1980 HydroStream Vamp resto-mod

Most important piece!!

 

And just like that, the glass disappears! Took nearly a whole gallon on this spot.

 

Thing of beauty! Though I did get some crap stuck under the glass on the right side, so its a bit lumpy... Will have to block those spots down when I gelcoat.

 

Well, nothing done today. Had too many other things going on. But tomorrow I am going to be clearing out a area next to the boat and moving the motor stand over there. Hoping to get the motor off the boat and onto the stand this week before I drive to Georgia for Christmas.

 

Looks damn nice!

 

Decided to take a break from the boat this weekend all together. Im driving to Georgia in a few days to visit family for christmas, so I figured now is the best time to actually build the "tacoma inn" so I can sleep the night in the truck. Diesel heater should be here tomorrow, going to get that installed near the driver side cubby. Going to make a hatch where the open part is so I can reach down in there to grab things. I still have to open up the part against the tailgate so I can put things under the platform, but that should only take a few minutes with the router.

 

Good for you man, better than rushing when you have come so far.

Safe travels

 

Got my camp site all booked for the night, going to stay in Whittington, Illinois at a campsite near a lake. Temps are going to be in the 20s overnight, so ill bring a electric heater to supplement the diesel if it ends up not working for me.
Hotel was going to be $100, but camping is $18.... Ill take the savings and sleep in the truck

 

Alright, back at it on the boat. Clearing out all the foam from the boat, starting with the back. Im going to cut the tops off the float pods and clear out all that foam too. I will pour new foam in the float boxes in the spring time, the foam under the top of the deck will not go back in, its not structural and only there to keep the boat floating if it fills up with water. But the float boxes are enough to do that already so its just extra foam.

 

Is that how is was in the boat or after you scraped it off a surface?

Where are the float pods located?

 

Yes thats just half of it, the other half is on the floor outside the boat.

The float pods are those fiberglass bumps on either side of the boat. Inside of them are filled with foam. Water gets into those pods and since the bottoms are sealed, it just soaks into the foam. It is very hard for water to get into them, but the last owner drilled a fair amount of screws into the sides of the pods, so good chance at least some water has gotten in there.

 

Is the foam special "boat grade" or something closer to the Great Stuff from a hardware store?

 

It is a 2 part closed cell urethane foam, while its similar to great stuff, its has better properties and comes out as a liquid before expanding. You have to mix 1:1 part A and part B, then depending on the density you selected it will expand to a certain point. The density you select is based on weight per cubic foot. So the higher pound density foams are much stronger, but expand less. 2lb is the lowest, its good for floatation, but its very soft. 16lb is pretty much a rock. Generally speaking 4lb is what most people will use, but if your using it for structural parts then 8lb is a better choice (under floor 8lb would be good).
Since the float pods I will be filling are made of fiberglass I can use a 2lb foam inside them. There is no structural elements that this foam will make up, so I can use the light weight stuff.

Here is a good video showing the foam in action



Many boats have this foam under the floors, but it can soak up water over time and will cause the floors to rot out very fast.

 

I don't know jack about boats - you already guessed.

That said this build has been a very interesting ride along and I have learned a lot, thanks for sharing with us.

 

Glad your enjoying it! I will be starting the transom very soon, thats going to be the repair that many boat owners will eventually have to do if they dont scrap the boat first.

 

Can't imagine this fuel line was helping the motor out...

 

And the motor is off! With a little help from my son we got it pulled off. The only thing holding the motor on was 2 small bolts and the 2 top clamps. While im sure it was fine, it just seemed like not enough to hold the motor on.

 

Transom is firm, but wet.... so yeah, this should be fun to take out. Its solid enough that its going to stick to the fiberglass, but wet enough that I cant use it.

 

oh yeah, thats rotten. Oddly they only glassed halfway up the transom, then when they put the top on they just layed a strip from the splash well to the transom. So water was leaking between the 2 sheets of fiberglass that were not sealed together.

 

A case of "Friday afternoon transom"?