I love my Baja, but.......
 

Let's just start by saying "I love my Baja", it's a lot of fun and for the money, you can't beat the amount of boat and performance you get along with styling. BUT- after a weekend project on it this past weekend, I have to say, I hope the "new" baja doesn't take as many shortcuts in construction as the old baja did. I had to replace the center floor section of my 272 due to rot, this isn't what discerned me, it was the fact that someone thought it was a good idea to bolt the inside seat brackets onto a thin floor of 2 layers of glass with plywood in between, with 3-1/2" of nothing over the fuel tank. Secondly, almost every screw in that boat is simply run into raw fiberglass. Just about every one strips out after you remove it or the heads have disappeared into the second surface of the glass over time and are worthless to try and hold anything solid. Panhead screws and fiberglass don't mix- PERIOD! This is the equivalent of using duct tape as a hose clamp imo. Maybe more boats are built like this, but even the little 17' Sea Ray I had as my first boat had better construction than my baja.

I know, I know, it's a Baja- not an MTI. But I had to vent a bit. I have a 12 year old boat, and know things will need to be repaired and boats are always ongoing projects, I just have always seemed to live by the old adage of "Do it right the first time" and seeing half assed stuff annoys me.

She'll be better than new once I'm done with her though!

Was your center floor section weak? Mine seems weak just forward of the bulkhead (only in the center) for the rear seat bench, but I figured it's just the design of it.

I figured with a full fiberglass floor, rot would be hard to start anywhere in the floor system? Maybe not....

I'd love to put a fiberglass floor in my boat. Damn thing has too much wood in it.

Im thinking it was more the care your boat had before you got it.

I had a 1997 272 I bought new,,,,ran it on lake michigan,,,,HARD,,,for 7 years and 700 hours, and had no issues with rot or screws pulling out of anywhere.

The guy I sold it to still runs it with no issues

I would tend to agree. I've seen lots of boats just plain neglected. Of course I've also seen a Monday or Friday boat as well. Seems some people just don't take pride in they're work and it's just someone elses problem after warranty is expired which most boats won't show rot for well after the warranty is expired. I know when I pulled my motors I went through and sealed everything back up again inside the bilge area and all the through hull fittings I removed and resealed to avoid any rot issues. Anything infront of the bulkhead though is just what it is. I know I've seen a couple now that there was no reason they should've been rotted except for poor workmanship. Screws are just run into wood without any sealant on them. Boats are in water and they're going to get moisture.

I agree 100%! I had to replace my transom because none of the drilled holes for either drains or drilled holes during the rigging process were not sealed. Same goes for the drains in the stringers, just cut out, not sealed. I can go on and on about the less than acceptable construction I found during my complete overhaul, but it's pointless. Mine is also better than new now that it's done, but what a winter it was. :)
Enjoying the h#ll out of it now on it's 2nd summer since! :evilb:

It's not a full fiberglass floor! I thought it was too but it's not. It's a top skin that is coated and textured over a 3/4" piece of plywood that is then encapsulated by another thin layer of mat and resin.

And yes the floor was weak and spongy feeling. The seats had actually begun to crack through the floor because there was no support under the brackets in the center section.

The boat was well taken care of and is in pretty great shape all around- it's just manufacturer shortcuts that I was complaining about, I TOTALLY agree on the Monday/Friday boats too!! I've had a couple "Friday" vehicles in my time. But all we can do is fix it better and move on to the next issue!

+1 :drink:

intresting about the floor, allways thoguht mine was solif fiberglass. too.

Nope, wood cores. Here's a pic of what the "guts" looked like after I cut it open. :)

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6127/...29ffb23479.jpg