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Dano
02-02-2009, 06:14 PM
So Bootdaddy gave me the motivation to document my project with his fine work. I put a few pictures in his thread of my project and did not want to highjack it. In Bootdaddy's thread I said my boat is a 1967 and starting to write this thought I should double check. It's a 1966 - not sure I would have done all this work if I knew she was a year older:nilly:.

Here are a few pictures as I bought her from E-bay in late 2003.

Dano
02-02-2009, 06:23 PM
Had her shipped from New York to South Carolina. Ouch

It certainly was not love at first sight...

Trueser
02-02-2009, 06:27 PM
Great looking boat. Looks like a great project.

Keep the pictures comming.

Dano
02-02-2009, 06:53 PM
I had hope to put her in the water to see how far I wanted to take the restoration. On E-bay there was some mention that she would run without too much work. Turns out she had sunk on the hill. You could not find the bilge plug in the middle of the boat with all the trash and the batteries / bilge pumps had gone dead...

So I decided to strip her down to the bare hull.

The stringers were shot, they had been butchered when the big blocks were installed and had failed. I had the boat on four yard stand and two blocks on the keel, I wanted to be sure she maintained shape. Therefore, I left the center stringer in place while I built the outboard stringers. I cut the top off the stringers and the glass on one side at the hull. Using a pick axe and crowbar, I removed all the wood leaving one side of the original glass in place. I figured this would leave some structure as well as ensure correct position of the stringers. I built the stringers much as the original with 2 layers of 1/2" marine plywood, by-axial glass and epoxy resin were used in place of the woven roven and polyester.

Dano
02-02-2009, 07:20 PM
The transom was in good shape except it had a lot of holes from the exhaust, rudders, through-hulls, .... I am not sure when I decided to go with the sterndrives but figure it would be good for at least 5 mph. I added one layer of 3/4" plywood to the transom a couple layers of glass to get thickness correct and patched all the holes on the outside. Sorry, I don't have any pictures of this work.

The deck was about as bad as the stringers, the bow needed to be re-cored, she had some poor repairs on the port side which also took some coring, and lot and lots of holes to be patched. I used foam coring material and by-axial for the deck. A hint for those who like to do glass work is you can often start a repair on a sheet of plastic and work in reverse - wet out and roll your final glass, next layer of glass, trowel on thickened resin, wet out the coring material with resin, put down the coring material, wet out the other side, trowel on more thickened resin, wet out the boat, then pickup the hole thing with the plastic and stick it on the boat and role everything in place through the plastic. Usually this is a nice clean way to make some minor and major repairs.

Now I am laying on my back under the deck which is sitting on an old trailer, holding a 8' wide piece of coring material with two layers of by-axial and about $100 worth of epoxy, think it would stay put? Nobody around to help... both feet, both hand, work one side while the other falls down again and again. Finally, I got ahead of it and got it all rolled out and in place:worthy:

Dano
02-02-2009, 07:43 PM
The cabin inner liner needed to have the floor re-cored, which I used 1/2 plywood. I did my same trick of working on the plastic only this time I was not upside down underneath (you have to be smarter than the resin). I also often used some screws to pull the plywood in place.

I am a diesel guy, one of the first pictures in this thread shows a 1967 24' Stamas I put a Cummins 370B into in about 1997. So, I knew I was going to need some space for engines. I converted the two deck hatches over the motors into one. I cut the center out and morphed in some on the edge material were the center came out. There is a factory beam glassed across the deck between the two front and two rear hatches, so I added one at the back to match. Later I added an aluminum bracket to support the deck down to the center stringer as the deck was a little soft. I added a second to the back when I was putting the hinges on the motor box. The deck felt fine, I was worried that the hinges would work each time someone walked behind the motor box.

The front hatches were cupped otherwise were in good shape, so they got an additional layer of by-axial of course using plastic and I set old batteries on top to remove the cup. Forgot to mention the plastic pulls off no problem once the epoxy is set.

Morgan's Cloud
02-03-2009, 07:01 AM
Thanks for starting this thread.

Compared to some 28's we've seen , yours wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be .. mind you there's a huge difference between 'cosmetic appearance' and structural soundness !

I think anyone who's gotten a headache from replacing the stringers in a C18 or the transom in a 22 probably has an entirely new perspective now . :wrench:

One of the interesting aspects of the 28 Hull to me , is the sheer size of it considering it's mission and when it was designed.
Dick Bertram started this whole thing with the Hunt designed Bertram 31 which was also a very large hull... Don was up against the accomplishments of that hull and the Donzi 28 probably looked like a 'mini boat' compared to the Bert 31. But look at what the offshore racing hulls morphed into in very short order.

Comparatively the Cig 28 hull is beautifull to the eye but loaded with some monster engines and heavy on fuel would you really want to go out into the open ocean in it OR the Donzi 28 ?

Dano
02-03-2009, 06:43 PM
Your choice of boats to mention is very very funny. In addition to my 28 Sportsman, I have a 1977 28' cigarette in the back yard stripped and painted White. Most of the end of last year I have been chomping at the bit over a 31' Bertram Sedan that was on E-bay.

I have been kicking myself for letting this 32 Bertram get by for quite a few years. She sold for next to nothing.

Dano
02-03-2009, 07:44 PM
I am 6'1" or on a good day 6'2", and did not quite have head room in the cabin. The inner liner was set with a ton of polyester goo to fill all the space between it and the hull. After carefully smashing and grinding all the goo off the hull sides, I was able to set the inner liner about 2" lower with no other modifications. I Glued the inner liner to the cabin bulkhead using Gorilla Glue and Great Stuff to fill any of the voids. I glassed the bulkhead of the rope locker to the hull as well as the sides of the inner liner at the top and inside the storage compartments.

No problem to stand in the cabin now.

With the diesels I needed to move some weight forward so cut the stairs and hinged them. Then mounted the factory battery boxes on either side of the center stringer under the stairs. I later made oak treads for the stairs. This helped with the first step as it was about 2" deeper. I also hinged the top oak stair tread so you can access the battery switches without lifting the whole cabin stairs.

falcon
02-04-2009, 12:47 PM
Always a fan of the 28 sportsman and glad to see a couple being rescued.

Sorry to see the v-drive set up being scrapped---very unique to the boat and definately more fishable---if that floats your boat.It does for me. thats why I have a 31 bertram, but the donzi is always my second choice.

Dano
02-04-2009, 07:11 PM
For me there is nothing that sounds better than a couple of big blocks running at wide open, for about 10 minutes, after about an hour it hurts.

One of my goals is to be able to talk, not yell, at the helm while running about 45mph.

Step one was to eliminate the unnecessary holes into the cockpit from the engine compartment. I glassed the cockpit inner liner into the hull much as original. Then I foamed it in with a 2 part foam. Added a light layer of glass over the top to keep any water out from cleaning (later fairing it in). The only openings other than the hatches are the two forward outboard on the bulkhead (which I plan on sealing when I am sure I don't need to run any more wires) the two air vents on the sides and the one air vent at the center on the transom. A side benefit to the "foam job" was the hull became incredibly stiff even without the deck in place.

Second step was to seal the hatches. I also did not like that the original deck did not have gutters. I installed a vinyl garage door seal material around the hatch openings, sealed it to the deck with 5200, added an aluminum angle to hold it in place, and fastened it all to the lip on the deck with countersunk screws. The vinyl acts as a gutter and seals to the bottom of the hatches. I added drains to the gutters that are plumbed over board. This is doing a great job of keeping most of the water out and sealing the noise in the bilge. You can see the vinyl, aluminum angle and one of the drains in the picture showing the muffler.

Third step was to add 1" thick acoustic foam to the hatches, motor box and air intake vents. This stuff is heavy so I opted not to add it to the bottom of the deck and with the structure it would have been a lot of work.

Fourth step was to make a few sound soft surfaces. I carpeted the hull sides out board of the engines, the bottom of the new motor box, and the two forward deck hatches.

Last I repositioned the air intakes to the hull sides. I made custom air intakes using an extra set of SS frames from the new oval port holes and some old SS rubrail from the 28' Cigarette. This is one of the really trick things, if you ask me. It also cleaned op the gunnel top as there are no clam shell vents.

I figure there would be some water going into the air intakes at minimum when the boat is being washed so I used Seal-O-Flex rubber membrane roofing material to seal all three of the vents. This also gives a finished look.

The vent on the stern is the original polished SS with a new light.

Dano
02-05-2009, 06:25 PM
I had made a pair of davits mounted to my deck that pivot ~ 180°. My wife is a really good sport. The completely dis assembly of the boat as well as reinstall the inner liners, deck, and engines was completed using the davits.

After finishing all the structural work on the deck while it was on an old trailer, I set it in place, glued it with 5200, and screwed it as original. Later, the final fairing of the deck and repairs was completed. Inside the lip of the hull is a wood strip that the deck screws screw into. This wood strip was in amazing shape for being 40 years old so it was not replaced.

The bow deck hatch and cabin entry hatch were both cupped pretty bad, therefore both are now cored and follow the lines of the boat. The forward hatch was a little fun as it is convex. I supported it by the outside edge glassed the coring and set a couple old batteries on top to bring it back to it's original shape.

Dads Thunder
02-05-2009, 08:46 PM
Great job!! Thanks for posting the photo's.L:lifeprese::lifeprese:KS SO GOOD. When the weather breaks I will finish mine.

RickyR
07-19-2009, 04:13 PM
Dano,
Were you out at Morris Island yesterday ( 7-19 ) in the Sportsman ?
If so, your boat looked great, I would have liked to see it and say hello.
Maybe Rockville in 2 weeks?

Ricky

falcon
07-20-2009, 09:06 AM
Dano,

Have you decided on power that you will install?

Sweet Cheekz
07-20-2009, 11:42 AM
This looks like a hell of a project Well done. How long did all this take?
Parnell

Dano
08-19-2009, 06:49 PM
RickyR,

Yes, that was us a few weeks ago at Morris Island. We did not make Rockville this year as we were in the Abacos boating, fishing, swimming and drinking...

If you see us on the water drop by. We mostly go to the islands north of IOP.

Dano
08-19-2009, 06:54 PM
Falcon,

I have a pair of CMD QSB380 with two speed overdrive gears and Bravo 2 drives. I need to get back to completing the documentation of the work... But now and am getting to use her a little.

Parnell,

I have about 5 years into her and still going. Maybe I got a little carried away.

Dano
05-05-2010, 07:25 PM
It's been some time since I last posted and I have made quite some progress. I also have put more than about 75 hours on her. I finally named her "Moby Dick" and painted the name on. The name speaks for itself but I am not sure if it is me or the boat...

I have the front seats completed. I had brackets made so that the forward hatches can be opened. The seats are original other than I rounded the outside of the backs to better match the lines of the boat. They have the quick dry foam and Sunbrella fabric. This is my first shoot at upholstery and I am quite happy how it turned out.

The bow pulpit and windlass also go on the boat quite nicely. I did not want bow rails as the deck is mostly rounded did not think it would be a good idea for my wife to handle the anchor. In order to not have the anchor line run through the middle of the v-birth, the windlass had to be at the tip of the bow and forced the pulpit. It took quite some time to settle on the shape.

I have changed the cabin by moving the galley cabinet back which allows two people to pass one another. I made the cabinet out of cherry. She has a new AC/DC power panel, microwave, hot and cold running water, and bar added as well.

I could not sit on the toilet so also rearranged the head by moving the toilet outboard and building a cabinet across the bulkhead wall.

Next on the to do list is the back seat and then cabin upholstery.

Dano
05-05-2010, 07:34 PM
A few more pictures and I forgot the swim platform... I got an old teak platform off a sport fishing boat and used the material to make this one. I made a form the same shape as the transom and bent the wood to match. The same guy who made my seat brackets made the SS swim platform brackets.

jl1962
05-05-2010, 08:08 PM
Wow - can't believe it's the same boat. I love these restoration threads. Thanks for posting.

falcon
05-06-2010, 08:03 AM
What kind of performance #'s are you getting with those outdrives?

Ghost
05-06-2010, 08:05 AM
Looks fantastic. Really like what you did.

How's she running?

Morgan's Cloud
05-06-2010, 10:13 AM
Gotta give you a lot of credit .. that was a HUGE undertaking .
Some in the water shots are also required ....:kingme:

Craig S
05-06-2010, 11:00 AM
Really custom!

Dano
05-06-2010, 07:42 PM
I have Cummins MerCruiser Diesel QSB's at 380 HP with two speed over-drive transmissions (1:1, and 0.78:1).

First I had a pair of Bravo 2X drives at 2:1 ratio. The boat would run 40 mph on the engine governor at 60% load with full fuel, water, gear, a couple people on board and 25P props.

I just put Bravo 2 XR 1.65:1 ratio everything else is the same and now have 48 mph at 70% load. So I need to figure how to get the other 230 ponies into the water....

Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone who makes the Bravo 2 props in more than 25 pitch.

With her weight problem and the diesels torque, I wanted to stay with the bigger props. Maybe I will have to move to bravo 1's???

The really nice part is she is only burning about 26gph at 48 mph. Not too bad for about 11K lbs. This gives me a range of over 300 miles at nearly 50... Pull back a little and she is making fuel.

72Hornet
05-06-2010, 09:19 PM
I had the pleasure of seeing "Moby DIck" in person this past Christmas as I was driving by Dano's home. The engineering, workmanship and attention to detail are absolutely fantastic. The thought that went into all of the details in this boat are incredible. I was waiting for the day when he would share his pride and joy on this site!
Cheers, Hope to see you next time I visit my brother!
72 HORNET

BUIZILLA
05-07-2010, 06:46 AM
you need 1.32 drives to load the engine 100% with the 25 props, then work backwards if need be

you might do it with 1.5 drives, but I kinda doubt it..