Bell Boy 404 Express Restoration

[TheBronze]

Don't worry about the whining. I look for new updates regularly just to while the time away when I'm waiting for things to finish at work. It's good eye candy.

First seat box is complete, minus finishing. Upon installation fitment, its been determined that I'll need to address the bulging fuel tank issue to get it to install correctly. I have a fairly simple plan in mind that should take care of the bulge and provide the finished look I am after. I'll probably tackle that in the next 2-3 weeks depending on how long it takes my wiring to complete.

[TheBronze]

It was a good weekend for the boat.

On saturday, I did clean up in the boat, and mounted a cleat on the trailer. The new rollers on the trailer make it REALLY difficult to retrieve the boat since it wants to just roll off when you bring it up to the winch area. Before you can hook it, it's already rolling down. Stupid gravity! So I took a spare cleat (matches the ones on the boat) and mounted it to the upright. Now I can tie the boat off and then hook it up.

After the cleaning, I connected her up to the truck and pulled her out to do a new trial with the 19 pitch prop. Lunch in stomach, and ready to go, we set out. Only to discover that we had not beaten the rain. As she was already hooked up, I decided to run her anyway. So we launched and I took the wife out. The new prop is probably going to do the trick. There is still a bit of over-rev, but the interior is not in place, nor is there a full fuel load out. I expect that once these are in place, it will be just right. If it still over revs, I think I'll keep the 19 pitch and get a 21 for primary. Then the 19 can be the spare. I don't think it will matter much anyway since I don't plan on running high in the RPMs much anyway.

With the new prop, I saw 39 max on the GPS in a short run. I have to say, 39 in the 404, in the rain with limited visibility was not much fun! Most of our cruising will be in the 25-35 range, though, so no worries.

After the run, we hauled her back in and went home to dry out.

With the boat back in the shelter, I set to work on the dash. the switch holes were drilled last weekend but the switches needed to be secured. I received 2 switch covers, bilge and spotlight, and had all I needed. I even managed to wire up the horn and bilge pump. The bilge pump was necessary, as there was probably 2-3 gallons of water in the boat after the very wet speed runs. She works great and ditched the water in short order.

Sunday was spent doing electrical routing and wiring. It's one of those jobs that takes a LOT of time but looks like nothing happened.

Here are some shots of the dash with everything all tidied up. I'm very pleased with the look. Also one shot of the bilge before I pumped it out. There are two chambers to port and stbd of that space that are open as well...

[Bflaherty]

You are SUCH a crybaby!

I snapped this shot this morning. REALLY cold out! 17 degrees is just too cold. Anyway, as you can see, there is now zero issue with clearance of the fenders. Before, they were literally about 1.5 inches from the chines on both sides when the boat was centered. Not the best situation. They still need some work though. Due to the way the axle is mounted, I had to mount the fenders towards the center. As a result, they tend to wobble a lot when going down the road. I'll probably get a couple pieces of galvanized flat bar and brace them on the inside.

John, with those plastic fenders make sure you have them secured really well. On our ACBS trip to the snake river a couple years ago one of the fellas had those same fenders mounted directly to the axle so that they moved with the wheel and suspension. We hit some strong winds and the fender flexed so much the tire grabbed it and shattered it, which in turn tore the tire to pieces!! it was quite ugly to watch, especially inches away from a $100K vintage woody!!! When we built my trailer we used metal fenders and mounted them to the frame so they don't move around. They look great with the boat on the trailer, but look ridiculous when the trailer is empty...

[TheBronze]

Not much been going on lately. After the big push to get the boat on the water for sea trials, I pulled back a bit. Gotta keep the wife happy!

I have been doing some wiring, though. I have the horn and stern light wired up, the secondary bus fuse, and some misc things. I've also sorted out the fuel pick up issue on the port side tank. I've since drained both tanks so I can work them easily when constructing the braces and paneling - more to come on that!

This week I am working on re-enforcing the wood under the bow which has rotted under the light mount. Also, I've prepped and am ready to place wood on the gn'ls for my down rigger mounts. I'll be mounting all 3 pieces of wood tonight with thickened resin and then glassing them in tomorrow or Thursday.

With those in place, I'll be able to start working on the arm rest for the seats and then start tying it all in to the tank braces.

Time is getting short! But I think I'll have seating and a basic mount for electronics in time for opening weekend....

[Kelly]

I'm interested in seeing how you do the wood/gnl's for rigger mounts. I've thought about putting in two and wondered how to best reinforce the area to handle it all.

[TheBronze]

Kelly,

I got that work done yesterday. I need to trim some glass and then paint the inside before I mount. I'll take some pics tonight before paint and then later this week when the mounts are in place.

For now, what I did was cut a piece of 3/4 ply for each in 4 1/4 x 12 section. I placed this on the gn'l with thickened resin and clamped it down. After it set, I puttied the edge to provide a smooth transition to the original glass. I then used 4 inch tape and glassed over the wood and tied it to the existing original fiberglass. I have to allow for some wood to go under the backing plate so I left a 3/4 gap on the bottom.

This should be VERY strong. Even without the backing plate, the glass there is very rigid in the direction of the forces imparted by the downrigger.

Pics to come!

[Kelly]

John this sounds interesting. Looking forward to the pics

[TheBronze]

Last Monday i got the pieces painted up. looks good. Kelly, here is a shot of the bracing before paint.

The rest of the week was spent in the hospital! I crashed my motorcycle on the Tuesday morning commute and broke both wrists along with a T12 compression fracture. Needless to say, boat work is suspended until i get both arms back up to snuff. So much for opening day! I should be able to save summer though.

[Kelly]

Holy smokes John! Glad to hear your upright! If you want help with the boat I'm willing to lend a hand <no pun> but I'm sure the boat is a low priority. My offer is there though. ..

[TheBronze]

Thanks, Kelly!

For now I'm letting a friend help with seat box #2 construction. There is some other work to be done around the fuel tanks and some wiring. I might just hit you up for that in the coming weeks.

[Skagitguy]

John, Sorry to hear about your injury !

[TheBronze]

Thanks, Chuck!

Yesterday was post op. It went very well. No casting on the Right arm. woohoo! Left arm is in a splint for going out and about. Otherwise it is free to move as pain allows. The Right arm is going to be in a splint until the pins come out, about 4 weeks. My back is also healing up nicely. I'll be in a back brace for 4 weeks as well. Luckily it isn't full time.

[TheBronze]

Hello all. I may be down, but I'm not out! The last few weeks have been somewhat productive. I've done a little wiring and some seat box work.

Wiring.

The Stbd downrigger is wired. Just need to add a fuse and mount the Gn'l brackets and she'll be ready to fish!
I also wired up the bow light. Just need to run the wire to the fuse block. I'll need to get hangers before I do it. Probably this weekend. I'm still dragging my feet on the stern light. I have a half way decent Kainer stern light that Mark Denis gave me, but the pole is split and bent a little. I'm on the hunt for a NOS but they are pretty rare...

Seat Boxes
With Ron's help, the 2nd box is done! I've been laid off this week while I wait to start a new contract, so I've been staining and varnishing. The attached shots are the last covering. The Stbd box (upside down) has 5 coats of varnish on the stained portion and 3 coats on the underside to seal it up. The port side box (on the stands) just got its 5th coat and is wet. Once that dries I'll flip it and give it 3 coats on the bottom as well.

Both boxes will get white paint on the interior once they are done drying. Note that while they look 2 tone in the shots, they aren't. The flash from my phone washed out the facing side.

This weekend, Ron and I are tackling the fuel tanks once and for all. If all goes well, we may see the seat boxes installed in the next week, subject to stain and varnish on the beauty panels.

[Kelly]

John nice work! Your boat will look classy for sure!

[TheBronze]

Update time!

It's been an interesting couple of months! I'm well on my way to recovery. Left wrist is about 98% there, right is around 80%. Plenty enough to do some of the light work needed on the 'Girl.

Much thanks to Ron for using up his weekends and helping getting some of the work done. I'm sure he is doing it from the generous heart he has. Or maybe it is the desire to fish off of her this July.

The last few weeks have been spent building tank braces. With the bulging that the tanks do when loaded, we had to come up with a sturdy solution to keep them in place so that the seat boxes can be positioned correctly. With the 1/2 inch ply, we've lost 1 inch of deck space; not bad!

During this project we were able to fill the tanks to capacity and confirm that my outer measurements were good. 20 gallons each. 40 gallons is a lot and I'll probably only run half full most of the time to save elevated weight.

The panels were tough since they are both (top and bottom) trapezoids. Not exactly easy to cut out! With careful measuring, overcutting by 1/8 and sanding, they are all an exact fit. Stain and varnish are complete on all 4 panels and they will go on this weekend. Pending items are positioning seat boxes and drilling for electrical (LED lights in the openings). Once that is done, they'll go in. They were designed to be removable, but in practice I think only the top ones will be accessed with any regularity.

In the next few weeks, the aft seats will be installed and final electrical wiring completed. Additionally, there are many little things that I will try to get done. However, with seats and electrical in place, she will be a fully functional boat and ready for the summer.

We are planning a launch party for the 2nd Saturday of June (14th I think). That's just 4 weeks away! Christening ceremony and generally hanging about with friends. More than likely we will be on the hook around Keyport, either opposite the tenders, or to the South towards Brownsville. If not there, then buzzing about between both of those points and Bainbridge Island. That is our favorite playground as the waters are very protected. If anyone is interested in popping by, you are MORE than welcome to hang out. There will be boats aplenty, assuming the weather is decent!

Pics are of panels, tank braces, and seat boxes with painted interiors. I'll post more when the seats are in.