Just noticed this light...

Am I seeing things or is this a mast light on the center of the windshield? If so, I wonder if it was an option as there are no holes in the divider on my boat.

Does anyone have any literature for these Bell Boys? BB Bob was kind enough to send me some scans of old magazine articles but the resolution of magazine photos is about as piss poor as a newspaper (remember *those*?) Am wondering what deck hardware is original or not...would love to see what the seats and helm looked like originally.

Actually the blue gel coat is pretty thread bare as you can see some of the fiberglass cloth pattern in a coupe of spots near the Bell Boy logos...and there are those rub marks on the hatch. Will repaint all the blue areas...I don't care for how it's faded towards the green end of the spectrum. Did the early manufacturers use off the shelf colors or were they custom blended? The hull has been repainted as has the bottom paint (can't quite figure it out, there's black and 2 shades of blue...did they paint the very bottom black then blue above that and finally the white hull?)

Couldn't believe how well the moss came off...took my time spraying around the window frames and rub strip (need to reseal it now!). Take a gander at the other pix in my folder and you'll see how grungy it was.

Next cosmetic step will be to yank out all the windows for replacement and polishing of the frames...while out I'll strip off the deck hardware for replating and repaint all the blue, am thinking of leaving the white alone for now...just redo the lower hull.

The canopy is too ugly for my taste although it allows for plenty of head room, the blue is way off kilter in relation to the rest of the boat. Would like to eventually replace it with a sleeker deal, maybe more of a Bimini shorter style.

Now if a certain someone could hook me up with the bow rail then I'd be in clover LOL

[BellBoyBob]

Wow what a difference. The hull gel coat looks to be in great shape!

What a weekend, tried to get to the swap meet but between the weather and nonsense that came up at the last second I didn't make it, ARGH!

Anyway, as requested here are pix after the clean up...quite a difference eh? And I hadn't even scrubbed it with a brush! That was all done with hot high pressure water and some simple green.

[BellBoyBob]

OK BB, lets see some shots of the cleaned up 404!

Bob

LOL Well funny you should ask that....steam cleaned it just last night and what a difference! Recently acquired and engine stand (to work on the engines) and am in the parts acquisition mode...matter of fact I'll be out the door in just a few to attemd the swap meet, hope someone else has dared to show up in this rain.

Hey BB. Sometimes I can't stop myself so I have to ask. When are you going to actually start doing some work on yours? John is so far ahead of me on his Express I have no chance of catching up. I need somebody else working on theirs to give me the incentive to get back to work on mine. I did start tearing my Homelite apart today so I guess that's something.

Thanks again Bob. Nice windshield, but don't you worry about termites or getting splinters in your eye? LOL

[BellBoyBob]

Here is the picture

Yep Fishy Supplies...don't listen to what I say, listen to what I mean LOL!

[Marvelous]

Bwhahaha, you sound like me when it comes to throwing stuff away! It irks the hell out of me to do so when I know that somewhere at sometime someone will need it.

You attending the West Marine swap this saturday?

West Marine swap or the Fisheries Supply in Seattle? Yep i am trucking up North to look for what ever strikes my fancy. I have a long list,short list and mostly a wish list.

Yes i put it in my shed and also has the aluminum steering (bezel)? which is near perfect. I could not toss it away so it is in waiting for anyone that may want it.

Bwhahaha, you sound like me when it comes to throwing stuff away! It irks the hell out of me to do so when I know that somewhere at sometime someone will need it.

You attending the West Marine swap this saturday?

Thanks again Bob. Yep, I have the transom end caps...took them off to polish them thinking they were aluminum, turns out they must be Zamac or some type of pot metal as they won't shine up, guess they were chromed.

Your last photo won't enlarge when I click on it...learn to drive the internet! LOL

[BellBoyBob]

BB

Your helm is original BB, I am quite sure. The fairing and the shape is identical to John Kelly's and mine. I suspect the "lip" of yours is there because I think there was an I/O version of the 1960 404 line. The lip on the instrument side of the box probably was added to accommodate a larger gauge cluster or frame necessary for the larger, four-cycle V-6? They may have literally been running low on the other version the helm boxes and popped that one on instead. It looks too much like the other box to be anything other than BB. The wood doubler might have been replaced because of rot? Hard to say.
As for your after-market hardware, consider how old the boat is. Owners will invariable add things they feel are necessary over the years. My dad's (mine) 404 express had no vent scoops or cleats other what I have described in an earlier post. Someone added yours to vent the tank hold in the gunwale wall. I added mine because I wanted to thoroughly vent the enclosed bilge area. I re-directed my fuel tubing so that they now enter the bilge where I installed a fuel/water separator filter. Also in the bilge area are two 12v batteries with potential for spark. So, for safety reasons, I vented the area and added a blower. I have seen boats go "kaboom" after filling up with fuel. Not pretty!
The photo here shows the stern of the BellBoy with the original brass fuel tubing coming out of those two "mystery holes" you describe in your splashwell. Easy to plug when you get to that part of your restoration. By the way, do you have your transom end caps? They are missing in your photos! Also included is a photo showing mine. Hope you have them!!

Bob

[Marvelous]

Yes i put it in my shed and also has the aluminum steering (bezel)? which is near perfect. I could not toss it away so it is in waiting for anyone that may want it.