1987 Hydrostream Valero YT Project

[VkingMike]

Ever see that kid at the fair? The one who says apparently he’s never been on live television before? Yeesh

Classic lol

[skialot2]

Ok. I will quadruple check. I will take a drill and drill into all four corners of the transom on the inside. I will also drill where I am going to put the knees in. If I find any black or wet wood, I will change the entire transom. But I highly doubt I will. Aside from the core, all other wood on this boat has been perfect. No signs of water al all. Of the four boats I have redone, this is the most solid to start with.

[skialot2]

Apparently when i took the floor out I exposed the bottom of the transom. Looks like the floor was installed before the inside of the transom was glassed in. Then they glassed both in at the same time. The wood looks great.

[tnelsmn]

Doing great work, can't wait to see how this turns out!

[skialot2]

I haven't done any work on this for a while because I hurt my shoulder pretty badly again. Been in an isolator sling for a little over a week. But it's feeling a little better and I am going stir crazy. So I am back at it basically with one arm. The core went further up in the bow then I thought. But I got the rest out. In the back there was a big gap where the floor covers the sponson in the battery area big enough so I could stick my finger in the sponson. It felt wet. So I cut a hole on both sides to take a look. They are filled with water. One side is half filled with foam with 2" of water on top. The other side is filled with foam up to the top. I chopped out some foam and the water is a few inches down. I guess I have to cut the tops off the sponsons and strip the all foam out. I drilled 1/4" holes in the back of the sponsons to drain the water. I am thinking of adding drain plugs. Probably should have had them to begin with.

[skialot2]

I opened up the sponsons and started pulling out the foam. I only did one section. I still have a lot to go. But it coming out easier then I thought it would. It's not stuck to the fiberglass. Because my arm is hurt I improvised and sharpened up a spade shovel to cut through the foam and dug out the middle breaking it up into pieces using mainly my legs. Then just pulled the rest out by hand. I am only taking the foam out that is below the floor. Everything above the floor is dry and in good condition. I am going to cut it off clean and leave it there. At the bottom of the sponson there is about a 4 foot section that is cored. I still have to get that out. I can see it is black through the fiberglass so I am sure it's rotten also. I am debating if I should replace the foam when I am done. There is no way to drain the sponsons if they are filled with foam. If I leave the bottom empty and add a drain plug. There will still be enough foam in the boat to keep it at the surface if it sinks. But I will be able to drain any water out that gets in.

[LakeFever]

I wouldn’t bother with the foam. It’s a Mickey Mouse way to add some rigidity to the sponsons that always seem to soak up water. Every boat I’ve ever worked on that has foam beneath the floor has been soaked. My thoughts are core more, not less, when in doubt. I cored my entire hull from bow to stern under ever square inch of floor. No regrets.

I have seen a few resto threads of yt’s and hst’s and adding some bulkheads seems common but my thoughts are core the entire sponsons, both sides and bottom is the best way to go. It’s low cost and high return. Labor intensive but otherwise a premium upgrade. The bulkheads are an option but imo at least you really need to lay glass up in a special manner to make bulkheads perform properly or you just create a hard break point. Due to the time this would take and the difficulty glassing around them as well as the ruining of useful space? Makes coding the easiest and best option

[skialot2]

Pulled most of the foam from the other sponson. Still need to get a couple feet further under the bow. I could leave it there because the water is draining out of it now. It will dry up eventually. But I will probably take out everything that is wet. It had to be about 50+ lbs. of foam/water in each side. I most probably will not be putting it back. I don't think it does anything for structural rigidity. But it definitely does some sound deadening and makes it sound solid.

[LakeFever]

The foam is supposed to add some structure. It’s also used on v hulls in boxes sort of like stringers on the rear sides. I’d be Leary leaving that foam up front. This is where you need a young skinny helper to get to those tight spots. It is right under there that’s for sure

[skialot2]

My checkmate has those boxes of foam by the transom and under the dash as well as a layer of foam along the sides. I could be wrong, but I think that is more about USGC regulations for required floatation then for structural rigidity. The boxes the foam is in are not very rigid. Really kind of flimsy. The foam I pulled out of the sponsons definitely was not adding anything to the rigidity. There was about a 1/8" gap between the foam and the fiberglass. Kind of like the foam was floating in the water. The fiberglass itself is in great condition. It's nice and thick where there is no core. I will replace the core where it is. But I am not going to add any core to where it wasn't before. Seeing how these boats were built originally and knowing myself, by the time I am done, this boat will be twice as strong as it ever was.