Just recently i seem to have "procured" a 1972 35 Commander Express.
Found this neglected sad old girl just lying in state, so to speak in an old marina south of Detroit.
I guess every now and then we find ourselves in the perfect right place, at the perfect right time. It took quite a bit of legwork on my part, donning my "Sherlock Holmes" hat, but thru perseverance, i found the info i needed. As i sorta came to suspect, the owner had passed. The boat had not been in the wet since 2016 or so. Uncovered, outside storage in summer and fall, and thrown inside a building in winter.
The daughter and son in law of the deceased man were very elated to get the call from me a couple weeks ago. They were avid golfers, were absolutely NOT boaters and were tickled to finally find someone interested. Long story shortened, they gave me this boat for free.
They just wanted it gone out of their life. I gladly accepted. There was a known back storage bill at the marina however, and thru some negotiations and wheeling and dealing i was able to do some horse trading with them, as i am in the trucking business and they were in need of a few large loads of stones, gravels, and fill material for a seawall project, so once i get them their materials, the debt on past storage is square.
I have been working diligently the past couple weeks cleaning out this boat, filling a dumpster. Power washing many yrs of dirt, algae, and even inch thick moss growing out of window tracks, drip rails and many seams on the boat.; So far its cleaning up like a new penny. The boat is equipped with 2 x 427s and a Westerbeke genset. I have located the names of every past owner back to brand new and it has been a local Downriver Detroit boat since new.
Right now i am concentrating on cosmetics, once that is done i will graduate to the engines and mechanicals, hopefully launching by July 4th weekend. Two issues, or questions...... I am finding it impossible to locate the battery disconnect switches on this baby. In my past three Chris Crafts, they are easy to find, front and center. Not so on this 35 Express. I have searched diligently, to no avail Any ideas here guys???
And secondly, it has a FXAS prefix on the brass CC hull plate attached to the underside of the stbd engine hatch. Never have i seen a fourth letter in that prefix. I read in the brochures from 71 and 72 they offered a "Commander Special" option that was designed to include certain options that may be unique to one's geographic area. Is it possible the "S" denotes a "Special" model here...or ????
Here is a link to a YT vid i made a week ago before i even began to attack and clean this boat https://youtu.be/1I3OEzDKk4A
Any hints or advice on the location of the battery shutoffs would be really appreciated.
TIA.....
Scott Anderson
Past Chief Commander 2010-2011
Grosse Ile, Mich
Given mine is a 68 sbc version I know the fuse panel was moved in later models and my battery parallel switch is on the fwd bulkhead and that area is clear on yours. You check with Greg, his I think started as an FE and I think it was early 70s.
What a wonderful acquisition !!. You are the next caretaker of an awesome boat. Great video and please post more resurrection footage. Thats a nice 35
Congrats on the new acquisition!
On the battery switches look in front of the engines on the bulkhead for chrome or brass on off switches mounted on plywood tabs.
Thanks Tim and Jeremy, i have diligently searched for these switches and have even been told they are hidden in a remote place with a cover over them. So far just a rumor... Strange too because on my 31 and 38 they are in plain site for easy accessibility. Nothing at all on the engine room bulkhead, (exactly where they are on my 1969 31 Sedan) or in the side compartment behind the sliding doors next to the helm (like on my 1971 38 Sedan). I'm confused. The showroom brochure states battery shut off switches are standard equipment. My 35 is a 1972, the last year, and the last ten to be built. I am hoping my old buddy Greg Gajcak may pipe in.... Or Jason Law. They have both done huge restos on their 35 Express Commanders.
It's possible a past owner removed them or relocated them for whatever reason.
As far huge restos on a 35 , I have a rather mega resto slowly in the works on my own 35 express hull #10.
In the picture below you can see the old shut off switch for my old port motor.
My new shut off will be mounted on the inboard side ofthe fwd. Facing dinette seat next to the cabin steps.
Following from Monroe, MI. Having watched that hull sit for the last few years, it is great to see it back on the water. How did the maiden voyage go?
Gotta follow the big wires from the battery boxes. Aft seat of the dinette, port kick panel by the helm and all the other locations you've already checked?
My 1972 commander 31 doesn’t have any battery shut off switches at all.
Matt, do you have a "batt par" button at the helm? If not then a significant change in later models.
Well guys, after eleven or twelve weeks of numerous fifty mile round trips from my home to this marina, in Monroe, Michigan, i have made significant progress on this boat, and we launched her a week ago last Sunday. Its tight, no leaks anywhere, and i did a quick once-over to get both 427s running.... albeit they are needing some top end love, valve lash adjustments, new carbs, all electrical, dist caps, coils, new pertronix, spark plug wires etc.....
So Monday evening a friend and i decided it was time to make the trek back to this baby's new home port. It was an approx 20 mile ride, north, up the western shore of Lake Erie. We were wanting to do this last weekend but small craft warnings out on the lake and a steady 12-16 mph wind stifled that idea.
The ride up was basically uneventful, a gorgeous night with 3 to 5mph winds, and a perfect sunset off to our west.
We pulled into our new dock, behind a good friend's home, in a canal that i hadn't been in, in 20 yrs, and we picked our way in there in the pitch dark. Thank God the factory original Ray Line spotlight up on the roof still worked. hahaha.... As we got 50 feet from the new dock, i lost the stbd engine, and it refused to start, so i limped that last 50 ft on a sickly port engine..... Whew...!!!! I'm sure all will be rectified when all the new parts get installed on both engines.
So now the real fun begins, deep cleaning bow to transom, replacing carpeting, getting the on board water system up and running, and finish the buff wax detail topsides. I have brand new v bunk cushions being made rite now, and by Labor Day weekend i may be styling.
The engines have all parts ordered, and with the help of a few gearhead 427 doctors i hope to have both motors purring like kittens soon. Of note, the stbd engine was being persnickety all the whole trip up across the lake, at times bogging to 1000 rpm then recovering, i diagnosed it as distributor issues, i just touched the top of the dist cap whilst we were underway in the lake Monday night and got lit up pretty good....Hahaha.... So caps, wires, plugs, pertronix, coils, all will be replaced, and i have two new Edelbrock 1409s on their way as well.
All in all its been a grueling hott summer here in Detroit, and i bet i put 1500 + miles on my cars making at least 25 to 30 trips down to Monroe, mainly in the evenings after work, to work on this baby and get her seaworthy...But now the boat is a few miles from my home, only a half mile from Ford Yacht Club, where my 38 Commander Sedan the mighty vessel "My Mistake IV" is moored, so now it is a thousand times easier to get to the new baby.....
And of note as well, i have had six offers to buy this 35 since i took possession...crazy stuff...i guess this is a very popular model. Never got this kinda attention regarding my 31 Sedan FB or my 38. But i'm gunna just sit on this one form a year or two and see how i likes it. I have next to nothing invested in it right now.
Post a video if you have one , would love to see her underway :)