Yeah I just did mine,took me about 2 hours to pull both pumps the one that wasn't primed prior to start was toast the starboard one I primed first was good. I'm going to replace both impellers and keep the one as a spare. Brass housings look good.
I think the solution is to run a hose to the inlet suction side of the pump housing drain fitting,and prime it while the motor is running with the muffs on. I'm going to see if my local hydraulic company can match fitting for that drain plug. I can run a hose from my kitchen sink 2 that drain fitting on the pump housing and pump water in it under pressure so that pump will never starve and should prime very fast while the engine is running and I will walk in back and see if it is spitting water out. this should be a good solution for future issues then I don't have to worry about this ever again when starting motors in spring.