Exhaust Hose off Riser 351 PCM 1985 SN

This hose is most likely 3" unless someone made a change to things at some point.

Do you know the length you need already? And, you mean muffler(s) right? The 1985 would have duel exhaust.

Hi Guys - thanks for the quick response. The SN is all original from stem to stern. The length of the hose is 33" and I was quite certain it was 3" but when I was getting ready to buy and saw how much the stuff cost I wanted to double check fearing that it might be 3.5" and in my haste to measure I didn't get it right. One side was replaced by the pervious owner. The hose comes off the exhaust risers on the motor (dual exhaust so one on each side) and connects (swan neck) to the fiberglass section under the floor which run horizontally to the stern and out the transom of the boat. I assume the fiberglass sections are the mufflers. This is what I was going to buy at $14.99 per foot (3') plus $10.95 to ship. Shields 3 in. Marine Corrugated Exhaust Hose 16-252-3000-1. Thanks again. I am so proud to own a SN. We are having a blast it. I learned so much from this forum and found a really good 85 for a very good price.

Tim - I've torn into 3 boats where the short piece connected to the tip is not the corrugated wire-reinforced type. I assume that's factory. Agree that wire-reinforced isn't needed there?

Jeff - check those mufflers for cracks or damage. A lot of owners end up finding issues with them, which gives you a reason to dump the muffler and go with a 3" copper straight pipe exhaust. It adds a nice extra rumble to the sound and well, looks freakin' cool.

Be careful with the corrugated pipe: you can cut it with a hacksaw but the exposed wires are sharp.

Good point. When I bought my corrugaged it was from a local marina and he had 6' left so I got a deal on it. Wasn't enough to do the rest.

If youre alright with adding some extra sound, then replacing the exhaust with one continuous piece of hose per side is the quickest, easiest and most likely cheapest route. Adding a section of stainless pipe would be the next easiest and cost effective. This will add some additional sound. Stainless tubing is sized to the OD, whereas hose is ID, so 3" of both flavors will play nicely together. Correct Craft used copper in the early to mid 70's, but finding a large piece of it these days will prove to be pretty darn expensive (nearly double the cost of hose per foot). It is also pipe and not tubing, so its OD will be a bit larger than the ID of your hose- so install is much less fun. Ive seen crinkled ends on a few boats, which probably made intalling them easier- but surely didnt help exhaust flow.

Wow we have a lot of Jeff's on this forum.

I'll second what Tim said about getting the 3" ID corrugated hose over the 3" ID copper... it was not fun. I did it on a 95+ degree day, ground the tops of the copper to allow it to slide on, and still struggled for a few hours. I also had to buy 12 feet of it, so I have one additional piece left. But, it does sound and look cool.

Thanks for all the informative replies. I did some research and the copper is very expensive. I like the stainless steel option for ease of installation or may just go corrugated the whole way. Still thinking the gas tank has to come out in order to do the transom pieces??? Great picture HatterBee. I love the older Nautiques. Quick, question unrelated to this thread: the white support holding the steering cable, is this supposed to have some horizontal play? Thanks again for all the throughful and informative replies. Best. Jeff

Thank you - regarding the steering support, the play is actually vertical, not horizontal (my mistake). The play is not where the mount goes into the stringer but rather on the end of the white post going into the larger portion having the 4 bolts which I would describe as a clamp of sorts. It does not move side to side but up and down slightly. I figured it was designed to do this as the clamp looks to be sort of sophisticated given its purpose. I don't get any steering feedback at any speed and it looks to be solid but I will take it apart to make sure the post is not broken where it mounts to the clamp portion. The vertical wiggle didn't concern me a lot but I wasn't sure if it was normal. I am an engineer so I am going over every inch of this boat....at the same time I want to be able to use it and have it be safe. As an added note, stringers where my biggest concern as I didn't want to have to get into a big job right away. I tap tested every inch I could get to and found no evidence of debonding. I also checked the motor mounts. I believe even the floor is original and still solid under the driver and passenger seats.