Another Sunsport saved from the grave

[SupraMisfit]

Well the weather has finally cooled enough here in the desert to start in on my 85' sunsport project. I tore in to it this weekend only to discover what I already knew. Lots of rot and shitty attempt at repair. Let the fun and itching begin!

I wanted some input on stringer redesign and hard tanks under the floor for ballast.
Also anybody with an early sunsport that can tell me how tall the original motor mount area is from the hull. Mine have been repaired poorly and I cant get an accurate measurement.
Thanks in advance for any advice. I will keep posting pics and progress.

[DAFF]

Go to your local body shop supply company. I saw a guy cutting out the old stringers using a electric vibrating knife with triangle cutting blades. The triangles will fibrate/cut through the old fibreglass leaving a traceable template on the hull of the boat to go by. Almost no dust using this method rather than the cutting wheel.

Good luck and have fun. Are you going to pull the cap off the boat???

[SupraMisfit]

Go to your local body shop supply company. I saw a guy cutting out the old stringers using a electric vibrating knife with triangle cutting blades. The triangles will fibrate/cut through the old fibreglass leaving a traceable template on the hull of the boat to go by. Almost no dust using this method rather than the cutting wheel.

Good luck and have fun. Are you going to pull the cap off the boat???

I was wondering if one of those tools would cut the glass. It might cut nice and flush. I have a sawzall and an angle grinder or two laying around but anything to minimize fiberglass dust is a bonus. I have some heavy cardboard Im going to use for template material. Im pulling the cap this weekend.

[sybrmike]

Always good to see another old Supra brought back to life (maybe because misery loves company...). The glass in mine was pretty thick at the stringer bases, so don't know how well one of those vibrating cutters will work. I'd definitely give it a go, but if it's too slow or eats too many of those expensive little bits, then I'd switch to the standard sawzall and grinder. Yes it's messy & itchy, but quick and blades/discs are relatively cheap @ harbor freight.

I looked at doing subfloor tanks in my Saltare, but couldn't come up with a solution I was comfortable with or worth the added fabrication complexity for the 600#'s or so I could make fit. In retrospect, the only real sizable volume I found down there was in the center keel area forward of the motor and didn't want to put that much weight up there (besides I've got lots of room in the playpen storage). For me, it really boiled down to the fact that I was rebuilding stringers that rotted from sitting in saturated foam (I went back foamless) & didn't trust my glass skills enough to intentionally trap water down there again. I'm finalizing the design of a new interior that will hide 1600-2000# (ski locker, rear bench, playpen) - good enough for me, plus I'll have an extra fill line for an optional 750# sac on either side of the engine if needed.

Good luck with the project!

[Okie Boarder]

I think you're going to come to the same conclusion as sybrmike mentioned on ballast. Under the rear seat, ski locker and either bilge area up front or playpen are going to be the best bets for hidden ballast.

The height where the engine mounts are will vary by boat I would think, plus it changes fore to aft. IIRC it is somewhere in the 4-5" range. By your pictures it seems like there is still a pretty good area to use for measurement.

[Newbie girl]

KMA 4444 and I will be redoing my boat this winter. He has come up with an idea for internal ballast so talk to him - he's a brain! He also posted some pics of where he repaired a leak I had around my rudder plate.

Wow looking at the inside of a boat is depressing - I am not looking forward to seeing my soaked stringers and such. Maybe I won't look. But hey when it comes to banged up people, mangled extremities and body parts falling off - well it's not a problem for me :( (I'm sick!)

[SupraMisfit]

Im not sold on the idea of ballast under the floor but it would be nice. It seems if you redesign the stringers you could achieve more volume under there but Im not sure that it wouldnt compromise structural integrity. Also I would weld up some tanks vs making them from glass. Sounding like more work than its worth.


As for the motor mounts it appears someone had added another layer of plywood on top and glassed over and had the mounts notched in. Its hard to tell what has been done to the area cause it was so rotted. I just dont want to rebuild the mount area taller than the adjustment on the motor mounts can accommodate. I was hoping someone could give me some stock measurements(fore and aft) so I dont run into shaft alignment issues later.

[Okie Boarder]

Sounds like you could figure it based upon the height where the notched areas were or the height you have in place minus the thickness of a piece of plywood. Where are your trunions at on the adjusters? If they're in the middle, you should have plenty of room to work with even if you were off by an inch. Looking at your pictures I would just go with the height that is there, and I'd think you would be fine.

[SupraMisfit]

Sounds like you could figure it based upon the height where the notched areas were or the height you have in place minus the thickness of a piece of plywood. Where are your trunions at on the adjusters? If they're in the middle, you should have plenty of room to work with even if you were off by an inch. Looking at your pictures I would just go with the height that is there, and I'd think you would be fine.

The mount adjustment was maxed out in the lowest position so I need to rebuild the mount area lower than it is now. I think they added 3/4 inch ply to the area and then glassed it over but hard to tell. There is no wood left at all. It is completely hollow. When I first went to look at the boat the guy I bought it from acted like he didnt know that the stringers were rotten even though the engine was resting on the hull because there was nothing left to support it. Kinda shady! Basically the guy couldnt tell me anything about the history of the boat or what been done to it. I will probably just drop the motor in place before I glass that area for a test fit. Just to make sure Im in the ball park.

Hopefully I will be able to pull the cap on sunday and keep moving forward with this project. My only problem is that its football season and sundays are one of my only days off. Im torn!

[sydneyACE]

Oo! Fun project time! I just got my "new" boat home a couple weeks ago ('84 Rider). The guy I bought it from re-did the two main stringers, and left the floor out for me because the smaller, outboard stringers are bad. I was thinking about doing some sub-floor ballast. There isn't a whole lot of room under there though. Maybe if I take the outboard stringers out and put an aluminum ballast tank in? I don't know if the outboard stringers are "structural" or if they just support the floor... The ballast tank would probably support the floor just fine especially if it was fabbed with an internal support.

I dunno, just brainstorming. It kinda sounds like you're in the same "boat" as I am though. I would love to do a gravity fill/drain sub-floor ballast system while my floor is out.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Hey there glad to see you're back! That boat will be a sexy lady soon!! Think positive - exterior looks great! :) My guess would be an '86?? Next summer surfin fever!

I have nothing to add that these guys dont have covered, sorry for the useless post lol! Thanks for the pics and keep em comin

[jet]

Newbie girl..can you elaborate on the ballast idea??

[SupraMisfit]

Well I still haven't pulled the cap. Ive been nursing a back injury so Ive been layin low. Ive been doing searching for epoxy and materials I need to keep moving forward and I came across this company http://www.jgreer.com/ that sells epoxy that is affordable. Ive read on some other boat builder sites that this is a good product. Anybody here use it before? I know a lot of people here use US composites stuff but the shipping alone is over $100. Anybody on the west coast have a source for epoxy?