Just A Rare Donzi Pic

[Carl C]

From another forum. On Lake St. Clair.

[Just Say N20]

Nice flat air.

Bottom condition. . . .

. . . .not so nice.

[penbroke]

Nice find Carl! Thanks for posting it.


Frank

[mattyboy]

been posted here before , the mythical yet quite real twin 427FE V drive 21GT

[Morgan's Cloud]

I know what automatically comes to mind when you see that but did they have full length inner strakes ? ?

[mattyboy]

800 hp in a 21 foot boat bet it was a kickazz ride

[BUIZILLA]

I thought Lk St Clair was cleaner water than that?

[craigdskilling]

I think the passenger is holding on to the holy $$$$ handle with all his might.:bonk:

[mattyboy]

formerly referred to here as a "WEENIE BAR"

[johnnywhale]

I know what automatically comes to mind when you see that but did they have full length inner strakes ? ?

On my 77 they end about 2' shy of the transom, not like in the above picture.

[smidgen too]

That pic is from 1973 on Lake St Clair that I posted on OSO back in 2007. The owner is Jack Mathes Jr whose family owns Emerald City Harbor on Lake St Clair. I believe it was powered by two 302 Holman Moody Ford engines. Jack would later race with Wally Harper in the Li'l Smidgem Magnum & in the Maverick offshore powerboat after honing his skills in this Donzi.... .:beer:

[mattyboy]

That pic is from 1973 on Lake St Clair that I posted on OSO back in 2007. The owner is Jack Mathes Jr whose family owns Emerald City Harbor on Lake St Clair. I believe it was powered by two 302 Holman Moody Ford engines. Jack would later race with Wally Harper in the Li'l Smidgem Magnum & in the Maverick offshore powerboat after honing his skills in this Donzi.... .:beer:


would love to know more about this twin gt

they made a handful of twins and a few v drives but it looks like they only built 1 twin v drive hull 13 July of 69 it looks to have had HM 400 HP 427s when it left the factory . Could it be possible that the 427s were pulled shortly after the boat was built for either the desire for the 427s or for the lack of room. Judging from a 351 twin volvo setup the exhaust risers almost touch making plug changes and tune ups a royal Pita. I would imagine with two 427 and trannies it brought a new meaning to tight

[Ranman]

I thought Lk St Clair was cleaner water than that?


That's what your bottom looks like on LSC after 2/3 of the summer leaving the boat in the water with no bottom paint. My Formula looked a tad worse than that in October at fall haul out. A quick power wash and acid bath took care of it.

[mattyboy]

I know what automatically comes to mind when you see that but did they have full length inner strakes ? ?

yes it looks like the twins had full inner strakes

[Morgan's Cloud]

yes it looks like the twins had full inner strakes

Very interesting .
Somehow I accidentally enlarged the picture of the pale yellow one (above) and I could just make out that the inner strakes just about go to the transom .

[smidgen too]

Here is one more pic from that 70's day on Lake St Clair. Jack with some Jack. :beer:

[mattyboy]

the exhaust ports look like a big block a little higher and wider than the 351 twin but it could be just the angle.

MC I would imagine you would need more "lifting" strake with that much iron in the back

[Morgan's Cloud]

MC I would imagine you would need more "lifting" strake with that much iron in the back

Indeed , I suspected that would be the reason for it if there was one. I wonder how it affected the boat overall compared to the standard strake location.

The pic above is interesting . I would have envisioned a 21 with 2 427's to look a lot ass heavier than that . A lot !

[CHACHI]

The pic above is interesting . I would have envisioned a 21 with 2 427's to look a lot ass heavier than that . A lot !

+1

Ken

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Not much help here, but my GT21 had a BBC and Volvo outdrive. You can see how high it floated in the stern.

[mattyboy]

There was one according to the records built in 69 but it may very well have been a WTFWWT moment holy **** it gonna sink so the 427s were ripped out and windsors were put in.

the weight with the v drives is more a midships too then if you had an AQ hanging off the back.

an all iron 427 goes at about 650 lbs 130 lbs more that a 351w at 520lbs

[Conquistador_del_mar]

the weight with the v drives is more a midships too then if you had an AQ hanging off the back.

I was thinking the same thing. Even with twin engines, there would have been a lot of weight ditributed farther forward with the v drives vs outdrive.

[mattyboy]

Bill that is OUTSTANDING!

think she was for sale on ebay not too long ago

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill that is OUTSTANDING!

think she was for sale on ebay not too long ago

Yes, it was on ebay and I got to talk to the seller who is actually the same guy that I sold it to so many years ago. I don't think it ever sold, but I could be wrong.

[Morgan's Cloud]

There was one according to the records built in 69 but it may very well have been a WTFWWT moment holy **** it gonna sink so the 427s were ripped out and windsors were put in.

the weight with the v drives is more a midships too then if you had an AQ hanging off the back.

an all iron 427 goes at about 650 lbs 130 lbs more that a 351w at 520lbs

I'm pretty sure that a 351/270 package is in the area of 920 pounds or so .
What would be the weight (roughly) for a single 427 V drive package ?
They must have done some very creative weight shifting to get a twin V8 GT21 balanced properly whether it was a 270 package or V drives.

I love GT21's

[Ghost]

The pic above is interesting . I would have envisioned a 21 with 2 427's to look a lot ass heavier than that . A lot !

Agreed. Is the pic just fooling us a little, in that the boat is rolled over to stbd, showing us more port side? When you look at post #1, the waterline looks like it sits pretty low at the stern.

[smidgen too]

Just got off the phone with Jack Mathes, this Donzi was a twin big block 427 Ford powered boat when it left Donzi. Donzi sold it to Joe Sagonie from Cleavland Ohio when it was new. The boat sat to heavy in the rear so it was change out to 351 Windsor engines.:eek: Jack took it on trade & he became the second owner, today ?????

[mattyboy]

Just got off the phone with Jack Mathes, this Donzi was a twin big block 427 Ford powered boat when it left Donzi. Donzi sold it to Joe Sagonie from Cleavland Ohio when it was new. The boat sat to heavy in the rear so it was change out to 351 Windsor engines.:eek: Jack took it on trade & he became the second owner, today ?????

Great info Thanks :)


427s in stereo must have sounded awesome I bet the 351ws were no slouch either

[mattyboy]

I'm pretty sure that a 351/270 package is in the area of 920 pounds or so .
What would be the weight (roughly) for a single 427 V drive package ?
They must have done some very creative weight shifting to get a twin V8 GT21 balanced properly whether it was a 270 package or V drives.

I love GT21's


if the 427 was 650 I would say the vdrive equipment would be around 350-400 lbs more I'll see if they have any specs in my HM stuff

[Fishermanjm]

why not two 351 cleavelands? can u imagine that cleaveland whine

[Pismo]

Twins in a 21' boat, cool but why?

[Craig S]

Twins in a 21' boat, cool but why?

oooh...Why not!!!!!:yes:

[mattyboy]

Think you have to go back in time to 1969, limited options getting 800 hp into a single app