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pschauss

Sounds like a great idea. Saturdays work best for me.

pschauss

My owner's manual says that it is located in the starboard engine compartment. I looked in there along the forward bulkhead near terminal block but I did not see anything obvious. Am I looking in the right place? My understanding is that the breaker for the pump was wired directly from one of the ba...

pschauss

Mine is a '78 so that probably explains why I have the lower station and the bulkhead.

FWIW, having driven the boat once from each position, I can see why the lower station was not popular. It's really hard to see where you are going from the position inside the cabin.

pschauss

Tony, My sport fisherman does not have an ignition switch either, but the cabin does have a rear bulkhead with a door which locks. (I don't have a key for it at this point, but a visit to a locksmith is on my task list.) Looking at pictures of FBCs, I suspect that my cabin bulkhead may have been add...

pschauss

Thanks for the suggestions. I will keep a bucket and line handy in case I need to make it back on one engine. (My Sea Tow membership is paid up.) Of course, if one engine stops completely the diagnosis will be much easier. Based on my experience keeping two old British sports cars (MG and Austin Hea...

pschauss

This is my first season with the boat and I have only had her in the water since last Friday. She has the original Mercruiser 454s. The starboard engine has stalled on me three times. The first time was shortly after I started her when I picked her up at Westin's gas dock in Sayville. At the time, I...

pschauss

I checked mine with a test lamp and they are wired directly to the ignition switch.

I have ordered new meters but, of course I now have no idea how many hours are on my engines. The port meter says 1400 hours and starboard says 1800.

pschauss

Peter Send me a PM with your email address and I will send you a copy of the Owners Manual for the Boat. Page 36 has the wiring diagrams for the 31, diesel, gas and dual station. Will not be able to do it until Wednesday night, as I will be away, but I will send it to you via email. Tony, I just ch...

pschauss

The starter buttons on the flying bridge do not work even when I turn the ignition on from that location. Am just dealing some electrical gremlins or is there something that I am missing? All of the gauges on the flying bridge work.

pschauss

Great maybe we will see you out on Sunday My daughter, visiting from Finland, wants me to take her and her two children over to Sailors Haven on Sunday so I may be over that way. I'm still on a learning curve driving this boat for the first season. All of my previous boating experience is with smal...

pschauss

As I suspected, my engine hour meters are not working so I need to determine whether the problem is in the meters or the wiring. If I turn on the ignition should I see voltage across the wires which feed them or is there some sensor which detects that the engine is actually running?

Thanks,

pschauss

The yard finally got Water-Lou in the water this week. This afternoon I made the 30 minute run from Westin's in Sayville to Nicolls Point Marina in Oakdale.

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice over the last six months.

pschauss

When I wire up the new gauges should I use an anti-oxidizing compound like Penetrox on the ring connectors? If so, which type? They list several different types depending on what metals are being joined

Thanks,

pschauss

Pete, Thanks for that information. Do you know who made the tachs on these boats? They say "AC" on the front which I assume means AC/Delco. Also, how difficult is it to get at the back side of the instrument panel to remove, replace, reconnect the gauges? I will, eventually, be replacing the gauges ...

pschauss

It looks like I may have to replace some of the gauges on my lower control station. Where is the best place to buy gauges which will fit the original console and be compatible with the sensors on my Mercruisers?

Thanks,

pschauss

My boat came with the frame and canvas for a bimini. Can someone post a picture which shows how it should be mounted on the flying bridge of a B31?

Thanks,

pschauss

I would definitely want to meet up at Sailors Haven. I'm just across the bay in Great River.

pschauss

Do you have a GPS, and if so, which one? I don't have a GPS yet. For sailing on the bay I just relied on a paper chart and compass. Pete, Thanks for the welcome. We are in Great River. I have a slip for this summer across the river at Nicolls Point Marina in Oakdale. You may know our boat since her...

pschauss

This will be my first season with Water-Lou after 40 years with a 19' sail boat on the Great South Bay. What are the minimum features that I should look for in a VHF radio and which brands/ models should I look at? I am not expecting to go any considerable distance offshore, if that makes a differen...

pschauss

How can I tell when my zincs need to be replaced? As near as I can tell from the receipts I got from the previous owner's daughter they were last replaced five years ago. The boat is still under shrink wrap so the only ones I can see are on the shafts and rudders. They show some pitting but it looks...

pschauss

You need to be careful to place the cockpit controls in a location where no one will bump into them. Thirty years ago I was working on an environmental survey for the Shoreham nuclear power plant. We had a 40' Chesapeake Deadrise (single screw) with throttle and shifter on the side of the engine cov...

pschauss

Two related questions on sea cocks:

- With the boat out of the water, is there an easy way to test that they don't leak when shut off?

- Do you normally close them when you are not using the boat?

pschauss

Interesting article. Tony Accardo lived a few blocks from where I grew up in the Chicago area. I never met him or saw his pink boat but his son was a year ahead of me in grade school.

pschauss

HyenaLuv wrote:Mine is 165, according to the tank tag. Usable is around 155. Original fiberglass tank.

Any problems with ethanol from your fiberglass tank?

pschauss

How do I add an avatar to my profile?

Thanks,

pschauss

Thanks for the heads up.

I know about the ethanol issue. The boat has an aluminum fuel tank.

Given that she is in the yard and we have a foot of snow on the ground here on Long Island it will be a few months before I top up the fuel tank.

pschauss

My boat has the the original engines that came with it in 1978. The Mercruiser owners manual specifies 93 octane gasoline . I bought the boat from the owner's estate so I can't very well ask him. The guy who showed me the boat was putting 87 octane in her and the guy at Oakdale Yacht gas dock said t...

pschauss

This seems like a good time for me to thank you guys for all of the helpful responses to my questions as a new Bertram 31 owner. Having spent 40+ years messing around with sail boats I have a bit of a learning curve and some of my questions have probably seemed pretty basic. This list is a great res...

pschauss

Full serial numbers are 4890408 (port) and 4890233 (starboard), read directly from the plate on the bell housing. The port engine had remnants of the original label on the right side valve cover which had traces of a serial number which looked like it would have matched the number on the plate. Alon...

pschauss

Are the risers fresh water cooled?

pschauss

Yes. There is one on each side. They fit in the hole like a stopper.

pschauss

My boat has what appear to be the original Mercruiser 454s, but the exhaust manifolds and risers (see attached picture) don't look like the ones in the pictures that I have seen on line. Is this a standard setup? (This is my first attempt to attach a pictures so I apologize if it does not work.) htt...

pschauss

Does anyone know of an online source for the owner's manual and shop manual for the 454 Mercruisers? My boat is a 1978 with engine serial numbers 489xxxx. The ones that I have seen on Ebay are mostly for more recent engines.

Thanks,
Peter Schauss
Water-Lou
B31 SF

pschauss

My boat is a 1978 B31 SF. Engine serial numbers are 4890nnn. Is it likely that these are the original engines?

Thanks,
Peter Schauss
Water-Lou
B31 SF

pschauss

One of the options on the winter storage checklist for the yard that I am using is to remove and store the batteries. I assume that the rationale for this is so that they will be fully changed in the spring. Is this really necessary. When I put my 1963 Austin Healey away for the winter in October or...

pschauss

I have a 1978 B31 SF with the original 454s. What should the coolant level in the expansion tank on the top of the heat exchanger be when the engine is cold? The system does not have a coolant recovery system. (For those of you who responded my post about repowering - Thanks for the advice. We close...

pschauss

mike ohlstein wrote: Peter.... who used to have 2 31's out in Hampton Bays?

Not me.

Peter

pschauss

Thanks for the helpful suggestions. Assuming I went with a turnkey package like the one from Michigan Motorz what could I expect in the way of labor costs to install? I am on Long Island if that makes a difference.

Thanks,
Peter

pschauss

I am looking at a 1978 31' Flying Bridge Cruiser. At this point I have not dug into the history of the boat enough to know the service history on the engines except that I am told that they are original. I have read some of the posts here about upgrading to diesels so I understand that that is one o...

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