Need Help From You Donzi guys******

[crazyjoe]

I'm hoping that someone out there can help me identify this boat I have the hull # which is not listed on this site it is # CC10077422 the length is 22 ft 6 in. I just bought it a few months ago and would like to sell it, but I need to know more about it before I list it

[crazyjoe]

added pic

[crazyjoe]

yeah it has a 427 in it.

[Formula Jr]

Chris-Craft License Hornet III? What's printed on the upperhand, starboard transom?

If nothing is printed there,... its a splash and the numbers are meaningless on the title.

That is possibly the ugliest windshield I've ever seen. Get rid of it for the re-sell.

Whats up with the centerline plate on the deck?

The rest of the hardware looks original though.

Interesting mix.

Hey, I posted first! How come you guys got ahead of me?????? Damn the Broadband!!!

[crazyjoe]

the #'s on the transom are same as hull #, were not even sure of the year, the guy we bought it from only had the registration, and back then there was no year printed on it. he said it was a 74 or 75. yeah the windshield is NASTY..
the plate on the deck I'm not sure the purpose of that..
Thanks.

[goatee]

that is crazy!! :shocking: (if its not a splash)
lose the windshield first of all. i'll almost bet the plate is to cover holes.:bonk:
i've never seen interior like that, i kinda like it. how does it run?
cool boat! you dont see many hornets around.

[crazyjoe]

the boat runs great, if I don't sell it I'm going to start the restore process, I also have a 1975 chris craft 8 meter, that I know is rare (only 36 made). thats why I was hoping someone could tell me whats up with this Donzi. so the old boats are cool to have around, always have something to talk about. I can't get any # off the block because the previous owner put a 427 in it. I'll have to look at the outdrive for any #'s. but it is factory.

[Bob]

Get out the tape measure. I bet that the hull length is 19' 2.5 inches from bow to transom not including the outdrive. A 1974 would make it a Hornet and 427s were original on some of that vintage.

The grab handle and insta-trim switch are identical to my 1971 Hornet and the windshield extrusion is the same. The windshield has lost the end pieces and the plexiglas is not original.

The bottom vinyl trim on the windshield (made by Taylor-Made) is missing as well. The plate on the center of the deck is probably covering the area where the anchor light fixture (Perko) was. The gas fill looks like it was moved to starboard under the windshield. I'm currently restoring the windshield on my Hornet so contact me if you are going to throw that one away.

[BUIZILLA]

The throttle is the same as both of my '87's...

did the Hornet's have that much of a hook on the outside strake/pad area??

[crazyjoe]

it does measure 19" and a few inches.. If I don't sell it when I go to restore it the windshield is going, so Bob I will let you know. here's the # off the engine 3999289. which is not stock it had a 283 stock motor. So do we think it's a Hornet II 77-82?

[BUIZILLA]

:wink:
here's the # off the engine 3999289. I can tell you right off, without looking it up, that's a 70's 454 block, i'm positive of that, I had one

[Formula Jr]

Consideration 1: It has original factory hardware on it. Dash, grab rails, lift rings, vents etc.... So I am going to call it a REAL Donzi Hornet. You almost never, ever see a splash where they went to the trouble of sourcing the Original hardware. Even most of the windshield hardware is original, its just been re-built rather badly.

Consideration 2: The Hin doesn't make any sense unless some of the numbers have been transposed or are wrong. We need clairfication as to what you mean when you say the Hull Number and the registration and or title numbers match. How and where do they match and can we get a close up High resolution pic of the imprinted hull number.

So three avenues of thought can happen here. A: The most problematic. Its a Chris Craft licensed build of a Honet I. Possibly using the old molds when Donzi discontinued the Honet I. A Hin plate may have been added to the mold, but somehow a worker got it transposed or completely wrong and they just decided to leave it that way. Dating the boat then gets rather difficult. The probability of this is also pretty slim.
This would also mean that Donzi, or possibly Wynne, had some kind of arrangement with Chris Craft well before the usual '92-'93 OMC Corporate umbrella made boats. This would be new information if its true. Its never be made completely clear as to what sort of working relationship Wynne and Walters had with Donzi. Or with Formula for that matter.

B: Its a Pre '74 Factory Donzi Hornet I and the hin designation you have is a made up number hand carved into the hull. What I want to see in the high res pic of the hin number is how it is imprinted. This will tell me if they used a plate during layup.
A really good place to look for year would be the Gas Tank manufacturer's tag which will most likely have a date of build for the tank.

C: Its a post '73 imprinted factory Hornet I that for some reason has had its hin number changed to some arbitrary number that could not be traced.

If it had no numbers at all, then this would be a breeze. It would just be one of the last non-hin numbered Hornet Is and call it good.

If the number is engraved, then I would also just consider it one of the last non-hin boats with an owner designated and applied ID number used for the registration or title only.

However if there is a clear indication that the number was set in the gel-coat using a plate in the mold during construction then we have a very weird situation that can not be explained easily.

This is why I need a good pic of the numbers on the transom.

[superhatz]

Yeah......I'd guess a pre '73 Hornet 1 with a made up HIN......just the feeling I get too.

[Lenny]

O, CC was much later than the Hornet, and to the best of my knowledge, we have never found a Hornet III with the CC designation...

Poodle, at 19 and change the " III " is out of this picture... :) This is beginning HORNET with the back bench. Early 70's

Isn't it ???

[Formula Jr]

O, CC was much later than the Hornet, and to the best of my knowledge, we have never found a Hornet III with the CC designation... IMO its a pre-73 boat with no factory HIN.. The drive S/N may help us out if its the original drive..
Regardless, its a pretty cool boat.. Enough original stuff to authenticate it, and what appears to be enough oomph to make it a fun ride..
On the exhaust tips, is it actually dry exhaust with the water dumped into the tips at the end??

Yes, I know this about the OMC stuff and how out of place that would be, and thats a problem if the HIN is embedded in gel coat.
The client here wants the best determination. And we are going to give it to him once the pics of the transom HIN are posted. I think we can get it to one year if we clear up the bad numbers he has.

Lenny, the III was only on the table because there was some mis-direction about the length. And that introduced the whole CC thingy. Its a Hornet I at 19 3.

CrazyJoe, post some pics of the HIN and we might have some really good news.

[crazyjoe]

here is a picture of the vin # i took it off and looked under it to see if there was another # under it and theres not, these #'s were also on the registration.I do know that this boat was originally yellow, so the hack that painted it didn't bother to put stainless hardware back on, also I looked at the gas tank and theres nothing but the manufactures name in it. it's not dry exhaust.

[Lenny]

WIERD... is that a screw on plate that that number is embossed on? or is that just a screw to the right that I see?

If that IS a screw on plate, take it off and look UNDER it. The numbers are done in reverse on a small piece of Formica, laser engraved (now) and placed into the mold for an impression once popped. These numbers you are looking for are in the gelcoat at that location.

If that is the Gelcoat I see, and the numbers ARE in there, (not a screw on plate) then I have NO idea what hull and manufacturer you have. ???

[crazyjoe]

this is a steel vin plate, i took it off, took a better picture, and looked and there is nothing under it stamped in the gell coat.

[BUIZILLA]

July, 1974, hull #22 ???

[crazyjoe]

my wife also thought that the 74 could possibly be a year. it would be nice to know hull # 22 out of how many??? my 1975 chris craft has a plate in the engine compartment that had the hull # so I was able to contact the mariners museum and found out it was # 10 out of 38 made, so that was cool. wish this could be as easy, i would like to get 6000.00 for this boat, think thats reasonable. it runs great, and as you all read has a 427 in it? let me know what you all think.

[Sweet little 16]

not a valid usgc hin the mic is not 3 characters so it is a state or made up hull number given to the boat when it was registered sometime in 1974 i would bet.

[Formula Jr]

CrazyJoe, the plate doesn't have anything to do with the boat as it left the factory. This was added by the owner at some point and doesn't follow any known format of a recorded manufacturer. The plate is just misleading you.
Use it if you want for the registration or title as an ID number, but it doesn't have any relationship to the boat or its year.

You have a pre '74 Donzi Hornet I. Anyone that knows Donzis will not have a problem if it doesn't have a real HIN imprinted on the tansom since none of the pre '74 boats did. They had little foil stickers and yours got lost at some point.
I don't know enough about the slight year changes made on the Hornet Is to give an exact year but it can be dated between '71-'73. 6K is a very reasonable price for a Hornet I with a 427.

[Sweet little 16]

it is a pre nov 1 1972 boat all boats built after that date had to have a HIN on the transom for the 73 model year
and I have never heard of a hornet I, wasn't it hornet, hornet II , hornet III
the hornet 19 was available in a bench or 2 +3 seating arrangement , the hornet II 20 had the walk thru with the rail on the hatch/ sunpad, and the hornet III 21 went back to the 2+3 seating???

[Formula Jr]

Yes, it was just Hornet, Hornet II... etc.

I just added the I so there would not be any confusion over the IIs or the IIIs.
You are right about the nomenclature.

With the introduction of the hin numbers, there is some slack and hulls could have sat around till they get rigged, or they were ordered as un-rigged hulls or somebody bought a build that was reniged on and left over past the requirement. That may even explain the owner applied plate.
Pre-Corp Donzi was never good at keeping records. This may have been intentional given who their clients were.

[BERTRAM BOY]

I'm with Superhatz on this one.

Did you try looking for a hull number under the deck?

[Morgan's Cloud]

not a valid usgc hin the mic is not 3 characters so it is a state or made up hull number given to the boat when it was registered sometime in 1974 i would bet.
Between this and What FJr says next is what must be going on.
Remember my friend's Benchseat Hornet that made it's way out here many years ago ?
It had a nearly identical plate on the transom and the numbers stumped everyone .. they were meaningless.
Untill the next owner looked under the dash and found the magic marker print !

EDIT >>..

As demonstrated in this thread ....... http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=33699&highlight=Benchseat+Hornet

[crazyjoe]

I did look under the deck, and dash, the previous owner cut out the glass under the deck and carpeted the sides, ceiling and the floor, which he glued on, so I don't want to tear that off.

[Sweet little 16]

427"s and a volvo are not a common combo , most early 427's were V drives as fears were the I/O's couldn't handle the power, or is this a BBC 427 judging from the numbers on the hatch which would mean it is most likely not an original power plant and a replacement for a 454 volvo combo which were available mid to late 70's?????


just some things to think about

CC= Chris Craft abbv. alot of early 70's boats were powered by 300CC motors
1007 = the Holamn moody serial number range for their 427 motors??
could this be a hodge podge done by someone for a HIN????

[SurfGreenTele]

Buizilla said it's a 70s 454 block, based on the engine SN.

[Sweet little 16]

the ad which is linked back to this thread states a 427?? this is very misleading, a ford 427 equipped early classic is one thing a BBC 454/427 or whatever is another thing

[chappy]

Could we see a pic of the engine if available? That may eliminate some confusion about 454/427/BBC/Ford?:crossfing:

Rich

[RickSE]

BUIZILLA & Poodle are correct, that casting number is a 71-79 GM 454.

BBC Casting Numbers (http://www.mortec.com/bbc.htm)

[crazyjoe]

picture of engine

[Lenny]

Man, have you got your high rez figured out or WHAT !!!

:) :Try to post about 1024 x 768.

It makes it better for everyone. :D

big block chebby...

[Voodoocanoe]

the boat runs great, if I don't sell it I'm going to start the restore process, I also have a 1975 chris craft 8 meter, that I know is rare (only 36 made). thats why I was hoping someone could tell me whats up with this Donzi. so the old boats are cool to have around, always have something to talk about. I can't get any # off the block because the previous owner put a 427 in it. I'll have to look at the outdrive for any #'s. but it is factory.


Do you have the old "Orange Julius" 8-meter Chris Craft?

[crazyjoe]

The 8 metre I have was owned by Jim krause, I think he raced back in the day the orange crush 8 metre,or there was one of these named orange crush, I'm not sure of the whole story on this boat, my uncle gave it to me. when we got this boat you could see a outline of a snail on the side and the words "snails speed" or something like that, there was 38 of these made not 36 like I had posted before. but yeah it's a real cool boat, haven't seen another one like it yet. do you know about this boat, maybe something I haven't been able to find out yet? we did call the mariners museum andgot alot of stuff from them about it, but it would be cool to hear some more.

[olredalert]

------Just because the 289 block started life as a 454 doesnt mean it couldnt be a 427 today. Its a very easy change to make when building a big-block and might have happened for the simple reason that the parts were there.
------Id love to see your 8-meter sometime. do you get over to Browns or Muscamoot ever???.........Bill S

[crazyjoe]

Hey Bill, We do sometimes go to Browns but we haven't this year yet. On the weekends we usually go to Strawberry, and when your looking at the Island we park on the right side. I live on Swan Creek canal, where everyone goes to get gas on Wednesday's for the land price. stop by anytime, or maybe see ya at the island.

[OFFSHORE GINGER]

:hangum: Hi guys & whats up ? i have read thru this thread a half a dozen times & have not gotten a true confirmation on this boat , donzi or.................. I have seen Chris Craft XK 19 's up for sale being advertised has a Donzi / Chris Craft and have the same windeshield as the one pictured on this thread . Opinion's please . Thanx G .G :confused:

[toydoc]

That Donzi Huba Huba didn't come with any windshield. That was added in the late 1980's by it's then owner.