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View Full Version : Looking to get into a Donzi....



FFR428
12-29-2006, 04:53 PM
I've been looking at 60's vintage Donzi's in the 16-18 ft range. And as a total noob to these boats what should I look for in a Donzi? I'm no stranger to engines and rebuilding and mostly a Ford guy at heart. And I've been around boats most of my life. But I might go see a 67 18' 2+3 with a Chevy 454 that's in NY. I also see a few nice boats in the classifieds here but they are a little farther away as I live in CT. But they aure are nice! In the meantime I'll be researching these boats and the differences. But if anyone can chime in with a few pointers I'd sure appreciate it. Like problem area's in the hulls if any, stress cracks, prefered hulls, engines and outdrives to look for etc...just general things to look for in these boats. Please forgive my ignorance :bonk: I'm just looking for a little guidance. :boat: Nice site you guys have here.

Thanks,

Glenn.

Tony
12-29-2006, 09:28 PM
Welcome to the board. The condition of a 60's Donzi will totally depend on its history. My '67 Ski Sporter was a fresh water, trailered/garaged boat that still has the original interior! To me that is a sign of excellent care over the last 40 years. Also, it has the deck that used a pvc tubing & glass layup...no balsa coring to rot or weaken. Of course, always check whether the tank has been replaced or not.

If you haven't already, use the search feature of this board...you can spend many hours getting a feel for all that you need to know aout the older classics. Most will say it is wiser to spend $ on an already restored boat, as opposed to doing it yourself. Others, though, will argue that it is a labor of love...regardless of the cost!


:beer:

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
12-29-2006, 09:32 PM
Hi, Glenn, and welcome to the board.
One thing I want to tell you applies not so much to Donzis specifically, but to boats in general. The fiberglass resin in these boats (all glass boats) never stops curing. As the years go on they become more and more hard and brittle. As such, when the encounter severe stress loads, whereas they might have had some give when they were new, now they'd be more prone to crack.
I don't say this to scare you away from old boats, but to make you think about the kind of use (or abuse) you plan to subject the hull to.
If you intent to use it for nice fast stylish cruising on a reasonably calm inland lake or river, and you find you prefer the vintage mojo, by all means get an old classic. If, on the other hand you plan to bomb around in the ocean or do banzai runs in rough chop where you're really slamming the hull around, you may want to consider a newer hull.
The other thing that concerns me about the boat you mentioned you're going to check out is the BBC. Obviously it's not the original engine, because these boats came with Ford engines. Is it a Stern Drive boat or a V-Drive? The stern drives on the market back in '67 could not handle the torque of a big block, consequently the Big Block Fords, while an option, were offered only with V-Drives, not Stern Drives. If it's a stern drive, and it has the original Volvo unit, the torque of the BBC is a concern. If the stern drive was swapped to a later, stronger Mercruiser unit, you can breathe a little easier. If it's a V-Drive, you have no worries. In any case, make sure the engine and/or drive swap was performed in a professional manner.
The steel gas tanks in most of the early Donzis eventually rust out and need replacing. This job involves removing the deck to access the tanks. Not an impossible job, as it's been done by many of the members of this board, but one you have to be prepared for. Look out for extra fuel filters mounted here and there, because that's the tip off to the rusting tank syndrome.
Those are the only real caveats I can think of with this model, other than rotten hull coring, but I don't want to scare you off just yet Suffice it to say for now to look out for soft spots in the decking.

Best of luck. Let us know what you find!

Eric

BERTRAM BOY
12-30-2006, 06:46 AM
Glenn,
Where in Connecticut are you?

FFR428
12-30-2006, 07:50 AM
Well thanks for the nice welcome guys!!!

Those are some excellent tips and pointers. The boat I was looking at does have a OMC outdrive and Eric thanks very much for that lesson on the hulls, engines and outdrives. The boat is listing 27102 on www.antiqueboatamerica.com and the price is $11.600. Nothing definate yet as I'm just browsing around. But living on the coast the boat would see some salt water use and also some lake use. So I'd say yes the hull would probably take a few licks here and there. And that's some very good info about the steel gas tanks and multiple filters!!! So I'll spend some time researching things here. And I'm sure I'll have more questions. I'm also looking at a few boats in the classifieds here. Very nice boats guys!!!

BB I'm down in Fairfield. I see your in Glastonbury...I lived there for awhile growing up. Small world!!!

Guys thanks again for the help.

Glenn.

Just Say N20
12-30-2006, 08:49 AM
Just a couple of observations.

The 1966 18 Donzi that you gave the id for is a barrel back, in that the rear deck/hull joint is barrel shaped, rather than straight across like later models. These had inner lifting strakes that extend all the way to the transom, rather than stopping short of the transom as they do on the newer hulls. They tended to make the boat ride a little flatter, and harsher. The hull also will go to a "V" rather than a rounded "U" shape at its deepest point.

The drive was upgraded to a newer Volvo with power trim. It is a very durable unit, although a Mercruiser Alpha might be slightly faster. In my opinion it is stronger than the Mercruiser Alpha outdrive.

From the pictures it looks like a nice boat; a good example of letting someone else do the work, and buying a ready to use boat. If you bought a clean used, but not updated (still had to replace fuel tank, stringers, update to that outdrive, etc) boat, and brought it to this condition, you would most likely have more money (and a ton more time) into the project than you would by simply buying this boat.

jl1962
12-30-2006, 09:16 AM
GLENN,

Nice looking 18'. As you can tell - this website has a lot of resources - gray matter and other. We're all here b/c we love the boats and are happy to help and welcome others. I personally dig the older boats. Good luck, keep us posted and try and make it up to Lake George for the Dust-off in June.

BTW - I'm in New Canaan. Haven't put the boat in the Sound yet. I keep it 200 miles away to reduce the temptation!

JL

BERTRAM BOY
12-30-2006, 10:21 AM
It's definetly NOT hull number 1881.

If you are going to persue this boat, DEFINETLY check the coring.

Tony
12-30-2006, 01:45 PM
Havn't put the boat in the Sound yet. I keep it 200 miles away to reduce the temptation!

Good boy, Jay...I know it's hard but you can do it!


:beer:

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
12-30-2006, 02:39 PM
From the pics it looks like a good resto job. The price is right. You could search and wait for another Barrelback and spend less, but then you'd probably have to spend more than the difference in bringing it to the condition that this one's in right now. The tank's done and the seats alone cost about $1200 if you can get one at all these days (the OEM for the interiors just declared he's closing up shop, so I don't know yet what we're all gonna do for interiors).
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the restorer replaced a Volvo 270 drive with the later trimable and presumably stronger (?) 280 drive, rather than a Mercruiser drive to avoid moving the steering to the starboard side. Volvos have LH props and Mercs have RH props. Only drawback here is that high performance LH props for the Volvo are a little hard to find.
I see it's a triple hatch, which makes it rarer than the more common later single hatch barrelbacks, however the scoop has probably been added to fit the BBC, so the added premium for it's being a triple hatch is somewhat negated by the modification. That's just my opinion. On the other hand, it could be argued that these boats haven't yet reached such a state of collectability where originality is prized over a good "restification".

I have to say here that I'd be saddened to see this boat doing hard time in salt water, but I can't tell someone what to do with his own property. If you get this boat, please treat it nice and get a rat boat to bomb around the Sound with.

Just my $.02 worth,
Eric

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
12-30-2006, 02:56 PM
It's definetly NOT hull number 1881.
If you are going to persue this boat, DEFINETLY check the coring.

Cliff, it's probably #18-81 which puts it near the end of the line for triple hatches. The highest # triple hatch I have in the database is hull #83.

Eric

FFR428
12-30-2006, 04:15 PM
Guys first let me thank you for all the valuable input from everyone!! I'm also looking at a few others. Another 69 18' 2+3 for $14.9 on www-carolina-classic-boats.com it's about half way down on the boats for sale page. And a 67 sweet 16 for $16k on a site called Kijiji Kitchener??? LOL It popped up on a google search. The 16' has a 289 and looks fairly original. But the first boat posted seemed to have the best price vs value it seems for $11.6k. I was kind of skeptical because of the lower price. But it does look nice. But I'll see how things go. I need to do a little more research. I'm going to call the guy selling the 18' 67 and pick his brain a bit. And if I get one I promise to keep it out of the sound. As long as you guys clue me in on some good fresh water places to go. And I'm REAL close to the sound here too!!!! LOL.

Thanks,

Glenn.

Marlin275
12-30-2006, 05:16 PM
As long as you guys clue me in on some good fresh water places to go. And I'm REAL close to the sound here too!!!! LOL.
Thanks,
Glenn.

Candlewood Lake is the largest lake in Connecticut, and one of the largest man-made lakes in the USA. I spent a day here and had a great time with water sports and exploring, a little shallow in areas.

jl1962
12-30-2006, 05:59 PM
OK - so who's going to organize a day out on Candlewood for us????

Probably get 8 - 10 boats. I nominate Glenn!

Best wishes in 2007!

See y'all on the water.

JL

FFR428
12-30-2006, 06:50 PM
LOL well I'd be happy to get something going!!! Sounds like a plan to me!!! Candlewood lake sounds great!! If there are 8-10 boats that would make a great get together. And the sound of V8's roaring on the water!!! Sweet!! That will wake things up a bit....:)

Glenn.

FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack
01-01-2007, 12:21 PM
And if I get one I promise to keep it out of the sound. As long as you guys clue me in on some good fresh water places to go. And I'm REAL close to the sound here too!!!! LOL.

I just saw a nice piece in one of the Classic Boating magazines about the Connecticut River. Looks real nice. Anyone have any experience with it? Cliff, Geoo?

Eric

BERTRAM BOY
01-01-2007, 02:58 PM
Eric,
The CT river is in my backyard. If anyone wants to make a run this season, it's a great place to go boating. No salt and no really big water.

Formula Jr
01-03-2007, 09:28 PM
I'm glad Flat Racer stated what has been my experience.
Old boats, glass boats, have about a 30 year life and then they are too brittle to run in the rough. The off gasing is telling you that the hull is still flexable.

When you can't detect the VOCs from a glass hull, then its a lake boat.

I disagree with people here that think fiberGlas is a forever thingy. Its not.
If you want to run a boat wild and expect it to stay together then you have to look at boats built less than 15 years ago. Older boats will take what most people will put them though. But we are not most people. We expect our boats to stay together because we wish to play.

Look at the stuff in the yards. There is a reason they were picked clean and then left for you to buy. And you can make a very nice lake boat out of this hull. You just can't run it like a new boat.