1972 Marinette 32 sedan Fly bridge removal and restoration of boat

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WeldZilla

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I have come up with my biggest project yet. It is a 72 Marinette. She is 32ft.6in. long with a 12ft. Beam. It is sitting on a nice 3 axle trailer. I need to get it home but, It is 15feet tall. I need to remove the flying bridge. I understand the un hooking and marking every wire and cable connection so I can put them back where they belong. Its getting the fly bridge itself free to set on bow for the trip that I know nothing about. Does anyone out there have any experience at this??
Here is a shot of the boat. there will be many more. I had to buy it. where else can you get that much aluminum for $1500!! I am going to have a ball with this boat!!

WZ
 

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WeldZilla

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Thanks it will be better when I learn a bit more about these boats


WZ
 

jbcurt00

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Is that an I/O or an inboard?

At 32ft i doubt it, but planning another conversion to a pod w twin OBs?

I dont know anything about 32ftrs but helped rehab an aluminum 24+/- Marinette in the way back..

No flybridge but it did have twin helms and a Fireball 8 inboard. Displacement hull so after getting 'most' of the bend out of the driveshaft, he ran it for years..... Slipped year round @freshwater

Helluva lot of boat for $1500. I bet storage fees were killing the PO.
 

jbcurt00

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BTW: I think i remember the Marinette factory was just across the river from Louisville, KY in Jeffersonville, IN. Near a naval munitions fab/depot place that built and tested the AGIS (sp?) system.
 

GA_Boater

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I would guess that at 15' high, the Beast was transported with the fly bridge removed when new. Maybe the structure won't be that hard to take off. Max vehicle height has been 13' 6" for a long time. Of course at 12' wide it had to be permitted load, so the height might not mean much except when a low underpass is in front of you. Any low bridges on the way home? Is it a long trip?

Wish I could help more than just guesses and hope someone does have the answer you need, WZ. BTW - Will the reno include a bracket? :D
 

WeldZilla

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Well as many here know I do like brackets and outboards. for the price I paid I can go a lot of ways. My first thought was a bracket. The boat has 2 318 inboards with velvet drive transmissions. They have not been started in over 2 years but they ran. The owner I bought the boat from fogged them. He says they are a great package and get about 1.31 mpg at 22knots. He would rebuild carbs put on all new hoses, put on new alternators. There is only 20 gallons of stabilized fuel in the tank. The boat is a mess, just needs a serious cleaning. Where the bronze brakets that hold the swim platform are bolted on the corrosion has eaten nearly through the 3/16 5086 aluminum. (Marinettes were all built with 5086 aluminum as this formulation offers the maximum protection against salt water) It's quite a bit more spendy than 5052. But it must be used in all hull repair or you would have some serious corrosion problems. I will use the same 5356 wire. I will replace that part of the stern with new. There will be many pictures to follow. This should be fun!!

WZ
 
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I just did this a few months ago. Removing the flybridge is a 2-person two-hour job. Just take a lot of photos of the wiring before disassembling. The only tricky part is removing the throttle and gear shift. Remove the chrome top plate and wiggle the handles through the opening in the dashboard.

There are only a few screws holding the flybridge on and these are easy to remove. Lift the flybridge off and set it on top of the cabin ceiling and tie it down. I also removed all of the rails to make sure I had enough bridge clearance.
 

WeldZilla

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Thanks the gentleman I bought it from thought it came off with a sawzall. I hoped he was wrong. This will be quite the experience. Hey hurricanedeckboat
Have you got yours in the water yet? have you got the 318's? Where my swim platform bolts on it is ravaged with galvanic corrosion. The new platform will be welded on. Thanks for posting a shot of your boat and for the info

WZ
 
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Thanks the gentleman I bought it from thought it came off with a sawzall. I hoped he was wrong. This will be quite the experience. Hey hurricanedeckboat
Have you got yours in the water yet? have you got the 318's? Where my swim platform bolts on it is ravaged with galvanic corrosion. The new platform will be welded on. Thanks for posting a shot of your boat and for the info

WZ

I have a lot of pictures I can send along. My boat is a 1978 and spent it's entire life in fresh water so there is no corrosion at all. I have the dual 318s with a closed loop cooling system, but the engines were not winterized or serviced properly. As a result one of the engines had rust in the cylinder and the both engines had small cracks in the cylinder heads from overheating. I found bits of the rubber impeller in the manifold.

So I pulled both engines and I'm having a local shop rebuild them from the ground up. I plan on replacing the seals in the transmission and the prop shaft. I am also going to replace the entire fuel system as well. I plan on 2 years for the restoration, but If I can get the motors back in, I may put the boat in the water next year.

Incidentally, my swim platform is fully welded on. One important way to eliminate corrosion is to NOT use silicone or other soft bedding between the dissimilar metals. Use TefGel for the screws and a HARD plastic spacer between the metal components (e.g., the stainless stanchions and the aluminum deck). This is how my flybridge was bolted on and it is corrosion-free.
 

WeldZilla

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Well when I am done the new platform will be welded on. all the hand rails will be aluminum and welded on. I am going to have a ball with this boat!!
New aluminum is the order of the day.

WZ

Hurricanedeckboat your boat is a beauty!!
 
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WeldZilla

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Yes it is. The wife and I have been looking for a boat to retire with in a few years. We boat the lower Columbia River. We have fished and crabbed a lot out of Ilwaco Washington. I took the wife out on a bottom fishing charter with a group of guys from work and she discovered she liked the ocean. So we decided to get a boat big enough to take the inside passage to Ketchikan Alaska. She runs our current boat when crabbing so I will get her trained up on this one too. I would like to have this boat in the water by summer. This might be a lofty goal but I hope not. In the meant time I still have my 22ft. and a little Valco 14 footer I bought and customized for us last summer. We had a ball with the little boat too. It is real handy for lake fishing and running across the bay to get our steamer clams!! This was before the customization began well except for the transom extension to accommodate a new log shaft 15hp Suzuki. Well the work will start in earnest next weekend on the big boat. As it is still at the seller's place which is 40 miles from my place.
 

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Weep'n Willy

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Wow, that is a beast of a tin and what a great price too. For unexplained reasons I feel like I am drooling all over the keyboard. That would be a great project. Will tag along.
 

Scott Danforth

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great looking project, mind if I tag along?

you can use 5083 in lieu of the 5086 if you want. the cost is the same, however you may be able to find the 5083 easier than the 5086 from some suppliers
 

WeldZilla

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Thanks to all for looking in!! Hurricane deck boat if you want to send me some pics of the brackets that hols on the fly bridge I would appreciate it.

Either way its coming off this weekend so I can get it home!!
Need to get started on the clean up.


WZ
 
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