175 5 series

Hi all, new to the forum and looking to replace my SR 175 red carpets with something more modern. I'm seeing snap-in carpet kits for 400, DIY marine kits on amazon for 150ish, then marine carpet squares where you're on your own cutting and fitting. Does anyone have a good sense of brands that...

I just bought a 1997 Sea Ray 175 3.0 merc Alpha One. I was just feeling how soft the water hoses were by squeezing them and the elbow at the pump crunched. I took it off and found this: Should I pull the manifold and other cooling parts clean or replace? Is this the manifold flaking...