soldsoul4foos

My 92' baja 270 is running at wot at 52ish @4400. Mirage 23P prop. I'm under rpms about 600. The motor is running great, new plugs, wires, etc etc. Compression checked and all that. I have to check the timing and make sure the throttle is able to get wide open...but. The bottom pain on it is starting to flake off and looks rather ugly. I'm wondering how much speed (power) loss this is costing me. I've talked to some other 270 owners who claim they are getting low to mid 60's out of their boats with stock motors. I have 454 Mag. If the carb and timing both check out ok, what are the chances my whole problem is with the paint? Other than the loss of rpm's, the boat is running great. I can hit 5000 rpms with a smaller prop that I tested last week.



Thanks,

Bill w.

madbouyz

Does the boat live overboard , thus it would have some growth on it also , or is the painted surface clean and just flaking in some areas ?

If identical boats really are getting low to mid 60's you might have another issue going on somewhere.

Is there a possobility that you might have developed a hook somewhere in the bottom from improper bunking or another reason ...? They're not that easy to see , especially with a painted bottom and they will cost you some speed for sure.

soldsoul4foos

I'm not sure. How do I determine if I have a hook (or too much of one) ? I've heard I think that Baja puts a hook in them at the very end, but that could just be here-say.

madbouyz

I 've seen a few discussions on the hook issue on Baja s around here before. Try doing a search under the topic and see what you get.
I think you'll find some have taken it out and the had porpoising or other handling issues arise.
I have seen some hulls develop unwanted hook over time due to improper bunking during storage .

If you can get under your hull (looking from astern) look for concave surfaces where there should'nt naturally be any .. on the strakes especially.

Many boats have a deliberate hook designed into the chine .. that's OK.

As to how much speed bottom paint will cost you .. the jury remains out on that one.
The topic came up a few weeks ago and some folks were adamant about 5 + mph losses .. some more. The average seems to be 3-4 mph depending on what type of paint is used and the finish.
Then someone (who's opinion I always look forward to) chimed in and claimed it was mathmatically impossible to loose much speed with bottom paint ...