I was just wondering if the gils exhaust manifolds are the EXACT same as the hp500 manifolds??? If not whats the difference??

As far as I know , Gil made the HP465 and early Hp500 exhaust manifolds for mercury , nice products .

they are the same. the ones factory installed say mercruiser on them . or bought from mercruiser . if you buy them from gill they say gill on them , i have 3 on my boat currently that say gill and 1 that says mercruiser they look identical , also the price from gill is about a third less than mercruiser

I thought gil stop making them , I heard Hardin
Marine is making them now. They bought the
mold from Gil, Is this true ?

YES, This is true we produce all of the GIL replacement manifolds for both GIL and Mercury HP. These manifolds are produced in the same foundry and use the same process as they always did. The difference is now they say "Hardin" on the side. We also produce the GIL replacement sea strainer and components as well as the battery boxes , oil pans, and even offshore motor mounts.