getting ready to launch the boat

[Fat Tony]

Hi all!! I had the viper looked at by reputable fiberglass specialists they both said the hull is fine even where Ronnie said it was soft. They did say I should fix the chips on the keel before I launch it. So this week I will be preparing the boat for next weekends launch. I will be up grading the fuel tank, steering system, and installing a bilge pump. I fired up the motor today and it seemed to run ok, I will have to move the gas pedal- he installed it too close to the seat- my legs are too long for his setup . I cant wait!! I hope the water is calm. I wonder how fast it will go. But for now I will take it easy till I get used to it.

[RussF]

Hi all!! I had the viper looked at by reputable fiberglass specialists they both said the hull is fine even where Ronnie said it was soft. They did say I should fix the chips on the keel before I launch it. So this week I will be preparing the boat for next weekends launch. I will be up grading the fuel tank, steering system, and installing a bilge pump. I fired up the motor today and it seemed to run ok, I will have to move the gas pedal- he installed it too close to the seat- my legs are too long for his setup . I cant wait!! I hope the water is calm. I wonder how fast it will go. But for now I will take it easy till I get used to it.

I dont want to sound negative BUT RONNIE know HYDROSTREAMs.......all those other reputable fiberglass specialists sometimes DON'T....be careful

[77viper]

It's impossible for us on the forum to judge if the core is bad or not, but we tend to trust other hydrosream enthusiasts over regular body shops that do not deal with them. Ronnie is a well respected member of the hydrosream community so his word has a lot of merit. I work at a large marine dealer and due to our volume of fiberglass repairs we deal with 2 body shops, one of them I would not trust to repair my hydrostream and the other I would want pictures as the repairs were being done but both shops are great with Ranger and Glastron repair.

We do wish you luck by having a rare original solid core but the deck isn't stacked in your favor, We also tend to be persistent on having cores checked and or replaced because we truly have you and your passengers best interest= safty in mind.

[Rut311969]

Its the core were talking about not the hull glass . Inless you or the other boat shops have seen a rotten core it truley can't be explained . For example I recently bought a 77 Viper bottom looks great nice shiney afew chips nothing mjaor .But then the inside supposedly this boat was stored inside all its life well I climed in found one soft spot in floor so thats all it took up came the floor and out came the ice pick to make a few holes in the glass covering the core and out came the mush and water that was traped in the core so long story short the core was mush and dust. We are not trying to discourage you about Hydrostreams but only educate you .Because when the core is junk its not a matter of if but when she well come apart. I would be more than happy to email you pics of the core as my pics are to big to post on here just pm me your email address. As Russ stated be careful .

[Sonik]

This is an example of what Rut is talking about.....this is my personal core experience. Page 2 has before pictures.....

http://www.hydrostreamforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=1876

[Fat Tony]

Hi, I agree with you all about the rotted core, but what I am confused about is that there are no soft spots inside that I can feel, I know Ronnie said there was one but I cant find it and Im not that skinny either, also I am not sure about the boat yards qualification on hydrostreams- but I do know they work in house and they do work on those big off shore speed boats. How can I test the core? I would hate to cut up the floor and find nothing wrong with it- on the other hand I dont want to die just yet. Ronnie did say that his boat was 100 times worse condition than mine and he went over 100 before the boat came apart, he told me to come with them on sundays and beat the hell out of it and used it for the summer before I did any work on the core. Im not sure what to do right now. Im kinda sorry I bought this boat- I was originally going to put my 1800 hp blown and injected on alcohol big block chrysler in my drag boat- but this boat looked alot more fun to drive (after seeing the you tube video). I just dont know.

[77viper]

Ask Ronnie where the soft spot is, if he said run it for the summer go ahead and start to learn how to drive it. Hopefully you can meet up with him this summer and he can better explain your options.

[ Post made via HTC A6277 ]

[RussF]

even if you run with any of those guys someone will look at your boat and see how it is .just go with them and you ''ll be OK ...................have fun and be careful..........