new owner and hydrostream forum member

[hydrostream603]

hey evreyone. just got me a 1984 hydrostream viper with a 115 6 cyl. i up graded from my 1990 gw invader 10 footer. needed a family boat!!! my wife and kids love it actually. i got some bugs to work out. over all i love this boat. ive had a top speed of 55 with me and 2 buddies in it with a full cooler. we hit a couple small waves and it went air born. my friend in the back about dropped a load.. i paid $2500 for the package. the trailer is mint. i go out every chance i get with it . we had about thirty minutes of day light last night and it did not stop us. i hope the passion stays and the boat doesn't get pushed to the way side..

[hydrostream603]

heres a pic of my invader.. and my 5 year old.

DSC02909.JPG (119.3 KiB) Viewed 4783 times

[hydrostream603]

side view. there s some scratches and stuff but nothing to crazy

[hydrostream603]

from the front.

[hydrostream603]

it came with the lights. paddles tube flares life jackets speedo doesn't work. trim gauge doesn't work. its a wiring nightmare behind the dash. not sure why. theres not alot of things to run. transom is solid. floors a tad weak and the starter failed. starts kind hard. need to clean the carbs....
my friend has a 60 something Steven's he want to finish up. i told him im going to dust him... lol


any tips for me?

[RussF]

looking good but be careful, the weak floor could mean a bad core

[Hippie459MN]

looking good but be careful, the weak floor means a bad core

There Russ, I fixed that for ya.


I would be very careful. 99% chance that if the floor is weak or soft anywhere you can bet the core is mush and needs to be replaced. I would hate to see that thing delam on you and end up on the bottom of the lake/river. Dont meant to scare ya but just about every untouched hydrostream has a bad core and transom and can be dangerous and possibly deadly.

I love the colors though. Dont let any of this bring ya down as once a Hydrostream owner you seem to get the bug and no matter how bad the situation is, You fix it! Take mine for example. lol See the link in my signature.

[jacklake2003]

Great looking boat! have fun!

[hydrostream603]

Im planning to do the floor in the winter. Is the floor the core?

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[Hippie459MN]

Im planning to do the floor in the winter. Is the floor the core?

[ Post made via Mobile Device ]

Nope.... Look at chets viper rebuild thread here - http://www.hydrostreamforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=88

The core is under the floor and is a major structural part of the hull. Here is what can happen if the core fails on you - http://www.hydrostreamforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=373&start=10#p2418

That is kind of a worst case scenario but the owner of the boat thought the core looked fine so he replaced just the floor and then had the core fail and just about lost him and his boat.

Also, You can see my rebuild thread and see where someone used regular plywood for core in my boat. Big no no!!! Topic is here - http://www.hydrostreamforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1171

Good news is, When you do do the care, You will be doing it right and the boat will be a much more enjoyable boat to drive as the hull will be nice and solid and it will last you another 20-30 years if not longer.