starting my boat on land

Welcome, not sure on a 78, but if you have a single water intake to the raw waterpump, you can hook a garden hose up to the intake side of the pump. You need to be careful not to collapse/suck shut, the garden hose if you rev the motor up too much. This method also does not "test" the water pump, as it forces water into the system.

To check a pump, you can fill a large container (like a 55 gallon drum) with water. Then insert the intake hose in the container. This way will make the water pump do the work.

Do you have pics of your boat? Where you located?

video demonstrating above mentioned "bucket method"

OverMyHead wrote: When mine is cold my prop shaft will turn slowly in nuetral. I always hose down the cutlass bearing under the boat to lube it before starting, and never run in gear out of the lake.

another good point..I've heard of guys spraying the cutless bearing with lube. I lightly clamp a vice grip on the prop shaft inside the boat to keep mine from spinning.

Welcome to the site Adio. Where in Virginia? I'm at Smith Mountain Lake near Roanoke.........

Steve

On my 78, I simply remove the hose that goes to the hull filling on the top end of the tranny cooler, and hook up a hose that gets clamped on with the hose clamp. This hose goers over the side of the boat, and into a cooler or tub that is filled by a garden hose.

This way you can verify that your impeller works properly, and you also don't need to worry about the hose collapsing at higher rpm.