What should I do with this thing?
 

My Donzi is driving me nuts. Started out as a simple Bravo conversion. That pretty much wiped my budget out for boat upgrades for the year. Well, last weekend I found out I ripped a stringer out of the port side. Well now the motor is coming out for a second time, and I get the call today that the transom has rot in it also and now I am blowing more money having that rebuilt also.

So my question is, should I just bite the bullet and go through this boat Too Old style? I am getting prices on a new dash and steering wheel. the interior is good, (22 Donzi Classics have pretty simple interiors) and I have found a good paint guy to help me bring this thing back to black. I am way upside down on this thing at this point so I figure as long as I am going to lose my shirt whenever I sell it I might as well make it as cool as possible.

Or should I just cut my losses on this thing. I really like the boat when it is running, but it seems that it is one thing after the other. I'll take any opinions from you guys who have been through this before.

Thanks,
Matt

Matt,

Those 22 Classics are kick ass rides. I have several friends that have them and they are a blast. Never go out of style either. Unfortunately, new they are a fortune and used they don't bring much. I guess that is why it is called a boat!:D However, they are boat that 2 or 20 years old, they look the same except for maybe the gauges, and they run great even in rough water and always have sex appeal. If you really like the boat and are not planning on going bigger, I say GO FOR IT!

if yoru toght on $ get it back in ok shape and sell it. A total redo suck you dry faster than a 42st hooker.

I totally redid mybaot and its been on et trailer for 2 years. Every ice weekend i kick myself in the ass for starting eth damn project. Its all thd littel **** that adds up. I've probably spent $250 on stainless screws and bolts alone. We wont even get into all eth other crap. Logn story short i have 35-40k into a boat thats worth maybe 25k (with all the new crap, engine drive, headers, wiring, guages, interior, controls)

Don't feel bad. I have a 1981 20 foot Formula that I have probably $14k in it and counting. And that's with no structual issues at all. I'm still redoing the interior, this has been going on for a year and a half. Even after it's done, I still really need to paint it. Once all that is done, it may bring 6 or 7 thousand. The way it's sitting right now, I'd be lucky to get $2500. I figured I'd just plug away at it, then use it for rivers, lakes and bays instead of taking out the 30 foot Formula. Good plan. I got antsy and bought a 20 foot Donzi Minx too. It needs a total engine rebuild or replacement.

The best thing for you to do is to get it in cherry shape, then run it forever. It's the way I look at cars, the only way to get your money out of them is to drive it out of them. A 22 classic never goes out of style.

I agree with Cuda. Fix it right and enjoy the Sh!t out of it.