272bajadriver

iTrader: (1)

Well guys I was forced by some issues to sell the baja 272 I used to have so I had to get out of boating for a while. Missed being out in the water so much that I just could not take it anymore! I sold one of my cars and had a little bit of money and was fortunate enough to find this 1998 avanti with twin mercury 250efi motors that had been sitting for about 8 months.(got a good deal on it) Motors had good even compression all across the board. I bought it out of St. petersburg,Florida which is about 45 minutes from where I live. As soon as I got home and took it to the hillsborough river backed it in and started the outboards jus to see if they would start right up and yep they did. I was VERY surprised they started right up. Did not take the boat because it needed some work before it was sea worthy but I just wanted to see what kind of condition the engines were in, they only have 106 hours! Anyways my fiberglass guy just got done with the boat and I am VERY excited to get it back together and hopefully go boating this summer. I was able to put the 250's back on there and trim tabs, just have the other rigging to do so hopefully will be done soon. I had a new transom put in as well as new stringers. Probably throughout this winter I will redo the interior. I'm new to outboards so hopefully it will work out. The boat came out fantastic. Here are some before and after pictures enjoy!!!

This is the boat

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Here's what it looked like when I was derigging it (needed a new makeover)
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Here's what it looks like now, new beefy transom along with nice new strong stringers as well as a bulkhead for more reinforcement, the fiberglass guy's name is Tim and he used to work for Spectre, he did a hell of a job!
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I'll continue to add more pictures as I go along. before he put the bracket back on he added some aluminum plates to where the bracket bolts on to the transom which it should have came with from the factory. It took him some time to do it but it was worth it, he went through the defects it had and corrected it the right way. He took his time and made sure there were no corners cu, I'm really excited at how it came out and can't wait to get done putting it back together.

modvp

Thanks for sharing, the quality of the fiberglass work looks top notch. Did you have to change the full length of the stringers?

Twin O/B Sonic

Wow, very, very nice. I didn't even know Avanti built O/B sport boats that late. Boat looks fantastic.
If you are new to O/B's and especially just coming from a 272 Baja,..............get ready The difference in driving, thrill factor etc, is night and day. Going from a Cadillac to a Porsche.
They say those 3.0 Mercs are great motors too. My current Sonic had 225's (basically same as your 250's) when I bought it but I ended up repowering with JohnRudes.
I'm on my 2nd twin O/B 24' Sonic which I just finished a 2yr restoration on and absolutely love what that boat will do.
Once we get back on our feet financially we will be traveling the state w/the boat so we'll have to hook up.
Taking ours out over here in a couple hrs.
Keep us posted on progress and let me know if I can help.

272bajadriver

iTrader: (1)

twin o/b sonic I can't tell you how many times I have looked at your restoration thread for inspiration! lol you did a hell of a job on yours. The guy I bought it from said the boat will accelerate like a raped ape! My fiberglass guy looked at it completely over and said it was well built just needed to get a few things fixed which he did structurally such as the new stringers and transom. All I really have left is just hook up the steering lines and things like that. Just an issue of making time with everything going on lol. I want to put some new impellors on both motors and send the injectors out to get cleaned. Twin o/b sonic how far are you located from tampa? We definitely have to take them out as soon as I get done!

rchevelle71

iTrader: (1)

You will love the 250's, they are reliable as can be, BUT they are thirsty, get ready for your fuel bill. If ya ever want to modify them Shaun Torrente in Miami is the guy. If ya ever get over to the east coast, we need to run. Also I may get over your way(but a little further south, like fort myers) this summer.

Twin O/B Sonic

272, Thanks for the compliments.

Playing with trim buttons will bring on a whole new meaning in that boat
I am east coast, 1/2 hr south of Melbourne.
On the acceleration, the seller is correct. When I had the old Sonic I had a buddy w/a great running 25' Outlaw w/a 500 HP. Loved his boat. My Sonic though was 4 or 5 mph's faster and if we went from a 30 - 50 roll I'd destroy him. If he saw me reach for the sticks at a roll he'd look the other way

Our 1st real trip will probably be the Keys and next will be Ft.Myers Beach and the neighboring islands.

northernoffshore

raise those outboards.

modvp

Yeah, the mecr 250's are very reliable. I can also attest to Shaun Torrente's professionalism...I have two merc 250 outboards (one as spare) that were rebuilt by him. He is great to deal with.

PARADOX

Looks good.
When you get her all done we got to do some runing around in the bay with both of our Avantis. I'll try to keep up.

272bajadriver

iTrader: (1)

hahahahah yeah right paradox more like I'll try to keep up with you! Your 33 avanti is unbelivable, boy can that 33 move, I'll be lucky if I can even see the back of your boat especially the way your 33 was handling a little bit of the hard stuff in the Jacksonville poker run, we were going 80 plus through anything that day, I looked at your rpms after you passed the 80gps mark and you still had quite a bit left to go so I know for a fact your boat moves! There was a point when you got on it really good and that gps mark was playing with the 90mph mark, I think it was saying 89.999999999. lol The only way we'll be side by side is if you take it easy and go half throttle and I go full throttle! **** even then you'll probably still be ahead of me lmao. Hopefully one day I'll be able to have a nice 33 like yourself paradox or something similar. But for the moment I'll be happy with my 27 footer.