Sonik's 1976 Apricot Viper
Posted: May 08, 2012 10:01 am
I'm not sure if I've ever thown a post up here to tell the story and show some pics of my boat....and considering I'm jonesin' pretty bad to get on the water, ( not happenin' for a while) the memories will have to do for now....
Some of you know the story behind this boat, but for those who do not....here goes....
I'm the 3rd owner of this 1976 original, unmolested "apricot" gel Viper, the 2nd owner had it for only 6 months and having never used it, sold it to me. The original owner had this boat on a 40hp limit lake with a 40hp OMC on it from 1976 until 2002-2003 when it sat for several years in a garage before being sold to owner #2, and then sold again to me. My college roommate came over one day and said he remembers the boat because he grew up on the lake where it resided. I'm still trying to track the orignal owner down so I can drag it over to his place for old-time sake and show him its been saved.
Boat had a 25" 115 V4 X-flow on it when I bought it and it ran well but looked ridiculous. Off comes the 115, on goes the XR2 150 Merc V-6. My knee found a soft spot in the core near the splashwell during the V-6 rigging process, so the rest, as they say is history. 14 months and much $$$, blood, sweat, tears, and miles later, I ended up with a solid boat. Boat was recored with balsa / poly resin with several layers of 1708 going down before the core. The original layup was horribly dry and several of us are suprise it didn't fall apart long before it made it to that point. The floor is now 3/4 marine ply instead of 1/2 for some additional torsional rigidity and knees have been added to the transom. Props go to Lynn (Capt. Insane-O / HST4ME) for finishing up my project for me. I was afraid I'd end up punching holes all over the bottom of the original gel and just wanted it done right with minimal touch-ups. And considering all the trouble Lynn had with it, I'm glad I didn't try and tackle it myself. Thanks for helping me save this one for me Lynn. You're a rockstar!
Fresh rigging and 2 seasons of tinkering later netted me 83.7mph @ 6300RPM turning a 30P ET through a 1.87 200 case.....all with a stock 2.0 liter XR2 150. The little guy ran really well and was a great stepping stone to learn what the boat wanted and how to drive small pad-V boats at moderate to high speeds. Those with minimal seat time looking to buy a small pad boat and hang a big motor on it beware. I had spent alot of time in bigger faster boats but the Viper is an all-together different animal when strung out across the lake. And it opened my eyes quickly that I still had some skills to learn. But I will say that mastering the little guy is quite rewarding when you run away from that "bigger, faster, and more expensive" boat on the lake.
Fall 2011 the boat found itself with new power, a slightly warmed up 2.5 200EFI fish motor (Tight heads and no rev limiter). BIG difference between the 2.0 liter and the 2.5. I have only spent an hour or so testing last fall, but in that short time, I learned its ridiculously faster on plane and all the way through 80+. After getting reacquainted, my 3rd pass netted a 92.5@ 7K turning a DAH 28 small ear chopper behind a 1.87 sporty, 2.5 setback 5/8" above the pad....and it was still pulling when I ran out of balls....probably had 2-5 more left if I had kept my foot in it. I now have a baseline at very least. It needs a worked ET or cleaver to go any faster with me in it. The chopper bites hard but its a little spooky on the big end.
The boat now rests in good hands in my absence and is being flipped to have the bottom sharpened up and a fresh coat of black gel applied to the pad out to the 1st set of strakes. The pad did have some surface spider cracks I assume from prior to the recore as the pad core was mush. So, to thwart any delamination of the gel on the high-speed running surface, I figured it can't hurt.
EDIT: Ok...rehosted some images.....lets try this again......I just realized you can double-zoom all the pics to see in full size....neato...
Some of you know the story behind this boat, but for those who do not....here goes....
I'm the 3rd owner of this 1976 original, unmolested "apricot" gel Viper, the 2nd owner had it for only 6 months and having never used it, sold it to me. The original owner had this boat on a 40hp limit lake with a 40hp OMC on it from 1976 until 2002-2003 when it sat for several years in a garage before being sold to owner #2, and then sold again to me. My college roommate came over one day and said he remembers the boat because he grew up on the lake where it resided. I'm still trying to track the orignal owner down so I can drag it over to his place for old-time sake and show him its been saved.
Boat had a 25" 115 V4 X-flow on it when I bought it and it ran well but looked ridiculous. Off comes the 115, on goes the XR2 150 Merc V-6. My knee found a soft spot in the core near the splashwell during the V-6 rigging process, so the rest, as they say is history. 14 months and much $$$, blood, sweat, tears, and miles later, I ended up with a solid boat. Boat was recored with balsa / poly resin with several layers of 1708 going down before the core. The original layup was horribly dry and several of us are suprise it didn't fall apart long before it made it to that point. The floor is now 3/4 marine ply instead of 1/2 for some additional torsional rigidity and knees have been added to the transom. Props go to Lynn (Capt. Insane-O / HST4ME) for finishing up my project for me. I was afraid I'd end up punching holes all over the bottom of the original gel and just wanted it done right with minimal touch-ups. And considering all the trouble Lynn had with it, I'm glad I didn't try and tackle it myself. Thanks for helping me save this one for me Lynn. You're a rockstar!
Fresh rigging and 2 seasons of tinkering later netted me 83.7mph @ 6300RPM turning a 30P ET through a 1.87 200 case.....all with a stock 2.0 liter XR2 150. The little guy ran really well and was a great stepping stone to learn what the boat wanted and how to drive small pad-V boats at moderate to high speeds. Those with minimal seat time looking to buy a small pad boat and hang a big motor on it beware. I had spent alot of time in bigger faster boats but the Viper is an all-together different animal when strung out across the lake. And it opened my eyes quickly that I still had some skills to learn. But I will say that mastering the little guy is quite rewarding when you run away from that "bigger, faster, and more expensive" boat on the lake.
Fall 2011 the boat found itself with new power, a slightly warmed up 2.5 200EFI fish motor (Tight heads and no rev limiter). BIG difference between the 2.0 liter and the 2.5. I have only spent an hour or so testing last fall, but in that short time, I learned its ridiculously faster on plane and all the way through 80+. After getting reacquainted, my 3rd pass netted a 92.5@ 7K turning a DAH 28 small ear chopper behind a 1.87 sporty, 2.5 setback 5/8" above the pad....and it was still pulling when I ran out of balls....probably had 2-5 more left if I had kept my foot in it. I now have a baseline at very least. It needs a worked ET or cleaver to go any faster with me in it. The chopper bites hard but its a little spooky on the big end.
The boat now rests in good hands in my absence and is being flipped to have the bottom sharpened up and a fresh coat of black gel applied to the pad out to the 1st set of strakes. The pad did have some surface spider cracks I assume from prior to the recore as the pad core was mush. So, to thwart any delamination of the gel on the high-speed running surface, I figured it can't hurt.
EDIT: Ok...rehosted some images.....lets try this again......I just realized you can double-zoom all the pics to see in full size....neato...
