hello guys

new owner of a 97 Baja 240 sport

boat is all stock with a 454 and a 21p 3 blade mirage

what can I expect speed wise from this boat ideally if there are no unforeseen problems

is it wishful thinking that this boat will ever see 70 mph without spending big $$$$

thanks

55-60 mph with 15-10% slip

Wow! Much slower than id hoped for. Would a 25p prop do any good. Why is this boat so slow vs equal length boats of other makes with the same stock 454

Hull design, materials used for construction, drive height..... A stock 454 will have a very hard time turning a 25P. I tried on my old Baja and went back to 23P. Its just an older boat, enjoy it for what it is.

Ive read several posts that said cam/intake/carb swap made a very noticeable difference on an otherwise stock 454

Any suggestions ?

Will i pick up some mph with the 23p prop. Which one is best suited to my application? Thanks

Ps....i ve read that several people raised the drive as much as 3" is this hard to do ?

Depends on the condition of the engine, which 454 it actually is. Raising the drive is very involved, not a simple few bolts, some duct tape and away you go. Really look at does it make sense to buy this particular boat and throw $ at it trying to get it to go faster. When you can just spend the right amount of $ for a boat that is doing what you want it to do. Something to be said for turnkey operation. Your money, your project do it how you feel. Just expect to get minimal gains on modifications and if you get better performance you will be ahead of your plan. My old 95 Baja 272 had the base carb 310 hp 454 and ran a 23p Mirage Plus prop at 54 -56 MPH. I did all sort of work to the engine (heads, intake, carb, headers, ignition, fuel line, etc) and got it to 59MPH with the 23p, it wouldn't turn a stock 25p for any gain. Should have left it alone and saved $ for moving into another boat. Was it worth it? Financially not even close, for the experience it was great. My 2 cents.

Voodoo

I can only blame myself. Ive always wanted a baja and financially was never able to afford one until now. I found the 240 sport for a smoking deal. Very clean well maintained boat with 200hrs on the ticker.
I had looked at several velocitys and scarabs of similar length and yr model. All of these boats with 454s were supposedly 70 mph boats.... well at least thats what the owners claimed.

I should have done more research to know the baja wasnt as fast as i thought it was.

Its not terrible, you just wont get the speed you were looking for. Next time make a deal pending sea trial. You can verify speed with a hand held GPS before you take ownership of the boat. That way the seller can put up or shut up with the claims.

Don't worry to much, the other 24 foot boats with stock 454's you looked at are not going to run anywhere close to 70 either, The 240 sports will hold their own with other boats in its class with the same power.

Buzzkill !

And then an Anti Buzzkill....

Sometimes take out 502's go for reasonable money.

WHen it's time to sell/trade yours, you can put the 454 back in and make it easier to sell and you'll till have the 502 to buiuld/rebuild/sell.