Hello all,
lomg time lurker here, I just sold my 35 foot and built a couple 588ci blower motors that I was going to combine with a couple sport master drives and put into a 42 foot fountain.
during the process of looking for a hull with no power or drives we came across a baja 420 and the wife fell in love with space, ac, gen set, etc etc. Especially since we tie up and hang out alot and have our 3 kids with us. But I cant find any opinions or reviews of the boat.
I am throwing around the idea of rerigging the boat for twins. I am curious what that boat would be like with going on a diet of losing third everything, and picking up quite a few ponies over stock configuration as well? But at the same time, I dont want to have a ton of hours into.it and come summer and it be a total fail.
any opinions on the boat in general? Any opinions on project?

also on a seperate note, as I debate not staying in a fountain and going to a baja...if anyone has leads on a 420 or a .38 special in good shape that does not have power or drives, shoot it this way. After seeing how much space the 420 had, kind of.curious of the .38 special as a big power twin as well.
thanks a ton

Never having been on a 420, but I will give my .$.02 on the 38 Special. If you are looking for a performance boat " feel " you will probably not be happy with a 38 Special. It drives much like a big Sea Ray. IN MY OPINION.

We bought a 272 brand new in 1997 and the 38 Special was the end all be all to us back then. When we were in the position to afford one we bought it without ever being on one,,,,,,,,and then sold it within 2 weeks of owning it ! Tons of room and amenities, yes. But not very " sporty " to drive.

We bought a 36 Outlaw and were very happy with it. Not quite as much room as the 38 Special, but still very comfortable. And was actually longer tied up at the marina than the 38 Special was.

Have had two friends own 420s over the years. First was a triple 525sc boat. From what I remember one of the rear motor water pumps was completely inaccessible. The boat was bad ass I think ran around 70 with gen set and ac. We borrowed it one weekend and were amazed in the Cuddy with the room. The height was amazing. Then someone put their hand up and we realized the headliner has sagged 6 or 8 inches. He enjoyed that boat, ended up wanting to go with twins and now has a 36 outlaw.

Other friend bought one a couple years ago with 502 mpi’s. I don’t know the speed but 21 pitch props so its not fast. Loves it. He can go out with however many people in anything and have a good time.

I think with the size of the boat and the weight up front you need to stay with triples unless you went to stupid power and sixes to be able to carry the bow off the torque of two motors, but I am no expert. I think the build quality between fountain and Baja is comparable, chopper gun boats. I would figure on the entire Baja dash and switches being well weathered along with the interior at this point.

Thanks for the input guys. I assumed if I didnt stick with the original 42 ft fountain plan I would be giving up some handling and performance but gaining on ammenities.

the motors I built are 588ci rollers, brodix heads, 1071 blowers so they should be at the thousand mark on each motor without pushing boost high. Wonder if that would carry that front end. They are hooked to sportmasters and I dont mind spending a few bucks on the right props.

could be totally wrong, but I think a thousand with a 10-71 is pushing it.

And I would think you would need more prop than what a sport master can handle. That boat would need some diameter.

I will admit, I'm pretty green to drives. We build a lot of engines for drag cars at the shop, but drives...I am learning daily! I was thinking that the ssm drives were about the strongest drive i could get? If i decide to tackle a 420 instead of a fountain 42,(which i am thinking each day of sticking with original plan of a fountain now lol) what outdrive setup would you go with? Like I said, I went with SSM thinking it was about as strong as I could get.

thanks for all help, info, and opinions!

If you’re looking for a big roomy boat like the 420, look at the Black Thunders as well.

I’ve always enjoyed the sleek lines of the 38 special. Looks like an Orca breaching for a breath of air. I’ve never seen one w/ big power. I think the 38 special w/ some blower scoops would be the ticket.

I looked at one of those last year and would be totally open to that. Hard part right now is getting a line on a good hull that doesn't have an absolutely destroyed interior. Had a line on a good hull with good interior at lake of the ozarks, have cash in hand and now the guy isnt responding, maybe he decided to hold onto it.

I have found the .38 special trends to have that outdated baha color scheme, wich can be fixed easy enough. Only came across one empty .38 special hull, guy was a little high and was out in Vegas. I need to be pretty sure I an going to buy to drive 20 hours one way lol