ubet28

Ok so I’ve been a little quit while I browsed around looking. A boat popped up today a 2004 Baja 342 with 496mag ho’s 540 hrs on the motors drives we’re just rebuilt. So my question is I’m torn between the fountain I posted earlier in the thread and this boat that just popped up.

speed really isn’t important to me as room comfort and ride. Which from what I’ve read all says Baja. But the fountain has fresh 500hps and would out run the 342 it’s also 5k cheaper and 5 years older. Plus 1k miles away from me. The Baja is 180miles from me.

I just don’t know I’ve not rode in a fountain so not sure how it rides compared to the Baja. Not sure if 540hrs is to many on the 496s

what would you guys do which ever rout I go the boat will have a survey done and compression checked.

any suggestions welcome thanks

farmo83

Any boat with a decent amount of age it's more about how the motor was maintained then the components.

Personally I would get a blue motor as you'll always want just that little bit of extra hp.

I had a 500 Carb motor, my dad has a 496 HO, and my uncle has a 502 Mag. They were all taken care of and all did fine.

F-2 Speedy

iTrader: (6)

Having owned a few Baja's I dont think you can beat the ride and roominess of them, some say the 496's are good to well over 1000 hrs if maintained properly, thats a nice looking 342 friend of mine had one and the ride is exceptional, Id take the Baja over the fountain. get it surveyed money well spent IMO

TomZ

iTrader: (2)

I can concur with - nice boat. A buddy of mine had a nice one with blue power. It did really well with the waters around here and he never had any complaints at all. It was roomy that’s for sure.

Wildman_grafix

I a have been in both and found if driven right the fountain does better in snot but you are have to go faster, most people slow down and that will beat the crap out of you in the fountain. It took some time for my wife to get that but now when we are getting knocked around she always tells me to speed up

That said, if you want room, Baja hands down, they just are more roomy, people can talk about ride all day but you can not deny that the Baja has more room.

Kind of like a DONZI ZX to a ZR difference.

ubet28

So being you’ve been in or owned both. What’s your choice and why? I’ve not been in a fountain only owned Baja a H2x and a 25 outlaw.

don’t get me wrong I like to go fast but I also like a good ride. The room is something that will be used 2 or 3 times a year. Most of the time there will 2-4 people on the boat. Probably sleep in the boat 1 night at a time 4-5 times a season.

Boat will primarily be used on a lake that a 25ft boat is plenty big. But will go to the ozarks 2-3 times a year Memorial Day weekend an off weekend. And then we go to the shoot out in august every year.

no young kids will always be adults my Wife is a open bow water baby that’s not into speed. I’m not I’m a cuddy cabin high performance guy. That likes speed but don’t have deep enough pockets to worry about it. We have been together 7 years and not owned a boat so this will be are first boat together.

I wish I new someone with a fountain so I could go for a ride. But I don’t so I have to rely upon opinions of the internet and honestly I think sometimes we can all agree opinions are like *******s and everybody has one.

so any real feedback would be greatly appreciated it only from you but anyone reading this. Thanks

Brad Christy

UBet,

Baja vs Fountain. Personally, I've never been a fan of either, but it's more because of the fact that you can't hardly sneeze without getting snot on one of them, They are everywhere. Which, I guess, is a testament to their market appeal. I thought they were both pretty cool when I was a kid. After growing up, and discovering what I really want/need from a boat, not so much. We don't all want the same thing from our boats, though, right?. That said....

Fountains are well known for their LACK of cockpit space. As far as I can tell, they offer the LEAST amount of cockpit space, per foot of length, of all the performance boat MFRs. Their super steep V angle makes them ride fairly well, though, and they are among the fastest hulls per HP/length. Let's face it, they are race boats in pleasure boat rigging. Everything in a boat is a trade-off, right?

My wife and I rode in two Bajas while in search of our latest boat. Neither of them fit us very well. The Boss 272 seemed very sluggish on the water (315HP 454), but rode nice. The fatal flaw was the fact that my not-so-tall wife couldn't see over the bow. It had a very tall bow, that even I had issue with as far as visibility, especially at take-off. Our PowerQuest 280 doesn't suffer this issue at all. Your Baja may not either. This was a personal thing. The other Baja was an Outlaw 25. I can't say hardly anything good about it. I couldn't stand at the wheel and drive, as they were NOT bolster seats, and didn't slide back far enough to allow free standing at the helm, but I also didn't feel like I had sufficient visibility to drive while sitting, particularly while docking or broadsiding. It also sounded like it had a can of pennies locked away somewhere. And that rattle was LOUD. I swear every panel of its interior gave an audible report on every single bump in the water. The "test" was over long before the ride was.

There WAS a really nice PQ 340 in the Classifieds with 496HOs (IIRC) a while back. I just looked and all there is is a 380 with smallish blower motors. It's a nice boat, and seems worth the price, even given the need for one rebuilt outdrive, but it may not be in your budget. I will say this, though... PQ offers an excellent ride, as they are built a little on the heavy side, satisfactory performance, and about the most cockpit room of all the performance boat MFRs. They are all extremely well planned and laid out boats, and the fit and finish is always stellar. There WAS a guy on here selling some cleats that had a 280 with a 496HO for sale in Michigan. I've reached out to see if he's still got it.

To the engine discussion, I can only speak for the 496HO. In its stock configuration, they are essentially bulletproof, and offer satisfactory performance. You can work on them SOME, and get a little more out of them, but not a ton. One thing you have to keep in mind is the vintage. Prior to 2001 (I think), they were all forged lower rotating parts, then there was a period of iffy transition, where your serial number is the only way to know, and then after, the crank is cast nodular steel. It's really strong cast steel, but its cast all the same. Once you've determined what parts you have to work with, you'll know what you can get away with, as far as power-adders and tuning for performance. Just know that they ALL have those hypereutectic cast pistons that are WIDELY known as the Achilles heel of the platform. Again... Stay stock and you're golden for ~1000 hrs of reliable service.

Thanks. Brad.
(937)545-8991

Wildman_grafix

Brad nailed a lot of it down and really it is going to take you going and looking/ riding in both to decide. Like he said both brands sold a ton, they are a production boat. But it makes them somewhat affordable.

To your questions, we were really looking for anything back when we got the fountain and really would have liked a 33 DONZI ZX at that time. Reason were we stayed on the boat every weekend, now it holds fenders down there. The fountain ended up being the cleanest with the most good hardware (gauges, indicators, Hydraulic steering etc.). We looked at Sunsation, DONZI, formulas, SONIC a couple Baja's and one Power Quest. Just did not like the look of the PowerQuest but did seem like a good boat.For room SONICS also have a ton of space, and a VERY comfortable cabin.

You say speed is not the biggest issue, fountain gives some things up to be fast, they also handle crazy good. I drive my boat hard and push it harder then most and I will say it is impressive. Never does anything weird if setup right. That said I only have one friend that drives like I do so for them that last little bit really would not matter. It is just something you really have to decide for yourself what kind of person you are and what your wife will be conformable with.

My wife is very good, on this years Toy run I had two friends with me and they could not believe that she didn't scream any time, one of them on the other hand was nervous a few times from what I hear

Pete Bolden took this one on New Years eve run, my wife said she did not even know we were flying until she seen this picture!





LOTO during a holiday weekend from what I see is going to not be fun in either on the main channel, there is just times that it doesn't matter unless you are in a 50 foot SeaRay cruiser or bigger.

ubet28

Thank you for the response What year power and size is your boat? Is it a single step?

articfriends

iTrader: (1)

Even then youd be surprised if you ever looked at a stock 500 EFI tune: all ZEROS for fuel multiplier bpw vs MAT and ALL zeros for baro vs bpw so essentially whether its getting 10 degree air or 140 dgree air, it does NOT do anything in tune or for air density/altitude