NEW PROJECT!!!

Peels

Peels

Active Member
Sean said:
No, not intentionally a shot at you Nathan.... For some reason I was thinking Peels was in Texas...and complaining about snow. Then I saw the IOWA State flag and had to edit... :)

If you're from Iowa you're allowed to complain about snow.
Click to expand...

HAHAHAHAHA

Indeed, and guaranteed I will.

ESPECIALLY since I grew up in California. moved here in my teens. At first, the snow was fun....Alas, that novelty has worn off. I do get a little excited at the FIRST snow... LOL and IF there is a HUUUGE amount and I can get the atv and plow out.. and the kids are out of school etc etc etc....

But here, we're in the middle.... Northern Iowa and Minn. gets the big snows, we just get the cold and a dusting.

FYI: I am 40 minutes SSW of Muscatine, Nathan. they get a tad more than us on average.

We visited texas a few times in the winter.. Beaumont. nice a toasty warm.

:thumb:
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
Well, I must be catching up.....
I got the 16SS covered up yesterday then "low and behold" another inch of the white stuff last night. They are calling for a few more this afternoon.

You woul think in CANADA that I'd be better prepared for this....but, we don't usually get snow that "sticks" until mid/late December. H*ll, we don't usually get a white Christmas more than 50% of the time.... Global warming my A**.
 
JT Patroni

JT Patroni

New Member
Was the hull gelled or painted?

Nice find. Good luck with your project.

I am originally from northern NJ just 4 miles west of the GWB.
Don't miss those "A" holes one bit. I use to drive 18's in Manhatten, Brooklyn etc. Didn't mind playing chicken with those taxi drivers one bit.

Now located at the southern tip of NJ with a second house on Wellesley Island, NY in the St. Lawrence River.

Jim
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
Hi Jim,
Thanks. I'm happy to have found it. The hull has been re gelled. A lot of the clean up has been done. However, I must be a wee bit more anal than most as I am going to redo the transom and stringers before I build the wooden deck and hotrod the drive system.

WOW! Wellesley Island! ...Being so close to Clayton NY, for a guy like me would be like most guys living in Hugh Hefners pool house. I'm kinda a wood boat guy....that's a beautiful area.

...and we drove right past there (twice) on our adventure to pick up the Donzi. (I know, it's longer but, I just hate crossing the border in Niagara.)

Cheers,
Sean
 
JT Patroni

JT Patroni

New Member
Hi Sean,

I go to Clayton every year to the Antique Boat Show and Auction and the Antique Boat Races for the last 8 years.

Like you said, there is nothing like a Woodie. Boat that is! :lol:

Jim
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
Well, snow is here...and the boats aren't. So, I just found a deal on an ALPHA One upper case to modify. I'll try to take 3" out to shorten the X-dimension and see if we can make a little speed in this boat.
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
Well,
I found an (boat nuts) engineer that will take on the drive shortening project. he also builds a "kickazz" custom shifter so, I'm sure I'll be using one of those also.

Apparently, this guy was deep into race boats a number of years ago and has all kinds of contacts to do with trying out new ideas for boats....
this should be fun!
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
nathan said:
sounds like a good friend to have.
Click to expand...

Yes, really nice guy. You meet some wonderful people in this hobby.
]
Although on this particular project I'm not really sure if it will ever work out. It's a pretty big job, tricky to say the least. Everyone gets involved with the best of intentions ... and life gets in the way. It's all good right now, but I'm in no hurry and neither is he. Being laid back is cool but, I've seen that turn into the project that NEVER gets done.

I'm hopeful... and happy. The investment for me is quite low ($100) at the moment so, we'll see over time. He hopes to be able to make more of these (and therefore some cash) as a part-time hobby/business.

So there's some motivation on both our part. As long as we all enjoy doing stuff like this and keep it low key...it's all good! I'm being cautiously optimistic.
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
I had been looking to sell my Donzi, however, as It really isn't that much $ tied up and I have lots of time I've decided to just keep her (forever?).

Its been a while for the 16SS to be just a sittin'. However, I have managed to acquire a complete Alpha drive from a member on the Donzi board (for a ridiculously low price). The problem was getting it to Toronto from Annapolis. But, there again, you find the greatest people in our boating communities! Another Donzi member will be delivering the parts to Niagara Falls in March as he travels there for work. The falls are just 1.5 hours from home.

To add to the excitement, I managed to snag a complete transom gimble assembly including steering, inner plate, hardware and trim pumps for a very small investment. These came from a friend that had cracked a hull and had sold the motor. He just wanted to scrap the rest so again... lucky me!

Now, I cant decide if I should completely rebuild (almost $1000) or just see if I can change the bellows, seals and touch up the paint a bit.... We'll see how the budget is.
 
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Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
Well, since I am keeping this boat I decided to get to work even though it's -20 and my driveway needs shovelling. This work however, is the planning stage so, it's not like I'm getting my hands dirty yet. Although planning is a very important part of any project and not to be taken lightly.

So, the planning stage really is in High gear. And of course, I have to learn everything there is to know about fiberglass first (because I've never done it)... well, I'm learning a lot!

Phase one is the interior hull itself. This general part of the plan is to:

1) remove fuel tank, existing stringers and transom wood core
2) fill voids in lifting strakes (indent on hull) for strength reasons
3) replace transom (epoxy) plywood
4) re install stringer assembly (Epoxy)
5) re-enforce hull chine to chine (Vinylester resin) with Knytex 24oz stitchmat

I want each phase to progress smoothly so it's important to not bite off too much in each operation. Plus you need to have all the required materials, tools and backup plans "at the ready" before starting. At this rate I'll be ready in the spring for the hands on work.

I'm getting lots of fiberglassing advice from some expert members of the Donzi website and supplementing that with lots of reading material and you tube videos. :)
 
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Chris

Chris

Administrator
Staff member
I hope you'll share some pics Sean. :)

I'm looking forward to seeing how things progress. :thumb:

-Chris
 
Sean

Sean

Well-Known Member
Scored a really great AIR GUIDE speedometer this week. It's a deck mount in a chrome bullet housing (called model #707 Dolphin). I'm looking in to having the guts retrofitted as a GPS speedometer.

This is also cool as the factory dash plate only has room for five gauges (only one big one) and now I can have a big tach and speedo.

Also really tempted to buy a local 1990 Chris Craft 222 Stinger (950) bare hull....(on kijiji) before I get too far along on the Donzi maybe.... Nawwwww.
 
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