1980 HydroStream Vamp resto-mod

Damn midwest weather is not working for me anymore.... its 52 and raining today, tomorrow will be upper 60s, then sunday back into the low 50s... So, tomorrow I will get up early, jack up the boat and start scrubbing the underside of the hull, then acetone it, then I can go full on with the primer there.

The weather wouldnt be a problem if I could close the garage door and just turn on the heat, but the front crane sticks out.

Unrelated to the temps, there is a nice running 90hp merc not far from me for a decent price. Its not much more power than what I have right now, but the 90hp motors are 6 cylinder while the 85 was a 4 cylinder.

 

Alright, its happening!! Im just cleaning the underside of the hull with acetone right now (getting some fresh air at the moment). Going to start priming in about 45 minutes.

 

First coat down, going to let it flash over for about 30 minutes then hit it with another coat. After the second coat is down, I will let it setup till about midnight, then I will lower the boat down onto the trailer for the night. Tomorrow I will be doing the top of the hull.

Oh, and I only got my hair in it once! so only a few hairs to pull out of there

 

Coat number 2 layed down. This will be the last coat on the bottom for now, I will block the whole thing out and then put down another layer where needed. I also put a bit on some of the top in the spots I did repair work. I will block those down before I put the top primer down.

 

Rolling, brushing or spraying?

 

Rolling on the primer. The roller forces the primer into the pin holes better than spraying does, and since I have to block it anyways, the finish doesnt matter too much. Also, this stuff is super thick, not even sure if I could spray it.

 

Primer is rock hard and super slick! Sands real nice too. Not going to block it tonight, want to wait till tomorrow to make sure it all super cured and ready.
So, I started sanding one of the extra cowls I have for the motor... Looks pretty cool with the sanding marks, kinda has that rat rod patina look to it. If I wasnt going for a smooth neat finish, I would totally do something like this.

 

Alright, boat is back on the trailer, the inside is all cleaned out and vacuumed up. Going to pull the bow and transom tie downs off tomorrow and clean the entire topside with acetone. Then I get to prime the topside. I am going to prime the floor just in the back area where the fuel tank sits, this vinylester primer is fuel resistant, so it will seal up the fiberglass back there from gas spills. I am also going to prime the area around the seat mounts and the pedal mount. When it comes time to gelcoat, I will be gelcoating the seat bases, pedal base, forward bulkhead, and up a little ways under the gunnels.

 

Topside is all cleaned and acetone wiped. I also pulled the transom and bow eyes, repaired and sanded the area under the bow eye. Time to start mixing up primer for the topside!

 

First coat down, this would be much easier if it was not raining and I could move some things out of the garage.... Again, going to let it flash over then put on a second coat. But, I am running into a problem that I knew I would run into... I cant get into the boat with the wet coating on there to put the second coat on the lounger area. Im going to try to step over the gunnel with the help of the gantry crane to see if I can get back up in there.

 

Second coat on top is down and curing! Going to let this go for the rest of the day, then start blocking it out tomorrow.

 

Thought this angle makes the boat look pretty mean...

 

Just did a little bit of sanding on the primer. This stuff sands like a dream! This is going to make this part of the job so much better.

 

I think you have more room in the garage for stuff. Don't stop now.

 

lol, yea its pretty tight in there. Its better when it nice out as I can put the motorcycles, snow blower, and outboard into the driveway.

 

I can identify, my garage looks like a tornado hit a flea market.

 

The top of this hull is wavy as as hell. Going to need to put another coat of primer on the whole thing once I am done blocking it all down.

 

Alright, one side mostly done, going to sand out the other side then sand the lounge. The lounge I am not concerned about it being that super straight as there will be panels on the walls, cushions on the seats, and carpet over the stairs. Once I have the other side sanded out then I will mix up some more primer and give it another coating and block it all out again.

You can see the area in the pictures that are a darker black vs dull gray, those are the low spots. Plan is to put a coat over each of the low spots, let it flash over then put another coat over the entire thing. I need to get more rollers, but I am thinking of getting foam rollers as they produce a smoother finish. Its a thinner finish, but its smoother and will require less sanding to get flat.
Foam rollers tend to fall apart from the resin, so I have to work fast before the roller falls apart.


This boat is going to be so ridiculously straight when its done. Im hoping for the perfect glass finish on the top half of the deck, the bottom can be "good enough" since it will mostly be under water.

 

It is getting exciting now, you are on the "fun" side of the job.

 

I think once I get to wiring and interior stuff I will be really excited. Be nice change of pace from fiberglass to wiring and carpet. Plus seeing the change from bare fiberglass to fully carpeted will be huge.