some more info here. https://www.donzi.net/forums/showthr...ighlight=Baron

https://www.donzi.net/forums/showthr...ht=#post341521

which conducted one?mine or the one with the bad gelcoat that was red before the show?

. I know of a red one by me in akgonac that been owned for a long time. There are two others I'll find out what colors they are and if they still have them.

That would be a plus. One thing I don’t understand is according to the hull identification number mine was built in September of 78 and your was built January of 78 .

Mine was definitely built before yours and had the defective gel coat so it was set aside. My boat actually sat in our garage unfinished until about 1980 when a buddy of mines neighbor became interested in it and it was sanded down and painted orange and rigged.

But the production numbers dont don’t make any sense either.


I asked Todd for his and if you could gather a few hins from these people you know I might be able to figure out the production. .


ill try to list the boats I know of

1 . White. The candy red one that was all white I believe

2. White. The all white one in Holland

3 . Red .my boat the alligator. Was red gel coat than painted orange than painted burgundy

4. Red. Your boat the TRS

5. Blue. The boat of Todd’s friend that went to California and she lost ownership.

6. Blue. Guy in your area goes by Badass Baron

7. Red. The other red one you know of

8. Mustard yellow . Another boat in your area.

9. Mustard yellow. . The Beat boat out in Washington or Oregon

10. Blue . Todd's boat -Baronmarine

11. Blue Supposedly another blue boat in Detroit. Area

That’s about it.

Yeah,that is odd. January 78. That mustard boat in my area might be one of the other 2 my buddy knows of. I'll have to ask him. The guy I bought the boat from said he bought it off a guy named Joel. Not sure if that helps. I'll get back with ya when I know.

Do you have a picture of your engine compartment?

Does the motor have aluminum finned valve covers ?

is the flotation under the bilge floor or is their boxes built into the side ?

My opinion
 

Here's some stuff about the boat from having it a couple weeks. First look....wow. cool ass boat .lol...

After the bp goes down, tires in good shape, trailer overall good but needs paint. It's dull. 3- middle light is hanging. Junk. No bow hook chain. Not big deal. Just saying...this is how I found it.

Large cushion had a small rear along the edge. Overall,good shape. Engine compartment is wood with glass. It's heavy as ****. A giant guillotine. It will break your arm. Needs struts. Old owner bought some.

Batteries are good but not big as I like. I like the 1000 these are like 650.

Floor carpet is dirty. Probably replace it. Passengers seat is loose. Pulling screws means replacing some wood. Or adding reinforcement. Well see.. it's nit major . Just from bouncing. Lol

Teak was filthy. Cleaned up perfect along with side step teak plates.

Found only a couple cracks in the topside. I'm not surprised. This boat is built tough. I wouldn't expect a lot.

Glass is microshattered inside but intake. You can see the reflection in the light.

Trim works good. Drive tilt takes forever. 30 seconds or so.

Shifter is awesome. It works gently and perfect. Very responsive. Have to be careful letting off quick or else you can eat the windshield with your teeth or chin. That would be bad.

Trim wire wasn't hooked up. No anchor. Gas gauge is not working. Needs a pick up I bet. Works when it wants too.
Dash had previous hike for cassette deck and was covered with a new board across the dash.

Trim bilge lights ete board is mounted horizontally instead of on the dash. Maybe to hide it?

Electronic compass in dash and works.

Red n white bolster seats. Mine slide forward. It's stop screw doesn't work. Needs a new one.

Rear seat good.
Blower good.
Bilge good.
Outdrive very corroded. But works great.
Prop had overspray all over it. I think I gained 4 mph after I scrubbed it clean.
Pitot tube was broken. Replaced it.
Transom was painted white halfway down. The lower part. Has red overspray on a couple areas. Weird.
Prop has a ding in it. I'm working on it

I think it said a 22 pitch. I'll take pics of it because I don't know what it is. It SS.
Beach rash on white gel on now from beaching it. Bottom is good overall. I'm happy with it.

Boat runs great. Seems to be touchybat high speed in turns. Still learning. I'm no new but in this instance, I'm going to be. Don't want to get hurt. Lol

​​​​​

According to my brother who knew the old owner back when it had the Snoopy on it his name was John O

He sold it to that guy on that Donzi link I sent you.

Im guessing that guy than sold it to the guy you bought it off from.

I'll take some videos and pics of the engine and dash m stuff. I don't know yet about the foam or fins. The sticker designation of what it is is not on it where a normally merc would be. Might of fell.off.

Does the steering wheel have play in it?

Grab the drive and wiggle it side to check for play.

You want ant to make sure the gimble and tiller pin and arm are not wore out before you start getting Jiggy with it.

High speed steering loss is no Joke I lived through mine doing the big Wipeout on a tiny calm lake.

If if I had been out on Lake Michigan running hard in 2-3s I probably wouldn’t be talking to you right now .

Oh, one more thing... There is a piece of wood under the dash attached underneath the topside. It has beveled edges on it. It epoxied tight. Like it was covering a hole or something. Any memory? It's about 6" by 6" middle part of top Galway back or so. I'll take pics of that too.

Is it attached to the backside of the dash? If it is it would be to cover the big hole cut for that square instrument cluster you can see in the boat show pic I posted.

If if it is attached to the underside of the deck it might be a cover for the flotation chamber built into the underside of the deck.

Great thing about those boats boats is they were built with full Level float foam flotation.

You may have 5 & 10 mixed up. The Cali boat did not have floors in the blige & mine did/does. Just saying.

Ok. So that boat must have been an early one also . I think that mustard one out west had no floors either

Also so I think this TRS boat has no bilge floors also.

I think mine has the floors because it was finished last even though it was molded early in.

According to what what I read on Donzi.net there is another blue boat also other than that badassbaron guy.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...0792c7c229.jpg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...bb7b1a2bfb.jpg
Some other pics
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...8a6373b869.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...2908fd7de1.jpg
of Todds boat and mine and 1 of the 1st boat.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...da6dd3895a.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...1fa4383d0a.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a37e8cb085.jpg
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...f3950a7219.jpg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...68491634a4.jpg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...d8f84ae358.jpg

Wow nice looking red boat there in the last pics. O see why you guys didn't have a windshield! Holy **** that's crazy air. Lol. Is that with trim up and bouncing or wave or surface drive and trim?

Crazy air is when your looking down on the people on the flybridge of the 54 Bertram wake of theirs you just launched off.

Did you check for sloppiness in your side to side movements of your outdrive yet?

Yes I did. It moves the same as the steering wheel moves. It tracks straight when cruising. Touchy if you turn too much. It's a small boat. It will turn quick.
i took some more pics tonight. It's here with me .

The motor
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...79b3b102a4.jpg

I have no info on the motor. I suppose it's a 350 Chevy. I don't know if it's original. It seems to run good. My speedo said 43 the other day. But the prop has a ding in it. It was turning about 4200_4300. Not sure what prop it is either. Or if it's made for hole shot or top end. I thought it would be much faster. Like 57-60.i don't know where I'm at. Lol help!!!! Or slap a 454 in or a 502 . Lol

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e688a8189a.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...3ee019bc67.jpg
That's hurts top speed. I repaired that. All look decent now. I'll try it today and see if I get any more top.end. or better take off. I'm sure it was cavatating a little.

Runs much better now wth the cleaned up prop. I'll have to take a gps and. Speedo readings to be accurate. Cleaned the bilge, installed another speaker that was missing. Different radio. Works good. New stainless antenna mount. Other was old nylon. New 8 ft antenna and a small am FM white antenna. Worked on the scupper. It was green. Now it's brass. Same for platform. Nice n. Clean again. Fixed the seat from being loose. Floor is starting to go around that area. I used some aluminum plate and screwed the seat to that buried under the glass. It's tight now. Until o can get the floor up this winter .just the gas tank sender is giving me issues. It bounces or doesn't work. Have to keep it full.

Runs much better now wth the cleaned up prop. I'll have to take a gps and. Speedo readings to be accurate. Cleaned the bilge, installed another speaker that was missing. Different radio. Works good. New stainless antenna mount. Other was old nylon. New 8 ft antenna and a small am FM white antenna. Worked on the scupper. It was green. Now it's brass. Same for platform. Nice n. Clean again. Fixed the seat from being loose. Floor is starting to go around that area. I used some aluminum plate and screwed the seat to that buried under the glass. It's tight now. Until o can get the floor up this winter .just the gas tank sender is giving me issues. It bounces or doesn't work. Have to keep it full.

Where can I get that snoopy picture of him driving a Baron. Is that copywrited?

That boat ran 54 mph on radar with the factory Mercury LT1 280 horse with the Trs back in 1978. Mercury met us with props and a radar gun.Best they could get out of it was 54

The 260 horse Alpha drive radared at 58 the same day.

The transmission has a lot of parasitic drag and the trs drive adds hydrodynamic drag.

A lot of corrosion on your drive. Looks like the dock it sat at had bad electrolysis . Drain the fluid and make sure you don't have any leaks in it. I suggest power sanding it down and looking closely for penetrations.

I don't think so. Blow up the picture and find a art gifted teen.

Not the old LT1 motor there. Weird old exhaust also . Needs a big block with that drive and transmission

I would be interested in that heat exchanger and exhaust if you repower.

Ah ha. I knew something was amiss. Lol I know that drive is considered outdated nowadays. That's what I was thinking. A big block Chevy instead. Would the exhaust line up to the existing spots? I saw a 355 all alum engine small block brand new for sale for 2000.. I ran it today. Runs great actually. I really put it thru it paces today. This boat handles great and turns when you ask it too. Takes deep cuts turning. Caught my attention. Lol when the back of the boat looks below the waterline in a turn, you are.. out of the hole after that turn took all the juice out of it. That's where the big block comes into play. I've been working on the drive. It looked nasty but really, it's not as bad as it looked. The white crusty stuff made it look like it was destroyed. Flakes right off. All good aluminum. Gonna take a while to get it all off. I'm about half way with it. I'll change the fluid in the drive too. .

Installed a radio , added a small white FM antenna, a 8 ft antenna for the VHF, a horn and scrubbed the bilge till it was clean. Looks a lot better. It's a project for sure. But I don't mind. I love the boat. One day down the road, I'll change engines. Maybe this is good to learn how the boat acts in rough waves. I'm use to doing 60 plus on my Pro785 race ski. So to me, this is slow. Lol I can do 48 sleeping. . Call me when ya hit 60.

Very happy to see this thread take off thanks to the Baron Bros. and you all. There's something really pleasant abour the design of these i.m.h.o. and I like the whole story about how the passion for boating made this little brand come into fruition.

Do you think a shark fin or Doel fin on the back cavatation plate would help take off some of the drag from the outdrive? Maybe it would lift it higher out of the water. I have them on.my outboards and they always do great. I have one on my 25 ft cruiser and it helps a lot. Whatcha think. It would be harder to porpoise the bow too with that fin on the back.

So my nephew Nicholis , Dave the designer and manufacturers oldest son found this lost cause Baron out in Arizona on Facebook. It was heading for the chipper but the present owner who rescued it from a friend who stripped it had a heart.

He came across it way back in March and told the guy the history , Made a deal for him to hold it until he had to travel to California for a sailboat race last week.

Heading back to Michigan now. We knew there was a blue Baron lost out in California but we had no idea this red one was there. That makes 3 out of the 13 that ended up out on the West Coast.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...0cacca27e.jpeg
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...7b1698bd2.jpeg
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...45737012d.jpeg
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...5bd9cc2f7.jpeg

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...938c5be98.jpeg

Awesome find! If it were an XLT in that condition, it’d be a prime candidate for an outboard conversion. But because it’s a Baron, it needs to remain I/O…… nothing stopping you guys from putting an LS in front of an Alpha II though!