Bellboy 404 progress

[BellBoyBob]

Hi all:

I have some progress to report now. The pedestal boxes have been fitted with speakers and the starboard box has the red led light for night cruising. I have laid the floor in the cabin and coated it with epoxy. When that cures I will caulk with Boatlife black which takes 10 days to cure!

Also shown is the rear of the floor by the bulkhead to show where I plan to drill through the stringer to pass the wiring. The routed out molding will hide the wires and the uneven strips of mahogany. I will cut access hols in the head box floor and cabinet florr so that when the wires are in place, I will be able to seal the hole in the stringer from both sides with 3m 5200. That should keep the water from leaching into the stringer and causing rot.

Also sown are the 4" cabin speakers mounted in the V-berth fascia so we will have stereo inside and out!

More as I progress further...

Best,

Bob

Bob

That boat is sure gonna rock now! You've probably mentioned this before but how did you attach the mahogany flooring? Barry

[BellBoyBob]

I purchased 2 x 6 mahogany boards and cut 3/16" strips on the table saw. I sanded them smooth on one side and lightly stained them with interlux red mahogany. I then laid a 1/4" ply sub floor with 8 hour epoxy and 3/4" brads fired through a pneumatic nail gun. Then I epoxied and used the brad gun to adhere the strips on to the sub floor and used a scrap piece of the mahogany turned sideways to get the gap correct as i laid each piece down. Then I brushed epoxy over the installed strips and let dry for a couple of days. Next, I will fill the grooves with boat life black caulking, wait for that to cure, scrape the caulking flush with the tops of the strips with a razor blade and cover with 3+ coats of spar urethane. It looks great on the cockpit floor!

Best,
Bob