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John F.

I don't know how this would play out in real life in a B31, but from the torque curves the 496 puts out about 125 lbs. more torque at 3000 rpms than the 6.0 or 6.2.

John F.

We got out for about 2 hours Saturday late afternoon. I had brought stuff up for stripers, but we ran into a school of 8-10+Lb. blues about a mile from the inlet. We caught 7 in the hour plus we fished, with my Dad (age 84) bringing in 2 on the biggest spinning rod we had--all the rest were caught o...

John F.

Supposedly, TPL south along the Western Shore to Ches. Beach. A couple guys out of QAM have caught some nice fish--low 40s". I haven't been out, so I haven't seen anything actually caught. I'd get out if I could though.

John F.

Thanks for the replies. Brewster, I'd love to fish with you, butI called and my Dad wants to fish his boat in Mattituck and my Mom expressed her feelings, as only a Mom can do, that I, and more importantly, my son/her grandson, stay close and fish for as little time as possible. Sometimes you got to...

John F.

Happy Birthday

John F.

I'll be in Mattituck this weekend at my parents house for my Mom's 81st b-day. My Dad's boat is still in the water, but I really don't want to take it far from Mattituck inlet. If I bring up trolling stuff, are there fish around by the inlet? Thanks. John F. Its really starting to heat up on the Bay...

John F.

Obviously a ploy to revive the boating industry by stimulating the sale of boats over 21'.

John F.

Uh, yeah, I'm going with Hueso on this one.

John F.

I just gotta' say--my 454s start up almost instantly every spring and just purr. They may be down on top-end power, but they start and idle great.

John F.

Congratulations.

John F.

I've been wondering what to do myself--first winter with the new tank in my B31. At this point, I'm going to lay her up as empty as possible. First, she'll sit for 4 months or so, and even with stabilizer, I don't trust the ethanol gas to be OK in the spring. If its not OK, dealing with 230 gallons ...

John F.

That tank is something. My tank looked fine--no ethanol. Looking at yours makes me happy that I went to aluminum before ethanol. I'd hate to have gas from there running through my 454s. Good luck with the rest of it. Nice job.

John

John F.

Even with the weather as bad as it was, I had a good time. You may have had 1 painkiller to many, but we also got on the Judge 35. Before you got there, I got on a 22' Grady Seafarer with a single 225 4-stroke--show priced at $78K. That to me is one of the reasons why the boat industry is in trouble...

John F.

I have a 170 gallon or so fuel tank out of my 1969 B31 gasser that's never seen ethanol. If you're interested, we can work something and 100% will go to Capt Pat.

John F.

Just noticed you have a 28--sorry, don't know if it'll fit.

John F.

John D. and I are probably going Friday afternoon. Anybody else?

John F.

Lots of memories. Went to the Springnationals (I think that was it), and spent a fair amount of time at Westhampton. Spent alot of time at the MX track at Bridge for a couple of years. I visited Sunrise Hwy (again, I think that was it) and Clearview to spectate, and we had a local place up on 25A th...

John F.

I can't help on numbers but can tell you that when I had my B31 FBC hauled from LI to MD the pricing I got varied from around $2800 to around $1200--so check around.

John F.

I have them but only very rarly use them. Only when I have too many people onboard who dont sit in the right places or keep moving around so I have to use them. They have cost me many huge fish that got snapped off because of them. They may have gotten snapped off without them I dont know. The only...

John F.

Rawleigh-

Congratulations.

John F.

John F.

That was pretty amazing. The guy starting the motors better not slip or they'll be calling him lefty.

John F.

That's pretty cool--great work. It looks like alot of meat went to waste though.

John F.

CMP-

If you're patient on shipping, you can get a pretty great deal. There'll be alot of haulers looking for something to back north with this time of year.

John

John F.

Bob

That looks perfect. Congrats. I really hope to see your boat some day.

John

John F.

Bob-

Post some pics. if you can.

John F.

John F.

Harry-

Kent Island, Maryland. On the Chesapeake across the Bay from Annapolis. The creek I'm on goes into the Bay--about 1 mile, 12 minutes.

John

John F.

Kurt-

Thanks. Water pump was done winter of 2007, so I think I'm OK for at least the rest of this year. I do water pumps every other season.

Harry-

Thanks. Nice spot to be, and a great hurricane hole.

John F.

John F.

Ian- Here are some pics. The motor can tilt up with the splash-well door up. I keep it up pretty much all the time. I have no idea on shaft length. The lower-unit just barely sits in the water at rest. She floats pretty well on her lines, even though she has two batteries, an oil tank, and a 30 gall...

John F.

Here's a link to my B20 from an earlier post. I really wanted to do an O/B conversion on a 20, and that was already done. She runs great. I've had her a year now, and use her alot. The moppie layout is really pretty practical, so the CC conversion will be whenever I get to it. http://www.bertram31.c...

John F.

Check out CMP's B20--he posted recent pics below. That started life as a moppie. I have a moppie that'll become a CC eventually. Personally, I think its a pretty good way to go. Every B20 I looked at except CMP's (which had been redone) and the moppie i bought, had rotted decks, transom, and stringe...

John F.

I looked into this awhile ago. I asked a couple of mechanics I trusted what they thought about remans. Both said that the only reman they'd put in would be from mercruiser. They didn't think the other remans. were reliable enough. Or, if you have a reputable builder in your area, you may want to giv...

John F.

Looks great. When you get your props figured out, please post numbers again. It looks to be about a 15% increase in fuel mileage now--I'm curious to know where you'll wind up. 4400 hours--very impressive.

John F.

Bob- I have a minimal policy on my B31 for the boat itself, and have an umbrella that covers liability. In addition to the boat or someone getting hurt, if something happens and there's a fuel spill (environmental damage) and the USCG gets involved, I've been told that the clean-up numbers can add u...

John F.

When I did my teak/holly ply floors, I used the West "non-yellowing" hardner. It may not have yellowed as much as with the other stuff, but it did yellow the holly a bit. I used a couple of coats West thinned, a couple full strength, and then 5-6 coats of a satin poly "varnish." I figured I'd have t...

John F.

There's probably a better way, but I've got 454s and use 2 group 31s. They have more than enough power, and can get run down pretty far and still start 'em just fine. And I don't leave my boat plugger in/on a charger.

John F.

She looks great in yellow. Looks a little less fishy without the T-top, but I like the open cockpit with no top. I still have all your pics. printed out for when I tear into mine.

John F.

Capt. Patrick's oversized rudders are probably the best thing I've done for my B31. I can low-speed (2.5 knots) steer on one motor, where I couldn't with the stock rudders, and at cruising speeds she turns alot sharper. If I were doing it again, it'd be the first improvement I'd make.

John F.

John F.

For Sale:

Contender 23. T-top, tournament console. Light use and low hours. Below book. Must sell, bought new boat.

John F.

Nice work...thanks for sharing.

John F.

That was great.

John F.

I plumbed a small (13 gal.) holding tank, and have a pump-out on the port gunnel. It was probably $200 or so in materials (tank, expensive white hose for sewage, deck fitting, vent, etc.) I replaced the electric head that seemed to have more moving parts than the rest of the boat combined with a lit...

John F.

Tony-

I have only seen 1 B31 with small blocks (350s), and they were a repower. Every other B31 had BBs (Mopar or GM) or diesels. I didn't know that SBs ever came from the factory. I'd like to see some performance/GPH numbers from a repower with the 6.0 or 6.1 Merc/Crusaders.

John

John F.

Base power looks like a small block. Interesting.

John F.

If you currently have raw water cooled manifolds/motors, then I can see why the manifolds are going after 5 years. My mercs have closed cooled manifolds, and raw water is dumped in the risers after going through the heat exchangers. Closed cooled manifolds should last more than 5 years I think...

John F.

Check, but I think EBasic Power and Larry's Lighthouse/Parts-man (online places) have sets for 454s for about $600. That's manifolds, risers, gaskets. At somebody's suggestion, I got Mercruiser exhaust mani. gaskets instead of the after-market ones. By modern, I guess your mech. is referring to cent...

John F.

Chris- Not opening up is an easy fix--wish mine were so simple. I got the 4-blades off of Dug when he repowered to have a spare set of wheels and try 4-blades. For my use (Chesapeake Bay) and my application (gassers) I don't notice any difference. Really glad your fix is something that should be sim...

John F.

I think my 454s (and most non-HO marine 454s) are supposed to go to 4200-4400 WOT. As they've gotten tired, they can't get there anymore. Along with that has come the secondaries opening closer to 3000 than 3200 like they used to. I had the same set-up as Chris has, but on a FBC with an enclosure, a...

John F.

Take a look, but I think its about 50 miles.

John F.

Congratulations. That's got to feel great.

John F.

Randall-- Easy way to check is to throw a timing light on, mark off on the harmonic balancer whatever full advance is supposed to be (maybe 28 degrees? don't know off the top of my head), and then run the motor up and see if you're getting full advance. I'm not sure that would explain the lack of id...

John F.

Randall- You can get a cheap vacuum tester at an autoparts store. The owner's manual for your motors may list what the gauge should read at idle, and how it reacts to throttle. On my 454s, there's threaded bolt on the intake manifold a few inches behind the carb mounts that you thread out, and plug ...

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