1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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SpitAndDirt

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Hello all, my name is Chris and I have a problem......er.....addiction to being on the water.

I also have found that I have an addiction to this forum. I don't know how many hours I've lost reading thread after thread of countless tips, tricks, ideas, techniques, etc. I have to give special mention to Oops: I gave myself a headache because I tried to read your entire restoration thread in a single evening. The amount of information your thread presented is astounding. Kudos to everyone who participated in helping him, I learned so much. A second special mention to FriscoBoater: Your videos of your SeaRay rebuild were invaluable on so many different levels. It's one thing to see pictures of a project in progress, but to get live demonstrations is completely over the top.

Of course, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate all the other masters who post regularly on this forum. I hope everyone will provide me some guidance along the way with my project, just as long as it isn't, "Buy another boat."

Which leads me into my project: a 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL (sunlounger). I've owned this boat since 2005, but an unfortunate meeting with a stump in 2007 caused me to park the boat for almost 5 years in my back yard. This boat has had a rough life, to say the least. When I first purchased this boat, it was sitting in a storage lot for over a decade uncovered, forgotten by it's owners. My guess is that the PO either died or moved to another military installation overseas. Just a theory anyway. I've always felt that I didn't really choose this boat, IT chose me. Even though it was marketed as a entry level boat for it's day, I think that after I put the work into it, I'll probably have a boat that will compare with similar new model boats for a fraction of the cost. And honestly, I really like how it sits in the water. It's got a good "stance." Or maybe I'm just a sucker for projects of this nature: taking what is forgotten and giving it new life. This isn't the first time I've done something like this.....won't be my last.

Well, better days have come and I've already started to rip everything out. As I write this, I'm nearly to the point of having all my stringers completely ground out. I'm doing good so far, but I'm at a point where I really need to build extra support for the hull while I work inside it. Currently I have it sitting on a pair of Yardarm ED36 (economy) boat dollies I picked up off Ebay a couple years ago. They were still $400 for a pair of them if I recall, but that was half off brand new.

I've uploaded my first 4 videos to Youtube so be sure to check them out. The first three are my Safety Vids. If there is one thing I am not taking for granted, it's my protective gear. No one need lecture me, I've got that area covered, literally.

That's all I have for now, now I've got a ton of pictures on Photobucket I'm going to link to now. Enjoy! Constructive criticism is encouraged and appreciated. Thanks. -C

One note however: updating this thread may not be an everyday thing. I work nights and my weekends always seem to have me running around doing everything else EXCEPT working on the boat.....such is life..... :facepalm:

One final thing I do need to ask: Is everyone loading pictures directly to the site or using Photobucket? If Photobucket, what is everyone using for a picture size? 1280 x 960?

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I was able to find an original sales brochure. I figure it would be kinda interesting to have. And it is. I should post pictures of the swimsuit models before Photoshop became the new normal....yikes!
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By the way, could someone tell me what my 5.0 OMC is? A 185, 200, 260, or 240? It's just a regular Cobra outdrive not a King.
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I'm really having a hard time believing the "NO SHORT CUTS" statement at the top of the page now that I've completely gutted my boat. Either that or my boat was built on a Friday.......
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Finally getting the boat out of the back yard.
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Yes, I am doing this all by myself. Every shot was taken with a timer and a tripod except for a select few.
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GT1000000

Rear Admiral
Joined
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Messages
4,916
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Hello and welcome to the dry dock, Kenneth,

Nice looking craft you have there.

Since you are already "addicted" and on your way, I just want to say best of luck and have fun!

Remember that we are here to answer any questions you come up with.

As far as Photobucket pics, I am not 100% sure, but I think most are re-sizing to 800 x 600...although I have been using 1024 X 768...

Sorry, can't help with ID'ing the engine, but someone here will know...if anything you can post up here... OMC I/O & Inboard Engines & Outdrives

Best Regards,
GT1M
 

mrdjflores

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
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Messages
1,169
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

would help to have any pictures of your drive system
 

a1964rn

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
287
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Nice Looking boat. I was told you could only use 640x480. Thats what I use. If you have the old version of photobucket, you can set it to automatically resize your pics. Wjth the new photobucket, I couldn't find the resize feature. If you do have the new version, it allows you to revert back to the old version.
Best of luck on the rebuild!
 

Woodonglass

Supreme Mariner
Joined
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Yep 640x480 is the preferred size.
 

SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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For anyone who hasn't seen the removal of their outdrive, it's really, really easy. The special stand that I bought does make things ridiculously easy though. A second set of arms would have worked too. For anyone who wonders where I got it from----> $278 which included a set of stands for my motor when I pulled it out. I didn't mind paying the price for good quality, MADE IN AMERICA tools. Stumpy's Fab Works. Stumpy's Fabrication Works : Photos
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I just really liked this shot. Yes, I also own a 1966 Corvair that will be the next resto project after the boat is finished.
 

SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

The start of pulling the motor. Pretty easy too actually. The only thing you can't be without is a hoist or crane.

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Just one item of note of this picture: The original starter had completely rusted out due to being submerged when we almost sank the Sunbird. I used to work in the auto parts business and I knew that their were gear reduction starters that would replace the original Ford design. I'll have to find the company I bought it from, I just know that I paid $110 for it. I think it works much better and sounds like it doesn't have to work as hard as the original starter. Just know one thing before buying one for yourself: There are two different nose cone styles(protrusion lengths) of this starter. Both are based off a Japanese Nippondenso Gear Reduction design. If anyone has any questions about it, I'll dig through my old receipts and find out who I bought it from.

Finally, are my pictures still ridiculously too large for everyone? I don't want to keep uploading pictures if the thread is taking forever to load. I've tried messing around with Photobucket, I just need to know if it's working. Thanks.
 

GT1000000

Rear Admiral
Joined
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Messages
4,916
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Pics look great, engine seems to be in really nice shape on the outside, seems well cared for...Love the made in America, right tool for the job!
Everything is shaping up very nicely, way to go...
 

mrdjflores

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Ford 302 with a 1980+ Truck rear sump oil pan
 

SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

The next two pictures show the little motor stands that I also purchased from Stumpy's Fab Works. Makes storing and moving the motor so much easier.

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And now comes the hairy part: removing the boat from the trailer and onto my maintenance dollies. The boat will be easily moved around if I have to use my garage space for other work. It makes for an interesting time when no one else is around to help except two 3 ton floor jacks and a 1/2 ton hoist in my shop.

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Hgoody77

Recruit
Joined
Nov 24, 2012
Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

I just got this same model boat and it needs a good bit of work so i want to follow this thread as well.
Thanks for making a great build post. keep us informed.
Thanks, Howard
 

SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Well I am definitely a couple of months overdue for an update. Sorry it's been so long, but I'm sure everyone knows that you just always can't get to everything when you would like to. I'm no exception to that rule.

That said, unfortunately, I haven't made any progress in the boat. It's all been outside of it. During the last time (December 11! ) I had been working in the hull and grinding away at stringers, I had noticed that my hull had started flexing a lot as I began to remove more and more old glass. I didn't want risk glassing in new stringers and having a warped hull so something needed to be done before I continued any further.

I don't have a ton of room to work with and making a complete cradle for the boat was simply out of the question. You can see from my pictures above that I do have my boat setting on wheeled dollies that work great if I had a floor structure. However, I did not count on that the weight of the empty hull coming down on too few square inches of support area was causing the hull to deform at least 3/4" an inch. It may not sound like much but I didn't want to end up with an uneven planing surface. I could only imagine what kind of actual on-water handling problems that might cause.

So I decided after much thought, and lost sleep, that the empty hull is strong enough to suspend itself between 3 jack points. The idea is that as long as the cap remains installed on the lower hull, the sides will not deflect outwards. The rear corners should be very strong because three planes intersect there. But the front support worried me a bit. The only place I had to lift from was under the bow-eye. The picture below illustrates my idea. Gravity is the big red arrow pulling the hull down, the green arrows are my jack points suspending the hull. Without the added structure of the cap, the lower hull would fold up fore to aft and my sides would deflect outboard. I would have drawn a cap but my skills are limited in Microsoft Paint.... :joyous:
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Well, I took the risk that the bow-eye would not rip out of the fiberglass from the weight of the hull and all is well. Now, just in case anything were to happen, I still have my wheeled dollies sitting under the boat. I made the three wooden jacks to keep about 1/2" above the dollies. This setup really keeps the boat rock steady while I am working. So hopefully this little trick might help someone else.

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From this next picture you can see that my chines curve very nicely as illustrated by the red arrows, exactly what I was looking for. The green arrows point to the wheeled dollys, and the yellow arrow is where my hole is. Remember, the dollies are not holding any weight right now.

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A couple notes however: I made relief cuts in the front jack to allow the bow-eye to lock into place and so that the fiberglass did not take any extra stress more than it had to. The jacks are only temporary until I can get the new floor installed. AND JUST TO REMIND EVERYONE, I STILL HAVE EXTRA SUPPORT UNDER THE HULL IN CASE SOMETHING DECIDES TO GIVE WAY. I would not want someone else trying this as a short cut and their hull is too weak to support itself. Use your own best judgement and be safe about it.

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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

These next pictures are the ones that were supposed to follow before I ended up having to stop and make those wooden jacks. So, again, sorry for not getting these up sooner. They were taken between August and December of 2012.

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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

Safety First!! Since I know from seeing all the fiberglass dust that can go everywhere (reminds me of Oops! covered in dust :eek:) I decided to mitigate as much of it as possible by creating my own air filtration system. It's simply two 20" Lasko fans rigged with some leftover wood and PVC pipe and creating a PVC pipe tent with painters drop plastic to keep everything contained. I have to say that it does keep the air much cleaner, though I am going through more filters than I would like. 12 filters are running me around $32. I've gone through about 8 already. I change them when I can no longer see my entryway plastic sucking inward. The other good part is that it keeps a TON of dust from blanketing everything else in my shop!!!

A BIG thanks to whomever originally pioneered the PVC tent idea.....Friscoboater anyone?

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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

At this point I took a ridiculous amount of reference photos which I opted not to upload. They only help me when I start putting everything back together.

So finally this is the start of tearing into the floor for the first time.

First step: Remove a ton of old rotten carpet. You will notice I made dimensional markings on the sides. They indicate how wide the hull is at those areas, I hope they will cut down on the time it takes me to lay out the new floor pieces.

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My first "bunny suit." I hadn't gotten my TyVek coveralls in yet so I made due with what I had available. I used masking tape to cover up my wrists and put on a painters head sock to keep dust out of my hair. And for inquiring minds, yes, my mask has two different filters on it. I had new filters on order from Ebay. It's just what came with the mask when I bought it.
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If you look closely I am dripping sweat off my face. It's freaking hot in that outfit, and wearing a gas mask doesn't help either. But my lungs are thanking me though. :D

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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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I have to say that for the aft end of this boat being completely submerged, I'm really surprised that the wood wasn't more rotten...
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I'm really quite amazed that the motor didn't collapse the fiberglass. The 4 pieces of 2x4 UN-treated lumber were STAPLED to the stringer which had pretty much rotten away. The glass was the only thing that supported the weight!
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A stiff short bristle brush works wonders on clean up.
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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
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Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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The tools of the trade: 4" grinder with diamond concrete blade, automotive seal puller(works great BTW) for destroying foam, hammer & chisel, and a putty knife. Not shown here: Fein Multi-Master---->slices through foam like butter!!!
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For anyone that decides to use a full face respirator when grinding should have a bottle of Rain-X Anti-Fog handy. Unless you can afford a mask that has anti-fog venting, such as military grade CNBC(Chemical, Nuclear, Biological Containment) masks, then your best bet is using Rain-X instead. You'll find that your hot, steamy breath with fog up the mask is no time. The Rain-X is applied to the inside of the mask and will need to be reapplied periodically. I tend to reapply it after 45 minutes or so of consecutive wearing. By that time I'm ready for a break (read:beer)!
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To illustrate, the two filters on the left are caked with fiberglass dust :eek:. It should be obvious that the filter on the right is brand new. It's crazy how much dust you generate when in an enclosed area, I'm even more glad I went with a full face respirator!
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Speaking of the Fein, I used it to remove the forward foot well. It took a lot more time than just using a jigsaw or a grinder, but the cut was very precise. I'm hoping it makes re-installation easier.
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SpitAndDirt

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
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Messages
103
Re: 1992 Sunbird Corsair 205 SL - Complete Gutting and Resto - Pics and Video

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And the wood under the foot well is removed.
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Just a little more to go before I can finally see what my transom looks like!
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This is about a 1/3rd of what I've already thrown away.
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The Aliens are coming! The Aliens are coming! And they look like rabbits!!

Safety, Safety, Safety!!!

Just a few notes about my setup: I'm 6'2" 245Lbs.

1) I am wearing a 2XL TyVek Coverall Suit here. It may work fine for work where you aren't doing extreme bending. But for me, a 5XL suit works best. It's pretty big around the mid-section, but I'm not wearing it to look good in. I don't like getting "blow-outs" under my arm pits or in my crotch while I'm grinding. A bigger suit just works better.

2) The mask I am wearing is made by SurvivAir. You can still get no Ebay and find multiple sellers who still has these, the problem is that most are New-Old Stock. SurvivAir was bought over by Honeywell or some other large conglomerate. Some of these masks can be bought for under $40. Make sure that you can still buy filters!!!! I am wearing a Medium but in fact I should be wearing a Large. It works for my purposes, but it is a smidge on the tight side. The biggest thing to remember that a mask is only as good as the seal it makes with your face. If you aren't clean shaven when you don a full face respirator, you're going to have leaks. You should be able to breathe out, cover both air intake holes and suck the mask to your face. If you can't you've got air leaks.

3) I used a couple old pairs of black socks to make wrist covers and also additional filtration socks for my respirator cartridges. If you feel like your breathing becomes labored, it's time to take compressed air and clean out your cartridges or replace them all together. Instead of buying expensive pre-filters, the black socks do a fine job performing the same function to help extend the life of the cartridges.

4) I'm wearing Thickster Latex Exam gloves that I bought from Advance Auto Parts. They aren't cheap at $17/box of 50. But they are very thick and durable as the name implies. If you're going to be doing extended grinding and are tired of thin latex gloves breaking, these are what you need.

And finally, since I am working in an enclosed environment of my shop and it can get very noisy with all the grinding going on, I'm wearing a set of "Ear Defenders" or whatever you call them. I already work around jet engines during my day job, I don't need to contribute to further hearing loss.

Remember, no project is worth dying or getting sick over. Protect yourself!!!
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