86 Sunsport - New Purchase

[Poorhouse]

Wanted to share our new to us 1986 Sunsport, and say thanks for all the good info housed here. It really helped when we were shopping and ultimately decided to buy this boat.

Purchased from the original owner, 585 hours, original interior and exterior finishes.

Really in nice shape. Always stored inside and it shows. Engine looks near new.

What really sealed the deal though was a $7k receipt for stringer and floor replacement.

Had a shop check it out. Passed with flying colors. A couple minor things noted the seller had resolved while it was there.


Drove 800 miles Friday night and Saturday to pick it up. On the water Sunday.

Few pics from the maiden voyage.



On plane.



You can see some of the interior here. Original upholstery.

[markthered]

Beautiful boat, and beautiful scenery there, too!

[Moor]

Welcome to the forum, sounds like you found yourself a great boat. I always loved that color combo, nice find.

[twisterad3]

Congrats on the new boat. That thing looks great! With new floors and stringers... You should be solid for years of fun.

[Poorhouse]

Congrats on the new boat. That thing looks great! With new floors and stringers... You should be solid for years of fun.

That is what I am hoping.

There is a some detailing to do and a few other little things to get it dialed in.

The original convertible top straps snapped on our first outing. I don't think it had been out of the bag for year.
Ordered new Bimini.

Killed the battery trying to get it to cold start. Operator error as we weren't giving it any gas. There is a fair amount of travel in the throttle before it opens the butterflies. We figured that out right as the battery died. Got a spare battery from home and it fired right up.
Ordered new blue top/light gray case Optima.

Between that stuff $500 in title and registration, life jackets, new gear, etc I'm beginning to understand that boat means "bust out another thousand."

[Poorhouse]

Had two issues come up over the last couple weeks.

I think I found the issue causing the cold start problem. The choke heating element was 180 degrees out. So in essence there was no choke going on.

Adjusted it but have not tested it yet because....

The neutral safety switch failed.

Had it at the boat launch last weekend and nothing happened when the key was turned. I thought it might be the starter solenoid, but it tested fine.

Some reading on here and Correct Craft Fans had me check the NSS. With the wires jumped it turned right over. Throttle cable appeared to be adjusted properly.

Just installed a new NSS from Skidim, boat turned right over. Glad that was an easy one.

Forecast looks good for the weekend. Hoping to get out Saturday and Sunday.

Assuming we can get off the trailer this weekend I need to check for a leak. First couple times we had the boat out the bilge would just get a bit of water in it.
The last time I bet we pumped a gallon or two out. Much more than would have come into the boat with us getting in and out of the water.

[SUPRA_ALLEGRO_LANE]

Welcome to the forum, Congrats on the new boat she is a beaut.

[SquamInboards]

As far as a leak, have you looked at the shaft seal/aka stuffing box yet? That is designed to leak a little (unless it is the less common "dripless" type). But not probably as much as you are describing.

Here's a write-up that offers more detail than you ever wanted to know about stuffing box packing: http://www.pbase.com/mainecruising/stuffing_box&page=1

[Poorhouse]

Stuffing box or rudder seal were my first thoughts.

Boat hadn't been used for a couple years so they could have dried out.

All appears dry back there.

Had the boat out Saturday and Sunday, didn't seem to leak much.

The bilge pump never let out more than a tiny squirt. Before it seemed to pump out a gallon or 2 every hour or so.

Maybe the seals are swelling with use?

[Poorhouse]

Spent 3 hours cleaning the interior with Totally Awesome cleaner, rinsed with water then treated with 303.

For a clean interior it was astonishing how much dirt came out of the vinyl. I thought the interior was clean when we got the boat, now it really pops.

After spending to much time reading old posts I ordered a Acme 543 this morning.

Don't need a new prop but everything I read said the improvement in the modern props is huge.
Lots of posts from owners saying they wished they had bought a new prop sooner. I've been there on other projects so I decided to just do it.