Is it worth it? Am I crazy?

[Littlemrnofear]

178261782717828I am about to hand a guy $750 for an 86 sunsport. It needs new stringers and it has 2000 hours on it and a lot of the upholstery needs to be replaced. I have a guy that will do all of that with new carpet and floors for $7200. $8000 pretty much but it would be all new.... thoughts ? $3000 for stringers floor and carpet $2500 to rebuild motor and $1800 for upholstery

[DAFF]

I would buy it.... Trailer and block are worth much more than asking. I bet there is not much wrong with the engine, to me its the low hour ones which are junk.

[sivs1]

If all else is solid, do it.

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[Littlemrnofear]

I would buy it.... Trailer and block are worth much more than asking. I bet there is not much wrong with the engine, to me its the low hour ones which are junk.

Ya know, he has to take the engine out to do stringers and floor so I was just going to have it rebuilt while it's out ? The boat sat for two years after he bought it from original owner of 28 yrs: I tracked down the original owner and he said he drove it all of the time and it was well maintained and ran great. Should I just drive it and do the motor later? I just figured with that many hours it was going to die soon?

[michael hunter]

At 8000 you will be upside down about 2000 but you will have a solid finished boat . If you can get a few years of use out of it you will be money ahead.

[SquamInboards]

I'd do a compression test on the engine before rebuilding it. Taking the engine out isn't hard, so it's not like you're saving a lot of trouble by having it worked on while it's already out. It's probably 2 hours labor to pull an engine. You could also probably get it running while it's still in the boat, just to see what you're working with. If it's been sitting for 2 years, definitely use a separate fuel tank, like an outboard tank, hooked right up to the fuel pump - rather than dealing with the main tank that you're soon pulling anyway. A carb rebuild & tune-up could go a long way, too. But if it's got low compression on a cylinder or two, then yeah, might as well go through it.

Edit: to answer your question, nope you're not crazy. You could sell that trailer alone for $750. And if you do spend $8k on it, you'll have a nice bowrider inboard that's done depreciating.

[scottschmitt]

Who do you have doing stringers, floors, and carpet for 3k? Sounds like a good deal there. If you go down that path, let us know how it turns out.

[Moor]

Definitely not crazy. Like others said its worth more than $750 in parts. If i wasn't up to my ears in projects already, i'd jump all over something like this

[zroe]

So, did you pull the trigger? Seeing this post makes me think I am crazy because I just paid $2,000 for a 1985 Sunsport that will need stringers and floor soon though it did run and the upholstery is fine just the piping faded from red to blue [emoji53]


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[zroe]

Would love to know who is doing your stringers for $3,000.


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[Littlemrnofear]

A guy in Stockton is doing the stringers floor and carpet for $2500. The only upholstery that needs to be done is the back cushions and hatch and I think I can get that for $500. here are the pics I took I am using a guy in Stockton, CA that I was referred to by the local fiberglass boat repair place. He is replacing the stringers, floor, transom and carpet for $2500... crazy, the upholstery is all perfect except the back seat and storage cover and he is having the upholstery guy from down the street come down and give me a quote. I'm thinking under $400. Then he is going to test the compression on the motor to see if I even need to rebuild it yet or just run it until I have to do it. He has never done ballasts, so I am sending him ideas. I am new to this too, so I am hoping I do it right the first time. He is also going to install my tower for a couple hundred. SO if I don't have to rebuild the motor I'm looking at about $7200 for the boat to be surf ready with ballast, tower and all new floors and interior and stereo.... I think that is a pretty sweet deal. I was looking at the surf system for $3999 is I really want to get crazy in the future. I am uploading some before pix...having issues getting them to upload (obviously)

[Littlemrnofear]

img_1233.jpg

[jtryon]

IMO i wouldn't drop $8k on this. instead i'd look for a 91-92+ sunsport which would have composite stringers so you'd never have to worry about it. some 91's had composite, but all 92's+ should. you can tell which models do if they have the rounded windshield instead of squared off windshield.

[Littlemrnofear]

I see your point, but all of the sunsports I have seen with composite stringers were upwards of $10k, no tower ballast or anything. I figure, I'm 52, the stringers will last longer than me.... I don't think I will spend $3999 on the surf deal though... I will get, or make a surf gate for cheap and call it good....without a motor rebuild that boat only cost $4700 with the new floors and ballast, tower and upholstery, everything. I think I can squeeze that much fun out of it in a couple of years and If I am that crazy for surfing, I will upgrade. I just didn't want to sink a small fortune into a boat until I really know I will love doing it. I'm sure I can turn around and sell if for about what I put into it if I don't get too carried away.... now it's turned into a "project" lol

[jtryon]

$4700 is a good deal then if there's no other surprises. i bought my '88 six years ago for $4500 with the original floors and stringers, so you're ahead of the game there.

edit: get perfect pass or hydrophase ridesteady--they're probably the best investment you can make for surfing or wakeboarding.

[SSBB]

Anybody fixing up a supra, please look at my posting on craigslist in minnesota, go to craigslist,mn search only "ssbb" and my ads will come up, i regret not finishing this boat, i am buying a baja islander 11/12/16 i am willing to deal on my 1988 supra saltare parts, it is the same boat when you search saltare images it comes up as the one with the bent left bow rail and it its leaning. I think the cation read "lightly used sunsport" or something?

[Littlemrnofear]

120 compression on all 8.... I think I am golden for a while. Just needs a new carb since it's been sitting for two years, but it fired right up....

[jtryon]

There's a guy on the MC forums that just rebuilt mine this season for half of what you'd pay for a new one. His name is Peter, email address is [email protected]. Did a great job, mine is just like new now.

[Littlemrnofear]

Where ? I'm in Sf Bay Area ?

[jtryon]

he's in Minnesota. you pay for shipping it to him, he ships it back free. good guy to work with, he was always available via phone when i had questions during the re-install. i'm sure some might rather use a local shop but he's done hundreds of them and has a great reputation on these forums.

[Littlemrnofear]

I just got my hydrophase in the mail ;-)

[jtryon]

I just got my hydrophase in the mail ;-)

Best upgrade you could ever do is speed control! I've heard good things about Hydrophase, be sure to let us know how the install goes and how it works.

[Rcweltz]

Nice! Let me know how the stringers go and post some progress pics if you have any, I'm in Tracy, and have been working on my 85' Sunsport but don't know if I should trust myself or not with the stringers. Nice deal on your boat!