My hobie is totally dismantled and getting ready for a fresh coat of paint. Obviosuly repairing some dings here and there. What else should I do to her, make her sail better from the stand point of hull and tramp repair?

The tramp is fine, no need to replace it. The hulls are good to go also. But im more concerend on, should I epoxy the tramp to the hulls? should I fill the pilons with that spray on foam?

Any recommendations on restoring a 1983 hobie 16? My intentions are to put her up to speed, sail her maybe for a yr, and sell and move along to a bigger beach cat.

Recommendations?

Unless you intend on racing the boat, I wouldn't glue it together. If it's excessively loose, use shims cut from beer cans or vinyl siding to take the slop out.

If your intent is to sell it after a year or so, I'd concentrate on the cosmetics - do a flawless paint job (all the work is in surface prep), replace lines (cheap) and clean up the tramp (new hiking straps?). New sidebar carpet, too. You can buy black carpet runner from Home Depot for about $15 that will do two boats' worth.

If it's got black anodized aluminum, you can use silicone spray to make it shine again. Just spray it on, wipe off the excess, wait a few minutes and wipe it down again. It works wonders.

My intentions are to race her, yes. I want to get into racing, and what better way to start learning than with the H16.

All the shrouds are brand new, a new Harken 6:1 system will be on the way. She we will look flawless, I am extremely picky and I am doing the job along with a proffesional.

I read once online somewhere a guide to epoxing the frame, I cant find that guide. Can anyone that has the link post it up?

here it is:
http://www.thebeachcats.com/modules...&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

The boat will be good to start racing with, but it will always have a problem you can't fix - it's heavy.

Boats of that vintage weighed 340+ lbs when they were new. They only get heavier as they get older.

1984 / some 1985 boats weighed < 320 lbs. Newer boats (since about 1992) are also about 320 lbs. My 1998 weighed 317 when it was new and 321 when it was weighed for the Mega Event in 2002.

Doesn't sound like a lot, but when you get into A fleet, a lighter boat is a decided advantage.

Class minimum weight is 320 lbs.

I just got through restoring a 14'. Check to make sure the hulls have intergrity at all points. Seal everything and then use a blower of some type in the drain plug hole to look for leaks with soap bubbles. I used a test from beachcats (www.thebeachcats.com) to determine how much flex I had in the frame system. With the new tramp and the additional stiffening to the hulls, I decided not to epoxy.

Pat