Unbelievable - Last Virage just pulled from molds

[Gibbs87VKing]

Wow, I m don't know what to say.....That is gorgeous....That is such a piece of history....would love to finish that project

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[alaskastreamin]

Thanks for that.

We are planning on slightly "overbuilding" it. Adding balsa coring throughout the entire hull and glassing the seam. Won't add much extra weight but will stiffen hull.

My last Virage started getting hairline cracks where the screws attached the deck to the hull. I want to be able to blast thru choppy large lake waters without worring about stress cracks.

This is my last Virage. One of a kind

[proprider]

That is one very nice looking boat!!

[idvette]

That's the poster child for the Virage, I love it! Your new one looks very nice too, good luck with the rebuild!

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[bigboy]

What you see is a "floor support". I believe it was made in a mold and glassed to the hull. The bottom panel is a false floor for the ski locker. Notice the three drain holes? I don't think these boats have stringers.

I am going to balsa core the entire hull. Factory only cored the pad and the V section. The outer sponsons were filled with foam and glassed over. Thats why you only see the remenants of the floor ending on the inside of the sponsons.

I was baffled about the outside edges of the floor till I talked with Aaron (X-Treme paint). He had his Virage apart and noticed no plywood over the sponsons. Just glass over foam.

Haven't made any progress yet. Our July trip was, as usual, too short and we didn't have time to do anything. We did take all the screws out of the lip so the deck can get removed next time down. Late Sept./ early Oct. we'll be back down.

That floor support will def act as a stringer.

A local boat builder uses the same method to build his lightweight offshore boats. I think the Virage is the only boat were they used this method. Probably a new building technique from Hydrostream at that time.
Is the boat stored at your place?

[alaskastreamin]

Yea, it's at our Washington property. It wasn't worth sending up to Alaska then back down. Got three old cars i'm restoring back to back,....to back up here. The Virage gives me something to work on while down in Washington 3-4 times a year.

[bigboy]

Yea, it's at our Washington property. It wasn't worth sending up to Alaska then back down. Got three old cars i'm restoring back to back,....to back up here. The Virage gives me something to work on while down in Washington 3-4 times a year.

Oh I was not aware of that. You plan on taking it to Alaska than when it's finished?

[alaskastreamin]

It will stay in the states. Salt water is tough on HP parts. Caprice wants to go really fast for long periods.


We had the Viper on a large lake in July. The chop was 2' and a few tubers and some jetski's. Too rough for the viper then out came a 32' DCB Eliminator cat. Told Caprice to hang on. We ran with him to about 80 mph and had to let off. He came back and was amazed the Viper could run that fast in the slop. He was getting 115 mph!! Caprice wants to look him up when we get the Virage done. She asked how much hp we need to beat him. Told her 280 was about it for a "semi" reliable motor. She said, "Then lets get one". Gawd I love my wife!!!

[bigboy]

It will stay in the states. Salt water is tough on HP parts. Caprice wants to go really fast for long periods.


We had the Viper on a large lake in July. The chop was 2' and a few tubers and some jetski's. Too rough for the viper then out came a 32' DCB Eliminator cat. Told Caprice to hang on. We ran with him to about 80 mph and had to let off. He came back and was amazed the Viper could run that fast in the slop. He was getting 115 mph!! Caprice wants to look him up when we get the Virage done. She asked how much hp we need to beat him. Told her 280 was about it for a "semi" reliable motor. She said, "Then lets get one". Gawd I love my wife!!!

Haha thats just unbelievable

[fla.viper]

What you see is a "floor support". I believe it was made in a mold and glassed to the hull. The bottom panel is a false floor for the ski locker. Notice the three drain holes? I don't think these boats have stringers.

I am going to balsa core the entire hull. Factory only cored the pad and the V section. The outer sponsons were filled with foam and glassed over. Thats why you only see the remenants of the floor ending on the inside of the sponsons.

I was baffled about the outside edges of the floor till I talked with Aaron (X-Treme paint). He had his Virage apart and noticed no plywood over the sponsons. Just glass over foam.

Haven't made any progress yet. Our July trip was, as usual, too short and we didn't have time to do anything. We did take all the screws out of the lip so the deck can get removed next time down. Late Sept./ early Oct. we'll be back down.

are you planing on puting drain plugs in the sponsons? i have a 89 stage 2, same color scheam as your old one. i wonder how much water is in thoes sponsons, and there is no way to get it out. mine has seen its better days, the guy before me ran it under a dock, did a crappy job of fixing it. but for what i got in to it, i cant complane. after rebuilding the carbs, i have a turn key reliable boat that has never let me down. thankyou for the info you post, ill be paying close attion to your build.
mike