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.

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

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.