Conversion of a 35' Cigarette to a 28'
 

Just a simple question to see if anyone is interested in my conversion of my 1976 35' Cigarette Awesome into a 28' center console with outboard power. The Awesome was just too big and heavy for Colorado, and I could find no real buyer so I explored my options. When I posted here under the "Fiberglass" forum I got a lot of "you can't do that, it won't work" from people that did not know what they did not know! Well, I have done it, and it does work, and at least I have saved my Cigarette hull from the landfill.
Thanks. ren3.

I'd definitely like to see some pics of that. How did you shorten the boat? Did you take out a midsection or just cut the transom off? Did you add a step to make it work? Have you run it hard? What kind of speeds?

Bring it on! From your previous pics, I'm sure it is looking good. :drink:

Kurt

conversion
 

Thanks for your interest. I removed 7' from the stern and built a new transom, 2" thick, for the Merc V-6 3.0 L 250 outboard. All work was done with vinyl ester resin or epoxy, floors and anything below are epoxy. Transom and side decks and hatch areas are vinyl ester. 50 yards of biax 1708 and 30 yards of 18oz roving. Floors are honey comb as are vertical curved bulkheads. The empty stripped hull with the new transom weighed 2300 lbs. I have added 900 lbs in new fabrications. All empty areas above and below decks are foamed with urethane, and this only added 120 lbs in weight but with over 5000 lbs of flotation. New aluminum fuel tank is 100 gallons capacity from Imco. My finished design dry weight with 500 lbs for the engine is 4,000 lbs, and this should give me a little over 40 mph at altitude. Floors will be 1/8" teakveneer bedded in epoxy , 120 square feet of it, over the epoxy substrate, as I have done in previous hulls. Bow rail is welded stainless 1" tube. Center console is molded cored fiberglass, and the T-top is weled anodized aluminum. All holes through transom, bulkheads, decks, etc. are sleeved with epoxy tubes. No fastener is in contact with wood.

I do not have photo posting privileges, but I will be happy to send them to sincerely interested posters. I have documented the entire process. I will probably float the finished hull in October before winter hits.

Sounds like quite an engineering feat! Glad to hear the boat did not go to the crusher.

Shoot over the pics to [email protected] and I'll be happy to post them.

Kurt

:worthless_without_p


Let's see some! Sounds very cool.

Anyone can post pics here on OSO even if you're not a paying member. I do it all the time.

Just host them to a site like photo bucket or something similar then link them here. Problem solved. I've posted hundreds of pics like this.

I want to see this project!!!!

Buck

I gotta see this!!! To bad its not that easy to make them longer... :)

I'm interested in seeing her too...

:worthless_without_p:worthless_without_p

Here ya go! What a project!:drink:

:eek::drink:

Glad to see it didn't go to the crusher Bob. Love the ingenuity!:drink:

Kurt

Now that is a project!!! Can't wait to see it done. Hope it works great for you.

Wow!!! Keep the pictures coming and great job!!!!!!!

Thanks
 

Kurt, thank you very much. I may be a little naive when it comes to doing something out of the proverbial box as I do not see a wall anywhere, it's just how far do you want to push the envelope. I would hope that this motivates some others to just try it. I would be humbled to try and advise someone trying to do their own thing, but I am steadfast in "knowing what I do not know", it's a long list by the way, but I will do whatever it takes to find the answer. That's the fun in all of this. Anyway, I will get a couple of pictures tomorrow of the console, leaning post, and T-top. I have been able to build three other boats from scratch, two wooden ones and one fiberglass, and my scale 73" Cigarette for rc, but I hope that this is my last and that I can just do some serious fishing. Many thanks.

awsone job congrats it looks like the 35 top gun i cut to pieces after hurricane wilma a dry storage rack fell on it i cut the transom to be made into a bar

Cool.....

Wow!!! can't wait to see it done!!! How long have you been working on it?

Cool :coolcowboy:

Ren i sent u a pm

Any pictures of the bar?

28' Cigarette conversion
 

The hull is painted and the top sides have been gelcoated. Teak floors are going in later this week. Then rub rail, welded ss bow rails, console, T-top. and controls. Merc 3.0L V-6 EFI 250hp goes on next week hopefully. Biggus has some pictures. Thanks. Bob N.

cool!

Post 'Em Please Biggus :) Great Project

Wow, what a project! I've considered turning a big V into a center console many many times but couldn't get brave enough to follow through!

WOW ren3 Nice work what an awesome project looking forward to seeing more pic's

Here's the pics Bob! Man, what a project. Looking good, glad it did not go to the crusher!

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/z...drunner/b4.jpg

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/z...drunner/b3.jpg

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/z...drunner/b2.jpg

http://i817.photobucket.com/albums/z...drunner/b1.jpg

What a ballsy project! I love it. Where you going to run it in CO?

+1, wow!

Yes, it's still a little big for Colorado, but you should see some of the 45' cruisers in the water at the floating docks in the Pueblo marina. At 4,000 lbs. dry with motor it will be a lot easier to tow around and I do have a diesel Ford Excursion. Working on the teak floors now. Thanks for the interest.

If
 

Awesome, Awesome project. If ever you get to the point you want to sell it, let me know, I'll be interested.

Just got the teak floors installed. There is a little sanding required, but the floors and the three floor hatch covers look great to me. Everything is picture framed around the teak boards. Will get some pictures to Biggus for posting. Cigarette must have been snooping on me as they have added teak floors to the new 42' center console, probably as an option. I have $1,700 in teak, $600 in epoxy, and 70 man hours in installation. It is worth every penny.

Mounted the 3.0L 250 Merc outboard today. It really looks like a boat again, and the transom did not fall off. I may be on to something here!

thats cool

can't enlarge pictures!!!! nice work! would it be more difficult to turn a 28 to a 35? or easier to shrink one?

It was definitely easier to shrink one I think. I had to stop at 28' due to the bottom design as pertains to a runing surface and the coincidence of the 28' factory design. I cut down the sheer line from the transom to the bow for my own design considerations, and that was a lot easier than increasing the sheer line if you tried to stretch a 28 to a 35. I am very pleased with the aesthetics of the conversion so far. We will see if my marine engineering design changes work as planned when I get to "sea trial" ( I am in Colorado for God's sake) the hull in May. I made no alternative plans for snow skis.

Ren3 the boat looks fantastic . Can't wait to seee pictures of it wet.
RG.

I lost the lease on my warehouse/workshop but the owner's business is picking up and they needed the space so I certainly could not complain. I was able to use the space for two years, and the hull is almost done anyway.
I did get the teak floors installed, the rub rail installed, the stainless welded bow rail installed, many deck fittings installed, and the Merc V-6 EFi 250hp mounted before I had to move the hull last weekend.
Unfortunately the hull is covered and sitting out at 7,000' in another Colorado snowstorm.

I will get some pictures posted in a couple of days with Kurt's help. Thanks.

I uploaded some pictures to Photobucket. I hope that the link works. http://s1272.photobucket.com/user/RE...35845852194248.