One thing leads to another, SixGun
 

We posted this on another site by will put some of it here. The Chief engines in my Top Gun had 462 hours on them. No problems during the 8 years they were there. It was time to rebuild / replace. So out they came and off to Chief. They were 800s turning Konrads.

Tommy said he could tune up the power level while there, so 1 thing leads to another. The Konrads had been great, very efficient, and reliable. But, they are rated 800 hp. So we began.

Chief located a set of 6a dry sump, swept backs, Gimbals, and plug in Tailstocks. We picked up the new engines and drives and headed home to convert the boat. My good friend First Gun, volunteered for a few years to glass my transom if I purchased 6 drives, well I took him up on it.

Well First Gun did an excellent job, but wow can he make a dusty mess while working.

He laminated marine plywood with 1708 to create a sheet we cut the plugs from. We were creating a blank transom to worth with. All holes (54) were filled. The 20 year old transom was drier than a Popcorn fart.

We filled and sanded for 3 weeks. The air file is your friend.

The new guys

Sweet!

Go fast, take chances.

Very cool. Looking forward to more pics and speed numbers!

The transom made enough dust to build a hill. Good thing it was not hot here yet. The staggered 90 boat adjacent received a good powder coating,:evilb:

Looking good! What power level are they at now?

916 or 857 depends on which pulley is on top. With the 6 drives some Chief 1550 turbos would be nice.

First Gun, 1st primer. Then even more fun Sanding. First Gun ( Bryce) loves to sand. I don't care for it much after the hours spent on it.

Many experts were contacted about drive height. Tommy at Chief, John Pompi at Marine Performance, Johnny T, some #6 boats were measured. Then we averaged it all and spent a day measuring. The boats are difficult to measure, long straight edges are required. This was measured 20 plus times to the 32 nd of an inch.

Looking good, going to be ready for key west???

Ran it 105 miles yesterday. St. pete, Sarasota, treasure island, longboat key, Egmont key Tierra Verde. Finding the right props is a pain in the a$$. Runs like a Rolex. But on with the conversion...

Bryce did a great job on the inside also, new triaxial glass

We will be in Key West, 13 th year for the boat

Cut outs done, sides of cut outs glassed back in. Ready for Transom assembles, after the Magenta paint

New paint on the transom....

Now we are having fun, the transom is done

Man I leave town for one day and in true Zero Patience style the whole six gun story is told :angry-smiley-038: you would think this Shizit happened overnight not the month plus long project it was ! LOL

That is very cool.

Also very cool to hear that those 800HP engines had almost 500 hours on them..... Had you done Top Ends on them???

Valve springs and grind at 240 hours.

We used a dummy block with our transmission and tailstock to mock up and build new motor mounts. This is a long process to get the alignment tool to slide in / out easily. And keep the engines level side to side.

hows the balance of the boat now vs. before.

The boat wanted to hop before with the Kondads, between 40 to 60. It's still the same. You have to drag a little tab (380s) at the neutral level to stop it. After 60 no tab needed. It planes very easy now with little bow rise due to the big negative trim capability of a 6

The engine mounts were difficult, but Bryce and I got thru it. The engines are level side to side, and the 6s slid in the transoms. We had a few discarded mounts we made for the recycle bin.

Looks great and congrats on the conversion. You will love it. Now you need to get a myco with a drive gaurd to protect your investment. Tommy's engine are the best of the best we have them in our gun and never a problem. Our boats over there at his shop which im sure you saw it. Its the 38 staggered gun.

Nice!! I might build a turbo engine next time with Joe.... He was trying to talk me into it this time!

Did your engines move up or down compared to where they were at with Konrads?

They moved up, about 2.75 inches.

I hear you about the drive guard, I built the trailer so I went back to work on it

One thing leads to another...

Now it needs a new swim platform to clear the #6s

:whistle:

Good Job !

I think I mentioned this before, you have too much free time!!

Beautiful work

wow awesome job!!

Looks great !!!

Thanks for the Compliments. I finished the Swim Platform and Installed It. The Flat top platform is great, its quieter, about half the weight of the tube style, and not slippery.

Doing a New Dash now. Carbon Fiber with new Livorsi Custom gauges. Get rid of the old Rocker Switches.

Headed to the Races In Sarasota in it. Still not completely dialed in. Slip is 20%, with the new Hering 17" x 32 x 18 degree 5 blade props I purchased. Drops to 13% with 17.5" x 32 x 18 rake, 5 blade props. But i dont have any 17.5" props.... Looking...
Fuel mileage is about the same as with the Konrads.

Been working on it again, now a new Dash. I wanted to keep the GPS in the same location because there is no glare. Before...

I picked Silver Carbon Fiber, for mine. Livorsi made me some custom dials, and I chose no bezels. After...

Kirk,

Beautiful job!

BTW, was that you at the Fort Island Trail boat ramp yesterday afternoon? Boat looked great and sounded even better!!

Cheers,

Dave

Looks Awesome!! We are going to be out your way with the boat next Sunday running it with Joe. Maybe we can all hook up!!