Hallett 400 Open Bow Conversion (and make over) by DCB!

[RiverDave]

DCB does a lot more than just built their famed M series line. Believe it or not they do quite a bit of Regel / updating / and yes even open bow conversions. I'll admit when I first heard about the project I was wondering if DCB was going to be able to match the retro styling of Hallett, but I think you will be just as impressed as I was when you see how this thing turned out.. Absolutely factory!

Here are the before pics before the project started.

 

[RiverDave]

Step one take all the interior out of the boat. The entire interior is being redone, but matching to the original factory "style" to keep things not only period correct / but factory correct.

I'll admit this would be the hardest part for me. LOL. I have have a set of cajones, but I'm not sure I could take a saw to the deck of someones boat. LOL

I guess if you do it for a living it probably isn't that big of a deal. Now that it's opened up lets see what we are working with.

Now remember there is going to have to be a new sliding door put right here to close off the cabin! This is a far more in-depth job than just cutting a hole in the deck.

 

[RiverDave]

New door and track are in ready to be installed.

A lot of things are happening simultaneously in these pics..

The front top foam for the interior is finished and ready to be covered.

Interior department has recovered the driver / passenger seats and they are ready to be reinstalled.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Wow. I'm torn on this one. That was a beautiful boat in excellent condition in the before pics. Curious to see how it turns out.

 

[RiverDave]

Carpet kit for the cockpit is finished and laid out.

 

[HALLETT BOY]

Bad -Ass !

 

[RiverDave]

Sea Deck panels have shown up and ready to be installed.

Sea Deck installed on the floor of the open bow..

New
Interior going back into the boat now.

New Hatch pad installed.

First look at new interior and lighting installed in the engine bay.

 

[RiverDave]

New sliding door installed (look left). and you can see they are now laying the groundwork to finish off the open bow.. Seat Frames are in and you can see the open bow is now carpeted and finished off line the sides and the front bulkhead.

Operating the door.

Finishing off the underside of the deck.

Door installed open

Door installed closed.

 

[RiverDave]

All the pieces of the carpet kit finished off and now ready to have the snaps (or whatever method they choose to hold it down) installed.

 

[RiverDave]

Wood work done and covered in the open bow now!

Front interior drop in is ready to be installed.

 

[RiverDave]

The old deckled to the Hallett will be in route to Havasu for my buddy and I to make a bar out of it.. LOL.

and the story will continue after a message from our sponsors.. . (Gotta step out for a bit).



What do ya think so far?

RD

 

[LakeBeard]

Wow, that's bad ass!

 

[Dkahnjob]

Nice workmanship, but I think if it was mine I would prefer the closed bow.

 

[ka0tyk]

Interesting they chose to keep the locker up front in the floor rather than opening up that area so you dont have to crawl through a little door. Either way its pretty cool to see how the open bow area is built in sections like that. I thought most of them are one big unit dropped in and bolted to bases. Love the pix.

I had to save the pictures of the bucket seats to my desktop so i could switch back and forth between them. the changes are super subtle. why were they changed? just worn out and refreshed? It doesnt look like the back bench was changed? Although I notice the ripples are gone from people stepping on the center cushion.

 

[Singleton]

Notice how clean everything is
pride in workmanship when you see how clean the boats are and shop at each step!

 

[RiverDave]

Interesting they chose to keep the floor locker up front in the floor rather than opening up that area so you dont have to crawl through a little door. Either way its pretty cool to see how the open bow area is built in sections like that. I thought most of them are one big unit dropped in and bolted to bases. Love the pix.

I had to save the pictures of the bucket seats to my desktop so i could switch back and forth between them. the changes are super subtle. why were they changed? just worn out and refreshed? It doesnt look like the back bench was changed?

Note the wrinkles in the before pictures.. The interior was "clean" it was just "old" so it was redone..

Generally Hallett owners like their stuff perfect.

RD

 

[RiverDave]

Some better pictures of the wood work going into the bow as well as the wood work that encapsulates the door.

I got two files with literally 100's of photos in them and they aren't in order so I'm doing my best to go through them and decipher the order here.. These should've been ahead of the finished pics.

Pics of the sliding door wood work.

 

[RiverDave]

Getting close!!

(Until Later)

 

[charred1]

Bitchin!

 

[ka0tyk]

Note the wrinkles in the before pictures.. The interior was "clean" it was just "old" so it was redone..

Generally Hallett owners like their stuff perfect.

RD

Yeah I edited my post going back and forth between the pics. I noticed the ripples.

 

[jscarab]

Will the AC unit still be in the hatch in the open bow floor?

 

[ChumpChange]

Nice. That boat was built right when the last recession hit.

 

[Mcob25rg]

Theres no one east of Havasu that does this kind of custom work, so being 2,500 miles East kinda sucks! These kinds of projects are incredibly fascinating to me!!!!

 

[Riverryder]

this thing looks like i was never used to start with! picture of it in the water looks like mead correct?
does hallett not do there own boats?
i saw dcb did another brand aswell.

 

[RiverDave]

Will the AC unit still be in the hatch in the open bow floor?

AC and generator were removed out of the boat..

 

[RiverDave]

this thing looks like i was never used to start with! picture of it in the water looks like mead correct?
does hallett not do there own boats?
i saw dcb did another brand aswell.

A lot of mfg’s will do this kind of work, even on other brands.

I thought this one was cool because most people don’t see DCB as an outfit that will do things like this which is why I thought it would be cool to share.
Honestly the pricing I heard for the amount of work wasn’t that unreasonable

 

[Riverryder]

@RiverDave yeah it looks amazing! im sure it was more then most peoples boats cost.

 

[motormonkey]

I'm liking the mid cabins lately. They just make more sense. Way to have some vision and DCB is just top notch.

 

[RiverDave]

@RiverDave yeah it looks amazing! im sure it was more then most peoples boats cost.

not really.. Not my biz to say but less than half of either of mine lol

 

[BONER]

Goddamn that is a big Boat. Looks like DCB did a great job though. I've been seeing alot of Advertisement from them that they'll re rig or update pretty much anything you want to pay them for. Pretty good Business Model if you ask me!

 

[throttle]

that shit looks tight! really nice!

clean, classy, looks original. The bow section looks great, very functional and will probably be a favorite seat for many guests.

 

[RiverDave]

Well lets see it after it's all back together!

Note the interior seats weren't redone.

Note the indirect lighting installed

Finished off / carpeted sides..

New interior completely installed.

 

[RiverDave]

New Steering wheel.. The dash already looked pretty sano so no reason to change anything there.

 

[Q4mtxUS]

Hell yeah......I dig it..

 

[RiverDave]

Some quick comparisons..

GREAT JOB BY DCB!! I was really impressed with how they were able to keep it looking factory and match the styling from the period when the boat was built, but also another Mfg's styling!! Obviously being built by DCB it's done well, and I'm sure the owner is extremely happy with the results and will continue to enjoy the boat for years!

 

[NorCalRiverRat]

excellent workmanship, but I don't think that's indoor/outdoor carpet there using. Infact it looks identical to Classic grey VW bug carpet.

 

[hallett21]

Great thread!

Bring back the OG 400 deck!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PlanB]

I am not an open bow fan at all, but that came out bitchen. Top notch work by DCB!

 

[RiverDave]

excellent workmanship, but I don't think that's indoor/outdoor carpet there using. Infact it looks identical to Classic grey VW bug carpet.

It's the same typical 40oz carpet that most marine Carpet kits are made of I believe?

DCB does carpet kits for their boats or seadeck.. It's an option either way on new builds.

RD

 

[Mcob25rg]

Took away the overnighting, but if you can handle the boat, a hotel isn’t any big deal, and the overall usability just went up through the roof. More people, more fun, easier around the dock, trailer. HUGE improvement!

 

[crzy2bealive]

Dam looks super good!! Is it half ton towable? Jk

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[Pivot]

Why DCB? I would thing it would be a great nordic project.

Regardless i like the hallett nordic dcb colab....

 

[rush1]

Wow ,it was beautiful to start with and they certainly didn't do it any harm .I like it

 

[Member: 71]

Classy and timeless. Well done.

 

[playdeep]

A lot of mfg’s will do this kind of work, even on other brands.

I thought this one was cool because most people don’t see DCB as an outfit that will do things like this which is why I thought it would be cool to share.
Honestly the pricing I heard for the amount of work wasn’t that unreasonable

Beautiful...Quanto Dinero?

 

[Shlbyntro]

The old deckled to the Hallett will be in route to Havasu for my buddy and I to make a bar out of it.. LOL.

View attachment 858593

and the story will continue after a message from our sponsors.. . (Gotta step out for a bit).



What do ya think so far?

RD

Now this is a boat and project I can get behind, errrr.... I mean in front!

 

[ToMorrow44]

Theres no one east of Havasu that does this kind of custom work, so being 2,500 miles East kinda sucks! These kinds of projects are incredibly fascinating to me!!!!

You got that right! I have a hell of a time just finding someone to do gel coat touch ups in Florida. It’s gotten to the point where I’m willing to take it to havasu/SoCal in the off-season to have work done right.

 

[Ricks raft]

That's a BIG OL BOAT!
BEAUTIFUL!!!
I miss my 255. And I thought it was big

 

[charlyox]

Great job

 

[Spot]

Love it, the original Halletts are the best.