bertram31.com

Just opened a Photobucket account, we'll see what happens Kevin.

One pic of my boat, if this works anyone can do it! LOL!!

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w194 ... sh_photos/

Both boats look great.

Great...just when I think I'm making progress on my B28 I see pics like yours. Very nice! :)

Beautiful job! How fast were you going in the pictures?

I really think that the 28' was made for the new, smaller diesels. It just got produced too soon for the technology. I'm guessing about 25kts in the pics

Thanks for posting the pics! That was about 27-28 kts with full tank of fuel. She is about 150 rpm shy of recomemded wot. 733 lbs or so per side, engine and tranny. Roughly 400 lbs lighter than small blocks. More lard in the rear may actually get bow out of water more. Time will tell. Need to tweek props also.

Kevin,

What is that covering on the cockpit deck? Did you put that on?

Dick

Kevin,
Between the cosmetics and the repower you must be very happy. The boat looks great! I have the same inquiry as Dick about the cockpit deck. Also, where did you get those side panels around the cockpit (glasstech?) and can we see some more pics of those?
Thanks,
Matt
1975 B28 FBC

The boat is Awlgrip cloud white. I Just masked and painted the deck portion Awlgrip moonsdust with nonskid in the paint(sprayed on). The flybridge deck is also moondust color. The panels around the cockpit are to my knowledge the originals and I simply prepped them the same way and had them sprayed also. I think it is just some sort of wood panel board with a water resitand out cover, similar to formica. If you look closely at the dark strips of wood near the stern cleat, they are just traingular cut pieces of wood that trim work. They had been painted black by previous owner. I stripped them and cetoled them. (It looks like stained eurethene in the can.) The wood might be teak, hated to cover it with paint. The cabin door had light oak formica over it....very rough shape. I took the door off and gave it to the painter to deal with since I was in a time crunch for the boat show deadline. I pulled off the light oak formica and found the original dark formica under it. Painter said you may want to check this out about two hours later. I walked over and he simply sanded all the glue off the original mica and sprayed it with cetole....looks like a new wood door now. I will get some more photos for you guys. Oh, and the gunwhales and bow are oyster white if I did not already mention that. A lot of blue tape and some patience turned out a decent three color job.

Kevin,
Thanks for all the details, I appreciate it. I like that tri-color effect, as well. Unfortunately, my side and stern panels are shot so I'm going to have to replace them. Thanks again for the info, and by all means keep the pics coming. It's motivating to see the potential of these boats.
Thanks,
Matt
1975 B28 FBC

Kevin,

Really nice boat. I like the cockpit, the different colors look sharp. Did you replace the cockpit sole? or is it original?

Scot

Kevin:

That deck does look sharp.........what's with the coaming pads though - it's a 28 not a 31 !!!

Be great to see pics of those Steyr's.

1398

That is the original sole. It was waffle pattern but had a lot of wear and stress on it. Sanded primed and painted was all the that I did. Of course I made specail efforts not to be the guy that had the spray gun in my hand. Bad things happen when I try to paint. So is a 28 not suppossed to have combing pads? Preston, you have me confused............not a difficult task to confuse me! Well I may be buying bean bag chairs when the funds are available. So those may make it look like a bubble boat. I will get some more pics with better paint detail and pics of the steyr's.

Kevin,

I have a 1975 B28 which I re-powered last year with Merc 260 Bluewater. After the installation I found out that hatches hit the flame arrestors. I had to modify both the flame arrestors and the inside of the hatches to have a nice closure. No a huge problem. I am thinking about a Steyr repowering sometime in the future. Did you have any hatches clearance problems when you installed the Steyrs ?
Thanks.

Hey Kevin, My B28's bench seat is shot, what did you do for yours? Custom or is there a source out there? Same question for the combing pads.

I'm been thinking of getting rid of the blue topside and flybridge stripes and move toward a white/tan/black/gray color scheme and you've convinced me. Its amazing how modern and attractive the old B28 looks "stripped down".

Lore,
I do have clearance problems. Lengthwise they are great, widthwise they are outstanding. The height is the problem. The chrysler 318's that I yanked di not fit either. The only engine to my knowledge that would fit is the merc 233. Remember, there are many different engine bay combos from year to year. When you neeed numbers to compare let me know, I will guide you through. Right now my hatches are pretty redneck. 1x3 in the front track keeps em up. As soon as I am done fiberglassing 100 dollar bills into the cabin I will get to the hatches.

Steve,
I had a local welder build me the frame to my specs. It has a folding foot rest which you can't see in the pics. The aluminum work was about 600. A local canvas guy made the seat. It is hinged and folds forward. That was about 400. So I have 1000 or so into leaning bench seat that I can sleep on, and I am 6'3" the plan is to put a box of some sort under the seat. The foam is 4" thick. I like to call it "the couch". Not very traditional for a 28 but I love it and would never go back.

Here is where the color scheme came from. Wife said let's do a tan colored cockpit to break it up a little. I thought.....uuuuuu, OK. Not my idea and I was skeptical but ended up liking it. then the canvas guy saw the deck and thought it would look good if he put the little tan stripes in it. Turns out he was right also.......in my opinion anyways.

The same canvas guy did my combing pads. Think I paid 500 for those.

I will post some more detailed pics in the next couple of days. Thanks for all the compliments!. if i forgot to answer any questions let me know.