Like I said, having a lot of time to weigh options is a great thing.jhnmdahl wrote:If in salt with a sterndrive, definitely OceanX outdrive or similar, and no raw water cooling! Replacing the heat exchanger in a closed-loop cooling system is a pain, but not as much as a new engine.
The downside is that having a lot of time to weigh options greatly complicates the decision. But my personality is to break everything down and research until my head hurts. It's hurting right now.
My particular issue is that I never thought I would be buying a new boat, so new technology and options are all new to me. I haven't boat shopped in 15 years, so there is a lot of catch up to do.
I made the mistake of checking out an R5, and then really messed up by showing it to my wife. She is the boat lover in my family.
If I were to build my dream, it would be an R7 with a 350 or bigger Merc outboard.
I'm pretty convinced an outboard is the way to go in all cases today, and especially true if there is a possibility of mixed fresh salt use.
So, it's either a 25SC, or an R7 as it sits going into the boat show in Toronto.
Question, is there a way to properly flush the heat exchanger on a cobalt equipped with a 380 VP?
Thanks.