Upgrading a 97 Baja SST
 

I bought a 97 Baja SST at the end if the boating season and now I have all winter to do the upgrades.My plan is to replace the 330hp 454, new radio and exhaust. I picked up a 4 bolt main 454 last week I'm going to build so I can leave my orignal engine alone. I would Like to get around 500HP and still be able to use silent choice. I'll have to to some research on cam's.

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Add hydro steering. Great investment. Good luck with your project.

Another suggestion would be to remove the current platform and replace with tubular painted or powdercoated platform... Would really give it some extra pop. We are so good at spending your money for you :D

Yep thats on the list too. A friend of mine has a metal fab shop so we are going to build one this summer.

Smart plan about leaving the stock engine alone and building a new one.

The boat runs great and has low hours but 55-57 mph is a little slow for me. Building a second engine will keep me from rushing a build. Now as I get the money I can pick up heads,exhaust and a roller cam. Whats the opinion on the best cam to get around 500hp with 088 heads and still be able to use silient choice?

Not positive, but I think you could even go higher on the HP and only use the silent choice at lower speeds. Hate to see you limit your horsepower.

Yeah, and that platform is definitely hideous. Not sure what baja was thinkin there. There are a ton of bajas out there and you may be able to find a platform without the hassle of fabbing one.

Thats what i want. I would only be using the silient choice idling anyway. Would the merc 525 spec's work without reversion? I've seen boats with the 525's and silient choice on e-bay before.

Does the 454 your building have forged internals, I like the boat, one of the nicer graghics package of the day, at least its not teal and pink

454 4 bolt block,hyperutectic pistons, forged crank.

The fiberglass platform was all you could get on the Outlaws from 92' to 96'. The first model to get the aluminum platform was the first 29 Outlaw that was shown at IMTEC in Chicago that year. Both options were available for a few years after that.

XT

I built similar engines for my boat, I don't think you're going to hit 500 hp with stock 088 heads. I'm running a 231/237 cam with 1.8 rockers on the exhaust and I'm making about 460 hp. When I consulted with Marine Kinetics, he said the cam is a touch large for a 454 but would work. If your building a roller cam engine call Bob at Marine Kinetics and he'll design your cam and assist with your build to get it right. If you go aftermarket heads 500 hp is very doable but not with stock 088's at least not if you want good dock manners.

I see you want to use silent choice as well... I'm going to say 425 is going to be a safe number beyond that your going to have reversion issues. Either way call Marine Kinetics- he will give you an accurate HP number.

Id go for some new Dart 308 Iron eagles for the money on that build. Unless of course you have the GM heads already and done. Most of the time, when you get done rebuilding the GM heads, your not too far from the cost of a set of Dart iron eagles. That head works nicely on a 454.

I still need to find some exhaust manifolds and risers before I pick out a cam. I would like to use the silent choice if I can. Dont think dart heads are in the budget. A friend has a set of 088 heads I can get for $300 so i'm going to get them.

I have a set of glm manifolds with hardin risers with a a/f bung installed on 1 riser , 3 years old , went to cmi $ 600.00 1/2 the weight of mer and better flow good for 600 hp can send pics

Not to get off the subject but I'm curious, how did you like the GLM manifolds? There is is a lot of noise out there about them and I would like some honest feedback as I was considering them

got the speed bug, once your bit you can never cure it.:whistle: