Bell Boy 404 Express Restoration

[BellBoyBob]

John:

Just great progress!! Sorry to hear about your injury but you still seem to be able to do some things on the boat! I have not been on for a while but will be posting some pics of my 404 and a few summer project upgrades for this season on the water. More to come...
Congrats on some great work!!!
Bob

[TheBronze]

Hey, Bob, good to hear from you. Yes! Give us more pictures of your 404! Seems like there are only 4 express owners on the forum here, gotta keep the interest up!

[Kelly]

Wow John, your work looks great! Even at 100% health mine doesn't look that good

[TheBronze]

Haha, thaniks Kelly. It isn't show boat quality, but it looks nice enough!

This weekend we got the forward seats in! Took all day yesterday. Started at 8 and finished around 6:30. Man, what a bunch of work! The best part of it, besides the satisfaction of how nice it all looks, was when my 10 year old daughter came out and we adjusted the seat up and forward. She fit at the exact ride height that I will be using. Looks like I'll have to share my Captain duties (oh darn )

Now it is on to the rear seats. Time is getting short for my launch day. I hope I make it!

The boat is an absolute mess, so I refused to take pictures. (I think half my tool box is in the cabin!) Tonight I'll be cleaning her up and then taking pics. Partly, for here, and also because I need them to send to Haggerty for my insurance policy that I'm trying to get. I'll post tonight or tomorrow morning.

This week will be final electrical tidying up, sanding of the last bits of carpet in the cabin, painting the cabin, and general deck work. Next week, and weekend, I hope to finish design and installation of the rear seats. If that happens, we will launch fathers day weekend. If not, I'll have to punt for the next. I think we can make it though, as the aft seats are not complicated. Just need to figure out a removable mount system for them.

[TheBronze]

As promised, here are some shots of the 404 after some cleaning of tools and things. Still needs a real bath though!

Included:
Fuse Block.
Close up of the helm and controls.
Shot of the helm seat.
Nav/passenger seat.
Nav/passenger seat reversed - for fishing!
Main power switch and charging relay.

[Bflaherty]

Looking good! Should be a really nice boat when you finally get to use her.

[TheBronze]

Thanks, Brian.

Getting closer by the day. Last night I painted the cabin space. Even with the first coat of white it already looks better! Tonight is the 2nd coat and then it's off to Salem for the weekend, so a (needed) break in work.

[Kelly]

talented man, talented!

When is the big event? Soon right?

[TheBronze]

Kelly,

SO close! If the weather holds out, it will be next weekend. Looking at the forecast, it may not happen though, as they are calling for showers during the week. If it doesn't happen, it just gives me another week to fiddle with things.

As it is, the Dodger will be going into the water this weekend. She needs a spring shakedown ahead of the launch. She'll stay in the boat house until launch day - one less thing to worry about! Then, sadly, she will be on the block (well, actually, she is already on the block, but no sale until after the launch).

[TheBronze]

Weekend update.

As you can see from the photos, the back seats are in! Tedious work of installing, measuring for the braces, and then pull it all out to cut and install. With the folding hinges in place, the seats are well supported. When not in use, as you can see, they fold up. It is a 6 inch gain. Not much, but it all counts when fishing! As you can also see, I messed up on one of them. The stbd side hinges are upside down and are causing the brace to sit lower when folded. I'll be fixing this in the coming weeks, but for this weekend it will be fine.

One thing I DO need to fix is the plugs I used to screw the hinges to the seats. I tried using epoxy to hold them in place but a few of them are already coming lose through testing. I'll probably just run screws throug them and into the seat base to secure them. If I keep the screw short, I expect no one will end up with a poke in the rear! They aren't structural, so they don't have to be super long or have lots of bite. That will get done in the next few days ahead of the Saturday launch.

Remaining items for the week:

Build sonar/GPS shelf. - tonight.
Install Sonar, GPS - Tonight/Tuesday.
Mount head. - Tuesday
Install carpet in cabin. - Tuesday
Install hatch. - Wed
Misc deck fastenings. - Thursday
Apply name decal. - Thursday
Fill tanks, pressure test. - Friday.

Quick shake down - Saturday!

Launch party - Saturday!

I have a feeling I will be putting the finishing touches on her on Saturday morning and then heading straight for the launch!

As I said earlier, anyone is welcome to join us on Saturday. It looks like a partly cloudy day with evening showers, temps in the 60s. Plenty warm for us North Westerners!

[Kelly]

Wow! Fancy work! Looks great!

[TheBronze]

Getting closer. Last night was the sonar/GPS platform. Its built and the varnish is drying. My little girl will be helping me today by applying a 2nd coat while I'm at work. What a sweetie! Mounting will take 20 minutes or so and then it is right into mounting the units and wiring them up.

Absolute Musts for Saturday:

Mount head. Will involve cutting off some extra long bolt heads from the stbd seat box. The rest should be relatively quick.

Assemble and mount hatch. Little bits and pieces. Probably an hour to put it all together and then another 30 to mount.

If I get these three things done by Friday, I may just have time to wire up the stereo ahead of the Saturday launch...

[Skagitguy]

Hey John, Wish i could be there , but i have a appointment to get the trailer safety chains welded onto the trailer this Saturday. We will meet up sometime this summer ! Chuck

[Kelly]

Chuck, get them welded in the morning and join up in the afternoon! I'll join ya!
Um, I better check with the wife if you do do that...

[Skagitguy]

Kelly, Waiting for the hull numbers graphic's to be made up and sent and the windshield and the rubrail coming from LA.