Project Baja Gets Wet!

[Scott]

First, Thank you to everyone on Scream and Fly who answered endless stupid questions and offered words of encouragement!
a special "Thank You" to our friend Sleekster, Thanks Greg for everything you've done and for being there today, couldn't have done it with out ya!

What a day! The Baja aint gonna scare any of the true hot rodders here on the board, but what a sweet family toy.

[Scott]

:)

[Scott]

:)

[Scott]

There was some chop, she is absolutely fearless, Ronnie with better lookin leggs!!

[Scott]

We found Scream and Fly the same day we picked our Baja up at the Junk yard. I'm not sure what has been more fun, being on the board and the friends we've made or the project itself.
Thanks Greg for the site. On to the Rumble!!

[Tom D.]

Congrats Scott!!!! Getting it wet for the first time is what makes it all worth while. Nice Job!!!:cool:

Tom

[Forkin' Crazy]

I have watched this project from its early stages. I saw several pics of early construction. All I can say is......WOW!:D

You have a treasure for sure!

How did it run?

[Raceman]

Man it must feel great to finally get to the end of that project, but I'm sure it's kind of a letdown too, to know that it's finished. All those hours and the effort sure show. You can really be proud knowing you did it all yourself. I'm really jealous of somebody that can take on a project of that magnitude and actually finish it. Great job.

[Scott]

It ran great! Idle's a bit low, the motor itself's a bit to high. The 23 seems like a good prop. We're going to drop it an inch and a half and see if that helps. If ya come off plane and stab it again it won't grab at all, rev's to the sky! It's slow to plane especially with a full load. Sleek thinks we can fly the nose a bit more with some fine tuning of motor height. We wanted a "family boat" and it seems thats what we got. The next one however......:cool:

[lqdegl1]

i could not be happyer for someone. it is a work of art.if it does not show on the first page i will be pissed. from what i've seen it should be:D one hell of a job


sean

[Doubledog]

If I had a vote for the ByouBoy'z award, thats it.

How about S&F Machine of the year? (still got a few months)

[Talon2.5]

congratulations on a job well done, i remember a pic of an old blue boat on the side of the road sitting on a trailer with no tires i believe, and here i am with a big smile looking at the family riding in a fabulous restored baha

man what a great job!! congrats folks!! :D :D

[B.Mac]

I remember when you bought that thing sitting with vegetation growing out of it......Wow what a job!!!! The paint/ gell is gorgeous.....nice job!!! You sure got some staying power Scott!!!!
You should be very proud of that work!!! You too Kathy!!!!
B.MAC:D

[H2Onut]

It just don't get any better than that...

What a fairy tale.

TOO FLIPPIN KEWL

UN DIRTY WORD KEWL

AWESOME

Two THumbs UP

WOW

What a great Job scott,, Did Kath get a chance at the helm ????

:D :D :D :D :cool:

[Rickracer]

I know you both gotta be smilin from ear to ear, and the kids too. :D It's a great feeling isn't it? Congratulations on a fantastic job. You guys get my vote for boat the month for sure. :cool:

[Instigator]

Bet you aint slep or had your feet touch the ground since it hit water for the first time!!
Can't wait to see it in person for the first time in two weeks. You pixs (unfortunately don't do it justice).
What kind of wheel??
Find a 22" Raker and be done!
It should not spin at all coming on plane with a good wheel and with your motor at the right height for what you want to do.
If it's too high now, it won't fly the bow cause the wheel can't get a good enough "grip" on the water.
My old one did'nt slip at all and would scare you with it's hole shot!!!
And I agree with the others, I know of two awards that your boat should get the vote for.
Congrats to you and Kath, you should be proud!!

[Scream And Fly]

Scott and Kathy,

Congratulations, and the wait was well worth it too. It looks incredible. Most of us here have followed your project from the day it was a faded blue, abandoned Baja you decided to rescue. If the original owner could only see it now...

A fantastic project with fantastic results - looking forward to seeing it at the Rumble!

Greg

[LakeTrash]

I know you and Kathy are very pumped.

Just hope mine looks as good. I still have a week to go. We should take a group pic of all the "projects" that will have thier first "outing" at the Rumble.

See ya'll shortly.

Dennis & Gean

[Sleekster]

We launched and Scott was gone. I put mine in the water and Scott was gone. Kathy said, Oh my God, he's not coming back!

It was a blast and a rare opportunity, truly an honor. It was such fun. Tweeking the idle didn't quite get it, so the Rumble will sure help with the dial-in. Kathy took the wheel and the chop and was itching to put the hammer down! That picture of me with my hair straight out... it wasn't from the wind!

Now, Scott, Kathy, Brianna, Nickster, and Squeezie, it is time to play as hard as you worked.

On the water I'll

[Instigator]

LT, awesome idea!!

Scott, after more thinking about m,otor heigth jogging my memory from my similar rig, I'd say you want your cavataion plate between even with bottom and no higher than 1 or 2" above.
Any higher and mine would caviate in turns especially while the motor is loaded down pulling skiers.
Keep the height down with what you're doing, the extra 1 or 2 MPH's will not be worth the pain in the ass of haviong a boat you have to drive like a race boat.
Gary

[Scott]

The props a 21 not a 23 as I said earlier. Headed out now to lower the motor per Gators specs.

I thought the same thing about a "project pic" I can't wait to see all the boats in person We've watched on the board all "winter".

Thanks again to all. We truly feel blessed with all our friends on the board. Maybe the first boat built by people from all over the world!

Two weeks to the Rumble and We're so excited:cool:

[delawarerick]

Scott I have a 22 raker I can and will bring to the rumble. This is a good prop for lift and you surely are welcome to try it. Last year before I left for the rumble a member on the board advertised it and I said I was interested and when I told him it was for the rumble he sent it priority without payment. Hell felt so damm guilty I expressed mailed the money. The prop looks new. Kewl boat Kewl family you are the man. Scott looks absolutely great. The sidewinder will be there power is the question! See you there if by chance you need to get a hold of me for any last minute parts etc. call or email me. Rick

[Gerben]

Hey Scott,

Congratulations on a job very well done !!

Just for the contrast, post of "before" pic.

Happy boating,
Gerben

[Scott]

Here's 3 before. I remember the kids being excited when I told them we were getting a boat, and the look on their faces when I brought it home. 2 Funny!:D

[Scott]

:D

[Scott]

:D

[Saltwater-Houston]

The Sleekcraft I'm trying to find a good home for LOOKS like a better starting point than that Baha was!!!

CONGRADULATIONS!!!!

[175checkmate]

Scott, congrats on getting the boat wet. Now comes the fun part of tuning the boat.
Sorry to see it completed. Now where am I going to learn the neet tricks. Oh yea this is scream and fly.com home to the best bunch of people with DAM fast boats.

Congrats again. Now post some numbers.

[Scott]

The Baja's a dog! We didn't expect it to be fast and we werent dissapointed! I saw 55 on the Teleflex Sportsman "lie-o-meter" but I think even that was on the high side.
We're going to try some other props and play with motor height and trim but we don't expect much. Although we've not discussed this with BL, Gator and some of the other CrossFlow gurus we thought maybe they could help us work some magic on the powerhead over the winter and who knows? For now it will just be fun to be on the water, even if we're the last ones to get to the beach!:rolleyes:

[B.Leonard]

Those before shots really bring to light the amount of work that went into it, good job!

Time to have fun now :)

-BL

PS...

Was that you comin up for the pass on Sleek's starbrd side? At 55mph you were probably giving Sleek a run for the money! ;) ;) ;)

See you guys at the Rumble :)

[ShorePounder]

WOW!!

Congratulations Scott! Freakin incredible job.

[at100plus]

Applause!

Enjoy it now.

[Baja18]

Hey Scott, that ol' Baja looks even better on the water:) Isnt it a great feeling when you realize all of your hard work paid off!! Just wait, everytime you take it out someone will be checking it out and complimenting you on it. I get it all the time with my old '75 and yours is restored 100 times better than mine. I cant wait to see it at the rumble, Brad :cool:

[Steve Zuckerman]

Scott,
Now the fun part begins. At least from here on out you'll be on the water testing. Can't wait to see your Baja:) at the Rumble!
It's looking AWESOME BABY:D !
Regards,
Steve;)

[Charlie M]

I see the grin's ya'll must have had a great time. Much more fun to come. Where did you take those pictures?

[bulldogdaddy]

hard to believe it's finnally finished. like they say good things come to those who wait. so whats the next project?btw where did you launch at? sure looks like a long way to back up and loved the boat bumpers in the pic:D

[thaw ripper]

You can't believe what you can do with a boat until you put your mind~body~and soul into it . Rags to Riches. Super Man! Great Job!:cool:

[sho305]

Way cool!!!

I never saw the before pics, my Checkmate looks easy compared to that! Holy ----! Outstanding job, only hope I can do close to that.

My 17' Checkmate is close to the Bajas in design, and does 50 maybe a hair over with the inline. I think inlines are close to V4s? I can get 55 on the new teleflex speedo on a cool day with the right chop to get it up more; and the prop calc says 52@10%. Getting the bow up will likely help you out some for sure, just be careful of the wakes then.

[Scott]

Thanks Again Guys!

The check-out ride was on the upper Bush River. Nice launch area, was free too! I put it in and Kathy took it out. Good to know either of us can back it down. We headed out toward the bay area but it was really rough. Need a calm day for that area (or a BIGGER boat!)

We've got some wiring details to finalize. The water pressure gauge is on order, doubtful it will be in before the Rumble. we've got an "oil pressure" gauge filling the empty hole. The T&T sw is only partially connected, have to play with the wires to use it, not something I can do while driving, we need the CMC 2 wire harness w/ relays. A swim step is a must. Everyone got a chuckle at me trying to haul my fat a$$ back into the thing. After I jumped in Sleekster said " have you given any thought as to how your going to get back in"....smart a$$. They took pics, and video, no need to post any of that here, this being a family site and all. All in all it's useable as is for now. We'll clean up the details after the Rumble.

Sea ya'll soon!
:D :cool: :)

[Bajaha]

Scott , I have followed your rebuild with interest , you have done a really top notch job on it.

A few suggestions to help with your set up. I have a 1984 16' Baja with a lightly modified 140 crossflow , different heads , dual glass reeds and minor clean up port work. I have a manual 5'' set back jack plate and am running the prop shaft 2.5'' below the pad(looks like in your before photo that your boat has a pad)
with a 22'' raker prop. I have filled in the top water intake holes with epoxy on both sides of the gear case as well.

With this set up i am running 61 (GPS) MPH at 6000 rpm with two people and have an excellent hole shot , good cornering and can tow two teenagers on a tube , if i dont feel like switching to my 18'' "tubing prop".

I can also tell you that i built up a lot of upper body strength hauling myself up and over the side( many people said it looked like someone landing a giant tuna as i mooned half the lake).
And have now built a single rubber covered metal step that hangs from the side on ropes , i just put my foot into it grab he side and stand straight up. much more dignified than before....

Have fun setting up your boat , sounds like you have a lot more speed in it yet...
Regards,
Glen

[Scott]

We lowered the motor and may be right at where you said! Going to get to try a raker at the Rumble and will probably end up shopping for one when we get back.

I haven't liked any of the swim ladders I've seen at the local boat shops. I like the billet step from Eddie Marine but they aint cheep. We'll keep looking, or saving our pennies. I like the step Idea you use!

I'm not sure if my face is red in this pic due to embarrasment, or the struggle! My boy sure got a laugh out of it. Little turkey!

[Scott]

:(

[DEATH WISH]

HEY SCOTT THAT'S A PRETTY SWEET BAJA BUT I THINK I GOT YOU BEAT WITH A 1977 16 FT. BAJA JUST LIKE YOUR'S COMPLETLY RESTORED WITH A V-6 MERC ON THE BACK. IF YOU THINK THAT A V-4 IS HARD TO DRIVE TRY OUT THE V-6. CAN YOU SAY BENGAY FOR YOUR ARMS TONIGHT ANYWAY I JUST THOUGHT I WOULD SAY HELLO AS A FELLOW BAJA LOVER PEACE

Moderator Edit: Content removed.

[Sleekster]

Do you realize you are digging up a thread a year and 1/2 old?

I think Greg has removed Scott from the ranks. He sold the Baja, with parts he never paid me for, moved to Tenn and has not had the courage to post, email or face me or others.

You are posting to a ghost, dude.

BTW, I'm curious about your red signature at the bottom of your post.... want to explain that?

Thanks, Gregg

[Forkin' Crazy]

Do you realize you are digging up a thread a year and 1/2 old?

I think Greg has removed Scott from the ranks. He sold the Baja, with parts he never paid me for, moved to Tenn and has not had the courage to post, email or face me or others.

You are posting to a ghost, dude.

BTW, I'm curious about your red signature at the bottom of your post.... want to explain that?

Thanks, Gregg

Damn.... no sh!t? WTF is wrong with people???

What red sig? :confused:

[Scream And Fly]

The signature that I removed.

- Greg

[Sleekster]

Greg removed the offensive slur.

I'll pull myself from this thread. No need to relive history with irresponsible people.