Winterizingof a sort

"Hi all. As I looked around v

"Hi all. As I looked around various places, read various threads, and in general, started seeing people put their boats up for the winter, a strange thought came to mind. Which is nothing unusual with me, but anyway! I live in Southeast Texas, and have many days during the winter when it's plenty warm enough to get the boat out and cruise the lakes. We do however have occassional freezes, and yes, even snow (once). But my question is, is there such thing as a "partial winterize"? In other words, I wouldn't want to completely winterize my motor, but just enough to make sure the block/outdrive wouldn't crack if we hit a freezer overnight. I would assume at the very least that this would involve ensuring the engine is completely drained, but is there a way to do this where I could easily "bring it back" ready for a nice weekend cruise?

Oh, and for the record, I have a 1984 IMP with the 5.0L OMC. Just had it out last weekend and it ran great! Was a beautiful day for cruising!"

"Many folks in your situation

"Many folks in your situation use bilge heaters, keeps it warm enough incase the temp drops down to freezing. Do a Google on "bilge heater".

Caution...you may hear of some guys hanging a light bulb from an extension cord but I don't recommend that for safety reasons, fire explosion, not covered under insurance...etc."

"Ah, of course. I'll look

"Ah, of course. I'll look around for the bilge heater.

I've heard about the light thing, just not for a boat. They use 'em for RV's frequently, though it's much less dangerous I suppose on a water tank than in an enclosed engine compartment. "

just open the 4 drains after e

just open the 4 drains after each outing. I do that every year in October/November. If we get warm days I tighten the plugs and go boating. Get home and open them.

well havent tried this but hea

well havent tried this but heard down th grape vine that you could get a garden hose cut it and connect it to your ear muffs then stick the cut end in a thing of antifrees or couple of bottes and run the engine till it starts sparying back out ..... then youstill have anti sitting in the motor ... what is the truth to this . cause i also live in texas same region

"You can do that, I know a lot

"You can do that, I know a lot of guys that do and some places even sell a kit just for that. You should try and get it warmed up enough to open the T-stat (or remove it for the winter).

I just drain mine, 2 block drains, the 2 manifolds and the big water pump hose and usually pour a little antifreeze down the t-stat."