bought new (to me) donzi yesterday please help

[miike]

Ok, Hi my name is Mike. I just got a donzi this weekend. 1992 22 Classic 454 King Cobra. I drove 27 hours to get it. When I was younger, my buddy's step dad had a teal 18 with a king cobra. This boat used to be teal but was repainted royal blue. It looks great and has matching upholstry. My last boat was an old 20 ft Grady. I got this to replace it. I have some questions for you all. Firstly, this boat turns 5000 rpm pretty easily, and I'm used to a big block turning 4600 so I think I'll reprop. I'm wondering what pitch and model you all suggest. Its got a Stiletto 14x19 pitch now. It's a stock motor, no thru hull. I will be adding thru hull but I havent found a supplier for parts. The motor is raw water cooled, I think, I cannot find the heat exchange. If anyone knows where it is tell me. This winter I may replace the engine and put a fresh water cooled motor in.

The drains for the iceboxes have fallen out. Are they supposed to be plumbed to anything or do they drain to the bilge? The throttle control is pretty beat so I'm going to replace that. Livorsi makes one for $400 and I dont know if I can get a deal on that, but I dont want to pay $400 for a lever and a trim switch. The boat has trim tabs on it now. The skeg is bent and the drive needs paint. Do I put zinc chromate on it for primer? The donzi Z is scratched do I need to buy a whole new sticker or will they sell me a Z? I'll just use nail polish if I cant just buy a Z. Does anyone on this board have a Z? What repairs need to be done to an old donzi?

My trailer is real ugly right now. It's still teal. It's steel. The brakes dont work at all. I have new brakes I put on my grady last year so I'm going to switch them over to the donzi trailer. I need advice on painting it. Right now I think what I'll do is sand it, rattle can it white and then rattle can some clear coat on.

Thanks, so much I look forward to being a member of this board.

Mike

[Donzi Vol]

Welcome, Mike. If you were a little closer I could take a look and help you out with the cosmetics. Feel free to send me some pics if you get a chance and I'll give you some thoughts (ramey.david@yahoo.com).

Now as for the technical stuff...I'll leave those questions to my brethren. :lookaroun:

All the best,
David

[zelatore]

Hi Mike, welcome to the few, the proud, the west coast Donzi owners! Where are you in WA? We have a few members up in the PNW who are quite active.

As for the boat, a lot of guys would tell you the King Cobra is possibly the best stock drive for that setup. I don't know about that prop, it does sound small, but 5000 rpm is about right for the motor so as long as you're not turning over that you're not too far off.

Most likely the motor is raw water cooled. I think all of them were in that era. I'm guessing you'll be running in salt in WA, so fresh water cooling is a nice plus, but honestly I wouldn't rush out to install it if everything is working OK. Flush it after use with salt-away, and you can get a lot of service from it even with the raw water cooling.

Not sure what you're talking about with the ice boxes? Maybe the center floor locker? If so, it does drain into the bilge.

I've done the sand blast and rattle can thing on a trailer before on an older steel trailer. It actually came out pretty good, all things considered. A couple suggestions - invest in one of those little handle/trigger things to put on the can. Otherwise you'll end up with one sore finger after painting the whole trailer! Also, you might look into a paint called HammerRite. It comes in a blue (I used that color) that might be a decent match for your boat, and since it has a texture it works well on an old rusty trailer that you don't want to spend hour after hour trying to get a perfect finish on.

Here's a pic of the old trailer I rebuilt. I only had a couple hundred bucks in the job, including the blue, off-white, and silver paint, new bunks and carpet, and a new tongue jack.

Last word of advice - don't park your truck within 100' of the trailer when you're painting. You'll think it's far enough away, but it won't be....then you'll have to break out the buffer and compound to get off the overspray that drifted onto it.:bonk:

[zelatore]

Oh yeah, and post some pics of the boat!

[miike]

Here it is after I pulled it out the first time. Sorry about picture size. I'm going to wash and wax today if it stops raining for five seconds. I'm in Seattle. I boat on Lake Washington and Puget Sound. I make a couple of San Juan runs a year.

http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh76/miikezj/IMG_0125.jpg

[HOWARD O]

Welcome Mike, GREAT looking Donzi!! :yes:

[VetteLT193]

If you are going to paint the trailer, use Trailer Coat. The stuff actually works. It's the best rust fighting paint I have ever used. I think it only comes in Silver though. It is brush on application, comes in a quart can.

The prop sounds very small to me.

[chappy]

Welcome to the board and good luck.

I've seen the Puget Sound only once in person, and I can honestly say I'm very jealous of anyone that can use their 22 on it regularly.

Enjoy.:cool:

[VetteLT193]

BTW, nice boat... I like them better without the boot stripe.

[BigGrizzly]

Welcome, that is a nice unit. The closed cooling thing is actually easy. My suggestion id that since you are going to re power over the winter I suggest just running it and getting use to it before any changes are made.

[mattyboy]

looks very much like Poodle's OMC 22 , what are the drive ratio's on the King?? same as the volvo???

Nice boat good luck and welcome

[Tony]

A Donzi dealer should be able to get you a set of stickers for about a hundy.
Check with Jamie at Lakeside Restorations...he is a good guy and a site sponsor.


:beer:

[Lenny]

Welcome, see you in the San Juans this summer (and the Gulf Islands :D ) Getting to be lots of folks here to run with around these parts.

And, I hope to see you at the Vancouver Island Poker Run :)

http://vipr.ca/index.htm

[fogducker III]

http://vipr.ca/


:yes::yes::yes:

[zelatore]

Boat looks nice!

I'm diggin' the no boot stripe look as well. I might just have to consider that myself some day.

I see the boat has a CA number on it. Where did you pick it up? Hmmmm....let's see, you said it was about 24 hours of road trip, so that's about 12 hours each way...sounds like the boat might have been in my back yard here in NorCal. Was it a delta boat? I seem to recall about 5 years ago we sold a 22 with a KC drive from our Delta office. Don't remember the trailer or even the color now.

[zelatore]

BTW, why does it look like you have a miniature moose rack on the dash?

(ok, kidding, but I can't quite figure out what that is)

Also, would miniature moose be related to the miniature cows in the latest Jack in the Box Mini Sirloin Burgers ads?

Inquiring minds want to know.
:wink:

[chrisc2]

Mike, Congrats on your new boat!! I am over on Kitsap (across from Edmonds). Hope to see you out on the salt water. If not I will see you on the Lake sometime. You will get great advice on this forum. You came to the right place..Any idea what the hours are on the engine and or the service history? I concur with the idea not to worry about FW cooling yet. Prop is too small. Cheers,Chris

[Barry Eller]

My 1993 Donzi by Chris Craft with 454HO King Cobra came with a 21" Viper propeller, and thru-hull exhaust. Nice to have another Chris Craft Donzi here!

[miike]

I got it in Clearlake Ca. I'll go get some props to mess with soon. I'm not touching a raw water cooled engine unless I get paid to.

Yeah I will see you all up in the islands and for the Vancouver Island event, but I am only running 60mph on this motor and prop so I might not hang with you. I went for a quick burn on the lake tonight. Ran great in the chop. Same at 45 mph with very little tab as my grady did at 25 mph with the tabs buried.

Chrisc2, I used to fish Pt No Pt all the time I know that area. I'll let you know when I'm ready to run in the sound. I'll be out of Edmonds because they have a travel lift.

No that isnt a moose on the dash its a ski mirror and it will be relocated to the trash along with the planing board on the drive as soon as I get a chance :-O

[miike]

hah! I just noticed the moose antlers, it must be the neighbors eagle or something.

[Dr. Dan]

Mike - Congratulations - great ride... I have a 1993 also - I have run only Turbo Props - now running the TXP Series... I can check my stash I may have a Turbo 23 floating around which was my initial prop... I have to check...you are welcome to check them out if you like.

The TXP's have a bit more rake and sweep in the blades and are kinda like a factory labbed Turbo if you will, the blades are thinned and cupped a bit more. I am running a 26 TXP currently - it gets me to 80 mph at running only 4900 rpms. The boat is capable of more - but why bother? Always gonna be someone faster and I can't hurt the boat running it under the limiter.

The King Cobra is the same technology drive wise as the Newest IMCO SCX Drives - same as the newer concept black drives as well - no one ever really highlights the parallels but its true as you learn about the similarities. Sure todays components are more state of the art and the Steering Comonents are tougher to get for Hydraulic Applications - but they can be had.

I ran mine stock to a blistering speed of 59.5 mph for 4 years - then I went to the dark side and have been a crack head for Mercury Racing - House of Blues - I am in their lifetime program which has an outreach program if you are interested downstream. Some other patients are : RoadTrip, George Culotta, Air 22, most recently the not so public Carl C, and a few others. I have had basically zero drive problems, just replaced the stock cone clutch last June - it died at the Spring Dust Off - how fitting and ceremonial. It sucked. :shades: But the boat owes me nothing.

Good luck feel free to pm or email me anytime with questions.

Danny Pantera :beer:
drdan93@comcast.net
www.atlanticcoastdonzi.net

[BigGrizzly]

Zel, I can't believe you see a moose instead of a bird ready to take a crap on the deck.

[chrisc2]

Good fishing of Pt no Pt for sure. I'll be coming out of Kingston or Indianola depending on what is going on. Edmonds setup is nice. That will cut down on the salt exposure on your painted trailer too.

[EricG]

Congrats on the new Boat! It's nice to see another member from the area...

My 18 is still in hibernation, but hopefully I can get it out for some sort of PNW gathering this year...

Enjoy this first year with the new rig...the first season is always the most fun!

EG

[CaribouLou]

Boat looks amazing Mike. Can't wait to come visit for Seafair :yes:

[ghiafreak62]

Great looking boat, I also own a OMC drive 22 had to put stringers and transom in it havn't got to work on it for over a year may have some time in June or July this year, good luck with your boat.