Just Bought - 1986 SunSport - See pics

Hey all -

I'm new to the Supra world (for the most part) and this is my first inboard... so lots to learn.

I just purchased this bought from an extended family member... thinking I found a pretty good starter ski/wakeboard boat. Please share any tips/tricks/thoughts, etc.

Paid $5k, which included another prop, a bunch of life jackets, generic cover, and a bunch of other random accessories.

(oh, and as of last week I found out it has a leak... somewhere around the wakeplate, maybe? ...so there's that.)

Thank in advance! And some very inspirational creativity on here with some of the older Supras!

Adam

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Beautiful boat. Congrats.
You'll want to figure out where the leak is from.
Two common places to look at. The packing nut on the drive shaft may need to be adjusted. The packing in the rudder may need to be replaced.
Hopefully not leaking from a crack in the transom.

Welcome to the board! That's one of the cleaner vintage Supras I've ever seen. It looks like a survivor -- all original teak and it looks realllllly well taken care of. Congrats!

The leak is probably the rudder seals or the prop-shaft packing. Your exhaust is probably also leaking. I'd address all of these just as regular maintenance. These old boats all leak a little bit, you just want to limit how much.

Also -- check your stringers. This one looks well taken care of but that doesn't mean the stringers are good. Search the forum and you'll find lots of info. If you do have a 1986 with original (and solid) stringers.... you just won the lottery!

Thanks Wotan! I sure hope so!!

So I tested the leak the inverted way, bringing a hose into the bilge... it's dripping from the wakeplate and a little from the right exhaust. I'm guessing there's probably a thread on here to point me in the right direction to repair those?

Also, how do I go about checking the stringers? The floor seems rock solid..

Thanks,
Adam

First of all -- where in MN are you? I ride the St. Croix River in Hudson but work in the cities.

For the exhaust you'll want to pull the center bolt and take the supertrapp and all the plates off. This will leave a flange at the hull. Remove the flange and then clean all of the old sealant material off of the transom. I'd also fill the holes with some kind of epoxy (marine-tex, JB water weld or ???) so that you can redrill new holes for the screws to mount the flange. Then you want to use either black permatex or 3M 4200 to seal the exhaust flange to the hull (and also to the inside of the exhaust pipe) . Make sure to put a dab of this on each of the screws, too. It's an hour job if you bust out a wire wheel to clean the hull. (Be careful!)

You can do the same basic thing with the wake-plate. Remove, fill the holes, inspect for cracks, and then reseal.

If a hose filling the inside is causing the leak, it's pretty significant and I'd address it before you use the boat again. Small leaks will require the weight of the boat to provide pressure for the water to enter.

You can check your stringers by inspecting the motor and transmission mounts. They should be solid and not easy to turn. Don't get too crazy and strip them out -- if you can't turn them easily, you're good. If they turn a little bit or don't "bite" into good wood, you can try to use a longer bolt (galvanized) or go one size larger. If a longer/larger bolt won't bite then, and I hate to be the guy with bad news here, you have real problems. We're here to help but you won't like what you hear.

And it might not seem major but I ignored my stringer problems and tried to wish them away and my boat sank. I don't think anyone else here has quite as dramatic of a story but it is a serious issue. Let us know what you find!

Awesome - thanks for all the feedback! Good or bad... I need to know what I got into !!!

I'm over on the west side of the cities. I have a slip on Lake Minnetonka where I have a little larger cruising boat but have lake rights to a smaller lake here that's mostly wake/ski/barefoot people... more my style. :) Hence the random opportunitistic purchase of this Supra, besides the fact that I've always wanted one.

I checked the mounts... all are tight, although I am a little nervous to really crank on them. For now, I think I might be in good shape.

As for the exhaust and wakeplate drips, I think I've got what you're saying. I have some 5200 here and some west system I can work with to take care of it... just need some time, preferably daylight.

Now, next on my list is this miss, or hesitation I get sometimes when getting up to speed. The boat doesn't seem to fire out of the hole like a ski boat should and some times it won't even get up to speed at all. I'm thinking it's a carb/fuel issue.

I've been running some fresh gas through it with some SeaFoam and it seems to improve, but still not firing out of the hole like I'm hoping. Do I need carb clean and a 4 blade prop maybe?? (I have one sitting here...)

Thanks in advance,
Adam

I wouldn't 5200 the exhaust, 4200 is more than enough for the job. As for the hesitation, a proper tune-up should help you there. Check the timing, check the plugs and replace the fuel filter and while you do that, drain the tank and start fresh. That should really help narrow it down. You don't have to do these all at once either, maybe one at a time and then try it out again to see if that fixed the problem. I would wait on the prop until the very end because getting the engine dialed in first will help you if/when you go to select a new prop.

A time machine...complete with a Sammy Duvall Watersports sticker. Nice purchase.

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Originally Posted by Jetlink

I wouldn't 5200 the exhaust, 4200 is more than enough for the job. As for the hesitation, a proper tune-up should help you there. Check the timing, check the plugs and replace the fuel filter and while you do that, drain the tank and start fresh. That should really help narrow it down. You don't have to do these all at once either, maybe one at a time and then try it out again to see if that fixed the problem. I would wait on the prop until the very end because getting the engine dialed in first will help you if/when you go to select a new prop.

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Thanks... I appreciate it... every minute detail to help this newbie thru is helpful. I have a doctor appt for the boat at the local shop to get the once-over since I'm not sure I'm mechanically inclined enough to do some of the tune up. Hate to spend the $300 on a diagnostic though.

5200 is permanent -- don't use it for anything you may need to remove again.

And I agree with jetlink -- it's not time to try out the new prop. It's time for a tune-up. You can buy a rebuild kit for that carb and go through it, clean everything and rebuild it very easily. I'd also replace your cap/rotor (still have points? I'd convert to HEI.) New plugs/wires. Check timing, replace fuel/water filter, etc. Basic maintenance stuff. Shouldn't be hard to get it to jump out of the hole.