85 supra sunsport restore

[Jesse]

I have already started tearing into my supra and have a few questions. In my mind the plan is to redo stringers, floor and transom support. The stringers look to better and better toward the bow. If they arnt rotted at some point will it be easier to just leave them, and just run support past them, then reglass? I'm guessing as to how solid the fiberglass is looking I would save multiple hours, worth it or not?
I was also wondering if the fiberglass over the stringers is more so for water tightness, or is the glass a structural part of the stringer system. From what I have been reading in the forum it sounds more like a water tight application than a structual. How many layers of glass goes into composite stringers? Would a guy be able to just bulk up the existing stringers with like 1708 biaxial glass and what ever types of glass are used in composite stringer construction? I would imagine the cost wouldn't be that much different.
I was also wondering if anyone had any tricks to disconnecting the gas tank from the hull, as of now I am planning to lift the cap a little then reach in and hold the nuts. Has anyone ever added support for their tower? I was debating on possibly adding fiber glass or just put like 3/4" ppl ywood backer in when reinstalled. Last question is there anything out there that talks about pulling the motor? As I can't find any videos I am guessing it is a pretty simple process , just disconnect everything and pull.. right? I will try to add pictures later tonight

[flipz96]

If you plan on keeping your boat and are doing a cap off restore, you should replace all the stringers. You will be kicking yourself in the butt if you don't. Chances are there are some wood rot even if the surface looks good. My bow keel stringer was solid at the top, but when I removed it, it revealed some wood rot. Your boat was designed where the main structure strength is in the wood. The original glass provided some strength, but not enough when the wood rot gets bad.

You could technically bulk up the glass as you were saying. But if your stringers are bad enough where they need to get replaced, chances are there are some really muddy areas in your hull. Mine was pretty bad. I wouldn't want to glass over that knowing what under there. Nothing like the smell of rotten wood that will never go away.

You shouldn't have any problems removing the gas tank from the hull. You would have to disconnect the fuel hose from fuel cap on the top cap by unscrewing the worm clamp (and also the vent). Even though I had the worm clamp off, mine was stuck. I ended up cutting it and replacing it with a new hose.

As for the tower supports, I would embed a backing plate of some sort. 3/4" ply would be fine. I used 3/4" aquaplast which is like an ABS type plastic so there would be not chance of rot. Just make sure you embed it to the underside of the cap to reduce stress concentration on the cap.

[Jesse]

Thanks for the insight! So what is up with all the rivots. I mean soooo many rivots you would think like 1 rivot every 6-8 inches would be fine and 2 rivots every inch would be weaker

[flipz96]

If I remember correctly, I used a 3/16 drill bit to get them out. Yeah...there were a ton of them. Good Luck!

[ckracing]

One of the benefits of a mid 80's Supra - built like a tank. When the cap comes off is when the fun begins. Lining the holes back up is a bit of a task. Good luck, it'll be worth it.

[Salty87]

Agree with Flipz. The time spent patching stringers would be better spent just replacing them and then having completely solid new stringers.


I was also wondering if anyone had any tricks to disconnecting the gas tank from the hull, as of now I am planning to lift the cap a little then reach in and hold the nuts.

Also agree that cutting the old filler hose is probably easiest. Old hoses get hard and become difficult to work with. This will apply to the big exhaust hoses, too. Compared to the cost of the entire project it's not much more to replace all of these.

The trick to the gas tank (at least on Saltares) is to lift the end opposite the filler about 3'. This will lower the fill neck.