First Inboard 1986 Supra Sunsport Skier starting the rebuild process

[zroe]

Hello to all!

I am newer to the forum but love the information and comradery here. I grew up with boats but spent most of my time skiing behind a fishing boat. We even went as far as to make our own ski pylon out of SS tubing. Of course once I moved 12hrs away from home dad finally bought a ski boat... I then started my boat ownership with a 1979 Viking Deck boat for $500 which actually could pull me skiing with the 85hp Evinrude it came with but before long I had dropped a 115 Mariner on it that really made that 800lb tri-hull move!

A friend of mine was boat shopping after getting the bug while out skiing with me :^) and he stumbled on this Supra for $1,995. I couldn't resist and brought it home. Little did I know what I was getting into. Had I read the forums before going to look at it I would have know it would need stringers but it did run and drive smooth. The first red flag should have been the exposed wet foam around the exhaust log and the soft spots in the floor. Having done floors in Aluminum fishing boats before I wasn't too worried but I didn't understand the mechanism of water intrusion in these boats, I had never had an inboard before, not even an I/O. Well I have had it out a few times and LOVE the real inboard concept. I can't believe that they ever made I/O boats when inboards are this good!

Now the real work starts as I noticed a bolt was loose on the ski platform and I wanted to pull the gas tank anyway to fix the fuel gauge sender. I couldn't help myself and starting pulling the floor and the wet foam. So far the stringers are wet but not rotten and my motor mounts are still solid. I have checked what I have exposed and there is minimal to no de-laminating so my plan is to get as much as I can out and put in a temp floor so that I can get a feel for what the boat would be like after a rebuild (without the 300lbs+ of ballast) before I jump in to a full rebuild. Feel free to post responses to my temporary floor concept below. I know it isn't the right way of doing things but the budget doesn't allow a full rebuild right now and if I can't use it I might as well sell it until I can afford to either buy a boat that is done/composite or find a deal on a boat that needs some love....
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[zroe]

Tools of the day
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Peeling up the floor
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I could squeeze water out the foam (sponge)!!
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The floor was coming out in various sizes of splinters but was reasonably strong yet.
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I have a few more photos to post but thought I would ask if there is a better way to do this. I was hoping the manage attachments button would let me select multiple pictures at once?
Also my pictures seem so much smaller than everyone else's on the forum. Is it a new member restriction? I took these with our nice 20MP camera so I thought they would have been bigger?

Thanks for "participating" in my madness. Feel free to post advice below as I am making this up as I go.

[Cooose]

I'm currently in the middle of a rebuild myself. I'm not sure what your DIY appetite is, but if you are happy with the ride & boat (outside of the soft floors) you could do the job be at ~ $4500 including your initial purchase. It's possible to find another inboard/deal that needs some love (as you put it :) ~ 5k, less so with documented stringer repairs and nearly impossible with composite. If you don't like/want to DIY, then I would run it and keep checking the motor mounts.

In my opinion, if the full rebuild isn't in the budget I would not try any sort of temporary solution because the "demo" aspect has a way of getting away from you and next think you know you are cutting out stringers and posting threads about epoxy vs poly :)

[Cooose]

try to use a photo hosting site like photobucket or the like...i use imgur

You are going to find that the stringers at the cross sections are going to be rotted for sure.

Welcome to the club!

[zroe]

try to use a photo hosting site like photobucket or the like...i use imgur

You are going to find that the stringers at the cross sections are going to be rotted for sure.

Welcome to the club!

Thanks Cooose,

So did you choose epoxy or poly [emoji6]


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[Salty87]

Good luck, zroe.

Cooose is right on the partial repair slippery slope although I'm all for running it until you have no choice. One thing to watch out for is dry rot. Once wood dries out the rot gets the upper hand and wood will deteriorate more quickly. That's the reason it's called dry rot. You're better off with wet wood.

[Cooose]

Thanks Cooose,

So did you choose epoxy or poly [emoji6]


My "boat deal " purchase came with 20 gallons of vinyl Ester which had sat for about 1 year past the shelf life. With some new harder it actually kicked off nicely so I'm using this for coating the wood going back in and for fillets. I bought a few gallons of epoxy to wet out the 1708. So far it's working pretty good for me.

[zroe]

I can appreciate the quotations around "boat deal" as I'm hoping mine doesn't cost me marriage counseling as well ;)
I guess I should have read your thread a little closer to find out which resin you used, I did find the comment entertaining about demolition leading to resin discussions. I am trying to keep it simple and figured that the least I could do was get rid of all of that weight and moisture while I decide if I should keep it or not.

So far the exposed wood where the cross-member was seems solid albeit wet. I'm going to test out imgur and post more pictures soon.

"PMSalty87
Good luck, zroe.

Cooose is right on the partial repair slippery slope although I'm all for running it until you have no choice. One thing to watch out for is dry rot. Once wood dries out the rot gets the upper hand and wood will deteriorate more quickly. That's the reason it's called dry rot. You're better off with wet wood."

From this it would seem that I was better off leaving the wet foam in the boat? I have only done the port side so far, but stopping now would induce a pretty bad list so I guess I will carry on the madness and keep an eye on the dry rot.

I can't help but make a comment about most guys preferring "wet wood" over dry rot.... :o I hope I didn't offend anyone

[Kelleher09]

Nice good luck with the project it's a lot of work but it will be well worth it. if you're really considering getting into it mine as well take the cap off now!!! Feel free to ask about any questions about the stringers I did a lot of research but there's always different ways to do it. good luck withe the wife !! Haha


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[Cooose]

I'm not sure of the sunsport skier length compared to the saltare, but I have a 50' rub rail posted in the classifieds if you decide to split the hull & cap.

[bens250ex]

Coose what did you end up paying for the project salt?

[Cooose]

Coose what did you end up paying for the project salt?

I paid $1700 for the boat and newer 2003 boatmate trailer and paid the PO $200 to deliver the hull to me. Along with the 20 gallons of vinyl Ester it also came with 25yd of 1708, a couple gal of cabosil, and some misc rollers & scissors. The extras were all brand new still in the packaging from US composites...over $1300 worth of stuff.

The guy I picked it up from was also a member here and was great to work with. Even though he had already split the cap everything was individually labeled and essentially cataloged in various plastic bins. Nearly every screw, bolt, etc is accounted for.

[Cooose]

Hey Zroe - how's it comeing along?

[zroe]

Hey Cooose, thanks for checking in. I have been busy getting some things crossed off the honey do lists before both of our parents come to visit and haven't made much progress. I found a stringer that has a small crack in it which makes me nervous. I couldn't believe how much more water was in the starboard side!
Anyway the wood is still reasonably solid and the motor mounts aren't loose but two of them (one engine and one trans both on starboard side) would likely strip out if I tried to tighten them any more.
I know it needs all new stringers I am just deliberating if I want to spend the money on this boat or upgrade to something composite.
I love the lines of these old boats and I'm generally not too scared of the stringer job other than bedding the new stringers.... My only real hang up is I ski more than anything else and am concerned about the wake. Once I start rebuilding I am sure I won't stop until I have as much invested in this Sunsport as I would just buying a La Brisa or heaven forbid a PS 205....


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[zroe]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170714/6b5479a468302d8e6cedc0331de9a204.jpg

Picture of the most recent discovery during foam removal. Is this the point where I can't just brace it up and put a temporary floor in it until I decide to sell or do a cap off restoration?


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[Cooose]

As far as any temp patching goes, I think you should base it on the drivetrain mounting and stability....if this is solid then you could likely get by for a couple seasons by sistering up some bracing and patching in a newer floor. Just keep in mind any money you put into temp repairs is kind of wasted since it would all have to be torn out if you ever decided to go the cap of route. I would stop digging out foam, the more you dig the more you will likely find that you don't like. :)

[Salty87]

^ agreed

The current wake will only get smaller once rebuilt. The purebred slalom boats put out tiny wakes but you're also crowded with 4 people/gear and they can get dicey when the wind & waves pick up. You'd have neither of those issues with your Sunsport.