bertram31.com

John Jackson

Nice work.

John Jackson

Vive la differance!

John Jackson

Thanks everyone. Randall, heck, mine would look good too if it was in the garage up on blocks....

John Jackson

Anyone have any ideas on the best way to repaint/recoat Cummins engines? After a year of use I have some rust spots and the manifold seems the worst. It looks like the paint on all of the hot spots has taken a beatin' from the heat, getting a little brown/yellowed. Plus various rust spots. Nothing b...

John Jackson

My guess is that verything will be cheaper with smaller motors. Smaller or stay the same shafts, struts, exhausts, rudders. Sounds like for the two motors it's half the price of one Cummins 270B. If you don't have to run 80 miles for blue water like us New Jersey guys why spend all that money for a ...

John Jackson

Mike, at least his flybridge looks good, almost looks like you did the gelcoat job on it!

John Jackson

The panel is the original rechromed. That cost about $100. I had Billy at Carver's do the switch from the Cummins panel to the original. It took him only a couple of hours. I didn't know enough about how the wiring works to feel comfortable taking it apart and it looked like the type of thing that i...

John Jackson

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k293/HMSHOUND/CIMG0557.jpg Here is the Cummins gauges in the original panel. http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k293/HMSHOUND/CIMG0559.jpg JP was the one who told me it could be done. You can buy the round bezels from a VDO distributor. They were about two bucks each.

John Jackson

Just filled my Whaler up and put it away. Lucky me gets to put it in the service bay of a friend who has a gas station who doesn't use the service bay. Anyway, next day I get a call that there is gas all over the back of the boat and on the floor and I better get over and clean it up. Seems the blac...

John Jackson

Bob, use a stiff rod. Those fish dive into the wreck or rocks and it's time to break the braid. You won't believe the muscle those little bull dogs have.

John Jackson

A December HMS Hound striper, my son's first:

Caught it, took the picture then he puked on the ride back. Takes right after the old man.

John Jackson

On one wheel I go about 4.5 kts GPS but it can bounce between 4 and 5 depending upon wind and tide. No problem steering with the big rudders. I think I am about 6.5 with both in gear, but I am not exactly sure because for stripers I never go on two. Offshore I troll on two but I pay more attention t...

John Jackson

What a treat to look at! No wonder the big smile in your picture. Good luck and enjoy it.

John Jackson

The used boxes I got that were originally on an express had a plywood core that got waterlogged and made the boxes weigh a ton. We cut the plywood out and replaced it with structural foam core and glassed it in. We also had to make the boxes a little wider to fit the new engines. The result was that...

John Jackson

JG: The 270's seem perfect for this boat. Fully loaded, I cruise 25-26. Top end around 29. I have hit 32 with the tide in shallow water with a low fuel tank. Load does not seem to matter. Five guys, ice, 245 gallons of fuel and I'll still bop between 25-26 at 2400, the rated cruise RPM. If you slam ...

John Jackson

Tony: Interlux puts out a pamphlet that has charts indicating which of their paints works well with which and also what paint to use in each application. I donâ€™t see how anything anyone can tell you will beat the manufacturerâ€™s own recommendations. You can get it at West and or anyplace that sel...

John Jackson

Tony: I don't see why not except that it does not have a real glossy finish, more like an eggshell type of finish.

John Jackson

I used Interlux Perfection as well as Richard's (two part) and I even used some Bilge Coat on the back of the panel that goes on the starboad side of the boat in the cabin with the peg board backing. The Interlux over the Epoxy Prime Coat works well and has held up fine. The Bilge Coat is a little w...

John Jackson

Congrats! Keep it going. Looks great, you're almost there.

John Jackson

Let's say that the boat cost $17,600 and that diesel was 30 cents a gallon. That means that the boat then was worth 58,666 gallons. Today, diesel is around $3.00 a gallon. 58,666 gallons would cost $175,999.99 at that price. I guess that the boat in good shape is worth about the same amount of fuel ...

John Jackson

I think everyone on this site will agree that no one has ever made a prettier boat. As far as overall performance, she will run side by side with whatever 46 years of boating R&D can throw at her. And my money is on the B31 to come home with the most fish.

John Jackson

I have heard that in 1961 a 31 Bert was somewhere between twelve and twenty grand. I think that my father bought our three bedroom house in 1963 for around ten grand and I think a good salary at the time was around $7,500 a year. If you do the math it took more work to get a gallon of gas than it do...

John Jackson

How about this: How many gallons of fuel could you get then for the same amount of money. Then take that number of gallons and multiply it by the price of fuel today and see what the number would be. In other words how many gallons of fuel is a boat today worth versus how many gallons was it worth i...

John Jackson

I had the same problem after bangning into a nasty head sea on the way back from Atlantic City when water got in and ran over the dash panel. Turns out if water drips onto the circuit board it can short it out. Mine ran with the alarm stuck on, then when it dried out it was on and off, but I had it ...

John Jackson

Check out this link. I never saw this article before on the site, unless I just missed it. It is about three of Bertram's boats comming in 1,2 &3 in 1964:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/artic ... 27,00.html

John Jackson

Wow. Congrats, looks great!

John Jackson

I have mine with Allstate and they were very easy to work with.

John Jackson

I had my canvas guy make a clear plastic cover for the front windshield. Looks great, has velcro along the front flat windows so you can still open them, stays clear, and works real well to keep the rain from leaking in (which is no small thing to me). But, out in the waves, some water does still le...

John Jackson

Has anyone been able to fix front windows so that they don't leak?

John Jackson

I have tabs on mine. I find that they soften the ride considerably in a head sea or on the quarter. But, when the head sea is enough to need the tabs down, it is like a fire hose hitting the front of the boat and water gets in from any little opening. Forget about being in the cockpit in these condi...

John Jackson

I saw some examples where the bottom paint went up over the chine and it did not come out as good as the Buddy Boy. On my boat I put the boot stripe along the chine. When I am fully loaded with fuel about an inch of the chine is underwater and my exhausts are 3/4 submerged. I have a teak deck, diese...

John Jackson

Carver's in Point Pleasant New Jersey does a lot of them. They are regarded around here as the best in the business.

John Jackson

What are the opinions on whether the boot stripe should follow the chine to the tip of the bow or follow the waterline?

John Jackson

You might be best off just buying new ones. Try Vehicle Controls Inc www.vehiclecontrols.com 800-457-7167 in Michigan. I bought all new VDO chrome round bezels so the new Cummins gauges would fit in the original B-31 instrument panel and the whole thing was $62.60 which included shipping.

John Jackson

You should talk to JP's dad, Joe Dalik. He put Rupps on my boat and did a great job. He made sure that the install matched the hard top angles and they work well. You might want to talk to Pat or Jason at Gulfstream and see what they think. It seems to me like thay have a great eye for proportion an...

John Jackson

Scot, A prior owner faired and painted over the gator skin and the cracks came through. I sanded mine down to the green my fiberglass guy rolled and sprayed high build Awlgrip primer and faired it out then painted with Awlgrip. I think that the only way to get rid of the cracking is to sand it all o...

John Jackson

I have a 1961, which is the first year. If the hull is any thicker than newer models, I couldn't tell although I never actually measured two cut-outs from two different boats. To tell the truth, the glass does not seem that thick to me at all. It is solid and well designed, which is what I think mak...

John Jackson

Carver's in Point Pleasant has at least two in their shed. I bet that they would let you look them over and take measurements.

John Jackson

Thanks from me too! It was great to meet some of the other Bertram owners and to relax and enjoy the great company. It is great that someone like Charlie steps up and puts it all together and puts up with all of the headaches so the rest of us can have fun. My guess is that we all greatly underestim...

John Jackson

give me a call 732-829-9853. I have a couple of questions. JJJ

John Jackson

Matt, You should really think about going to Carverâ€™s. They will answer all your questions and can order parts for you through their suppliers. They will even explain how to do things and help you as much as you need it. Plus their yard is like a Bertram owner magnet and you will be able to talk t...

John Jackson

Nice fish! Was there an article in the Ocean Star? What date?

John Jackson

Capt. Patrick: Wow! This just proves that when there is a will there is a way! How the heck did you come up with the game plan for that project? How many hours did it take? Is there any chance of the fiberglass delaminating from the aluminum? Any interest in doing another one? I like the way the sli...

John Jackson

Beautiful! How did they do the front windows? Are they fiberglass frames?

John Jackson

My boat has a desk calendar page with Boat #168 laminated into glass under the port vberth bunk. The date is October 23, 1961. That same date and "boat #" is written in what looks like magic marker with the same date and someone's initials on the forward bulkhead (between the vberth and the cabin). ...

John Jackson

I took all of the crazed gelcoat off of the Hound (well, at least half) using a Festool Rotex vacuum system. I had a professional fiberglass guy do the flybridge and inside the cabin. It was a mother of a job. I tried the chemical remover, but it was too aggressive and made me nervous that it would ...

John Jackson

Carver's put my motors in and Chuck did the sea trials for my warranty. Chuck seemed like he knew what he was doing to me and he was very thorough.

John Jackson

Kevin, that sounds pretty darn good! What engines do you have?

John Jackson

Harry, How did the "rebuilt" windows come out? Any problems reinstalling them? Who did the work? What exactly did they do? Any leaks? I want to redo my windows. I replaced my curved windows and had the outside rims fixed up by a welder. It improved the situation a little, but I would love to have th...

John Jackson

I just redid my whole cabin. For most of it, I took off the old formica (technically Wilsonart), filled the plywood where it ripped out with the old Formic, and then applied the new. In one or two places I went over the old. My old dinette had two layers of formica on it as a former owner obviously ...

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Rust control

1964 Time Article about Miami Nassau race

Thanks Charlie!