I am looking at a 1998 36 baja with hp500s. I understand there was a hull recall 1997 to 1999. it has under 150 hours on it. I do not know whether the valve springs have been done. it has boxes on it with 26p lab props. do the hp500s really use that much more gas then the efi500? I know gas is over 4.00 a gallon but would like a bigger boat.

its only money you will make more wont you

They both use about the same amount of gas....it takes
a certain amount of fuel to make a certain amount of power.


Fuel is one of the cheaper expenses...break a drive or
an engine, fuel seems cheap compared to those.

What the heck is an extra gallon or two.
I dont think my 500hp uses that much more then
my 496 s.

Wasnt the recall for extra support on the back stringers,
they added two more from side to side rite under the motors.

If the boat is clean low 40 s isnt a bad price.

I remember seeing a friends boat after it was upgraded,
they glassed in a brace in the shape of an "x" underneath
each engine.

If gas is a concern in performance boating your honestly looking at the wrong boat. It's nothing for me to burn through 150 gallons in a good day of running. I think the 496's burned more gas honestly than the 500's do. You'll definately want to upgrade the valve springs if there's question. It takes alot of power to move a 36 along, but you should see lower to mid 70's out of it.

Is it teal???

There are several posts from the early 2000's on here. Search "36 outlaw" and you'll see lots of stuff on speeds, the hull recall, upgrades, etc.
The hull recall started with a guy that dumped big power (750hp/800hp or something along these lines) and then had a stringer problem. so Baja recaled them to upgrade others just in case.
Get a good survey looking for moisture in the stringers, transom, or anywhere else. Generally the 500hp carb heads need to be freshened around 300 hours. And 500 efi or 500 carb, plan on 1.1 mpg anyway. You can't boat in these watching the gas gauge all day.