We picked out colors last week and used one in another thread for comparison. The vinyl was brittle and really faded. My understanding it was a blue metallic color used back then and heat pleated material. I did find some that looked like a match, but it was too expensive to be ordering 10 yards of what they wanted for it.
As far as the spider cracking. None are around the transom and splash well area. I was shocked at how solid the floor was. But, I'm also aware that the stringers are going to be shot. It was an expense I didn't have in the budget this year. I semi restored a 72 V-156 then found this boat for $600. They weren't sure if it ran 100% due to the missing fuel tank and battery. But she fired right up when I tried. So I sold the V-156 and decided to restore the seats in this boat and update the side panels. The panels are going to be pleated as well, just sewn in vs heat.
Most of the spider cracks are on the hood and near the sides. I'll be wet sanding it down, compound, wax, detail buff. I'll wax 3 or more times once the shine comes back in the color. I'm confident the color will shine. I have watched techniques on grinding out the spider cracks, put new gelcoat over it, then wet sand, compound, wax. If I use the proper gelcoat (which I found the original), it can remain original as possible.
I wish we had the resources to break it down to the stringers and rebuild it. Unfortunately that isn't in our immediate future. I did feel it was important to bring her back the best I could without compromising the originality. I'll save some of the vinyl for future reference.