New-To-Us Family Cruiser - 1983 D'Cucci 21' V-Drive Day Cruiser

[Chris Lapoint]

1983 D’Cucci (Spectra) 21' V-Drive Day Cruiser.
468 BBC w/Littlefield 6-71, 990 Hi-Perf Heads, Crane Gold Rockers & Stud Girdles, Solid Flat Tappet, New Interior, Split Case Casale - Turbo 400 Reverse Manual Valve Body, 12x15 Steel 3 Blade, 1.27 Gears, Ellis Trailer.

Looking forward to getting this thing dialed for our family!

If anyone has any information about the history of this boat - used to be named "Donald Duck"
Or info on D'Cucci boats in general I'd love to hear about it.

(Some Pictures From Previous Owner)

Enjoy!

 

[oldschool]

Congrats. Did you run it ?

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Congrats. Did you run it ?

Yes Sir, at Kaweah yesterday around 5pm - Ran good, Smooth and was pleased to discover it does NOT have a C-500 - it has a split case!

 

[HocusPocus]

Wow, great looking boat Congrats!!

 

[beaverretriever]

Like that color combo! Congrats.

 

[RiverDave]

Doesn’t get any cleaner than. That!!

 

[J DUNN]

Nice boat, congrats! I grew up in a Tarva jet that had that same seat configuration, brings back memories.

 

[rightytighty]

Wow! Welcome to Cruiser life. Love the look!!!

 

[BamBam]

I have a little history on the boat.
It was built by a guy named Russ Raymond. He worked with me here at Torrance Fire. He sold the boat to a guy named Wayne Oliver who had it for several years. Wayne owned "Wayne's World" the building across the street from JA Johnnys in Parker. I don't know any more than that other than I knew Daniel had it for sale. I can get you in contact with the original builder if he allows me to share his info. He may like finding out about the new owner and sharing stories from the build.

 

[oldschool]

Yes Sir, at Kaweah yesterday around 5pm - Ran good, Smooth and was pleased to discover it does NOT have a C-500 - it has a split case!

That's all good news.

 

[footer]

83' D’Cucci (Spectra) V-Drive Day Cruiser.
468 BBC w/Littlefield 6-71, 990 Hi-Perf Heads, Crane Gold Rockers & Stud Girdles, Solid Flat Tappet, New Interior, Split Case Casale - Turbo 400 Reverse Manual Valve Body, 12x15 Steel 3 Blade (Unknown Gears - TBD), Ellis Trailer.

Looking forward to getting this thing dialed for our family!

If anyone has any information about the history of this boat - used to be named "Lucky Duck"
Or info on D'Cucci boats in general I'd love to hear about it.

(Some Pictures From Previous Owner)

Enjoy!

Beautiful boat. Congrats.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

I have a little history on the boat.
It was built by a guy named Russ Raymond. He worked with me here at Torrance Fire. He sold the boat to a guy named Wayne Oliver who had it for several years. Wayne owned "Wayne's World" the building across the street from JA Johnnys in Parker. I don't know any more than that other than I knew Daniel had it for sale. I can get you in contact with the original builder if he allows me to share his info. He may like finding out about the new owner and sharing stories from the build.

That would be awesome! Feel free to pass my number along if he'd rather chat that way.
Chris (562) 277-3431

Also, on a side note - my best friend (since 5yrs old) is Torrance Fire R.Cathey he's been on about 10yrs now.
He's actually who bought my wake boat, which aloud me to pick this boat up! Small world.

 

[BamBam]

It will be an even smaller world when I tell you I've known Ricky his whole life. I worked for his Uncles before I got hired here in '93. Love that guy. I drove his sand car this winter "WOW"

 

[RACER J]

Yes Sir, at Kaweah yesterday around 5pm - Ran good, Smooth and was pleased to discover it does NOT have a C-500 - it has a split case!

Beautiful boat!!
How was the water at kaweah? I'm assuming its pretty full and has a bit of debris floating around.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

It will be an even smaller world when I tell you I've known Ricky his whole life. I worked for his Uncles before I got hired here in '93. Love that guy. I drove his sand car this winter "WOW"

I played t-ball with Ricky and have known his whole family all my 31 years of life, Steve and Gil are great people - I drove down south this weekend and dropped my old boat off to him and hung out a bit. I will be out there in Needles with them for the family trip.

 

[BamBam]

I played t-ball with Ricky and have known his whole family all my 31 years of life, Steve and Gil are great people - I drove down south this weekend and dropped my old boat off to him and hung out a bit. I will be out there in Needles with them for the family trip.

I am planning to meet up with them in Needles for a day like usual. I'll have to come find you and say hi.

 

[wzuber]

nice pull, super clean, looks like hardly a scratch or chip on her and runs great too, hard to do better than that. Congrats......just a touch of envy here. haha

 

[Chris Lapoint]

I am planning to meet up with them in Needles for a day like usual. I'll have to come find you and say hi.

I just called Ricky and he was tripping out, haha I told him he should get on here with the cool kids. Definitely we will be there the first weekend July 26-28 staying with Ricky in his trailer and I should have this day cruiser there.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Here are some updates as I’ve had it just a couple days, everything looks killer and just needs a good cleaning. The rigging is stout and in great shape.
It was a pleasant surprise to discover it does have a split case Casale v-drive, pretty easy for gear swaps if needed and parts are much more accessible.

Installed two fuel take shut off’s as the previous owner told me it draws from one tank faster then the other and would suck air and lose prime if ran down all the way.

Next on the list will be figure out what gears are in the v-drive, figure out which impeller it needs and do a deep clean/de-grease from the inside out.

 

[welldigger00]

Driveline guard ASAP!!!!!!!


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[Chris Lapoint]

Driveline guard ASAP!!!!!!!


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I was thinking that too, the piece of sub floor that covers the driveline is massive and has a two 3/8” think layers of glass/wood, I can walk all over it and presume this is why the builder didn’t rig a traditional “hoop”

 

[guest hs]

That won’t help when that drive shaft goes through the bottom of the hull. Very nice boat!

 

[Chris Lapoint]

That won’t help when that drive shaft goes through the bottom of the hull. Very nice boat!

I agree, I’ll have to look into something.

Should the hoop be centered on the driveline?

 

[guest hs]

Buy a guard that encloses the entire drive line. Look at what the flat bottoms have on them

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Buy a guard that encloses the entire drive line. Look at what the flat bottoms have on them

Like this? Lol

 

[BamBam]

Yes like that.
You could get by with a simple hoop though. As for forward or aft, think about the energy imparted if the shaft were to break. If the forward u-joint lets loose the motor is gonna whip the drive shaft until you get out of the throttle. You'll be quick, but not quicker than that shaft going through the bottom of the boat with plenty of horsepower to drive it. If the rear u-joint lets go the inertia of the boat (prop through the water) will whip that thing around and possibly through the bottom. Centered in the driveshaft is probably the best spot. My dad's 22' Schiada has a simple hoop under the floor centered on the shaft. It's adequate. My boat has a full polished Stainless tube type like you have on the Sanger in your photo. Either way is safe. How much time, money and effort do you want to put into it? That's the question. Looks like that boat has been well cared for. I'm still looking for Russ' number. Hopefully I can call him soon.

 

[BamBam]

I sent you a PM with Russ' contact info

 

[wsuwrhr]

Yea I never liked that part about UCH, and she has a way longer driveshaft since she only has a velvet drive.

Driveline guard ASAP!!!!!!!

 

[wsuwrhr]

.....spinning at 3 4 5 6k RPM no less.....

Yes like that.
You could get by with a simple hoop though. As for forward or aft, think about the energy imparted if the shaft were to break. If the forward u-joint lets loose the motor is gonna whip the drive shaft until you get out of the throttle. You'll be quick, but not quicker than that shaft going through the bottom of the boat with plenty of horsepower to drive it. If the rear u-joint lets go the inertia of the boat (prop through the water) will whip that thing around and possibly through the bottom. Centered in the driveshaft is probably the best spot. My dad's 22' Schiada has a simple hoop under the floor centered on the shaft. It's adequate. My boat has a full polished Stainless tube type like you have on the Sanger in your photo. Either way is safe. How much time, money and effort do you want to put into it? That's the question. Looks like that boat has been well cared for. I'm still looking for Russ' number. Hopefully I can call him soon.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

On the note of the driveline tube/hoop, does anyone have any leads on where to get one?- I am having a tough time locating people who actually sell them. Glenwood? Connolly? - Or will I need someone to custom make one?

How do they attached to the snout of the Turbo 400?

It appears that the v-drive already has a ring for the tube to mount there as I know for a fact this boat was built with a badass driveline tube (original owner stated), but doesn't appear to have anything on the trans that would have accepted the 4.75" tube.

 

[Dana757]

Bergeron Engineering 408 834 1531 for any and everything v drive. Don’t even bother with anyone else.

 

[Blackmagic94]

Wow an 83 foot boat!

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Well here are some updates.

Found out the carbs are 850’s not 750’s, the carbs are off and tore apart, I discovered they had power valves on the primary and secondaries, so those are getting blocked off and bumping up the jet sizes.

Had some Autolite plugs that are going in the trash and we’re way too “hot”, ordered some NGK-R’s with the right heat range.
Also the timing was not locked out, so I will lock that out here in the next day or two @ 30-32*

Today I got the driveline tube built and installed (what a bitch) it might not be the prettiest but it will do its job, the boat has a full subfloor so you will not see it anyway, chopped 19” off of the bimini that came with the boat and got it to a useable height for the season.

View attachment 767117

 

[wsuwrhr]

Looks good, I may be in the minority here, but if I were you, Im not, but I would consider another trans tube clamp and consider putting at least one other bolt in the casale end of the tube.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Looks good, I may be in the minority here, but if I were you, Im not, but I would consider another trans tube clamp and consider putting at least one other bolt in the casale end of the tube.

There is a 2nd bolt, but for some reason the adapter isn’t clocked equal, it’s in there at like 10 & 4 to clear the water lines I am assuming, this will do for now but would like to have a cradle/halfmoon built that I can put two more bolts in on the trans side.

This is more of a budget/quick fix for the summer and I will re-visit during the winter and have a rear/trans mount built.

 

[BamBam]

There is a 2nd bolt, but for some reason the adapter isn’t clocked equal, it’s in there at like 10 & 4 to clear the water lines I am assuming, this will do for now but would like to have a cradle/halfmoon built that I can put two more bolts in on the trans side.

This is more of a budget/quick fix for the summer and I will re-visit during the winter and have a rear/trans mount built.

It's certainly sufficient for now and probably better than a lot of boats out there. I'm sure when you have more time you'll get it prettied up.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Distributor is now locked out.

 

[guest hs]

Just curious why lock out the distributor

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Just curious why lock out the distributor

For lower rpm (2-2.5k) cruising and to remove the guessing where the timing is at mechanically.
From my understanding lower rpm without enough advance = extra high EGT’s.
Most of the stuff I am doing has been ran past one of the best tuners out there, besides pulling the motor for the dyno this should get it pretty close.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Had the new boat out yesterday at Kaweah, ran great!

 

[74 spectra20 v-drive]

Hey Lapoint, I just found out that I know you you were a little dude back then, I am Derek's Uncle, I knew you when you were in Bellflower. Good looking rigs sir, have fun and enjoy the central valley. We are headed up to Kings river the weeks of 7-14.

 

[Chris Lapoint]

Hey Lapoint, I just found out that I know you you were a little dude back then, I am Derek's Uncle, I knew you when you were in Bellflower. Good looking rigs sir, have fun and enjoy the central valley. We are headed up to Kings river the weeks of 7-14.

Bad ass! Small world, we are heading to Parker 7/17-21 but should be around, we were going to take the flatbottom to the boogie but the river is still closed as of this week.