1983 Vking rebuild

[Hippie459MN]

I put a new carpet in my stoker years ago...just pulling the interior and cleaning up the old carpet and glue was enough to put me over the edge.

Not to hijack this but how did you get all the glue cleaned up from pulling the carpet out? I am dealing with that currently on my kids boat and after only like 10 minutes I want to punch someone. haha

[tnelsmn]

Mike, in the third picture (your grandmas knitting project) that's woven roving fiberglass. That's what the hull was built out of originally, so as you're doing surface prep and grinding you'll start to notice that layer of glass. That's a good indication you've got everything out and you're back to the original hull. Obviously that particular piece was added later, but that's the same stuff Hydrostream used from the factory. You'll notice that out in the wings and up in the bow etc. I attached a picture of my hull, you can see the woven roving near the bottom right of the picture once the chopper gun etc was ground off. I still had more to take off around the outer stringers etc.

As to you're earlier question about layers of glass around the core, I did a complete layer of 1708 on the hull before any core went in. I used wet 1.5oz CSM to bed the core, then covered the core with 1708. After tabbing in stringers there's pretty much a second layer of 1708 over the core as well.

[VkingMike]

Mike, in the third picture (your grandmas knitting project) that's woven roving fiberglass. That's what the hull was built out of originally, so as you're doing surface prep and grinding you'll start to notice that layer of glass. That's a good indication you've got everything out and you're back to the original hull. Obviously that particular piece was added later, but that's the same stuff Hydrostream used from the factory. You'll notice that out in the wings and up in the bow etc. I attached a picture of my hull, you can see the woven roving near the bottom right of the picture once the chopper gun etc was ground off. I still had more to take off around the outer stringers etc.

As to you're earlier question about layers of glass around the core, I did a complete layer of 1708 on the hull before any core went in. I used wet 1.5oz CSM to bed the core, then covered the core with 1708. After tabbing in stringers there's pretty much a second layer of 1708 over the core as well.

Thank you for that info, I was actually going to come back in here and ask about that woven roving. I've been trying to clean out the layers someone else has done, and I've ran into some of that in the corners near the transom like in your pic. So thats a good sign I'm close. It can be tough to tell where to stop, other than I wouldn't expect the factory glass to scrape up so easily.

And I can definitely see it up near the bow, so I'm glad to know thats factory.

[VkingMike]

Not to hijack this but how did you get all the glue cleaned up from pulling the carpet out? I am dealing with that currently on my kids boat and after only like 10 minutes I want to punch someone. haha

Funny story, whoever "re-cored" this boat glassed over old carpet glue lol.. I've found that heavy/medium flapper wheels take it off quick, but it will make a mess.

[VkingMike]

Ok, back to build. Put in 5-6 hours today and got to work on the transom. I found a 5 way painters tool, pry bars, and a hammer worked well for me. The whole transom was wet, there was even water sitting at the bottom under the wood. The corners were basically mulch and just crumbled apart. I still have to scrape and sand the little bit of wood left behind on the skin.

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I like hearing others opinions. I'm not removing the foam boxes, but should I cut into the foam boxes at the rear to allow me more access to the wings and give me more hull to tab the transom into?

The last pic shows me scraping out the glass they've laid, to get back to bare hull.

[tnelsmn]

If it were my boat I'd remove the boxes and put a stringer there. That opens up a ton of storage space, also it seems like those boxes are full of wet foam most the time. At the very least take a hole saw to a few spots to insure its dry.

I would at a minimum remove the foam from the rear up to the edge of the cockpit. That would give room for laying transom glass across the back of the boat.

I took the 1708 as wide as it needed to be so the strand from the top corner of the transom reached all the way to the bottom. Here's how that looked.

I'm no expert by any means, only built one boat, just saying how I did mine.

[VkingMike]

Perfect, thank you. I'll be in that area tomorrow and I'll dig into the boxes at the rear, to at minimum give me enough room to go further out with the glass. I'll decide from there on what to do if they're soaked, which I know is very likely.

[OnPad]

Have you decided on what material your going to use in the transom? If plywood was to be used, what are people's thoughts on leaving the center inside unglassed and uncoated. I have a old bcc ski boat that the transom is done that way. Seems like it let the water evaporate and isn't in horrible shape for being manufactured in 1978.

[VkingMike]

This transom will be two 3/4 pieces of Coosa bluewater 26 with a layer of 1708 in between.

[Hippie459MN]

I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this, but I like hearing others opinions. I'm not removing the foam boxes, but should I cut into the foam boxes at the rear to allow me more access to the wings and give me more hull to tab the transom into?

Like Tony said, I would personally remove the float boxes and put a stringer there like Tony did and how my early Vulture is (My vulture had no foam float boxes, just a long stringer and I believe the first year VKings were the same way). 9 times out of 10 they are full of water. In a Vector and Viper they are a must remove as there is core under them. In a VKing and Vulture there is not but just like the core, they will suck up water.

Here is the factory stringer in mine and Tony did his the same way. Dont mind the mess, was in the middle of wiring and rigging here.

[VkingMike]

Ok guys, last day of the weekend so I got another 7-8 hours in today.

I must be fortunate, the foam boxes are dry as a bone. I tested a few spots, but more importantly dry in the rear where the most water should be. For now, they will stay in. I got all the layers of glass someone else had put down during the last "rebuild" scraped out. The pic below is my third pile before I removed it. It's all cut and ready for final grinding and cleaning. I'm excited to start laying new glass.

[LakeFever]

Looks great! Moving along well

[VkingMike]

It's difficult to tell where the previous guys bad fiberglass job stops and Hydrostream's bad glass from the factory starts. Because of that, I went through the hull a bit. No big deal, but damn.. this thing is thin in some spots.

[VkingMike]

Every time I think I'm close to finished with scraping, I find more. It's hard to even explain other than take pictures to show. I'm almost getting snow blind on what is the factory hull and what isn't. First pic is what appears to be glass over old carpet glue again. Second is what I started with, third is after hours of scraping. The last pic shows how many layers appear to be over the factory hull next to wear core material used to be.

[LakeFever]

When I first saw how thin the outer glass was my first thought was “no wonder these things blow apart”. Less than 1/8” thick skin and one layer of roving. It’s mostly chop strand. It speaks volumes to how much strength the core brings and it gives me a ton of confidence in the restoration that it’s going to be strong and safe, just like yours will be. Keep after it your rolling ahead well