1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

Hello everyone, i'm new here, as well as getting into the boating seen. I bought a 210 ess that has the 7.4L in it. The previous owner said it would do 68 mph. I have yet to see more than 63-65 mph on the speedo. I've changed the speedo and line and pitot tube. No change. I haven't checked the speed with a gps. Also, in ruffer waters, the pitot tube starts to go up and stay there, i'm wondering if 68 mph is on fairly calm water with just a couple of inches of chop?? Not sure. Right now there is a 23 pitch Mirage prop on it that is getting repaired as we speak. Also, the air cleaner cover says that the max operating rpm's should be 4400-4600. I've had to replace the tach, and i've used a digital timing light for an accuracy check, and trimmed and wot, i'm pushing 4850. Is this safe to run at for five minutes or so constintly, or should i pitch up one. I do intend to pull a skier, but just one. Like i said, i'm a rookie at this yet. So cut me some slack if some questions seem stupid. Thanks

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

Make sure your trimming out to the proper height. Listen good and pay attention when your trimming out, you will hear/feel when the prop starts to slip or let go. Trim back one touch at a time until you feel the boat grab and that should be about optimum. Your boat will be a little faster with a little chop to get some more air under the boat. I'd say with that hull you would want around 6" of chop for best top speed. I have a friend with that same boat (350 mag) and I think he see's speeds within 1-2 of what your getting. How many people did you have in the boat and how much fuel? The more the boat is loaded the more your speed/rpm will likely come down.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

One more thing... I'm not real familiar with the big blocks, but every time you go over the max rpm of the motor, you are losing horse power, and if you are over by 250 RPM, that could be a few MPH as well. Talk to Houston prop if you want prop work done. I haven't needed any yet, but after reading this sight for quite awhile, they are the ones to go to. good luck.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

should i be able to hold wot, or should i pitch up to drop my rpm's down some. Or do i need to just hold the throttles under wide open?? i like to just push it all the way open and hold it.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

you should prop it so your rpms are within the WFO range.. for every inch of pitch it will drop 200 rpms..

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

i'd start with a 25p and go from there. May even try a 24 four blade to see if that helps. Try borrowing props from friends before buying....saves alot of headache.

just wait until you bring out a GPS....then you will really be wondering where your speed went!! Speedo is generally 5+ mph faster than actual GPS speeds.

Good luck.

oh, and i would never hold a motor at WOT for 5 minutes. I just hold long enough to know wether i won the race or not and back off.....usually 1 minute max. I've yet to blow a motor.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

I used to run my carbed 330 for hours on end at WOT.. and never had a problem with it.. out of the 225 hours I put on the boat,, more than half were at WFO...

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

I don't want to sound like a wet blanket but I would get some seat time in this rig before worrying about running all over the place at 68 mph. A '21 foot boat at those speeds requires your undivided attention.

A few more thoughts, People always BS about how fast a boat is especially when they are selling it. Boat speedos are notoriously inaccurate.

Good Luck,

Dave M

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

well.......i've got a 23 pitch quick silver mirage on it right now, actually it is getting redone right now, so im anxious to see what it will do when they r done, but maybe i should step it up to a 24 pitch, should i stick with the same brand or something different. I've had a couple of locals tell me to run an aluminum, which i think is defeating the purpose of a 360 hp engine??

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

forget the alum.... the next logical step is a 25 mirage 3 blade, or a 24 bravo 1 4 blade.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

so going to a 25 mirage three blade would actually be increasing pitch by two then, i think i have a three bladed now?? i would be looking to lose about 200 revs, what would this increase in pitch to lower my revs by 200 do to top end, and do you think i would still be able to get a skier out of the water?? thanks

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

I owned a 210 ESS for nearly 10 years and it is really a great performance boat. In stock 330 trim a 25 Mirage or Mirage Plus is going to be very close. Don't expect to run much faster than about an honest 65 MPH if you can turn 4600 RPM. If you go to some of the prop guys that post on this board they may be able to "lab" or tweak the prop for slightly more. Here is a photo of my speedo recall out of my Baja 210 before I went back to stock and sold her. My best was 97.8 MPH!!

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

In stock 330 trim [/QUOTE] what does this mean, and how big a jump is my 23 to the 25 mirage?

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

How many people are you normally going to have on the boat? It will not hurt running a few hundred more RPM than Merc suggests if you don't get carried away with WOT runs. Your engine torque and HP curve does not drop off quick enough to worry about where you are at. Prop pitch, RPM and the resulting speed are a balance. Prop the boat for how you will use it most. If you are going to be carrying a lot of people (4 or more) and equipment (coolers) while pulling a skier you may be best to stay with the 23 Mirage or get a 23 Mirage Plus. My 97 212 Islander had a carbed 454. I played with props a lot and ended up staying with a 23 Mirage plus. This prop worked better for how I used the boat. The 25 mirage plus got my RPM down from 4950 to 4500 but I didn't like how it towed a skier or did I like how it performed with more than 4 in the boat.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

i would say that about half my time is at wot

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

If you really run that much at WOT I would prop up and seriously consider using synthetic oil.

Re: 1990 Baja 210 ESS
 

i don't know what was previously run for oil, but i changed it and put the mercruiser oil in, and i was planning on changing it every 50 hours, not sure if synthetic should be run on that old of an engine, it's original yet, and no hobbs meter until now, since i put one on.

I've one that I bought new, it ran 73mph with a 330 hp 454 stock engine and Mirage 23 pitch prop and weighed right at 2600 lb. After the 1st season I had the heads reworked with bigger valves, aluminum intake, comp cam, 850 Holley. Also added a Bob's nosecone and 9" outdrive extension and 26 pitch prop, then it ran 78. The poor old boat has set in my warehouse for the last 12 years. I finally got to guilty looking at it sit there, and for the last 2 months I've decided to make it new again and have replaced the flooring and stringers. Also I built a 496 for it with aluminum heads and headers and tuned it on the dyno at 565 hp. I hope to get it in the water by October to figure out a taller prop. Added a couple of pics below.

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...e64bd8d0e6.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...671d84405e.jpg