46 Convertible refit begins

[Mick c]

Hi All,The dream of refitting the 46 became a reality yesterday when we finally put the old girl on a hard stand in western Sydney. My friend Mick D and I are joint owners of the boat and we intend on doing most of the work ourselves.Our plan is to repower and completely refit the boat including rewire and complete fitout. At this stage we are assuming a 3 year project but would hope to do it again in 2. We are now focused on planing the refit and deciding on engine options and all other aspects on the boat. We would appreciate any feedback from you guys in relation to any ideas or advice on this build.I’m not familiar with forums so bare with me as I will try and post some photos and videos for you guys to see.Looking forward to the journey and I would like to share it with some like minded people. Regards Mick C and twin Detroit’s ( Mick D )

 

[Mick c]

Re: 46 Convertible refit Sydney photos

Hi all,Some more photos

 

[Boatsb]

Dont do anything until you have a plan. It's not the best idea to start without a complete plan.

Engines depend on what you want in performance and the hull will need mods to go to higher HP engines.

 

[osprey]

Have loads of fun guys.

P

 

[jim rosenthal]

As far as engine and generator choices, that's to some extent guided by what dealers you have in OZ and who will service them. All other things being equal, most people here would probably recommend Cummins M11s. Here in the USA, they are available on a factory 'reman' program which saves you some money. Cummins diesels are very reliable and they have been in the marine market for a very long time.

If the original Detroits are in good shape and run well, you might want to just clean up the engine room and keep them. Are they healthy?

Most important- have you guys done this kind of thing before? These are fairly complex boats and everything on them is old now...

Have fun with it all. Hatteras Yachts are very well made, and since you are down under, you won't see yourself coming and going all the time...

 

[Scarlett]

If you guys are in Sydney Au. You should get in touch with Scott in Sydney on this site. He is in the process of rehabbing a Hatteras Motor Yacht and has a lot of contacts in the marine industry, and besides he a nice guy. John

 

[tomrealest]

I have a 1974 46C that we redid. The Hatteras electrical wiring is very robust and I would investigate fully before ripping any of it out. We redid some wiring from the wiring blocks to the use for the wiring. We put digital voltage & amp gauges on the electric panel after we moved it from the floor of the salon to the top of the narrow closet going down the steps to below.

 

[dsharp]

I take it that you’re trucking the boat somewhere since you removed the bridge. What is the budget for the refit? Take plenty of pictures, please.

 

[Mick c]

Dont do anything until you have a plan. It's not the best idea to start without a complete plan.Engines depend on what you want in performance and the hull will need mods to go to higher HP engines.

Hi Sam,We have a reasonably good plan so far. We only require the boat to be a harbour cruiser so we don’t have any real intention to take it off shore for fishing etc but we will need it to be able to cruise up the coast on the odd occasion. We were thinking of Detroit 60 series engines which should give us 600 or 700 hp depending on how we rebuild them? We are open for suggestions though.

 

[Mick c]

Have loads of fun guys. P

Thanks for that. We are pretty excited about it.

 

[Mick c]

As far as engine and generator choices, that's to some extent guided by what dealers you have in OZ and who will service them. All other things being equal, most people here would probably recommend Cummins M11s. Here in the USA, they are available on a factory 'reman' program which saves you some money. Cummins diesels are very reliable and they have been in the marine market for a very long time. If the original Detroits are in good shape and run well, you might want to just clean up the engine room and keep them. Are they healthy?Most important- have you guys done this kind of thing before? These are fairly complex boats and everything on them is old now...Have fun with it all. Hatteras Yachts are very well made, and since you are down under, you won't see yourself coming and going all the time...

Hi Jim,Thanks for your message. We do have all the major engine manufacturers here and from what I know now cats/Volvo’s / Cummins/ would cost us about 160 k au and the yanmars would be about 40 k cheaper. We don’t want to spend this amount of money. We intend purchasing older engines / 8v 92 Detroit’s or we think that 60 series Detroit’s may be good ?? Whatever we get we will 100 % recondition so we don’t have any problems in the future. We are open for suggestions though. The 8v 71 need rebuilding and as you know very thirsty. I own an engineering company and I’m a Deisel mechanic by trade and Mick D the other owner has experience in medical gas and equipment installation and has done quite a bit of spray painting etc, so we should have most of the skills required.Regards Mick C

 

[Mick c]

If you guys are in Sydney Au. You should get in touch with Scott in Sydney on this site. He is in the process of rehabbing a Hatteras Motor Yacht and has a lot of contacts in the marine industry, and besides he a nice guy. John

Hi John,Scott has already touched base with me and has already helped me out. And yes seems like a good guy. Must be a Hatteras owner thing !! Thanks for your email. Regards Michael

 

[Mick c]

I have a 1974 46C that we redid. The Hatteras electrical wiring is very robust and I would investigate fully before ripping any of it out. We redid some wiring from the wiring blocks to the use for the wiring. We put digital voltage & amp gauges on the electric panel after we moved it from the floor of the salon to the top of the narrow closet going down the steps to below.View attachment 33443View attachment 33444View attachment 33445View attachment 33443View attachment 33444View attachment 33445

Hi Tom, Thanks for your email. We had already removed a lot of wiring from the engine bay etc and when removing the fly bridge we cut a lot out as well. We intend to just about strip the boat to a bare hull and start again. The wiring had years and years of add ons so it was areal mess.Thanks for the photos. Your boat looks great. Regards Michael

 

[Mick c]

I take it that you’re trucking the boat somewhere since you removed the bridge. What is the budget for the refit? Take plenty of pictures, please.

Hi,Thanks for your message. Yes we had to remove the flybridge to get it under the bridges and power lines here in Sydney. Had to be then transported early in the morning as a wide load wit escort vehicles. I don’t have a lot of photos of the removal but it was reasonably easier than I thought.Fortunately most of the screws up under the browe and the screws holding the flybridge down to the roof of the saloon came out easily. We had to disconnect some stainless hand rails as well. We disconnect/ cut all the wiring and hoses that went from the helm station down into the saloon and then down to the engine room. We then jacked off the the deck to the underside of the browe to make sure it was free before we attached to the crane. I think the flybridge has been removed before as there wasn’t much sealant holding it down (fortunately) . All in all it was easier than we expected. We then placed the flybridge on car tyres on the bow for transport.Allowing that we only intend to spend about 50 k au on engines our budget looks to be running at around 250 k Au allowing that we do most of the work ourselves. Keep in mind we intend to strip the boat back to a bare hull and start again. Regards Michael

 

[krush]

Do not do all that work and stick 2strokes back in it.

Series 60s would be very nice...get the bigger ones (I think ~15liters?)

 

[jim rosenthal]

Are Series 60s still available where you are? They were very popular engines with North Carolina charter boat captains, which tells you something about their reliability and economy. As he says, get the bigger ones- 600-700 hp per engine would get you excellent performance and economy both.

 

[q240z]

Hi,Thanks for your message. Yes we had to remove the flybridge to get it under the bridges and power lines here in Sydney. Had to be then transported early in the morning as a wide load wit escort vehicles. I don’t have a lot of photos of the removal but it was reasonably easier than I thought.Fortunately most of the screws up under the browe and the screws holding the flybridge down to the roof of the saloon came out easily. We had to disconnect some stainless hand rails as well. We disconnect/ cut all the wiring and hoses that went from the helm station down into the saloon and then down to the engine room. We then jacked off the the deck to the underside of the browe to make sure it was free before we attached to the crane. I think the flybridge has been removed before as there wasn’t much sealant holding it down (fortunately) . All in all it was easier than we expected. We then placed the flybridge on car tyres on the bow for transport.Allowing that we only intend to spend about 50 k au on engines our budget looks to be running at around 250 k Au allowing that we do most of the work ourselves. Keep in mind we intend to strip the boat back to a bare hull and start again. Regards Michael

Until I saw this post, I was tempted to make a joke about "that's not a refit...THIS is a refit" (pronounced in Mick Dundee fashion...knife scene in NYC, with a link to my Roamer post.

It's been my experience that with enough effort, you can get good running Cummins Diamonds and gears in that price range, but I don't know if 450~480hp is enough to push the Hatt 46. With the skill set you and your mate bring to the game, I think you'll be able to pull it off for that overall budget.

As to whether or not you can do it in 2~3 years...I hope you do, and I'll be watching every update! But if you splash before me, I'll be very impressed! lol

 

[jim rosenthal]

450-480 hp/side isn't really enough. I think the boat would just about plane, maybe... M11s, for my money. Or theirs. But they cost quite a bit more. I think Series 60s are a great idea, esp if he can major them himself..

 

[krush]

8.3 cummins are too small for the 46c. I have 8.3 in my 41c which is much lighter and a more efficient hull that requires less HP (flat ass).

 

[Mick c]

Do not do all that work and stick 2strokes back in it.Series 60s would be very nice...get the bigger ones (I think ~15liters?)

Your right there. We defiantly would like to get about 600 hp with electronic engines. I’ve been told that the 60 series are higher and may not fit in the engine room? Do you know anyone who has fitted these?