One more step...

[Scott]

Well H&R Block has filled out the forms, e-file and direct deposit and we're told to expect a check by Feb 7th. YeHa! A motor, some controls and a new Venture galvanized trailer and we'll be Rumble ready! In the meantime the last of the bits and pieces are being bolted on. Ooohhhh I can't wait! Thanks again to all our friends on Scream and Fly who have helped "Project Baja" come to life!

[Scott]

Considering it use to look like this...
Thanks again guys!

[175checkmate]

MAN thats sweet. Outstanding job. What are you looking at for power?

Posted some updated pic's of the checkmate transom. Should be strong enough.

[Scott]

I really like the way you did than transom. I really wish I had done mine the same way. I cut out the back, but didn't sep. the top and bottom so I was left to replace the wood in sections. I've saved your posted pics, if I ever do another, I'll do it your way!

Power for the Baja?....140 / 150 whatever it takes! Looks like 150 though. Will know soon.

[B.Leonard]

Perfect motor since you don't want to mess with it anyway (mods). Plenty of power and light.

-BL

[Looper]

Those seats look great. Did you make them yourself? Nice rigging job so far. Hope the single cable steering is sufficient though.

What kind of power? Merc or OMC/Bomb? A 150 Fastrike/Intruder would be a nice match for it. What do you hope for speed/wise, upper 60s, low 70s? Not sure what those hulls are capable of.

[Looper]

That's weird. You posted Fastrike as I was composing my response suggesting the same. It's a smooth quiet low trouble motor, that's for sure.

[Scott]

The 150 Fastrike was a good choice! It should be on shortly, well, as soon as we can get the ice off the ramp to test. We've got the holes and plans for dual cable, but cash on hand earlier forced us into the single. We'll take it easy until the dual is in.
Seats came straight from BoatUS. We still wish the back bench was wider, there's about 5" either side of the seat so it doesn't go all the way across the back. It's what Boat US called a "Double Helm" This is an ealy picture, dosen't show the seats very well but...

[Reese]

been following your project for a long time...Great job all around.

I like the eddie marine hose kit...you know they also make a very nice billet fuel fill to match...I just bought two of them...yea I know their $50 ea. but they really look nice.

I still can't wait to see the video of the kids on the first day..."hey don't touch that"..."did everyone clean their feet"..."no honey, you can't eat inside the boat"...:D

[LakeTrash]

Looking forward to seeing ya'll as well as the boat at Rumble III.

LT

[bulldogdaddy]

glad to see it has come together so well! got to get over soon .been working alot of weekends but let me know when your ready to rig the motor and i'll help out.

[delawarerick]

Great job that sure is sweet. 150 faststrike is nice or possibally a 140 looper. Dont underestimate the big v-4 loopers. Rick

[Scott]

Reese, I been followin yours! You're doin it right! Yup, Kathy already asks what I'm going to do when the kids get sand in it. NO SAND! I'm bummed about Eddie Marine, I just ordered some bezels to cover the holes for the cables and found out they've dropped the Wineberry color. Maybe if I call and ask real nice they could dig up just a little powder.? I'm worried about my grab handels now, was to be one each side of the splashwell but I had wanted the Wine....now I may have to whine!
Oh RICK RACER Can Ya get my color???

LT, Had a blast meeting you and the Mrs. last year, had a blast in that monster boat of yours! You bringing that one back for R3 or another jaw dropper? In any case it will be good to see you again.

BDD, Hope to have motor in about two weeks, Rig, Rig, Rig! Can't Wait.

D.Rick, It's in Crarlies hands. We started out with a "wish list" and left it to the luck of the draw as to which would show up first.
140 / 150. See you at R3 too, IF NOT BEFORE THEN!

[LakeTrash]

What is all this talk of 150 - 140? I have a complete 260 Merc sitting in the shop that would love to relocate to Maryland.

Gean said the Warlock has to go to Rumble III for the kids. She speaks - it happens. I am sure you know how that is.

The ET boat has to be there to put Mr. Warby in his Aussie place. Rumor has it he is bringing his son (Dave) over to drive as old age is setting in.

The 19 Liberator has to be there to put Gator's Frankenrude back in the shop for serious modifications. I owe him this for the 0.5 mph his Sonic put on the Warlock at Rumble II. One boat length in 5 miles. Close but still embarrasing.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to get them to Kentucky

Tell Kathy hello.

Dennis

[action17]

great job scott that boat is awesome!!!!!!!;)

[Scott]

Will pass along the howdy to Kathy!

Gean's such a sweetheart! You guys got hearts of GOLD! Nicholas still has a big smile when we talk of the Warlock. "It has a downstairs"
Sorry Dennis but I have to say this:

For anyone who has never met Mr. & Mrs. LT You will never forget them! They burned a tanker full of gas last year in their monster twin Warlock for no more reason than to make others smile? They'er great people and I count myself lucky to have made their acquaintence.

Great people at Rumble II, R3's gonna' be a hoot.

Hummm how much duz that 260 weigh? Would I still be able to come off plane w/o having a bilge pump whose displacement is measured in "total dynamic head" ya know the "Goulds bilgeMaster 2000"

[jamoore]

I think that says it all. You should be proud of her:D
Joey

[175checkmate]

scott, your hull and mine are darn near the same. I have a 2.4 200 on mine and it floats real good. Funny thing about a merc. The weight differance between a 200 and 260hp. Should be less than 50lb. A 260 might be a little much, (I can't believe I just said that)

[Scott]

Funny, Checkmate!

Gator says that we have two choices, fast/fun and controllable or just plain scary fast and un-controllable!

"...whats a matter Col. Sanders?... Chicken?"

we went for fun and controllable but have plans for another rig that will make use of the other option!

[B.Leonard]

Originally posted by LakeTrash
... I owe him this for the 0.5 mph his Sonic put on the Warlock at Rumble II. One boat length in 5 miles. Close but still embarrasing.
Dennis

Now that's a grudge match I missed! I never even knew that happened! Just now getting over the shame huh Dennis!?! LOL!! :D

I can see Gary now throwing coolers, cushions, life-vests etc. out of the boat to stay ahead once he realized he had you. LOL!!

Oh man that's funny!

-BL

[Steve Zuckerman]

Scott,
Your Baja looks great. Terrific restoration!
Here's a little boating trivia from my past "stable". My first boat
was a Glen L "Rampage" that my college buddies and I built in a
barn. My 1st "branded/factory built" boat was a (I think 1977)
16' Baja. The most recent boat I bought was a 24' Baja H2X.
Let me tell you about the 16 for your reference.
I originally powered it with a 140 Evinrude that I took off the
Rampage. It was a very nice little boat. Ran about 65, real easy
to drive. I used a 19" SST to ski, and a 21" SST to "run".
Got bitten by the go fast bug after being smoked by some of the
local jet boat rednecks and their buck toothed girlfriends.
Put a 175 Merc on it when the V6s came out. At the time I knew just about enough boats to get myself and friends killed, but we sure didn't have to change props to go skiing! I busted a local jet/hotrodder who claimed he was running 90, the 1st weekend on the water.
I was running an indicated 75. The boat handled terribly with the
crappy setup (single:eek: :confused: rideguide, no jackplate,
stubby gearcase), but I learned a lot about driving:rolleyes: :D ....
Those old 175/122" Mercs were only putting out about 150 HP @
the prop. The rigging with today's technology (jack plate, dual ride
guide or hydraulic system, solid mounts, LWP nose cone, better
propellers) could be corrected easily, and would help the performance tremendously.
I recommend you buy the HP you need, and that way you won't
have to do a lot of mods. A 2.5 200 Merc should work well. You'll have all the HP you'll need, and they are readily available at reasonable prices. Another idea would be a 200 or 225 Pro Max. They are sweet turn key, fast motors.
You might want to give Steve or Chad a call @ Lawrenceburg Marine (888-649-0996) to see what they have in stock. They usually have some clean, late model trades in stock @ very
reasonable prices.
Best Regards,
Steve;)

[Scott]

Thanks Steve, your input is greatly appreciated! We'll have to look in what you've suggested. We just love that stupid little Baja. It sure has become part of the family. You've supplied the numbers, we'll make some calls!

You still have the H2X? We fell in love with the new Outlaw and just read and article on a new Baja under 20K.

BTW no reply to S.Z. would be complete w/o sending along a "Hi Steve" from Kathy

[Reese]

give these guys a call...they still list Wineberry in their catalog for most of the billet stuff.

They told me that most popular finishes are powder coated instead of anodized...I ordered the billet fuel fills and gauge bezels from them...powder coated red...came out pretty nice.

Dana Marine Products (http://www.danamarineproducts.com/index.cfm?CFID=688853&CFTOKEN=84551246)

[Steve Zuckerman]

tell here I'll have the Qmaster at the Rumble this year. I hope we
get to go for a ride on that Baja!.
Yes, I still have the H2X. It's my 1st "offshore style" hotrod, and I
love it. Even the wife will go back to the lake with me again!
We spent the entire weekend onboard (4 people) over the 4th of
July last year, and do some Poker Runs in it too. I have a good
friend here who has the same boat, and we are always trying new stuff out on them to go faster and handle better. I yanked
the 454EFI/Procharger last winter and installed a blown 468 Chev
rolet, hydraulic steering and nosecone on it. I just
had my Bravos worked by the guys that do my race props and the
H2X is now showing 80 MPH on my Gaffrig GPS recall speedo.
When I 1st bought the boat, it ran 65, with the Procharger 72,
and now 80MPH. It's like riding in a Cadillac convertible!
We're putting a Stellings setback box on my buddies H2X and raising the X dimension 2"s. Trying to see if some of the HP outboard technology works on the I/Os. So far it has.
I've seen the 20' Outlaw, and it is a very sharp boat. Lotta bang
for the buck, but big blocks aren't available
:rolleyes: :confused: ..........don't like that. A Procharger would
wake that boat up, but I'm not too sure how an Alpha drive would
take the HP and torque. It might be ok.
The I/Os are relatively heavy, and torque/cubes is what it takes to
make them run. I would recommend a Hammer (21'), which unfortunately is no longer being made, for your 1st inboard Baja.
They were available with big blocks and Bravo drives.
Several of my friends do or have owned them, and with a big block, they will fly. A racer friend/dealer of mine Lloyd Burns, has
a tall deck Chevrolet in his and it runs 96MPH:eek: !
Best Regards,
Steve
PS Supposed to be in the 60s this weekend, the H2X is gonna get wet!

[Barefoot Bob]

I really like how your boat turned out. Thats the first time I saw that before picture. WOW, what a change. It was accually the same color as mine to start with. I am really glad I purchased mine new in 1983 and had it in a garage all its life. Some people really let them go dont they.

I agree with Steve on the HP issue. I started with a 140 rude that I had on an earlier boat. Then put it right on rating with a new 175. After it got old running close to 65MPH I purchased the 225 Rude and got my heart pumping again. Still waiting for Bulldogdaddy to come pic the Rude up. He told me you were going to run over here and steel it from him:D

[Scott]

Got it!! Thanks Reese! I was a bit suprised at Eddie, don't get me wrong I've ordered a truckload of powdercoated hardware from Eddie but their color consistancy was a bit off. I guess billet takes the powder differently than the stamped louvers. They were not all ordered at the same time which probably would have helped the color consistancey. Thanks for the lead on Dana.

Steve, Glad ya still have the H2X, 454 to 468 Bowtie! Nice!!
Couple Hammers for sale at http://www.teambajamarine.com Nice website for you guys with the big Baja's. I stumbled in there early on, started ratteling on about my Baja then realized I had wandered in the yard of the BIG Dogs, they were still very polite and a great bunch of people! A little rivalry with Offshore.com makes for some colorful reading at times! The Quartermaster at the Rumble! Kath is gonna be geeked! Took a while to get her out of the funk after missing you at Jasper! Hope ya got the back seat w/ ya! (or a milk crate, I don't think it would matter to her)

Bob, Thanks! we really tried, made some mistakes but there was this learning curve thing! If BDD dosent have that Rude by Feb 14th the next time he see's it will be as I zip past him on the watter!:eek:

[bulldogdaddy]

as i'm sitting here on a fri night i keep thinking about a little deal that you had with someone else on a motor! i'm sending a deposit tomorrow to bob for the motor!even though i have to cancell out the rumble to take michelle to see celine,it will be well worth it. she has been pretty damn good to me! and she deserves to see something for herself!and like i said if something does'nt work out you'd be the first to know.

[Raceman]

Scott, the boat just looks better and better every time you post another picture. Gettin' the right trailer and motor's really gonna top it off. Don't let these guys talk you into that OMC though. You've heard the old sayin' "misery loves company"????

[Steve Zuckerman]

Scott,
Unless Kathy wants to sit on 2 carbon fiber N20 tanks, and we take the rear deck off, I'm afraid it's a 1 man ride. But she is welcome to sit in it and see if she likes it ;) ...............
She will:D .
Best Regards,
Steve

[Barefoot Bob]

I hope you not mad at me for giving you a hard time about my motor:( I didnt mean to upset you in any way. Im sorry to hear you wont be able to make the rumble. But I am sure you will have a great time at the concert with Michelle. Heck, you will probably even be able to meet up with Bambi:)

[Boz]

Very nice work there! Quick question.
Where do you find those bezels and hoses to cover your lines that run to the motor?:confused:

[Scott]

http://www.eddiemarine.com or check with Rick Racer, he can get them at a savings to you.