Old Exhaust Shower Head

[Play'N Hooky Too]

Below is an exhaust mixer elbows off of my starboard engine that I removed several months ago while working on one of my turbos.


Obviously it has seen better days. I suspect the others are in about the same condition. At the time, I looked around for a set of replacements and was finally quoted $1,800 per each by a local marine exhaust fab shop. (Not sure if this is in-line with typical cost or not.) Well, not having an extra $8K laying around to spend on exhaust mixers at the time, I reluctantly went ahead and put it back on.

The outer water jacket shell doesn't really appear to be in bad shape and if I knew what alloy it was constructed of I would just cut out the inner exhaust pipe and tig weld in a new one. Otherwise, I will likely just fab a set of new stainless ones myself.

To that end, I was wondering if anyone might have an old exhaust elbow laying around that I might be able to cut up and use as a template. The Kay Industries part number etched into this one is SK2046-4 with a mfg date of 7/28/75. I'm located in LA (Lower Alabama) but venture regularly around the FL panhandle and south MS. I would also be willing to cover reasonable shipping cost. I am also open to other suggestions.

Thanks

-Alan

 

[riverrandy]

See if Hailey Wilkerson of HDI marine (306) 824-0800 can give you a price. They will need engine make and model. They shipped me an odd generator elbow that was quoted to me from MFG of $1200. I paid $390 which included shipping. Original part was cast Iron, new is Cast Stainless Steel!

 

[Cricket]

He has a custom exhaust part manufactured by Kay Industries so the part # probably isn't going to help.
Might be able to come up with a generic type shower head piece with the same inlet and outlet size with similar angles and then modify or manipulate what they dump into if needed.
We wiped out a 12v71 because it ingested water from a hole in a Kay elbow/riser, it was not leaking on the outside at all.
The way to go now is to eliminate the outside water jacket and use the hard coated pipes instead.

 

[bigbill]

did you try marine exhaust of alabama?

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

did you try marine exhaust of alabama?

Yes. MESA was where I got the quote mentioned above. Sounds like a stand-up guy and I'm sure he does excellent work. I was just exploring other options.

 

[Cricket]

Try them all, Marine Manifold in NY, Marine Exhaust Systems in Riviera Beach FL, DeAngelo in Ft Lauderdale, etc. Somebody told me there's an outfit in South Florida that's doing exhaust much cheaper than the rest, just can't remember the name., Maybe an offshoot of DeAngelo???

What engines do you have?

 

[scottinsydney]

Hi Cricket,

For my education could you please elaborate on "The way to go now is to eliminate the outside water jacket and use the hard coated pipes instead."

Where is the water injection? What is a hard coated pipe? How does this all work?

Cheers.

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

Try them all, Marine Manifold in NY, Marine Exhaust Systems in Riviera Beach FL, DeAngelo in Ft Lauderdale, etc. Somebody told me there's an outfit in South Florida that's doing exhaust much cheaper than the rest, just can't remember the name., Maybe an offshoot of DeAngelo???

What engines do you have?

I have 8V71TIs.

I will check with the others you mentioned. Thanks.

 

[q240z]

In response to ScottinSydney, I initially thought I'd go with modifying hard shell risers on my Roamer, but then I opted to make my own. Here's the blog article showing a D'angelo hard shell and how it's made: https://1969chriscraftroamer46.com/2016/02/17/1969-chris-craft-roamer-46-refit-new-exhaust-risers/

BTW, if anybody needs an 8" showerhead on a riser, I'm selling the one I disected. It's very well made and can be modified with commonly available SS tube and bends. TIG skills help, but most of the hard work is already done.

 

[Cricket]

The water is injected directly into the showerhead instead of water incasing the entire part, so it's all downstream towards the outlet. The hard coat insulates the part, the main advantage is that the water is kept away from the joint next to the turbo/manifold. If a crack occurs there water can get into the engine and then it goes boom. The hard coat is an upgrade from the removable heat blankets which can collect oil and also disintegrate over time.

 

[dsharp]

In response to ScottinSydney, I initially thought I'd go with modifying hard shell risers on my Roamer, but then I opted to make my own. Here's the blog article showing a D'angelo hard shell and how it's made: https://1969chriscraftroamer46.com/2016/02/17/1969-chris-craft-roamer-46-refit-new-exhaust-risers/

BTW, if anybody needs an 8" showerhead on a riser, I'm selling the one I disected. It's very well made and can be modified with commonly available SS tube and bends. TIG skills help, but most of the hard work is already done.

Can you tell what gauge material that was used in the original riser?

 

[q240z]

Can you tell what gauge material that was used in the original riser?

I'd have to put a caliper on it. I'll try and remember to do that over the weekend.

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

Has anybody tried to do any welding on one of the originals (since 1975 i mean)? If I could match the alloy with the appropriate filler rods I might just try to make repairs to the ones I have since I can be pretty handy with a TIG torch.

Still wouldn't mind finding an old one lying around somewhere that I could use as a template though.

 

[q240z]

As I understand it, the problem isn't just the holes you can see...it's the thin spots that are going to become holes as soon as you put heat to it. Or, they'll become holes shortly after you reinstall it. Once a liquid-holding or pressure vessel develops leaks, it's pretty much done.

 

[dsharp]

I'd have to put a caliper on it. I'll try and remember to do that over the weekend.

Thank you. I've made the hot pipe/insulated exhaust before but, never the water jacketed risers before.

 

[q240z]

It looks like D'Angelo uses 12 gauge stainless for the hot sections.

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

Is it necessary that the water jacket extend all the way to the back of the turbo or would a design with a water collar at the distal end of the elbow just above the shower head be sufficient for exhaust cooling? The remainder of the elbow would be encased in a blanket or hard coating.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks
-Alan

 

[Play'N Hooky Too]

Or perhaps not....

 

[q240z]

The reason dry stacks with wet showerheads are considered an upgrade is because water jackets eventually fail, taking out turbos and engines. I don't understand why anybody would go through the effort of making water jacketed risers when dry stacks are easier and better.

YMMV

That said, the link I posted a while back and other exhaust-related articles on my blog show how D'angelo does it. I used the same approach. Make it so water absolutely cannot get back into the engine, and you've done it right.

 

[racclarkson@gmail.com]

Is it necessary that the water jacket extend all the way to the back of the turbo or would a design with a water collar at the distal end of the elbow just above the shower head be sufficient for exhaust cooling? The remainder of the elbow would be encased in a blanket or hard coating.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Thanks
-Alan