29 OUTLAW

You should find some really small props (21's maybe) and put them on just to make sure your engines are capable of reving up to the desired level. If they still only go up to 4600-4700 with 21's, then you could surely point to the engines as an issue.

It's a long shot but I sure hope that you really don't have 454's and the previous owner stuck 502 intakes on them (or just stuck 502 decals on the 454 intakes). In the case of the 496HO's that I have, the ECU specifically says "496HO". That's some assurance that I have what I'm supposed to. I don't know if 502's have any indication that they are really 502's other than the tag on the intake. Call Baja with the Hull ID and they would be able to tell you what motors the boat came with.

As far as that other guy with your same setup running 79mph @4800 with 28's - I would like to know his secret. Those numbers indicate less than 7% slip. I've always felt that 29O/L's (and other Outlaws) are at about 10%.

outlaw1971

I deffinitely know my engines are 502's both confirmed at baja and by the serial numbers with the paperwork as well as what's on them, all match. The fact that both engines are running at the same RPM's would highly rule out the ngine issue. What are the odds of both malfunctioning exactly the same? There is deffinitely a drag issue somewhere. The x dimension is exactly the same as what baja set on all of them prior to 2002. The other guy had his hull completely blueprinted and all surface straightened out, taking out the wedge.

H2Xmark

wow, does sound like you have something going on here, my 29 is a 1997 model with twin 454mag mpi's turning 25mirage plus props, it will run 4900 rpm's and gps right around 72-73 depending on temp, load, fresh water are salt, even on a HOT summer Texas day with 100%humidity and a heavy load it will run 70.4 on GPS, if I were you I would check your drives to make sure they are in alignment with each other, they might be toed in are out to much, this will slow you down, also look over the bottom of the boat for anything like busted gelcoat, check your ignition timing, maybe its off a few degrees this will slow you down, I did have a VST screen in the VST tank clog on the port side and that engine would only turn 4400 rpm's , I cleaned the filter screen on the bottom of the elect. pump and my RPM's came back. hope this helps a bit

Need-the-Speed

Just out of curiousity what gear ratio are you running? When comparing boats be sure to compare every aspect. What diameter were the props? What octane? Was your boat loaded with gear. ALSO be sure your comparing saltwater boats to other saltwater boats. I find that running in freshwater I am MUCH slower than othe 29's running in salt with the same exact set-up. Some people have stated that improper storage of your boat could result in a "warped" bottom resulting in lower speeds. I'm not talking about the "hook" you mentioned, rather a much more serious problem. By the way DO NOT REMOVE THE HOOK under the tabs. I called Baja tech on this topic. They explained that they were placed at that location to prevent Porpusing (sp). When they experimented with-out this hook, they experienced Rapid and almost unstopable porpusing at different speeds. Even with extended tabs they were unable to completely stop this effect. What H.p. are your 502's anyway. Have you ever done the speed calculation on your exact set-up? I have a 02' with 496 mags (375) with Mercury labbed 25's and run 73.8 on GPS. Dennis from Mercury told me they cut the diameter to 141/4 and twisted the props to a 27p. Hope any of this info helps.

outlaw1971

1.5, sea level, southern california. A tech at Baja told me that a few people have removed this "wedge" on Outlaw 25's with great success.

29 OUTLAW

I like Mark's idea about checking drive alignment to make sure they are not toed in or toed out with each other.

outlaw1971

The drive allignment is perfect, not toed in at all.

29 OUTLAW

Damn - we're running out of ideas.

I guess you could always run 'em on a dyno but that would be big bucks.

H2Xmark

one other thing you might look at is sometimes water will collect in the front cabin area and if the front bilge pump is dead[under step into cabin] you can get a lot of water up front and it will slow you down a lot, my local dealer has had this happen to several boats, get in a quiet area and shake the boat on the trailer with someone in the cabin to listen for sloshing water[dont confuse this with the gas tank slosh] keep us posted
Mark