I owned 302 formula LS for 5 years . if the wood is not rotten and the drives check out . you will love the boat , easy to trailer and launch , big cockpit and cabin and handles big water ( 1 to 3 footers ) with relative ease . The TRS behind modest big block power are really quite dependable and there a lot of used drives floating around cheap for repair parts or replacement.
Cheers Rick G. Mine with 420 BB ran an honest 65 to 68m mph.

thanks for the feedback so far guys! appreciated! I'm in no rush to upgrade but if the boats nice then ill be upgrading. My baja now is in great shape so I don't plan on going backward if the 302 is a pile. Worse case scenario I keep the Baja and repower it like I already had planned on doing. But a 30 footer with twins would be a sweet ride if its clean and in good shape. Any ideas on where to look for rot? I know the transom but are there any easy spots to check anywhere else?

make sure to check the engine room bulk head and cabin floor and bulk head. like I said before a survey is a good idea.

It's still too cold up here to unwinterize a boat, and I won't buy a boat without hearing it run so the game plan is to look at it on Saturday to make sure its even worth my time and if I believe it is I will view it again when I can hear it run and I'll have it surveyed at that time also.

where do you boat? and where will the poker runs be?
a 24 single vs a twin 30 are 2 completely different boats...
anywhere other than a small inland lake I would want the twins and extra 6 ft...
TRS's are great drives -- much better than a bravo IMO\
if the 302 is in good shape you could probably sell the Baja for the same as the Formula...

I'm from Buffalo so I'm either on the Niagara river or Lake Erie. I'm running the Erie poker run and the grand island poker run. Then I plan on added a few more next year.

I had a 240 with a blown 540 in it. Add some k-planes and hydraulic steering and you have a fun little rocket ship. I'd take the 240 over the formula any day.

I boat on Lake Erie also just on the west end -- being that you are on the east end you can get some even bigger water

I would want the larger boat unless you only go out when it is relatively calm...

My buddy has a 271 Formula with small blocks and Alphas -- it's very economical, cheap to fix, very well balanced, and handles waves very well for a 27'

I guess it comes down to how fast you want to go also--- the old saying -- Dependable, fast (in how rough of water), cheap, -- pick two...

good luck...

Well due to this wonderful weather we decided to wait till next week to uncover the boat from storage. It dropped back to the 30s today with a chance of snow mix Sunday and Monday. It's suppose to be warm again(50s) this week. Hopefully every thing goes as planned for next weekend.

Me too!! that 24 is a nice heavy boat and likes rough water.
Rich