Newbie questions for repairing our Super Sunfish

marvin gardens

New Member
Hello from new boat owners in Ontario,

We are now the owners of a very battered old Super Sunfish. The boat did not come with a trailer, so we had to bring it home on the roof racks on the car. It was quit an adventure. Now that it is home, we are in the process of making a PVC dolly to store it on for now, and will look for a used trailer in the spring.

My son is in high school and we have contacted his Auto Body class teacher about taking the boat in to have them repair, sand and paint the hull. I have some questions about removing splash rail, which is riveted on. Do we just drill out the rivets to remove the splash rail? Also the riveted aluminum channel on boat sides of the hull is damaged and has missing sections. Can someone point me to an article on repairing this channel?

Is there a way to date the boat? The previous owner did not have any information on this boat, and the only identification is a dealer’s label which shows it was sold her in Ontario

Thanks for any help you can provide to newbie owners with limited skills.
 

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Check the upper right corner of the transom. Any boats made 1973 and after required HIN's. Pre 1983, the last letter represented the month and the last two numbers the year. After 1983 the last two numbers were the year.

If at all possible just tape off aluminum trim. If you are really wanting to remove, then yes drill out rivet heads. They are shallow rivets so slight pressure to drill out head of rivet. Then you can pop aluminum trim off and pull rest of rivet from underside. I usually use 1/8" dia drill.
 
Check the upper right corner of the transom. Any boats made 1973 and after required HIN's. Pre 1983, the last letter represented the month and the last two numbers the year. After 1983 the last two numbers were the year.

If at all possible just tape off aluminum trim. If you are really wanting to remove, then yes drill out rivet heads. They are shallow rivets so slight pressure to drill out head of rivet. Then you can pop aluminum trim off and pull rest of rivet from underside. I usually use 1/8" dia drill.

thanks for the suggestions. here is a picture of the rail we need to repair. there is a section missing on both sides of the boat.
 

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The rivet heads can spin while drilling—with no effect on actually drilling them out. When the drill bit stops leaving aluminum cuttings, try holding the drill at an angle.

Can you provide close-up photos of the damaged sides? While not particularly difficult to repair, it'd be better for those with "limited skills" (as you say) to start elsewhere on the Sunfish.

BTW: You're going to need a number of tools: start with an electric sander. ;)

Unless it is loose or already damaged, why remove the splashboard? They can be masked-off to paint, and are a pain to re-install correctly. Previously applied sealants may be very hard to remove. :oops:

(Especially if the splashboard been replaced earlier—ask me how I know). :rolleyes:

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Hello from new boat owners in Ontario,

We are now the owners of a very battered old Super Sunfish. The boat did not come with a trailer, so we had to bring it home on the roof racks on the car. It was quit an adventure. Now that it is home, we are in the process of making a PVC dolly to store it on for now, and will look for a used trailer in the spring.

My son is in high school and we have contacted his Auto Body class teacher about taking the boat in to have them repair, sand and paint the hull. I have some questions about removing splash rail, which is riveted on. Do we just drill out the rivets to remove the splash rail? Also the riveted aluminum channel on boat sides of the hull is damaged and has missing sections. Can someone point me to an article on repairing this channel?

Is there a way to date the boat? The previous owner did not have any information on this boat, and the only identification is a dealer’s label which shows it was sold her in Ontario

Thanks for any help you can provide to newbie owners with limited skills.

Hi
Congrats on the cartopping, quite the feat :) The Super Sunfish was introduced in 1974, so there should be a Hull ID Number on the upper right transom. Last two digits should represent the year of manufacture. Look in the Knowledge Base of this Forum for the Sunfish Timeline.

For the spashrail, yes you drill off the rivet head. Try a 3/8 inch bit to start, as you don't want a big bit which could damage the rivet hole. Order new rivets from a Sunfish parts house like Annapolis Performance Sailing (APS), I'd get two bags so you have extra in case one doesn't set right.

For the aluminum trim use the a 1/8 inch bit and don't go through the bottom of the trim. Order two bags of those rivets as well. And you can put an ad in the Wanted Section of this Forum to locate some replacement sections of trim

For More Info on the SS:
Yahoo! Groups
 
Something appears odd on the transom. Is there a piece of wood or something fastened on?
Looks like a rudder conversion; a somewhat unusual one since there usually is no need for such a backup.
I think I see an access port on the deck as well.
 
"...Looks like a rudder conversion..."
Parts of it are wrinkled :oops: and rusting. :confused: Whatever it is, it looks flimsy. :(

Maybe it's covering a nasty hit that took out the original gudgeon plate? :eek: Some reverse-engineering is needed there, including a major transom fiberglass do-over, IMO.
 
Parts of it are wrinkled :oops: and rusting. :confused: Whatever it is, it looks flimsy. :(

Maybe it's covering a nasty hit that took out the original gudgeon plate? :eek: Some reverse-engineering is needed there, including a major transom fiberglass do-over, IMO.

yes, we took a look inside the hull and there is a similar grey piece used as a backing plate on the inside. the grey plate is 3/4" thick, but all the nuts and bolts are rusted and not moving. not sure how we are going to remove this to check why it was installed.
 
yes, we took a look inside the hull and there is a similar grey piece used as a backing plate on the inside. the grey plate is 3/4" thick, but all the nuts and bolts are rusted and not moving. not sure how we are going to remove this to check why it was installed.

Yesterday, I had the same "rusted bolt" situation with a metal auto bumper. (Couldn't get it removed). Since I don't have a grinder here, I used a drill of the size similar to the bolt threads. Drilling allows the head to easily be broken off—without additional sawing or angst. Those bolts NEED removing!
 
so we have finally put the repaired sunfish back together. the battered hull was repaired by my son's high school auto body shop class, then then repainted. we are bringing it to a cottage we rented for next week on a small lake to try out.
repaired sunfish 1 web.jpg repaired sunfish 2 web.jpg
 
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so we have finally put the repaired sunfish back together. the battered hull was repaired by my son's high school auto body shop class, then then repainted. we are bringing it to a cottage we rented for next week on a small lake to try out.
I got a chuckle out of "auto body shop class". ;)

What came to mind was, "Bondo"! :D

How'd the class repair the rudder gudgeon? (If you know). :)
 
I'm not sure if it photo distortion but I see a dip in the deck just forward of the coaming. Is that photo effects or real?
 
that is not a distortion, the deck and both sides where heavily damaged. the previous owner said vandals had tried to destroy the boat. the fiberglass was repaired but we could not get inside to repair the dip in the deck. we have installed an inspection port just in front of the dagger board trunk to check the damaged and attached the coaming with stainless bolts. the deck is very soft and does not seem to be supported under the coaming except as the sides with the foam blocks. it looks like someone jumped on the deck at that spot.

we managed to removed the old rudder blocks and repair the transom fiberglass to reinstall the rudder.
 
'Don't know about Super Sunfish, but the outermost bolts of the coaming should be "inaccessible" from underneath due to two long Styrofoam blocks added by the factory to support the deck. If the blocks are still in place, and were compressed by the vandals, I'd suggest cutting two suitable (new) Styrofoam pieces, forcing and gluing the new pieces into place.

Since that area is well above the waterline, you could use a hardware store Great Stuff product to simultaneously hold—and force—them into place. I'd be tempted to scoop out several pockets in the new Styrofoam to help the Great Stuff expand to fill and compress that space.
 
'Don't know about Super Sunfish, but the outermost bolts of the coaming should be "inaccessible" from underneath due to two long Styrofoam blocks added by the factory to support the deck. If the blocks are still in place, and were compressed by the vandals, I'd suggest cutting two suitable (new) Styrofoam pieces, forcing and gluing the new pieces into place.

Since that area is well above the waterline, you could use a hardware store Great Stuff product to simultaneously hold—and force—them into place. I'd be tempted to scoop out several pockets in the new Styrofoam to help the Great Stuff expand to fill and compress that space.
yes, we could not reach the outermost holes of the coaming, so we used large rivets in these holes. two long Styrofoam blocks seem to be in place, but there is nothing to support the deck in the middle of the boat under the coaming and we are not sure how to get foam blocks in there with only the 6 inch port we installed for access.
 
In the hope that a fuller view will permit re-strengthening of your deck, I snapped photos of the interior of the hull from the cockpit—looking forward. The small white triangles above the "wood block" are the anchors for the splashboard attachment.

Except that the foam block has a "list to port" :confused: the below image is a mirror-image of the port side. (The "list to port" meaning, the factory's brown foam "cement" is hiding behind the white block—which is wrongly tilted).

I added Great Stuff to the upper and lower surfaces, which kept the block from totally falling down—again. :confused: The block was apparently jogged from its foamed-in position. :( As Sunfish hull bottoms are very flexible, the cause was possibly a poorly-bunked trailer operated by the former racer-owner.

Although my invented fiberglass "spring" has removed the "oil-canning" I could hear when hitting waves, the block still needs to be returned to "factory-upright". It's a long reach, but perhaps by moving the spring further forward and upward—and after hitting major waves—the block will get "jogged" to its intended upright position. Making that "spring" from fiberglass tape:
Starting at the BEGINNING | Page 3 | SailingForums.com

P8260064-001_zpswx0kjygl.jpg


That tiny glow all the way forward is bright sunshine through the unpainted fiberglass repair I made to secure the bow handle:
"Arthrosopic Surgery" on Sunfish | SailingForums.com

Were it my Sunfish, I'd re-check for upright placement of your existing blocks, and consider gluing two or more Styrofoam columns that fit through your inspection port. The columns can be made like stacking checkers. Cutting them to oval- or rectangular- shapes will get you more surface area in the right places than round (checker-like) ones.

JMHO.
 
I just stumbled onto White Cap's photo of his Sunfish's interior. :eek:

What a difference in the use of adhesive foam! :confused:

Was it the year? Mine is a 1976...

r1wjSfc.jpg
 

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