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Well, after a visit with Marty and looking at the nice 21 Express Cruiser he is restoring, and a starting out project of a 20 Skagit my wife and I figured we had a good handle on what size boat we wanted for our next project. So, low and behold, here is a ratty 18.5 Bell Boy 404 express on craigslist. So we go have a look but can't quite decide. The 21 is REALLY nice, but practically speaking, more boat than we have room for at our hose or want to haul around. So after examining pictures and discussing pros and cons, we decided that we would pick up the 404.
Tuesday evening my son Josh and I head down to Key Center to pick her up. After much wrangling of the truck and boat, we finally get it hooked up in the pit of a gravel driveway that it is sitting in. It took four wheel low just to get it out due to the steepness and gravel, but we made it clear. About 2 miles out, the squeaking of the bearings began... I pulled it over and kicked myself for forgetting the grease gun. But a nice friendly farmer type hooked us up, only to find that the right side wheel has a bearing buddy but the left doesn't. So we grease the right side and steel ourselves for a 20 mph trip back to poulsbo.
It was pretty good going with many stops to allow the bearing to cool, but at 20 the squeaking wasn't present so I was confident we could make it home. Well, we did! We got all the way to Poulsbo and at about 10PM and were just pulling up to the first stop sign in town when BAM! SCREEEEAAAAAPPPPEEEE! off went the right side wheel, spindle and all! The boat luckily didn't come off the trailer and I was able to pull it over to the side of the road a bit. I had my heavy duty floor jack with me so we hooked it up under the axel and dragged the boat off the main road and around into a residence.
Yesterday I was able to wrangle up a flatbed trailer and some help from a friend. Took us 2 hours to get it up on the trailer and secured. The last 2 miles to the house were over before we knew it and after much wrangling, she is now sitting where I usually park the Marathon, up on jack stands awaiting a new axle and springs, and wheels/tires. Ya, an unexpected expense, but at least its home.
Here is a shot on the trailer. She is really rough and needs a complete teardown on the interior. Obviously, that windshield doesnt' belong there and will have to go. From looking on the fiberglassics pictures, she is a 59 or later based on the 18.5 length. Original color was brown as evidenced by an untouched interior piece. So it will be paint stripping and sanding, but the hull is in really good shape and all the hardware minus the upper windshield is present.
The plan is to work on her over the fall and winter and into spring and get her ready for Summer - if we're lucky. If not, when she is done, she'll be done.
The engine onthe back is a 65 Johnson, but it appears to be siezed, so It will probably go on craigslist as a freebie.
Edit - 2014 - Used MS Paint to remove traces of the old name prior to christening tomorrow. Uploaded again with an not quiet matching and certainly not dirty yellow.
Tuesday evening my son Josh and I head down to Key Center to pick her up. After much wrangling of the truck and boat, we finally get it hooked up in the pit of a gravel driveway that it is sitting in. It took four wheel low just to get it out due to the steepness and gravel, but we made it clear. About 2 miles out, the squeaking of the bearings began... I pulled it over and kicked myself for forgetting the grease gun. But a nice friendly farmer type hooked us up, only to find that the right side wheel has a bearing buddy but the left doesn't. So we grease the right side and steel ourselves for a 20 mph trip back to poulsbo.
It was pretty good going with many stops to allow the bearing to cool, but at 20 the squeaking wasn't present so I was confident we could make it home. Well, we did! We got all the way to Poulsbo and at about 10PM and were just pulling up to the first stop sign in town when BAM! SCREEEEAAAAAPPPPEEEE! off went the right side wheel, spindle and all! The boat luckily didn't come off the trailer and I was able to pull it over to the side of the road a bit. I had my heavy duty floor jack with me so we hooked it up under the axel and dragged the boat off the main road and around into a residence.
Yesterday I was able to wrangle up a flatbed trailer and some help from a friend. Took us 2 hours to get it up on the trailer and secured. The last 2 miles to the house were over before we knew it and after much wrangling, she is now sitting where I usually park the Marathon, up on jack stands awaiting a new axle and springs, and wheels/tires. Ya, an unexpected expense, but at least its home.
Here is a shot on the trailer. She is really rough and needs a complete teardown on the interior. Obviously, that windshield doesnt' belong there and will have to go. From looking on the fiberglassics pictures, she is a 59 or later based on the 18.5 length. Original color was brown as evidenced by an untouched interior piece. So it will be paint stripping and sanding, but the hull is in really good shape and all the hardware minus the upper windshield is present.
The plan is to work on her over the fall and winter and into spring and get her ready for Summer - if we're lucky. If not, when she is done, she'll be done.
The engine onthe back is a 65 Johnson, but it appears to be siezed, so It will probably go on craigslist as a freebie.Edit - 2014 - Used MS Paint to remove traces of the old name prior to christening tomorrow. Uploaded again with an not quiet matching and certainly not dirty yellow.
I don't see any sort of buid ID attached to any of the wood. Is it possible that there is something on the glass somewhere that may be covered by carpet or some such thing?
Whats with that ??
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