Hello! I’m new here, my name is Chris. I just picked this old canoe up for a song! I hope it wasn’t a mistake, it seems solid, and HEAVY. I’ll post pics and please help me identify it, and where do I begin with restoration. Thank you in advance!
Sheer entry lines make me think Sawyer right off the bat. They are not that many old fiberglass boats that look like that.
Thanks, are those caps known to be on many canoes? I haven’t found one yet…maybe I’m not looking in the right spot! 
I would seriously think about how much time and effort you want to put into that restoration. You could easily end up with an unusable boat or spending a ton of money on something that isn’t worth it.
Try to figure out how competent the hull is and the condition of the fiber glass before spend any time on it.
1 Like
I did a water test by putting the canoe up on saw horses, filled it up with water, an no leaks! I don’t feel any soft spots. My son and I just finished an initial 1st sanding on the outside. There is one spot that the prior owner fixed and it looks ok, no leaks or coming apart. How else can I check the hull/fiberglass durability?? Thanks!
Thanks for the input Mike. It’s actually a father son project, the canoe was only $50, so I have lots of time, and don’t mind putting in the effort and some $$ to bring it back to life.
That’s loading it with weight in a way that it was never designed for. I would recommend not doing that again
2 Likes
Clean off the dirt and look at it in bright sunshine. Look for defects, cracks, soft spots, repairs or creases. Use your fingers and press on the hull and try to find any brittle, soft of unusual areas. See if the hull has resilience.
Never put the weight of water or a person in a canoe on dry land. Especially not only supported in two places. You could of wrecked it in your yard.
1 Like
Thanks! I’m glad I didn’t ruin the boat! I only put in about an inch to 2 inches of water. So far, I just found one previously repaired area. I kinda knocked like I would on a door all over the boat, pressed a bit on the sides and front, nothing brittle so far! I think I’m gonna continue sanding(scuffing) the entire thing and then epoxy, sand, paint 2-3 coats, and put on a couple coats of poly.