BLISTERS ON HULL

[varmint1]

Im getting a '76 Bicenntenial Viper. The top deck is faded but in good shape the bottom hull is good except i noticed blisters from bow to stern. They range from 3/8 " to 1". Has anyone seen this and can it be fixed. I know the floor is bad as for the core i dont know I would guess its bad also. any help on this?

[77viper]

The blisters are most likely in the gel, the only perminate fix that I know of is to sand the gel off and respray. I did it to my viper and it took a long time.

[varmint1]

Thanks for the info Chet, hows yours coming

[77viper]

Slow, too much other stuff going on. I will be racing my viper for the first two races this year.

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[varmint1]

Yeah to much stuff going on, taking care of a new born, the other children out of school, having the tip of my finger cut off at work, and taking care of yard work. One day ill get back to work on my Vandal

[jacklake2003]

My parents bought a new Larson in 2000; it did the same thing after the first summer of use. It sat (sits) in the water at our cottage for a couple months at a time. Aparently, gelcoat is somewhat porus. Moisture can permeate into the gel, however it never really dries out. I though this was more of an issue with new boats, surprised it happened on the '76.

[YDOC462]

hey varmit, i had a vulture with the same problem. i read and researched on it, it was from the boat sitting in the water. i was told to sand/grind them out. then let the boat sit and give time for glass to dry out. flare and patch if neccesary then re gel. i traded the vulture for my vector, which didnt have them. that would have been the 1507th thing on my restoration list

bicentinial, cool boat hope you can figure something out. sorry about the finger.

[varmint1]

Chet you said your viper had the blisters on the hull, i looked at it again today and looks like the blisters are in the same spot as where the core is. Did the balsa get wet and soak through the inner glass and blister the gel coat? I know boats that sit in the water alot will get the blisters also like YDOC462 said but looking at the hull i dont see any water line from being in the water. I know the boat has set up in the weather for years. Just thinking the water soaked balsa could have been the problem.What would happen if the blisters were not fixed?

[77viper]

If they are not repaired I would think the gel would come off from the water pressure. I had a few small blisters but a lot of cracks in the gel so I thought it would be faster to sand the gel off rather than repairing the cracks.

Polyester isn't waterproof so the water could have come from the inside. Either way it sounds like a lot of work but being a bicentennial it's worth it.

[varmint1]

thanks for all the input, hope to know something in a couple of days