Lou427

I’m looking at a boat that currently has a set of hardin marine cyclone shorty headers. Anyone have any experience with these? Are they good, bad, adequate?how does the quality compare to CMI?

thanks
Lou

Helmwurst

I've been looking at them too. my understanding is they are now fabricated in USA. Recent big price increase. I talked to a guy this week that has a newer set on his modified HP500's They look great, perform well and make it easier to change plugs vs the Gil's.

Lou427

cool thanks for the input. Definitely makes me feel alittle better now. Only thing is that I believe these are 10 or so years old. Litttle and low use always flushed. Just nervous about getting salt sea water in the engine.

getrdunn

iTrader: (7)

Hold up. So your looking to purchase the boat right. it’s a salt water boat but always flushed? Every engine I’ve torn down that’s been salt water use looked exactly like I’d expect it to. Not good. How many hours is low use. Not trying to talk you out of it just move forward with caution.

Lou427

no problem at all! Yes I am currently looking to buy the boat that has these headers. Im alittle gun shy of headers over all so that’s why I’m asking. I didn’t even know Hardin made headers until now. Besides taking them off and having them pressure tested is there anything else I can do to inspect them? Hour meter showed 74
i appreciate the help and info

techman

IMHO the 74 hours of run time are not the issue. Running hours tell me the boat was being used and operating as it should more or less. (Unless it is 74 hours at WOT, of course) I would care less about hours run in the salt on a well maintained boat. It's the potential hours/days/months sitting with salt water in the motor. You have to fresh water flush them after the salt runs or it gets ugly fast.

Get all the facts on the boat, do a survey and make your decision based on that. If a set of aftermarket headers is making you nervous what else was modified?

F-2 Speedy

iTrader: (6)

What yr is the boat and the engine is ?

Lou427

it has a blown 540 done by Richie zul, built around 2007. The owner is very meticulous and it shows. He works in the performance boat industry so I don’t doubt him when it comes to maintenance. For a 2004 the boat is like a time Capsule and truly looks new

Helmwurst

Not hard to pressure test those headers. A good tech should be able to do that right on the boat. I have some Gil manifolds that I just pressure tested a month ago. Got some rubber plugs from Menards and hooked up a leak down gauge and hit them with about 30# of air. The riser's are a little tougher.

cig28

I prefer stainless marine but if u don’t flush them after every use if they are used in saltwater no manifold will not last very long. Also I use saltaway.