Back in Maryland with the "Georgia Peach"!!!

[Ryan23]

We're officially Donzi owners now! :)

1330 miles (round trip) and roughly 24 hrs of driving time (I'm beat!)

It's a 1975 Spitfire, twin 350's, Volvo drives. Build date was Aug 74', so I'm guessing it would be a 75' model year? HIN marks it as the #51 in the 24' range. I'm guessing that would probably include the El Pesc, Spirit, Spitfire & Doral as they share the same hull. Maybe someone could shed some light on that?

Near as I can tell, we're the 5th owners. The last owner owned it for ~6 years. The gentleman he bought it from owned it for ~9 years before that and it pretty much sat under a shed (in a barn?) for the majority of that stint. We also found a title from 81' which lists the previous guy.

The 3rd owner had freshened up the motors prior to it sitting around idle. They also received Edelbrock intakes, Ederlbrock marine headers and Holleys at the same time. The idle has a slight chop to it, I wouldn't be surprised if they had a mild cam in them. The gentleman that I purchased it from (Chris) was an aquaintance of the owner before him and figured the motors have ~50 hours on them. They fire right up when cold, don't smoke and it runs pretty strong. Chris is an outboard guy (Mercury master tech ~15 years) and just used this boat to put around with his family on the weekends. He did a good bit of maintenance on it while he owned it though. Now his other boat (or the "real" hot rod to him) is a 22' tunnel boat (Talon?) with a pair of worked 280 outboards. It looks pretty nutty.:eek!:

Back to the Donzi though! The Hobbs switches are still ticking and read 284 hours. I suppose they could have been tampered with but I don't think so given the back story. Don't get me wrong though, the boat is a bit rough aesthetically. However, mechanically, it seems pretty solid. I spent a good deal of time pushing on stringers and poking my head around looking for rot. I'm certainly no expert but it seems pretty solid. We wanted a restoration project and this should fit the bill quite nicely. My-oh-my there is so much work to do....

The 13 hour return trip gave us plenty of time to kick around ideas on what we'd like to do with it. We're not looking to go 100% circa 1975 with it. While we both love the boat, we just don't think we can deal with orange on such a large scale. The hull has been painted (above the water line) with this crazy paint scheme by some nut in his shed (I'm guessing). There are a few runs in the paint and it's starting to chip off in spots. Those spots reveal an original orange gelcoat that seems to respond to compund very well. So to start with, we'll take it down to the original gelcoat. Not quite sure of how yet, any chemical suggestions that will loosen up the paint without harming the gel underneath? If the orange is still awful, we'll prep it and go for all white with a single orange stripe down the bow. Speaking of the bow, I'd also like to ditch the E.T. looking search light up there. While it's certainly functional (and remote controlled!!:tongue: ), it's ugly as sin. Undecided on the bow hatch. Maybe we'll redo it in white to blend in with the deck but still allow it to be removed to get some air down below. I'd also like to remove the bow railing and fill in the holes.

As far as the interior goes, we'll contact built-rite and see if they still have the patterns for this. If not, we'll send them whatever they need. I like the white with orange piping that it already has. If anything, maybe a pair of orange stripes in the style of some of the Classics I've seen. Orange cockpit will be going to white after filling in all the little holes here and there. Any suggestions in hole/stress crack patching would be appreciated!

There are a ton of other ideas we have and plenty of stuff I haven't even touched on yet. This post is long enough already though and it's been a long weekend!

So without further adieu, here's the pictures:

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/boat1.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/boat2.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/boat3.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/boat4.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/boat5.jpg

[Gearhead99]

Nice Spitfire. Looks like it's all there too.
Have fun !!!

[gcarter]

Pretty boat!:)
Nice find.
Welcome to the world of restoring Donzis!:wink:
Personally, I like the handrails and would seem to be a integral part for the era. You might even find them handy.
FWIW, re-gelling the hull isn't that hard to do. Minimum number of tools needed. Gel is available from :https://www.minicraft.com/retail/donzimarine.htm
Good luck.

[Ryan23]

Pretty boat!:)
Nice find.
Welcome to the world of restoring Donzis!:wink:
Personally, I like the handrails and would seem to be a integral part for the era. You might even find them handy.
FWIW, re-gelling the hull isn't that hard to do. Minimum number of tools needed. Gel is available from :https://www.minicraft.com/retail/donzimarine.htm
Good luck.
The bow rail was an option though, here's a brochure without one. I'm digging it, looks like a bigger "Classic". You are right though, it is nice to have something to hold on to at the dock. Thanks for the link, btw:
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/spit.jpg

[boldts]

Wow......... Did I say WOW yet? What a piece of history and I love the lines of the Spitfire. The catalog picture you've posted would be my dream boat for sure. (I'm a blue and white color guy) Good luck and much success with your restoration. Whatever Donzi gathering you happen to attend once your finished with this boat, I'm going to have to attend. You just don't see this model Donzi every day and I want to see one in real life. For now though, keep the pictures coming as you progress. Very nice find.

[olredalert]

Ryan,

-------You-da-Man!!!Boat looks good. Im sure it has been pictured on this sight more than once but probably because of the paint no one was willing to take it on. After a look at your pics and our E-mails I think I have a couple of suggestions. The dash set-up needs some degree of re-work.
-------Shifters and throttles seem to be oddly placed too far forward and out of reach unless you are standing. Replacement and placement back by your left hand would be good.
-------Access to the front is so bad that I think removal of that center stack of radios and opening that area up a bit would get you into the forward area more easily. Some of that electrical stuff is probably outdated anyway, and the rest could be mounted elsewhere.
-------I also had that style rail on the El-P except taller and the main problem with them is all the seperate pieces. I had a new one piece stainless rail made and it gives a much cleaner appearance. It didnt cost much and the fabricator even used the original holes in the deck.
-------That brings up another question; Is your deck imprinted with that vinyl pattern for traction??? If so it makes filling holes in the deck correctly a bit more difficult as its hard to get that vinyl pattern back. I had to get rid of it and use another non-skid pattern that was added under the paint (kind of like sand).
-------I dont see any power-trim on those Volvos and that is going to hold you back a bit, speedwise. Updating to 290s would work short-term, but more modern drives really unlock the speed and handling of this great hull. Looking at your drivetrain Ill bet you have about 75 to 100 more horsepower than I do and Ill bet the El-P still has about 7 to 10 mph on you. Speed isnt everything as 98% of the time I run around 40 while trying to get somewhere, but its nice to not get left in the dust by your pals on the way to anywhere.....Congratulations on a good buy again!!!!......Bill S

[Ryan23]

Ryan,
-------You-da-Man!!!Boat looks good. Im sure it has been pictured on this sight more than once but probably because of the paint no one was willing to take it on. After a look at your pics and our E-mails I think I have a couple of suggestions. The dash set-up needs some degree of re-work.


Hey Bill!
Thanks again for your advice along the way. I'll see if I can go through your list here:



-------Shifters and throttles seem to be oddly placed too far forward and out of reach unless you are standing. Replacement and placement back by your left hand would be good.

They are in a bit of an odd location but I can still reach them while sitting. The throttle could have originally been were the trim tab panel is. I'll have to dig under the dash and see. If it looks like that's the original spot though, I'll probably just leave them.



-------Access to the front is so bad that I think removal of that center stack of radios and opening that area up a bit would get you into the forward area more easily. Some of that electrical stuff is probably outdated anyway, and the rest could be mounted elsewhere.

It's not bad at all, the box only sticks out maybe 2 inches from the dash. I'll see if I can get a better picture of it. The box keeps the water off the radio, CB and VHF. It does need to be cleaned up a bit though.



-------I also had that style rail on the El-P except taller and the main problem with them is all the seperate pieces. I had a new one piece stainless rail made and it gives a much cleaner appearance. It didnt cost much and the fabricator even used the original holes in the deck.

I'm still not sold on keeping the railing but I'll promise to put some more though to it :)



-------That brings up another question; Is your deck imprinted with that vinyl pattern for traction??? If so it makes filling holes in the deck correctly a bit more difficult as its hard to get that vinyl pattern back. I had to get rid of it and use another non-skid pattern that was added under the paint (kind of like sand).

Yeah, not only the deck but the whole dash too. Mandy and I were just talking about that last night. For larger areas we could probably make an imprint of the pattern using "Plaster of Paris" or something similar. After we fill in the areas, we could "re-stamp" the pattern to that area. The lines might not flow 100% perfect but I'd think you would have to really look to see the difference.



-------I dont see any power-trim on those Volvos and that is going to hold you back a bit, speedwise...

Already started another thread on it. :)


Thanks,

Ryan

[Ryan23]

the shifter is not original
it was a dual morse shifter but was still mounted in a weird spot or what looks like a weird spot to a short guy like me ;)
http://www.allardmarine.com/Spitfire.htm

The chrome dual sticks do look original though. Looking at the original brochure again, maybe the shifter (or throttle) did go where the trim tab/bilge panel currently resides.

Chris mentioned that the original knobs on the shifter were made of wood and looked pretty ratty. He machined a new set of knobs out of stainless. I wish I could get my hands on some more literature/pictures of these boats originally. Just for fun, here's a pic of the dash of another Spitfire I found (single BBC). I've got a ton of pics of this particular boat.

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/MVC-014F.JPG

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/dash.JPG

[Ryan23]

look at the brown boat with the upgraded seat option in my link and on the blue one too
it has the dual shifter mounted in the same spot has the single you posted??
what are the other 2 sticks for I was assuming one shifter and one throttle for each motor ???

The upper two sticks are the p/s shifters, the lower ones are p/s throttles. I can't really make out the throttles in the picture of the brown one. It's hard to say whether the brown one was a single or twin boat either. They were offered either way. I'm going to see if I can track down this owner from 1981. Hopefully he's still alive and has some info on it.

On the plus side, I just found out that Viking Instruments can refurb the original Danforth Constellation compass. NOS bowl & card, seals & fluid. They are in Mass and their number is 781-331-3795.

Ryan

[half fast]

Glad you and your co pilot made it home safe and trouble free.I'm gonna miss the Donzi but one twin boat in the fleet is a plenty.Very cool you contacted the prior owners and I can get Charlie's # for you also.Good luck and keep us all posted on the progress. hf...

[Ryan23]

And the plot thickens...

Spoke with Charlie, owner number three today. Breaking this down chronologically, we have:

??? - 75' - 81'
DEA - ~81'
"Red" - 81' -85'(?)
Charlie - 85'- 00'
Chris - 00' - 06'

Charlie bought the boat from Red in the mid 80's and recollected some interesting info. Red told him that he had bought the boat from a DEA auction in Cocoa Beach. Apparently the bought was being used to run drugs down south. Red told him that he thought the original owner was a professional wrestler ( Woo-hoo! Maybe it was the "Nature boy" Ric Flair, Andre the Giant or even the Hulkster!!! :rlol: ) How Red would have known who the original owner was, I have no idea. Red also told him that he thought the boat came with twin 454's originally. They are an extra pair of holes in the transom (filled in) to support that theory. However, the new holes could have been made whenever the Edelbrock headers were added. Hmmm...

- When Charlie bought the boat it had orange/white candy striped interior. He had an upholstry shop change it out to white with orange piping.

- Charlie didn't change the shifters/throttles. They're in the same spot as they are now.

- He had a problem with the starboard engine and had some performance shop in Evansville, IN rebuild both of them.

- Charlie's not sure what the round hole in front of the compass was for. It's bugging the hell out of me, looks about the right size for a smaller compass but why? There's a smaller compass over on the other side of the dash.

I should really get that FL title search going...

Ryan

[mrfixxall]

ryan,,I almost bought that boat ,hope he offered you the same deal..i just diddt want to go through another project,got a 35 cig and a 26 formula taking up most of my time.did chris give you both sets of props with it? any hoo good luck on your resto you have a big project ahead of you..

[Ryan23]

ryan,,I almost bought that boat ,hope he offered you the same deal..i just diddt want to go through another project,got a 35 cig and a 26 formula taking up most of my time.did chris give you both sets of props with it? any hoo good luck on your resto you have a big project ahead of you..

Yeah, Chris gave me a pretty good deal on the boat. I did get two extra sets of props along with the "nose cones" too. Speaking of big projects, here's today's progress :) :

Rain stopped me tonight but I'm done stripping and almost done wetsanding the port side. The sanding is pretty monotonous so I've been sanding 5' sections and going back to buff it out as I go. It gives my hands a little bit of a break. I'm pretty happy with the port side after stripping it. No burns through the gel on this side (or huge patch repairs!).

The UPS guy stopped by and dropped off a few things tonight too. I got my Grant center cap in. Used a heat gun to pop the center emblem off. Cleaned it up with some goof off and popped the new Donzi Marine logo in the middle (Thanks Lou!). My new 14" Covico wheel should be here in a few days to go with it. It would be nice if I could find a shiny new bezel to go with it :(

I also got a container of "Naval Orange" Gel-Coat patch repair from Mini-craft. Just putting the can up to the hull, it looks like I can work with it. I've prepared myself not to expect a 100% invisible repair. It's a big boat though and with a little finessing it should be OK from a few feet back. The spots I want to repair are pretty small, for the most part. That's with the exception of the 4 previous exhaust transom holes. They have been patched but once the paint is removed they'll stick out like a sore thumb. I'll see what I can do with this can of goopy goodness.

Last up, Viking Instruments called. I should have the original Danforth compass back in ~10 days or so. It was pretty jacked up but will be 100% OEM (done to the compass card) when I get it back. If I'm happy with it, they'll get the smaller starboard compass in for refurb too.

So anyways, on to the pics!

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/new7.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/new8.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/new9.jpg
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/scoobywrx/donzi/new10.jpg

[gcarter]

I used the "Classic White" gel patch paste from Mini-Craft on the deck of my Minx. It's so close in color that I can only find the patches if I remember where they are.
I think you'll be pleased.
How are you planning on trimming the stripes?

[Ryan23]

I used the "Classic White" gel patch paste from Mini-Craft on the deck of my Minx. It's so close in color that I can only find the patches if I remember where they are.
I think you'll be pleased.
How are you planning on trimming the stripes?

George -
Any tips on applying it? The folks at Mini-Craft recommended using wax paper and pushing the gel on to the hull.

For the stripes I picked up some Interlux "Brightsides" polyurethane. We figured we'd tape off both stripes and then go from there. The stripes were originally gel-coat but I'm going to try and cheat a little. The bottom one is your standard Donzi bootstripe. The upper one tapers to a point up towards the bow. We plan on keeping it that way.

Ryan

[gcarter]

I bought the patch paste w/wax.
To apply, I used a plastic applicator you can get at any paint store. I cut the applicator to a width that's a little more than the hole.
The gel is applied into the hole so there's no voids, and enough to stand "proud" of the surrounding gel. After all it shrinks probably 30%.
After it hardens and you de-wax it w/ acetone, I would start wet sanding with a strip off 400 paper wrapped around a 2" long piece of paint stirring stick. This will get the surfaces down to the same height. From 400 to 800, to 1200 and then I would hit it with a buffing pad.
Most of these spots were about 1/2" in diameter.
If you have a scratch, you have to make the scratch wide enough to have space to insert the gel. I used a Dremel w/ a ball end cutter.
Good luck.

[Ryan23]

More fun with the money pit...

OK, learning to apply Gel-coat is definately a learning experience. I first tried using a flexible rubber bondo "squegee". That didn't work too well because it left a high spot. Trying to sand the high spot down only made things worse by thinning the gel in the surrounding area. Not to mention the air bubbles.

For the second attempt, I picked up a "Preval" aerosal spray gun from West Marine. Preval claims it will work with Gel-Coat and for $10, why not? The gel (in patch form) was a little too thick to spray. So I thinned it out with some acetone. I went to town with the first coat on a small section of the transom. It was already jacked up anyway with patches from the previous exhaust setup.

I checked that section out about four hours later and the first coat hardened up pretty good. Leaves a nice textured surface that I can probably even out with a little 600 grit wetsanding. I also sprayed it in a manner to blend in with the original gel (little use of tape). This orange is a pretty bright color. While it may not match 100%, it looks like it *may* come pretty close. Time will tell I guess. I'll snap some pictures as I progress.

Shifting gears....

Fun with the starboard outdrive:

I resealed the upper/intermediate drive after I bought the boat. Oil was a little milky, I figured I had a 50/50 shot with upper or lower. Well, as it turned out, it wasn't the upper :bonk: . After our last outing I re-checked it and sure enough, got a milkshake brewing again. So now I needed to find a suitable slide hammer to pull the propshaft out....righhhhhhhhtt...

Volvo of course makes a tool specifically for this purpose. I imagined it probably wasn't cheap nor locally available. I did find a slide hammer locally but couldn't figure out how I would attach it to the prop shaft. Off to Home Depot :) Here's what you need to make your very own "$20 Ryan Special" Volvo Prop Shaft remover:

One (1) straight section of plumbing pipe, 1.5" x 5"
" " 1 1/4" x 5"
" " 1" x 5"
" " 3/4" x 5"
" " 1/2" x 5"
" " 3/8" x 6"
Two (2) 3/8" pipe couplers
Six (6) 1.5" OD, 3/8" ID fender washers
5/16" Threaded rod, 3 feet
Three (3) 5/16" nuts
Eight (8) 1.75" OD, 5/16" ID fender washers
Roll of duct tape

Take all the pieces of plumbing pipe and insert them into each other. You may need to use a hammer, some are a tight fit. Take the six fender washers and slide half of them over each end of the longer 3/8" center pipe. Use a coupler on each end and you should be able to cinch the washers up snug against the stack of pipes. Wrap the hole thing up in duct tape. When your done, you'll have a nice comfortable ~3 lbs slide. Thread the threaded rod into the nose cone bolt hole a good ways. Slide the 3 LBS contraption over the threaded rod. Put one nut on about 2" down the other end of the rod. Slide your eight fender washers on and use the last two nuts to cinch them up on the first nut. Sit on the lower unit and use the slide to whack the stack of fender washers. Works like a charm, off with a dozen or so whacks :)

Unfortunately, that's where it got ugly. Upon removing the prop shaft, I got a peek at the lower gear that sits on the vertical shaft. Three chipped teeth :(. Some of the debris also got caught between the oil pump and the housing and scarred that up too. I guess that explains the metal debris I found in the oil screen upon pulling the lower unit :boggled: .

Rather than just re-seal it and slap the time bomb back together, I opted to pick up a "new-to-me" outdrive. Found a guy in Delaware (~90 miles away) that had a complete 280 "B" that was pulled off an 19' bowrider with a 305. $750 later, I walked away with a pretty clean (externally) 280 with a "gentleman's" money back guarantee that it was good. The oil looked decent, so we'll see. With all that said and done, the boat is back together. Damn, I'm getting good at yanking these drives. That will come in handy when I slap a pair of Arnesons on this winter :wink:. Oh well, at least we're still a go for boating this weekend.

Ryan

[gcarter]

Hi Ryan,
The point of overfilling holes is if you don't, the stuff shrinks so much it'll end up below the surface and you have to repeat the process.
As far as sanding, it does require practice, but if you use a small piece of wood wrapped w/wet-or-dry (400) and attempt to hold it parallel to the hull, it'll come out just fine. Practice, practice, practice and you won't thin the gel around it.