I would like some educated guesses on my top end. I have 1989 baja 24 sport,496 blown approx 600hp. What prop should I start with. I hoping to see close 80 mph.

I dont know if you'll see 80, but you may get close.

I had a 89 240 sport with dynoed 540ci/640hp and started with a labbed 23 mirage.

Boat ran 77 mph First time out with the new motor. Probably had some more to go, but we had problems with the motor and pulled it. Never went back in. Due to problems with the builder.

For some reason, these boats dont do much more than 80 nomatter how much power you put in.

I heard 80 is about the top end. A local guy said about grinding the hooks out of the hull. how is this done.

The older bajas were notorious for having hooks in them. Usually, within the last 3 feet of the hull. Taking the hook out is relatively easy to do with a straight edge and belt sander. take your time taking off a little at a time. I would not recommend doing it yourself if you dont have the experience with glass, putty, resin and gelcoat.

A friend had it done on his 24 and he picked up about 3 mph. I cost him around $3,000.

hope this helps

I would start with at least a 26 Bravo 1 prop. In my 24 Outlaw I was seeing 65 with 400-420hp. The new owner put in a 525sc and saw a best of 76 gps. I think it was with a 26B1.

friend of mine has a 95 24, and runs upper 90's. he's tweaking the motor now and hoping to break 100 this summer. I was in it at 94mph and i was scared chitless.

I started with a 4 blade 26 pitch on my blown 502 baja 272,it ran 76 mph with 6 psi of boost at the time. I have heard from several sources that if you take all the hook out of the hull boat willl porpoise at midrange cruise unles your dragging the tabs,still haven't too hook out of mine and probably won't but it stands to reason everything has a tradeoff(more top speed at the exspense of cruisability),Smitty

Has anyone else heard of problems with removing the hooks. I wanted to try doing this over the cold, cold , dark winter months.

I used to own a '98 24' H2X. I was able to GPS 80 with 625HP blown BBC. The boat had rocketship acelleration with a 28" Bravo. I tried a 30", lost acelleration and top end was about the same.
Have a friend who ran a blown BBC (same HP) in a H2X. He also put a Stellings set back box on his with +2" X dimension. The box really helped. He eventually managed 89 GPS,
also with a 28" Bravo.
Not that familiar with your model boat. The H2X has a lot more lift built into the hull than other Baja models. It has flat chines, 3 strakes per side, a small pad, and a 21o deadrise.
The most fun was rocking the world of a lot of twin engine guys that jumped on my little 24 "stock" Baja.
Regards,
Steve

It is going to feel very fast!!!!@! - sleeper