1978 Viking rebuild

[tnelsmn]

Every time I see updates makes me want to get a project..
Then realize have enough to do swaping mids, painting and finishing motors break in etc..

I forget, tried looking back ..do you have motor already already? Or what are you looking to hand on it?



Michael

I think I'm going to be a little lost once this project is finished. Won't know what to do with all my time. I should probably get some stuff done in the house I've been putting off...

I have the original 2.0 175 Merc that was on it. It's been well maintained and ran when this project started so many years ago. Plan is to toss that on for this season and just get on the water, start learning how to drive this thing. I hope it doesn't need much more than a tune up. I have a newer 3 ram trim I'll be swapping on it when I put in the solid mounts as well. Possibly cone the lower if needed for engine height/water pressure.

I'd like to hang a 225ProMax or 225X if I can find one for the right deal. Also started reading about the 200xs. So it kinda depends on what's available. Then possibly swap power heads in the future to go for the big speed numbers if needed.

[tnelsmn]

Started grinding the known repairs on the bottom tonight. There's a lot more damage on this than I originally thought.

Looking for a little guidance here. There's lots of stress cracks in the gel and I took at them with the grinder. Found lots of stress cracks in the glass beneath. You can see the light colored cracks and other areas. I'm planning to grind these down until I can no longer see any crack and feather out the glass surrounding it. Then lay in layers of new CSM until it's the even with the surrounding glass. Is this the proper way to go about this? These look pretty gnarly along the running surface and I don't want to get this wrong.

After what I've seen so far I'm planning to remove all the gel off the bottom over the next few days.

[LakeFever]

Wow thats interesting. I can only offer this; On cars Ive restored with plastic bumper covers you have to completely sand and feather the cracks right out of the flexible parts before paint or they will reappear after refinishing. In your case I wonder if it would be better to strip the gel, add another layer of glass over the hull and re-gel the whole thing? A guess as I have no boat resto experience with this yet.

[W2F a V-King]

I'm no expert, but if it were mine and I had a lot of sanding to do on the bottom. (And I will be doing this to mine)

I think I'd use something long and flat to sand with to get past the gelcoat, and work large areas. Because you will be in the end wanting a uniform flat surface to end up with nice crisp edges on the strakes, pad and trailing edge of the transom.

Feathering the areas needing attention into those not needing so much work.
Like an air file, or long flat sanding blocks.

The source or reason those Spyder cracks happened to begin with has already been addressed with your fine work on the inside of the hull.

Blue printing the areas that will run wet. Would be my goal, and is my next part of my long restore on my V-King.
Had some health issues this past year and it's been on hold.

I'm sure a real knowledgeable guy will chime in here!

You have done a great job so far !!

James

[tnelsmn]

I'm no expert, but if it were mine and I had a lot of sanding to do on the bottom. (And I will be doing this to mine)

I think I'd use something long and flat to sand with to get past the gelcoat, and work large areas. Because you will be in the end wanting a uniform flat surface to end up with nice crisp edges on the strakes, pad and trailing edge of the transom.

Feathering the areas needing attention into those not needing so much work.
Like an air file, or long flat sanding blocks.

The source or reason those Spyder cracks happened to begin with has already been addressed with your fine work on the inside of the hull.

Blue printing the areas that will run wet. Would be my goal, and is my next part of my long restore on my V-King.
Had some health issues this past year and it's been on hold.

I'm sure a real knowledgeable guy will chime in here!

You have done a great job so far !!

James

I plan to blueprint the hull once the repairs are finished. The air sander is just so slow to remove the gel. I'm thinking that I'll use a grinder to get down or close to the black gel. Then switch to a long board/air sander to keep it flatter.

[DanUmbarger]

Stress cracks are caused by flexing and I seem to see it more in flake than solid colors probably because the clear and flake mixture is normally thicker than solid colors. The only thing that would concern me is grinding thru the roving/cloth causing a structural issue. I haven't looked back thru your posts to see what you actually did to the inner surfaces. I thought you did some extra glassing along with the stringers/floor/transom etc. Just be careful.

[tnelsmn]

Stress cracks are caused by flexing and I seem to see it more in flake than solid colors probably because the clear and flake mixture is normally thicker than solid colors. The only thing that would concern me is grinding thru the roving/cloth causing a structural issue. I haven't looked back thru your posts to see what you actually did to the inner surfaces. I thought you did some extra glassing along with the stringers/floor/transom etc. Just be careful.

I haven't reached any roving from the outside yet. I never really reached it from the inside either, other than where I feathered it out for major/crack hole repair. I added a layer of 1708 over the entire bottom before the core went in. Core was bedded into 1.5oz CSM.

[Noah Burns]

its junk... might as well just sit it outside (upside down so no water gets in it please)… I'll be along shortly to pick it up and get it out of your way.

on a serious note, you're doing an excellent job and the structure you have placed/replaced in the hull will eliminate what was causing the stress cracks in the past. get them fixed up and you'll be golden.

[LakeFever]

So whats the plan here just feather out and gel over?

[rjdubiel]

grind, glass, fill and fair, prime, paint, and repeat.






I did not do the whole bottom, just the bad spots and left some of the gel cracks that were not bad or not on running surfaces.

[tnelsmn]

So here is where I'm at. I've ground off all the gel from the hull and feathered out all the cracks I was able to catch a fingernail on. My plan in to fill these spots in with a few layers of CSM. Then blend everything out with some filler.

[LakeFever]

Wow! Man I tell ya this much you do NOT mess around and you sure love work. I am impressed yet again, carry on im ( safe to say WE i think here ) are all enjoying this build immensely

[tnelsmn]

Wow! Man I tell ya this much you do NOT mess around and you sure love work. I am impressed yet again, carry on im ( safe to say WE i think here ) are all enjoying this build immensely

Thank you! I'm enjoying it quite a bit myself, I've never tackled a project this big. I find the work is a great way to pass my free time and is almost therapeutic in a way. Also spending all my time in the garage keeps me out of trouble.

[LakeFever]

Ive built a ton of stuff over the years and projects this major can get derailed in a blink of an eye for countless reasons. Its so inspiring to see this go down in real time I surely do hope when I get the chance to do a boat resto i can keep the same momentum up.

[Merc 2.5]

I'm ready see a motor strapped to it haha. Just make sure u get go pro footage on the maiden voyage! Great job