Hi Trent,The log file was the key…Thanks 
SqlException
CREATE DATABASE failed. Some file names listed could not be created. Check related errors.
Cannot create file 'c:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\DATA\StrataFrame.mdf' because it already exists. Change the file path or the file name, and retry the operation.
I knew that connecting to the SQL server was not the issue since I covered all my bases including protocol issues and connecting using SSMS, VS, and SSCM.
Unfortunately the install just hangs in that step with that ambiguous error message that does little to help resolve the issue and kills when you click on “Cancel Update..” since it’s the only way to exit from the hang-up so you might want to look into that.
I’m not sure how the MDF was not deleted during the uninstall and it was also not attached to the server and I did not think of looking in the directory for it. Maybe it was part of the other hang-up during the uninstall as mentioned before during phase 2 of 2 “Un-register strataframe assemblies”.
In any case I’m now on 1.6.6…
Thanks everyone for the help…