Raising the X

[jeffswav]

Hi everyone, I just joined your site yesterday. I post on a few other boat forums. I have a 236 Baja that I am going to raise the x on. Right now the propshaft centerline is 8" below the surface. I would like to raise it up 3" to 5". The boat is running 70MPH on GPS right now, I would like to run flatter and faster with less trim. I would expect a 6MPH gain from what I have reserched. Anyone have any pictures of there transom projects that may save me some time or headach. I will be pulling the drives in mid December so I have a little time to think about it.

 

[DAREDEVIL]

Hi everyone, I just joined your site yesterday. I post on a few other boat forums. I have a 236 Baja that I am going to raise the x on. Right now the propshaft centerline is 8" below the surface. I would like to raise it up 3" to 5". The boat is running 70MPH on GPS right now, I would like to run flatter and faster with less trim. I would expect a 6MPH gain from what I have reserched. Anyone have any pictures of there transom projects that may save me some time or headach. I will be pulling the drives in mid December so I have a little time to think about it.

Welcome !!!!!!

To your question,,,is it a Bravo ????

If so , i would see if anybody would give u a -2 shorty for testing,,and try it first.
In a 23 foot boat @ 70,,its impressive.

 

[jhenrie]

Geronimo posted a lot on his project last spring , do a search and ye shall find . I think it was in Glassdaves section.

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

He saw Geronimos thread.

All boats react different. There are no guarantees. To expect 6 may leave you disappointed. I would suggest to hope for 6 and enjoy what you get. If you find all 6 home run.

Good luck

 

[Trim'd Up]

I think 6mph is optimistic, but possible. I can't say how much speed I gained by raising my X because I added a good deal of horsepower and removed weight from the boat. but the boat handles much better. It flies more level and does not need much trim at all to run. It is also more stable at 80+ than the same boat with a stock X. My only complaint is, you have to be much faster on the stick when your in rough water. I am talking LOTO after the shootout rough though, not slight chop. This is on a Baja 240 sport.

 

[jeffswav]

Here is a little history on the boat for you guys. I have a Bravo 1 drive, 489 stroker engine 500HP, Lab finnished prop, Holley MPI, EMI exhaust, RMbuilder Roller Cam, and all the other stuff to go with it. The boat has a 22deg deadrise, no notch, small pad and the factory spec is 3900lb dry. The boat only ran 55MPH with the stock 330, I have gained 15MPH with it over the past several years. I recently noticed I had a transum leak. That is what brought me to think about raising it up. Shorties are so expensive, if they charged a reasonable price for them they would be flying off the shelves. There is a guy on SW that gained 10 MPH from raising his up 3 1/4" to 5 1/4" below the bottom. I am about maxed out on HP for my bravo so my next step is the setup.

 

[jeffswav]

Trim'd Up, What was your propshaft depth before and after you raised it? Do you have any pics of your project? From my research is seems to be better to remove the wood from the inside out. Leave as much of the glass and gell as possible. Then lay the wood in steps till you have a flat surface. Then only the lower part of the cuttout will have to be glassed and gelled on the outside. Does this make sence?

 

[glassdave]

Hi Jeff, welcome aboard

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

Yes, the majority is done from inside. Geronimo went through the entire process in detail and shared with us. You can find pix he shared on post 71 and 73 and 77.

http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5054&page=4

 

[jeffswav]

Hi Jeff, welcome aboard

Thanks for turning me on to the new site. I like that this site does not require a paid membership to post atachments or pics.

 

[jeffswav]

Yes, the majority is done from inside. Geronimo went through the entire process in detail and shared with us. You can find pix he shared on post 71 and 73 and 77.

http://www.seriousoffshore.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5054&page=4

Yep, I saw his thread yesterday. Just woundered if he had a few more pics. This looks like somthing I can do. I always reserch everything to death before I get started.

 

[Trim'd Up]

Trim'd Up, What was your propshaft depth before and after you raised it? Do you have any pics of your project? From my research is seems to be better to remove the wood from the inside out. Leave as much of the glass and gell as possible. Then lay the wood in steps till you have a flat surface. Then only the lower part of the cuttout will have to be glassed and gelled on the outside. Does this make sence?

No better pics right now. My camera went missing and my other computer is on the fritz. I did it just like Geronimo but the plywood was staggered more (not that it matters). I used 1/2" Aluminum angle through bolted to the stringers to raise the engine. I was at 7 1/2" below the bottom and now I am 4". Just be prepared to get into way more than you planned if your transom is wet there is a good chance stringers are. and possibly bulkheads.

 

[glassdave]

Thanks for turning me on to the new site. I like that this site does not require a paid membership to post atachments or pics.

plus your question was answered before ya even signed up

 

[jeffswav]

No better pics right now. My camera went missing and my other computer is on the fritz. I did it just like Geronimo but the plywood was staggered more (not that it matters). I used 1/2" Aluminum angle through bolted to the stringers to raise the engine. I was at 7 1/2" below the bottom and now I am 4". Just be prepared to get into way more than you planned if your transom is wet there is a good chance stringers are. and possibly bulkheads.

The boat has never sat outside or in the water. I have had it for 12 years, it has never had water sit in the bilge. I recently found a water leak on the transum and it was not there last year, I can't imagine I will have to remove that much wood. I will know more when I pull it apart. I am still hoping for another day out. I usually do not winterize untill mid December. I have my own building to store it in so it is not a emergency when it gets cold. Are you sure you are at 4" that is pretty high? What prop do you run? Do you have low water pickup?

 

[Trim'd Up]

I am hoping for another run myself but it's not looking good. Where do you usually boat? I am positive, 4" below the small pad. I measured it last night to be sure. No low water pickup, just an old short case Bravo till next year. I am running a 30" Mach 4 blade stock.

 

[jeffswav]

I am hoping for another run myself but it's not looking good. Where do you usually boat? I am positive, 4" below the small pad. I measured it last night to be sure. No low water pickup, just an old short case Bravo till next year. I am running a 30" Mach 4 blade stock.

I boat at several places, I went to Norfork once, Alton pool once, Kindaid twice and Kaskakia about 10 times. We will have to get together somtime and share ideas. I will send in pictures as I progress with the project. Feel free to stop by the house this winter and help with the boat, FREE BEER for help. :hurray:

 

[Geronimo36]

Bob Saccenti, Glassdave and Offshoreginger were instrumental in helping me to complete this project... Although I did all the work they were always willing to help and provide info. If you have worked with glass or rigging work before no problem, if not I would take it to someone.

Bob Saccenti gave me all the proper measurements and where my X "should" be and I went from there so there were no surprises.

I'd suggest talking to other baja owners who have either done it or who have higher X's from the factory, you don't want to be a guinnea pig.

Any questions send me a PM!
http://s706.photobucket.com/albums/ww64/Fungarten1/?albumview=slideshow

 

[jeffswav]

Thanks Geronimo, that slideshow was what I was looking for. I thought you would need to cut out way more wood than that. I should be able to do this project with no problem. I think I am going to beef up the stringers and raise them 3". Then make some custom mounts that wrap around the stringer and through bold them.

 

[Geronimo36]

The strenth is in the glass more than the wood.

I overlapped 1" each step for a total of two inches and feathered the glass out about a 12-16 inches all the way around. I don't remember exactly but I laminiated somewhere between 7-10layers of 1708 on the outside and 5-7 on the inside...can't remember xactly but it was about 3/8" thick on the outside and 1/4" of laminate on the inside. If I was using vinlyester resin I would have overlapped the wood further but the Epoxy is so much stronger I wasn't as worried... A lot of the glass shops don't even bother with overlapping the plywood so for me I felt it was overkill and I'm happy with the results.

Pushing over 1600 hp to the transom and not one sign of fatigue.. I think it might even be stronger than before!

 

[Offshore Ginger]

Thanks for turning me on to the new site. I like that this site does not require a paid membership to post atachments or pics.

Jeff , there is a lot of knowledge on this site and all you have to do is ask . Jeff on this site you will not have one person telling you it is black and the other saying it is white like the site you just came from and make sure you tell all your bud's to give us a try because this site is growing and getting better everyday and hopefully this site will be the best there is and are Tech sections wil be next to none .