bell boy 265 down under

[mark rundell]

hi,my name is mark ,im from portland victoria,Australia,been a cray-fisherman most of my life,working down bass straight,in the roaring forties and the furious fifties, a term used to discribe one of the most dangerous streches of water in the world. any how was thrilled to find this site,having just purchased an old bell boy 1961 265 hard top boat i think, im looking to find out what model she is and where shes from,would be very greatful if any one could help me,its 16 ft,has had twin motors at one stage,the one remaining is a evenrude,lark-iii,the aqua meter was made in america somewere,its a convertable hard top with a hatch, i will be putting photos on shortly, as soon as i work out how to do it ,cheers from the land down under. mark

p.s love your site so interesting,love all the old classics there the best.

[Tim McCrain]

Welcome Mark, we look forward to seeing photos of your boat. You came to the right place for Bell Boy info!

Tim

[mark rundell]

thanks tim,im a bit slow on computers,beeing a fisherman ,there not really my thing; i just tried before it said i had to wait for approval. is there any were i can find one similar to the 265,im ichting to see one, thanks

[Steve_Kiesel]

Welcome aboard Mark. Try this link to Fiberglassics:

http://www.fiberglassics.com/

On the left of the screen, click on Glassics Library. There are a lot brochures on the Bellboy. There's even a few brochures from the Australian market. Looking forward to seeing some pictures. Have a good one.

[mark rundell]

thanks steve,appreciate it,mark

[mark rundell]

Welcome aboard Mark. Try this link to Fiberglassics:

http://www.fiberglassics.com/

On the left of the screen, click on Glassics Library. There are a lot brochures on the Bellboy. There's even a few brochures from the Australian market. Looking forward to seeing some pictures. Have a good one.

i found the page,very interesting,thanks steve, i will be back soon with some pictures,you,ve made my week, look forward to starting the restoration on her, and chating with you guys, cheers for now. mark

[mark rundell]

pics of my bellboy

to see my pics have a look at my album here is the address.....http://photobucket.com/bellboy

Welcome Mark,
Glad you found us! Hope to see more pics and your progress with her in the future.

[mark rundell]

thanks; thanks to my girlfreind i now have pictures,:GoodJob:

[Helmar]

If you were to be setting in the boat, look just about were your right knee might touch the starboard side of the hull. Might be a under the paint but you might see were the label with a possible serial number might be Glassed over when the hull was laid up.

That would make a nice find.

Going to be a real stable boat as most of those were built for all of our water conditions up here.

Enjoy the site and thank you for your coments.

[mark rundell]

thanks helamr,i looked every where but carnt find any numbers on her,theres still bits of old paint in patches on it, i,ll have to get in there and give a good clean out; i found a plate on the motor finally,the model number is 35525,and serial number is A.529 ,and from banks town new south whales,australia; im keen as to learn all about her and other boats ,worked on them most of my life but never , took the time to learn much about them, thanks for your help,even that little bit of info you provided,made my day, cheers ,mark,oz:boater1:

[mark rundell]

thanks helmar,i looked every were,carnt find any numbers on her ,theres still bits of paint here and there, ill have to have a clean up,im so keen to learn about her and other boats.

I did manage to find an id plate on the engine ,the model no is 35525, and the serial no is A.529. and would you believe that after getting her home, i stuck a baterry in,connected the dogeist connections ive ever seen, put some ear muffs on, and bang,away she went,it had been sitting for years apparently.

it ran better than the other fifty that i have, smooth as, i didint ran it for long because i wasnt sure were the water is meant to come out.

Now that was just better than sliced bread to me.

that little bit of infomation that you provided went a long way. made my day, thanks;

mark, oz:boater1:

[mark rundell]

thanks

[Helmar]

I am not sure on all bell boys but for the most part, the only way I have found the ID tags is while sanding the inside of the hull. Fact is, I Almost sanded one of them away.
Anyway, I have found the most of them about half way up just about under the windshield or about were your knee would touch the hull.

I don't know if all the boat companies were Union back then but I do remember Bell Boys boasting Union Made so they were proud to put the stickers on.

I thought I had a picture of what to look for but was not able to find it for you.
Anyone else have a picture of the Bell Boy build ID Tags ??

[mark rundell]

thanks helmar, sorry about the double print ,im still getting used to ,the threads ect, its like learning chinese to me,thanks for your help, ill be in touch, mark