The Story of my Baja

[Blast Sport Jet]

Hello all. I wanted to share the journey of bringing this Baja Blast 14' back to life. The picture is how the boat looks today. I plan to post many pictures of everything that I did to get it to this state. It still needs a little more work (mostly cosmetic), but it's up and running and it is an absolute joy to use. Hope you all enjoy!

 

[RedBarron55]

Post them up!
I have, and am doing the same thing with my 1995 Hobie Jet Fisherman with a Sport Jet 90.
This last few days I worried off the ride plate and grate to replace the seal. Corrosion is a booger bear!
I refinished the id of the wear ring with JB weld as long as I had it broken down.
Post lots of pictures of your Baja!

 

[Scottintexas]

glad to have you on board and we look forward to seeing your pictures and hearing your experiences with her,

 

[RedBarron55]

These early jet boats are mostly unloved, but offer a great learning opportunity!
On the one hand they are usually cheap, but if you can't do the work yourself would be very expensive to fix.
They were popular and if fixed up properly can be just as enjoyable today as way back then.
My Hobie Jet was well reviewed back then and is a nice boat now as well.
The Mercury Sport Jet can be fixed, but some parts are a little hard to find, but if yours is good then why worry?
I got my boat cheaply because of the improper assembly of the engine to the pump and the fact that while the outboard block of the rebuild engine (Previous owner bought) let water get into the exhaust manifold and cylinders. The block had the water inlet hole in the front side of the exhaust open to the bottom if the adapter plate letting water easily flow from the cooling passages to the exhaust.
That took a while to find and I am lucky that one thing did not destroy the engine!.
Corrosion in the old castings and broken bolts are a problem, but manageable.
If you look at the entire system the jet is simpler to work on than an outboard and can easily be owner maintained id you have basic skills and Google.
I suggest changing the ignition over to the late model Mercury CDM system and install a snowmobile of jet-ski rectifier/regulator to better regulate the voltages with modern maintenance free batteries.
Since I already had the red stator buying a three cylinder (90 hp) harness and three CDM modules was all it tooke for the CDM swap over. My stator was good, but the trigger coil was not and only fired reliably on two cylinders.

 

[Blast Sport Jet]

So it all started last August with these 2 pictures my brother texted me. He said it was a good buy and the guy that was selling it was desperate because he was going through a divorce. He bought it hoping to fix it up, but really didn't know what he was doing. The engine turned, but it did not fire. It was a complete boat, but needed a lot of help. Anyways, after a good bit of haggling, I took it home for under $500. I guess one man's struggle is another man's opportunity. I'll post more pictures as I convert them and make them into smaller files. Happy Father's day everyone.