TOPIC: Our '58 Bell Boy Banshee...

...has a new home. I purchased this finned glassic back in October of '10. Completed in July of '11. Within that time I worked on this glassic every chance I got. I even acquired another Bell Boy Banshee boat for parts to complete this project. I gave that boat to a local friend.

@ Old Sac Public Dock


Bell Boy Emblems purchased from Larry @ Vintage Boat Works

...I sold to my cousin Gemmel. I helped him pick up a '59 Bell Boy Banshee back in March of '10. Rough on the edges but very sound structurally. We found this Continental trailer with the very cool fenders and restored it in May of '10 for this finned boat.



One of the hardest part to find was the tail fin boomarang shape aluminum trim. At the time, neither one of our Banshees didn't have a set. My cousin Gemmel found another Banshee that was 90% stripped. The good news is that it came with the tail fin aluminum trim, so he bought the entire boat just so we can have a set. So I borrowed it, sent it away to Tacoma, WA to have them recast.

Eduardo, that sure is one fine looking boat. frog

After refurbishing and completing the Reinell Jet Flight earlier this year, we decided to sell the Banshee to my cousin. When you put a lot of your heart and soul into a project, it's never an easy decision. My cousin now has a complete package with the restored Continental trailer.

The day we swapped trailers and boats.

Pretty cool to see these two finned glassics in the water


Red is my favorite color on the water


'58 Bell Boy Banshee


'59 Bell Boy Banshee


Continental Trailer restored in '10

..is now on a restored trailer.

In my research of Banshee boats, they only made them in '58 and '59. That's it. And out of a few Banshee boats that I have seen, I believe Gemmel's Banshee and maybe another are the only '59 that I have seen. The difference between the two years is that the split windshield only came on the '58 and the '59 has the splashwell.

First look of the '58 Banshee on a '60 Continental trailer

They made a few cool finned glassics up there in the Northwesst


One of my all time favorite fenders with that aluminum wrap


You can see the difference between a '58 and '59. The '58's fins look more pronounced from the rear view and from the cockpit compared to the '59 with the splashwell. From the side view, they both look the same. Also my cousin's '59 is a short transom and his now '58 is a long transom.

Looks good Eduardo,,I have one but it is down the list to be completed,,some day Bill

...even though we didn't have her very long. She was a fun project nonetheless and my wife and I did have fun with her. In the end, I know my cousin will take good care of her.

Eduardo and Mercedes

frog wrote:

Eduardo, that sure is one fine looking boat. frog

Thanks Frog. Appreciate that. With those fins and the color red on the water, she was definitely a looker. I will miss not seeing her all the time.

Eduardo

bilnan1 wrote:

Looks good Eduardo,,I have one but it is down the list to be completed,,some day Bill

Thanks Bill. I'm not surprised. Okay, so what year Bell Boy Banshee do you have? Any pictures?

Eduardo

Outstanding Eduardo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob

Excellent job Eduardo, she turned out beautiful!

Thanks Bob and Mark. She'll be in good hands.

Check this out gentlemen. This video was taken in the Fall of '11. a 68 miles up and back cruise from Discovery Park in Sacramento, CA to the Delta town of Walnut Grove, CA via the Sacramento River. No music on this video, Youtube declined me; however, the sound of the motors and the glassics cruising on the water is nice too. This was the first long cruise for the '58 Banshee.



I'll post this on the "Awesome Glassics Videos" thread as well.

Eduardo

Hi, Here are a couple pics of mine, Bill

Love the photo's and video. How much fuel did you use for there and back?

bilnan1 wrote:

Hi, Here are a couple pics of mine, Bill

Thanks for the pictures Bill. So you have the '58 it looks like. Looks complete other than the missing seat. When you're ready, maybe you can have Larry from Vintage Boat Works splash you a port side rear facing cockpit seat. He has these glassics.

Bill you may know this already but in case you don't. The transom design, short and tall transoms, in '58 were so different. Yours it seems is a short transom. The reason why I believe this to be is because you have a small fiberglass molded splashwell that is fastened to the inside of the transom and on the splashwell sides to the inside fin wall. I can see a little of the splashwell in your first picture. Underneath is a single aluminum knee brace. The '58 Banshee with short transom were all like this. (Bruce (Motorhead) and I went to see a Banshee in his hometown and the guy gave me the splashwell and short aluminum knee brace. I was hoping that he had the tail fin trim set, but no luck there.) In '58 the Banshee with tall transoms, like the one I had, came with an aluminum "V" shape bracket to support the tall transom. At first, we thought that this transom bracket was custom made until Gemmel found that stripped down Banshee with the aluminum tail fin trim. It had the same exact transom bracket. Also, one of the best features on these '58 Banshees to me is the split windshield. I'm sure when you get your Banshee and when she's all done, she's going to look pretty incredible Bill.

There's one Banshee that inspired me to find one and to finish her the way she is now. This specific Banshee is on a restored Tee Nee trailer too with one of my favorite twin OMC motors, a '58 Johnson Super Seahorse, and there is another '58 that was really nice and all original. I know I have some pictures of these two Banshee boats. When I do find them I'll post them and share here.

Here is a picture of the aluminum transom bracket for '58 Bell Boy Banshee with tall transom.

MarkS wrote:

Excellent job Eduardo, she turned out beautiful!

Thanks Mark. Much appreciated.

Eduardo

Shelby18 wrote:

Love the photo's and video. How much fuel did you use for there and back?

Thank you sir. On this first long cruise, I brought two tanks, 5.5 gallons each, and another 3 gallons for safety. There were a couple of places along the way where you can get more fuel just in case. Though this motor looks like a '68 (wrap) '69 (faceplate) Mercury outboard, in reality this motor is really an all original '83 4 cylinder 50 hp. Picked up a set of '68 500 decals to complete the look. Swapped out the motor wrap but had to modify the face plate and top face plate bracket to make it work. Anyway, I think I used less then 4.5 gallons cruising south on the river with the current, and a tad over 5 gallons cruising north and against the current coming back up. The fuel I think could have been better if I had set the trim out one more slot. Compared to the older V4 OMC and even my favorites, the older twin OMC motors, I was more than satisfied, not only on how she performed, both boat and motor, but for it's fuel consumption. This Mercury motor is solid.



This is how the trim should have been set especially for that long cruise.

thanks Eduardo,,mine is complete pretty much and will be an easy one when we get to it thanks for imfo,,Bill

Very enjoyable video. Got me yearning to get mine back in the water. Hopefully the first week of october at the philly acbs show. Ron

vuyosevich wrote:

Very enjoyable video. Got me yearning to get mine back in the water. Hopefully the first week of october at the philly acbs show. Ron

Thank you Ron. Hopefully the weather in October will be just as nice. The best part about these cool old finned boats is when you get to enjoy them on the water. These glassics are so fun. You have a great time at the Philly ACBS Ron.

Eduardo

Bill, this is the restored Banshee I mentioned earlier that inspired me to do mine. Take a look.
Used to look like this...

Good job Eduardo - one step at a time right?

Those little twins really do look the best on these fin boats don't they? Small and low - they don't detract from the fins.

Unfortunately, I never got to see that boat in the water. Oh well - I'll get a chance to see it if Gemmel get's it out enough.

Looking for some resources on parts for the 57/58 Bellboys. Specifically the rubber moulding that goes around the boat. I will be refinishing my dad's Bellboy Ballerina (57 or 58) inboard. Only 3 or 4 ever made.

l_flake,

WELCOME ABOARD.

yours, satx

that is AMAZING....Love that boat!!!!!

Just got hold of a 58 Banshee and I'm looking for the tail fin casts? There's mention that someone had new aluminum fin end casts made in Bellingham? Any idea where or if there's still the moulds around for them? Also looking for the side rub-strip joint pieces...look like cast aluminum. Ours are missing.
There is a reference to a vintageboats.com for Bell Boy emblems etc? Anyone know more about this?

Hello seemex, Welcome aboard.

We reproduce vintage boat emblems in sand cast BRASS, ready for you to chrome plate. We have also cast aluminum Herters,RedFish,and Larson tail fin caps,& covers, as well as various rub rail endcaps and the rub rail clips. We have also cast all Meteor aluminum trim.

I own 2 1958 Bell Boy Banshees and would love to work with you to complete your project.

Larry

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

seemex,

WELCOME ABOARD.

yours, satx

seemex,

WELCOME ABOARD.

yours, satx

Thanks for the welcome Larry...and all! I'm new to some of this forum stuff so it might take me a few tries to get pictures etc to post. Larry the emblems look great. Just got this boat so have a lot of work ahead. It has an old Gale motor that I think is seized, but could be good for parts for someone. We located another motor that will fit nicely...a 1958 Mercury, so hoping to have that to use when she's done. The boat has been restored-ish! Needs to be put back to stock, or as close as we can manage without breaking the bank. This looks like just the right place to get started.

Brian

Hi Larry,

I just sent you an email as I just picked a 1958 Bell Bell Banshee and it was missing the right side tail fin and we’d help locating as well as help with the bump rail. I would be interested in purchasing some emblems as well.

I hope you see this message?

Thank you in advance,

Johnny

Johnny here again,

Here’s some pics of my 1958 Bell Boy Banshee I just picked up, any help to locate the tail fins (I need the right side tail fin) and possibly some info on the restoration project would be amazing?

Thank you,

Johnny