Any mid 80's 52C owners on the site?

[Blowncar]

If you got a 52C I got questions for you

[Briankinley2004]

Myself and Mr. Clarkson both have mid 80's 55 Convertibles. Not the exact same boat but a lot of similarities. The engines and engine room are the biggest differences.

[Boatsb]

If you got a 52C I got questions for you

I'm working on a few and have been on a few more. What's your question

[rustybucket]

We have an 86 52c, whatcha need to know?

[Blowncar]

i am going to send out a couple pm's to you guys tomorrow, thanks for responding

[Eddieclemons]

Sounds like a great thread of knowledge to keep public???

[finatic]

I have an 84 52c. Would be glad to help.

[Freeebird]

i am going to send out a couple pm's to you guys tomorrow, thanks for responding

Keep in mind that there are no dumb questions, but there can be multiple right (and wrong) answers. Just saying.

[Blowncar]

Okay just a few general ones then. I have an accepted offer on a 1985 52c 2 stateroom model with 8v92's @ 735hp. I have a surveyor scheduled but was curious about a few things.

Under the kitchen floor there is access to a tank, is it the water tank? If so where is the holding/blackwater tank?

Under the stairs there is a series of valves which make it appear there are a left and right water tanks, do they come with 2 or 1?

I've read Pascoe's review, is there any other areas of concern you've run across?

We will troll 90% of the time so I'm i'm wondering what the fuel consumption at 6.5-7.5 knots would be. I am guessing a little better than 1/1.

thanks

[rustybucket]

Okay just a few general ones then. I have an accepted offer on a 1985 52c 2 stateroom model with 8v92's @ 735hp. I have a surveyor scheduled but was curious about a few things.

Under the kitchen floor there is access to a tank, is it the water tank? If so where is the holding/blackwater tank?

Under the stairs there is a series of valves which make it appear there are a left and right water tanks, do they come with 2 or 1?

I've read Pascoe's review, is there any other areas of concern you've run across?

We will troll 90% of the time so I'm i'm wondering what the fuel consumption at 6.5-7.5 knots would be. I am guessing a little better than 1/1.

thanks

By your descriptions I'm guessing you have a galley down model?

For the water valves under the stairs, yes, you have two tanks, I'm not 100% certain of their locations though, we always call them port and starboard due to the locations of the fills and valves on our boat.

There is a pretty good thread on here where Cricket recently had to do some tank fixes on a 50 I believe, I believe the tank layout should be very similar on our boats.

The boat is an absolute tank, but from what we've found the engines don't like long periods at low rpm, so when trolling for any extended period of time we drop down to one engine and just run it at a higher rpm. This not only reduces overall fuel consumption by a few gals/hr but is also better for the engine as you are working the engine a little, leading to more heat, less carbon buildup and less slobber. Anywhere you read about detroits you will see repeated that they do NOT like prolonged periods of low idle. We swap engines every hour or so, I think allison has the recommendation on how long you can run on one engine and still be safe with the gears, it may be several hours before you actually need to swap.

1000-1100 rpm on one engine should put you at your desired trolling speed so you will be burning maybe a hair under 10gph I would estimate? *mileage may vary

Really a boat is just the sum of all it's parts. It helps to know a little bit of everything, HVAC, Pumps, electrical, fiberglass, plumbing...etc.

I'd highly suggest purchasing the manuals for your particular boat from Hatteras direct, there are detailed wiring diagrams and schematics included. Give them a call to get them. I think it was a few hundred dollars but worth every penny. They truly are manuals worth their weight in gold (unlike some other mfg's with generic manuals).

I'd also suggest getting the proper manuals for your engines. The detroits are great, you just gotta know what to keep an eye on and what problems/issues are ok to run with, and what issues/problems are not ok to run with. These engines can last thousands of hours, or they can be toast in a matter of minutes/seconds. Maintenance really is key, keeping the cooling passages clean, keeping the fuel clean/fresh, keeping the oil clean/fresh.

Best of luck with the purchase! I'm sure the surveyor will check all the usual suspects (rot, bad engines...etc)