My brother has a set for sale too for BBC. His do not leak, etc.

He has a full custom dry setup for a 22 Donzi classic, with the water dumps past the transom so you don't have to drill holes. He took it off because it was LOUD.

The casting in that area is real thin and can not take excessive heat. I had a problem with them 15 years ago and thay were at the Miami Boat show and at that time they said they were going to change the casting and make it thicker in that area but I don't think it happened.

Tyler, I used to see the same problems...especially on the late model engines that had the fuel pump mounted on the sea pump. Usually the customers wiuldd have a bad fuel pump and then the impellor went bad while they were running and we would have to fix/repail the seals in the pump housing, replace the impeler and fuel pump and the manifolds were junked... Expensive repair for those guys... :(

:cool-smiley-027:So as soon as the impeller went kaput, no water to the manifolds and bingo - the manifolds get so hot they crack?

This situation isn't specific to Gils, is it? I would guess any cast aluminum would suffer under these conditions, including heads...anybody fooled around with an electric water pump as backup?
:evilb:

How about selling your Gils while they're still worth something and finding a deal on Stainless Marine's?

:party-smiley-004:Well, I had one set with long tails included in a package deal from Blown Formula and already had a set of mid-length Gil tails from a previous deal.

I like the weight savings and the design of the Gil flange (with bolts) - the quality of the tails is superb. I don't have any experience with either manufacturer but need to complete the setup, so thought I'd ask for some history lessons.

Thunderstruck is going to sell me at least one set, perhaps two so I have a couple of spares for the ones I break!:hitfan:

NO....the 500's were sold with Gil's back then....so the problem was common...AND the manifold split in the same area that was mentioned above...

We had so many failures with the water pump/fuel pump assembly is was rediculous... it actually got to a point that the housings were on back order and it was hard to get a pump assembly....

Just stating my experience when I did this for a living... nothing more..

The problem is when they break they can take the engine with them. I just don't like to wait for it to happen.

:cool-smiley-027:
So, lack of coolant is what causes the Gils to crack...whether by water pump failure or extended "air" time could do it?
If the Gils are real sensitive to coolant presence, I guess this isn't the setup for offshore but more for smooth water racing. This is where the stainless would shine (no pun intended).

How do you guys keep the water pumps together when wave-hopping? I took the seawater pumps apart on the used 454's last week and I'm surprised at how vulnerable they are..isn't there a better design available than this?

Nigel,

The mail box store was closed today so I get shipping costs tomorrow.