Show me your mods

[Leland]

It appears that many if not most of the Hatteras owners on this forum have made modifications to their beloved boats. What are some of the most successful mods you have made - those that have made the most difference in improving your boat and boating experience? Thanks,

bob

[jim rosenthal]

I'm the only mod left around here, now, as to successful, that depends on who you ask.

[jim rosenthal]

Actually, to take your question seriously, here are some of the ones I've done in 28 years of ownership, or had done, not in order of when they were done:

-convert Vberth to offset double (my boat is a Series 1 36C btw.)
-fitted Cummins diesels, after a not-great experience c Cats. Modern Cats are better, but they weren't around when I made the change.
-changed battery systems to a dedicated starting bank and separate house bank, also a separate genset battery. Also amp gauges with shunts on both AC input circuits, which have been helpful.
-Groco fresh water pump system.
-water heater with coolant loop in it.
-Slane rear quarter fenders (solid glass, to replace the wooden ones fitted when new)
-Corian countertop in head, with Scandvik sink and taps
-new hatches and Lonseal flooring, salon and head. This included SS moldings for the margins of the flooring, which made it look very slick.
-taking most of the teak trim off the aft bulkhead, recoring the rotten parts, and refinishing the remaining teak, which isn't much. Early Hatteras convertibles like mine have wooden aft bulkheads, which tend to rot. Most of mine seems okay so far, but a modern boat would have Coosa board or something like it in there, it wouldn't be wooden.

There are probably other mods but that's all I can think of. The rest is maintenance.

Oh- PSS seals. GoreTex shaft log packing wasn't around when I made the changeover, or I probably would have used that and left the original shaft logs and packing glands in place.

[SKYCHENEY]

Your answer is this site. Use the search function.

I doubt most will re-post the list of mods that they already posted when they were doing the job.

This site has it all. You just have to go looking around.

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Precisely. Modifications are in the eye of the beholder. You got an issue you don’t like, look to the huge database here and pick what’s best for your boat and your application. Anything can be improved upon.

[Pascal]

Where do I start...

53MY

Repowered with C series Cummins
Larger trim tabs
Moved the galley up to the back of the saloon
Combined the master and mid ship stateroom
Combined both aft heads and companionway in a single head
Converted the forward SR to centerline double
Build new electrical panel and moved close to helm
Re wired entire boat
Redesigned lower helm

In progress
Replacing flimsy weather boards with fiberglass (port side done)

Still to come

Build new forward head where dinette Was
Build office area convertible to berth where galley was

[jim rosenthal]

The only problem with Pascal's 53MY is not enough photos of what he's done with her. It's the biggest project I've seen on a Hatteras, and a lot of the changes are useful and interesting comments on the original design. Hint, hint, more photos.

Something I'd forgotten that I did- stainless steel ladder and boarding ladder steps, completed last season. No more cleaning of teak steps. I now have two kinds of teak- the swim platform, which just gets teak cleaner and no finishing, and the door and window surrounds, which got six or seven coats of Awlwood last spring. All I do with the stainless ladder treads is clean them with SoftScrub.

[Leland]

I just discovered (thanks to another poster) that this has already been covered well in another post in the tech section starting several years ago so... I am now scanning through those posts with much interest. Thanks again to the active members of this forum for being so willing to share information, experiences and knowledge. What a great resource!

bob

[Walter P]

I just discovered (thanks to another poster) that this has already been covered well in another post in the tech section starting several years ago so... I am now scanning through those posts with much interest. Thanks again to the active members of this forum for being so willing to share information, experiences and knowledge. What a great resource!

bob

Bob, While it has been covered ....several times... there are lots of new projects and new HOFers that
are still making modifications, so please keep them coming..

Walt