Help fitting heater

Which fittings do I need to tap into to get the hot water. I've attached pix of where I think. The first shows the t-bar that comes off the front of the manifold and I'm pointing at a plug I think should be one point of take off - am I right to use this?

The second shot shows the recirc. pump and the two ports I could tap into ... question is which one do I go with, the one at the top or the one down the left (you can see them quite clearly due to the red sealant).
Help much appreciated - I need to be warm this spring!!

I am not sure from the pictures but on mine I tapped into the intake manifold to get the hot water. I put in a shut off valve like a garden hose type in the top front of the intake manifold. Then I hooked the other hose in the middle port of the recirculating pump. The only problem is that there isn't that much heat when you are at idle. I saw in a post at malibu boats owners that someone put the recirculating line Tee into the main water pump line where the impeller is. This supposedly increased the heat output at idle. I am going to try that this season. The way I have it now is good when you are running over 2000 rpm otherwise there isn't much heat. I hope Teeing into the impeller line will help this.

My pix fell in the wrong order, but my second pic is taken standing at the front (pulley) end of the engine looking down on to the big T that comes off the front of the manifold. The plug I'm pointing at is the one I was considering tapping - correct or not?? It is in fact just next to what I think is a temperature sensor ...

As for the second option of tapping into the impeller line instead of the recirc. pump, I don't understand how this can give you warmer water 'cos as far as I recall the impeller pumps raw cold water - so, is the idea that by tapping into the impeller line you are in fact drawing hot water faster from the manifold end?

And do you tap into the raw water line before it reaches the impeller as oposed to the line after the impeller?

Also, I trust doing this doesn't starve the engine of its cooling requirements?

You tap into the line before the impeller. The impeller will draw water all the time at a fairly fast pace. This is why it keeps it hotter at idle. The impeller forces/sucks the water through the heater core faster that the recirculating pump will which means the core will stay hotter. To answer the question about starving the engine if anything it will add more water to it.

OK cool, thanks, I think I'm gonna go see my buddy who does metal fabrication and get him to weld me one of the bard fittings that comes with the kit into to form a Y fitting in some stainless 1 1/4" tube - should do the trick.

I'm still not sure about the pickup point on the front of the manifold. Anyone shed any light on whether the shot of me pointing is the right plug to tap in to? The only other plugged ports I can find at the front end of the manifold I think are vacuum holes and I certainly don't wanna tap them ...

Anyone shed some light?
Ta

On the actual intake manifold at the top of the engine. There may be a temp sending unit that has a wire coming off of it. This is what tells the temp gauge the temp of the engine. You could put a tee on that and use that as the supply. Drop me a email if you want and I could give you my number and I could help talk you through it.

No need to weld any stainless, just spend like a buck on a t-fitting like this one. Just T into the line right before the raw water intake, it works great for low idle heat!

OK guys so where can I get of a t-piece or the 'proper' heatercraft y-piece to do this sht? I can't seem to find it on any of the wensites that sell heatercraft.

Also, can anyone post a pick of where they are getting their hot water source out the front of the manifold ... I'm running a '98 merc. scorpion and there appear to be a couple of places I could tap for hot water but just wanna make double sure ..

many thanks in advance

Might be hard to see the black hose is the heater next to the red one which is the shower. hope this helps.

John, you absolute legend!! That is just the shot I needed for clarification. I can't seem to find a prefab. t-piece anywhere - not even heatercraft - so I've got a bud making one up for me from some stainless tubing. The spring will be warm afterall!!

Thansk for everyone's, help much appreciated.

If you call heatercraft they will sell you the part for $30. Any homeimprovement store will have them, so will most hardware stores.

Glad I could help!
J

http://www.go2marine.com sells Heatercraft parts