I don't know about the original poster's situation, of course, but in my case I'm going to replace the pump and motor as a unit purely as an energy savings effort. I haven't done the math yet, but I figure going from a 1 1/2 HP down to a 1/2 or 3/4 HP should result in enough energy savings at some point to offset the $200 to $300 cost of the pump/motor combo - probably add some more cost for plumbing, and I like your suggestion of housing the motor from the weather elements ...