Need advice on purchase of T38

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

Congrats Allan Cheers

I'm sure you'll have many pleasant weekends aboard!

Tom

zdunc · **Joined:** 24 Sep 2013 09:20 **Posts:** 393

Congrats! I just hit one year with mine. Really love Holiday.

alpinista · **Posted:** 29 Oct 2014 13:12

Good for you, Allen! I'm sure you will fall in love with your Tartan. We've had Betty Lou for 6 years now and couldn't be happier with the choice. But don't think the purchase price is the end of the cash bleed... Betty Lou was in great shape when we bought her, but we still spend $10k per year in keeping her in shape. So far we've done a few things:

Where on the west coast is your home port? I'd love to get a west coast T37 rondezvous organized someday soon.

Velera · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2006 09:38 **Posts:** 656

Good for you. Get a couple of opinions before thinking about separating the keel or replacing the bolts. This is major expensive work and I think the outcome of the intervention could well be worse than the initial "problem". The fact that there is discoloration or some rust, does not mean that the bolts are no good---even stainless rusts some. Also, a crack in the keel or one loose bolt is not a huge issue generally. There appears to be a tendency among new owners to over react to some issues that are not that serious on this exceptionally well-built boat. I speak from experience-- I spent 14K reglassing and fairing the bottom of my boat shortly after I got it and in retrospect, it was gross overkill. I have had the boat for 22 years and really have found no major construction weaknesses.

Allanlowery · **Joined:** 20 Jul 2014 02:18 **Posts:** 29

This is an issue in which I'm really going to need some good advice!
I have not seen this boat again since this past July, so in regards to the keel bolts I'm going by memory.
There were 5 bolts that looked original that had some sort of corrosion, from electrolysis I guess. 5 or 6 other bolts were much newer looking and were estimated 1/8" larger in diameter.
They were obviously added, but if a solid repair was done installing the newer keel bolts why would anyone leave the original corroded bolts instead of replacing them? In Addition, how can adequate strength assured in only 50% of original 10?
The 5 bad bolts were checked by the surveyor, Who took his pocket knife and buried it about 3/8" into the bolt just above the nut on all 5 nuts.
This repair done properly has been priced by a Ventura boatyard for around 20k.
The only reason I bought the boat with this significant of a repair was because of it's very good condition otherwise compared to other boats on the West coast. If anyone knows of a process to assure that the keel is well supported or if not knows of a cheaper but safe, substantial repair, I would welcome the advice!
Thanks!

Tortuga's Lie · **Joined:** 27 Oct 2006 10:32 **Posts:** 827

I wonder if the 5 new bolts were of the hanger variety? They wouldn't have to drop the keel but I have no idea if these types of bolts would be adequate for a keel bolt configuration. The lag thread would go into the soft lead fairly well I would think but would it hold? Maybe if it were long enough?
Hanger bolt:

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hanger bolt.jpg [ 4.08 KB | Viewed 541 times ]

Timshel · **Joined:** 29 Dec 2010 10:24 **Posts:** 191

Hi Allan and congrats on the purchase. I would think,with some detective work, that you could find the previous owner who had the work done and get details. Maybe thru the USCG documentation dep or the local vehicle license dept. Worth some serious effort to get the details. Good luck, Bruce.

Allanlowery · **Joined:** 20 Jul 2014 02:18 **Posts:** 29

Thanks to all for the big WELCOME!
To answer where my home port is,
I am planning on Morro Bay eventually, after keel repair and a few upgrades in Ventura.

Down2TheC · **Posted:** 02 Nov 2014 09:16

Good luck with it. Hope you find the keel wasn't as much of an issue as you were led to believe. If you are in need of major rework, I still think you can't do better than going back to the mother ship. It's at least worth an estimate. Then you know any modifications from the previous owner would be put back to T37 standards. Feel free to post pics if you want to compare with OEM. (But if as you say they aren't all the same size, something definitely happened to yours which would explain the corrosion... substandard materials on the rebuild.)

Allanlowery · **Joined:** 20 Jul 2014 02:18 **Posts:** 29

Does anyone possibly have a drawing or information regarding a T38 keel design?
Your help would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

Tartan37.com

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