Sunfish Restoration Project

viperhawk

New Member
I just finished my Sunfish restoration:

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Looks quite nice.
Care to comment?
Helpful hints for others restoring Sunfish and similar boats?
 
I used two-part epoxy for all red and white paint work. All red/white was painted with a foam roller. Roll and spray-on bedliner was used for the black applications. Here's the rundown:


  • Hull sanded and painted with three coats of white and red MoPoxy 2-part epoxy
  • Spray-in bedliner used on coaming, rudder, daggerboard, and tiller
  • Roll-in bedliner used for black stripes, cockpit area, and front/rear
  • New Intensity Sails "race" sail
  • New hiking strap installed
  • Compass installed behind coaming
  • Drain plug installed on rear of boat
  • New trailer purchased from Harbor Freight Tools ($350.00 shipped to my door..great deal!)
  • New rear traveler bridal
  • New "Sunfish" decals
  • New Harken Autoratcheting block
  • New white vinyl cockpit interior trim with clip
  • New aluminum trim around boat edge
 
Bedliner? :eek:

The color scheme makes the Sunfish look longer. (A good thing). :cool: I like everything about this boat—how is that drain plug location working out?

Is this boat's physical location anywhere near Miami? :D (A guess ;) )
 
<snip>
New white vinyl cockpit interior trim with clip
<snip>

Viperhawk, is the trim a standard "Sunfish" product or something adapted to fit ?

cheers
Bill TGH
 
viperhawk,
I watched this other video you posted 4 months ago: http://www.vimeo.com/5373434

I have a couple questions/thoughts for you:

  • in the older video, is that the same Sunfish, before your restoration?
  • are you happy with the race-style sail from Intensity Sails? I've been considering it myself, but haven't bit the bullet to buy it yet.
  • did you also upgrade to a new rudder and tiller? or are they just the old ones painted black maybe?
  • I noticed your sail was rigged much lower in the more current video - any particular reason? with it that low, were you able to keep it from scratching your deck? my deck has a nice set of scratch marks from the last time I accidentally left it rigged too low.
  • also, just curious - do you use a water-proof video camera? or just wing it and keep it dry?
thanks,
tag
 
I'll answer these in order:


  • Yes, it's the same boat. That's my brother sailing it around while I filmed in the water.
  • I love the sail. I'm not a serious sailing enthusiast but the sail gives me a window....which I like.
  • The old rudder/tiller and daggerboard are all spray with bedliner. It's an extremely thin texture spray to keep drag down.
  • That was my first trip with the new sail. My halyard line kept busting through my new (weaker) sail ring. I ended up getting a piece of rubber tubing, wrapping it around the pipe, and using a hose clamp. There's no way a halyard can slide up now. I normally ride with it at the height that you saw in the older video.
  • I use a Flip Mino HD. I'm just careful with it as it isn't water resistant.
 
excellent - thanks. I enjoyed your style of video shooting - kind of artistic views of the sailboat. your restoration is really nice, too.

tag
 
I had to slow down in order to film a bit of it:
Here's something that may help in the go fast area...

I noticed in your 1st picture, the boom is a little caddywompus. I caught a glimpse of this again in the video and also saw your boom block eyestraps are sticking out to one side.

Looks like the gooseneck boom clamp needs to be loosened and the boom rotated about 90º so it hangs correctly.
 

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Awesome work Viperhawk. Your pics are wonderful.

Did you sand with 400 grit between coats of paint?

Enjoy!!!
 
I noticed in your 1st picture, the boom is a little caddywompus. I caught a glimpse of this again in the video and also saw your boom block eyestraps are sticking out to one side.

Looks like the gooseneck boom clamp needs to be loosened and the boom rotated about 90º so it hangs correctly.
As mentioned before, I'm not an expert sailor. I see what you mean and will adjust this.

looks cool but won't all that black get awfully hot in july/august?
I've sailed a few times on hot days since restoration and didn't seem to have any issues with it. Not really sitting on anything black while sailing.

Did you sand with 400 grit between coats of paint?
Yes, I wetsanded after each coat. I'm still going to get this boat buffed though. Will probably take it to a guy next week.
 
As mentioned before, I'm not an expert sailor.
No need to be an expert to setup your boat correctly so it performs at it best. Laser Performance provides a free setup manual and the Standard setup has hardly changed in nearly 40 years.

http://www.laserperformance.com/main/images/stories/pdfs/Sunfish/Sunfish(US).pdf ... (9.7 MB .pdf file)

Some of the parts may look slightly different today, but the general organization and adjustment can still be derived from what's shown in today's instructions.

BTW, did you manage to figure out what year your boat is?
 
Drain plug works fine although I rarely get water in the hull. I live in North Louisiana.

A VERY IMPRESSIVE PIECE OF WORK! CONGRATULATIONS!
I AM VERY INTERESTED IN YOUR REAR DRAIN PLUG INSTALLATION.
WHERE DID YOU GET THE PARTS AND WHAT SIZE HOLE IS REQUIRED?
I STORE MY BOAT ON A SLANTED BEACH AND HATE TO PUT THE BOAT ON THE SIDE TO DRAIN OUT ANY WATER. MY BOAT IS AT LEAST 30 YEARS OLD AND WAS RUN TWICE INTO
ROCKS. i HAD TO REPLACE ABOUT 3 SQUARE FEET OF HULL AND NEVER GOT THE SEAMS WATERTIGHT THAT COMBINE THE TOP AND BOTTOM SECTIONS OF THE BOAT.
[email protected]
 
ARE THERE ANY DRAWINGS AVAILABLE TO SHOW THE INNER LAYOUT OF THE HULL CONSTRUCTION? IS THE KEEL REINFORCED AND HOW FAR BACK DOES IT GO? hOW TO INSTALL A REAR DRAINHOLE?
ANY SUGGESTIONS OUT THERE?:)
 
A VERY IMPRESSIVE PIECE OF WORK! CONGRATULATIONS!
I AM VERY INTERESTED IN YOUR REAR DRAIN PLUG INSTALLATION.
WHERE DID YOU GET THE PARTS AND WHAT SIZE HOLE IS REQUIRED?

Generally speaking, a rear drain plug is NOT necessary or recommended for a Sunfish. The hull doesn't drain well through the stern because the cockpit and internal foam supports hinder the flow of water towards the back.
Better to stick with the 'official' drain on the starboard side, near the splash rail.
 
ARE THERE ANY DRAWINGS AVAILABLE TO SHOW THE INNER LAYOUT OF THE HULL CONSTRUCTION? IS THE KEEL REINFORCED AND HOW FAR BACK DOES IT GO? hOW TO INSTALL A REAR DRAINHOLE?
ANY SUGGESTIONS OUT THERE?:)

Manfred: There are some great pictures of the construction phase of the boat in the Sunfish KB & FAQ section. The link is on the left side of the overhead ribbon; select Construction thereafter.

Just in case:
http://www.sunfishforum.com/content.php?pg=construction

 

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