Well, I picked up an 05 343 this weekend. w 500 EFI's. Guess I will be in this club for now lol

Welcome to the club, PM me if you have any general questions, mine is 06 with 525s. i know this boat pretty well now, only place i havent been yet is in the fuel tank hahah

Hello-

I am an owner of a (New to me) 2005 343. I am in the middle of a major project converting it over to outboards and an open bow.

Has anyone ever removed the dash out of one of these? I have look at it for hours and I have not figured out how they installed it. I need to remove the analog gauges and get it ready for a new dash with plotters and vessel view.

Thanks!

Does it have an aluminum tower or Bimini top you are ditching?

Hello-

It actually has the factory Stainless Steel Bimini Top. I am going to use the bottom section of the frame and create a long fiberglass hard top.

Last month I bought a 2004 343 out of Chapin, South Carolina. Took me forever to find what I wanted at the correct price. This boat is immaculate and I'm really happy I found it. It's powered with twin 425 HP Mercruisers and Bravo x drives.

No tower on this one.

Congrats Stitch King on the purchase. I remember when that boat came to lake Murray. The owner did take care of the boat. I remember it being immaculate.

Big Butt boats for sure. I had to widen my slip 2'. Very comfortable ride. No so much for Air as my last toy :lolhit:

But we are all supposed to Grow up sooner or later :evilb:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f697ec0e49.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...811d36f0d3.jpg

She might be to fat to fly but they sure have some great lines. I fell in love at first site when Stitches new boat came to Lake Murray. We never grow up. lol.

The 9'7" beam makes it a challenge to get it into my shop with a 10'0" wide door opening so I've got to start looking to lease a new place with a 12' door.

I'm soon to be 56 and wanted a boat that did close to 70 MPH, had a swim platform I can dive from, a walk through transom, a cabin to sit in during the 4PM daily summer rainstorms here in Florida, and super easy access to the bow.

I shopped the Formula 370, 400 and the 343, A36 Cobalts. Every Formula I looked at that lived in the south had cabin upholstery that was literally falling apart due to the vinyl itself delaminating in addition to the headliner falling down. (This is not to slight the Formulas, it's just my anecdotal observations.) After seeing 12 boats like that I switched to the Cobalts.

I'd owned a 1999 25' for a couple of years and sold it to a friend who still owns the boat. It's held up remarkably well and for it's age it still shows like new.

Right now I'm trying to figure out what to do for a tower and bimini on this boat. Already had a bout with skin cancer so shade is a requirement. Wifey also wants something to stabilize on when she uses the walkaround steps to get to the bow.

Now the trick is to find a pipework guy here in Florida that's not a butcher or pirate.