New Member with a 1966 Classic 16

[mbohac]

Hey Guys,
This is my first post. I just purchased a 1966 Sweet 16 with the supposed original 289 Intercepter and Eaton outdrive. Can you guys give me any tips on verfying it's originality and whether this stuff is original? How is the Eaton outdrive? I am always hearing about Holman Moody but have not yet heard much about the Eaton.
The Hull ID # is GT90L5275
Thanks,
Mark

[mbohac]

Hey Matt,

Thanks for the info, I will look under the deck tomorrow. The boat was originally red with a white interior, and a black hash mark down the side. (A color combo I haven't seen before. It was repainted in 1990 in white with the blue sidewalls and stripe. (I will get picks up when I can). It has a "Hood Tach" which the previous owner believed was original. (Has anyone here ever seen one of these). It looks like a snorkel coming up from the deck of the boat.

Are the Eaton outdrives real primitive? I couldn't believe it didn't have power trim! And the water pickup was under the boat! Would it be smart to upgrade that to an Alpha 1 or Bravo drive or just leave it intact? Is there any money in these old drive assemblies?

[Rodger]

I have a 66 16' also which I purchased in 1978. It had the Eaton drive, but mine only had the 260 cu. in engine. I did some modification to the engine to the point where it would outrun other 16' Donzis with the 289. I then built a pretty potent 302 which would outrun 350 Chevy powered 16' and 18's. I never had trouble with the drive failing but I had one heck of a time with the shear pin arrangement. I had enough power to the point that I could just about cause a shear pin failure any time I applied full throttle. I then made shear pins from grade 8 bolts and even those would occasionally fail. Next thing I did was to convert to an Alpha drive. I ran a 350 Chevy for one season and then built a SB 400 for it. It was a very nice running package, but right now I have that engine in one of my cars and the for the time being, the boat is engineless.

[BigGrizzly]

I have the same boat We bough in 1966. it has the Eaton/volvo drive which does not have the external shift cable on top of the drive. It now has a 302 in it and has been a great boat. We still have it. The oyt drive is origional except for a lower gear replacement because of a under sea object callws a telophone pole hit at a speed. Welcome to the board!!!

[farmer tx]

Would this item help any of y'all with a convertion?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/NEW-MerCruiser-Transom-Adapter-Kit-827691A-1_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ124104QQihZ013QQitemZ 230021643173QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

[mbohac]

Man, I am having a heck of a time reading any of the marker writings on the underside of the deck. About how large is the serial number under there? Is there any other easier ways to ID a donzi? I think I did find a series of about 5 numbers behind the dash about 4-5 inches long in total but they are real tough to read as the boat was repainted at some point and there is some faint overspray under there...

The previous owner also included the original brass prop that went on the Eaton with a 24"pitch. That sucker is heavy!!