Help needed with boat choice
 

I am looking at two 05 Formulas. Both have twin 496's w/closed cooling. One with 475 hours fresh water vs same boat, salt water, 217 hours , lift kept, no bottom paint on either. Both very clean. One question is whether the salt water boat will still need new manifolds now due to 5 years in salt? If it does, any ideas how much it cost to replace those? Thanks

Yes
No
And take the fresh water boat

Fresh water boat would be my choice, saltwater is hard on everything

If all else is even (besides the hours), definitely the fresh water boat. I have been amazed at the corrosion that is seen on boats that spend much time in the salt. It is not just the manifiolds, but everything, including every electrical connection that there is.

That said, I have some buddies that purchased saltwater boats that have been very, very well taken care of and they have had no problems. Maybe have a survey done?

Survey, Survey, Survey.....

That being said it is a tough call. A well maintained, flushed after each run/weekend, lift kept saltwater boat with less than 1/2 the hours of the freshwater boat, will give you 250 more hours of operation before engine rebuilds. For me that would be two to three seasons.

Does salt water go thru manifolds and risers on these closed cooled 496's?

i have seen fresh water boat's that look a lot worse then salt water boat's when the salt water boat is taken care of ,
for some reason there are some people that boat in fresh water dont take care of there boat's because they think fresh water is not corrosive but it is , and then you also have a lot of minerals in some fresh water lake's that also will destroy the inside of a motor when not flushed ,
get a survey and take a look at the boat's your self .
example,
salt water boat's need to be flushed after use and also spray the motor's ect, down with a crc or wd-40 to help keep the corision off but you also need to spray down the motor's ect in a fresh water boat other wise pully's hose clamp's ect , get a lot of rust on them , and if the fresh water boat is in a lake with a lot of mineral's i would say to flush it also .

mike

Check the exhaust manifolds externally with a magnet. If they are the aluminum exhaust manifolds then they definitley should be replaced, but in both cases the exhaust risers are stainless and should outlast the boat. If you change exhaust consider the Dana Flo-Torque 496 kits as they will add as much as 40-50HP at about $2500 per set and they will not crack or have some of the CMI stainless tube cracking and reversion issues some 496 owners have seen. Just my two cents.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Check the exhaust manifolds externally with a magnet. If they are the aluminum exhaust manifolds then they definitley should be replaced, but in both cases the exhaust risers are stainless and should outlast the boat. If you change exhaust consider the Dana Flo-Torque 496 kits as they will add as much as 40-50HP at about $2500 per set and they will not crack or have some of the CMI stainless tube cracking and reversion issues some 496 owners have seen. Just my two cents.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar