Interested in a 1992 Sunsport. Need opinions.

[trayson]

Yesterday in addition to the additional ballast fittings I ordered yesterday (which shipped today BTW), I bought a new wakesurf board, the Liquid Force Fish 5'6". I demo'd it a few weeks ago and it's a very forgiving board for someone that's still coming up to speed like myself.



I also found a speaker box for my subwoofer. It was almost the perfect dimensions and it comes already sealed in 7 coats of bedliner material. I was actually going to go the same route as I'd already bought some spray on undercoating from Walmart (it'll get returned). So this box will be a lot less work and really isn't THAT expensive. I'll be super stoked not to have to spend the time building one.

The box is going to go in the spot that's between the bilge access hole and the back of the open bow's cooler. (see pic below) Basically, it'll double as a jump seat. I already have a vinyl cushion cover that fits over a throw PDF cushion, so that will go on top of the box.



This is what the box will look like:

[trayson]

Wakemakers fittings that are on the way:

2 of these for each end of my over the side pump:


1 of these for my cooler bag to convert it to the fly high quick release:


1 vent cap to add to my under the seat ballast bag:


And then I'm going to use this piece that I already have and use it with a normal fly high screw cap so I don't have any of the waterbed style connections on my front cooler bag.


I did order up a little more hose as well--because I'm sure I'll use more than I expected when I ultimately re-do the hard plumbed ballast piping.

[trayson]

So, when I got the boat, I was given the forks from one side of the Roswell tower rack. The previous owner had clipped a tree branch with the rack and snapped off the mounting bolt inside the fork of the rack. It was IN THERE. He had notched it and of course it wouldn't budge. I tried drilling it in and using easy out's, but all I suceeded in doing was breaking off tips of my drill bits and fusing them into that mess.

I was smart enough to give up before I made things worse and unrecoverable. I put out a plea for help on FB and a buddy that has a machine shop at his work came to my rescue.

He said it took a carbide spade drill, a .25 carbide 4 flute end mill, and a 5/16 18nc tap. (Like I even really know what all that stuff is?!?!?!?) Okay, actually I know what a tap is and have some. But bottom line is that easy outs would NOT have worked and it's not fixed. Back to having a PAIR of racks soon!

I guess he even had access to an EDM (Electrical Discharge Machining) machine. He explained to me that it works as follows:

You turn a carbon electrode on a lathe, chuck it in a holder, clamp the workpiece in a vise and fill the tank with edm fluid. The carbon is positive the workpiece is negative. Turn it on, sparks begin and an hour later you have burned the shape of the electrode down to the desired depth. You can burn any shape

Cool stuff! His family is definitely getting a boating outing this summer!!!

[trayson]

Welp, it was a little too much off and on rain to go play on the water today, so I bit the bullet and trailered the boat to our local boat dealer. Last time I was out, the Tranny started slipping again. Pretty sure it's leaking tranny fluid (although it's hard to tell as the bilge is a slimy mess with fluid residue everywhere). Cleaned it out as best I could before taking it into the shop.

I'm out of town next week in NYC so I'm hoping that they get it figured out (without spending a zillion dollars in labor) by the time I get back...

*sigh* The uncertainty of $$$ at $100/hr makes me anxious.

[TitanTn]

Hopefully it's something minor with the transmission, but slipping sounds like a rebuild of some kind.

How do you find time for all these projects? I've had a new starter for mine for the last two weeks. It'll take me 10 minutes to put on and I can't make it happen. I'm hoping for tomorrow.

[trayson]

Hopefully it's something minor with the transmission, but slipping sounds like a rebuild of some kind.

How do you find time for all these projects? I've had a new starter for mine for the last two weeks. It'll take me 10 minutes to put on and I can't make it happen. I'm hoping for tomorrow.

Yeah, I'm hoping for MINOR too. Like a seal or a leaking gasket where you'd access the filter. I mean, seriously, there's only a few access points where I could be leaking fluid from. Although my heart sunk when they asked if they could river test it if needed--I said okay, but all I could think about was $100 an hour to take my boat to/from the river and launch it and THEN finally troubleshoot it.

Well as far as where do I find the time: I've still got the "new boat" passion. It's my new toy and I'm fanatical about it right now (which means that projects for other things aren't getting done. I have a pile of parts for my BMW that are just sitting there...). The stereo stuff and LED's are "fun" and there's a ton of satisfaction from that kind of stuff for me. Stuff like figuring out why the battery wasn't lasting or why the alternator isn't putting out the volts I'd expect aren't nearly as "fun"... My starter is likewise being difficult. It "spins" sometimes when I try to start it, which is making me think that it's an issue with the Bendix (or the teeth where it engages the flywheel). But that's on the back shelf. I also have a no cut depth transducer and gauge that would be really nice to get done (as I do a lot of boating in the river). Yeah, I prioritized new speakers and Amps over a depth gauge!

[kvand347]

Yeah, I'm hoping for MINOR too. Like a seal or a leaking gasket where you'd access the filter. I mean, seriously, there's only a few access points where I could be leaking fluid from. Although my heart sunk when they asked if they could river test it if needed--I said okay, but all I could think about was $100 an hour to take my boat to/from the river and launch it and THEN finally troubleshoot it.

Well as far as where do I find the time: I've still got the "new boat" passion. It's my new toy and I'm fanatical about it right now (which means that projects for other things aren't getting done. I have a pile of parts for my BMW that are just sitting there...). The stereo stuff and LED's are "fun" and there's a ton of satisfaction from that kind of stuff for me. Stuff like figuring out why the battery wasn't lasting or why the alternator isn't putting out the volts I'd expect aren't nearly as "fun"... My starter is likewise being difficult. It "spins" sometimes when I try to start it, which is making me think that it's an issue with the Bendix (or the teeth where it engages the flywheel). But that's on the back shelf. I also have a no cut depth transducer and gauge that would be really nice to get done (as I do a lot of boating in the river). Yeah, I prioritized new speakers and Amps over a depth gauge!

My starter is doing the same thing. Typically only rears its ugly head when the boat is warmed up. Not sure what mine is either...starter or flywheel. I've been ignoring it hoping that it will last this summer...

[trayson]

My starter is doing the same thing. Typically only rears its ugly head when the boat is warmed up. Not sure what mine is either...starter or flywheel. I've been ignoring it hoping that it will last this summer...

Yeah, I've been trying to chase mine down--because the Prev owner got a new starter recently. I thought it had a correlation to battery voltage because I'd have it where it'd spin, spin, spin, then I'd switch over to the backup battery and it'd start. BUT, the other day I had it spin, spin, spin, start. So maybe not. I've read a lot of threads on it, and it seems to come down to either the Bendix (starter drive) or the possibility that there's worn teeth on the starter and/or flywheel.

I also noticed that my weaksauce stock alternator wasn't putting out the volts, even when the engine was revving good. Then the other day I noticed that the belt seemed a bit loose (like I could grab the fins of the alternator just behind the pully and slip it by hand. So I of course tightened up the belt. Hopefully that gets the alternator back on track. Of course, it's such a meager output that if I have to replace it and upgrade I won't cry (other than the obvious cost considerations).

It's always something, isn't it?!?!?!

[kvand347]

Mine has a new-ish starter as well. I'm pretty sure it's the teeth on the flywheel and not the bendix. I'm kind of dreading having to unbolt the tranny. You should have yours done if they have to take your tranny out and rebuild it.

Yes...it's always something. I just get embarassed when by starter does that and the people on the boat give me a look like, "We going to make it back?" I just smile and say, "It does this sometimes."

[trayson]

Mine has a new-ish starter as well. I'm pretty sure it's the teeth on the flywheel and not the bendix. I'm kind of dreading having to unbolt the tranny. You should have yours done if they have to take your tranny out and rebuild it.

Yes...it's always something. I just get embarassed when by starter does that and the people on the boat give me a look like, "We going to make it back?" I just smile and say, "It does this sometimes."

Well, a little over a week ago, we went out on Saturday evening and we were gonna turn around and go right back out Sunday morning. So I didn't even unhitch Saturday night--I just pulled everything across our driveway and left it. Needless to say, I didn't plug in the float chargers.

I guess one of the batteries had been on its way out. So, we go out on Sunday with 2 other couples on board. I had been talking about the starter issue and I had been thinking it was tied to low voltage. So, after floating for a bit with the music on, I went to move us a little (spin, spin, spin). Then I switched it over to battery #2 and it started right up and I moved us. Then I just left it (didn't want to make the passengers get up to put the battery switch back). More floating and music. Then the wife mentions we're getting closer to the shore so I go to start the boat and NOTHING. Not even a click. On either battery. The good news is that we'd drifted to a perfect sandy beach. so we chilled for a bit and some people had their much needed bathroom breaks behind the bushes. After ignoring a few yaghts, I flagged down a pleasure boat. We both had dual batteries, so I had him lend me his battery to get started, put the dual battery switch over keeping the boat running, then gave him his battery back and we were on our way.

To this day, I call that "dead battery beach" when we pass it.

That night I went to Costco and bought a new marine deep cycle.

So, two days later we're back out on the river. We end up at pretty much the same spot so I can beach it and let one of the girls have a bathroom break. We motor out and do some floating... Then we're heading towards a row of old pylon logs... I go to start the boat and NOTHING. WTF?!?!? I charged it. I bought a new battery. There's no way this s/b happening. I didn't handle this one so gracefully. Definitely more swearing at my boat this time! I just didn't get it. So, we finally flag down a Mastercraft and they have a brand new Optima marine that they lend me. And NOTHING. I was so confused. then the wife *finally* asks me, "Does the boat need to be in neutral to start?"

*facepalm* My batteries were fine. Both of them. That was an embarassing lessen to learn. So embarassing that I forbid anyone on the boat to post that story on facebook! But I'm among fellow boaters here, so I guess I can take my lumps. At least that one didn't cost us a cent and just cost us a little rowing to get us away from the pylons.