1979 Viking build

[LakeFever]

Been plugging away a little bit here and there. One more full day of prep and we are ready to lay some glass

[XstreamVking]

Looks good to me...

[LakeFever]

Okay gents I’m looking for feedback on the next steps here. What we are planning is a full length lay of 1708 over the entire running surface from chine to chine and cap it with 1oz csm wet on wet then gel with wax so it cures and we can sand it. Then we fare with putty and guide coat and prime with duratec VE primer. All this is good where I’m a little uneasy is I have a few spots that are impacts that were nicely hidden under the gel. Thankfully all of these are going to be under the layer of 1708 we are laying. We are thinking these spots are stable and will be fine sandwiched in the laminate but I wonder if they should be ground out and filled with csm first?

also we have stress cracks that are also going to be sandwiched in the middle of the 1708 so we want to leave these sanded seen in pics and lay over and call it a day. If this sounds unwise please let me know we are close to doing this.

Finally if we fare directly over the 1708 on the transom will that print through? Do we have to cover all structural glass with csm first before faring? I’ve attached some pics of what I’m talking about. Thanks guys we are closing in here

[LakeFever]

We ground out all the questionable areas after our first csm/gel with wax patch was laid and fared. It is literally an invisible patch we were shocked how well it turned out. While I still feel the questionable spots would be fine in the sandwich now that the hull is sound and no longer flexi, I sure don’t want these cracks printing through in ten years time and I have zero experience with these materials and shrink over time so rather than chance it we added another day of work and dug it all out.

pics are the test area for faring in one of the worst spots with csm layered. We first ground the damaged area smooth and filled maybe 7 layers of 1.5oz leaving the patch proud and using the da with 40 grit it took about 30 mins to flatten it out. We are very pleased with the result

[rjdubiel]

1708 over the bottom seems like a lot of glass to add to the outside of the hull. What did you bed the core in again? I think you put down 1708 under the core, maybe even multiple layers i think with the overlapping before you bed the core down and then glassed over the core. It will be bullet proof but may be unnecessary, but I do not know! Looking good either way!

[LakeFever]

We did put 1708 down under the core inside the hull and the plan was to repair the outside and gel. Once we started sanding it so much of the factory glass is air pocketed and crumbly we realized the quality of factory materials/layup was way worse than I expected. That along with all the dings ans bruises from 40 years of pounding is what brought us to lay the 1708 over the exterior hull as well. We couldn’t really see another way to do it that would bring the quality of the hull skin up to similar strength and durability as the rest of the build. More time? Yes indeed. More cost? Yes for sure. Better end result? We sure hope so. Appreciate the input Rj and everyone else. More updates coming soon

[VkingMike]

On the upside, truly a bulletproof build when completed.

I've used 1708 for everything on mine, just to keep it uniform. I think the only CSM is in small patch work. And I'm probably still putting in less weight than I took out from the previous "rebuild" At first I wasn't sure about the strength, just because I didn't know much about glass. (Still don't really) But I've kinda learned there really isn't a wrong way to do any of this.

[LakeFever]

That’s the idea here I want a tough fun hull that hopefully isn’t heavier than the factory but it probably is. We laid in a lot of glass. I used 1808, 1208, and two different types of 1708 during the layup. I only used csm for a few base layers and mostly for tailing. What we are doing now is finishing and csm is great for this it sands out very smooth

[rjdubiel]

That’s the idea here I want a tough fun hull that hopefully isn’t heavier than the factory but it probably is. We laid in a lot of glass. I used two types of 1708, 1808, and 1208 during the layup. I only used csm for a few base layers and mostly for tailing. What we are doing now is finishing and csm is great for this it sands out very smooth

Maybe a call to some of the glass guys that will take the time to answer some questions on weather 1708 is needed on the outside of the hull or just some layers of CSM, you will be sanding it smooth anyway and the strong side of the hull is inside the hull. There is not really any force pushing from inside the hull out so that outside hull glass is not the strength of the hull. The original hull was only chopper gun in the mold, then balsa, then they started with more chopper and roving. I think anything will be fine, but just a lot of glass outside of the hull as you put down 1708 and will need CSM over all of that to keep the print through from happening (or under it all depending what side is up on the 1708). Again, I am no professional but don't want you to have a tank that will not perform like a Hydrostream should.

[LakeFever]

I’m perfectly confident that csm and faring in as we have in our test area would be fine. What I’m not happy with is how porous and crappy the factory chop glass quality is. Each spot that I had to grind and sand through is porous and weak compared to the new glass we laid in. So the 1708 skin is not a strength upgrade for the torsion aspect it’s completely for a durability over time and strike resistance aspect. Thankfully with 100% coosa build we did drop a pile of weight out and being my fourth stream my other hulls didn’t run that much slower with a couple passengers. There’s no way I’ve added 4-500lbs extra so that’s in the back of mind. As with anything if it ain’t fast enough add more power is always an option. Appreciate the input guys

[rjdubiel]

Did you ever get to your new glass from the outside of the hull or were you able to get the crap glass out and still was in the original glass? Very excited to see the process you end up using from where you are at to finish colors. I just love these threads!

[LakeFever]

Yes I sure did. There was four holes through the hull when I bought it three of them had already been patched with a couple layers of 1708 using vinyester. They are bonded in very well so I worked with them. When I patched the fourth hole I used parchment and taped it with a form fit backer board to the contour of the hull and that patch came out flawless you can see it in couple pics above. The three patches that were existing while laid in strongly, were hanging low and when I was prepping the recent areas for faring I ground through two of them into the first layer of 1708 that I had laid. Then there’s the white impact areas that I ground out and I also completely ground out the factory glass there to the 1708 I laid inside. It’s easy to tell when I get to my glass because it’s transparent and I can see the green corebond through it. These will all be filled with csm and fared smooth before I lay the big sheet over.

im happy to contribute to the reading fun. I too love watching builds come together it’s better than any crap on tv lol

[LakeFever]

All dicey areas patched with csm and capped with waxed gel so tomorrow we can sand it

[tnelsmn]

Reading all this makes me miss the big project to work on.

The patching looks great so far! I wonder if you went with 1208 for your outer skin if you could save some weight without sacrificing much strength?

Just throwing it out there.

Keep in mind, my hull came in at 745lbs before rigging and I believe Hydrostream said these were 650. I'm guessing that included an interior as well. With all that said mine is an easy 90+mph boat with a stone stock ProMax.

[LakeFever]

I thought about using 1208 but it really doesn’t take much less resin surprisingly and it’s a lot lighter mat. That and I have 1708. I did consider simply laying chop over all of it but we have pretty well committed to this plan now. Can’t see it being a big deal really just tricky to lay tight