1972 Avon...worth fixing??

IAmABug · 09 September 2011, 04:02

I was given a 1972 Avon (pretty sure that's the year, serial # ends with 72) by my father in law. It has been in his attic for awhile, like years. Anyway, we pumped it up and it seems to hold air although both valves, A4 type, leak. They were stuck shut and we had to push them open. Now they both leak, especially the one for the front half.

There is little issues all over the boat, peeling reinforcement strips etc. however the leaks SEEM to be only at the valves. I haven't had the opportunity as of yet to spray the whole boat down the minor leaks. I figure I should find out if the valves are repairable first. I have done a little research and have concluded that the A4 valve is not repairable and doesn't seem to be available anymore. Is it worth buying the C7 valve and replacing the valves. If so, how would one do this? I assume you have to cut the old one off and reapply the new valves.

Is this worth doing to such an old boat, or would it be better to invest in a newer model. It is also missing the transom so I would have to track one down, which may be hard, or manufacture one myself.

Would anyone know what the rated motor size for this boat would be. I believe it is a 10ft.

m chappelow · 09 September 2011, 08:01

If you say the transom/motor mount is missing and its about 9 to 10 foot long it sounds like an avon redcrest(next size up at 12 ft is a Redseal).
that type of vavle can be a pain if left unused for a while but as if happens my nextdoor neighbour bought an avon last year about the same age as yours same type of valve which leaked ,he cleaned them up with talc and carefull use of cotton buds which sorted them out .
the avon boats can last for many many years ,one of my old avons which was a black one from around 1965 was still in use up to a couple of years ago so i heard .
mart

S4Simon · 09 September 2011, 08:10

At that age the fabric would have become porous. She would hold good air for a day probably. I'm assuming hypalon, and in that case you could buy some liquid latex and pour into the tubes (750ml per tube). Spin the boat around to circulate the latex with very low pressure in the tubes and the latex will fill all the the small pin holes. Spray some Innox into the valves to free them up.

IAmABug · 09 September 2011, 17:18

I spent some time on the boat last night. The valve that is leaking bad has a rip in the diaphragm. I need to replace the whole valve unit. Anyone tried this before? Is it a easy thing to do and does anyone have a step by step. Thx

Poly · 11 September 2011, 22:52

IAmaBug,

I think there is a step by step guide to valve replacement/servicing on the Ribshop website.

There are enough stories of 30 yr old redcrests around that I wouldn't assume you need to add "liquid latex" to it. If after replacing the valves you have slow leaks you can't pin down AND that is a problem for you (i.e. you are not only using it for relatively short periods) then consider this.