I had a problem with cooling on my 1973 410 Commander. I troubleshot it to the thermostat not calling for cooling. I went to the trouble of buying anew old stock original thermostat and installed it. Got the same problem with the new one. Turns out there is a potentiometer screw adjustment on the rear of the thermostat that instructions say don't touch. I turned it a little and the compressor kicked on. rs worked for several years. If you try it it might work. If you want a replacement you can look or one. I do have one. I bought two. John Brock 1973 410

Thanks for the photos! I will look at mine more carefully this spring/summer. One clarification about the staircase. It needs to come out or just the bottom step? I have tried to get at the hose outlet connection on mine i the bilge by reaching back under a vertical board in the center section about aft of the transmissions. I didn't think I could loosen the hose clamp. I hold out hope it is a leak at that hose connection, not the tank structure itself. John Brock

I would think dryer vent tube would work fine. John Brock

On my '73 410 all four deck vents go straight down into the bilge. The blower must have it's own vent arrangement. What material are you using to print the attachment? Will it retain strength with heat? Deck could get warm...or cold. I did not consider a 3-D print option. Thanks, John Brock

Bert , My 1973 410 seems to have a leak in the aft cabin floor mount water. I pulled the top cover and thought it used the stringers as the tank. Now I wonder if it might have been a fiberglass tank like yours. Did you have to remove the rear staircase to get at the front of the tank? I want to see if the leak could be around the hose fitting. Would like to talk to you sometime about the mission. John Brock '73 410

Steven, I have a '73 410 Commander where all four deck vent hoses have fallen off due to very rough Lake Erie and old age/wood rot around the deck openings. I am also considering downsizing he hose diameter. Plan is to make an aluminum plate just larger than the scoop base then fashion a round hose attachment to that instead of relying on wood. may have t0 retain oval shape to get 4" or even 3" hose. Details not yet determined. What crossed my mind recently is the question of do I really need them at all? There is a large plastic cover on the side of the hull just below the gunnel line. Is that an air vent into the bilge too? If it is, what air is needed may come by that way. Any comments? John Brock 1973 410

Hi Chris, Nice work! I have a 1973 410. Have looked at removing the steps into the aft cabin, but have not tried to do it. Looking to get access to the built in fresh water tank that leaks. Do you suppose they come out like yours did? Will be going up to the lake for the first time this season n a week or so. Will look at them more closely. John Brock 73 410 Commander

My son is in favor of a metal tube and a custom flange having the same size as the vent scoop base. Possible tube shape to more or less match the existing elliptical hole thru the deck. Possibly stainless-steel (elliptical) exhaust tube welded to a SS custom flat plate then screw the vent scoop to that. His approach is to be able to install from the topside to avoid taking down the starboard side interior wall panels. That would simplify the conversion / installation. I don't have any dimensions of the hole or the vent scoop at home. The boat is shrink wrapped (no door) so I won't get those details until spring. Any members out there that have a boat similar to the '73 410 available and close by might have opportunity to take some photos and dimensions? That would be nice. This is looking like a summer project, not spring, at this point.

My error. I can see the custom approach. Will have to continue using the chrome scoops tha are factory installed. They are more rectangular on the base and tall. Thanks John

I like The Benson SA3 or SA4. May try that. Thanks for the tip. Looking around I didn't find them before. The hole through the deck and wood toe rail is elliptical in shape. I will likely line that with fiberglass cloth and resin then replace some wood underneath and use one of these round tube adapters. Your custom approach photo didn't show up here. Could you please try that one again or email to be at brock71@rodrunner. I was thinking a custom approach would be required but perhaps it's too involved. Thanks, John

My 73 410 has suffered a failure of all 4 engine air intakes located on the teak toe rail. The flexible hose (looks like larger gas clothes dryer tube) has fallen off the attachment to the deck wood. Just enough old wood and a very rough Lake Erie ride caused them to lose the glue attachment the factory provided. A poor design likely to fail with time. My question is what have any other owners done to reattach the flex hose? Maybe some sort of fabricated aluminum or stainless-steel fitting I can attach by removing the chrome air scoops. My plan is to replace some rotted wood from under the deck then try to just glue the flex tube to it. Easy to do on the port side. Hidden from view on the starboard side by an interior facing wood wall panel. Any better ideas are welcome! Thanks, John Happy Thanksgiving all.

Hi Chris, Wow, that is a nice list of hardware. May answer another of my questions. I will take a couple photos just to be sure. I have a couple rusted screws in the lifeline fasteners up front. Thanks John

Thanks for the tip Bill. Sounds easier than I expected. John

From what I see it looks like the set up on my 31. John

On my 1967 31 Commander the rubber hose attaching the packing gland to the hull thru hole went over the fiberglass hole in the hull and over the outside of the packing gland. I recall it was maybe 8" long rubber hose. Double clamp it on each end.There was enough room to put in packing with the shaft in place. When I replaced the hose I did do it on dry land. Loosen up the hub attaching the shaft to the rear of the tgransmission. Probably need to remove the propeller with a prop puller. Then push the prop shaft away from the transmission. Loosen up the set screw ( or screws) from the hub half on the shaft to remove the hub. May need to pull the hub with a couple nut and bolts and a spacer on the end of the shaft. Bolt the two half couplings together like it was on the transmission, but with a small diameter spacer on the shaft so tightening the bolts tend to pull off the coupling from the prop. Others may have a better way. I would avoid any heavy pounding with a hammer. A prop puller will be needed. I made one, but no longer have access to a machine shop. When I replaced all the many layers of packing with new, I had many fewer layers so the packing gland grew shorter overall which gave more room inside the boat to work on the transmission or packing.