Quote:
Originally Posted by 8gv
After each use I thoroughly rinse off the outdrive and transom assembly and also run the motor on fresh water for ten minutes.
I have been told that the risers and manifolds, being open to the air, are going to rust anyway but maybe a little slower as a result of my diligence.
After repeatedly losing the salt war on my I/O's down there I am certain that my next FL boat will be an outboard!
|
I/Os and constant salt water use are a terrible match, I/Os and constant warm salt water use are worse... I'm making changes to my boating lifestyle that includes a lot of warm salt water and my "new" boat is inboard with closed cooling. No more I/Os for me. I'm sure I'll have a host of new things to deal with, but I won't miss changing gimbal bearings, bellows, shift cables, U-joints, gimbal rings, trim senders and all the other wear items on an I/O.
I will miss the speed and efficiency though, my "new" boat tops out at 5 knots less than the cruising speed of my I/O boat. Being able to easily and comfortably cruise 100+ nm a day while also having plenty of time to spend in interesting ports made for some great adventures.
The OP must have picked up a 454MAG EFI or MPI, which is the rectangular port version of the 454 if he's seeing a 50 hp increase over his alpha/454 combo. That MAG version has a bigger cam compared to the oval port truck 454s that are much more common. It also has all the wonderful forged and balanced internal parts and a higher WOT RPM. Combined with a B3 on a 268 weekender, it will be an awesome package, IMO. Additionally, I am pretty sure it's actually a 75HP or 85HP increase over the oval port carbureted motor too, if memory serves. This is because between the time the two motors were rated for power, they switched from rating at crankshaft HP to rating at prop shaft HP, which subtracts all the losses in the drive. The 454MAG EFI or MPI is a really a 415 HP engine (385 at the prop shaft). The carbureted oval port 454 is only 330 HP, 300 at the prop shaft. Should be a fantastic project with awesome hardware!