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Thread: Got a 60's vintage Bench seat hornet with vdrive

  1. #1
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    Got a 60's vintage Bench seat hornet with vdrive

    I have in my possession a late 60's benchseat hornet with drive train. The boat/hull had just been redone when hurricane IKE washed away the top deck. I would really like to save this Boat. Anyone have a line on a deck or can pop a copy one off for me? give me a call at the office 713-910-2000 or email on my phone clearlaketx@gmail.com.
    you can also text me on my cell seven one three - eight nine eight - zero six zero five
    Thanks
    Scot V

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    Scot~

    Finding such an original benchseat deck might be almost impossible .

    And~
    Making a new custom benchseat deck mold from an original benchseat Hornet , and then hand laying-up a new copy would be possible~~~
    But I suspect would be a very costly project .

    You may have to resort to buying an older 70s 2+3 Hornet, or at least it's old deck, and cutting-up & splicing the deck to make a benchseat style deck out of it by moving the dash area aft to form the necessary smaller size cockpit ; and then filling in the now left open middle section to form a benchseatdeck just like the prior owner did to my Benchseat 18 project. (see my very first post on this forum from 2009 with my project's photos )
    After tearing mine apart for a deck re-core & restoration I can now see that this was not really very hard to do if it was thought out carefully & measured properly.

    ALSO~
    Stan (inferno) just built himself a custom Benchseat 22 out of a standard 2+3, as was suggested by Lenny, by using the very same cut & splice tecnique.
    The end result is nothing short of spectacular !
    There are photos of his custom built red Donzi 22 benchseat project on the Donzi forums.

    Good Luck !
    Last edited by silverghost; 12-03-2012 at 01:43 AM.
    "BENCHSEAT 18" ~~YellowJacket~~ project owner~
    1929 Chris~Craft 28' Tripple Cockpit Mahogany Speedboat / A-120-A 845 Cu.In. 375 H.P. Chris~Craft V-8 racing engine.
    24' American Skier
    Super Eagle 454 HO Skiboat
    1991 454 SS Chevy Super Sport Pick-up for towing my "Toys".

    There is no such thing as going too fast ~ ~~
    OR~ Being too old~ for a new "Toy"!

    Brad Hunter
    Huntingdon Valley Pa (Just outside Philly)~
    Ocean City NJ
    silverghost1926@msn.com
    215 947 4676 (PA Home)

  3. #3
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    [ QUOTE=$originalposter]{$pagetext}[/QUOTE]
    Silverghost. not to hijack this post, but can you show pictures of your 18' benchseat? Love to see how cool that would be. As for the Hornet mold, could you have measurements made and then build a mold yourself, (I know, Expensive!) ? I would think that the tub portion qould make it tough to do.

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    Another option would be to put a proper (traditional) mahogony deck on her.

    This has been my goal since I fell in love with Donzis as I'm already a certified woodyboater nut. I realize that with less than 50 benchseat Hornets produced, it's tough to lose one but a nicely done wooden deck with a v-drive would make a stunning "gentlemans racer" and the hull would not go to waste.one-of-a-kind-greavette-rac.jpg

    Or if you find a donor boat for the deck....call me when you want to clear out it's hull. I've been searching for something longer (21'-24') but 19.25 would work for me.
    Sean Conroy,
    1964 Formula Jr. (hull #2) project

    1972 Greavette Sunflash III
    1981 Kavalk Mistral project

    "A man can accomplish anything... as long as he doesn't care who gets the credit."

  5. #5
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    Scot,

    sounds like neat project.

    rustnrot did the woody thing to a 16 vdrive the end result was very unique.

    the 2+3 has slighty different proportions the additional seating was a take a little from here and a little from there. so the nose and hatch are smaller ( the back seat is closer to the transom ) so a 2 +3 top MAY not fit on an existing rigged benchseat v-drive bottom.

    I would also think that you would need a restored deck over an original deck to pop. my deck is solid and original but far from perfect. If I can help in anyway let me know.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    When the sky is grey,look out to sea.
    When the waves are high and the light is dying,
    well raise a glass and think of me...
    When I'm home again,
    boys, I'll be buying!

    My Ride

    Come Join Us on The Queen Of American Lakes



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    Scott Pearson owns both Benchseat, and 2+3 style, V-drive Hornets. He is very familar with these early V-drive Hornets .

    He should be able to measure both deck & cockpit style V-Drive Hornet boats; and tell us if the deck & cockpit tub can in fact really be swapped without any issues~~ I would think ?
    "BENCHSEAT 18" ~~YellowJacket~~ project owner~
    1929 Chris~Craft 28' Tripple Cockpit Mahogany Speedboat / A-120-A 845 Cu.In. 375 H.P. Chris~Craft V-8 racing engine.
    24' American Skier
    Super Eagle 454 HO Skiboat
    1991 454 SS Chevy Super Sport Pick-up for towing my "Toys".

    There is no such thing as going too fast ~ ~~
    OR~ Being too old~ for a new "Toy"!

    Brad Hunter
    Huntingdon Valley Pa (Just outside Philly)~
    Ocean City NJ
    silverghost1926@msn.com
    215 947 4676 (PA Home)

  7. #7
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    SG, how bout a recent pic of your benchseat hornet ?

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    we had a chance to line up a few siblings in the donzi classic line up at this year's LGDCC fall picnic. we had my 68 benchseat next to Scott Pearson's 70 2+3. we also had Jay's 67 Skisporter next To Andrew's 90 sweet 16. Both comparisions were visibly different to the naked eye. Jay can expound on the differences in the 16s but the differences in the 19s were very apparent.


    the motor compartment is smaller (Shorter) on the 2+3 this can be seen in the distance between the front and back air vents, the length of the hatch and the proximity of the back seat to the transom. This means the floor is also closer to the transom. The BBF and vdrive are cramped in walo the front and back of the motor are very close to the transom and the back seat. The v drive is partly under the seat .
    I know it is hard to visualize with all the bling on walo

    In the benchseat hornet the motor and v drive are more forward in the attached pic of Pizzazz a BBF v drive you can see this as the v drive is under the seat locker. I think if walo's deck was placed on this setup the v drive would not clear the floor. Vice Versa I think there would be no issue putting on a benchseat deck on walo's setup.

    Scot
    I realize this is a worthy project and a big project with a price tag to match. The benchseat deck is unique, it is the only deck that has a raised deck stripe, it has the big bilge with side to side twin hatches. the proportions of the seat to the lines of the boat are perfectly balanced IMHO. I feel the only way to do this is to pop a benchseat deck .

    here are the pics that show the difference in proportions on the two decks, look at the hatch, the vents and the seat/rearseat locations
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by mattyboy; 12-03-2012 at 05:56 PM. Reason: erron speiling
    When the sky is grey,look out to sea.
    When the waves are high and the light is dying,
    well raise a glass and think of me...
    When I'm home again,
    boys, I'll be buying!

    My Ride

    Come Join Us on The Queen Of American Lakes



    Contact Us

    www.lgdonziclassic.com

  9. #9
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    So the seat in the Benchseat Hornet is in fact NOT where the rear seat is in a 2+3 Hornet's ? It's a little forward of that ?

    Actually , now that it seems that way , I do recall the engine hatches appearing to be kind of long on number 39 that made it out here some years back.
    And the engine room was huge too. You could probably stuff 4 people in it and shut the lid even with the engine installed !

    Love them pics too Matty .
    Just because something's old doesn't mean you throw it away !

  10. #10
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    yes the two decks are very different, you can also see how much weight is shifted aft in my boat. the nose on a sbf and volvo sits higher than a blown bbf and v drive just look at the inner strakes at the bow in the pic i posted
    When the sky is grey,look out to sea.
    When the waves are high and the light is dying,
    well raise a glass and think of me...
    When I'm home again,
    boys, I'll be buying!

    My Ride

    Come Join Us on The Queen Of American Lakes



    Contact Us

    www.lgdonziclassic.com

  11. #11
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    Lenny once emailed me that when he first built his prototype X-18 Benchseat custom built cut & splice project he actually moved the bench seat's back foreward about six inches from where my Benchseat 18 project's seat back now is.
    My seat bench is still in the orignal 2+3 location.
    This gave Lenny a much larger engine bay than I currently have on my standard "Classic" style 18 benchseat project's deck.
    His new cockpit itself is also a bit larger fore & aft than mine . Mine only measures 35 1/2 inches from the dashboard face to the fiberglass benchseat's back.
    Mine will actually be pretty tight with the seat cushons finally installed .

    Lenny still has several old photo posts on this forum showing his cut & splice X-!8 Benchseat project's deck.
    In some of them you can see where he added additional deck fill-in material between his many old deck splice joints.

    Lenny's custom Benchseat X-18 project is very cool indeed !

    Re: Scot's Hornet~
    Altering the final measurements on the V-Drive Hornet's cut & splice deck , twin hatch, & tub fabrication , along wih adding some additional cuts & fill-in, might actually make the older Hornet's 2+3's cut-up & spliced deck work with the existing Hornet hull's V-Drive gearbox & engine configuration placement ?
    You might have to get really creative here~

    Rootsy (actually onesubdriver Wayne)started to do this same sort of thing on his 16 cut & splice benchseat project the "Crazy Chinese Chicken"
    He toyed around with several configuration ideas.
    Photos of his project are still on the Donzi forums.
    Sadly that project boat was later stolen right out of his own driveway; and later recovered all smashed-up.
    It sadly all went to the dump later.

    I do agree with Matty that the Best option might be to pop a custom deck mold off of a real original Benchseat Hornet's Deck & Cockpit Tub like the one Matty owns.

    But at what price ?
    And how much trouble would it be for someone to actually build the new molds ; and then hand lay-up a reproduction deck & tub ?

    The all Mahogany Retro-Style wood deck like Woobs suggested earlier , or the cut & splice 2+3 Hornet deck fabrication job I suggested, might be far easier & far far cheaper to build~~~

    But then it would no longer be a real Benchseat Hornet any longer would it ?
    Last edited by silverghost; 12-04-2012 at 09:41 AM. Reason: added additional info.
    "BENCHSEAT 18" ~~YellowJacket~~ project owner~
    1929 Chris~Craft 28' Tripple Cockpit Mahogany Speedboat / A-120-A 845 Cu.In. 375 H.P. Chris~Craft V-8 racing engine.
    24' American Skier
    Super Eagle 454 HO Skiboat
    1991 454 SS Chevy Super Sport Pick-up for towing my "Toys".

    There is no such thing as going too fast ~ ~~
    OR~ Being too old~ for a new "Toy"!

    Brad Hunter
    Huntingdon Valley Pa (Just outside Philly)~
    Ocean City NJ
    silverghost1926@msn.com
    215 947 4676 (PA Home)

  12. #12
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    [ QUOTE=$originalposter]silverghost said:You might have to get really creative here~
    Rootsy started to do this same sort of thing on his 16 cut & splice benchseat project the "Crazy Chinese Chicken"
    Photos of his project are still on both Donzi forums.
    Sadly that boat was later stolen right out of his own driveway; and later recovered all smashed-up.
    It sadly went to the dump later.{$pagetext}[/QUOTE]


    that was not Rootsy that was onesubdriver (Wayne)
    When the sky is grey,look out to sea.
    When the waves are high and the light is dying,
    well raise a glass and think of me...
    When I'm home again,
    boys, I'll be buying!

    My Ride

    Come Join Us on The Queen Of American Lakes



    Contact Us

    www.lgdonziclassic.com

  13. #13
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    Matty~
    Your memory is better than mine here~~~
    It Was onesubdriver (Wayne) !
    "BENCHSEAT 18" ~~YellowJacket~~ project owner~
    1929 Chris~Craft 28' Tripple Cockpit Mahogany Speedboat / A-120-A 845 Cu.In. 375 H.P. Chris~Craft V-8 racing engine.
    24' American Skier
    Super Eagle 454 HO Skiboat
    1991 454 SS Chevy Super Sport Pick-up for towing my "Toys".

    There is no such thing as going too fast ~ ~~
    OR~ Being too old~ for a new "Toy"!

    Brad Hunter
    Huntingdon Valley Pa (Just outside Philly)~
    Ocean City NJ
    silverghost1926@msn.com
    215 947 4676 (PA Home)

  14. #14
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    But then it would no longer be a real Benchseat Hornet any longer would it ?

    I think that ship has sailed.... The original deck is gone.
    Any solution will be to save the hull driveline as much as possible.

    Boats are different than cars.....If you look to the ACBS restoration rules they can replace pretty much 100% of a wooden boat and as long as the correct proceedures are followed the resulting restoration keeps the boats provinance. Others say that 25% original material must remain. Running gear/driveline may also be changed without hurting provinance. A complete hull certainly exceeds these criteria.

    Now, some of the really nice restorations "Miss Canada IV" for example are original to each screw as far as hardware goes...but there's no getting past the wood issues. In this case a re-popped deck on that original hull certainly qualifies as an original boat. So does the cut/splice as long as the dimensions are the same as the original.

    My solution as akin to a "resto mod" for a car... Original hull = original frame. after that, it's all good.

    Scot, if you find a donor boat and decide to go that way...talk to me about the un-used hull.
    Sean Conroy,
    1964 Formula Jr. (hull #2) project

    1972 Greavette Sunflash III
    1981 Kavalk Mistral project

    "A man can accomplish anything... as long as he doesn't care who gets the credit."

  15. #15
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    Woobs~~
    I really like your idea of building a rero-style Mahogany & Caulked style speedster deck for Scot's V-Drive Hornet's project hull.
    Instead of traditional caulk lines on Cherubini's new 20' & 24' retro "Classics" Dave uses thin strips of light colored Maple in between the Mahogany decking planks to simulate the look of old school caulked deck seams.

    Check-Out ~

    www.cherubiniyachts.com

    For photos of his great new retro-style Mahogany decked speedboats.
    Last edited by silverghost; 12-04-2012 at 09:50 AM.
    "BENCHSEAT 18" ~~YellowJacket~~ project owner~
    1929 Chris~Craft 28' Tripple Cockpit Mahogany Speedboat / A-120-A 845 Cu.In. 375 H.P. Chris~Craft V-8 racing engine.
    24' American Skier
    Super Eagle 454 HO Skiboat
    1991 454 SS Chevy Super Sport Pick-up for towing my "Toys".

    There is no such thing as going too fast ~ ~~
    OR~ Being too old~ for a new "Toy"!

    Brad Hunter
    Huntingdon Valley Pa (Just outside Philly)~
    Ocean City NJ
    silverghost1926@msn.com
    215 947 4676 (PA Home)

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