Newbie with a boat!

[BrokenBimmer]

Hey guys,

Ive been a lurker around the site for a while but I got my first Viper the other day and I'm going to begin the tear-down shortly!

Ive been doing fiberglass work for a long time and actually own a start-up boat company but I've never had any experience with speed boats. Pretty much fishing boats only. I bought the stream cause I wanted something fast and fun. I think I bought the right boat!

My first question though is after perusing through lots of build threads and pictures on this site, I don't think I've seen a single composite re-build. Everything is always wood. I was kind of surprised. Is there a reason for this other than cost?

Appreciate any and all help! Thanks guys!

wont let me post pics at the moment. working on that

[jacklake2003]

Congrats on the Viper purchase and the new business!

I've wondered the same thing. I too have a Viper that I have done some work on, but I one day plan to start over from the ground up. I will not be putting wood (if I can help it) back in the boat. Balsa (and other woods too) have great properties for the application; strong, light, absorb shock, CHEAP, the list goes on. But, as you can see from your boat I'm sure, there is one major flaw; ROT! The construction techniques used during build (or re-build) can limit this greatly, but it will rot again. Moisture will get to the wood one way or the other. I was surprised to learn that the hull blisters found on one of our boats, and many others I've seen, is due to water being absorbed through the gelcoat. Never thought that would happen.

Anyway, I look forward to reading responses here and let us know the materials you end up using moving forward.

[transomstand]

I've seen non wood restorations, but can't remember one to point you toward. I'll bet wood restorations are 10-1 over synthetics. Cost would be the biggest factor. My guess for second would be that people are less comfortable with the wide variety of synthetic materials that are available and have concerns about choosing the correct ones. Nobody needs a lesson on what plywood or balsa is, and most anybody who's been around boats for any length of time has probably handled polyester resin, cloth, and chopped strand mat, so there's a "comfort factor" in dealing with familiar materials, and as an added bonus, fresh polyester gives you that "new boat smell" just like in the showroom.

Finally, a properly restored hull using wood will last 50 years or more so the question becomes, just how good does it have to be?

[BrokenBimmer]

Thanks for the responses guys. So it seems so far it's just for the usual reasons. I hadn't thought of the comfort of working with wood as opposed to synthetics Transomstand. That makes a lot of sense. As far as fishing boats go at least here in south Florida most of the rebuilds I've seen or have been a part of are probably 10-1 synthetic so once I started lurking around here I was very surprised to see all the wood. Pretty interesting.

I'll most likely be doing composite on my rebuild. I was planning on using nidacore for the coring material and possibly deck. Divinycell for stringers, bulkheads and maybe the deck too. We'll see. We have a lot of scrap laying around the shop I might not have to buy too much to finish it. Definitely is going to need a new transom and I know I have plenty of Coosa laying around for that.

Should begin gutting her this weekend. I have an old Hobie 14 I'm almost done with. Wont be able to start the stream until that's done.


When can I post pics?! haha

Thanks again guys

[transomstand]

You only need a few posts to be allowed to post pics, would love to have a well documented resto with synthetics.

[BrokenBimmer]

[BrokenBimmer]

Finally got some pics of the ole girl up. Will post more during teardown

[265mercman]

doesnt look bad on outside I used pvc foam stitched core on my 79 vector I jumped every wave I could to hurt it none was strong as ever put it down with polyester straight to the hull and 1708 double stacked on top worked great for me just my opinon happing grinding lol

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[265mercman]

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