bell boy down under

[mark rundell]

hi , my name is mark i just got a 1961 bell boy hard top run about 16 ft,she has been sitting out in the weather, has no floor in her, the stringers are expposed,and im now wondering if it is worth the trouble of restoring her ;
she has had water sitting in it , will this soak into the fibre glass hull , if so what can i do to fix her , i think she has poetential. any help would be greatly appreciated,

cheers mark , portland vic

 

[Greg Mrozinski]

Re: bell boy down under

Mark,

Welcome to iboats. Search this forum for all the info you need to restore a boat. Guys on here are the best.

With regard to your boat, it really depends on how much you want to invest in both time and money. For sure you will have to completely gut the boat and totally rebuild everything. The fiberglass will absorb some of the water but if you clean everything out real well and then let it dry out in sunny weather you will probably be okay.

Beside the rebuild price you have to consider the engine and trailer costs. Bell Boy's are cool and unique boats. But you can definitely buy a ready to go boat much cheaper then the cost of a resto job. It's a personal choice. For me I wanted the challenge and learning expirience of a rebuild...but just once.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[oops!]

Re: bell boy down under

hi....welcome to iboats...this is boat university.

i agree with the above post.

also dont worry about the water in the boat....after its drained.....a fan will dry it out after just a few hours unlesss the actual glass is ripped and that would have to be repaired any how.

if you want a project......that sounds like a great one.
if you are thinking about it from a monitary (is it worth it???) point of view.....no, it rarely is.

 

[mark rundell]

Re: bell boy down under

thanks guys , i,ll stick to my origanal dream of just doing her up ,im the same im have absouletly no idea of what im doing ,but thats half the challenge,

im a painter, and have been a crayfisherman for a few years, so im sorta there,., any way this is where you can veiw her,





http://photobucket.com/bellboy

cheers mark

 

[captmello]

Re: bell boy down under

Nice looking boat. I hope you fix it up.