides of the wheels, I think there was twenty plus years worth of brake dust and oily gunge on the inside! I'll be painting the inside of the rim and the insides of the cutouts in black gloss anyway.

hubs and bearings fitted

I removed the mudguards today...the mounting bolts were very rusted but they all came off cleanly. I'll be painting the guards in gloss black and refitting them with stainless bolts & nuts.

Painted the mudguard support brackets after removing the guards. One needed some minor panelbeating work :-/

A little more progress...

New galvanised suspension components arrived on Monday

new galvanised hubs, slipper springs, fish plates and u bolts

Found these online too yesterday, 14 inch Ford five stud to suit my new gal hubs. Should clean up OK and I'll repaint the centre and insides in black gloss. Just need a couple of new budget tyres fitted and they'll be good to go. From late 1970's early 1980's if memory serves me correctly. Wanted something different to the everyday Sunraysia style rims, retro is the go!

Transom impact damage

It was obvious the transom had suffered an impact on the port side, the crack visible  ran about 30mm into the engine well.

I removed the useless 30mm wood screw on the left and filled the area with Sikaflex

Apart from a few minor scratches & gouges in the hull, this was the most serious damage I could find on the boat.  The starboard side was fine. The port side, not so. Either the boat had been backed into something while on the trailer, or reversed into something whilst afloat. Either way the engine well top edge had been damaged with a crack running about 30mm into the well. The outside of the transom top edge was intact. I removed the useless 30mm wood screw what was holding nothing at all, cleaned the hole and filled the whole are with Sikaflex, pumping it in until it oozed out the crack in the topside. I then drilled a new hole to the right of the original to a depth of about 70mm into the transom timber on both sides, filling them with Sikaflex and screwing in a zinc coated coach bolt. The whole top edge of the transom is now very rigid. I would like to have removed the outboard to replace the alloy angle with a larger section of 75x75mm but I don't have the facility to remove the engine from the transom.

Removed old corroded and broken deck hardware. I knew I had no hope of finding original cleats so I went with stainless steel loops on the rear port & starboard gunwales, with 100mm stainless cleats on both forward sides. The hull topsides original navy blue is obvious. I prefer the lighter blue, I think the dark shade would be very hot under direct Summer sun. I cleaned up the areas where the old hardware was mounted and placed a small section of outdoor grade vinyl wrap over them to keep rainwater out.

Temp waterproof cover over old cleat mount holes

port and starboard replacement mooring loops in 304 stainless. vinyl is a temp fix to cover and waterproof old mounting holes.

This was the bow cleat mount after the damaged cleat was removed. This is also the only mounting point that sowed any evidence of damage. Note the cracking around the holes. I will fix an aluminium plate on the underside when new cleat is fitted.

forward cleat mounting holes

rear gunwale cleat mounting holes

This was the only intact deck cleat on the whole boat. All the others were broken and badly corroded.

This 1968 Pride Starfire SS1500 had been for sale locally for some time. I passed it during the course of doing my job as a truck driver many times a week. I've always liked the look of these old hulls, and thought she would make a great project for next Summer.

The engine fired immediately with choke-only ran it for a couple of seconds though as it didn't have water connected. Hull has four ss rod holders fitted by original owner. Windscreen isn't original from what I can gather, but addition of alloy rail surrounding it will make a handy grab rail when conditions are less than perfect!

engine had signs of being well maintained
in the last 48 years!

dash and non functioning speedo

induction side showing carbies

ignition side

Took advantage of some milder fine weather today to remove all the very rusty suspension components on the trailer. Turns out the left hand side main leaf was broken clean through at the eye. Only weight of boat was holding it all in place. A sharp jolt from a pothole could have had disastrous results. Final measurements were made to existing axle, 1854 mm or 73 inches long end to end. Should be able to pick up one from Mortdale during the week. Galvanized of course!

After all the rusted parts were removed, chassis was scrubbed thoroughly with bilge & engine cleaner and left to air dry.

After chassis had completely dried, I brushed on a coat of Killrust epoxy enamel. I had originally planned to paint the chassis in white, but white boat trailers are everywhere. And I already had enough paint in black to do the job...so black it is! Continuing the black theme the new steel wheels will be black as well. I think I'll paint the mudguards in a blue as close as I can get to the Pride's topside colour. The chassis will need a second coat to ensure a good paint thickness. Black is also an easy colour to touch up....

Of course while the trailer is being refurbished, the Pride is in dry dock in my front yard!

This is my 1968 Pride Starfire runabout I bought on 1st April 2016. Yeah....April Fools Day.....

I'm the third owner, first owner had the boat and motor over 46 years, and only sold it because he was in his seventies and could not tilt the motor up any longer. Second owner bought it in 2014 and used it a little before he lost his boat license and was unable to re register the boat. Hull & motor in good order given it's now 48 years old. Trailer needs work. I've ordered fitting new gal leaf springs, hubs, rims & tyres. I'll also be replacing the very rusted 39mm axle with a new gal one from a local Sydney supplier.  I've already replaced all the keel roller support bracket mounting bolts with gal ones. The boat is in my front yard supported on old car tyres as I write!  Hopefully all will be spot on ready for Spring in September :-)

Thankfully the trailer chassis is in very good condition[it's a 1996 build]being hot dipped galvanised. I'll be painting the chassis in black epoxy enamel.

original owner was a member of this club

first day home safely in driveway

very easy to reverse with the auto Disco