1988 22' Sunbird Cuddy restoration

[stanwilson]

I am thinking about taking my fathers 88 sunbird cubby and restoring it but have no idea where to look and what kind of money i will be getting into. the Hull and Engine on the boat looks good, do not see any gashes or cracks in the hull. the hoses and cables look good on the engine but have yet to fire the engine up. it has been sitting for 15 years. The big issue that i see first is the inside.. the flooring is rotted to where its like walking on foam. The side upholstery is cracked and the wood inside it is falling apart. i am figuring i will need to gut the inside of the boat and lay down new flooring and carpeting. the cabin area looks ok. the door was closed the whole time and the flooring and seats in the cabin look OK.

attached a few pictures of what the inside looks like. Didn't take many pics but pretty much need the interior completely restored.

so my questions on here is:

where can i go to get the parts i need to restore this boat?
how much do you think i will need $$$ wise to restore this?
any tips or tricks i can use to do the restoration?

Thank you all in advance
New user,
Stan

 

[Bayou Dave]

Sitting outside for 15 years has taken a toll on every part of the boat. If you pull the floor up I am sure you will find the stringers and transom are totally rotted.You are looking at big $$ and tons of time to repair it. IMHO I suggest you find a good boat elsewhere, unless you are really emotionally attached to this boat.

 

[Woodonglass]

What kind of Motor and Outdrive does she have? By the way I believe the correct terminology is a Cuddy not a Cubby

 

[stanwilson]

Iit has a chevy 305 with a cobra outboard. sorry about that... I'm not that familiar with boats in details. i love to go boating and have been out in this boat a few times before I went away for the military but he left it sit after i left and now he is wanting to get rid of it. I really enjoyed skiing and tubing with this boat and would like to try and restore it without putting a ton of money and time into it. I figured just by looking at it that i would be looking at about 4 to 5k and about a months worth of time, which i have no issues with. But if i am looking at more then that.. then i don't want to waste my time and money on it.

thank you all for the great information.

 

[Mark72233]

stan, your story sounds a little like mine. I inherited my boat from my dad after he passed away. We have had the boat for sometime so lots of history and memories with my dad fishing in the Gulf of Mexico so I don't mind the time and money I have spent on the boat so far. I have been working on it since July, 2014 and spending on average 20 hours per week, lets call it more than 800 hours and well over $11K so far. By the time I am done with it I will have about 1200 hours in it and about $15K in a boat I might get $14K for if I wanted to sell it which I never will. I say all that to let you know a little of what you will have to face if you decide to restore that boat. But I can also say that I am 51 years old and have never done anything more enjoyable then this project and when I am done and me, my wife, 10 year old daughter and 12 year old son are out on this boat I will be very happy I made the decision to restore it. I have attached the link to my thread if you want to see a little more about it. Good luck whichever way you decide to go. 72 Thunderbird Formula w/twin 165hp Mercs

 

[Woodonglass]

Unless you can devote 10-12hr days every day for a month and a minimum of $5K then I wouldn't even think about try to restore it. The OMC powerplants and outdrives are outdated and don't have the best reputations nowadays. I really think you'd be better served looking around for a better boat. Be forewarned that almost any used boat will need some amount of restoration but you can find some that need less than others. I'd highly recommend the MercCruisers if your wanting and I/O style boat. You always want to look for softspots in the deck, flexing, and discolored transoms and general lack of maintenance on the boats.

 

[jbcurt00]

Stan, I fixed it for ya:

By the way I believe the correct terminology is a Cuddy not a Cubby

I dont think a month is realistic, $5K may or may not be.

Lets ask a more basic question then sentimental 'value' because if YOU desire the boat YOUR dad owned and YOU grew up on, then all else is somewhat irrelevant UNLESS you have no intention of using this boat as it was designed.

Ok to ski/tube behind, but larger then you'd need for that. You can fish off pretty much any boat, but this 1 is much bigger then you need for that.

But if you have little ones, or expect to, a cuddy is nice to have. It might be a bit small for long multiple overnight camping depending on how big the cuddy actually is and how big you and yours are.

So does this boat fit how you expect to go boating? Even w a sentimental drive to finish it, if you dont think its a good fit for you and your usage of it.

$5K may be low if you dont have some of the necessary tools, work space and decide to go all out on the interior and finishes. Esp if you cant do 90%+ of the work yourself