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CMI headers
Who has the best pric on CMI headers? i have found the lowest price so far is west coast offshore. Need to buy two sets thanks in advance |
Try Teague Custom Marine. I believe the do the most volume for CMI's
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West Coast is hard to beat on pricing. When I was looking, they had the best price.
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that west coast guy is unorganized at best and shady or more at worst. the prices on the website he will not honor, said they needed to be "updated". then it didnt include the distribution tubes. finally i asked for the total cost and he couldnt tell me then and needed to get back to me.that took 4 weeks and the price was a little more than teague. this was the spring of 18' btw.
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Originally Posted by SABER28
(Post 4667382)
that west coast guy is unorganized at best and shady or more at worst. the prices on the website he will not honor, said they needed to be "updated". then it didnt include the distribution tubes. finally i asked for the total cost and he couldnt tell me then and needed to get back to me.that took 4 weeks and the price was a little more than teague. this was the spring of 18' btw.
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Thanks guys this is allot of money for me and the last thing I want is ”oh you want water distribution tubes” |
Do yourself a favor and buy stainless marine... |
it was a major purchase for me too. it bought mine through my boat builder. ive had very good luck with hardin and teague also.
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cmi has gotten a bad name for leaking but i think most of them that do have been overheated. and besides they look cool.:D
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https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...than-umrp.html You can read this thread but I think I ended up buying my tails from that Florida Offshore Specialties company.... It's worth a call |
When it comes time to replace my CMIs, I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the Thunder and Lightning headers from Diamond Performance. I've ran them on 2 other boats, and they are every bit as good as the best CMI race header, at a fraction of the price and they DON'T CRACK!
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I would definitely be open to other options, I am just trying to avoid reversion. I am building a 509 that is naturally aspirated and through my research I need a good quality exhaust to take advantage of my head and cam combo |
If you are open to other options, I would use the Thunder and Lightings. If you are not familiar with them, they used to be the Keith Eickert headers. They do not have the bling that the CMIs have, but they will last virtually forever with no headaches. Also, they only cost $2990 a set, which is half the price of the CMI Sport Tubes and have longer runners as well. There is really no downside to them.
My last boat was a Formula 292 SR1 with 509's. With those engines and the exhaust mentioned, I was able to get that boat to 87 mph. That's a tall feat for that hull, and NA engines. There were other things that attributed to that speed as well, -3 IMCOs being one, but the headers played a big role in allowing the engines to reach their full potential. Thunder-N-Lightning Cast Aluminum Exhaust Headers :: Thunder & Lightning Headers :: Exhaust Systems :: Diamond Performance Parts |
sent you a pm Baja O
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Any one have thoughts / experience with Lightning headers?
They offer Fresh water or SS. Prices don't seem to bad for marine headers. boat headers,marine exhaust,lightning headers,boat exhaust |
No offense but those thunder and lightning headers are hideous...they might perform and stop reversion, but man they are an eyesore. |
Originally Posted by 1MOSES1
(Post 4667563)
No offense but those thunder and lightning headers are hideous...they might perform and stop reversion, but man they are an eyesore. |
Originally Posted by 92nsx
(Post 4667454)
Any one have thoughts / experience with Lightning headers?
They offer Fresh water or SS. Prices don't seem to bad for marine headers. boat headers,marine exhaust,lightning headers,boat exhaust |
just pony up and spend the cash, nothing looks as good.:D
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Nice looking engine Sabre tell me about them what kind of hp |
Here are some shots of cmi and stainless marine on our boat...https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...a2ff8781a.jpeg |
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Originally Posted by SABER28
(Post 4667564)
yes and they are bulky too. in a boat like mine they would'nt even fit. if your boat has a narrow beam do some careful measuring first.
How many engines have been ruined from leaking CMIs, ALOT! How many from leaking Thunder and Lightings- zero. Which make more power? Thunder and lightnings. E tops are just a fancy manifold and are comparable to stainless marine and Gil. Their runners are far to short for any type of scavanging. You would have to compare to sport tubes. Two sets of sport tubes with tails is going to run around $16,000. Two sets of thunder and Lightning’s will run $7200, AND make more power. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b9b3164b5.jpeg |
I thought the Thunder and Lightenings were ugly until my CMIs leaked nearly killing my engine then the T&Ls started to look beautiful, lol. In all fairness my headers are old and second hand so they’ve lived a good life. The T&L units when powder coated look really nice! |
my boat is about 7'4" in the back and those thunders just wouldnt fit. im sure you are right in the other aspects though.
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Originally Posted by Bajaorlando
(Post 4667578)
Nice looking engine Sabre tell me about them what kind of hp |
Originally Posted by endeavour32
(Post 4667621)
The CMI e top has little to no advantage to total width. I had them in an 8’ beam boat, with 35.5” center lines. I had room on the outside, and enough room to fit the hatch ram between the engines. As to looks, that is all an opinion. Do CMI’s look nicer than Thunder and Lightings, sure. Are they any eye sore, no! How many engines have been ruined from leaking CMIs, ALOT! How many from leaking Thunder and Lightings- zero. Which make more power? Thunder and lightnings. E tops are just a fancy manifold and are comparable to stainless marine and Gil. Their runners are far to short for any type of scavanging. You would have to compare to sport tubes. Two sets of sport tubes with tails is going to run around $16,000. Two sets of thunder and Lightning’s will run $7200, AND make more power. https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...b9b3164b5.jpeg I would like to see the comparison on a bit more built motor. |
Originally Posted by Wildman_grafix
(Post 4667639)
Do you have any Dyno charts to show the lightings over sport tubes? The only I have is with a old HP500 stock. I would like to see the comparison on a bit more built motor. |
Originally Posted by Wildman_grafix
(Post 4667639)
Do you have any Dyno charts to show the lightings over sport tubes? The only I have is with a old HP500 stock. I would like to see the comparison on a bit more built motor. |
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...efc445f0f.jpeg
The 509's in my Sunsation had Lightnings. While the appearance is personnel opinion, they were for all intents and purposes awesome 13+ years and still going. |
The early CMI sweepers on the 525's had issues but I think the later design with the cool collar is much improved and not as susceptible to leaks, ethanol and salt will eat stainless over time.
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I forget who did the test back in the day. Hot boat maybe?
https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...s-502s-k-e.jpg I believe Raylar did some header comparisons on the dyno also, only on a 496. |
Re Eickert(lightning) headers, I cant say for sure about power gain or loss, my motors were dynoed with dyno headers. But I do know that the builder liked the runner length both for power and reversion. IMO...Bang for the buck you cant touch them with anything else.
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Can O2 bungs effectively be added to the Thunder and lightenings? |
Originally Posted by endeavour32
(Post 4667654)
Sport tubes are supposed to produce about 15 hp more then e-tops, and in the old HP 500 test I believe the Eickerts made 18 more hp the e tops, so I would say that the Sport Tubes and Eickerts are very close. I'm not at all going to disagree with the bling factor with the CMIs. I love looking at the CMIs on my 525s, but when the time comes, they will be replaced with Thunder and Lightnings. CMIs are 2x the price and no benefit other than bling. Give the thunder anhttps://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...99933e29dc.jpg
d lightings a nice two stage power coat, and you can get a bit of the bling back, lol. |
Thanks for everyone’s help sabre nice boat and thanks for the info f2 thanks for the tips going to get a couple of sets from offshore specialties i forgot about those guys as I bought a set from them a couple of years ago |
Originally Posted by endeavour32
(Post 4667654)
Sport tubes are supposed to produce about 15 hp more then e-tops, and in the old HP 500 test I believe the Eickerts made 18 more hp the e tops, so I would say that the Sport Tubes and Eickerts are very close. I'm not at all going to disagree with the bling factor with the CMIs. I love looking at the CMIs on my 525s, but when the time comes, they will be replaced with Thunder and Lightnings. CMIs are 2x the price and no benefit other than bling. Give the thunder and lightings a nice two stage power coat, and you can get a bit of the bling back, lol.
That is the old test I had and if I remember the one thing the lightings had was a bit of a midrange hole. But with a bigger motor and more agrressive cam who knows. The builder i know just did some 540’s that full trim was in the 640-645hp range with full CMI long tube headers. I wish he could have put a set of the lightings on that would have been interesting. Too bad we dont have more real side by side data. I wonder if Eddie Y has ever done any tests. For cost you can not beat the price of the lightings. |
I have heard that with big cube engines or blower set up's the T L exhaust doesn't have big enough tubes to flow properly.
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