Bell Boy 404 Express Restoration

[TheBronze]

Thanks for the compliments guys. My inspiration for that type of setup comes from vintage yacht layouts. I've seen a number of them,Monk designed, Christ Craft, etc, with the same sort of look. Keeps things clean and looks good all at once.

[TheBronze]

Been a long while since I posted anything to this thread. Something about summer boating. Then winter cold. Spring is here and it's time to pick up another mini-project for the restoration.

Originally, the 404 Express came with an exterior sliding door on the Port side. This was a simple setup that likely reduced construction costs and worked. Well, I think it did. It was stuck/sticky when I saved the Girl and torn out during demo.

From the get go, I decided a pocket door would be a better solution. It would allow the door, while also giving more exterior space. As such, when I originally laid up the main bulkhead, I took a copy of it for this plan. It has been sitting in storage for a number of years, but finally is getting put to use.

A long while back Marty wrote up a nice guide for making pocket doors in small boats. It included materials and construction technique. Unfortunately, one of the key elements, fiberglass T-Bar, is not readily available any more. Tap Plastics was the primary source, but all they have is flat bar. Looking online also came up empty unless I wanted to buy a thousand units…

As a result, I had to re-think my construction plan. In the end, I decided to use drawer slides to hang the door. These are readily available at hardware stores and are low cost. They are rated for quite large weight loads and provide smooth operation. Also, since the door is hanging, it eliminates the need for a sill on the bottom to handle a track. This is a great benefit as it removes the potential for striking the sill with exposed toes when traveling through the hatch way.

Another portion of this project is the inclusion of a cabinet and sink. The 404 originally came with a fiberglass cabinet and built in sink. It is a bit big and took up more cabin space that I liked. I eliminated it from the original design years ago with the idea of a smaller cabinet and sink. I've been holding off on building it as I needed the pocket door to be installed to get proper dimensions. Phase 2 of this project will be build out of this cabinet along with sink installation, water storage and drainage.


I'll be posting portions of these projects here in the next few days along with pictures and details about the different components and how they go into the boat. I started over the weekend and am surprisingly further along that I thought I would be considering the nature of the job.

[TheBronze]

As promised, pics of phase 1. In these shots, the false bulkhead is attached (mostly) to the port side bulkhead. Its also marked up for the installation of the cabinet supports that will go on the exterior. These will be fastened on the inside of the bulkhead. As such, they need to go on before final installation.

Next step is to measure for the cabinet dimensions and then remove the bulkhead for fitment of the drawer slides and door. When everything is attached it will go back in the boat for test fitting and operation.

As with most of the construction on this boat, all of the furniture has been designed for removal if needed. This setup will be no different. There will be butt trim on the stbd side bulkhead for the door to slide into when closed. Removal of that trim will allow the door to be removed in the future to allow for clean up of the pocket area.

[TheBronze]

Made some progress in the last few days.

The pocket door is hung and the bulkhead mounted. Sliding action is smooth and easy. The door still needs to have the pull ring mounted and a hole drilled out for when it is closed into the door jam. When I pull it out to stain and varnish I'll tackle those items along with routing the end.

The sink cabinet is a work in progress. The attached shots show all the pieces in place. The counter top needs to be trimmed down, the face needs to be mounted and then the door opening cut out. Additionally, I need to cut out the opening for the sink, plum the faucet, water tank, and drain, and figure out a water tank feed tube (seen sticking down). The final finishing touch will be hardwood trim on the edges of the plywood and a veneer on a small piece of end grain on the cabinet face.


It sounds like a lot, but each piece is something that can be done after work. I should be done with most of it by the weekend and moving on to the under window cubbies. I expect stain and varnish will be next week. Then servicing the engine for the season, washing everything up and launch for the summer.

[TheBronze]

Although not much activity by me in the last 7 months on the forum, work continues. Cabinet and pocket door were done last year and work great. I'll get an updated picture on here soon.

The newest piece of work is the cabin table. I'm about half done. Table is built, but needs re-enforcement on the bottom as it will be the insert for the bunk as well. i used bloodwood, birch, and rosewood in a butcher block style of lamination. Looks great. Pics to come.

[TheBronze]

Pics as promised. The shot of the cabinet was late last year. I have the wood for the cabinet door set aside. I was ready to go boating last year when I finished. Nothing fancy planned for that. Just a couple of hinges and a pull handle. The door is on my short list for this winter, along with finishing the table and adding cubbies in the cabin to replace the original fiberglass units.

We found a lot of useful space in the cabinet during our few outings last year. We can store cups, bowls, paper towels, rum, and even a small garbage basket. Makes it very convenient for lunches and general usability.

The shots of the table are top and bottom. I used blood wood in the center, birch, then rosewood, followed by birch and rosewood, with rosewood rails (not pictured). The joinery was biscuits with glue, and lots of clamps. The look is fantastic, but the joints are not strong enough to support the weight of a person. The table will be a high/low type arrangement with it acting as the center berth fill for overnighters. Hence the steel reinforcement on the underside. It still flexes more than I would like so I'm likely going to lay up 2 layers of 1708 to add strength and aid in capturing the box steel. I'm fairly confident that this will do the trick. If not, I'll add layer of 1/4 plywood to the bottom.

When these projects are complete, its back to some home improvement stuff. In the spring, I plan on tackling the door trim. That is a bit of a project as it involves both sides of the bulkhead. The inner portion needs a door stopper and will also have to have a proper groove in it to receive the headliner. Should be fun, but will be time consuming. I'm hoping to have it done this spring though. After that it is just relocation of the batteries to the anchor locker space and then she will be done. As in finished! 6 years later…. lol

Edit: why these pics are coming across sideways I don't know. They orient correctly on my PC.

[bruceb]

John- Very nice choice of wood and great looking for the classic cruiser you have there ! thanks for the pics !

[Kelly]

Nearly 22k views for this thread! Wow! The interior looks great from what I can tell.

[TheBronze]

22k reads? I had no idea! That's like a thousand reads per page.

Last night I put down a single layer of 1708 on the underside of the table. It has been a while since I worked with FRP. Man, I love that stuff! 2nd layer goes on tonight. I did some more pressure testing before putting the glass on and I think it is going to be sufficient with the 2 layers.

Prior to laying down the glass, I did some router tweaking on the surface. I didn't like how the rails lined up with the corner routes so I cleaned it up a bit. Once the layup is done, it will be on to sanding. and fitment of the top rails. If all goes well, I should be on to finishing this weekend.

[TheBronze]

Weekend was spent mixed with boat work an other stuff. Spent most of Sunday working on the cabin for the table though.

The table is done from a construction standpoint. A 2nd layer of 1708 was installed earlier in the week and it is nice and stiff. I painted the bottom after a good sanding to reduce the fiberglass itchies. We'll see how well that works this summer.

I've installed the side rails for fitment purposes. They will come off some time this week for final sanding prior to glue up. Once that is set, I'll move on to varnishing the wood as a whole unit.

The mounting rails have been built and fit into the cabin and I did a test fit/sit of the table with everything in place. Very sturdy. I don't think we'll have any issues with the wood letting go during overnighters. One more piece that will go in the gap is a 6" filler. It will double as a cutting/food board during regular use, and drop in to extend the berth space when needed.

I'll be ordering the Sierra table mounting system from Overland when I get paid next.

Overall I'm pretty satisfied with the project.

I've also snapped a few shots of the interior door and sink. Better than previous shots. Door open/closed, a close up detail of the false bulkhead and such. Enjoy!

[Kelly]

Like your work, it's coming along nicely. I like how you did the storage in the cabin.

[TheBronze]

Thanks, Kelley. It was a fun mini-project and a great way to get back into project mode for the year.

This brings me to a conundrum. Next phase for this Winter is the cubbies. Originally, the fiberglass cubbies ran both sides, with the port side blocking the water tank and having just one opening. Stbd side has two. They were glassed into the hull like so many other vessels of the time. I still have these pieces. They are both in need of a solid cleaning and gel coat restoratoin. The stbd side one is slightly damaged on the forward end. Repairable, but would have unmatched glass/gelcoat (I could paint to match the deck or hull). The port side one I'm not sure will fit any more. My counter top is taller than the original cabinet and the cabin space is shorter on that side by a few inches due to the pocket door. The end could easily be cut off and made to fit. Height might be a different issue. There was space between the bottoms and the old counter top, I just don't recall how much.

My original plan was to use wood and continue the warm look and feel of the cabin space. Making them from wood would be fairly easy and would certainly look good. But now I'm wondering if I should put the originals back in (if they'll fit). Another deciding factor is whether my plumbing would be visible or not. I don't want to look at PVC.

Wood is warm, but there aren't many original interior parts left on the boat. Other than the hull and deck, I've pretty much replaced everything except a few pieces of structural wood under the windows and forward deck. That being said, I think the only glass interior parts on that boat originally were the helm and those cubbies.

It was never my intention to restore this boat to 100% period. Rather, to build it as a custom, hence all the modifications. So I'm not losing anything by using wood vs glass. Yet….

Thoughts…?

[Kelly]

Pictures would help as I'm not entirely sure what the originals look like. My initial thought is how well will the old and new blend together. In other words, if the helm box is original now, then having an original piece(s) in the cabin would be a good blend. Old & new inside and out. With my hardtop I'm trying to keep it as close to original as I can but the mods I'm doing will meet the intent of originality from Skagit.
What was your vision when it all first started?

[TheBronze]

The intention has always been to build wooden ones to continue with the warm and inviting cabin space.
I pulled them from storage last night and tried them out in the boat. The stbd side is an exact fit and would be easy to put in place. The port side is, as expected, too big for the space. The counter top was an arbitrary height based on perceived comfort when sitting on the berth bench. As such, it is too high for the original to fit in. The length, as expected, is too long due to the extra space occupied by the pocket door and false bulkhead.

These things can be fixed, however, by cutting down and shortening.

The look is good and bad. Good because they fit right in and look like they belong there. Bad because they don't match the rest of the interior of the boat. Also, the port side, as mentioned, has a long section of panel with no access due to the old water tank. I could cut an oval in there for access, but matching the trim would difficult. Finally, both of them are quite concave. I know they would straighten out some when glassed and fastened, but I think they'll always have some curvature to them.

I'm more inclined at this point to build new ones from wood, but will be waiting for some input from my first mate prior to building anything out.

[TheBronze]

Been sick most of the week. But I managed to get a few things done yesterday and today. Mostly today.
Table has plugs in the screw holes and they are now sanded down. I'll be varnishing the table, rails, and other items later this year when it warms up.

Today I mounted the cabinet door (finally!) and test fit the hardware. After fitment, off it went, fresh 240 surface sanding and the outer edges got 1/4 rounded. Stain has been applied and it will sit with the rest of the parts. Shots are inner and outer prior to routing.