Alloy water pump (circulating engine)

[woobs]

Most of you salties can probably pass on this one...

Now I'm looking at Aluminum marine water pumps.

Dennis Moore has them on flea bay with pretty cool specs and a 50% weight savings
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALUMINUM-CHE...item256620537b


Thoughts, comments?

[gcarter]

If you want to do something interesting in aluminum, try an electric pump by Meziere, they're available on ebay also.
I've done a couple of these and have been very pleased with the advantages it gives you, not to mention the opportunity to get rid of a belt.

[woobs]

Does the electric free up much useable power? The 4.3 V6 WOT is 44-4800.
I didn't realize they were for marine use....
do I have to go to a closed system? (freshwater boat)

[gcarter]

I would imagine the original circ pump is 1/4-1/3 HP, maybe a little more when you count belt losses.
The heavy duty Meziere is about 1/10 HP (calculating from Watts consumed).
No, you don't necessarily need a closed system (but it's always a good idea) since you're running in fresh water, but the cleaner the water, the better.
One of the best advantages of the electric pump is the temp hardly ever varies since it runs at a constant speed, i.e., after coming off throttle while running hard, the temp doesn't skyrocket due to lack of circulation.