Just remember, the OEM Headers from Mercury are not the same material and specification as the CMI Headers from your CMI Dealer or Distributor.

Unfortunately we can't even sell you 525 Headers. Mercury Dealer part only!!

Are they a different grade of stainless,what grades are the aftermarket vs stock? Smitty

Has anyone thougth about getting a company like JETHOT to coat the inside of the headers. The aviation reference got me thinking about it. For those not familiar, they basically apply a ceramic coating to the inside. They do alot with exhaust manifolds for aircraft engines, they say for better heat disipation. Seems to me like this would prevent salt water from ever touching the metal in the first place.

C.

Anyone try replacing the cmi headers with stellings, if so how have they been holding up???

Ken - I have a sneaking suspicion that mine are probably going to go this summer based on everyone elses experience. Did the TIG welding at least let you finish out the summer before you had to replace all the headers? Is there an alternative to the CMI's? We all spend WAY too much money to have these things fail the way they do.

Mine just failed

So is anyone seeing the failure of the headers being terminal to the engine itself due to water ingestion, or can the failure be caught far enough in advance to not nuke the motor?

They should hold up pretty well considering that they aren't junk like the CMI's are!!!

If you have a RInda or Merc laptop program there is a cylinder balance test, I caught weak rear cylinders (7 or 8) due to the leaks, however the engines were due for refresh so I don't know how much longer they would have lasted.

Not sure yet. they are taking the engines out as we speak. Hopefully no damage was done to the block.