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Just got back from a 10 day visit to our Washington property. Got some more work done on the Virage.

The upholsterer is working on the interior. He had some concerns on the front seats. I made the frames off measurements carefully taken from two other Virage interiors so I knew the frames are correct. The problem was he used the "finished" widths of the arm rests (3") and put in high density 3" foam. This made the seats too narrow to sit in. Once I told him that the 3" included the 1/2" plywood, 1/4" foam sewed to the vinyl, and the bulge of the pleat, the foam should be 2" and a medium density. I did add some height to the arm rests so the front edge of the seat cushion wasn't even in height like the factory ones. WE want our legs inside the arm rests.



I then sprayed the rear deck with gelcoat. There is a clear additive to put in that makes it a walk away" finish. 30% for the first two coats then 50% for the last. Couldn't get a clear pict showing the deep shine but it does match the factory perfectly in texture and shine.



Next, the front bulkhead got a full perimeter glass job on both sides to the deck and floor. The factory has a short piece of wood glassed to the floor and deck and the bulkhead bolts in. I've seen cracks develop around the block on the deck. An upholstered panel will bolt to the bulkhead with an access door.

Also the 1"x 2" edge board was glassed in for the sleeping pad to rest against. A foot throttle pad was puttied in place as well.



I noticed the plywood had not been installed on the back of the dash so some 1/2" was core bonded then glassed over. Also, I added some supports from the outer edges of the dash to the outer deck, I saw a support in a video Garrett Gablehouse sent me of his Virage. My '89 Virage never had one and the dash was always flimsy. With the supports, the dash is rock solid.




I moved on to the bulkheads that go inside the side panels to keep your "stuff" from sliding to the transom. Two per side were put in.
You can see where I earlier glassed the deck and hull together as well as the interior side panel to the floor (on both sides). Same as the bulkhead,...the factory glassed in a wood strip and the side was screwed in place. Running in the rough rips the screws out. My upgrades should avoid these pitfalls.



The inside of the massive transom finally got glassed. With the dropped panel in the rear deck acting as a stiffener, I am confident knee braces will not be needed. The transom is 2 layers of 1 1/8" marine plywood. The finished transom is 2 5/8" thick. I now have to order longer U- bolts.



Once all the dust was cleaned up, I masked the dash and got the 8 gauge holes drilled. The slots on the right side is for a dual mechanical Gaffrig trim indicator.




You can see the coremat the factory used to stiffen the gauge area of the dash. I brushed some resin on the opening to seal the edge. I try to do this to every hole I cut in the boat just for piece of mind.




We will be back down in March / April sometime and I hope to finish drilling all the rigging holes and get the carpet/ hull liner installed, and start rigging.

Wow Ron! Looks great. Cant wait to see more pictures.

Awesome work, can't wait to see it all together!

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WOW, 18 months since I last posted on this thread!!!

I have been working on the boat every time I was down at the property. Were ready to get her wet on our next visit down (in 8 days)!!
It's been a loooong very expensive build!!!!
Boat is rigged and motor runs!!! Just waiting on the front seats to get finished. We will pick them up next Friday when we fly in. Should hit the water Sunday or Monday for break in.

Looking great Ron.

Kinda posting on the interior and general trying to keep this post in the correct area.


Heading to Lake Roosevelt to meet up with Phil Blomquist and his Valero XT for the maiden voyage.........



First time EVER in the water!!



First run with the seats WAYYYY too high.

View My Video

Then Phil burned a hole in one of his pistons 7 miles from launch. 1 1/2 hr idle tow back. So up went the bimini top. He tried to help with the tow. Didn't think I would be towing him!! LOL!!!



Seats mounted on the floor (actually 2 1/2" up)



Got 7 hours on the 280 this visit.
Flew home and booking tickets this week for the Oct 15/ 16 FYNRBR in Minnesota.
Should be good to go to meet up with the "boys" and run the BIG rivers.

Hope to see you folks there.

Looks great Ron! That interior came out amazing. All of it did.

Im going to try and make it in October but no promises just yet. Hopefully in a week or two I will have some good progress pictures of my own. Between work, kiddo, and the the less than great weather when I do have a chance to work on the Vulture, my progress has been very slow.

I sure hope you can make it. 6 weeks.

I'm really pushing Phil and his brother in law to join in the drive over. They are in Spokane and Billings. Fingers crossed....

Sooooo-- Ron, I know it's in break-in mode and all but what kind of speeds did you see so far??
What's the gear ratio of the lower, what ya running for a prop(pitch,3 or 4blade, and make+model), what was the max rpm's you turned the motor so far and what approx speeds were you seeing??

Id think your boat probably weighs a little less then one straight out of the factory, even with being beefed up a bit to handle the rough water without repercussions like those BS screws into the board holding the side pieces down ripping out, no foam & instead some light 1/4" balsa really beefing up the sponsons etc-- even if it came out weighing same as a stock factory built model, You've done an amazing job putting one of my favorite boats of all time together- looks amazing and im sure with some setup time and right prop it will perform even better then it looks!!!

Also, how was the acceleration? Im just curious as my Virage will have right around 340'ish or so Hp and although my better lower is a 1.87 I like the better torque & acceleration of the 2:1 lowers, and they're plenty fast top end if you've got the rpm's to play with-- anyways, not knowing what your running yet how do you think the 1.87 coned lower with a 4blade 26" powertech yami drag copy will do for acceleration on a Virage (stage1)?? its a bit heavier hull then what im used to(had a sub 600lb STV pro comp, and few light streams ie- vector, vector copy, vandal, light layup HST, and few more through the yrs)....
Sorry for derailing your thread but id really love to hear your thoughts on how your new Virage rides, definitely how it does for acceleration(even if not what it's set up for), and im drooling waiting to hear some numbers, even in break in mode, prop type+pitch and approx speeds at whatever rpm's you could turn the motor up to at this point!!???

Congratulations on another, probably the BEST ever, beautiful boat ya built yourself!!! I hope it does everything ya hope for and then some!!!! - Shawn

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We are still learning the stage III hull. I have a chine walking phase at 97 mph I can't snap it out of. We are running a 1.87 Sportmaster fat shaft lower with a 30" ET. I was at 7900 rpm's at 97 mph. The motor is limited at 8200 so I'm right there with pitch. A Cleaver will get a few more mph. You can see in this picture, I'm running with slight positive trim. I do have a passenger and a 26 gallon belly tank. These two items will require more setback than a conventional setup.





I'm currently running 10". An 8" jack plate and 2" built into the offshore midsection. I am going to add two more inches this spring and see how she rides.
Ron Flood in the HST is running a four blade prop and really likes it. I think we will be looking into one as well. This will be mainly for better acceleration and less strain on the prop shaft. As I get older, losing a few mph for comfort and piece of mind is fine.