convert old bellboy to cc worth it?

[kennzo]

Hey all. When I bought my engine it came with an old old bellboy half cabin on a well built (home) multi roller tilt trailer.
Looking around for a newer boat to match to the engine I came across a rover 15 foot half cabin. I had a quick look and decided not to. Short story I rang the bloke up and he offered it to me for very cheap. So I sent him the money and he dropped it off at home.
Took a few mates out in it and it Took in about 60 litres of water and turned out to have a rotten transom and major structural damage inside the hull.
So I turned my attention to the ugly old half cabin bellboy, I'm guessing late 60's.
Upon closer inspection under the ugliness it has a rock solid floor, a very solid transom and after 10 hours of fishing in choppy water not even half a cup of water comes from the bung. It also surprised me how well it handles me and my mate can hang out of one side without that flippy Feeling.
With the Yamaha 70 it planes at very low speed but has a sharp entry. I was cutting through some harsh chop at around 25 knots by trimming the bow down and it was very soft.
It got me thinking since it has a lot of extra steering and control cable along with a Yamaha tachometer and digital gauge, I could make a very nice high sided and beams 17 ft cc out of this boat for around 2 grand all up, including some new paint and trimmings. Add a bow rail and I'm set. My concerns are the strength of the stringers and hull. Assuming that because the floor is solid the stringers are most likely ok?
I've heard these old bellboy are built like a tank.
Worth it?

[kennzo]

Pics of said bellboy. If any old timers can identify the model that'd be sensational. It looks like the original controls steering where mounted up front inside cabin, so it was most likely a " cabin cruiser ".20130326_185532.jpg20130326_185240.jpg20130326_185352.jpg

[oldie]

what a classic Old Girl! They'd win no beauty contests but were built solid, I doubt any resale would be there but if you spent too much on conversion so keep that in mind

[kennzo]

what a classic Old Girl! They'd win no beauty contests but were built solid, I doubt any resale would be there but if you spent too much on conversion so keep that in mind

True no resale but I'm bothered about that it came free with the engine. It's a classic for sure! I'd say it's had a new transom and floor at some stage, and some one has put a very tidy late model yammy with ptt and all the bells and whistles so it's had some love. Think it'd make a excellent cc with a new flowcoat and a spiffy pre made console. Make the area forward of the console where the storage boxes are a level step up deck, and the broad bow surface would be a great casting deck. Might go all outage chuck 2-3 g at it give her another lease at life the poor old duck.

[oldie]

yep a front casting deck would work well and you can have storage under, its worth doing if your going to use it will do the job of any other boat in that size for sure, enjoy the Renovations

[matt fraser]

Sounds like she is solid, very flat at the transom though, which is why she has so much stability. Could bang a bit in the chop.

There are seven Bellboys on boatsales at the moment, might help you ID it. Most of them aren't pretty.

Got to weigh up resale value against what you spend.

Good luck,

Matt

[tunaticer]

I had a 17' Bellboy three decades ago......a decent workboat for sure......never going to win a beauty show though.
Heavy is almost an understatement with them but they are rock solid.
From memory I think they would be a relatively simple conversion design.

[kennzo]

I had a 17' Bellboy three decades ago......a decent workboat for sure......never going to win a beauty show though.
Heavy is almost an understatement with them but they are rock solid.
From memory I think they would be a relatively simple conversion design.

Yep to be honest it could be done in a weekend I think with a pre made console there's a whole bunch of extra cable for pretty much all the controls and the existing wiring is more then long enough. Will rip the cabin off and do it all Hollywood though rub the floor back and give the entire inside right up to the gunnels another coat of fiberglass cloth then rub again and some tredgrip. I have a 160 litre subzero I might glass in behind the console just gonna take some heavy gear and suss out where it best handles with the weight positioned before I glass anything in. Its pretty heavy but turbo diesel pajero doesn't use much extra juice towing the old duck.

[marshy]

High kennzo what you have there is a bellboy 265 hardtop, most likely around 62 or 63.
They were built in Adelaide by Freighter Industries under license from Bellingham ship company USA. Doesn't have much classic value unfortunately so would be a great CC project. More info on Aussie built Bellboys here http://board.net.au/yabbse/index.php

Marshy.