1980 Hydrostream Vamp restoration

[kameix1]

I got this boat in October, I have spent my lunch breaks nearly every day working on it. Its a 1980 vamp, last owners used it as a fishing boat. They had done some "repairs" over the years, replacing some of the core with plywood and just pouring resin on it, covering the top of the hull with spray bed liner and more resin. They had cut holes in it, put screws everywhere, and generally just abused the hell out of it. Things were hot glued on, silicone glued on, just really poorly done everywhere.

I am just wrapping up with the top half of the hull, then I get to move on to cleaning up the bottom of the hull, then rebuilding the trailer.

I will be gel coating it in black with black glitter, motor for now will still be the mercury 850 that it came with, but eventually will be replaced with a 115hp evinrude.

So, enjoy my 5 months of pain in this long timeline of pictures.

[Hippie459MN]

NICE! Love that you posted this here. Where in MN are your from. I remember seeing that boat for sale online a good while back.

Also, welcome! Any questions or anything, don't hesitate to ask.

They had done some "repairs" over the years, replacing some of the core with plywood and just pouring resin on it

I feel your pain! You should see my Vulture rebuild (I really need to post updates to my build, I'm way behind on that). Someone did the same thing. Replaced the core from the seat box back with home depot plywood, tons of voids under it, glues down with what looked like bondo or something, then just poured resin in it and brushed it over the plywood. Along the stringers had to be almost 2 inches thing of resin. No mat over any of it. It was a nightmare and I almost gave up on it many times.

[kameix1]

NICE! Love that you posted this here. Where in MN are your from. I remember seeing that boat for sale online a good while back.

Also, welcome! Any questions or anything, don't hesitate to ask.

They had done some "repairs" over the years, replacing some of the core with plywood and just pouring resin on it

I feel your pain! You should see my Vulture rebuild (I really need to post updates to my build, I'm way behind on that). Someone did the same thing. Replaced the core from the seat box back with home depot plywood, tons of voids under it, glues down with what looked like bondo or something, then just poured resin in it and brushed it over the plywood. Along the stringers had to be almost 2 inches thing of resin. No mat over any of it. It was a nightmare and I almost gave up on it many times.

Im just down in Burnsville, about 15 miles south of the cities.

Yeah, I think anyone who looked at the boat probably got scared away between the "no title for boat or trailer" and the amount of rot that was in it. I was able to get a trailer title, and the boat registered to me with some help from the DMV and a couple days of leg work.

Still a couple parts that I need to source or build from scratch for this boat (windshield mostly, I have the bottom aluminum tracks for it, just not the plexi for it.). But im on track to get it gel coated mid april. Then I can get back to working on the motor and the trailer. The trailer will be fun, needs new wheels, tires, axle, leafs, bunks, rollers, wiring, lights, winch, winch tower, tongue jack, and a paint job.... luckily I got permission from the city to launch the boat into a electric only lake near my house and be able to rebuild the trailer right there in the parking lot while the boat floats around.

[kameix1]

New batch of updates, fixed well over 200 screw holes in the top of the hull/gunnels (and some on the bottom), cut some holes in the dash for a sonar and for the radio, got some hatch holes cut under the front lounge seats so I can reach the bolts for the front cleats and drilled out a bigger hole for the nav light so I can get to the bow eye bolts.

[Hippie459MN]

Boat is coming out amazing!!!!

Yeah, I think anyone who looked at the boat probably got scared away between the "no title for boat or trailer" and the amount of rot that was in it. I was able to get a trailer title, and the boat registered to me with some help from the DMV and a couple days of leg work.

Well, I might have questions. I have 2 boat I got for free. One I got like 10+ years ago, it was last registered in WI, and the other one I got (1982 Hydrostream Vamp) a few years ago that was also last registered in WI and I dont have a title for either of them. The Vamp I got from a guy here in MN and he had it for a number of years and he didnt have a title, and the other one was at a marine repair place that was selling one of their storage properties and it had been there for like 5 years at that point. Someone brought it in for an estimate or something and once he heard the price he didnt want the boat back or something and they never heard from the guy again. Its a really nice old jet boat that I want to convert to an outboard but I dont want to do anything without a title.

[kameix1]

Boat is coming out amazing!!!!

Yeah, I think anyone who looked at the boat probably got scared away between the "no title for boat or trailer" and the amount of rot that was in it. I was able to get a trailer title, and the boat registered to me with some help from the DMV and a couple days of leg work.

Well, I might have questions. I have 2 boat I got for free. One I got like 10+ years ago, it was last registered in WI, and the other one I got (1982 Hydrostream Vamp) a few years ago that was also last registered in WI and I dont have a title for either of them. The Vamp I got from a guy here in MN and he had it for a number of years and he didnt have a title, and the other one was at a marine repair place that was selling one of their storage properties and it had been there for like 5 years at that point. Someone brought it in for an estimate or something and once he heard the price he didnt want the boat back or something and they never heard from the guy again. Its a really nice old jet boat that I want to convert to an outboard but I dont want to do anything without a title.

Ok, so titles on vamps are a little goofy and depends on what states it has been registered in, and what the length reported at sale is.
MN and WI both do not require titles on boats 16 feet or less, just a bill of sale. Some people list the vamp as over 16 feet and get a title, some people put them at 16 feet and dont get a title.
Other states might require titles for boats under 16 feet also, but I have not checked other states. Once a boat has a title, its titled and needs the title for sale. So if the boat was registered in a state that has titles for under 16 foot, then its sold in MN, that title is still required even though MN doesnt require titles for 16 feet or less.

What you can do is fill out a "due diligence" form that will force transfer the titles into your name. The forms pretty much say that you tried to contact the last owner, but you cant get ahold of them.
So, take pictures of the registration numbers, hull numbers, trailer registration numbers, trailer vin if you can find it (not terribly important). Then you need a far out picture showing the whole boat and trailer. Take those to the DMV and they run them to verify there is no theft reports on those numbers and you can start filling out the forms. You can either print the pictures, or just bring them on your phone and they will have you email the pictures to them.
I had to fill out a due diligence for my trailer title, but the boat was just a bill of sale since it lived in MN its whole life.

[kameix1]

Small update, I spent some time under the trailer making a list of things I need to order to get the trailer in good shape. While under there I noticed some thin fiberglass cloth hanging off the side of the pad area.

Its a 4oz fabric covered in anti fouling paint, but I went ahead and hit the area with the block sander to see whats going on under the paint. Looks like there was a small repair done on the keel, shouldnt be too bad, there was no damage under the core so I think it was just some cosmetics on the bottom that was repaired.
There is also the ruminants of a keel guard that was on there (then painted over), all thats left is the glue and the ridge where the paint went up to it.

[Hippie459MN]

Looking great so far! I wish I had the space to start working on mine.

[kameix1]

Holy crap.... this was the last owners repair for some damage to the keel... Its bondo, 4oz weave without resin, more bondo, chop mat with resin, and house paint...

[Hippie459MN]

That sucks. But that's the thing with fiberglass, you can fix it. I had a few questionable "repairs" on my Vulture too.

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