bertram31.com

John Vyn

does anyone know if a Bertram 35 and a Bertram 31 prop shaft strut are the same? They have the same boar, but I don't have the damaged one off yet to measure.

John Vyn

I had the boat hauled today to change shaft strut bearings and an entanglement with fishing line and a gunny sack. As they were pressing out the bearing the prop shaft split. I am looking for a new one as fast as possible. does anyone have any ideas??

Thanks in advance for any help.

John

John Vyn

Thanks Capt. I have the 3 section Glastech deck and when I put in he new fuel tank I rebuilt the sub structure with FRP "C" channel. The deck is screwed down as you describe. The hatch covers have some rubber strips on them but they must not be thick enough. Is there any way to positively lock the h...

John Vyn

I have replacemet decks and at any speed above 5 kts the rattle to the point that we go around and put pieces of paper / business cards from insurance salesmen in the joints. Not much works. What has been done to quiet the decks?

John Vyn

I have a Yamaha 130 on my dinghy and when the oil pump is not pumping enough oil the engine misfires and goes to about 1200 rpm. This is to keep from not having enough oil in the fuel. Check the pump from the oil tank to the engine.

John Vyn

Thanks Capt. Sent a check today. Geat site and well worth the donation.

John Vyn

I'm somewhat new here. What is the best way to donate. Check - address. Credit card - how

John Vyn

I changed the coil yesterday and have run almost 2 hours without a shutdown. thanks for all the help. But I will check the voltages today to make sure I am not having over voltage at the coils.

John Vyn

Looks great, thanks. I'll head to the boat today and check it out.

John Vyn

The engines are 1973 with original electric ignition. The parts of the schematic that I can read are under the plastic cover for the ignition parts. Yes I have the 5 pin ECU module.

John Vyn

The cover over the electronic ignition parts on my Chrysler 440's has a schematic that I need to wring out a problem where my starboard engine will run for a while - 40 to 50 minutes and then die. I can restart and as long as the engine is running above 1000 RPM is runs ok. I'm sure it's electrical,...

John Vyn

Jimmy all I can say is WOW. And even my wife thought is way beautiful and that is saying a lot!!! Absolutely great job.

John Vyn

If you don't mine used, Minney's in Newport Beach Ca has some. How tall and what diameter? I'd be glad to go by and send you a picture.

John Vyn

I remember seeing an article about building a holding tank in the forward part of the v-berth. Can anyone direct me to that article?
Also what is the down side of plumbing a holding tank system in rigid PVC, black like the household sewer line?

John Vyn

Wow. Love the discussion. Thanks to all for the information.

John Vyn

Dug,
Thanks for the reply. I'm looking to get rid of the aluminum, but for now I'll probably try to refinish (prime / paint) the aluminum. $12 grand is a bunch after spending a bunch just getting the boat running.

John Vyn

Thanks all for the posts here. I love the idea of a database. Maybe it could be an open database where we each go in and add / up data our data. I've entered my boat in this years opening day and wanted to brag about the rarity of the Sport Fisher. BTW: my boat has no rear bulkhead, lower steering A...

John Vyn

Longfin, I sent you a PM this morning.

John Vyn

Dose anyone have an idea of the number of Sport Fisher models were built?

John Vyn

Dug - Aluminum frames are fiberglass???

John Vyn

I will need to replace all the windows in my 31 soon. Any one know where I can get a complete set of Sport Fisher windows. They will need to be tempered, tinted, and hopefully fit into aluminum frames.

John Vyn

Of course the California version of the cooler includes a built in iPod Loaded with all of Jimmy Buffett songs.

John Vyn

Sent the 2 oil and 2 transmission samples to Blackstone on Friday. We'll see how they come back.

John Vyn

thanks for all the information here. I agree that long term trend analysis are the real worth of these test, but we have to start somewhere. I'll give Blackstone a try.

John Vyn

I'm getting ready to change the oil in my gassers. I remember sending my oil samples to a lab in Arizona the gave me a great report and kept track of any wear. But I can't find their name in my notes. (It's a bitch to get old!)
Does any one have a lab they can recommend?

John Vyn

I love oiled teak. And certainly hate varnished as a swim platform, very slippery unless you use nonskid. Next time you have that 6' blue shark up near the swim platform you will appreciate the nonskid of the teak.

John Vyn

I'd love to see pictures. I'll probably start that project in a month or so.

John Vyn

Yes Tony, I still have the bench seat. But I think I'm looking for an all fiberglass box with easy access.

John Vyn

Hi Oliver,
We have a place in Southern California, Santa Ana to be exact called A-1 fabrics. http://www.a1foamandfabrics.com They have a huge inventory of boat vinyl Give them a call or let me know if I can help, they are 10 miles from me.

John Vyn

Hi all. I have a sport fisher model and with not too much room below, I'd like to store life jackets and flairs in a box under the fly bridge seat. Does anyone have a great working design I could build or buy?

John Vyn

I had the oversize rudders installed in September. We had to install new tillers too, the others were thrashed by the ages.

BTW: You will ABSOLUTELY love the rudders. They make an amazing difference in the control ability of the boat, and they are wonderful at keeping a straight course.

John Vyn

I had my deck up to replace the fuel tank. Some of the floor supports were less than stellar. So I replaced all with structural channel from McMaster Carr. They worked wonderful. I bonded them to the stern and cut the channel to make vertical posts tha were bolted through the stringers and the floor...

John Vyn

Yep I ran at idle for a couple of hours last night watching the parade with family members. All worked well and no leaks or troubles. On to the next challenge.

John Vyn

Well I finally finished the tank and deck install. So I pulled the transmission. The damper plates were almost new. Looked new. No looseness in the springs, no debris in the bell housing. So I took it into our mechanic and he tore it down and overhauled it. I got it back yesterday and installed it. ...

John Vyn

Sorry Harry, No word yet. I'm still trying to finish up the new fuel tank install, and use the boat around Newport Beach bay. Today I took the engine covers off and put them on the bow. Now I can pull the floor boards, tie off and pad all the fuel hoses, foam the tank in place, build a stern trough ...

John Vyn

Thanks Pete. I just put platinum plugs in within the past 20 hours as part of a complete maintenance of the engines. I did pull on plug and they don't look bad at all. I think I'm with you, it's the damper plates. Problem is the rear engine mounts are mounted to the transmissions, which means I need...

John Vyn

Harry and Charlie, thanks for the thoughts. I'll check more closely to make sure its the transmission itself. And the noise is very related to being in gear vs out of gear. My guess is the frequency is in the neighborhood of 200 hz at 2300 rpm and the frequency increased with rpm. The thought that i...

John Vyn

For your sub structure I would fiberglass "c" channel from McMaster Carr. I removed all wood and build 4 longitudinal stringers and bonded them to the stern of the boat. Forward I used a channel and cut to dove tail to the main channels bonded to each main channel so I had a bonded box. Vertices wer...

John Vyn

I bought the boat in July this year. 3 months of safety and just plain fixing from the previous owner. Now I hear a clocking in the starboard transmission. Up to 2000 rpm trans is quiet, engines purr. At 2300 there is a mild slow click, over 2500 loud high speed click that can be heard over the engi...

John Vyn

One more thing. I bought the tank through High Tide Marine in Florida. They were great. I asked for the full, vent and pickup fittings to be moved from standard so they landed in the center of the hatches. I also asked for a visual, non electric fuel gauge to be incorporated at the pickup. They foun...

John Vyn

Thanks for the reply Marlin. My new tank only has hull contact for the first 9" from outboard in. The rear bulkhead of the tank was removed, so I have a cavity that is maybe 16" wide and about 6" high. I like the idea of being able to wash from stern to bow, so I've cut a limber hole in the forward ...

John Vyn

My boat has 3 battery systems - 1 group 27 for the starboard engine start, 1 group 27 for port engine start and 4 6v deep cycle golf cart batteries (2 each in series and the whole bunch in parallel) for the house and the 120v inverter. Each has its own charging leg from the Lewco shore charger. Port...

John Vyn

Well I got the tank out last Tuesday. We removed the inboard floor stringers, used a sawzall with a long blade to cut lengthwise along the tank. I removed the rear bulkhead, but couldn't get the wire started. I later found out there was a "keel" on the tank. So I drilled holes in the four corners of...

John Vyn

HI Corey, I have owned boats for 50 years. I started small and grew with the boats. The bigger the boat the bigger the budget needs to be. And if you want your significant other to participate (and you DO want that) start with something that can be used in between projects. The more she enjoys the b...

John Vyn

Thanks Pete for the very complete instructions. Capt Patrick also recommends wrapping the tank in cellophane to keep the tank from sticking to the foam. Thoughts. Also how do you keep the tank from rising as the foam expands? Or is the foam only on the sides?

John Vyn

I just purchased a 31 that has been sitting, basically unused, for the past 8 to 10 years. After new exhaust manifolds, heat exchangers, oil and trans coolers, new carbs, new rudders and a new muffler, I'm on the the fuel tank. I have ordered an aluminum tank from High Tide. Danny has been very help...

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