1984 hydrostream vector tearing down

[cottontop58]

just bought this hydrostream vector monday , i knew it was rotten so i done started taking it down seen that the transom was rotten and i think the core is to , and not sure what all this stuff is im looking at but im trying to figure it out ,,, the square in the middle i guess is stringer ,, and beside it is a different fiberglass mat which at first i thought was bottom until i seen a hole in it so put a nail in hole and see it hit bottom within an inch,, so i drilled a few more one time i hit wood but not every hole hit,,, always wanted one my dad had the 15ft bought it brand new and put a 235 on it built by a man named wilber weeks , with a 26 pitch cleaver which i still have. so i finally found me one too .

[cottontop58]

Pic

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[cottontop58]

Pic

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[VultureNo2]

Welcome to the site. You will need a few more posts before you can post pictures. It sounds like you are getting an understanding of it as you go. You talk about poking though and the bottom of the boat is about a half inch down. Some wood some not. without seeing pictures, it sounds like the top layer of glass with what's left of bad balsa under it and above the bottom glass. that whole layer will need to come out. As you go, look at the techniques and style used to build it. Kind of like an archaeological dig. It will all make sense after you get in a little further. Don't take any shortcuts of leave old in. Take your time and replace it all the correct way and you will get 30+ more years of safe boating from it. Good luck and post some picks when you can.
Bill

[cottontop58]

wet it to make it shine a little so you could see color

imagejpeg_2.jpg (98.55 KiB) Viewed 4192 times

wet it to make it shine a little so you could see color

imagejpeg_2.jpg (98.55 KiB) Viewed 4192 times

yes when will i know i can post pics? yes i just got out there and i guess you consider it the core i chisseled a little of the glass off to find the balsa still there but seemed wet close to the stringers but towards the outside of core its black and really rotten,the transom is shot too im gonna knotch the top of the transom to get new one in and cutting old one out from inside the boat . ,,, i picked the boat up for 425.00 so i think i did descent gonna post pics as soon as i can ..

[cottontop58]

i seen some pics where someone on here put just stringers instead of core ,, whats the advantage of that compared to core??,, And can you use marine grade plywood for the core instead of balsa trying to get away from it rottening again?????

[YDOC462]

no......plywood cannot be substituted for the balsa. as long as you pay attention when glassin the core back in and make sure its completely sealed you wont have a problem with rotting core again. these boats were horribly laid up from the factory.....that's the reason they are all rotten.

many people have just went back with a "stringer system" boat with out any issues. i myself have contemplated on building a "stringer" boat on my next build. should a "balsa cored" boat be restored with a balsa core as originally intended?........prolly so. absolutely necessary??? obviously not.

keep digging through the rebuild threads......you'll find alot of answers there.

[transomstand]

i seen some pics where someone on here put just stringers instead of core ,, whats the advantage of that compared to core??,, And can you use marine grade plywood for the core instead of balsa trying to get away from it rottening again?????

People get a complex about balsa because all Stream cores are rotten. The reason for this is because the boats were built like crap. Most cores were never installed properly, and were even wet before they got to the dealership. Balsa can make a very high strength, economical and LONG LASTING laminate, just have to install with care and seal it properly.

I'm running a live test on balsa laminate, I started it in 1984 and will post my finding when it fails

[cottontop58]

Thx y'all might end up using balsa then probably will

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[cottontop58]

got the transom dug out at the top was half solid trying to keep splashwell maybe, not sure how well that is gonna work yet the way i done it.