Exhaust Elbow Material - ‘86 Perkins 4-108

[Bermuda Forte]

I understand black iron pipe fittings are the way to go when replacing the elbow. There was a loose connection causing a leak so I’ve pulled it all apart and ‘can see it’s time for a bit of a rebuild. Recommendations? Many thanks, Q

[lifeofreilly57]

Originally Posted by Bermuda Forte

I understand black iron pipe fittings are the way to go when replacing the elbow. There was a loose connection causing a leak so I’ve pulled it all apart and ‘can see it’s time for a bit of a rebuild. Recommendations? Many thanks, Q

Funny you mentioned this, I just am in the process of prepping my recently rebuilt engine for re-installation into my boat, as part of this I'm inspecting all the supporting parts for it. I took apart the exhaust elbow I built five years ago to inspect it, it was built from black iron parts purchased from the local piping supplier. All the parts are in good shape and should last at least five more.
But, I'm prepping this boat for an extended cruise so I'll replace the salt water injection section for good luck, it's just a 1-1/2 inch X 9 inch nipple with a 3/4" pipe nipple (3/4" X 3") welded into it on a 45 deg angle to accept a 3/4" hose barb for the raw water discharge. It was previously done with a 1-1/2" tee, a 45deg elbow, a couple close nipples and a 3/4"straight nipple, this worked fine and showed very little corrosion loss in the 5 years it was used.
A total of about $35.00 in parts, to do the whole assembly, about $12.00 in parts to replace the mixing section, and about 1-1/2 hours work.
The beauty of using black iron pipe parts for your exhaust mixing elbow is that you can replace a part that may fail prematurely a piece at a time, without having to wait for an expensive proprietary part that may not ship quickly to the part of the world you happen to be in at that time.
Also, in the world of sacrificial metals, you want the cheapest and easiest parts to be the sacrificial ones.
I'll send a picture of the original assembly tomorrow.

[Privilege]

Good luck trying to find black iron fittings if you live in Bermuda. Galvanized steel pipe will last at least 5-10 years.