Hi-Tek Stainless Steel manifolds

The 5.7 Stainless Steel one piece Manifold 3" or 4" center riser.Club Sea Ray Price $1900.00 a set.The Zincs com with the Manifold.Hi-Tek Stainless Steel Manifolds are built to bolt up to your motor. With all the mounts built into the manifold for an easy install.Stainless Manifolds still need to be flushed out after use. The easy flow of water through the stainless Manifold makes it a snap to flush out the salt water. Say( Good bye) to cast iron.

A couple of follow up questions:

1. Is that cost for polished or powder coated manifolds?

2. How much lighter are a set of these over stock cast iron manifold/riser/elbow set?

-CJ
 
Just got back from the lake. No problems with my 4.3 O.M.C. Cobra.The factory told me all the Manifolds are polished now.On a 5.7 chev ,cast iron manifolds weighs well over 100lbs a set more than Stainless Steel Manifolds. Stainless Steel 5.7 Manifolds weigh around 50lbs. Depends on the factory mounts. some have more factory mounts than others. Oh yea I would love to go for a ride in your boat. Nice Boat
 
Coastal Manifold,

My understanding is that stainless manifolds & risers are not used due to different thermal properties (i.e. expansion) of the two metals. Any response on this? This is not a comment about the quality of Coastal Manifolds, but just the natural properties of different metals. If this isn't an issue, can you provide any references or documentation?

Also, does your warranty only cover REPLACEMENT of the actual part? So let's say, I spend $3000 on SS manifolds and they separate due to thermal expansion and they ruin my engine. My Sea Ray warranty won't cover that, so now I have to pay for a new engine, labor, and a new manifold (since I wouldn't use SS again). Would you only replace the manifold with a new one (that I wouldn't use), or would it refund my original price, or would it cover the other costs?
 
Coastal Manifold,

My understanding is that stainless manifolds & risers are not used due to different thermal properties (i.e. expansion) of the two metals. Any response on this? This is not a comment about the quality of Coastal Manifolds, but just the natural properties of different metals. If this isn't an issue, can you provide any references or documentation?

Also, does your warranty only cover REPLACEMENT of the actual part? So let's say, I spend $3000 on SS manifolds and they separate due to thermal expansion and they ruin my engine. My Sea Ray warranty won't cover that, so now I have to pay for a new engine, labor, and a new manifold (since I wouldn't use SS again). Would you only replace the manifold with a new one (that I wouldn't use), or would it refund my original price, or would it cover the other costs?

My Merc 8.1 Horizon Engines have Aluminum Manifolds bolted to the Cast Iron heads but also have Stainless Steel Risers attached to the top of the Aluminum Manifolds. :huh:

Talk about mixing up the metals!:lol:
 
Great questions.I have been in the metal business all my life.It is never a good idea to mix metals.But in this marine application,If you were to bolt on a stainless riser to a cast iron manifold your manifold will still fail well before the stainless riser.A quality gasket should seperate the metals.Under normal operating temp thermal expansion should never cause damage to any part of your motor. The 5 year warranty covers the replacement of the Manifolds.We all wish manifold manufactures would pay for motor replacement.I do know Mercruiser is looking at stainless steel one piece Manifolds as an option. If your boat runs hott,than inspect your motor more often for loose bolts or gasket failure. Good luck. thanks for asking.
 
Ok I know this is an old post. However, I'm interested in knowing that the results are with Hi-Tek SS manifolds. I am more concerned with cracking than performance! Any advise would be appreciated. The plan is to install them on a volvo penta 8.1.

thanks,
blackpearl
 
Ok I know this is an old post. However, I'm interested in knowing that the results are with Hi-Tek SS manifolds. I am more concerned with cracking than performance! Any advise would be appreciated. The plan is to install them on a volvo penta 8.1.thanks,blackpearl

I have twin 4.3's and I installed them last March. So far so good. I've had no problems with them and the motors run the same temperature as before. You do lose a lot of wieght in the ass end since they are much lighter.
 
I installed mine in May 2010. I had to replace two under warentee due to cracks in the fanges. I had the old ones repaired at a machine shop and am holding on to them. I had to replace one gasket due to a leak.. I have a leak in another gasket on the one I had not pulled off, and plan to pull that off in the spring. I had originally put them on dry, not I use permatex when reinstalling them. They are very light, and come with zincs to protecht the dissimilar metal problem. I was able to get mine for about the same price as OEM cast iron. They give me slightly more horse power due to the header design. The manufacture stands behind the product, but did not reimburse me for having to remove and reinstall my manifolds. If you need a little more HP, and want take off about 250 lbs in your stern, its a good way to go. I am not sure I would go this route again, but I like the company...
 
Hey Rod, how often do you change the zincs? I need to do this but haven't since I installed them.
 
Thanks Rod. I take it even after a year there is still some of the zinc left?
 
rcknecht - thanks for the info! That helps me a lot. I kind of like the idea of SS, but I am trying to avoid all those issues and I know going with OEM's upfront what I will be dealing with and that's replacing them again in 5 years. Thus avoiding the unknown issues such as you have experienced. I hear as you say, the company will stand behind the product, as long as you are willing to do the labor and if you send them back its possible that you take a couple months out of boating to wait for repairs. I may just buy OEM and know what I am getting. Thanks for your honesty. I am in know way bashing this product, I just think for me it makes life a little easier.
Thanks again!
black pearl
 
But at least you guys can raise the engine bay hatch at the marinas and get that "Wow, Nice, those look sweet"..............:lol:
 
rcknecht
When you had the crack and had it welded did the machine shop have any problems welding it back together? Did the the SS parent metal beside the weld have any dark specs in it either spot or short thread lines?
 
rcknecht
When you had the crack and had it welded did the machine shop have any problems welding it back together? Did the the SS parent metal beside the weld have any dark specs in it either spot or short thread lines?

I was not completely truthfuly... Here is the complete story... Alan at HiTek asked me if I could try in sell the ones that had cracked rather than sending them back to AU... So, I guy gave them to a guy I work with here in Maryland, who has a 400 EC. He wanted to see if they would work on his boat. At that time I thought I would have to replace all four manifolds and he woud have a complete set. Before the check that they woud work on his boat the brought them to a machine shop to get a price on fixing the them. The machine shop went ahead and fixed them by welding the crack, and machining the flanges. Afterward my friend found that since he had straight drives, not V drive the manifolds would not work on his boat. Short answer, they look good to me, to the naked eye.

As far as the problems I had. The use of small head bolts and permatex on the gaskets would have fixed my gasket problems. I did not install the manifolds myself the first time, and the mechanic could not use a torque wrench on the bolts, so I don't know how tight the bolts where.

Here is a pic of one of manifolds before it was fixed:
264020_2128298094298_7472457_n.jpg
 
I was unable to use a torque wrench as well. I tightened them, ran the boat to temp for a short but decent outing them retightened. Knock on wood but they have been good so far. I used the gasket it came with and no permatex. The OEM Mercruiser gasket was a bit different so I returned them.
 

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