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As many of you know, I ordered an HT-40 manifold set from my local Marine Torq dealer in order to prove out the process for the Group Buy going on now. This thread documents my progress at replacing my iron manifolds with the stainless steel set. First, a bit of background. I use my boat nearly exclusively in salt/brackish water, so my manifolds were on a time delay fuse to rot out from the insides. I bought the gently-used boat (a 1999 Sunsetter LX with Monsoon II engine) in the fall of 2013, and by spring had converted the engine to half-closed cooling. This protected the block, but left the manifolds cooled with salt water. I changed the riser gaskets and the exhaust (and fuel) hoses also. I mainly changed the riser gaskets so I could assess the manifolds and risers and estimate about how many years I might be able to put on them. The last thing I wanted to happen is have a leaky riser that dumped water into a cylinder, which would surely lead to a catastrophic engine failure. I looked around from time to time, but didn't find anything available in all stainless for a reasonable price (before you tell me about them, "Stainless Marine" is aluminum with stainless risers). I was looking and asking around this summer when I discovered the possibility of getting a group buy to help reduce my cost. You can read more details about acquiring and inspecting the manifolds in the Group Buy, but I finally have them in hand and ready to install. Here we go! The HT-40 manifold set as delivered:

Lost it on a turn yesterday; must have rotted off. Pic's below. If anyone knows of one available, please let me know. I've contacted Malibu, the suppliers, and the first fifty dealerships in state-alphabetical order but they don't seem to exist. Also, if anyone can suggest how they were attached and I can re-attach one that would be helpful.