Reading your response to the question of "pushers vs. pullers", I'm vary interested of your opinion on this.
I have a .48 mounted inverted with a 9" pusher.
Naturally, being inverted, the muffler points forward rather than behind.
In your expert opinion, what if I bent a tubing to extend the exhaust of the muffler to within one inch of the engine head?
Would you think the exaust is cool enough to have any cooling effect on the engine?
Thanks,
Sirwalter

You would just be spraying your motor with unburned fuel. I believe I would shy away from that idea. You would have one messy motor dripping fuel all over your boat.

I would turn the motor around and save your engine. I had a friend build one with the same intentions as you; looking like a real boat using a nitro motor (46LA w/ 11-6 prop). He had the same size hull as my boats. The boat didn't perform well at all. Had a hard time running dry and the boat was sluggish. My 46LA puller would run circles around it.

If you are wanting to build a boat with a pusher that looks like a real boat I would suggest using a different motor. Something like a weedeater or if you want a little more beef go with a good size chainsaw motor. You would be able to run pushers on these with good performance. The extra torque of these motors allow you to run bigger dia. props with more pitch.

Thanks,
Didn't think of that...!
Glad I asked for advice.

The exhaust gasses maybe a few degrees cooler than the engine head, actually they might be even more than that due to the fact that head heat is causing by the combustion of the fuel, and friction between the cylinder and the piston. However, lots of oil, unburnt fuel and the sort is expelled by the exhaust, to direct this onto the engine head would create a huge mess. If you are really concerned about cooling install a water pickup and wrap a coil of copper tubing around the head.

Thanks for the advise.