Need Advice Regarding Sunfish that Has Rarely Been Sailed

[andyshaw]

Hello all,

I pulled an AMF Sunfish out of storage the other day, and have been cleaning it and preparing it for sale (not sail - at least not by me). I remember my folks having bought it used back in 1984, and since then it's been sailed perhaps a handful of times at the very most. It's in great shape, having been stored on its side in a covered shed, with the sails wrapped and held by a bracket four feet or so above floor level.

Despite the lack of use, there are a few fairly minor (as far as I know) issues with the boat. First, the metal trim has popped one rivet on the stern. Second, the splash guard has a crack in the middle. Third, the dolly is missing the metal piece that fastens it to the bracket on the back of the boat. The attached photos show these three issues visually.

I'm wondering if the metal trim can be repaired at reasonable cost, and whether or not the splash guard issue needs to be addressed (and if so, how). Also, even though I'm hoping that the missing metal piece from the dolly will turn up under some dry leaves sometime soon, is a replacement easily obtainable?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[dlochner]

I wouldn't bother with repairing the splash guard. It is minor and inconsequential.

I would try to repair the metal trim. The metal has sprung so it will need to be clamped to fix. I'd be inclined to squeeze some 3m 5200 in there and then clamp it down for a couple of days.

The big issue with older sunfishes is water logging. The are styrofoam billets supporting the deck, if they get wet, they don't dry out. The boat should weigh about 100 pounds, if it weighs significantly more then it is waterlogged and isn't worth much. Someone might give a few bucks for it and try to dry it out. Look for cracks in the mast step, that was a common location for a leak.

 

[shemandr]

I donated my Sailfish to a local yacht club for sailing lessons. It was too heavy for much other use. I was glad they took it.

 

[andyshaw]

Thanks for the help. Dave, your thinking is pretty much right down the lines of what I suspected, but it's always nice to have confirmation.

The boat is about as dry as it could possibly be; I'll try to keep it that way. I'm not sure a drop of water had touched it in decades.

So some sort of adhesive would be more feasible than putting a new rivet into the metal trim (perhaps a couple inches away)? Of course the latter would require more expertise/equipment than I have.

If anyone knows how I might find a replacement for the missing piece of the dolly, please let me know. In the meantime I'll keep looking in the shed and online.

 

[RoyS]

We have had a few of these at our family lake house. There is usually a drain plug about mid way along one edge of the deck. Place the boat on its side with the plug removed and see if there is any water inside the hull. A tight ship will have none. I would add a new rivet in a new hole close to the missing one along with some sealant. Around here used sunfishes without a trailer go for between $300 and $600. I gave an old waterlogged one to a used sunfish dealer for parts and he was happy to take it.

 

[PaulK]

There may not be enough "meat" in the deck flange to drill a new rivet hole and have the metal strip line up properly with its neighbor, so epoxy or something like 5200 may be needed there, with a clamp to hold it in place until it sets up. The crack in the splashrail could use some epoxy filler too. Anything beyond that might be overkill. You don't need much. The trick will be making it as unobtrusive as possible because it will stand out against the blue splashrail.

 

[andyshaw]

Thanks, everybody!

 

[Siamese]

Just sell it. They're not worth a lot, and you probably won't see a return for your time and effort.