86' supra sunsport rebuild

[rlhahn]

here is just a small shot of the 2 layers of tabbing I did , I'm cutting out and grinding the other side this weekend and I'll take some more pics when I get there .. Hope everyone is doing good on there projects and feel free to write some comments , thanks , lively

looks good. nice glass work. what are your center stringers? they kind of look like LVL's

[lively]

Rlhahn - The main and outer stringers are both douglas fir , and i pre coated them with 3 layers of Poly ..

[lively]

Here are some more pics of the cutting and grinding of the other side , I used a 4" cutoff wheel and ran down the bottom to save the stringer shape , I ground down the outer that was all the time I had, due to the rain storms ... But I'll have some more pics and info soon ...

[lively]

I mounted the top cap to some pallets and started marking the holes and imperfections that need fixin , I still need to get the prop shaft and rudder out , where could I find another rubber bellow for the drive line ?

[bdumas35]

Looks good Lively. Skidm for your prop shaft bellows and rudder parts.

Leave the old floor flanges until the last to use for reference. BUT, we should never assume that the factory had it 100%.

[lively]

Ha ha , yeah the factory did not design proper drainage for these boats , and too tell you the truth they are not that bad to work on once you have figured it all out lol , I'm gonna call skidm about the bellow .. Thanks for the kudos and info

[sybrmike]

Looks like good progress - keep it up. I don't see any limber holes in the stringers (yet?). If you're going back foamless, don't forget to open up some passages & let her breath down below and glass the openings real good. Like Bdumas said, keep those old lips in as reference for floor height. I didn't & ended up a little high on the floor & had to trim my top cap to fit at the rear - oops. Fortunately, the top cap flange on the Salt is flat, so was no big deal. However, I think the Sunsports have an L-flange where the cap meets the floor, so correct floor height is more critical.

[lively]

subrmike - Yes i haven't put the limber holes in yet , i notched the rear main and then when i start with my bulk heads im gonna incorporate a drainage design , probably should have drilled the holes first , but i think i can get at it ... I want NO foam in this boat at all .. lol

And for the L flange where the cap meets the floor mine are stress cracked , so im having the guy the panels my company's elevator doors , fab up so mirrored stainless mounting plates with a rounded edge ... its only costing me 50 bucks so i said what the hell ... and I removed my prop and rudder assembly last night so i can get to more of the grinding this weekend ... I still have ?'s about what thickness of flooring to go with ... what i cut off was 3/8" and that seems a little weak for a deck .. so I think if i can get away with it i'd like to go with a true 1/2" and mount the floor to some cleats on the side of the stringers so im not screwing into my new stringers ....

How did you cut your stringers for deck height? thanks again , lively

[sybrmike]

I used a skill saw to rough cut, angle grinder to to take a little bit more where needed, a belt sander to even it all out, then a router to soften the top edges for the glass to lay down. After the stringer tops were glassed, I cut the floor panels to fit and pre-glassed the underside and edges of the 1/2" ply floor. To fasten the floor, I laid down a few strips of mat saturated with resin on top of the stringers/bulkheads, then predrilled and countersunk each screw hole through the floor and into the stringer, filled the hole with resin, then drove the s/s screw down. After it set up, I glassed all the seams and filled over the top of the screws before glassing the top of the floor.

I like your idea of cleats glassed to the sides of the stringers - no holes in the new stringers. Also, I had gotten a quote from one shop that didn't use fasteners at all. They just lay down thick layer of saturated mat over the stringer tops (where I stole the idea from), then had a pallet of old batteries that they would spread out over the top of the floor to hold it down while the resin set.

[Blackntan90]

lively, on my '90 Mariah, the 'bellows' on the drive shaft looks to be just a piece of 2" hose(from the factory)