Picked up a Valero YT

[Matts94z28]

I ended up driving 7 hours from Charleston to Norfolk after getting about 60 pictures of this boat. The guy has some nice parts such as the trailer, seastar, new jack plate, trim, seats, billet shifter, hotfoot, and so on. We agreed on the low price of $3500 with a fresh 2000 model Johnson 150 (I know I know... it also has a 25in shaft). Figured I could sell the motor and fund an older 225 or so merc if I needed to.















Well once we get there I get a good look at the boat and notice some stress cracks in the gel on the deck near the rub rail and that its a little more faded than the pictures led on, but its all good. We get it fired up and it runs great on the hose. So I started checking the floor and transom. The floor is solid as a rock and the transom was replaced a year ago (didn't add knees unfortunately), however it already has stress cracks in the corner. Uggggghhh... but not a deal breaker. I start to make way to the hull and check out the sponsons and find this...











He literally had no idea this had been there. The best we could figure is that this happend from the crappy bunk set up and him strapping it down to the trailer when he moved from FL to VA. Thank god the boat had not been in the water since. At this point I am feeling a little helpless as I drove all this way for a boat with issues...

Next I find this on the V of the hull about 3 feet from the nose.





The area does not have the tell tale sound of a wet core surprisingly (neither did the pad area).

After some serious though I told the guy that I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. So he told me to make an offer as it would not upset him. Ended up taking the boat home for $2700. Now I am in the process of looking for a reputable marine fiberglass repair shop to make the corrections.

Between trading a car for my old boat last year and then selling my current boat I have about $400 of my own money wrapped up in this. Not too bad I guess.

[PaulR]

These boats are 20+ years old and I bet 80% of them that are unrestored look like what you just bought. I think if you can get $1200 to $1500 for the motor you will be sitting pretty good on the hull and trailer and another $4g's later you will have a nice boat. I dragged a YT home last fall in similar condition and the core was soaking wet, don't believe the hammer test...ALL these boats need new cores!!!

[brockshydro]

Hate to say it but my yt also had a totally rotted core it did hold up for three years and I sold it to a guy in cross who has put it back together. I had no idea even after the hammer test that the core was rotten until the pad cracked and it started taking on water at 75mph yea glad I was close the ramp when I noticed

[brockshydro]

But it looks good and is all there so I think you will be ok I loved mine and sometimes wish I had it back

[Matts94z28]

I may drill into the pad before I take it to get the glass fixed. I got the boat cheap, so if I need to recore it then I should still be ok price wise.

Hope to be on the river in 2-3 weeks. I wish I could find a trade or a deal on a 200hp motor.

[bulldogdaddy]

See if you know anybody that.has a moisture meter.they work great.but that is my favorite stream model

[phil blomquist]

Thats still a darn good buy regardless, the yt hull is my favorite, you wont lose a dime even if you hire someone to do the work.

[rev.ronnie]

I have been told by former factory employees that the earlier YT hulls suffered serious structure issues. There was delamination and cracking in the sponsons when they were new. Most hulls were replaced under warranty. It was not till the last few years of manufacture that they got that hull right.

If you're going to redo the boat, split the hull from the deck and recore the whole thing. There is a 99.9% chance that anything you do to that hull from the outside will re-crack in days. It needs to be done from the inside out.

[JWTjr.]

Most of the YTs built between early 86 and mid 88 had the center pod laid up incorrectly (not the sponsons, they were fine). After mid-88 they were built properly. However 25 years later, they're going to be rotten no matter what.

This one unfortunately looks like it has more problems than that. It looks like the transom has already been worked on before. The gelcoat chipping and cracking along the strakes indicates core delamination for sure. You don't have to take the deck off to fix this however; the interior area with deck on is plenty large enough for you to get inside and do all the work properly.

John

[Matts94z28]

See if you know anybody that.has a moisture meter.they work great.but that is my favorite stream model

I will see what I can come up with. I have no idea where to look for one. ha.

Thats still a darn good buy regardless, the yt hull is my favorite, you wont lose a dime even if you hire someone to do the work.

That's what I was thinking. I'd expect to be able to have this done for 2-2.5k in my area.

I have been told by former factory employees that the earlier YT hulls suffered serious structure issues. There was delamination and cracking in the sponsons when they were new. Most hulls were replaced under warranty. It was not till the last few years of manufacture that they got that hull right.

If you're going to redo the boat, split the hull from the deck and recore the whole thing. There is a 99.9% chance that anything you do to that hull from the outside will re-crack in days. It needs to be done from the inside out.

Most of the YTs built between early 86 and mid 88 had the center pod laid up incorrectly (not the sponsons, they were fine). After mid-88 they were built properly. However 25 years later, they're going to be rotten no matter what.

This one unfortunately looks like it has more problems than that. It looks like the transom has already been worked on before. The gelcoat chipping and cracking along the strakes indicates core delamination for sure. You don't have to take the deck off to fix this however; the interior area with deck on is plenty large enough for you to get inside and do all the work properly.

John

I have read all of this as well. The transom was replaced in FL about 3 years ago to the tune of $500. They cut the skin off from the back and re-glassed it. Didn't add knees though. The previous owner said they did not notice a wet core, but then again I am not entirely sure how they could tell with the transom off.

I am 95% sure the stress cracks and the cracks from the bunk are from being improperly transported 1500 miles. This trailer is set up all wrong and the owner used to trap it down with a HUGE strap. He tried to do it before I left with it and you could see the boat being compressed! He also never used a transom saver.

This doesn't change the facts though, I am sure the boat will need core work. I figure I will repair what is seen here and when it returns I will start cutting. It's only going to run me $200 to have it done by a friend who does this type of work regularly. I'd like to have a boat to cruise in the river this summer. I'm not going to be shattering any records with this 25in Johnson 150 thats for sure.

[Matts94z28]

more stress cracks from being cinched down.

[LaveyT]

I had one of the best drives of my life in a YT almost Identical to that one. It had a 175 Crossflow and would do about 82mph with a 28 Raker.I could float the front pretty high and you kind of had to steer the way the boat was getting ready to go. Then when you had the opportunity you steered the direction you wanted to go. I had a YT Bowrider and it never got that heavenly feeling. Do it correctly (the Re-core) and you will have a fun little boat.

[Matts94z28]

I agree on the fun factor. I grew up on one of these, so I was pleased to find this one.

[Fullthrottleguy]

Do yourself the favour and just come to terms with rebuilding the whole thing... you're going to end up there eventually anyways.
After restoring mine last year the thing is an amazing ride! 90MPH GPS with an old 235 crossflow and more to go!.

[Fullthrottleguy]

Most of the YTs built between early 86 and mid 88 had the center pod laid up incorrectly (not the sponsons, they were fine). After mid-88 they were built properly. However 25 years later, they're going to be rotten no matter what.

This one unfortunately looks like it has more problems than that. It looks like the transom has already been worked on before. The gelcoat chipping and cracking along the strakes indicates core delamination for sure. You don't have to take the deck off to fix this however; the interior area with deck on is plenty large enough for you to get inside and do all the work properly.

John

John is right. When i dug into mine I found that even the one part that wasn't rotten was laid up wrong. Check out the 1/4" void at the most critical area of the running surface!! (last 3 feet of center pad) A properly restored one by a dedicated owner will be stronger and out perform the original build.