Hi guys,
I'm new here i have read around a little bit. I just bought a "new to me" boat its a 1980 Bahner 21' it is not a jet but a 305/mercruiser outdrive. It is pretty clean but i have a few things i want to change/clean up. One of the main things being buffing and polishing the boat out its a little oxidized. One of my questions is; are these boats painted or all gelcoat? I expect the white to be gelcoat, but are the blue accents and stripes? Other than that i love it, took it to perris this last weekend and was able to get 51 on GPS with the stock 305 and a 19pitch prop thats on it. I was more than impressed.




Well if anyone knows the answer to my gelcoat question that would be great, heres a couple pictures. Ill hang around :-)

thanks for having me

It should be all gel, doesn't look to bad from the pics.  Mine was chalky from
sittin outside so long I had to wet sand it.  I would hit it with hard compound and then soft compound, then a polish a wax. Meguiars worked wonders for me. Have fun I definitely drank a few beers gettin mine to shine up

when you guys buffed yours out did you use a wool pad to cut? Or just a yellow foam pad?

thanks
Steve

Nice !!!

Did mine all by hand. Not fun

I did mine by hand as well


1995 advantage

Nice looking boat I just got mine like 4 month a go its also a banher can't wait to take mine out I'll mostly be in elsinore  when I do take it out

Another question i have is how does the fuel switch work? I can try to explain, i can also take pictures later this evening.

My Bahner has twin aluminum tanks on the sides of the boat, they appear to be about 15 gallon tanks.
When i bought the boat the left side tank was full to the brim and the right side tank was empty, the previous owner told me that he has never filled up the left tank and the he only ever filled up the right tank.

So while i was doing the oil change i noticed there is what appears to be some sort of valve where the two tanks connect to the main feed line to the carb. It was pointing towards the Right Tank. I turned it to the left tank and then we took the boat out.

In fear that maybe the pickup was broken i filled the Right tank completely so that i had both tanks full to the brim. I did not mess with the Valve and we took the boat out. Now with the boat running i can hear electric fuel pumps which sound like they are on both sides (maybe a lift pump?) The part that im confused about is the engine also has a mechanical fuel pump which seems to pull from the two tanks and feeds the Carb.

Now what my main question is, do i have to switch this valve to where it is pointing to the tank i want to use? Is there a "middle" setting to where it will pull from both tanks? The reason i ask is because i never messed with the valve while it was on the water and both tanks seem to be at the same level of fuel as if they are feeding eachother? I can take a picture of the valve tonight if that helps.

Sorry for the newb question i hope someone is familiar with this setup im sure pictures may help.

thanks
Steve

And your coming over when?

any chance i can get you to take a measurement from bow to stern (boat only no trailer/drive)?  im wondering if i can fit a 21 bahner in my garage.  id appreciate it.


great looking boat.  awesome results on the wet sanding.

Sure ill measure it tomorrow, I can tell you my garage is 24 deep and it fits diagonally corner to corner with the trailer.

my 18 footer fits and i might reuse my trailer for it.  i found a bahner 21 jet thats identical to yours and have had my eye on it for a while now and im looking to also swingtongue my trailer as well.

That would be cool... Theres a guy that lives up the street from me that advertises watercraft/boat repair on his explorer, and he has what looks like a Bahner thats open bow/Jet for sale it will need new interior and maybe some other work but it looks pretty decent. Its the same thing as mine but open bow. If you want i can check it out

my 18 footer fits and i might reuse my trailer for it.  i found a bahner 21 jet thats identical to yours and have had my eye on it for a while now and im looking to also swingtongue my trailer as well.

Sorry i have been really busy lately, i will make sure to get the measurement for you tonight

sounds like your fuel system might need an overhaul. There is no reason to use electric and manual fuel pumps. pick one or the other.

next pull that falve off and hook an air line to the feed nipple. then select both sides and the middle to see what it is doing.

What i would do is use a manual fuel pump that runs to a fuel selector switch ( i usually use one from an old chevy pick up) then run the selector to both tanks. You would have to then wire from the switch to the dash and add a fuel tank selector switch to your dash.

If you run both tanks at once and you dont pay attention to your fuel when you are out of gas you are OUT OF GAS!! lol. running the two tanks seperate allows you to have fun and when one tank runs out you most likely have enough in the other to get you home or to a marina with gas.

remember the more simple the system is the less likely it will break.

Thanks for the info, i made another post in this forum because this one wasnt getting attention. BigJohnson made a suggestion and i think im going to follow it.

I also did some digging and looking around the boat does not have dual pumps it is one mechanincal pump. The buzzing i heard i believe is from the drive or something was vibrating. I took the boat out this weekend and didnt hear it at all so had to be something misplaced or something fixed when i put the interior back in.

Im going to set it up like the picture below, But for now i figured the switch out, whatever side the arrow on the handle is pointing to is the tank im running on, i would like to relocate it as it is a complete PIA to get to.

thank you for the help :-)