New guy around here

[VkingMike]

What's up everybody! I haven't used a forum since my fast cars and racing days, but in my searches for information on my new hobby, I've found myself here more times than any other site.

I just started a rebuild on a 1983 Hydrostream Vking and almost everything I have needed, I've found somewhere here. After getting the boat into the upper 70's I began to get sketched out by the thought of the unknown condition on this hull and decided to dig into this boat to make sure its as safe as it can be. Currently, I am really glad I did after what I've found so far.

Happy New Year, Mike

[oldschoolltv]

Welcome to the board, what part of central Florida?

[Frank Molé]

welcome aboard..................

[trivialpursuits]

Welcome! Central Florida here too.

[VkingMike]

I'm in Osteen, a few minutes from the St. Johns river.

[VkingMike]

A few pics of what I've found so far. Its about what I expected after seeing how bad the rot issues are with these hulls. Someone half way redid the core, but only the outer sections of core, transom, and floor.

[LakeFever]

Welcome aboard. I can relate I’ve been there a few times. Bought one “totally done” that I came to learn was a bit of a joke after the guy I sold it to tore it down. It’s a safe bet with streams that you don’t have photo proof of a quality restoration and a time line of the hulls history since to plan on recoring from the beginning. It’s a lot of work but at least it is very fun work.

as with most of these builds it seems to go best with hard effort through the tear down then build in 2-5hr sessions each day. With resin and glass and no experience it’s very hard to lay in a lot at once but keep after it and it goes faster and faster.

[rock]

Welcome to the site. Typical Hydrostream and well worth the effort to resurrect. I have owned many and have worked on even more. The last one in my shop looked as if it just came of the showroom floor. It also was rotten. One of my favorite hulls and a blast to drive. You're gonna love it. What ya pushing it with?

Rock

[4Speed]

Don't mean to switch gears on the thread but what is the cause/driver for core degradation/ rot? Storing with a wet bilge, poor initial craftsmanship, type of core wood/materials, old school fiberglass techniques, poor sealing of hull penetrations... What? Do the causes vary by manufacturer?

[OnPad]

All of the above.

[VkingMike]

Welcome to the site. Typical Hydrostream and well worth the effort to resurrect. I have owned many and have worked on even more. The last one in my shop looked as if it just came of the showroom floor. It also was rotten. One of my favorite hulls and a blast to drive. You're gonna love it. What ya pushing it with?

Rock

Currently a Mariner Mag III. Did some carb upgrades, tuner, solid mounts, all the little tricks if you will. It's been a blast to learn how to drive and get setup properly, now it's time to get it back solid so that I can feel more comfortable out on the water.

[VkingMike]

Don't mean to switch gears on the thread but what is the cause/driver for core degradation/ rot? Storing with a wet bilge, poor initial craftsmanship, type of core wood/materials, old school fiberglass techniques, poor sealing of hull penetrations... What? Do the causes vary by manufacturer?

From my findings it really is like OnPAD said, its all of those things that lead to them rotting out.

[LakeFever]

These hulls are 30-50 years old… it doesn’t matter the manufacturer there is going to be issues somewhere at this stage. With the streams and the speeds they can achieve it’s no different than taking a 30-50 year old crap box hotrod with no cage or safety equipment, bolting in a boosted ls aiming for 9’s in the quarter. Doable? Sure. Safe? 110% no!

[OnPad]

Glad to see a another vking being brought back up to snuff. Very cool boat.
I'm going to say lack of garage space is the number one factor in rot. Even though it's a boat and ment to be in the water. They don't do well with water inside of them. Once you get any of the wood wet it's very hard to dry out. Even condensation under a cover doesn't do them any favors.
Keep us posted on your project.

[LakeFever]

Even the “lasts forever foam core” hulls get wet and if they freeze? Delamination happens, which ain’t any safer than a rotted balsa core