Thanks for the bid of confidence! Since you saw the boat. The fiberglass work along the bottom. Since I am painting, isnit salvagable? I have a feeling the damage underneath is pretty bad and I don’t know if I am skilled enough to fix it. My concern is that it looks like they didn’t shave down the epoxy(?) layer and build it up, so it looks like the last level of fiberglass is as high as the gel coat. If I need to redo it, I will. I’m not afraid of a project and if I don’t do it close to right it’s going to bother the heck out of me!I knew that boat looked familiar- I checked it out about 6 weeks ago! You got a good deal, for sure. The rudder alone is worth $200. You will need an inspection port to attach the gudgeon and some fiberglass work on the hull. May not be sailing next weekend, but you’ll be out there soon enough!
Yes, you’ll want to grind off that old patch and see what you’re working with.
You’ll need a backing plate inside the hull to give it the strength it will need against the force applied to it in the water.
Can you describe the bolts? Are the threads coarse or fine? Is there a head to it? Is the head hexagonal, slotted, or Phillips?As far as the gudgeon: there are 4 bolts there. Please forgive my ignorance (as the amount of information out there is dizzying) but can’t I just unscrew those and slap the new gudgeon on? That would be preferred!
Sorry for all of the questions! Chris
The patch looks like a simple 2-inch-wide tape which was inadequately infused with resin and has eroded piecemeal from the "fixed" area of damage.That looks promising. If you can pull on those screws and they feel firm, you are in good shape. Install the new gudgeon with a small bit of marine sealant around the holes. I'd sand the edges of that patch to makes sure it is mostly smooth. If you want the fiberglass weave to be smooth it might be better to put fairing compound over it and sand that. What you don't want to do is sand away the patch, unless you plan to repair it all over again. I don't think the fish will notice some fabric weave. K
^^^^^^What you can get away with for fiberglass repair on a Sunfish and
the proper way to repair fiberglass are often wildly divergent.
We voted last week. Did you miss that?? :-DDo we even know the patch needs repair? Light and Variable Winds has reached that conclusion but as far as I know he has nev r seen the boat!!
I must be doing things backwards, as I've had a variety of cruising, keel boats and now have gravitated to my two fish and Puffer, loving the heck out of them. ...especially the Sunfish. Once at a launch, I can be sailing 5 minutes later while cleaning, washing, waxing takes minutes, versus...too much time!I've always though of the Sunfish as the premier "Fiberglass
Repair Trainer." Perfect for building you're repair skills to
move up to repairing more expensive boats you'll own in
the future.
It's very rare to see a gloss finish on a hull from the mid 1970's after they have been dragged through the sands a few dozen times and stored upside down a few years. The 320 grit blends with the naturally aged 70's hull perfectly. If you wet sand with 1200 grit and buff with buffing compound, you really need to to buff the whole 14'.^^^^^^
Doing professional looking gel repairs isn't rocket science, but there is a skill to it.
OH yeah..... a gelcoat match with a finish sanding with 320 on white, "might" escape scrutiny to some, but on a mirror like, black hull, it'll be the ugliest part of the boat. #320 grit isn't going to have ANY shine to it. More like a cloudy satin finish. White is MUCH more forgiving when doing repairs, as the gloss isn't as apparent as with darker colors. That said, there are an unlimited number of shades of white. With whites, I'll finish sand with 5-600 grit and buff on LOW with an rotary buffer and the "correct" buffing pad. On blacks, I might go as high as 1200 grit for sanding and a finer cut compound, to get out "swirl" marks. Matching a sheen can be as important as color. And... the higher the gloss, the better prep work will be required. Dips and valleys will now really stand out.