Recently sold my 280 Silencer which had tons of room in the engine compartment to get in there and wrench on things.... Now I have a 340 Vyper w/496 HO's and.... Not so much room! How does one go about doing the (what should be) simple jobs, most importantly the sea water pumps? The only other engine related maintenance things that I am going to do before next year are: serpentine belts, fuel filters, oil changes/drive oil and thermostats. Luckily I think plugs and wires are good... that looks like a fun job, almost seems like you'd have to pull one motor? Any advice (besides lots of rum) before working on this would be appreciated.

I have 34 vyper with 500 efi's ,it took me about three hours to do both. But I don't know if the same pump. As far as the spark plugs Pull one out and take a look. We had 400 hrs on a pair of 496s and they looked brand-new

Single engine boats do have their advantages in the engine compartment.

Not sure if it's the same either about the which fuel pump is on it, I don't work much on analog engines, usually just digital ones from Mercury Racing.

I think the stbd side water pump will be ok, but port side is another story... You can get in there and can't see below it. I need a couple more hands. Wish I could teach my 7 lb dog to do the job.

Once you remove the idler pulley bracket that goes over the seawater pump studs, it opens up quite a bit.

That was the biggest thing I hated about going from the 280 to the 290. What a nightmare for wrenching!

That's why I settled on a 380 versus the 340 I started looking at. Just had to pull a motor to fix an issue and wasn't horrible at all. Actually many parts far easier than my old 253 Checkmate single was.