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Thread: Biggest engine in an 18 and 22ft?

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  1. #1
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    Question Biggest engine in an 18 and 22ft?

    Hey all! Going to be buying a used Donzi this summer and am looking at 18s and 22s. I plan on selling the engine and out drive and installing a crate engine with some serious HP and a Bravo 1 X or xr depending on the size of boat and engine I purchase.

    My questions to the Donzi forum are:

    What is the biggest power plant you've heard of being installed with out hatch reconstruction on 18 and 22c?

    What drives would you suggest respectively?

    Prop options respectively?

  2. #2
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    18 is easy.

    GEOO had over 1,000 hp in his X18 with a stock engine hatch.

    http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthre...ighlight=Mouse
    “Oh right, because you walked into strippers discount warehouse and said ‘Help me showcase my intellect.’” - Archer

    Bill
    Grand Rapids, Michigan
    1985 Donzi Criterion SS
    1967 Donzi 16 Ski Sporter, C16-409, Has a new home!
    38' Carver Aft Cabin
    1968 Sea Ray SRV 180 w/1975 70 hp Evinrude
    10" RIB w/15 hp 1984 Evinrude

  3. #3
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    Wow!

    Thanks so much! Keep em coming!

  4. #4
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    Question

    22 is easy too. Mr. X!
    Lake St. Clair, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Oakland

  5. #5
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    I would suggest that if the boat you buy was built before about '95, plan on beefing up the stringers and inside bottom before installing any serious power.
    Before that time, thses boats only saw 350-450 HP and were designed and built accordingly.
    It's important to take a unified approach to these boats.
    Good luck w/your quest
    George Carter
    Central Florida
    gcarter763@aol.com
    http://kineticocentralfl.com/


    “If you have to argue your science by using fraud, your science is not valid"
    Professor Ian Plimer, Adilaide and Melbourne Universities

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by gcarter View Post
    I would suggest that if the boat you buy was built before about '95, plan on beefing up the stringers and inside bottom before installing any serious power.
    Before that time, thses boats only saw 350-450 HP and were designed and built accordingly.
    It's important to take a unified approach to these boats.
    Good luck w/your quest
    I would add that this rule of thumb applies to all of these boats.

    I ran 470HP in my 2001 22 Classic for about nine years on stock motor mounts. When we took it apart last year, the torque of the engine was showing on the port side stringer, both inside and out. I was constantly checking and tightening motor mounts as part of my pre-flight and I found out why, flex in the hull.

    I added several layers of weave, coring, and more weave to strengthen the bilge, a custom engine cradle, and a heavy duty transom assembly to the mix. My boat had steering, but this is a must not only for safety, but to take some of the stress off of the gimbal housing and transom.

    This is a lot of what Mr. X did to his Ilmor boat, because I followed some of his recipe. He took it one step further and did the coring all the way up the sides of the boat, extended the coring all the way to the nose, and glassed the connecting points to the deck. The Ilmor boat took over a year of rigging and testing by some very knowledagable people to finally get where it is today.

    Donzi also added a layer of glass and coring, heavier stringers, and heavier engine mounts when they produced the few SE 500EFi factory boats that they did. The one 525EFi boat that I have seen had a layer of kevelar weave added to the options list at the request of the client's rigger.

    My point, there is a lot more involved in getting these small boats ready for big power than just yanking the stock power and going with something monsterous. Then, there is the set-up and learning to drive the things. All fun stuff, but it takes time, patience, and experience
    to do it right and do it safely.

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