HELLO!

This 1990 31 Scarab with rebuilt 454 mags will be my 1st boat ever. I purposely bought from greatlakes because of salt down here in FL.

Some say that I should put closed cooling b4 ever setting it in salt and others are saying it is a waste of money. I want to keep the boat for 3-5 yrs... Other than occasionally hitting the bahamas it will be on a trailer and I will flush it. What do you think??? Will it make a difference for longevity for my purposes or will resale cover the 2-3g it will cost to do this?

Thanks!

Frank

Closed cooling will give you peace of mind that the salt isn't deteriating the motor internally. And as for resale, would be a plus selling and showing they came from fresh water and you can show receipts that it went to closed cooling when you brought it south.

Good Luck!

I run closed cooling in salt water. I woudlnt have it any other way. Mercs system bolts right on and works well.

Should help resale, peace of mind

Hello... Yeah It Seems That Everyone Is Divided On This One... If 3-5yrs Of Weekend Use... If Closed Is Going To Make A Difference Mechanically On Rebuilt 454's 15 Hrs Ago.

I Heard That If I Run These In Salt, I Cannot Rebuild Them... Is This True??? And Don't Engines Only Last Around 400 Hrs Before You Have To Rebuild???

Any Advise Would Be Greatly Appreciated

And Checkmate, Saw Your Post On Closed Cooling, Great Stuff... But Why Did You End Up Only Going Half System??/

Thanks!

As far as I know, the full system still has salt water in the risers or tailpipes. Also, I wasnt really happy with any full system that I found. Since I am running full dry tails, I can easily flush out the raw water side after every use. I dont even have to run the engine.

Even with closed cooling a dedicated boat owner will still spend a considerable amount of time clean flushing the heat exchangers. If you are dedicated to removing salt intrusion then don't waste your money on those systems.

The motors can always be rebuilt providing nothing catestrophic has occured & you have always maintained the motors properly. Additionally upon repowering you will more than likely use your motors as cores and install two new or rebuilt long blocks adding or changing the other components as you go.