87 BFN Mufflers?

Not knowing the history of my Boat prior to me owning it, just knowing it was abused and butchered along the way I was wondering what the mufflers were originally on an 87 BFN.

Just pulled everything out of the bilge of the boat (new engine is on the stand being prepped for a rebuild - old cracked block went to the dump this weekend)and power washed the whole interior.

I'm looking at the mufflers and to me they appear to be just some 3" white PVC pipe (no printing on them though). The wire wrapped exhaust hose from the manifolds was inserted into some kind of a rubber sleeve about 6" wide (like a plumber would use to attach pvc drain pipe to cast iron) which had 2 radiator clamps on it, one end holding the exhaust hose, one end on the "muffler" tube. Doesn't seem like a professional installation, but I can't find any pictures for a late 80's BFN exhaust.

I know the SN's have fiberglass mufflers, with bells on each end, and a section of tubing for the exhaust hose to fit over, and it seems like the BFNs should have had something similar from the factory.

Does this installation seem like another hack by a previous owner, or is that they way the BFNs were made? If its a hack will a SN exhaust tube work in a BFN?

Thanks,

Mark C

I do have the reducer elbows, but I'm going to need new exhaust tubing because its shot, some of it was held together with duct tape (I didn't do it).

OK, found this one in the Pumkin Patch rebuild thread, and mine are definately not like these, and these are way bigger than standard SN mufflers.



Now the question is, whats inside these beasts, is it just a hollow cylinder, or are there baffles inside. I know I can just leave what i have, but someone will definately know I'm coming (or going) with the big block up on a plane.

You need some used ones Marky?

Since I have held both mufflers (87 SN and 88 BF)in my hand, I can tell you they are different! I didn't take any measurements, but the BF seemed more stoutly built. Neither are quiet compared to my 90 SN Invertaflow. The baffles help keep water from backflowing during deceleration and may keep them slightly quieter.
Good luck on finding new ones, perhaps someone parting one out has them.
In any case, it's a beautiful noise to my ears. I can hear my BN idling when I park the trailer a half a block away over the levee.

phatsat67 wrote: You need some used ones Marky?

I might, but if they are the same as SN's I've seen a spare set sitting in John D's (JDD) tool shed from his 87 SN part out, assuming he still has them and will sell them. He's only 20 miles from me, and I pass within a half mile of his house almost every weekend.

If they weren't baffled, I would just put some glass on some 3" (or 4") PVC pipe and then cut them in half, baffle them and then close them up. Shouldn't be a big deal, couple of yards of fiberglass and some sacrificial PVC pipe. Building baffles can be a science unto itself though. I know the boat is loud as is, just from having it idle in the driveway. Under full throttle it will be brutal.

BFNs can fit larger mufflers because they don't have to squeeze into those pockets between the main and secondary stringers like on a Ski Nautique. The mufflers that came out of our 80 Martinique were of the narrow/SN variety. I wonder if CC purposely put the smaller mufflers in small block v-hull boats that otherwise could have fit the bigger ones like Buffalo and cbr have, or if it was just a late(r) model year change, possibly with either engine or only big blocks. Tim's 87 BFN with smaller mufflers (supposing they are original) seem to indicate its an 88-90 update. I can't recall off hand if Johnny's 88 bbc BFN has the small or large mufflers. I want to say they are the smaller ones which leads me to the remote possibility that all CC's had small mufflers and both Buffalo cbr have similar, larger non-original replacements!

Or it could be a mixed bag which wouldn't be all that surprising although CC got fairly constant with their production by the late 80s. Who knows.

I found this picture of a baffle inside the muffler, can tell if there is just one installed at the exit end of the muffler, or it there might be more than one installed along the length of the tube. sure looks like there only one though.



The Centek mufflers in the 3" by 44" size seem to list in the 150 to 200+ dollars per side depending on the source. I can pick up some Centek Vernatube spun fiberglass tubing for about 14 dollars a foot for the 3-1/2" size, and 15 bucks a foot for the 5" size. From there making the end caps and a single baffle like the one pictured above (if there is only one) shouldn't be that big of an issue. I will have to check to see if the larger size 5" tube will fit between the main stringer and the removable floor section, and the floor support brace. Would think the larger diameter tube would have a lower tone to it.

The exhaust has apparently been this way since at least 2007 when Tim Benjamin looked at it when it was in RI.

That's what my Marine Mufflers look like but they do have those baffles at both ends. I picked up a used pair on ebay for 80 bucks,they are only missing the decals

These are the mufflers from Tom Beard's 1988 BBC Barefoot. I'm starting to think Buffalo's mufflers were replaced at some point.

My 87 Mufflers