Sunfish Bits

20 Mar 19:

Packed up some Sunfish bits to ship out.

A couple of notes about the deck edge trim. Be careful when removing the corner trim, it is easy to bend the trim and tear the thin piece of aluminum around the rivet hole.

The trim is attached with a rivet that is only supposed to go through the top of the trim, not all the way through. Keep an eye out for sharp burrs on the bottom side of the trim, usually from where drill bits went too far when the trim was removed or when new holes were drilled in the deck edge flange. Knock the edges down with a file, they can catch unsuspecting fingers.

Here are the specs for the coaming rivets.

Send us a message if you need parts!

1978 AMF Sunfish SUGAR 2 Trim Removal and Seam Split

02 Jun 18:

We removed the trim on SUGAR 2 so we could split the seam at the bow to replace the bow handle backer block. SPOILER ALERT: The entire seam was compromised, it had been split before and the old adhesive had failed. So we ended up slitting the entire seam, not optimum because the boat can loose its shape and it is tricky to get everything lined up later.

Normally a 1/8 inch diameter drill bit will remove the head of the old rivet, but whoever split the seam before put in larger rivets. They did some damage to the deck edge flange that we will repair when we epoxy the seam back together.

Look close and find the sea between the deck and the hull. We use a sturdy putty knife to split the seam, tapped with a hammer. On this boat no tapping was needed, we just gently pried the seam apart.

The bow are is in good shape, no sign of the bow handle backer block but we can see where it went.

The stern had a lot of wet foam, so we removed most of it. We left a little in there to hold the blocks in place, we usually take out about an arm's length back.

Log of SUGAR 2.

Hull Paint - Spray Rustoleum

Time for more work on Rose"Bud" she needs some areas of exposed fiberglass repaired with epoxy,I use Marine Tex for this type of repair, it seals, does not run and has a structural quality. The white is a pretty good color match also,but this boat needs to be painted as there is a lot of sun damage to the gel coat.

Something rubbed off gelcoat

From Sunfish Sailboat

Marine tex applied with putty knife, dried and sanded

From Sunfish Sailboat

Gel coat has chipped off here

From Sunfish Sailboat

Epoxy putty applied and smoothed

From Sunfish Sailboat

For a recreational restoration I like to use Rust-oleum spray paint on the hull. It is easy to apply, dries to a smooth finish and can be easily touched up. Painting with a brush or roller tends to leave marks in the paint. Here is what I was able to cover with one can of gloss white. And please note the blue masking tape covering the aluminum trim. That protects it from overspray, the trim looks much better in its natural state vs being painted over.

From Sunfish Sailboat

Plan on 6 cans for the hull, 4 for the base coat and 2 for the second cover coat

From Sunfish Sailboat

You might get a runner two if you put too much on at once. Let it dry, sand (which you need to do before second coat anyway) and spray second coat. Tip: A light sanding with 220 or finer scuffs the surface so that you can see where the new smooth shiny coat is going on, and ensure full coverage.

From Sunfish Sailboat

And as our friend Webb Chiles commented, now the "fiberglass won't rust."

Ask Howie: Trailering and trim replacement

Howie wrote an article about trailer bunk placement and trim replacement, published in Windward Leg.

From Sunfish Sailboat

Got these clamps from Howie, he used the to do hundreds of Sunfish foam replacements and rudder conversions. Lots of good Sunfish energy here!

From Sunfish Sailboat