Quote:
Originally Posted by ITD
I would think the problem with pulling heads in the water would be keeping the water from filling up the boat once the water jackets were exposed.
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That would be easy to avoid, the water passes through water pump, and if equipped: the power steering cooler, fuel cooler, and oil cooler; before it goes into the engine via the thermostat housing. One could simply remove the port side inlet hose at the thermostat housing (and plug it, though it's very likely high enough that plugging won't be necessary) to prevent any issues. One would want to drain the water from the motor regardless, otherwise cooling water will end up in the cylinders when you pull the head.
Boat heads are typically MUCH easier to remove than car heads because the exhaust system does not get very hot and comes apart easily. That said, access to the head is a function of boat design and that can vary wildly...
Removing the head is not very daunting, there are 8 exhaust manifold bolts, 1 distributor bolt, 2 thermostat housing bolts, 12 intake manifold bolts, 4 valve cover bolts, and 17 head bolts. One would also need to disconnect the fuel line and some electrical connectors, as well as a bracket or two for the throttle/shift cables and perhaps the ECM, slave solenoid and circuit breaker, but it's all pretty straight forward.