Opinions on Headers Wanted
 

I am on the brink of buying two sets of new keith eickert headers/manifolds. Am looking for any opinions on problems, performance, reversion resistance, sound etc. Seems like the best of all worlds and I like the whole concept. On the other hand, I always hate to find out after I spend thousands of dollars about a problem, so I appeal to the OSO knowledge base for advise, opinions... good bad or indifferent.

Thanks in advance,

Dave

The older Eickerts are among the best headers out there.

Are the old one cast or the "real" tube headers Cord?

Dave

I have been running them four years without a problem! They definetly make hp and have their own sound! You will be very satisfied!

Can't run a procharger on a motor running Eickerts.

I have them on 1100hp blower motors that have performed flawlessly for 3 seasons. Before I did the blower motors, they were on a pr. of carb'd 850 hp. motors.
They aren't as "pretty" as CMI's or Stellings, but they do the job, just as well, in my opinion.
When we dyno'd the blower motors we used the Eikerts and made 1100hp @ 15 lb's boost and 1050ft-lbs torque. We switched to a larger set of dyno headers to try to simulate CMI's big tubes and only gained 10 hp. At that time I made the decision not to use CMI's or Stellings as there didn't seem to be any more of a performance gain for the additional cost.

The "old" ones are the cast header.

The cast aluminum header is the one that I'm refering to. If there is a "new" one, it is the same as the "old" header with a few water outlets in different locations.
Keith Eikert bought the molds for the headers from a friend of mine here in Minnesota. He had P-F Marine that produced that header until Keith bought the molds. Keith changed a few things but they are basicly the same.
They are a great equal length marine header. You won't be sorry if you choose to use them, in either configuration.

Thanks for all the great responses. I am curious what the perceieved drawback would be in using these in a blown application. All I can think of is runner size.

I called kieth eickert yesterday and was told he is no longer casting the manifolds and has sold operation. They are still being produced but by someone else.

I have a line on these for $2k per set which seems very good.

Dave

That's why I was refering to the "new" vs "old" Keith Eickert.

Your sutphen sounds nice Bob. I am sold on the eickerts. I didn't know that was what was under the hatch. I was sitting on a freinds 42' carver (on your main) at Tomes several weeks ago when you came in. I like your ride!

Dave

Blue Thunder, KE's pipe works. I had Stellings, looked great but all I did was worry about a tube leaking and doing some damage. I even had a pump deal hooked up to drain the pipes on shutdown. Sold the Stellings and went to KE's and haven't looked back! I am going to be with KE next week, let me know if I can help you out. Next time your in Tomes stop over say hello, I am normally out tinkering with something on the boat. Slip is D-9.

I too have KE's and have about 250 hrs. plus on them and they have been AWESOME. They are just a little on the loud side, so to keep my canal neighbors happy I installed Shotgun mufflers. Where do you buy KE exhausts now?
MD

I'll do that Bob. Every time I've been over to Tomes you are under the hatch. ;) Man after my own heart for sure.

Dave

I think they are great. The only failure I have seen is we melted one down once while getting way too much air time on a very serious engine. I think a good large sea water strainer (acting like a reservour) would have prevented that.

I run closed cooling. Any problem with that and the KEs? Hate to end up with your situation F31. I am actually hoping these headers have better water flow characteristics than the stock cast iron ploppage. I am think better water flow through the system will help my oil coolers to be more effective.

Dave

Blue Thunder, I ran a set of KE's on my previous boat which had a closed cooling system and mad 620 hp at 5500. Stock Merc seawater pump, 190 thermos and ran great. I now run KE two stage water pump with fresh water cooling. I can cruise at 3500 for an hour and come off plane and you lay your hand on the manifolds, maybe 140 degrees or so. If you want you can install exh temp thermos without a problem also.

Dave, I may be wrong here but I think that even in a closed cooling setup, the exhaust manifold and pipes are still cooled by raw water, arent they?

I may install exhaust temp gages. That seems like a good fact to have while running hard. My raw water system flows from the outdive pickup to the seapump, then to the oil cooler, then through the engine coolant heat exhanger, then to a tee that splits the raw water through both exhaust manifold/ risers and out the tips. I want more flow through the oil cooler. I think the stock merc cast iron manifolds may be causing some resrtiction to flow which contributes to high oil temps at WOT. My flow out the tips seems weak to me.

Dave

I made my KE purchase today at Innovation Marine, Sarasota. 2 sets $4k plus $400 for 2 sets of tail pipes. I was very impressed with Innovation's operation and the attitude of the establishment. Hopefully I will be as pleased with the headers.

Dave

Why not???

The headers sweep forward into the area where a centrifugal blower is usually mounted in front of the one valve cover. Same problem with any header that does this before curving back towards the transom.

I am very familiar with the KE cast headers that were purchased from Innovation Marine. These are the same that were used on the Volvo Penta High Horsepower engines when they were available. I was the VP of Engineering at the time.

They were chosen after much dyno testing to validate their output and value. You can buy a bit more HP with other brands but your $'s per incremental HP gain goes off the chart.

The only caution I would have is that if you ever loose a raw water impeller and have even a minor overheat, I would pressure check the headers for leaks internally. the cast aluminum is not as durable potentially as other manufacturing methods.

A water injested engine is an expensive fix!

Helmpilot - good stuff. Innovation did recommend I install a water pressure gage to prevent just what you said. I also run closed cooling (like the volvo 600s) and am at risk of not knowing about a lack of flow immediately. While I was there Innovation was dyno-ing a 600 with these headers. Sounded great. They also had a row of these engines sitting on the floor brand new, complete and ready for sale. Very nice package.

Just curious Helmpilot, where were you the VP, Innovation or Volvo?

Dave