1980 HydroStream Vamp resto-mod

Yep, mine will be the exact same as the red one, but it will be glitter black with black seats (and a bimini top so we dont cook on the black seats)

I actually picked this boat as a compromise with the wife. I wanted a fishing boat, she wanted something the family could use. So I got a race boat that has lounge chairs on the front. Eventually I will be making removable plugs that go on the front and over the back seat that will convert the boat to a fishing boat, then I can remove them and take the family.

 

Alright, both beams are all cut, fit and marked. Just need to laminate them together.

 

Is there wood in the bow rider section that your new pieces will tie into?

Are you going to replace the foam that you removed?

What is the hole in the raised section of floor under the clamps?

 

The wood beams stop at the dash. There is some under the stairs and loungers, but that wood is impossible to get out without splitting the hull, but its also solid since it never sees water

I will be replacing the foam under the gunnels, but since its pour foam, I have to get creative when putting in new (They put the foam in the gunnels with the hull upside down). The spray foam that insulation companies use in buildings is the same as the pour foam used in boats, its just in pressurized tanks and gets mixed inside the spray gun. My plan is to bring the boat to a insulation guy and have them spray the under sides of the gunnels with the foam. The foam in the float pods I can handle myself with pour foam.

That hole is the forward fill hole for the float pods. There are 2 of them in each pod, one near the middle of the pod and one near the front of the pod. When the pods are empty of foam and they are all glassed together I will pour the new foam into the rear hole first, then I will start pouring it into the front hole. Finally I will be sealing those holes back up with rubber plugs and silicone glue.

 

Beams are now bonded to make two 10 foot long beams. I have them clamped in right now to verify fitments again, everything looking good. I do need to figure out some clamping for the rear by the transom, I need to push the bottom of both beams outward and the tops of both beams inward. Im thinking I will cut some wood to the exact lengths and wedge the wood in there to push the parts into alignment or just screw small blocks to the transom that will hold it in alignment (then cut the blocks off after its bonded).

I also need to finalize my bonding to the hull procedure. I plan to cover the backside of the beam in thickened resin then clamp the beam in place using a combination of the short clamps and the deep transom clamps.

But first before I can even think of bonding the beams, I need to cut out 2 more parts and test fit them. I need to cut out the new splash well and the rear center beam, these will be much easier to cut and make as I can overcut, then holding it under the splash well I can just trace the hole into it.

*having issue with my image hosting site right now, so only 1 picture works. This is the forward part of the beam that mounts to the front bulkhead.

 

Spent the last few hours cutting forward beam in the splash well. Holy hell that thing is in there. Its 1 inch thick, and not really that rotten, so its just rock solid in there, also it has random screws in it that I keep hitting with the saw blades. I have been cutting it with the oscillating saw, grinding it with flapper disks, I even got a chain saw grinder wheel. I got like 80% of it out, still need to finish the rest. Really I just need to get it down to like 1/8th inch to the fiberglass, then I can use my weld grinding flapper discs to clean up what left over to bond the new one on.

The stock one was 1 inch, im going with 3/4 inch since the splash well butts right up to it.

 

Here is a chunk of the wood I got out near the top of the beam (so it was sealed with fiberglass all around). You can see the voids where the wood dry rotted out. So while it was mostly solid, there were some spots that were very week.
You can also see the lamination line right down the center where they used fiberglass mat and resin to glue the 2 parts together.

 

Got the forward beam all cut and bonded. I do need to go back in once its cured and trim one edge thats a little too tight to the main beams. Since alignment on the beam is hard to do without the side beams in, and due to the angle I cant have the side beams in, I drilled holes and used the rear trim to align it and clamp the top.

 

Splashwell all cut out, my lines are pretty damn good too. I need to get more resin this week, so I can get this all glassed in.
The little gaps will be filled in with thickened resin, then the whole thing will be covered in 2 layers of 1808 fiberglass. This thing is going to be stupid strong.

 

Had the family sign the splash well today, the names will be sealed up with fiberglass, then will be on the underside of the splash well. So anytime you look under it you will see them.

 

Ordered some of the fit and finish items tonight. Ordered gauges (speedo and volt gauges), ordered bow and transom eyes, ordered seats for the front, and ordered a bunch of sand paper and new sanding blocks. Hopefully I will be finishing the transom this weekend when its 70 fucking degrees out.... So I can start getting the interior ready.

Seats

NORTHCAPTAIN P3 Pontoon Boat Seat Captain Bucket Seat with Boat Seat Cover,Charcoal/Black

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0CG58NXT3?ie=UTF8&th=1

Gauges

$68 ARTILAURA GPS Speedometer 85mm 3-3/8" Digital Odometer 80MPH Speed Gauge 7 Color Waterproof for AUTO Car Marine Truck 9-32V (Black)

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B462N7SD?ie=UTF8

 

Good choice on the seats, they look similar to the red ones a page back.

 

Yep, the price was right for them, then I will just have to make my own rear bench and see if my mother inlaw wants to make me a cover that matches the fronts.... if not, I will just cover the rear bench with a single piece of vinyl.

But I picked up some more supplies tonight at walmart. I was out of mixing cups and chip brushes, also grabbed a pair small of electric heaters since I burned my other small heater out curing the support beams (I put the area under a tub, then put the heater inside the tub and covered it in moving blankets as the beams were too big to move before the resin cured, and they were in the driveway). Then I got something that I should of gotten awhile ago, a clip on light to see under the gunnels. Also got a new 4.5 inch angle grinder, my old one the wheel lock got resin in it so I can no longer lock the disc to remove it. Ended up getting a battery powered angle grinder so I dont have to drag the wire around anymore.

I might try to get up to the city and get more resin, I need 10oz to put in the 2 patches that I have lined up right now, but im not sure if I will have that much left in my last gallon can. Ill have to pour it into a cup and see, if not then I will head up to get more on a lunch break.

These last 2 patch panels should be a pain in the ass. They are the under side of the rear caps that I cut off, so I have to work against gravity here. Normally I would use super 77 spray adhesive to glue the cloth on, then soak it in resin. But since I am using 1808, its a really thirsty cloth and getting resin through the weave into the mat is nearly impossible working upside down (air goes up, resin goes down, so you cant really work the resin into the fabric).
So, the plan is to wet the hull with resin, then roll on some resin into the mat on the 1808, not a ton, but just enough to get the mat wet. Then I can transfer the fiberglass sheet from the staging area into the hull where I will start rolling it on. I will be preheating the hull so that I get the fastest cure time, I pretty much will have to baby sit these 2 parts the whole time until they are cured.

There is one more part that will need to be glassed upside down, and that is the splash well plate that I had my family write their names on. Luckily that panel I can fiberglass the center section of it outside the boat, then when its cured I can flip it over and install it just putting strips along all the edges.

Another way I thought of doing the underside of the splashwell involves another sheet of wood cut slightly smaller, then I put that sheet of wood inside a heavy duty trash bag. I can then wet out the fiberglass sheet on top of the trashbag, then push the panel, bag, and fiberglass up against the underside of the splashwell with a floor jack. Basically just sandwiching the wet fiberglass sheet between the bottom of the splashwell and a non-stick sheet of wood. This will let me use a single large sheet of glass to link everything together. Im not sure if this method will work or not though.

 

More resin, fiberglass and cabosil have been picked up. Its like 20 degrees out today, I have to go to the office tomorrow, but this weekend is looking real good for fiberglassing.
So, I have to make my choice on bonding the main support beams in the next 3 days. There are 2 methods, both have pros and cons.
method 1: thickened resin. This method I will mix resin with cabosil to create a paste. I spread the paste over the surface then clamp the panel on. This is the easy less messy way, but it requires that I do more finishing fiberglass work.

method 2: fiberglass mat and stick. This method I would cut a length of fiberglass to the beam with 2 inches of overhang. I would wet it all out then put the beam in and clamp. While the glass is still wet I would wrap the bottom overhang up over the backside of the beam, and the top overhang down the backside of the beam. This method is harder, messy but requires no finishing work and results in a stronger beam as the actual fiberglass mat would provide more structure, thickened resin just acts as glue.

 

Since method 2 is the stronger I would have to go with it.

If I went with method 1 the idea that I could have made it stronger would haunt me - even it it didn't matter.

.
.
.

BTW: I tend to overdo things...

 

For sure. I think method 2 is going to be it. I will have a helping hand for the beam installs since fiberglassing a 10 foot beam is a bit much for a single person.

 

Less of a pain in the ass than I was thinking, Going to put another layer on in about 20 minutes when its tacky The next layer is going to just be a 4 inch thick strip of heavy chop mat right along the cut area to give it a little more bulk there.

 

Ok, second layer is on and its looking good and solid. So now there is chop mat and 1808 layered on both sides of the cuts for a total of 4 layers of heavy duty structural glass holding the cut together.
Tomorrow when its all cured, I am going to test its strength in flexing. This will determine if I will apply a 3rd layer when I glass in the main beams this weekend.

 

Caps are all cured and nice and solid. I drilled out the transom tie down spots tonight (I need them installed for when I bring the hull to the shop to get the transom drilled for the motor) and cleaned the fiberglass from the 2 holes on the back for the steering, wire harness and fuel lines.

Trying to think of the best way to put the splash well, and side beams in without it getting too complicated. I think I got it figured out, Im going to put in the splash well first so its all lined up in there, then I will put the side beams in. This will allow me to glass the splash well up into the caps, as well as let me bond the side beams in one pass.

So the plan is to tab the splash well to the transom and the forward part of the rear bulkhead. Leaving the sides of the splash well not bonded. I will then use the grinder to make sure the sides are clean and flush with the fiberglass. When it comes time to put in the beams I will put glass on the beams that will wrap around the beam, for the upper part of the rear beam where the splashwell is, the glass will go between the splashwell and the beam, then wrap under the splashwell wood part. The next layer will go down the beams to finish bonding it all.

Its hard to describe with words, but it will be a multi point process to get it together with fiberglass weaved around all the wood. I will be taking pictures as I go along, so hopefully tomorrow I have the splash well tabbed in and ready for the beams this weekend.

 

Splash well is going in now. I used 2 clamps and the floor jack from my truck to hold it in place. Once these tabs are cured I will be filling the small gap between the transom and the splash well with loose chop mat and resin. Loose chop and resin is stronger than cabosil and resin for structural gaps as it include fiberglass and is not just resin and tiny glass balls. After its all cured, I am going to cut a large sheet of 1808 to cover the area. The 1808 will go up the sides of the splash well and under the rear cap. I will be bonding the rear cap at the same time.

This will finish up the top side of the hull and then just leave the beams to do this weekend and 2 more layers of 1808 on the backside of the transom and underside of the splashwell.

Then its time to finish pulling the rub rail and finish sanding the entire hull, getting my patches nice and straight and filling holes for things I dont plan to put back on.