New to Board..74? Sunfish full restore

neal trombley

New Member
I am Neal...I live in SW Florida..on the water..here is my story

neighbor gave this sunfish last week, I don't sail ( im 49) want to learn and this seems to be the lil vessel to do that with...not in horrible shape it has a newer sail and rudder/dagger boards are rough but should be able to restore them in decent shape...

I have added a few hull pictures, I am starting there..

My back ground
I am marine manufactures rep have been for 20+ years..( own the company)
we rep lines like Beckson Marine, Meguiars, Shakespeare and Buck Algonquin
also Kardol for you glass/acetone guys, plus several other great companies as well

I plan on starting on bottom of the hull, it will need some keel repair with new glass, but the cracks are not severe and should easily be sanded primed and painted..

I have not got that far as paint, since I am in the industry awgrip is and option and other hi end urethane's or brightside from Interlux ( great easy product)...

I do need tips on going back original as possible for 74...? I will post the transom numbers for you guys to decipher..

Thanks looking fwd to the adventure...not sure pics did not load I use Photo bucket? Help there too? Sorry
2013-03-09142824.jpg
[/IMG] [/IMG]
2013-03-09142827.jpg
2013-03-09142853.jpg
[/IMG]
2013-03-09145724.jpg
[/IMG]l
 
I am Neal...I live in SW Florida..on the water..here is my story

neighbor gave this sunfish last week, I don't sail ( im 49) want to learn and this seems to be the lil vessel to do that with...not in horrible shape it has a newer sail and rudder/dagger boards are rough but should be able to restore them in decent shape...

I have added a few hull pictures, I am starting there..

My back ground
I am marine manufactures rep have been for 20+ years..( own the company)
we rep lines like Beckson Marine, Meguiars, Shakespeare and Buck Algonquin
also Kardol for you glass/acetone guys, plus several other great companies as well

I plan on starting on bottom of the hull, it will need some keel repair with new glass, but the cracks are not severe and should easily be sanded primed and painted..

I have not got that far as paint, since I am in the industry awgrip is and option and other hi end urethane's or brightside from Interlux ( great easy product)...

I do need tips on going back original as possible for 74...? I will post the transom numbers for you guys to decipher..

Thanks looking fwd to the adventure...not sure pics did not load I use Photo bucket? Help there too? Sorry
2013-03-09145724.jpg
2013-03-09142916.jpg
2013-03-09142851.jpg
 
It would be interesting to see pictures of the rest of the boat. I've never seen a fitting on the hull like that before on a Sunfish. Is that the bailer?
 
Yes that is a anderson bailer...a bailer that works and can be rebuilt..I was surprised to find one on the full.

I will take complete pics as the project unfolds...the bottom is a priority at this point,,,should be done with it is a couple of days..
 
well...as usual the more you sand and inspect the more you find wrong....the spider cracks are down to the glass and the glass is stressed, so I have to repair around 8-10 areas on the Port hull with glass and gel coat...

I also found the port side by the dagger-board and going fwd to be very flimsy compared to the STBD side of the hull?/ has the hull pulled away from a stringer? I am trying not to do inspection plates except in the cockpit for dry storage...but I do have concerns regarding that area...any input would be great..

I will post up more pics this week as I start to do glass repair,,,while grinding the hull I see about three different colors so, the boat has been painted before

I also will be using GP resin and not epoxy..I love epoxy but if future repairs need to be done I prefer staying with GP resin....if I need to repair the hull where it seems to be flimsy West systems gets the nod

I am using a product from US Chemical called spray max..its a 2 part spray epoxy primer..wow do I like this product...it sprays from a can like a pro paint gun,,layers up nice and sanded smooth its 2 part ( mixes from the bottom) ...again I will share some pics this week....

Thanks...
 
HIN indicates it is a 1974, built by AMF

Your soft spot may be where foam block has shrunk and/or pulled away. No stringers. Look in knowledge files for PDF
for foam replacement, it has diagram on where foam blocks are. If foam has dried up be aware that you may have lost some but not all of your flotation and hull stiffening. The boat will sail okay without it, you might hear some oil canning noise when you smack a wave.
 
I noticed you're using a "straight-line" sander—the perfect sander for the hull's bottom—wish I'd used my own, back when I was doing my Sunfish(es). :confused:

APS on Anderson bailers:
http://www.apsltd.com/c-6562-bailers-thru-hull-and-manual.aspx

Yes I rep Hutchins tools..with some 80 grit paper its removing all the old paint so I can see all the real problems..LOL

with a da you get to many peeks and valleys we call them divots in the boat building circle..with a larger inline you eliminate some of that...

Thanks..plan on fixing all the hull issues tonight with resin & and strand mat...fill in with filler and resin sand then fair it out with some duraglass filler and expoxy prime..
 
I am Neal...I live in SW Florida..on the water..here is my story

neighbor gave this sunfish last week, I don't sail ( im 49) want to learn and this seems to be the lil vessel to do that with...not in horrible shape it has a newer sail and rudder/dagger boards are rough but should be able to restore them in decent shape...

I have added a few hull pictures, I am starting there..

My back ground
I am marine manufactures rep have been for 20+ years..( own the company)
we rep lines like Beckson Marine, Meguiars, Shakespeare and Buck Algonquin
also Kardol for you glass/acetone guys, plus several other great companies as well

I plan on starting on bottom of the hull, it will need some keel repair with new glass, but the cracks are not severe and should easily be sanded primed and painted..

I have not got that far as paint, since I am in the industry awgrip is and option and other hi end urethane's or brightside from Interlux ( great easy product)...

I do need tips on going back original as possible for 74...? I will post the transom numbers for you guys to decipher..

Thanks looking fwd to the adventure...not sure pics did not load I use Photo bucket? Help there too? Sorry
2013-03-09142824.jpg
[/IMG] [/IMG]
2013-03-09142827.jpg
2013-03-09142853.jpg
[/IMG]
2013-03-09145724.jpg
[/IMG]l
I love this story! You are going to have a blast with your baby. There is a great deal of useful info regarding restoration on this site.
 
well I had a neighbor show up today and tell me that my sunfish is a super sunfish..it has clam cleats along the coaming and two on the deck that said was from the super sunfish's unique sail design..now what do!!! he said i have normal boom/spars and sail ( one spar has been cut short)....
 
Just continue with your restoration; the Super had a different rig (Marconi) and was supposed to be competitive with the Laser, which, at the time, was rapidly gaining in popularity. However, the Super Sunfish didn't become a commercial success and was discontinued.
The cleats are class legal on a regular Sunfish anyway.

In conclusion: no worries, mate
 
Just continue with your restoration; the Super had a different rig (Marconi) and was supposed to be competitive with the Laser, which, at the time, was rapidly gaining in popularity. However, the Super Sunfish didn't become a commercial success and was discontinued.
The cleats are class legal on a regular Sunfish anyway.

In conclusion: no worries, mate

Thank you..I agree.
At this point, the hull is just a hull needed some TLC...I plan on getting the bottom repaired and primer-ed this weekend....then flip and start on the deck.

should I patch all the holes where the clam cleats were on the decks or just put back to original? I dont even begin to know where to look for the spars & rigging associated with the super sunfish...
 
should I patch all the holes where the clam cleats were on the decks or just put back to original?

That's really up to you. You can use the cleats to 'secure' the main sheet, but racers don't like to do that. Moreover, a sudden gust may lead to a capsize if you are a little slow releasing the sheet from the cleat.
 
Thanks Wave Dancer....I will prob rig back to original super sunfish yet use the reg sunfish rig that came with it to learn how to sail her.....should get started on the glass repairs later today and get the keel repair done and bottom epoxied by Sunday...
I also was at a marine distributor open house last night in West Palm beach...I was talking to the awlgrip guys and they are supplying me all the paint I need to awlgrip the boat....I have sprayed it before and it is tricky but the results should be great if I can get the hull in great shape with the repairs that are due....
 
If you want a Super Sunfish, put an ad in the Want To Buy section of the the forum and see if anyone has some Super Sunfish parts, you never know. I know a guy who has an unused Super Sunfish sail for $150, so that's a start. What part of the country are you in? Lots of folks travel and might drop one off for you or meet halfway.

My2fish had a nice blog about SS, pros and cons http://my2fish.wordpress.com/2011/10/25/restoring-sailing-a-super-sunfish/

If that fizzles, I'd probably "plug" the holes that would let water into the hull with a small dab of white or grey marine tex, and if you found SS parts later there's not much to undo.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tag
2013-03-16113313.jpg


This is the keel...you can clearly see the damage...I will use the section cover it with Wax paper..make a mold then this section out..lots of pictures to follow..
 
2013-03-16113336.jpg


this is just some areas that I had concerns with....grind-ed them down with 80 grit...filled with glass/resin and smoothed out with 80 grit and then made a resin putty with cabolsil like peanut butter to make smooth....
 
2013-03-16123037.jpg


Sorry for the fast fwd....took some extra work to force that part down in the hull, then I used 4 screws to pull the part somewhat flush...glassed the ends and middle...removed the screws ground the glass and finished glassing in the part....there is putty between the hull and cockpit and it was hard to get to and grind so the part fit...just took some time.....you can clearly see I am not a glass guy...
 
Again this is after glassing it in...it was ge
2013-03-16153358.jpg



This was after I glassed it in...BTW I vacuumed about 1/2 gallon of sand from the hull when I cut the keel open..
 
2013-03-17133636.jpg

This was this morning..I ground down the glass I built up and had some product called Hull/Deck from Laminex to try and get some shape back in the keel....tough job..I have some great air files and DA sander and it was still...the hulls are so thin...
 
2013-03-17142720.jpg

This is the bottom with a 2 part epoxy paint that I used to build up the low spots..it will be sanded with 220/400 and then the top coat of Alwrip...
 
2013-03-17142727.jpg

Kind of a final shot for now..you can see the primer and different layers I am spraying....
Some of you might ask about adding weight..I took all measures to use as little material as needed..but really added strength to the keel....
 
guys,..I am learning as I go...shaping the keel was hard and it is not perfect..but should not leak and will take some punishment...

I am sorry I could not video this..bit as you guys are all aware some guy named Doug made an excellent video of the same repair, I used his video to repair mine...ask me any questions I will try and answer. If you see I am doing anything wrong please let me know..you cant hurt my feelings..

I am blessed to have a wife in the boat building business to get my resin/glass...cabosil etc....if I had to guess I am to about 200 bucks in material and sanding discs.....

next is too sand the primer and flip the vessel....I will not top coat until I am done with all the glass work....

I am tired...for a 49yr ole guy out of shape..it was a long weekend...but I feel good about the work so far...
 
Neal
I said "oh no!" when I saw the first pic, but its kind of like walking into the middle of a surgery, not pretty. But things look like they are coming together nicely, thanks for posting the pics.

Kent
Trailer guy, married to a sailor
 

Back
Top