Marinette Boat Forum

I just bought ( 7-3-17 ) a 1968, 32 foot, Express ( without ) Fly Bridge. The seller was the son of the 1st and only owner, who passed away a few years ago, and the boat has been in storage, inside, for about four years... He knows almost nothing about the boat, But he went above and beyond to make it run, and make it as right, as possible, for me..! I need to know how much fuel, fresh water, and waste she holds.. The waste tank was set up for direct discharge, that has been removed, and capped off, no-one ever installed a pump out connection. ( That is going to be my 1st project ).. But any help on figuring out the fuel tank size, and fresh water tank size, would help.. I'm sure I will have more questions as things come up.. Not only is this my first "M", it's my first inboard, my first twin screw, to own, ( I have piloted them in the U.S.C.G., but never owned one ).. So yes, I have lots of questions... I will say this.. I fell in love with this boat over a year ago, when I first saw her.! She was well taken care of, and it showed.. For a year I tried to get the money together to buy her, always expecting her to be sold at any minute..! But the Gods have smiled on me, and she became ours, just a couple days ago.. My wife LET ME, buy the boat, based on how it looks out side.! { And my opinion of the Sea Trial..} The wife has not even been on board yet. The boat is that clean.! By the end of the month (July 2017 ) we plan to have a recommissioning and renaming event.. But first things first, we need the head fixed..!! Then I have to rig a fuel gague, and find out how much ( Gallons ) she holds.. Running out of Gasoline is just not an option..!!
Thanks for any and all help...

For your head issue, do a search on this site for " waste tank/s setup ". I've detailed the installation pf a waste tank in that thread.

As for gas guage issue, Your fuel tank "should" have a sender unit mounted on the top of it (?). A single wire runs from there to a gas guage at the steerimg station.
If...
1. The guage isn't working, search the site for "gas guage" and run thru those threads on how to check functionality of the guage.
2. The guage is working but still no reading, then check continuity of the 'sender' wire running from the tank to guage on an ohm meter. If that's good...
3. May be time to replace the gas sender located in the gas tank. There are 2 ways to go..
A. Use the generally used float style (Moeller's one brand).
- the slight drawback to these style senders is the fact there are baffles inside most tanks. To ensure the free movement of the float arm, the arm may need to be bent. This COULD affect gas remaining in the tank (s) reading.
B. Use a straight up/down sending unit. Called a "reed type"
- my suggestion is Wema brand. http://www.wemausa.com/
If you have 2 steering stations, they make units which will allow gas guages at both upper and lower stations.

Bill

Costie, Semper Paratus
I have a 1973 express 32ft. Glad to see you giving the one God the credit. Consider using it to His glory.
My gas tank holds 100 gal. Water tank 40 gal & 30 gal waste rank added under rear hatch with pvc pipe to head.
It has a vent w/ filter to the port side and a pump out fitting on port. Just use pump out vacuum at marina. May want to consider draining any old fuel & crud that may be in tank.
Does not seam to be as many express models out there. Sure like mine.
Wayne

I would modify what Wayne recommends: If there's ANY fuel in the tank, replace the fuel. Four years is way too old with any ethanol formulation. YOu could, very carefully, filter it but that is way too much effort for the value of the remaining fuel. Maybe, you could shlep it home and use it for your mower and be a friend to your neighbors but that stuff is valueless for a good boat.
By the way....good luck with your new toy.

Wayne, Carl, Bill and Joel.. Thanks so much.. Looks like I have a busy weekend ahead of me..! I plan to run the waste line, and check out the electrical connection, add a hand rail from the hard top down to the gunnells on both sides, so the wife has something to grab on to.. ( Short legs and big boats are a difficult combination..) and figure out tank capacities.. I might even find time to assemble the new gas grill.. They say it's going to rain around here, all weekend, so that will give me an excuse to work under the rag top.. One of my Coast Guard C.O's often said: " If you don't want to get wet, don't get on the boat in the first place.." I always thought, we got on the boat, to keep from getting wet..!

Mine is a 1969 32 express bridge. 150 gall. Fuel 40 holding water and I believe 20-30 waste. My fuel gauge is a float and needle setup that is in the top of the tank checked through an access hole in the deck floor.

That's how my fuel is set up also.. I wish it had a dashboard gauge, it would be so much easier.. I am a double amputee and getting down on the deck is not going to be the hi point of my day, l.o.l. ! But I choose this boat for her beautiful lines and style, and condition, so if I have to give a little, so be it...

My gauge is a top tank read. I dumped the inaccurate wired one years ago. Never did trust it. But you do have to open the hatch to read it.No big deal but for some it would be.

safe boating,
dave

I had a '68 and now a '71 Express. Visual read on the gauge through a hole in the deck. 80 gallons approx. I've never run it down much below 1/4. If your eyes are good, you can read the gauge while filling by setting a flashlight at the edge of the hole and don't have to be kneeling down. The glass on the gauge must be clean. Mind that these were set up to indicate full by spilling gas out of an overflow line into the lake/river. Best to stop filling before that.

I wouldn't run 4+yr old gas in anything but an old tractor. You might have a lot of water at the bottom of the tank after so many seasons. When I got my current Marinette she looked pretty on the outside but I found the previous owner didn't know much about what was below deck. He had lawnmower style plastic inline gas filters, one of which fell apart when I touched it, just to name one issue. I can tell you are pretty excited to get underway, but I'd suggest going over every system carefully before pushing off. A boat that age likely has some hoses, wiring, pumps & etc. that may need attention. One owner doesn't say anything about the quality of 50 years of maintenance on the safety systems. The wiring will not be to code as they didn't use tinned wire then. There will be corrosion. Look at the connections. Look at the wires. Look at the hoses. Make sure your bilge pumps work, and on and on. See if you can break off any of the through hulls, go ahead and try it. Some of them are difficult to access, galley and head, bow and stern bilge, water and gas tank vents. Some of these are at water level rather than current expectations of 4 in up. Three week is maybe a little ambitious? Disassemble raw water pumps and inspect impellers. Just a few thoughts. They are great boats. I think mine is good for another 100 years. I spend my summers cruising around the Great Lakes. The best of luck to you. Safety first, fun later.

My fresh water tank capacity was 4 days. I increased it to 7 days.

Skye

P.S. Maybe you should pay to have the packing glands repacked. This is doubled over work but you kind of want it right.