Can't wait to see all the upgrades in key west this year. Looking really good guys.

Keeping everything lined up while welding is crucial to getting the desired result of a properly functioning gate. Lots of braces and clamps helped keep it all straight. Cig the Supervisor dog kept us on track with frequent inspections.

With one side complete, we moved to the critical side that held the gate. Our care in measuring and aligning paid off and it went together with a minimum amount of " fussin' and "cussin'".

out of curiosity why did you add the boxes?

Internal gusset braces were added to give it the required STURDY. Satisfied with our work, Cig had me sit on the extension to show its strength. Then he made me clean up "and put away all the tools b|#<h" !!

out of curiosity why did you add the boxes?

See post # 8.

[QUOTE=mrpickett357;4279093]out of curiosity why did you add the boxes?

Room, no room for plug in setup. Would have to get new tailpipes again. No room to move engine forward, the boxes allow room for the short driveshaft to connect to the 6 transom assembly, and keep engines in same location. Moving engines would require hatch work, tailpipes, move bulkhead forward into cockpit, then upholstery modifications. Moving trim tab pumps, fuel lines, intercooler lines etc. We can also run a higher drive height.

Great work guys as usual! Will try to hook up with you guys when you come down. I need to get my a$$ in gear and get a few things done to mine. Fun Run will be here before you know it!

Cool project, thanks for sharing!

Awesome thread. You guys should have KTRON make you some custom shaft covers for those sixes! Nice work.

You guys should open a shop is what you should do!! Awesome work as usual. Always enjoy watching the craftsmanship, attention to detail and basically love that you guys put into your boats all the way back to the cafe.

What about the whole crews, matching tervis tumblers?.....

If you don't know this crew in person, words can't describe them. Jim, Bryce and Mark are the damn nicest bunch of people you'll ever meet, not to forget there significant others. I am truly proud to call this bunch, GOOD FRIENDS! As well as amazing what the can do out back in the pole barn..... they ain't scared!

^^^^X2 to what Ryan said. Don't know Mark but know Jim and Bryce. Bryce's deckhand is amazing. Covers boat up while Bryce is hanging with the guys. Awesome group and very knowledgeable.

Thank you for the kind words, we appreciate it. we did not have any kind words for the drive shaft builder this week. They built the flange to yoke connection to close, and the bolts would no go in on the short (rear) engine at the transmission to driveshaft connection. But we got thru it. It's just part of it. MRP got the platform back today and it is trick. Pics tomorrow.

It's ALIVE!

...but, I digress. Today was the culmination of a very productive week in the transformation of Lock & Load. As ZP mentioned in his post, driveshaft work dominated our time during the week. It was very frustrating to wait so long only to have the driveshafts to be almost FUBAR. I say almost because we were able to overcome others engineering shortcomings and get it "all bolted up".

If you look back to post 28, you'll see that we asked our boat artist Chris Cruz to design an upgrade for L&L's swim platform. CC got it done this week and delivered a beautiful result! So this morning, the plan was to install it and to reinstall the hatch.

...but again, I digress. You'll notice the new platform hanging from ZP's overhead crane, but there's no boat in sight. That's because this DUMBASS left the boat in the boathouse overnight with the battery switches On. Not only is this a hazard, it was only the other day that ZP had warned me to be more careful about the switches. So... the boat was banished to the field overnight. MY BAD!! To prevent me from repeating this dangerous mistake, which I completely appreciate, I got several reminders not to repeat this foolish mistake again.

Nevertheless, it was a very productive day.. The new platform looks great. I especially appreciate the attention to detail that Chris Cruz brings to a project. Not only is the artwork awesome, he adds the details like extending his art "around the corner" to integrate his platform design into the rest of the design.

As you can see from today's pictures we also reinstalled the hatch. While it was all apart, ZP called our friend Scott Porta, the man behind Porta Lifts (and lots of other great stuff), and ordered some sweet lifting eyes for the hatch. They made today's work a breeze compared to previous hatch installations.

So, all in all it was a great Saturday. After swim platform and hatch there were several hours of putting other stuff back together, and the satisfaction of hearing it running again by day's end.

Awesome, congrats, project complete ??

There are still several things to put it all back together and boy does it need a bath. This hot of the foredeck shows all the pollen that covers everything.

Cannot wait to hear some numbers from your sea trial

The Fives were 1.5 ratio, and on boxes, the Sixes 1.61 ratio, and 12" farther back on boxes. It has been running 17 x32" Hering 5 blades.. The fives were installed canted to get the prop shafts even closer. We installed the Sixes straight up to gain a little room and allow 17.5 diameter props to clear each other. The Sixes are on 18 1/2" centers. Rub rail, deck hatches, windshield, bow rail, cabin center headliner left to install. Should be testing by Thursday. Then boat trip this weekend. We installed the slide in mufflers in the tailpipes, should be able to sneak up on the water patrol now. Maybe only hear it coming for 4 miles, instead of 5 miles.
And yes, he wanted to keep those heavy, antique, obsolete, slow, heavy, heavy, big Ass flaps��

Looks great, nice job guys!!! :cool:

At 100 mph that gives the water patrol 2.4 minutes to figure out what to do. I think you'll be ok.:boat:

May you PM me Chris's number. He's local to yall ?

Green with envy, awesome boat.

Chris Cruz Artistry. Check him out on Facebook. He's in Deland, FL, near Daytona Beach.

Maybe you posted this already, but with the 5s - power, RPM, prop size please?

To be determined... testing THURSDAY...

From this to this....

By canted, do you mean they were closer than the engines, and the driveshafts had inward angles ?

Yes, correct. This boat was built to race in Europe. Rough Water, they wanted the props as close as possible. I have seen outboards done that way also. I don't think there was a speed advantage, only to get, keep the prop in the water sooner. The driveshafts must run in an Un parallel plane in any application, they can not be straight or in alignment.

More interested in how it ran with the 5s, need to start with a prop. I think I know what I need, but your old setup would help me there. (Power, RPM, Pitch) Don't really care about speed, just want to prop this to run about 5800RPM max with correct pitch. Thanks.

MRP can reply, but when he got it, the Fives had 4 blade, 32 x 17 dia. They slipped a lot, 5600 and 5100 @86 mph.
Then we removed a T-shirt from between the carb adapter and blower! It picked up then then to 91. Added 5 blade herings and slip went down, added intercoolers and boost. Speed was then in low to mid 90s. But the cruise 3500 came up about 5 mph. Much more useful. We set our boats up for the best cruise, over top speed. We run long distances at 3500, and get better mileage than CCs, and we are running twice the speed.
The Chiefs make 1000 each, on Tommys Dyno.

Thank you. 5-blades were 32 pitch x 17" dia also?

Yes, 18 rake. I'm sure they will be for sale Friday.

I run 17.75 x 32 x 15 rake, Mercury Racing 5 blade on mine.

OK, I may be interested. Any way to tell if they have "cup" as I've heard from another member, that really helped to get the prop to bite and lift up on plane.