Hey guys, I have that extra TPI intake that I was going to use on my camaro, but I just bought a boat with a 350 and would love to throw it on there. Can TPI last in Saltwater? Can the wiring harness handle it? I figure I would have to use a corvette CPU because it is weather tight, but is it useable? Would powdercoating or chroming it make it better for the saltwater enviroment. I know I have seen a TPI engine in a boat, but it was freshwater not salt. Any ideas?

Thanks guys

James

i dunno if tpi would be suited to a boat motor... growing up salt water fishing I dont remember any boats that lugged around at low rpm. Then again most of my experience is with outboard mercury 6 bangers

The parts should be okay and chroming or powder coating would be even better.

I'm wondering though if a TPI is even a good set-up for a boat. The TPI operates best at lower RPM and runs out of power at 4500 RPM. I would think it would be a dog in the water.

Hey Pablo, have u done any fishing around San Diego since coming to Cali? There is some good blue fin and albacore fishing around san diego bay and down south in Baja.

I'm not sure, but I think you would just adjust the gear ratio to run lower rpm. Most stock boats don't have as much power as a tpi and they don't run any higher rpms. By pass the tpi cooling lines so no water goes through it.

Unless you can find some way to coat the "Water Passages" in the Intake completely so they are never exposed to the "Salt Water" you will have to flush the system everytime you take the boat out/
Also you will have to coat everything with something that will protect all the Aluminum and use all "Stainless Steel" or "Titanium" hardware. Otherwise anything that comes in contact with the the mist/salt spray in the air will corrode very quickly. You wont be happy once the corrosion starts.

IMO go for it.
All IO's and other inboards are regular car engines. If you use the boat in salt water then you have to flush the engine and wash the boat after every use like any other boat motor.
Chevys are the most popular with Ford being second for boat engines.
We had a 26ft mini offshore with a 350 vette and Volvo IO. the rev limiter was set for 5200 (about 50mph) and it did every bit of that. Pis...d off some humungous outboards too.
Stuff you are worried about just WD-40 before leaving and clean it off when you return.

Well, we are looking at switching over from a "raw water" system to a fresh water cooled (heat exchanger) system. I know a lot about boats. I am also not worried about the charateristics of the TPI system because 500 - 4500 RPM is perfect for what I want to do with it, IE 25 cruising knots to catalina. Very rarely would I rev it past 4500, withg as much power as the engine has it would probably get on plain somewhere in the hgih 2000, and max out somewhere around 5200. As long as it can withstand the saltwater after powdercoating and I use all stainless steel hardware I should be good to go than. How about the ECM and the wiring harness? Will the connectors corrode very easily? Will a corvette ECM work better for this application? Also I assume Chroming is better for this, but would powdercoating be just as good?

James

I don't know if it will work with tpi, but the ecm used in the "Ram Jet" crate motors is a marine unit. It doesn't use an O2 sensor, but boats aren't subject to smog testing or control anyway. I think the "Ram Jet" fuel injection system which is made to look like the old Rochester system used on 60's Vettes is a batch fired system like the tpi, so that wiring up the ecm to the tpi should work.