Another Bellboy 21

[Guest]

Well said. Yes, one of the things I did early on was to make a nice (well, for a guy who never sewed anything before in his life) fitted cover. Made from waterproof/breathable polyester marine canvas. Any time I'm not actively working on the boat, it looks like this.

I plan on using it mostly in the ocean here in the fog belt, so it has to have radar, so it has to have a radar arch, so I had that made first. That's the reason for the hump, but it does help reduce flat spots. It normally fits a bit tighter than this, but I had to remove the front eyes, so the strap at the bow has nothing to connect to.

[Guest]

It feels like at least a decade since I've posted here. My wife has some some medical issues which have taken higher priority than boat restoration. But she's finally gotten what looks like a correct diagnosis, better medication, and some exercises. She can now get around, drive a car, work in the garden, and do many of the things she loves to do.

So... boat restoration bubbles to the top of the priority list sometimes. I want to get the boat on a trailer, and I've talked to a local guy who can make the curved windshields. I tried, and without the proper heating equipment I can't. I know how to set all that stuff up but I don't want to do it. But I can't get on his calendar until I have the boat on a trailer. And I don't want to do that until the bottom in painted.

I did some research and spoke to the paint guy at the local marine supply house, Englund's. The boat is going to be used mostly in salt water, and I hope sometimes to have it in the water for days or even weeks at a time. I decided on Pettit Vivid bottom paint. That sounds like the no-compromise paint. Hard ablative- good protection, hard enough for trailer use, smooth enough to be low drag, good clean colors. Now that it's on, I see it's not quite no-compromise. It's a flat paint, and given a choice I'd prefer a gloss. But at least it's a pretty good black.

So you all know the drill- sand and putty and sand and putty and sand. The paint guy recommended Pettit 4700 primer. It's sold as a barrier coat against blistering, and the directions assume you're using it that way. So I put on four coats like the label says, but if I were doing it again I think I'd do one or at most two. I think I just gave myself extra sanding. And that stuff does not sand fast. Hours and hours lying on my back looking up at the hull while sanding dust floats gently down. Yes, I work googles and a paint mask. Then three coats of Vivid. I think after a week or so of hardening. I'll do a light hand sand with 400 grit to take off a few high spots, then a really light polish over the part that are obvious as you walk around it.

So in the last month or so I've taken it from the first picture to the second (primer) to the third. I have a good used trailer. I'm going to put on disc brakes and new lights, and a it needs a little work here and there. Once it's on the trailer I'll start working on the interior.

It's getting closer!

[Helmar]

Its good to here the Wife is doing ok or better.
Fighting health issues are never fun.

Also good to see you starting to chip away at the project again.
Man, that is going to be SO worth it.
Got to stop and look back to see where you came from at times..

Looking better every time you show pictures

[TheBronze]

Looking good! Keep at it and eventually she'll be on the water again. How is the interior looking?

[Guest]

I haven't posted in months. I've done some stuff. I painted the bottom with Pettit Vivid black. That came out pretty good. At some point I'll take some time to do a light sanding, which might add some tiny fraction of a mile per gallon. But it's low priority. I got a good used trailer, and changed the bunks to better support the BB, and added disc brakes. I wound up with a single axle. I live on a fairly narrow street and we have a fence and gate. It takes some fairly sharp maneuvering to get the trailer where I want it.

I did some little stuff. The tanks are in place, and the chocks and cleats are mounted. I saved one original, and got four matching ones off ebay and had them rechromed. Apparently the original type is known as Chris-Craft cleats.

But mainly I've been trying to find a way to get windshields made. Nothing has worked so far. I've become rather an expert in ways to waste polycarbonate sheet and not make windshields. I did spend some time making an oven that doesn't heat evenly enough to make windshields. I've spent at least three months of my spare time perfecting my not-making-windshield technique.

But fortunately for me, Marty has an oven that is proven, with proper technique, to actually make usable windshields. I saw that it was for sale, and within five minutes I sent him two emails and responded to the thread. I didn't want someone else to get it. So I'm hoping, now that my not-making-windshield technique is sufficiently honed, that I can begin learning to actually make windshields.

Here's what the boat looks like at the moment. The white slash on the upper aft sides is just primed. I have to rebuild the splashwell, and when I do that I'll paint that and the remaining bits of the interior. The aluminum structure is where the radar is going to live. This will be used mainly in the ocean, and here in the fog belt that means radar.


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[TheBronze]

Ed, Looking good. The black bottom paint is a nice touch. Are you leaving the topsides white or painting them a different color?

[Guest]

That's going to remain white. In the oldest photos I have the boat is all red above the waterline and black below. It was hard to be certain because it was sanded and painted heavily before I got it, but I think that was original. I couldn't see all red- that's just too overwhelming for me. This is the closest I was willing to go.

[Helmar]

Let me know when you get the oven. To be honest with you, I can't remember much about the temperatures or with the laser pointer the temperature that the plex would be pliable.
All I know is I did it with that unit. It was still a bitch.
I almost quit several times during that glass job. The aluminum frames were hard to restore too.
I remember the smaller Bell Boy, those frames were bent all to hell and had to be refit to the boat.
I think we had to fight those frames back in.
That was that little Green and White Bell Boy that went into the Tacoma Boat Show.
Wonder whatever happened to that boat ?? She even had a little 50hp Honda on her.

Anyway, let me know when you get that oven. Might take a few pictures of it as I think I remember a couple of hard wood strip boards I had front and back to help hold the plex away from the oven mats.
The design of those oven mats were Wraps for plastic pipe. I found if they touched the plex, you had a million little waffle marks on your window. It can't touch the plex...

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

Let me know when you get the oven. To be honest with you, I can't remember much about the temperatures or with the laser pointer the temperature that the plex would be pliable.
All I know is I did it with that unit. It was still a bitch.
I almost quit several times during that glass job. The aluminum frames were hard to restore too.
I remember the smaller Bell Boy, those frames were bent all to hell and had to be refit to the boat.
I think we had to fight those frames back in.
That was that little Green and White Bell Boy that went into the Tacoma Boat Show.
Wonder whatever happened to that boat ?? She even had a little 50hp Honda on her.

Anyway, let me know when you get that oven. Might take a few pictures of it as I think I remember a couple of hard wood strip boards I had front and back to help hold the plex away from the oven mats.
The design of those oven mats were Wraps for plastic pipe. I found if they touched the plex, you had a million little waffle marks on your window. It can't touch the plex...

Joe and Ed -

The 220-V heat blankets were used by industry (like Boeing), and were purchased from one of Boeing's subcontractors in the Seattle area. Pretty sophisticated--not pipe wrap! The temperatures are controlled by rheostats, and the oven was designed so that you could slide the plexiglass sheets in along guides and the heat blanket surfaces would get no closer than about an inch from the plexiglass. They seemed to produce very even heat, but the trick was/is to guess how long to leave the plexiglass in the oven. Too short a time and they wouldn't quite bend; too long and the plexiglass would start to sag and you'd end up with distortion bubbles and a big mess. So it's best to experiment with scrap cut-off ends of plexiglass before inserting the real, pre-cut-to-shape plexiglass panel. (You make the pattern by bending stiff paper around the frame, marking and cutting…then marking and cutting again until it fits comfortably inside the frame. When you transfer the paper pattern to the flat sheet of plexiglass to make the actual cut with a fine-toothed sabresaw, CUT ON WHAT WILL BE THE INSIDE of the windshield panel.) My recollection is that we'd set the rheostat temperature to 300 degrees and leave the plexiglass in the oven for just over 3 minutes…but, again, experiment with scraps before heating the real panels.

- Marty

[Helmar]

Good Shot Ole !!!
I had forgotten most of that. I did remember the rheostat's and she was 30 amps and 220..
I really thought they were for pipes or maybe it was they could be used for plastic pipe ??

It was really hard for me as I HATE WASTE and I don't care who's money it is either. I went I think through three sheets of plex to get it ??
I kind of remember what Not to do and with that Oven. It can be done. Looked pretty damn good too

The other thing I can't remember was the patterns. I think I took the patters off the Outside of the old windows and they were too big. I retook the patterns on the Inside.....That's Right!!, I took the patterns off the Inside and cut on the Inside of the line and that was my best fit !!
The more I think about this, the more that is coming back to me.

[TheBronze]

Ed, how is that 21 coming along?

[Kelly]

any updates Ed?

[Guest]

I haven't touched it for months.
In about a month I'll be able to get back working on it. I think