Clean Up Engine Clutter
 

Honing in on 496 BBC NA upgrade. Engine room is pretty large (under cockpit floor) with good access front and rear - looking to CLEAN UP Motors and need ideas/photos/layout samples.

Current layout - twin 454s with closed cooling. Heat exchangers mounted forward. Old school pulleys/brackets. Borgwarner 72s to 2-foot drive shafts to arneson drives. Water intakes are next to gears (sucks) and hoses run all over the place. Gils with 4-foot hoses to transome will stay.

1) hate Merc brackets for alts, water pumps, etc .... clean up front of motors?
2) these will be closed cooled engines but heat exchangers can go anywhere ... cleanest approach?
3) want to hide/minimize wires on engines.
4) hate Merc raw water pumps - is there a crank driven one that is easier to deal with?

Planning stages so post pics of what you have done.

Thanks!
S

i have glenwood CAM driven water /sea pump, dont need sea pump then. but i have heard some negative cooments about my set up.
and it would cost about 600-700 to update. just a thought..[ATTACH=CONFIG]561398[/ATTACH]

http://www.cpperformance.com/p-12935...ater-pump.aspx

I don't have your cooling layout in my mind but I do have an electrical thought that you likely already had.
When I did my engine I loomed the wires and ran the most visible loom along the starboard side of the intake. It carries the water temp sensor wires and shift interrupt leads cleanly to their terminals. (Alpha drive) I also loomed up the ignition power leads and the fuel pump and oil sensor leads along the back and lower sides. They aren't visible, but I was able to group, support and protect them together that way. Split loom is available in many sizes and colors.
Before I built this engine I ran the same Thunderbolt V ignition on the engine that came in the boat, It would hiccup if I hit a big enough wave to get some lift. Doesn't do it now though.
Once you have your best cooling layout you could maybe fix up the appearance of what's in there. Cooling lines are inevitable. You can dress them with covers if you are a bling guy, Or you could cover them with something gray or black if you want to go less ostentatious but still want to improve or change their appearance.

There are serpentine systems for car/truck engines that you could use to modernize it and reduce the belt count. That would require that you check what would work with your engine driven pump. Select one that's the same material and finish as the coolant pump, Maybe look into having it plus your aluminum valve covers somehow matched up for finish (clear coated?) before install if that will extend the life of the finish. Polishing complex shapes can be a PITA. Especially with two engines. So if you could get it all protected before installation it would be a time saver in the long run.
Look at Teague, Eddie Marine, cpperformance, Summit, or other performance outfits for serpentine systems.