yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

[thom4372]

Last week I hit a large rock with my 09 yamaha vx deluxe. It was a good hit and put a hole in my hull. It is right along the ridge on the bottom about 12 inches long by 4 or 5 inches wide. I can stick my fingers through the hole. My question is about repair. Im sure a shop will cost me an arm and leg to fix this so im looking to do this myself. I understand fiberglass repair but what do I do when the area I need to repair is not flat? I found all kinds of diy's for boats having more flat or rounded hulls but nothing about fixing the ridged parts. Also is there a specific kit I can get for yamaha or is it all generic?


Thanks for your help!

 

[bigredinohio]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Do you have any pictures that you can upload?

Seeing what you have will help give advice as to what type of contours you have to recommend what will help you best.

 

[artificialreef]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Hi man, my ski was crashed into a dock (po)and the whole front on the hull was smashed. I repaired it and have no problems. I think i recall an episode of ship shape where they repaired a small hole by grinding it back to where there were no more cracks. Then beveling the edge of the glass from the outside inward. This will give the new glass something to bond to. You will be fine trying this yourself if you follow some steps. You may be better served moving this thread or looking into the boat restoring section of this forum. Side not to iboats sales: It would be great for you to provide a dvd for fiberglass repair and then sell the supplies to accomplish it.

 

[thom4372]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Do you have any pictures that you can upload?

Seeing what you have will help give advice as to what type of contours you have to recommend what will help you best.

Ill update with some pics when I get a chance. From people I talked to this is a major repair which might have to be claimed under insurance. Id like to do it myself if I can but seeing that the boat is only a year old, professional repair might be the way to go.

 

[artificialreef]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Oh Paaleease. Have you ever seen what is involved in laying fiberglass? Most boat builders use immigrants. Just clean the broken area and lay it up you puss!

 

[skysurfer2010]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Later Yamaha hulls are NOT fiberglass. They are SMC (sheet molded compound). They are harder than fiberglass to break, but also harder to fix. A fiberglass repair can be done, but you could end up with problems down the road (it will probably crack in the future). Epoxy is really the only choice to fix it right. If you don't know what you're doing, I'd leave it to a professional (and not necessarily your dealer but someone who has experience working with SMC). Not only does everything above the hole need to be taken out so it can be laid up inside, but once the repair is done if you want it to look new again you'll need to have your bottom hull repainted and gelcoated. If you have insurance, you might as well use it. It's a very pricey repair to be done right.

For this repair I'd look into some local shops that do custom work. Stay far away from the dealership.

 

[thom4372]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

thanks, ill have to look into places that do SMC work. I took a closer look at the damage over the weekend and discovered that its not so much of a hole rather than a crack. Also in the worst damaged areas the material looks like its flaking or starting to come apart in sheets.

I have pics but left them on the wifes camera, ill post them soon.

 

[skysurfer2010]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

You'll need to check to see if the crack goes all the way through. If it does it'll still need reinforcement on the inside as well as the outside. If you care about the resale value and have insurance, you should let a professional fix it the right way. If you plan on keeping it for a while and don't care if the patch is noticeable, then it won't hurt anything to try fixing it yourself first.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Check CL for peole who do this work. If you are careful, you can find guys that do work on the side for quite a bit less. you just have to be careful about who you work with..

I happened to buy a Yamaha last year that had been repaired with the poly resin. I could not tell it was repaired and he told me a big story about the ski, none of which inlcuded the fact that he had bought it with a hole in it and repaired it. (I have since tracked down the guy who owned it before him and sold it to him with the hole)

Lets just say the repair lasted for all of 1.5 hours before it failed and I was wondering why the thing was just about to sink in the middle of the lake..

Anyhow, I found a guy on CL that works for a shop doing this full time. He fills his time on the weekend doing this in garage. While aestheics are not as important to me (its a '97) he is able to get it back in the water for $500. His shop estimate, which is what I will use to sue the seller, was for $2300.

 

[skysurfer2010]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

His shop estimate, which is what I will use to sue the seller, was for $2300.

With all due respect, unless you can prove negligence, I think you're wasting your time. Whenever you buy used, you're buying "as is" unless there is a written warranty. All the current seller has to do is say he was clueless about the quality of the work done. It'll be your burden to prove he was negligent. Just get your ski fixed and have fun. Stay out of the court room. It sucks, but hopefully Karma comes around and your seller gets what he deserves.

Bottom line is that unless you have a written warranty from the seller you're SOL. That's why you do a thorough prebuy inspection.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: yamaha vx deluxe hull repair

Don't want to hijack this thread, but I hear you on the AS-IS provisio of buying used. Where I feel I have an argument is that he actively deceived me in telling me things in response to my questions that were outright lies and I can prove it.

If he had said in response to my questions that he had bought it and fixed it, I would have had the information to make an informed decision. He chose to lie and continued to lie when presented with the facts.

This decision put me and my family in danger as that machine cold have sunk or caused a problem that could have had tragic circumstances.

The guy is a dirtbag and he has other judgments against him. I really don't count on getting any money back from him. But as bad as this sounds, I just want my pound of flesh so that he thinks twice next time. If the court disagrees, so be it..