1978 Viking rebuild

[tnelsmn]

Remind me, you did or are going to have vent holes between your floor and the hull bottom correct?

Yes, there are drains/vents in the front bulkhead as well as drains in the stringers leading to the bilge. Also the bilge is open between the stringers all the way to the front bulkhead.

Still debating adding more of a vent through the floor below the seats as well as in the forward floor/shelf.

[Captaincj]

Looks great...

[tnelsmn]

CSM cut to fit and starting to go in. As I've seen it done on here before, I'm tearing the entire perimeter of the mat before it goes down. This really seems to leave a nice transition between pieces and a smooth edge.

I added a layer CSM to the exposed sections of wood after tabbing everything in. I feel like I want more than just one layer on the floor. Hate to see a ski or something break through it.

[Merc 2.5]

U have done such a gud job on this. if I do half as gud I'll b happy haha

But looks like my mate has lots less stringers and floor and such

[tnelsmn]

Thank you, Merc! Less floors and stringers will certainly make the build go a bit quicker.

[tnelsmn]

CSM completed on the floor.

[XstreamVking]

Turning out real nice. Very neat glass work.

[tnelsmn]

Today marks one full year since I pulled the project into my garage. The first few days was just cleaning and planning followed by a few weeks to build my cradle. I didn't start actual work on the hull until December. Anyway, I figured it was worth noting the one year mark. Almost have it back to one piece agin. Here I was a year ago foolishly thinking it would be in the water this season

I should note as of now I just passed the 400 hour mark on the project.

I can't thank everyone here enough for the help so far! I wouldn't be able to complete this project without your expertise.

Since my last post I almost have the seat and fuel tank mounts completed on the floor. I used 3/4" marine plywood cut 2" wide. I set 5/16" stainless steel T nuts in from the bottom. I used a router and cut a relief for the flange of the T nut so it would sit flush across the bottom. I used 5200 around the T nuts when I pressed them into the mounts. Once that was cured the mounts were set onto CSM and tabbed in with 2" CSM, 4" 1708, and covered everything with CSM.

I have the mounts for the battery box and foot throttle ready to go in next.

[proprider]

Amazing work, looks great!!

[tnelsmn]

Amazing work, looks great!!

Thank you, your Viper build was great inspiration! I've read it many times, stole a few ideas from you

[LakeFever]

Looking great man! Very enjoyable thread. Im curious did you weigh this hull before you started? Be neat to see what a before/after weight is.

[tnelsmn]

Looking great man! Very enjoyable thread. Im curious did you weigh this hull before you started? Be neat to see what a before/after weight is.

Thank you! No, I didn't weigh it. When I started on the project the floor and core had already been removed. So I wouldn't have a good benchmark starting weight. I will try to weigh it once I have it finished before the rigging begins, and agin when its completely water ready.

I know you asked awhile back about my hours. Here's where I'm at so far. 27 hours into building the cradle, 34 hours into tear down and prepping for repairing hull damage. That number could be lower if I started with more aggressive grinding attachments. Currently just over 400 total for the build, but that could be a lot lower if I did a few things differently. Mainly I built laminated stringers out of two pieces of 1/4" marine plywood bonded with 1.5oz CSM between the two. This ate up a lot of time, and material for that matter, and probably added unneeded weight. Although I'm sure it is a bit stronger than just 1/2" marine ply. The seat mounts I just finished could've just as easily been T nuts through the floor, agin saving a lot of time and some material.

[LakeFever]

Thank you! No, I didn't weigh it. When I started on the project the floor and core had already been removed. So I wouldn't have a good benchmark starting weight. I will try to weigh it once I have it finished before the rigging begins, and agin when its completely water ready.

I know you asked awhile back about my hours. Here's where I'm at so far. 27 hours into building the cradle, 34 hours into tear down and prepping for repairing hull damage. That number could be lower if I started with more aggressive grinding attachments. Currently just over 400 total for the build, but that could be a lot lower if I did a few things differently. Mainly I built laminated stringers out of two pieces of 1/4" marine plywood bonded with 1.5oz CSM between the two. This ate up a lot of time, and material for that matter, and probably added unneeded weight. Although I'm sure it is a bit stronger than just 1/2" marine ply. The seat mounts I just finished could've just as easily been T nuts through the floor, agin saving a lot of time and some material.

This is exactly why I asked. The V-King Hull I have now which has been restored and upgraded structurally is solid as a rock, literally its a radically different feeling boat than my 100% factory original Valero which felt rickety. The concern I have is my V-king when docked floats ass heavy and nose way high. The only issue is with a full tank of fuel sitting docked the wing tips are slightly under water which has me concerned about over night docking and a big wave swamping the boat. My Valero floated more level and the wing tips were at least 4" out of the drink so I guess the guy who restored this thing went a little overkill on materials ( the transom is three ply layers thick for instance. It is a solid ride under power though its WAY more confident and fun than my Valero which was a handful at much lower speed. Gotta give to get I guess

Anyways really enjoying this thread I know at some point Im going to lay one of these up myself and I really appreciate your sharing the hours involved. Can hardly wait to see it done.

You got power for this thing already I cant recall what that plan is?

[tnelsmn]

This is exactly why I asked. The V-King Hull I have now which has been restored and upgraded structurally is solid as a rock, literally its a radically different feeling boat than my 100% factory original Valero which felt rickety. The concern I have is my V-king when docked floats ass heavy and nose way high. The only issue is with a full tank of fuel sitting docked the wing tips are slightly under water which has me concerned about over night docking and a big wave swamping the boat. My Valero floated more level and the wing tips were at least 4" out of the drink so I guess the guy who restored this thing went a little overkill on materials ( the transom is three ply layers thick for instance. It is a solid ride under power though its WAY more confident and fun than my Valero which was a handful at much lower speed. Gotta give to get I guess

Anyways really enjoying this thread I know at some point Im going to lay one of these up myself and I really appreciate your sharing the hours involved. Can hardly wait to see it done.

You got power for this thing already I cant recall what that plan is?

I'm sure what I end up with will be more than the factory weighed. By how much I don't know. But an experienced person told me when I was asking about extra weight and cost/benefit of coring the bow(which I'll be doing) and he beautifully stated that there will be more weight in the hull, but it is evenly distributed throughout the hull, and all together weighs less than a small passenger.

I suppose you could always throw some weight up in the bow when docked.

Thanks for the interest! I wouldn't be able to complete the build without this site so I'm happy to write a build thread. Hopefully it can help someone in the future.

I can't wait to see it finished myself! It will be the first time I've seen this boat in the water since I was 14(now 32)

Power for now will be the original Merc 2.0 175. It's been well maintained its whole life so it should be good with a decent tune up. I have a newer 3 ram trim/clamp I picked up so it will have the BIA bolt pattern and will work with a jack plate easier. Considering how long the build it taking its going back on stock. Maybe next winter I'll do a few things to try and squeeze a bit more out of it. I plan to re power in the future and have my eyes on a ProMax 225X. Seems like a good fit for my plans; pulling skiers, easy cruising, and of course go fast days. I would love a 260/280 but I don't think its the best fit for this rig at this time.

[LakeFever]

I think your on the money with the ProMax over the 260/80 motas. I looked at a few of them and for racing they are great but low hour rated rings just aint for me. They require rebuilds at very low hour use rates compared to the iron lined 200/225 promax stuff.