Choosing between rocks

[superhatz]

Lowering the floor isn't a bad idea. The previous owner of my boat took the shock pedestals out of my seats so they sit quite a bit lower....I like it. To me, the boat feels like a 27 foot Donzi 18.....

[fogducker III]

I just read this entire post for the first time............VERY interesting, informative and WAY beyond anything I could imagine even trying to do..........well done Bill.

I was wondering if you ever found a HIN..? I saw that the boat "might" have been the Green Hornet? Are you not able to get details of ownership and perhaps HIN from the MC registration numbers shown on the boat in the pictures? Just an idea....? At least it might lead to some information that might help...?

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Lowering the floor isn't a bad idea. The previous owner of my boat took the shock pedestals out of my seats so they sit quite a bit lower....I like it. To me, the boat feels like a 27 foot Donzi 18.....

Thanks, Aaron.

I just read this entire post for the first time............VERY interesting, informative and WAY beyond anything I could imagine even trying to do..........well done Bill.

I was wondering if you ever found a HIN..? I saw that the boat "might" have been the Green Hornet? Are you not able to get details of ownership and perhaps HIN from the MC registration numbers shown on the boat in the pictures? Just an idea....? At least it might lead to some information that might help...?

Thanks, Fog. I have been through the interior and transom pretty well now with no HIN. I even crawled to the bow area and checked under the deck, bulkheads, etc. I have not given up yet, and I really look forward to sanding the repainted sides to see what they reveal along with pulling the rubrail in case they might hide a number. As they say "its not over til its over". Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

After discovering that there was some pitting in the aluminum of the two 50 gallon fuel tanks from being in contact with the water saturated foam, I am almost finished fiberglassing them. I ground the entire surface with a foam grinder wheel loaded with 36 grit stick-on 3M sanding discs followed by wiping them down with laquer thinner. They are very well made tanks with 3 compartments or baffles welded on the inside and very nice welds on the corners. My guess is that it would cost around $700 each to have them duplicated (maybe more), but it costs about $80 each for the materials to glass them. I have done this method of sealing fuel tanks before with none of them ever leaking again. They will now be impervious to any future water contact (which should not happen), and they will be much stronger - especially after they are foamed into place. Some people might think the aluminum will expand and contract enough to break the fiberglass loose, but I have yet to see that happen. After fiberglassing the sides, I will lay a 3" strip over the corners after grinding the fresh glass to make better contact. Since I have not seen anyone in the Donzi forum use this method, I am curious as to why everyone replaces the tanks instead. I don't know if I mentioned it, but I first cleaned out the tanks with B12 Chemdip by leaving it to soak for a couple days since there was some built up debris at the bottom followed by washing them out with gasoline and then water (the last bit of which evaporated out after a day in the sun). A little dangerous, but not if one is careful. They are like new inside after inspecting them with a flashlight and a small inspection mirror - at least up to the first baffle which is 1/3 of the way down the tank. Strangely, one of the tanks had a 6" SS 3/8" bolt inside. When done with the glass work, I will be foaming them into place and making a new floor over them in the cabin forward of the cokcpit bulkhead. Onward, Bill

PS - Notice the rectangular patch on the one tank from the factory. I have a hunch it was punctured or otherwise damaged before it was ever installed.

[scippy]

Bill, I'm thinking the large part of this journey to restoration of the Mag
is the many little tasks along the way that makes the overall project to
getting her done (must be) sooo rewarding. I keep telling my wife but
she doesn't understand, why buying an old Mag project is anything but
crazy.

[smidgen too]

Bill, I'm thinking the large part of this journey to restoration of the Mag
is the many little tasks along the way that makes the overall project to
getting her done (must be) sooo rewarding. I keep telling my wife but
she doesn't understand, why buying an old Mag project is anything but
crazy.

IT'S GREAT THERAPY

[superhatz]

IT'S GREAT THERAPY

Just not back therapy...right Mark?...

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill, I'm thinking the large part of this journey to restoration of the Mag
is the many little tasks along the way that makes the overall project to
getting her done (must be) sooo rewarding. I keep telling my wife but
she doesn't understand, why buying an old Mag project is anything but
crazy.

Yep, my personal satisfaction is taking something that others would discard and turning it into a functional thing of beauty. I don't think everyone really understands that restoring a car or boat is much like painting a picture in 3D - it is a culmination of the many arts and talents one develops over his lifetime. I always enjoy a good challenge, too. There are many easier mediums to work, but I prefer cars and boats. There is no greater sense of satisfaction to me than driving something that I "created". Bill

IT'S GREAT THERAPY

Exactly. I know the man who does a great job of landscaping his house feels the same sense of accomplishment, and he gets to enjoy it along with his friends and neighbors. Gardening and landscaping come to mind when I think of positive mental therapy. Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Today I got ugly with the top deck. I used a circular saw and cut to the depth of the core material so I could see how far I needed to go. I discovered how Magnum made the bow deck triangular recessed area that accomodates the triangular insert on the surface. They, of course, made the recess in the mold followed by glassing in a 1/4" plywood exact copy of the triangle on the inside of the mold directly covering the triangle. Outside of the plywood triangle, they used 3/8" balsa wood as the core material, sandwiched with about 1/4" of fiberglass on the top layer (bottom of the deck). I will be deciding how far to go with my new core material to replace the bad core material, and I will be making a solid deck with no trianglular recess. I will show some pictures in a day or two of what I mean. Bill

[scippy]

I am getting pumped up on the project now. What do you think about my dropping the floor by about 3" or more? It sure seems like the driver stands too high with the present setup. Bill

Bill, I only recently stood up at the helm in a 27 Mag sport and felt as if
I were standing in my 18c - I'm sure that's not the case, but relative to
it's 27'+ lenght, you do stand quite tall. What factored in this design of
the 27 sport? weight, performance etc. etc. I know the 28 Maltese has
a higher freeboard..........or is the floor lower???

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill, I only recently stood up at the helm in a 27 Mag sport and felt as if
I were standing in my 18c - I'm sure that's not the case, but relative to
it's 27'+ lenght, you do stand quite tall. What factored in this design of
the 27 sport? weight, performance etc. etc. I know the 28 Maltese has
a higher freeboard..........or is the floor lower???

Scippy,
Yes, I am also surprised about the distance from the floor to the upper corners of the cockpit. I will not feel comfortable driving the boat while standing since I do not feel enclosed. My boat does not have a floor in it right now. The only place I felt comfortable standing was when I stand almost at the keel. There are some other members here who might be able to answer historical questions about Magnums, but this is my first one and I really don't know much about them except that I like them - . I sure have a long way to go with mine, but I will be chipping away at the restoration. If I get with the program, I might have the deck glassed back to where I want it this coming week. Bill

[donzi2287]

Bill,
I just replaced my tank in my 22, back to aluminum and zinc chromate with paint to help stop what lasted 22 years without !! The problem with fiberglass is a lot of todays gas has ethanol in it which eats away at fiberglass. Listen, the shop that built my tank is not affected by the economy........ he loves ethanol, he is loaded with new ALUMINUM tank work.

Eddie

[Conquistador_del_mar]

This afternoon, I finished cutting out the soft core in the deck, cutting out the first inch of balsa from under the cut area , grinding the area, and vacuuming up the material in preparation for repairing the deck. I will start with fiberglassing the holes after applying wax paper under the skin with propped up plywood for supports. Then I will be forcing resin paste with fiberglass under the top at the edges for support from where the new core will meet with the old core. Then I will be laying fiberglass mat and divinycell core followed by more mat at the surface. After that hardens, I will lay reinforced resin paste to the very surface for a smoothing finish, air file to a near perfect surface, and then apply a few coats of white gelcoat to the very surface to be used as the final surface prep before eventually painting it. Onwards, Bill

[Conquistador_del_mar]

Bill,
I just replaced my tank in my 22, back to aluminum and zinc chromate with paint to help stop what lasted 22 years without !! The problem with fiberglass is a lot of todays gas has ethanol in it which eats away at fiberglass. Listen, the shop that built my tank is not affected by the economy........ he loves ethanol, he is loaded with new ALUMINUM tank work.

Eddie

Eddie,
I agree that it would not be wise to make an entire tank out of fiberglass - look at what the old Hatteras boats are going through with ethanol problems in their fiberglass tanks. In my case, I only found one pinhole in one of the two tanks after turning them with a few gallons of gas, but the pitting is why I decided to glass them in. This way they will be protected forever, and I am not worried about the one pinhole letting gas eat the fiberglass away. I probably should have welded up that one pinhole first, but I don't think it will ever let go there. Thanks, Bill

[Just Say N20]

Of no relevance, but maybe interesting. . .

Many of the older fiberglass tanks were made before anyone even imagined that there would be ethanol mixed in with gas, so the resins used were never designed to be able to withstand ethanol.

Since this is now a known problem, new tanks are designed to withstand the effects of ethanol.

Any old tank that now holds E-10 gas, will have other problems as well. The alcohol is a stronger solvent than gas, and will loosen up gunk that had accumulated on the tank walls/baffles and clog fuel filters, and potentially cause other fuel delivery problems.

Also, alcohol is very hydrophilic and will attract more water to the fuel. At some point this will lead to separation of the fuel into a water layer, alcohol layer and gas layer, with the water on the bottom, where the intake is. The same thing happens in cars, but the fuel is burned through so quickly it rarely has time to develop into a problem.

Most folks probably burn through gas in their Donzis quickly too. The problem becomes a "boat stopper" when you have a craft that holds 100s of gallons that can sit for several months without being used up.

So far, we are lucky, at least on the Michigan side of Lake Michigan in that at most marinas, marine gas doesn't contain ethanol, yet.