This is the result of Wednesday evening's work out at the boat. It's part of my Alternator Bracket replacement project (more on that later when I finish the project). I couldn't get the exhaust flange off of the manifold due to too-little nut clearance on the bottom stud. The two parts came off the block in one piece without too much trouble.
Obviously, I'll get the manifold boiled out and repainted. My question is what to do with the elbow. I could have it boiled out too, but that still won't tell me how bad the corrosion is inside the elbow. A lot of the reading I found online suggested that the useful life of an exhaust elbow may be about 3-5 years in salt water. This particular riser/elbow has been in fresh water for the last 20+ years, but I'll have it in seawater from now on. I'm guessing it came with the boat back in 1985.
Other posts I've seen on elbow replacement have shown either a Westerbeke unit:
Or a Yanmar-type elbow on top of standard iron pipe;
I'd be very interested to hear opinions about the Clean & Re-use option vs Westerbeke vs Yanmar options.
Many thanks....
Ken