77 vamp project

[sbooy42]

SO here's my 77 vamp project.
Its going to be a bigger project than I think, But hey Its something new to me and I'm hoping it will be a good experience.
I plan to end up with a 70-80mph sleeper boat that the fam can have fun on too...For now they'll just deal with the tooner
I've restored and built quite a few cars and bikes but I'm sure I'll have lots of questions so I hope you guys dont mind ..

Here it is
I'm going to get rid of the rails and knock that windshield down about 1/2 of what it is now.




I pulled up a piece of plywood that some one glued down and found two holes, now one big one after I did some ripping




Prior repair to the hull


These bubbles in the hull are my biggest concern



Wasnt sure where to post this so if it needs to move, please do so

[77viper]

Welcome to the forum.

Let the fun begin!

I started my viper a year and a half ago with a $1200 budget and thought I would have it done in 2-3 months.... it's in the water finally but not done and I'm closer to $10,000 than 1200. It was a blast and am trying not to start another project yet.

That would look good with a cut down windshield.

[sbooy42]

think I read your entire thread last night.. was going to pm you today but you already answered my budget question..Awesome job Hope mine turns out half as nice as your did..
I'm not really in a big hurry.. be nice to have done by next spring but I do have 3 young boys that keep me busy..so a year or two is more realistic
I'm hoping to stay in a 5-6000budget ...but I dont think that ever happens

[77viper]

$5-6000 should be fine, with extra for nice rigging. I think I spent about $300 on sandpaper, you will learn to hate that word.

This was my first big glass project so I took it real slow and it turned out fine. By the end you will find yourself experimenting with making other things out of glass. I'm a single guy that doesn't drink so I have plenty of free time, if I were to guess I would say i have about 600 hours into this project but a lot of that is doing the carbon and other stuff that doesn't need to be done.

As for the bubbles in the gel I think you need to sand them out, I did my hole bottom but I think you could just sand them out.

[frogII]

Welcome

Keep us posted on the progress
I always thought the Vamp was the ugliest model they ever built but they grow on ya

cut the rail down to about 1-2 inches
change the windshield to one similiar to Valero bow rider
but just my opinion

bubbles on bottom look like blisters from sitting in the water too long
bottom should be ground and re-done , at least grind and fill each blister