Looking at a Baja
 

Hey all. I am new to site but have been doing alot of reading on here. I am looking at a 90 280ES. Boat seems to be in great condition with all new interior. It has twin 454 mag motors in it but it is kind of up there as far as hours go (678 hrs.) Bravo1 drives with drive showers, K-planes etc. My question is what kind of boat is this overall as far as handling and performance? Are the hours on the boat something I should be worried about? Don't want to make a 6 hr. drive to look at something I should maybe stay away from. Any imput would be great!!!

Well I have an 88 280 Force. I think that 90 will have the newer look to it.

As far as the boat goes it should run in the mid to upper 60's with the 454 mags. Mine have over 830 hours on them now with no problems. Handles water 3 - 4' great as far as I am concerned. The thing we love most about this boat is the room. The cockpit is huge compared to other boats of this size. It makes the new 30Ol look very tight.

I have not had any major issues with my boat. The only things I have had to fix were an Impeller, gimbal bearings, and a seal on the one drive. That ain't bad for a boat from 88.

The nice part is you can get these for pretty good prices. You can afford to put some money into it. A survey is a good idea on a boat of this age, unless you feel confident that you know what to look for as far as rot.

Is the boat listed on the web? Do you have a link to it?

Here is the link to the boat. It will be our first boat in quite awhile..( had a 82 Formula with twin sbc's.) If anybody knows anything about the boat, let me know

http://www.offshoreonlyclassifieds.c...o16699-en.html

Thats the same layout as my boat. Good looking boat with alot of updates in the vinyl. Looks like it has been taken care of real well.

Nice boat. It looks like someone knew how to stich the interior. So many times someone will will start a restoration and everything looks half assed. Great looking boat. Price looks OK too. Good Luck!

You got a good deal. Everything looks tight. The boat will serve you well on lakes and rivers....3-4 foot no problem. But if you take it in the ocean, don't expect the same performance in 3-4 foot. 3-4 foot starts kicking my butt after a while and I have a Force 320. Yeah, you can ride it, but after 15 minutes of throttling, it gets old. So for anything inside and not on the ocean, it will be wonderful. I'm surprised of the effort put into the interior...someone really loved that boat which is your gain at this point. If you have magnums, you should be in the high 60s with proper trimming in about 2 ft tightly packed waves..

Thanks for the help guys. I planning on taking a trip there this weekend if everything pans out at home. I'll let ya know when I get a real look at the boat!

That is a very nice boat. Is the hull painted or gelcoat? I'd hate to keep that bastid buffed out.

nice boat a friend of mine was a dealer for baja in the 80s and 90s they had a white one just like that in stead of black the speedo would hit 74 all day so gps might be 70 to 71. it beat alot of boats in 89 to 90 on the cape.:cool-smiley-011: art

looks like a nice boat

The whole boat is Gelcoat. Now I just need to find a way to get financing on a 1990!!!

National City had no problem with ours. Only bought it 2 summers ago.

Hey Nightlife, What kind of interest/Loan term did they give you if you don't mind me asking?

Thats a nice looking boat. i like to coffee pot too!

I know we went 15 years at around 7%. Don't plan to take that long to pay for it, but if anything happens the payment is low.

I will give them a call tomorrow. What % down did they require, 10%??

great to hear let us now I just went off a little on GD:chill-pill: ABOUT A GUY ASKING ABOUT BOATS and all was good until a guy superboat 502 started bash baja so go look at my responds you will get a kick and its all true:cool-smiley-011: The new bajas are made with cardon fiber or kevlar reinforcment. so those fountian guys can go f themselfs:throw: I can't wait till get out on the water again I'm going huntin for beak, t birds aka formulas, and so on .I may have the heads done to get me at 700hp. if I do move on and get the joker I'LL PUT ON PULL OFF BAJA STICKERS when I see one of them guys haa haah. for a custom boat its very nice. so I plan on racing again in p6 with the reinforced baja, or p5 with a 28joker. I need to find out how to put pics back on here. art so that 280baja my friend had use to kick some magnum 28 azz on the cape the guy had some high power sm blocks but couldn't stay with the 280.

gee theres a different between 3 to 4 s from a lake to the ocean thats new to me I 've only been in mine for 17yrs mostly the ocean that 28 is a real 28 and runs just as good as the 32 but faster my friend owner a dealer ship in the 80s to late 90s and I have been in all the bajas that boat ran great. in rough water and for the 24s I still kick the azz out of my friends 24 superboat in anything, if your not moving the sticks its to flat out or your going to slow:D .oh and in the ocean the saltwater gives more floating to the hull on the lakes it rougher running 3 to 4s or more the hull sinks more when it lands of a wave. if you want rough try to race in a 24 in 8fts plus now thats rough water:boat: cape race 02 finished 3rd place after taking 2nd over without a bolster seat left:D . but to me big lakes have less buoyancy then saltwater so you will get a rougher ride on a lake so don't call it a lake boat we killed a magum28 with twins in rough and smooth water. and to the guy whos looking at the boat its not a sled like the 32 was:D go for it. art

oh I use to run a against a 32 baja my bud sold it had 365hp mags put I ALWAYS PULLED A HEAD OF HIM WITH STOCK 502 in my 24ol:D whether it was flat or 3 footers out on the cape I would just stay ahead of him but the 28 pulled by me:D art