How to salt proof an outboard?

[rme25v]

I'm in the middle of a major restoration of a Johnson 15hp. (and the crappy trailer that took it into town)

My plans are to use this engine both in fresh and saltwater.

What upgrades can I do? 

Can I buy a performance head gasket? 

Will the water jackets corrode, and how to stop that?

A fiber reinforced water pump impeller would be kinda nice to, I can't believe its just made outta crappy PVC rubber. No wonder the impellers are disposable! (Easy to replace but seriously OMC? Your engineers are crap. )

My major thought is since I already have this thing in pieces, I want to build it to the best specs I can possibly build it because I don't want to have to tear it down again basically ever if I can avoid that.

Is there any "performance" support for these small boat motors at all? (bigger cylinder jugs, performance crankshafts...etc.)


In any case I'll be posting my rebuild thread up in here soon, probably within the next three weeks or so. I'm hoping to help some other folks who have an old motor they want to revive. 

Ya'll can call me crazy wanting to run a Jon boat in saltwater but I'm planning on it, I know this motor and boat can go anywhere I can take it but I want to build up the motor so it can take some real abuse. 


Thanks! 

Happy Turkey Day everyone! 

[ncsportfisher]

Not sure if there are any different gasket materials that you can use but the simple steps are: Flush outboard after every use, use a corrosion inhibitor on the inside. There is a product called salt away that you can hook up to the ear muffs and run through the motor. It is also good to spray on the outboard.