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Hello all, I've been following the ads, read up on thunderstream and need to find out if there is any other new 18vking's out there. I owned one in the 80's and now want a new one with a merc 300 stroker. I don't want to restore one, although I do have the knowledge and equiptment to do one, I'd like to have a new hull with the new resins and composites that are availible in todays frp market. There seems like there would be a good demand for the new hulls because of the cost of restoring an older hull, so who's building a new/old 18vking. Thanks for any info, John

Russf here on the board has a thunderstream, I'm sure he will see this and let you know the ins and outs.

If you decide you want a little project I'll sell ya mine, just needs a little tlc

John Spaeth in Brechin ON Canada is selling off his small moulds to concentrate on the bigger boats he's building. Not sure exactly what that means, but it would probably worth a call.....

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77viper wrote:Russf here on the board has a thunderstream, I'm sure he will see this and let you know the ins and outs.

If you decide you want a little project I'll sell ya mine, just needs a little tlc

I think he wants one with a windshield

And I wouldn't get within a hundred miles of that Thunderstream joint, or whatever they call themselves now

ya this one is a bit breezy at speed.

If you can get a speath built boat do it, every one I have seen of his is a work of art.

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77viper wrote: If you can get a speath built boat do it, every one I have seen of his is a work of art.

If not, send him a junker. When he's done, you can't tell the difference from a new one, and you KNOW it's done right.

[quote And I wouldn't get within a hundred miles of that Thunderstream joint, or whatever they call themselves now [/quote]
...................mine was a pain in the azz to get built..............................BUT........................I dont think they are building them anymore

Thanks for the info, I don't want a windshield, but don't need a live well either. I saw the pictures of your boat and was impressed with the deck mods, looked sharp, sorry to read about the lean @105, back in the day seen quite a few comp vectors go over, it's never pretty, but unhurt is always a god send. Russ, I followed your post till someone mentioned chopper gun boat and the reply was it is what it is and could never find anything else about hull quality, hull pad/bottom correct, speed/handling, builder reputation, etc. If their not building them anymore, maybe the answer is to buy the mold? I'm going to start working in that direction and call Speath an see what he's building or has for sale, but Canada's alooonnnng way from home . I'll call Thunderstream and see what their doing. Just seems like with the cost of a hull, then add core replacement, paint, interior, plus the little stuff that adds up quick to a small fortune, there has to be a market for the boat, so why is nobody building them, everybody wants an old ford/chevy/dodge, the vector/vking would seem to be the same thing. If any other info comes to mind, Thanks in advance, I'll post what I find out , Thanks Again, John

265 mercman in the forum here found a comp viking last year in louisiana somewhere. That viking was built in 06 if I remember right, maybe he ll pass the correct details on to ya.

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i thought about building a new v-king using the v-king i got from ron baker where he added the strakes like in his original concept. i was going to sell hull only, attached to a deck, painted. i don't think there is enough interest, or actual buyers, though.

you could buy a waterlogged one, remove all of the core, and then send to spaith, or the guy that has Bottoms-Up does really nice work. it wouldn't be a crazy amount of money if you did it that way.