Spitfire Restoration

[smidgen too]

Mr Bill [RedAlert] is not only restoring his Fino but he has this Spitfire in restoration over at, http://rcsyachtrefinishers.com/ This Donzi is getting put back together the right way, it has taken 3 years to get this far and it looks great..

[mattyboy]

very nice

[Greg Guimond]

Holy Moly, talk about better then new............WOW

[Morgan's Cloud]

So , looks like Bill's been keeping a little secret ...

That's gonna turn out just unbelievable !

Having a soft spot for Harry Shoell's 'earlier' designs I'd sure love to try one of those out one day .

Hope to see a lot more on this .

[olredalert]

-----My thanks go out to Mark as I am still picture loading deficient. Really, the Spitfire has been on the back burner for quite awhile as the Fino has taken up most of the available funding. Ryan Smith at "RCS" really didnt mind as he has been overloaded with work and moving to a new shop for the last year. Pictures, in this case, dont lie as the quality of work is truly unbelieveable. Ryan has taken all of the "warts" out of this 24ft hull and made it just about bullet-proof along with beautiful. Ive learned a lot by owning the El Pescador for the last 10 or so years about these early 24ft DONZIs. I think Ryan and I have addressed just about all the deficiencies (spell check).All that Ryan had left to do was paint the interior and removeable panels. He called me about a month ago and said he wanted to finish up as he needed the space. The boat will come back to my place soon to start a looooong re-fit. At this point the Fino comes first so it may be a while before I can finish up the Spitfire.
-----To add to the mix, just about everything chrome, aluminum, or stainless has to be done over a second time now as it all got compromised in the fire in my shop a year and a half ago. Luckily, nothing was totalled, just needs to be re-polished or re-done or re-chromed. But, I have to say, its been tuff to even look at all the carnage, much less dig into redoing it. Im just now starting to come out of a sort of prolonged depression over the whole thing. Oh well,,,onward and upward!.......Bill S

[superhatz]

You've got great taste Bill....

Is it paint or gel??

Aaron

[MR MAGOO]

Very nice work! A friend of mine has a 24 Spitfire that he's considering parting with. It's been sitting for about 10 yrs, was re-powered/converted to Merc Alpha's about 20 yrs ago. He had 320EFI's w/ Alpha SS drives in it. Presently has no power. If there's interest, I'll try to get pics.

Kurt

[olredalert]

----Mr.Mag,,,That ought to attract someone. Especially with the Alpha SSs. A good solution to the weight problem that a 24 with twins has to overcome. The boat should almost certainly be surveyed, especially the transom, as water intrusion runs rampant in the 24s. The problem is far from being insurmountable. Just ask Mark (smidgen too) as he has just had to go into his transom. While it wasnt a piece of cake, Mark said it was doable without a huge amount of effort, but then again he has done a bunch of this kind of stuff over the years.
----I am running the original TRS drives with two 415hp/460 torque Tyler Crockett 383s. Thats to make up for some of the loss thru the use of the TRSs,,,,,,,and more!!!!
----Almost forgot,,,Boot stripe down is gel. Paint from there up.....Bill S

[boldts]

Thank-you Smidgen Too for the photos of Bill's Spitfire. I have always admired that Donzi model primarily because you don't see them.

Kurt, just a bet here, but I'd bet that if a Spitfire showed up in the Donzi for sale area here, it would be gone very quickly due to the rarity of these boats. Might even be a same day sell if it's not already sold from this thread posting.

I really WANT this one some day.

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