18ft.C restoration

[Zinger]

It started one sunday afternoon pulling the motor out of my 86 classic 350 mag.Noticed a little crack in the bulkhead in front of the motor ,so i make up my mind to fit it the correct way and see what else is going inside the hull i removed the upper deck and it was heavy. I noticed the poor job donzi did in 86 in constructing the bulk heads i don't know what they were thinking buy installing foam with-out any drainage ,maybe new it was not a problem but after many years water does take it toll.Does any one know of any mods.they did during restoration on this boat , the forward tub was not even connected to any thing should it be attached to the stringers also does any one know were to purchase a new fuel tank for this boat again improper drainage when foam breaks down after many years. One final note how do your wife accept you doing all this work to this 16 year old boat.

[Jamesbon]

Zinger,
I found the same thing in my 1971 21 GT. I removed all the foam, and yes, it was still wet even though the boat had months of "dry time." I plan to fabricate a cradle for the tank and do away, completely, with the foam. Picture bulkheads with a contoured cut out to match the shape of the tank. Probably 3 to 4 to support the 55 gal. tank. You're right, it does trap water and there's no provision for drainage. Alot of people use PVC pipe under their tank compartment, but from what I've seen, there's no way for the tank compartment to purge into the PVC pipe.

You might try glassing in the forward tub. Just rough up everything that will come into contact with the new resin/glass mixture.

I purchased a new nylon tank (identical to the ones used in 22 Classics) form one of Donzi's suppliers. Call Donzi and ask whom to contact. (I don't have that info anymore.)

Oh yeah, I don't have to justify anything with the wife! I DON'T HAVE ONE!!! But sure wouldn't mind one sometimes... All my girlfriends have understood my "Donzi sickness," and if they didn't like it, I would have had to kick'em to the curb. (fortunately, I really never had to, they loved the boat and times inherent with it!!!) Good thing for them wink

If you have more questions, please post here for everyones benefit.

[falcon]

for installation of gas tank check this article

http://bertram31.com/proj/tips/fuel_tank.htm

[Jerry Eisele]

Falcon, Nice site