One of the five becomes a Six
 

I consider it an honor to own Lock & Load, one of the five 90 MPH Top Guns. Over the past two years, with the supervision expertise of Zero Patience, the boat has had many upgrades and updates. I'm equally proud of the boat and to be a part of the ZP pack of Cigarettes. Here's a shot arriving at the Galleon from Key West 2014.

I have to confess that I have had a bad case of drive envy since last year when Zero Patience upgraded to Dry Sump SSM Six drives.

Lock & Load was built with SSM V drives. While perfectly functional, the 5's ate lots of HP on its way to the props and looked like a young Forrest Gump (with all that hardware) compared to the sleek appearance of the Six drives on Zero Patience.

Sooooo....while visiting friends on the docks at the Galleon, a trade was negotiated and "one of the five" started on its way to "becoming a Six". As always is the case, it was Zero Patience's confidence that "we can do that" combined with his "if you can afford it" challenge that inspired me. So it was get home, clean it all up and get started.

In almost every transaction, a trusted broker makes all the difference. I was fortunate to have Craig Colabella, THE MAN, when it comes to Mercury SSM out drives agree to broker our transaction. Specifically, Craig inspected and assured me that the drives I was buying were "all there". The removal of the 5's got started right away. Having ZP's Six drives parked next to me was a constant inspiration.

Drives came off easily with the overhead crane. Extension boxes were quite a bit tougher and knuckles were sacrificed, but they were soon ready to go.

I was so confused till I realized this should have been one single post lol.

I`d be really interested in the results, we all know them SSM drives eat up some HP
Congrats

In a Five to Six transformation, we wanted to keep the engine in its original location. This was opposite the usual method of new mounts, rebuilt tail pipes and hatch modifications that are generally required. With input and advice from Tommy Hofstetter at Chief Performance and John Pompei at Marine Performance, it was determined that Sixes on 12" extension boxes would give us the necessary X dimension and stay within required driveshaft angle limits. After all the geometry homework and with the help of Cigarette brother First Gun, the transom modification began. He filled all the holes for the external steering that wouldn't be needed as well as the mounting holes for the 5's.

Next it was off to paint to get the "blank canvas" ready to redrill the mounting holes.

The next step in the transformation was to mount the template for the six drives, drill new mounting holes and enlarge the drive cut out. Mods completed, First Gun glassed everything up and renovated the inner transom by filling holes and reapplying white Awl-Grip.

One of the coolest Cigs ever made. Congrads on the upgrade.

It seems like it's been a long time since "the deal on the dock" in Key West. But really only a few months. The boat deserves the 6As as every thing else has been rebuilt, repainted, or replaced. The project is moving along nicely now, and we enjoy the studying, speculation, frustration, bleeding, and satisfaction that a big project provides to a group of friends that share an interest (love) in Cigarettes. I know there are other friends out there doing their own work, and enjoying the same results that we do. Carry on...

Cool conversion - love the step by step pics..

TYFS!

Very nice, keep the pics coming....

Great thread. Thank you

Nice!

Nice conversion, so are the #5's for sale, lol, looking to update mine, very cool project with Bud's that luv Cig's

Nice job thanks for posting the re-do. The love for Cigs is incredible, but once you have one your in trouble,LOL

Very nice and even more special now.

The dog I the pictures name is "Cig"

Very nice work and project, thanks for sharing

Jon

It's a great boat, always loved that boat. Got to she her when she was brand new in 93 up at the Pier 33 poker run in St Joe Michigan . Nice work guys.

...meanwhile, back to our story. The decision to go with extension boxes for the Six drives meant néw driveshafts. Our man Colabella recommended a driveshaft builder in Orlando, so we measured everything and placed our order. ZP made sure the drive angles were within specs and all the bolt patterns were correct.

At this point in our story, I took a hard left turn. While waiting on parts to be built, I decided to fix a paint issue that had been bugging me for quite a while. Lock & Load's paint renovation was the result of the considerable talents of Chris Cruz Artistry. Chris did all the art and I had the clear coat applied "back at home". BIG mistake! We were constantly experiencing de-lamination issues with our clear. So, while we had the chance, the boat went back to Chris' shop for a proper clear coat job. Thank you Chris for not saying " I told you so!"

To take full advantage of Chris' talents, I had him "amp up" the foredeck logo. This guy is GOOD!

While the boat was "in paint" we worked on the Six hardware. Lots of refinishing.

The Sixes we traded for came with MASSIVE tie bar set up. As Lock & Load is a stagger set up, the bar was way too long. ZP arranged to have it cut down and machined to our specs.

Sixes on boxes are LONG. I decided to modify the swim platform while we were updating everything else at the stern. Our local aluminum builder fabricated a platform frame mod with a new top plate and our artist Chris designed art to tie in with his overall paint design.

With beautiful new clear coat and foredeck logo, the boat came back to the ZP boat house, ready for some new drives!!

The inner transom brackets on the Sixes are much beefier (thicker) than the number Five hardware we removed. That required modification of the driveshaft covers. Old ends were removed, new pieces fabricated in cardboard and test fitted. Once ZP was happy with "the fit", aluminum was cut, fitted and welded.

The extension boxes went on with no drama, thanks to all the careful measuring and fitting we did beforehand.

Like "drying in a house" marks a huge milestone in construction, hanging the drives was our milestone, but there's still lots to do. Still, seeing those bad boys on Lock & Load was an "I'VE GOT WOOD!" moment.

It was only fitting, to commemorate such an event, that a proper celebration be held. Did I mention that ZP has a beverage station in his Boat House?!

Nice work and lots of Patience LOL !!!!

Florida: where you can do projects outside thruout the entire winter without getting frostbite!
Meanwhile I`m over here just trying to get in my garage :D

http://33outlaw.zenfolio.com/img/s9/...40637458-3.jpg

Damn. That is bad ass

Sorry guys, I feel for you. It's has been a bad winter up there. You are almost through it.

...today we addressed the trailer. Lock & Load, like its evil twin Zero Patience sits on a trailer with drive guards designed and built by ZP. To say the least, these things are STURDY. L & L was actually involved in a minor accident last year with a garbage truck piloted by a Hatian of questionable immigration status. The garbage truck's bumper was crushed all the way into its front tire, while the drive guard was unfazed. BUT, Sixes on boxes are a foot longer than SSM V's (also on boxes), so the drive guards needed to be "let out a bit".

The plan was to splice in a section of frame rail to give us the additional 12 inches the extension boxes added to the package. So, with ZP "on the trigger" of the Miller welder, me as "hand me a wrench, b|#<h" and Cig the dog as Project Superintendent, we started by removing the original frame extension pieces.

Looking Great guys. Keep up the good work

Mark