Loose foam questions

raubvogel

New Member
After I put one of those inspection holes (thanks to one sunfish forum member!) in my yet-to-be-sailed sunfish, I found out the foam on the left (port?) side of the mast is not only kinda loose but also tilting towards the mast on the rear. I read the how-to on gluing it back with the expandable foam. Would that do the trick here?

The last picture shows the right side foam in its rightful place.
 

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After I put one of those inspection holes (thanks to one sunfish forum member!) in my yet-to-be-sailed sunfish, I found out the foam on the left (port?) side of the mast is not only kinda loose but also tilting towards the mast on the rear. I read the how-to on gluing it back with the expandable foam. Would that do the trick here?

The last picture shows the right side foam in its rightful place.

You found these instructions, right?
Not the one for replacing the blocks.
. . . just making sure :cool: . . . . . . . .

Wind Line Sails - Sunfish and small boat repair pages

Fixing a Loose Block

new-6.jpg

There is a companion photo essay that goes a little more in-depth on the equipment and materials used for this repair. It also shows you how you can support the boat at different attitudes so gravity works in your favor. This essay can be viewed and/or downloaded from here... Sunfish_Sailor


.
 
I have to be humble and say I did not see those instructions. Thanks for showing them to me. Now I guess I need to go and get the foam and then prepare to fill it with goo. I really do not know if I will be able to turn it like that but I will give it a try. :D
 
I just did this repair Friday. I bought the 4-lb density foam from US Composites, the smallest kit (here).

I followed both of the instructions that Wayne referenced above - especially the essay over at the Sunfish Sailor Yahoo Group (it's called "Block_Reset.pdf", by John Howard). I hung my Sunfish from the garage with ratchet straps just like he did, which made it nice to tilt the boat to let gravity work in your favor.

I did several small batches (2 oz of each part), mixed in plastic drinking cups, but I cut the upper lip off the cups so I could squeeze the cup and make it easier to pour with, as well as easier to fit it into the inspection port.

The 1st batch was a bit sloppy as I learned how quickly the stuff would start to set up, but after that things went really well. I did have to make a small dam underneath one of the foam blocks, because the gap was too large, and the foam just drizzled right past the foam block and pooled down in the bottom!

After the expanding foam had setup for a while, I tested the fit, and all of my foam blocks are now solidly captured by the new (and old) expanding foam - much stiffer than before.

Good luck!

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