bertram31.com

CamB25

Thanks! Working through your comments. the Hutchins website and studying the application guide, it seems that the model 3960 might be the one to get for the removal/leveling/flattening process: http://www.hutchinsmfg.com/View-Product.aspx?group_id=101023" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false...

CamB25

Ha! I have a collection of long boards....I'll save those for the final cut! At 48, I'm in pretty good shape, but not good enough to long board this deck by hand!! Thanks for the suggestions, keep 'em coming! Think of this job as like sanding the wood floor in your living room. Using the small rotar...

CamB25

My 25 has a brand new Coosa deck installed and glassed (polyester) with a spray of white gel coat over the top for curing. No penetrations made yet. It's essentially a 25 foot long, by 9 foot wide rough surface in need of leveling and fairing before final finishes are applied. What tool(s) should I ...

CamB25

Single screw? Large sail area...must be a real chore to maneuver in even a light breeze!

CamB25

Corecell is much lower density than Coosa. I used it for bulkheads, with a couple layers of 1808. Coosa 26 was used for higher loaded applications with larger spans, i.e. deck panels, also glassed with 1808. Coosa takes glasses just as easily as Corecell, in my experience (limited). If you can find ...

CamB25

I would stay away from power tools until you run out of other options. Use a flexible flush cut saw to cut the handle off.

CamB25

John,

i would try heating the handle with a heat gun in an attempt to break/degrade the glue bond before I reached for the saws. You may be able to knock it off with a rubber mallet or wood block/hammer after the glue gets warm.

Good luck!
Cam

CamB25

John, Try to remove the formica in large pieces, using a wedge/chisel to break the bond (shear break versus tensile break). I don't think you will be able to remove the formica without some de-lamination of the plywood because the contact adhesive is stronger than the wood itself. To repair, I would...

CamB25

If they are indeed anodized, then I recommend stripping/etching then have them powder coated black. But...I don't recall if powder coating is complatible with a anodized surface. We had a similar fading problem with aluminum window frames on railcars. No issues since we switched to powder coating th...

CamB25

That will work. It appears that the tank bed was extended all the way to the engines. I'll bet there is a step in the bed to contain the tank in the aft direction. Simple solution.

CamB25

John, Here's a fuzzy shot of the tank installed for a test fit. This after I decided to blow out the forward cross stringer to enlarge the tank to 130 gallons. We added bulkheads fore and aft of the tank area as well. Also shows the Coosa on the stringers to raise the deck height and the backing pie...

CamB25

Here's a shot of the OEM tank and battery area from 1963. Your's should be similar, without the center fiberglass stringer. You have holes in the center of the cross stringers. http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz62/camsbertram/100_0942.jpg All water should drain to the keel and flow aft along that...

CamB25

Sounds good. might make a good parts donner for your boat

CamB25

Lots and lots of them in the Wilmington area. Seems like a reasonable boat, kind of a "value" priced boat. My brother in law has a 21 CC that he bought new a couple of years ago for less than $30k with a trailer. He likes it, but it only sees intercoastal and cape fear river duty. My only gripe with...

CamB25

I might put it back inside and pick up an already running newer boat -- it seems there are bargains out there, I'm in the market for 23-27 feet so who knows if this will happen. This might be the right call unless you want a project. Regardless of the power choice, I suspect you are looking at $30k...

CamB25

Tom, The limiting dimensions of the tank are defined by the height to the deck w/clearances for fills, width between stringers, and length between cross stringers. For an unmodifed 25 with a 3/4" tank bed resting on the keel ridge, the maximum height of the tank is 13", width is 42" (need 4x 3 edge ...

CamB25

my 63 is/was blue. The original color is the lighter of the two in this shot. This is an older picture...now the boat is green...currency green from all the dead presidents that I have used on it over the last few years! ha!

CamB25

Would these Groco units be overkill for a simple raw water system that feeds 2 live wells and a wash down?\

Cam

CamB25

NC rendezvous??? Any details?

I also like the aquarium glass live well. I'm installing twin wells in the new transom seat with glass fronts - double mullet lottery!

CamB25

Very Nice! I really like the choice of lighter wood stain in the cabin. Thanks for positng the pictures.

CamB25

Our boats ride bow high enough, running angle seems high, trim/tilt cylinders will be taking a powder within a year.

One reason I'm trying to get away with a single 300 on my 25.

CamB25

hhhmmm.... may have found a boat that rides worse than a flat bottom Carolina Skiff!

Can you imagine being locked in the hold of that beast! Makes me sick just thinkng about it!

CamB25

Nice! thanks for the info. Looks good with the black bottom and white boot stripe.

CamB25

I like blue.

I like that blue, Capt. Frank. Is that an awlgrip/awlcraft color? empress blue? marlin blue? My 25 was light blue from Bertram and I'm thinking I'll stick with it!

thanks

CamB25

Welcome back! It's been a busy year! We've all given up on the Bertrams and moved on to Bayliners! Capt Pat hasn't updated the website yet, but I'm sure it's on his TTD list!

clorox anyone?

CamB25

I'm not a Chebbie guy, but I love the look of the shark with side pipes! Seems like you might be approaching this backwards. If you are going to replace the cam/heads/intake, why not pull the engine now and pre-fit the pipes before dropping the engine? Pulling the engine is a lot easier than trying ...

CamB25

Frank,

Call Stuart Foreman (owner) at Hi Speed Welding for a quote on a frame. His shop is next to Beau's on Market St. Makes all the frames/T-tops, tanks, etc. for Beau.

http://ryderracks.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Cam

CamB25

I'm still going through serious B25 site withdrawal pains..maybe we can take it over? Port it into the B31 site? It would be great to exapnd this site to include the other Ray Hunt Bertram hulls - 25s and 20s. I can barely type, let alone program HTML, but I'd be a willing volunteer and contribrute ...

CamB25

Sounds like a "force majuere", i.e. bad luck. I can't image throwing a rod through the block without a pre-existing mechanical defect. Do the engines have ECMs that can provide "black box" style data?

CamB25

its amazing the work involved to make such a subtle statement..most will overlook..except for the guys in this sandbox Ha! Ain't that the truth. The inside of those glue-ups are where the magic lies. Looks like 2, 3/4" pieces of iroko glued together...wrong! Each section is cored with 13 ply BB ply...

CamB25

Thanks, guys. Your comments are convincing me to hold off until I can place it on the boat in early January. I have a model of the seatbox (visible in the second photo) that needs to be "fit" as well. Now might be a good time to hold construction. The L-shaped seat base is assembled, the armrests ar...

CamB25

I'm working on the helm seat for my 25. The upper back slat is curved. I can't decide between mounting it low so that the outer L support tops are exposed, or high so that everything is covered. If I go with the high position, I'll need to cut down the outer L supports to follow the curve of the sla...

CamB25

Nice job, Frank! I hope to see you on the water this year! Watch out for the 13 whaler with a rat on the bow...crazy captain!!

CamB25

Rocket - what is a Hunt 16?

CamB25

If you have compressed air, the best tool is a small, right angle cut-off tool for most of the tabbing. I never bought the big compressor to power air tools. I used everything in the tool box (no air power). The Dremel or Fein vibrating tools work well. Bosch makes a good one, too. I smoked the Drem...

CamB25

mmmmmmmmm.....new engine....mmmmmmm....red!

Looks great, Ian! Finish it up and ship it to Indonesia!!!

CamB25

Kyle, good plan - flipping the boat to work the hull and bottom! All tabbing must be removed or cut through along the seam line to remove the cap. I did not save the old rub rail. I cut the heads off the machine screws with a grinding wheel, cut a small slit in the tabbing at the nut locations, then...

CamB25

Kyle, Removing the cap is a chore. If you were able to remove those wood screws you must have "skills"! Those are the 2nd toughest part! 1. Completely strip interior of boat - everything. 2. There are one or two layers of 4" fiberglass tabbing that join the hull to the cap. You need to cut through t...

CamB25

We wanted to ensure that any water that might (will?) get into the closed cavities had a direct path to the bilge. There is a narrow channel between the stringer and the foam aft of the tank fill cavity that runs to the OEM drain in the stringers at the transom. Forward of the tank fill is fully sea...

CamB25

Ian - I seem to remember that you used pre-formed foam stringers for replacements, but I can't remember the brand.

CamB25

Thanks, guys. Yes, dual fills/vents, single tank for some extra convenience. Actually its an artifact of my inability to decide between a single and twins on this boat. The stringers are Bertram originals. We cut down the center stringer to make the tank bed and the floors for the center console and...

CamB25

My biggest buddies owe me money and are, therefore, hard to locate! Ha!! It would be a kick to rope them all together and have them perched on the outboard bracket...in January!!

First deck panel is in!!!

CamB25

John, Ian Upton just did this to his 20 before he left for Indonesia. I'm sure he will offer excellent advice. Too bad the 25 site is gone as he had a complete picture record there. For my project we used epoxy for all structural elements. Zero Ve so far. Poly used for deck panel fiberglassing over ...

CamB25

Thank you both for the insights. Water will be easier to work with. I need about 14 cubic feet (100 gals) on the engine bracket to get 800 lbs. 2 55 gallon drums. I need to fab a steel platform that can bolt to the outboard bracket and support the drums. This all probably a waste of time and effort ...

CamB25

I preparing to float test my reconfigured B25 in early January. I do expect it to float! The primary purpose of the test is to check static trim with the large mass pieces (engine, tank, console, batteries) in place and make any adjustments fore and aft if the trim is off. To simulate engine and oth...

CamB25

That's a nice one, but I wouldn't do it to a flybridge model. $310k seems a bit high... by a factor of 2. But you can't get it if you don't ask for it!

CamB25

I hear ya! 25 foot boat and an outboard! 2 strikes against me and I'm pushing my luck! At least I didn't mention "single w/ IPS"!! If I win the lottery tonight, I will team up with Capt. Bone and build one (maybe two) kick ass B31 outboard boats. Let me clarify....I will COMMISSION the building of 2...

CamB25

Well, it was worth a suggestion. You responded before the jackels could get organized for the attack!! I think the express would make a very nice conversion to outboards. Depends on what you want to do with the boat. I'm engaged in a CC conversion of a 25, including a single outboard on a bracket. L...

CamB25

I can't resist.....twin outboards on a bracket!!! You'll save enough money on gas to pay for the re-fit!

I'm going to regret this post...

CamB25

Sometimes my eyes are bigger than my (fill in the blank). Another Bertram project would cost the remainder of my sanity, life savings, and a marriage!!! Ha!!!

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