1988 DONZI ZF-33??? Question....

[Ktrain]

I am thinkin' about buyin' a 1988 ZF-33 with johnson 225's on it, can anyone give me any input on this boat?? Is it good, bad......etc

Thanks in advance

[Ktrain]

here are a few questions that i had...

With twin 250 johnson's what type of gas will she use?

how does it handle rough water?

what would be a good price to pay for a boat like this?

Thanks

[need for speed]

:rolleyes: How many Hours on those J motors

[Donzigo]

Don't know much about the Jon-rudes.

She is a heavy boat that will handle 4's & 6's easily. Anything more than that and you won't be riding far. The boat will handle much more than you can.

Richard

[Ktrain]

there are 300 hours on the johnson's .........and they are 1994's

here is the deal that im lookin' at ........

1988 donzi ZF-33 in Mint condition
twin 1994 johnson's with 300 hours
flo scan that says the boat has 850 total hours on it
with no trailer
everything esle is bone stock


I think I can pick this boat up for $30,000 do you guy's think this is a good deal??

[Team Jefe]

K - I think what you are looking at is an F-33...semantics I know, but we tend do do that around here.

Nonetheless, it should ride great.....I have been on teh Z version and they are solid. Richard is right the boat will take way more thatn YOU want to.

for the Z-boats, I hav heard about some stringer issues...be sure to have it checked out by a pro surveyor....an absolute must, they know what to look for. Also, Rich has posted some infor on his Z-33 & Z-25 resto, look for posts by DONZIGO about that and the Issues he raises.

Also, send PM and Email to DEEPSOUTH33. Scott is running an F-33 out of Clear lake and he has some good insight. I haven't been on it yet, but still hoping for an invite (not to sublte hint there Scotty Boy).

I too am a white motor fan. The Carbed Johnsons are solid, 300 hours is not much so that should be OK. Again have them checked by a mechanic for compression, etc. One issue is they are thirsty buggers...at WOT my '98 versions got 0.8 MPG...yeah, that gave me less than 200 miles range. I smoked one so I changed to Evinrude FICHT, now get 1.5 MPG at WOT.

I always recommend Mid-grade fuel...less dieseling. Super tend to run a little hot for O/B's. and use good synthetic oil...you will get much debate on that, some say TC-W3 is TC-W3 of any brand, I disagree and use Evinrude XD-50, or XD-100 (if I can get a good price) and PenzOil Full Synthetic...They are more expensive, btu I have had Zero issues since I started doing that..Knock on wood, please God don't jinx me for this.

Good Luck with your search.

[Ktrain]

thanks for that post.......the current owner is tellin' me that the twin johnson's are burning 12 gallons per hour at 4000 to 4200 rpm per motor runnin' 40 mph..........does this sound about right to you??

[Team Jefe]

No sir it does not....that is about right for ONE motor.

Figure it this way....the newer Fuel injected OB's are gonna get 3-4 MPG...double the number of motors and 1/2 the economy...now your at 1.5-2 MPG...at 40 MPH your burning 20-26 GPH.

ALSO, I LEARNED THIS THE HARD WAY.....OB's don't like to be dogged...meaning the make HP and Torque at near Max RPM.

MY Evinrudes Redline at 6250, Max HP is at 5800. I run them at 5500 all the time. Reason, as expalined to me by an Evinrude (Bombardier) factory rep. The slower speed tend to drag the motor (prop) due to less torque. This is speculated to have caused my Jhonson explosion. Rod bear screw came loose due to dragging the motor and stretching them during running......I really don't know if its true, but All OB guys I talked to since then say..run 'em the RPM is where the power is.

On the Fuel Economy....I'd ask the guy for a demo...fill the tanks go for a ride, measure the speed and time, vs. the Flow Scan, then YOU refill it and see.

[islandbooty]

Hello guys, please don't be too rough on me, I've admired the Donzi F-33 ('87-'92) for awhile, began shopping and settled for a '95 Stratos from the same mold. I am looking for set-up advice and looks like you guys could really help.
But first, let me say word-up to this Donzi design. The ride in our choppy gulf (I'm out of Biloxi) is awesome, absolutely wonderful in everything up to 4's which is all I've had the pleasure to experience soo far.
Bought this boat with it's original Johnson 225 Ocean Runners. The run great but the performance wasn't there. Running fairly light: WOT = 5000rpm's with 3-blade 14-1/4" 19's, top speed 44mph. First instinct was to drop to 17pitch props, but that seems low? Could that have been the answer? Upon asking around and other semi-intelligent people test riding, most have same answer: Motors are mounted too low. These are 30" shafts, mounted as high as possible, cavitation plates are exactly even in-line with the main hull directly forward of the engine. While I've been on alot of boats all my life, this is my first real perfomance hull, my first experience with these "step-transoms" Someone correct me if that isn't the term. It measures about 18" from end of the true v-bottom. I'm hearing on these type transom designs the motors should be raised x" per x" of distance back. I just pulled one 30" off and replaced with a 25" 250hp and it looks ok to me. But the cavitation plate is now 5" high, which sounds like alot, but like I say, doesn't look too bad. I'm scared to burn one up, what do you guys think. I've got waterpressure gages & temp alarms, is it ok to run it, or am I a fool for even trying it? Anyone else experienced with running 25" shafts on this hull? Any inputs on set-up ideas, etc would be greatly appreciated.