Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Looking for some cheap, but good, ways to upgrade performance / efficiency of a '99 454 mag. One idea that I've been kind of tossing around is upgrading the manifolds from the stock 454 to the Mercs 496 manifold. Thinking that I might be able to find a good deal on some used ones around a couple hundred buck or so.

So with this in mind I have a couple of questions:

Has anyone done this?

If so is it worth it (performance / efficiency increase)?

Is it a direct replacement (just bolt on a go..)?

Any other thoughts would be more than greatly appreciated..

Thanks in advance for your time...

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

How much $ is cheap to you?
I just got stainless marine manifolds for my 454 mag.
But I think there may be better bang for the $ in other areas.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Ahhh...Well as cheap as possible....~$200-$300.

I dunno if that is even reasonable or not, just an idea..

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

I don't know what merc manifolds cost, but the stainless marine are closer to $1000.
HP don't come cheap.
You will need significant HP to see any speed gains.
I think prop work might be the way to go... just my $0.02.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

$200 - $300, Now thats cheap. I can spend that much on gas any given weekend :D

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Yeah, wanted to keep it cheap....... :evilb:

Performance increase is not really the main driver here, its more a of low cost of ownership thing through efficiency. Now don't get me wrong here I won't cheap out on the correct parts I'll try to buy the best there is but I don't want to create a maintenance nightmare.

I guess what I really want is just to have a great looking boat that doesn't cost an arm & leg to keep up and running, due to then introduction of performance parts to the engine. If that makes sense???

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Take a look into Revolution Marine's exhaust

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

A good exhaust should help you avoid manifold failure which would cause big problems. RM could be a good choice if you are in fresh water.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

And I think RM's are cheap, in the $1100 range. Stainless Marine are closer to $2000.

I'd say for $200-$300, upgrade fuel, call it good and enjoy the water. :evilb:

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

I meant just the manifolds are probably close to 1000, then ya gotta add the risers. :D

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Exhaust will not give you any more speed! So many have spent good money on exhast only to get nothing, except different sound. What boat do you have? Give some details, there may be better places to spend your money.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Here's what I've got:

'99 Baja 252 bone stock 454 Mag.

Any suggestions would be more than appreciated.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Unless you are only looking for a deeper rumble sound, and want to dress up your engines in appearance then I would have to agree that there won't be much bennefit in performance from switching from a stock Merc cast iron exhaust system to an aftermarket exhaust system on a stock engine. However, if you plan on upgrading your engine(s) either now or in the future then you WILL benefit from an aftermarket exhaust. The more mods you do to the engine, the more an aftermarket exhaust system is going to bennefit you in performance. If this weren't true then many of the boats and their engines you see these days would NOT have a better breathing exhaust system than the stock Merc cast iron exhaust manifold.

I used to hear a term long ago, and it went something like this; "There's free horsepower in the exhaust." I don;t think it is exactly free when it comes to marine exhaust systems, but there is power to be made from the exhaust for sure.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

I did the exhaust cause i am rebuilding my engine and don't want the problem i had w/ the stock manifold. But since I did the exhaust, I might as well upgrade the engine components, equating in more HP, needing the better exhaust. Its one big happy circle.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Check with one of the prop sponsers here and see if they think some MPH can be gained with a diff. prop, or modifying the one you have.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Yea... what he said.

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

I have to respecfully disagree. With my old STOCK SBC in my formula I gained a 2mph. This was going from stock thru hub merc manifolds to thru-hull Stainless Marine. A good alternative is to go with imco risers with your stock Merc manifolds.... GLM also makes VERY good replacement maniflolds for the merc ones. I belive they are about 1/2 the cost of Mercs......

BH

Re: Cheap upgrades - Exhaust mainifold swap?
 

Going from thru-hub to thru-hull is where you picked up 2 mph, not the manifold change itself. I would not waste the money on just an exhaust upgrade, unless you'll be making other mods.