I have a 2001 Baja Outlaw 29 in great condition cosmetically. The boat is at 474 hours on 454 mags.

My question is when is it time to rebuild the engines? If it is fairly soon, would it be worth trying to sell the boat before a rebuild is in order?

I have no engine experience and all my friends with rebuilt engines have had nothing but problems.

I had a 2000 29 w 454 Mag MPIs 385 HPs. I put over 800 hours on it my self. Sold to a buddy and now his brother has it. She has close to 1200. Never been opened.

I changed oil every 20-30 hours. Had to do couplers usually around 300 hours or so. Drives have never been opened either.

Probably shouda kept it and invested all the $$$$ from the Cig into real-estate or SOMETHING else lol ---- But what FUN is that

Dont rebuild just to do so at a certain hour number. The time to rebuild varies greatly based upon how the motors have been run and maintained. Simple things like oil changes and basic maintenance will extend their life for a long time without the need to "rebuild" them.

No reason they shouldn't go 800-1000 hrs before they need opened.

I would only be concerned with the manifolds rusting out if they are still stock. My old 25 had # 8 rust out and take out the engine.. fresh water or saltwater.. they are 16 years old....

Compression and leak down tests generally tell you when a rebuild is due. Even if you suspected an issue these tests will tell you exactaly what's going on and where attention is needed. As others said no reason to throw $$$ at a perfectly good engine due to running time.