Uniflite 42

I've wanted to replace a "lost" boat for several years now and have spent the last few months searching. I live in the Sacramento area of California and after scouring the local marinas I made several scouting trips to the PNW. In the process, I learned what I really wanted and eventually tracked it down. By the second week in June, I expect to close on a single owner 1984 Uniflite 42 double cabin. The owner had custom ordered it, supervised the build and kept it in fresh water most of it's life. Very clean boat, aside from a riser replacement very few survey findings and I'm looking forward to having it delivered by mid June. She has twin Crusader CH350's so my range isn't what I'd like but the very solid sea keeping hull should make for some enjoyable coastal cruising.


(The picture of the phone like instrument is vintage '84 GPS!)



Tak

I know the 28s, 32s, and 34s were tanks and very well built so this one should be as well.
Good luck with her.

Congratulations! I owned and lived aboard a very nice 1975 Uniflite 42 ACMY that I purchased in Newport Beach CA in 1990 and brought up to San Francisco. She had Cummins 555s and was a good boat that had been nicely improved by the previous owner. I've often thought boats like these (Viking 43 comes to mind) are good affordable entry boats for wannabe trawler folks. At its core, not a lot of difference between it and a GB42 or similar except for lack of exterior teak.

There are two threads presently on the refurbishment of a Uniflite 42 DC like yours by sbman, one on his boat and one on the Detroit 671's. You may find these interesting as he has really dug into his boat in a big way and is doing nice work on it.

Thank you! I'll look it up. Electronics update is the first thing on the menu.

Congrats on your new boat. They are very nice.

l always suggest that you work with the boat as it is including the electronics UNLESS the item simply does not work. That way you can assess better what you really need instead of listenting to a lot of sales pitch bafflegab. If you have really researched fine but unless you have done that , wait and use the boat as is.
I have seen people jump into projects like that immediately and then something else more important comes up or they later realize they were ahead of themselves.

And yes, those are good boats, very well built. We have known people with them.

Thank you Dave. I'm sure you'll start seeing much more of me on this forum now!


Tak

C lectric,


Good advice. Radar is ifffy, VHF has no AIS or DSC, GPS isn't exactly stone age, but at least middle ages. No chart plotter. There are 2 ancient Loran units that won't get a fix which is just as well since I don't have any of the required charts. I started looking at Standard Horizon and discovered they're out of the chartplotter business. (Still getting their radios because I like them.) Looked at the usual suspects Furuno, Raymarine, Simrad, Garmin and Sitex. Sitex won hands down in terms of functionality v cost. I'll have a 12" GPS chartplotter, radar, sonar, VHF/DSC/AIS, 2nd handset and a loudhailer horn for less than $4k which is about right. I'm fairly handy so if all goes well (favorite astronaut phrase) I'll be able to install them. If not, I'm sure you'll see a LOT of questions!

Bafflegab? :lol:

Tak

Takoradi said:

C lectric,


Good advice. Radar is ifffy, VHF has no AIS or DSC, GPS isn't exactly stone age, but at least middle ages. No chart plotter. There are 2 ancient Loran units that won't get a fix which is just as well since I don't have any of the required charts. I started looking at Standard Horizon and discovered they're out of the chartplotter business. (Still getting their radios because I like them.) Looked at the usual suspects Furuno, Raymarine, Simrad, Garmin and Sitex. Sitex won hands down in terms of functionality v cost. I'll have a 12" GPS chartplotter, radar, sonar, VHF/DSC/AIS, 2nd handset and a loudhailer horn for less than $4k which is about right. I'm fairly handy so if all goes well (favorite astronaut phrase) I'll be able to install them. If not, I'm sure you'll see a LOT of questions!

Bafflegab? :lol:

Tak

Click to expand...

That's a really nice looking Uniflite! The layout is quite a bit different than my '77 42DC. It looks like you don't have a port side opening door at the helm station?

On mine, all of the equipment is original, including a LORAN and even a Furuno fish finder with scrolling paper tape (that no longer works)! There is an added benefit with the old equipment that the wiring has not been messed with, and it is in remarkably good shape and very few poorly executed modifications. I'm removing any non functional old equipment and will make updates as it makes sense. I'll likely try out an OpenCPN plotter setup before I purchase something commercial.

You can get original wiring diagrams from Sea Cure, they also have a lot of parts for the windows, engine room vents etc... I just received a new set of engine room vents from them for my port side to replace the cracked ones.

If you have any pictures of the engine room, I'd be curious to see what the installation looks like compared to my twin Detroits. The Detroits take up a lot of space.

I love the Magellan 5000DX. I had one back in ‘94. It’s truly a collectible. They were so over built. They did sell for over $1,200 back in the day. I’m not surprised that it still works. I am surprised that it was never replaced.

sbman,


Nope, no port side helm access. Don't know if it's a Uniflite mod or the original owner. The large cabin windows double as escape hatches may-I-never-use-them but I'd have liked a passage out.


Thanks for the SeaCure tip, I need them.


Wow, scrolling tape. Amazing stuff. I'm pulling out 2 lorans, 2 flasher fishfinders, 2 outdated radios, magellan gps, and a radar all vintage '84. Trying to salvage antennae & power connections.


Hard to show perspective in small space of engine room but here's some. In addition to the 2 spare props, the original owner had Uniflite design a pvc storage tube for the spare shaft that is accessed thru a "fuel" cap under the swim platform. Pretty clever guy.


Tak

Looks like you have quite a lot more space in the Engine Room than I do, the engines are much smaller than my Detroits. Looking at ads for other '84s it looks like Uniflite dropped the port side door, possibly for a cleaner look on the cabin side? Looks like they also dropped the huge chart/table engine hatch in the flybridge deck.

Your wiring looks fairly original but the layout is quite a bit different than mine, probably because of the Gas engines. The color coded wiring is really nice, and you can reference it to the original schematics available from Sea Cure. Great for figuring out what is what.

The engines have been re-connected with what looks like (from your photos) cheap automotive Butt connectors and no shrink wrap or other protection, I'd want that addressed, it will give problems when corrosion sets in.

I had that exact same 35 amp battery charger, it gave up after just a couple of weeks on shore power. I have the same Halon system as well, I'm just about to find out if it is possible re-certify it or not.

The shaft storage tube is pretty unique. My 42 has some wooden racks and retainers for two spare shafts under the cabin sole between the galley and dinette. The spare shafts are no longer present on mine though unfortunately.

I like the side door on mine not only for emergency egress, but it's also really convenient for access to mooring and lines right there at the helm.

Takoradi said:

sbman,


Nope, no port side helm access. Don't know if it's a Uniflite mod or the original owner. The large cabin windows double as escape hatches may-I-never-use-them but I'd have liked a passage out.


Thanks for the SeaCure tip, I need them.


Wow, scrolling tape. Amazing stuff. I'm pulling out 2 lorans, 2 flasher fishfinders, 2 outdated radios, magellan gps, and a radar all vintage '84. Trying to salvage antennae & power connections.


Hard to show perspective in small space of engine room but here's some. In addition to the 2 spare props, the original owner had Uniflite design a pvc storage tube for the spare shaft that is accessed thru a "fuel" cap under the swim platform. Pretty clever guy.


Tak

Click to expand...

Exactly the reason I wanted that door. I also like feeling the breeze. But oh well!


thanks for the tip on the connectors. I thought they looked funny.


Do you happen to have the model number handy on your halon? I'm looking for the same information. Deciding whether it's easier/cheaper to buy an entirely new non-halon bottle or recharge existing.


Tak

I don't have the model number handy right now, no. But I know they are Fireboy brand. I've got calls into a couple of Fire Suppression contractors to see if they are able to inspect/certify it. Halon can only be recharged with 'recycled/captured' Halon, it is no longer manufactured and I have no idea of the availability. Not sure if they can recharge with whatever the replacement is for Halon or not, but I suspect it would have to be replaced. If I can get anyone to call me back, I'll know more.

Takoradi said:

Exactly the reason I wanted that door. I also like feeling the breeze. But oh well!


thanks for the tip on the connectors. I thought they looked funny.


Do you happen to have the model number handy on your halon? I'm looking for the same information. Deciding whether it's easier/cheaper to buy an entirely new non-halon bottle or recharge existing.


Tak

Click to expand...

The loss of side door(s) may be a Chris Craft mod, as they took over in '84.

There were a few years, in the 70s I believe when bottom blisters were a big ugly issue. If you haven't yet surveyed, be aware of that.

soin2la said:

The loss of side door(s) may be a Chris Craft mod, as they took over in '84.

There were a few years, in the 70s I believe when bottom blisters were a big ugly issue. If you haven't yet surveyed, be aware of that.

Click to expand...

Yes mine is a '77 and has (had) the blister issue, which is being resolved below the waterline during my refit. They are very easy to see when the boat is out of the water if they are present.

That is a very nice boat. Clean engine room, nice layout.

Can't say I love the gassers in such a large, heavy boat but I'm sure they sound lovely..

pete

I have my halon extinguisher recertified each year by a local fire company, well it is 2.5 hours away down by Detroit. They charge $10 to do it. It took some looking as a lot of companies don’t do it.

Comodave said:

I have my halon extinguisher recertified each year by a local fire company, well it is 2.5 hours away down by Detroit. They charge $10 to do it. It took some looking as a lot of companies don’t do it.

Click to expand...

Do you take the tank to them, or have them come to the boat?

For $10 they will not travel 5 hours round trip. So I take it to them when I am heading that way sometime over the winter.

Comodave said:

For $10 they will not travel 5 hours round trip. So I take it to them when I am heading that way sometime over the winter.

Click to expand...

$10 is a great price. I finally found someone in San Diego to come service it and tag it, they want $300 and mobile is the only option. I need to get the specs on the unit, it may not cost much more to just buy a new one, a 6.5 pound unit is around $500

That boat model was my father's third and final cruiser. It was his favorite. I have some fond memories as well in both the SF Bay and Delta. Good luck.

Comodave said:

I have my halon extinguisher recertified each year by a local fire company, well it is 2.5 hours away down by Detroit. They charge $10 to do it. It took some looking as a lot of companies don’t do it.

Click to expand...

Thanks Dave. $10 beats hell oughta $300-$400 that I’m guessing for a new one.

It took some looking to find them but I then programmed them into my phone so I wouldn’t loose the contact. Yes, $10 is a smoking deal. Even the drive isn’t a real problem since my wife’s mom and sister live near there. To replace mine would be in the neighborhood of $1500.

Nice to hear RickyD. Good memories are important. And the more miles I get on my odometer, the more importanter they get! She’ll be berthed @ Owl Harbor so will be covering the same water.

Pete Meisinger said:

That is a very nice boat. Clean engine room, nice layout.

Can't say I love the gassers in such a large, heavy boat but I'm sure they sound lovely..

pete

Click to expand...

Hi Pete,
They sound great as a matter of fact. Was originally looking for diesel but an ok with gas. Diesel isn’t the bargain it was in the’70’s when my dad had a 220D Benz. And I also considered that any 36 yr old engines would be closer to failure than not, and overhauling/replacing gassers is way cheaper than diesels. Range is another story. She has 350 gallon capacity in 3 tanks so not long legs.

Question: For just day trips in the bay/delta, I’m planning on using just the aft tank and leaving the 2 saddle tanks fairly empty. Does anyone else do that and are there maintenance/safety precautions with it?

Tak

On my Uni, the fuel system isn't plumbed to be able to do that from what I can tell, I can only run one engine (port I think) from the aft tank. I believe I can also transfer from aft to either tank, I don't remember. I made a diagram with all the valves. The gasser should be a bit simpler if you don't have return valves to worry about.

1989 gb 49 classic owner

mvweebles said:

Congratulations! I owned and lived aboard a very nice 1975 Uniflite 42 ACMY that I purchased in Newport Beach CA in 1990 and brought up to San Francisco. She had Cummins 555s and was a good boat that had been nicely improved by the previous owner. I've often thought boats like these (Viking 43 comes to mind) are good affordable entry boats for wannabe trawler folks. At its core, not a lot of difference between it and a GB42 or similar except for lack of exterior teak.

Click to expand...

Aa a Grand Banks owner (first a 1971 wooden 36, second a 1989 49 classic) teak, by far is not the only difference. The difference is design and quality.
Bob Moll

Thoughts on your great boat!

A very good friend, now deceased, had essentially the same boat. He was a super-avid salmon fisherman and when the gas engines gave up the ghost he replaced them with Yanmar diesels and that boat would run like crazy! They weighed so much less that he had to put ballast in the stern to get the boat to ride properly.

On the flip side, he tended to take care of issues quick-and-dirty. Lots of ugly Jerry-rigging that you could see below-decks. My best advice is to take your time crawling around and replacing any non-marine splices, only use highest-quality wire and label wires clearly so that in the future another owner will know what is what. Paper schematic(s) will be a great aid in the future.

You are lucky to find a single-owner boat that has been well-cared-for. You probably wont need to do much.