Well I've had a lot of problems out of my raw water pump and impeller. I replaced plastic housing and impeller still leaked checked it again now I see that water is leaking out the weep hole on the metal housing. So now I'm just going to buy a whole new pump and housing, I'm fed up and afraid of just redoing the seals. So my question is the brass vs stainless steel ones opinions and reviews, they are pretty much the same price. The stainless takes screw in hoses which I don't have so I would have to buy some adaptors but I think I'm leaning towards stainless just because I figured it would be more durable. Any info is appreciated. My engine is a 454 without the fuel pump connected.

imo the stainless pump hardin marine sells is the way to go.

I'll probably catch crap for saying this .Nothing wrong with the plastic housing Seawater pumps .The seals and bearings last for many years and everytime you replace impellor and housing the pump section is all new again .When merc came out with the newer bronze pump I thought "good move" The reality is they groove easily and are not durable for the long haul. M.O.. I'm not that familiar with the aftermarket stainless ones, but is it really a big upgrade ?

I have a Jabsco brass pump. It takes a merc. impeller. Works fine and good water volume.

I went with the stainless because I heard the brass pump wears almost as bad as the plastic. I've had the stainless for several seasons and no sign of wear. I've never had a plastic pump last more than one season and I boat in the cleanest water in the world. I drive a lot of miles in a season and it wears the plastic pumps right out. I do highly recommend hand detailing the stainless pumps as they are pretty rough inside. I radiused all the edges and smoothed the internal pathways as they are a bit more abrupt that the plastic housing.

Three seasons now with the stainless version without issue/wear. The only negative is that you can't see how pretty it looks!

I use the mercruiser plastic version. I just replaced my front part of the pump where the bearings and seals are. wheep hole was leaking but it was original 20 years ago. The plastic pumps are cheap. I buy the whole kit with new seals and bolts for 50.00 sometimes less. If you took the price of that stainless pump 400.00 and divided it by 50.00 every 2 seasons that's 16 boating seasons. I'll stay with the plastic M.O.

What did you clean up the edges and pathways with?

I’ve had great luck with the plastic ones myself for 20 plus years. I replace them after 3 seasons of use and never had an issue.

You can get the whole S.S. pump assembly for about 280.00 & complete S.S. rebuild kit for about 145.00.