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Bought my first go fast!
Bought a Baja 29 outlaw as my first boat, and I’ve taken it out today for the first time and man am I excited for summer. It has the 496 Mag, which I have a question about. It has about 145 hours on the motor and while it’s really fast I bought this thing for the long run and instead of buying a whole new boat, id like to buy some giddy-up parts for the existing motor. Is it okay to do that? I’m very familiar with car engines but not marine. |
easiest bump would be cam and whipple tune.
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Will it be an issue with the amount of hours on the motor? |
Just my opinion, but I don’t think 145 hrs is anything to worry about unles it’s been run full stick all the time, which isn’t likely. |
Congrats. Summer can't come soon enough for you I bet!! |
Welcome to the hot boat club. I have been hooked for 41 years.
what I am going to suggest is from experience. Build a 540 or larger cube engine and put that into your boat and sell the stock low hour engine that is in there now. You are going to spend a LOT of money to gain maybe 5 MPH. Whereas IF you build a 540 for about 700 tp 750 HP and install the right lower on your outdrive for proper prop shaft height you could gain upwards of 10 or more MPH. Being a 29 Ft. single engine boat you are underpowered to begin with IF you intend to go fast. I am no expert on the 496 but I don't believe you will be able to create enough HP to make the boat go fast without the potential of bottom end damage. (I never built a 496) |
Drive it and enjoy what you have or ditto what tinkerer said for sure |
Run the boat a few more times and make sure it performs up to spec for the engine thats in it. You can upgrade your 496 Mag to a 496 Mag H.O. pretty easily, this would get you 50hp. If thats not enough then do as Tinkerer said about building a N/A 502 based drop in engine. You will also need high performance exhaust, drive upgrade, new prop and external steering if going for the N/A engine build.
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Congrats! Welcome to “the hole in the water in which we throw money” club! |
Enjoy the reliability of the 496. Go boating for the season. No reason to upgrade, make sure you have enough time to use the boat and to justify the project and $ it will take to upgrade.. Take out is probably your best bet, but it will be a project, it will cost a bunch and it always takes a bit to get things just right.
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Run it and enjoy- like most have said-
A single in a 29 Outlaw will be really hard to do much with besides throwing buckets of Cash away. Then when you are ready- step up to something larger and faster with twins- and you will have the Buckets of Cash waiting to Step Up. Good Luck and Come ON SUmmer! |
I'd keep the motor stock appearing, that will be your best resale value. When you are ready, buy a boat with the power you want or at least set the stock motor to one side for re-installation.
Enjoy |
Originally Posted by cigrocket
(Post 4678743)
Enjoy the reliability of the 496. Go boating for the season. No reason to upgrade, make sure you have enough time to use the boat and to justify the project and $ it will take to upgrade.. Take out is probably your best bet, but it will be a project, it will cost a bunch and it always takes a bit to get things just right.
https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...orm-build.html |
Wow! First boat and it's a go-fast! Nice!
As others have suggested, keep it as is for the first season or two. There's an art to running these boats safely, Being that it's a 29 with the single she's not going to be very fast, and that's a good thing for now. Get some good seat time, then looks at upgrades or perhaps a boat with twins. Getting real speed out of a single 29 Outlaw will require serious bucket loads of cash. |
Since it's a new to you boat, you should resist any upgrades at this time with the anticipation that a repair of some sort will be required in the near future. Spend your time and money going over the boat looking for problems, make sure transom sealed up good, and preparing for summer. After your first season you will get a better idea of whether you like the boat and speed. Maybe you want to go a lot faster and decide to just buy a faster boat. 50% of new boat owners will sell their boat within the first two years.
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I can only repeat what everyone else has said is to leave that engine alone and then you can swap it for a beast later. It’s not unheard of a 496 going a thousand hours with only proper maintenance. What i came here to say is lets see some pics! |
You need to decide if reliability or 10 MPH is more important to you.
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Reliable, Fast, Low Cost..... pick two
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Some solid opinions here I'd seriously consider if I were you. We've all been through it, learn from our pain.
My opinion: 496 is a great motor, starts every time and you actually get to GO BOATING instead of sitting around fixing sh!t. Spend the summer enjoying it, if it's not enough get a new boat with the good stuff already in it. Where do you boat? You'll get tired of the ride in coastal waters or great lakes...forget LOTO totally since it's worse than the Perfect Storm :D. If you're a lake or river boater you'll be fine for a while. |
Summer Heat i will take low cost and FAST ;) |
I was going to 'quote' almost every post on this thread which might force you to read everything again because it's great info from experienced guys. Instead, I'll just add my 2 cents worth.... Congrats on the new ride, great to hear your loving it! :) RR P.S. You'd better get your post count to 10, then you can post some pics! :D . |
A 29 Outlaw single runs in the low 50's mph range. It will take roughly a 20hp increase to gain each 1 mph in top speed. If you add 200hp, you will run low 60's. The cost of adding 200hp the right way to 496 will cost about 10k. Then you will need to upgrade your outdrive to handle the extra hp at a cost of about 3-5k. Then you will need a different prop at a cost of about $700, but you'll want every last mph you can get with your upgrades, so you'll get the custom labbed prop for $1100.
My advice..........Its your first boat. Get used to it and the cost of ownership. Put gas in it and do regular maintenance and enjoy it. |
Originally Posted by griff
(Post 4678913)
a 29 outlaw single runs in the low 50's mph range. It will take roughly a 20hp increase to gain each 1 mph in top speed. If you add 200hp, you will run low 60's. The cost of adding 200hp the right way to 496 will cost about 10k. Then you will need to upgrade your outdrive to handle the extra hp at a cost of about 3-5k. Then you will need a different prop at a cost of about $700, but you'll want every last mph you can get with your upgrades, so you'll get the custom labbed prop for $1100.
My advice..........its your first boat. Get used to it and the cost of ownership. Put gas in it and do regular maintenance and enjoy it. |
Most of the single 29’s we’re sold by big thunder @LOTO, people bought them for the ride for the most part... I had 2 29 o/l’s, what I would suggest is that you leave it as is and if you like it, find one with the other engine, look for something with Mags or better, generally the’ll have k planes and external steering, you’ll then have something that will run in the high 60’s + and still be reliable |
Enjoy your new boat for what it is. You can always upgrade to a larger boat with the power and drives to fit your need for additional speed. The 29 Baja is a nice ride. Have fun and be safe. |
Welcome to the addiction!
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You have gotten some really good advice here from some guys who have been on this site and doing this forever. I agree, run it for a year and then decide what to do. I have had everything from a 14' aluminum to a 36 cat with 1100 blower motors including a 25 Outlaw with a 496 (great boat), enjoy your first summer of boating, hopefully trouble free.
Erik |
I haven't been on this site for quite a while now but just revisited and will share my thoughts that echo most others here.
I had a 29 Outlaw for many years (twin 7.4's) and it was a wonderful boat. Ran about 65, was extremely reliable and fairly economical especially compared to the Cigs, Fountains, Formulas, etc of friends that I used to run with. With a single, it is never going to be a fast boat so just enjoy it for what it is. Save your money for your next boat (believe me, there will be a next one). |
Everyone is giving you good advice. It will take a lot of money to run 70 in that boat. My suggestion is to run your boat and get familiar with rough water, wind ,and the other boaters. A lot of boaters don’t know the “rules of the road”, especially those who only boat on holiday weekends. You will have a lot to learn and you need experience before you start running a fast boat. Enjoy your current boat and if you still want to go faster, then get ready to open your checkbook. Speed costs a lot of money. The faster you go the more it costs. Your maintenance costs will increase greatly. Speed is measured in cubic dollars. I want to warn you that seemingly small modifications usually lead to more modifications and more costs. Have fun and welcome to our crazy addiction. |
Darr?
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While all of this advice is very good and very true, I find that spending money on my boat is better than going to therapy.
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Congrats my friend, 145 hours is nothing.
I second this: easiest bump would be cam and whipple tune. |
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