bertram31.com

Pete Fallon

Stephan,
4800 RPMS sounds like she's got a small prop 4400 to 4600 is about right. Good luck, nice looking boat.
Pete

Pete Fallon

Stephan, I just got back from the Boston area last night, It might be too late but the best engine surveyor in the area is Bob Gallagher 978-807-2163, he is SAMS accredited since 1998 and a good friend. If you have any reservations about the Volvo mechanic give Bob a call he is in Beverly, Mass. Be ...

Pete Fallon

Bottom Line, Be careful if you take off the entire fuel plate the cork gasket is no where to be had, if you damage it you will have to make your own out of a piece of cork gasket material from NAPA auto parts. There are about 24 bronze 1/4 x20 fine thread bolts that thread into the backing plate, ma...

Pete Fallon

Keith, The engine sounds great, congrats. I have a question is the diamond plate real or is it the plastic stuff, and why is there so much standing water in between the engines? Keep up the good work, be careful electic battery charger, real metal diamond plate and water hoses are a shocking acciden...

Pete Fallon

Faithful,
A real POS with port holes, I never got why they had to put in so many thru hulls above the water line. Take off the soft top and the bow rail and it's looking like a poor excuse for a sex toy.
Pete

Pete Fallon

Bob,
Lot's of hard work, blood, sweat and a few tears. Really nice looking boat. You'll have to get on the wicked tuna program, let them pay for a nice ride.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Mike,
I use a bit and brace for most of the heavy screws,like the ones that hold the stern cleat into the backing block. I didn't suggest the bit and brace because most people don't even know what it is. You have to be an old fart like you and me to own one.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

JohnV8r, That bulkhead is tabbed into the hull at the bottom and on the hull side, depending on the extent of the rot I would replace the entire bulkhead it's only a half sheet of Coosa board, but there are alot of wires and hoses that are attached and with the engine in the boat it might be easier ...

Pete Fallon

BoBMX,
Make sure you add a good sized backing plate under the floor of the fly bridge, that area isn't the thickest FRP laminate, either an aluminum plate or epoxied plywood to spread out the load. Nice looking design, Release makes quality items.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Kieth, If your going to use the nut serts(that's what I always called them). Use stainless ones with stainless steel bolts so you don't have dis-simular metal corrosion problems, also I would add a little epoxy with the tape over the bottom of the insert for holding power and water intrusion into wo...

Pete Fallon

JohnV8r, Those two areas are common rot problems in the 31's, I had them on my 31 Express, after 50 years the water got in between the gap above the board where the engine box sits, remove the wood engine box rest piece and clean out the rotted area, as for the door bottom Whalers fix is right on. T...

Pete Fallon

Steve, Congrats on the new power plant, What amazing difference in condition of your northern fresh water boat, compared to what I usually see after years of neglect in salt water down here in Florida. I am going to be away from May 14 to May 21, I 'll be in touch with you after May 25-26, that shou...

Pete Fallon

Steve,
Let me know when the deck is in so I can finish up the repower survey.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

John, Replace the tank with at least 3/16, 3/8 is better, 6061 is the best grade for the tank. There has been years of water damage to the bulkhead bottoms and they should be replaced. I am concerned about how deep the saw cuts are into the laminate schedule where the old tank support was cut out. I...

Pete Fallon

Sandygold, Which frames are you talking about, front opening frames, aft bulkhead or the side windows. High tide in the Florida Keys might have some replacement windows but the original supplier is long gone. You could cover them with teak strips if they are on the inside of the cabin like Uncle Vic...

Pete Fallon

Harry & Bob, The original barge that blew up was reported to be an empty CNG( Compressed Natural Gas) that was in dry dock.The others were gasoline barges that were docked nearby. My prayers go out to the3 injured in the blast. I don't like being around compressed gas barges, trucks or even small ta...

Pete Fallon

Mikey, Your area of cruising is in the Cheasapeake Bay correct? They must ahve very stringent discharge of waste zones , so I would put in the largest size poly plastic tank that will fit under the floor hatches either inside or outside the cabin area. You don't want to be pumping out the head holdi...

Pete Fallon

Chris,
Call me on my cell if you want to talk about the 440's and ethanol. My cell is 561-310-7179 call me after 4:00 PM tomorrow.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Chris, Welcome aboard, boat looks great, keep the water passages clean in those 440 Chryslers and don't use any ethanol gas in them> I had them in my 31 for years, they like to drink fuel, try and keep the secondaries from opening you would be amazed at how much fuel you will save. I changed out to ...

Pete Fallon

Keith, To each his own on the deck arrangement, myself I only like to replace things every 20 or 30 years. My deck supports are 1" white oak painted with 5 coats of thinned epoxey then thru bolted to the stringers with stainless steel fasteners, they run fore and aft. I have a 3/8" aluminum H frame ...

Pete Fallon

Keith, Usually you will get vibration from worn cutlass bearings, if there is any side play or up and down play replace the cutlass bearings. They are cheaper than reworking a tranny. Most alignments are between .003 to .004 on a feeler gauge. After the boat is launched and has set for a few days th...

Pete Fallon

Mikey, I have a 31 Express also, I put in a 10 gallon holding tank under the cabin sole nearest the head compartment, it's a short run for hoses( head discharge, vent line and pump out) My boat had a 18 gallon poly plastic water tank that was between the engines under the step down hatch. When I red...

Pete Fallon

Keith, I would use some water and dish soap to lube the cutlass bearings and then spin them. If they are still tight I would check to see if there are and bends in the shaft or strut barrel, the cutlass bearing might be worn out also. The should both spin freely when disconnected from the trannies, ...

Pete Fallon

Tommy, I had a similar thing happen years ago back in the 80's I was installing marine electronics. I went on a 36' sail boat that had been closed up all winter, when I opened the main hatch I was greated with a huge snarling racoon and 4 babies, needless to say after leaving the hatch open for a fe...

Pete Fallon

Bob, Thanks for the encouragement. I am really getting sick of this knee problem, going on 13 years since I had the first one put in in 1999 only lasted 6 years and it actually broke the insert, so they put in another one it loosens up after 4 years and this one has not been right since it was put i...

Pete Fallon

Faithful. I am seriously trying to sell my 1961 express cruiser, first 35K takes her. I need to have more knee surgey #17 and I don't see me using the boat this summer. No brokers or keel kickers. I will update listing sheet in a few days. She's a 1961 Hull186 which is hull 85, low hours on big bloc...

Pete Fallon

Dan, I am not an expert but have done a lot of marine wiring in the past 35 years of owning my 31 express. I have a 125 volt 30 amp shore power inlet on the port side just aft of the engine box on the side panel. Marinco or guest outlets are both good recepticals.(as long as the have a screw on or p...

Pete Fallon

Russ, I love the light interior and moving the head forward is a good Idea, it allows lots more light into the back part of the cabin, nice choice of colors inside and out. Live well is like a goggle eye lottery for the baits, youv'e got to have a numbering system for which bait is next to come out ...

Pete Fallon

Faithful, 300K for rice burners that weigh 1600 pounds on the transom, I don't think so. Our boats ride bow high enough, running angle seems high, trim/tilt cylinders will be taking a powder within a year. Not my idea of spending 48K, must have cost a small fortune just to beef up the transom. I can...

Pete Fallon

Harry, Some of the insurance companies would haggle with you weather it was a total loss or maybe it could be rebuilt. Don't laugh I've had them question why had I totaled a boat, their ajuster never got out of his car to look at a 46 Sea Ray with no transom left and the wiring hanging out the side ...

Pete Fallon

LJMauricio, The vent in the middle of the transom is for natural air flow, there is a FRP chute glassed into the inside of the transom behind the cockpit covering panel. It is an open funnel effect from just below the cockpit sole ledger board out the transom. These were only on the early 31's. When...

Pete Fallon

Kurt
Danny at High tide might have the insignias, he's in Marathon in the Keys, there was a guy in North Carlonia that was making them for a while a few years ago, can't remember his name off hand, maybe someone else on the board might remember his name.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Kevin, Sorry to hear that you've got a major blistering problem. I would have the boat hauled and jack standed instead of leaving it on your lift. The boat has to dry completely, on the lift your going to get pockets of moisture where the sun never hits and areas that will never dry over water on th...

Pete Fallon

Faithful, The video of the Strike 37 fighting a marlin, is total crap. The first few frames show the boat hooked up and the fish jumping. The rest of the video shows a FBC sinking, looks like an Ocean or Viking. The video I watchwd was on AOL 2-16-2013 at 11:15 A.M. What was he using for line 2000 p...

Pete Fallon

Brewster, Where about in Belize do you go?. I was down there for 10 days back in 1994, went to Turnefee Island Lodge, just for the bone fishing, it was shortly after a hurricane hit the area. They had a generator that they ran for about 4 hours a day sounded like the take off runway at JFK. Fishing ...

Pete Fallon

Capt Bone, The minium size trailer for a FBC would be 16,000 lbs- 18,000 would be ideal size, make sure you get adjustable bunks and triple axel with brakes. Tow truck should be at least a F-250, we had a 350 duelly with power stroke diesel, is what I used to tow the 31' Jupiter with triple axel and...

Pete Fallon

Capt Bone, The spec sheet says aprrox 12,000 lbs dry. The old 172 gallon fiberglass tank is about 100 lbs, 233 gallon aprox 125 lbs. Depending on engine manufacturer they all weigh different amounts. MY 454 Mercruisers with FWC ,trannies and hoses run about 875 lbs each. I weighed my boat a 1961 exp...

Pete Fallon

Bruce,
Lets not get carried away, surveying a sailboat from north of the border equals thoughts of self castration.

Pete Fallon

Martin,
I am going to be in Boston for medical appointments from Feb 6 thru Feb 12, I am free from the 13th on, call me on my cell 561-310-7179 or home at 772-221-1932. I do not do sail boats.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

John, Looks like she's still got the Nautlex cockpit sole, look at the dip behind the starboard engine box. The Volvo 43 series are smokers, but not as bad as the 41 series if I remember correctly, but they are good on fuel, not going to be a speed demon around 23 Kt boat. Volvo parts are expensive ...

Pete Fallon

Bob, The teak planks have come a long way since I picked them out of the stack of boards, in a storage locker, great work. I was talking to Rose & Mark at M&R wood supply and they asked if you had used the boards yet. I was going to call you and ask what was going on, with your permission I will sho...

Pete Fallon

Doug, In my opinion the 20 Bahia Mar is the best of the 20' models. There was a guy in Salem that had a Bahia Mar back in the 80's. He ran a computer company (web servers) at Shetland Park. His name was Pete (can't remember his last name). He really did a nice job restoring the boat. Check with Norm...

Pete Fallon

Keith, There are not any requirements for blowers in a diesel application, if your present blowers are in place and are working I would leave them in the boat, the scoops can provide extra air flow into the engine box and help to remove heat build-up from the boxes. Air flow for diesel is a major fa...

Pete Fallon

Mike, Don't put the batteries in the bow area, they will end up braking loose and long runs on cables is asking for a fire due to heat build-up, plus it's just not the correct place for them. Keep them in the stern area, short run with heavy cable will never give you a problem. As a surveyor I do no...

Pete Fallon

Troy,
I saw an ad in Boats & Harbors under gears for sale. A pair of running take outs ZF 220A 1:5:1 gear ratio. Buy one or the pair $950 each. Adapter plates $100.00. Located in Rhode Island 401-744-6577. Good luck,
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Bob Lico, Bob do you happen to have the trim pieces that went between the 2 glass sliders, sort of a double U joint arrangement to keep the water from getting into the salon. Someone decided that they needed them more than I did and stole them a while back off my boat, they are aluminum about 18" lo...

Pete Fallon

Goober, I usede the brass T-bolts from a plumbing supply house, they have been in the window frames since 1995 with no signs of corrosion, I used lots of Tef gel when they were installed. Like Tommy said the front windows were factory issued aluminum, the fiberglass replacements were first put in by...

Pete Fallon

Mike,
Wool Plumbing Supply is a large plumbing supply company with offices in Miami, Sunrise, Ft Lauderdale ans West Palm Beach. They had the t-bolts back in 1997 when I was building Jupiter 31's. They were brass, maybe they have stainless at this time.
Pete Fallon

Pete Fallon

Mike, I forgot to mention that the windows were bedded into the frames with Dolphinite bedding compound so don't be alarmed if you start seeing brown goo on the frames. You can use a heated thin blade putty knife to cut thru the Dolphinite if it starts to hang up on the frames. Use black commerical ...

Pete Fallon

Mike, The curved windows on the forward winshield are attached by T-bolts that are inserted into the outter frame track. Get a couple of cans of corrosion X (red can) or PB Blaster. Spray entire frame inside and out and let set for 2 days. Start at the conners and work all around use wood or plastic...

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