Take a look at these photos. Nice looking product. I took photos of the exhaust flange openings: one seems a bit rough and the surface area for the gasket may be compromised somewhat. The mating of the openings from the head to the flange don't appear ideal. Maybe as long as the exhaust flange opening is larger than the exhaust port on the head, which appears to be the case, it won't make any difference in terms of air flow and performance. BTW, this thing is heavy!

So far i love mine and you are not going to know what to do with yourself once its on. Mine sounds like a harley with the cam and all!


Note will have to unbolt the dipstick and rotate out the way to install then bolt it back its in the way. FYI

oh also wipe all the finger prints off of it before your start it and get it hot or they oil off your hands will burn onto it and leave marks.

I just got to looking at the header flanges and i can garrantee that you will have problems with exhaust leaks where the flang is thin on the left head bottom part of the flang. JMO

^^^ Yep ^^^

Keep an eye on that clutch cover too!!!!

I'd send it back. That left flange looks like shit and will more than likely cause problems...

These are the areas of concern to which clickster referred:

If there is any doubt I'd just send it back

Here are photos of the flange with the gasket over it and a picture of the gasket, as well. The gasket appears to be very thick and heavy duty:

Yeah that looks like crap wrk. And I was thinking about ordering a Q

TTT for more input.

When I got mine looked nothin like it . Give it a 100 hrs looks like the falanges with both fall off. I'd send it back and get another one.

Given how much those things cost, I would send it back for replacement.

Ah put the mudder fucker on and run it. After all it is made by the same people who makes mudbuddies and you know how they want the customer to do the R&D for them.

Each one of the mufflers produced recently manufactured and sent to customers like me, looked exactly like mine. One of the flanges was good and the other not so good looking. NFW says his flanges looked nothing like this. BoatDr will stand by his product, I know. So I'll strap it on and see what happens. If there develops a pattern of failure they will surely make it good for everyone of us who ordered these for our 23's.

I mean I'm just sayin while it's brand new and hasn't put it one yet since they ain't got warrenties just get a new one. When I got mine both looked great nothin like that. Just saying your mine not last as long and for the money u got it for it should. So get your money's worth.

That looks like shit. I put mine on right before the setx run and looked way better than that. Send that thing back up quick and in a hurry. I know ya wanna put it on and not wait but you'll thank all of us in the long run.

send it back.you will have nothing but blown gasket problems. believe me also if u don't address blown gaskets it will lead to problems on your head surface's.u remember how much fun that job was i would trust the boat dr. but a year down the line i would'nt trust the midget and his minions. looks like they had a problem in the bending jig. PISS POOR WORK. windex works good on the pipes also.

Aint no way id put that on. Id send it back for a replacement. That looks as bad as the welds on the hopkims hog used to

Sent using Telekenisis

Why not just weld the outside of flange to the pipe? The inside bead will help hold it better, but it takes away surface area for the flange to mate with the head casting.

Ya have 180 days of warranty left!

Double up on the gaskets and run it.

It's border line on not having enough sealing surface. My cousins 23 is louder than my 36 with that exhaust. Not a duck anywhere around will be on the water when u run through the swamp.

Mine is loud as hell also. But i have everything you can have done to the 23 except pistons and crank. It revs up in a hurry and runs like a scalded dog. I'd like to know why they are so loud compared to the big blocks?

The flange weld looks like the pipe was a bit too long so it could not be recessed inside the flange like the other one. The welder melted away some of the flange surface reducing the mating surface considerably, especially near the screws. Not sure what to do now. I sent an email to the Manf with a link to this thread. I received email confirmation that it was read by Micah Triplett. I've tried calling the past 15 mins or so but the lines are busy. BoatDr was willing to take it back but before I do that I'll talk to the Manf to see what they say. Hate to take a sale away from BoatDr considering what they had to do to get this to me. This muffler is not really an off the shelf product for them. It was a limited run.

Why a limited run? Are crossovers not common for the 23?

Shouldn't hurt BoatDr he made his money. Its business and the BoatDr totally understand i'm sure. But man it sucks cause your gonna have to run that ratty old oil can muffler a tad bit longer!

All is well. I'll be getting a new one.

Just been informed that mbddy aka beepeessss advised all replacements have the same issue. Only options are to install and if blows gasket I should sent back for refund or send it back for refund now and reinstall my funky oil can muffler?

Does anyone want to take a shot at welding a new flange on there for me if I can get one?

WELD IT UP MILL IT FLAT. Have BPS reimburse you for your troubles of fixing a problem product. But Good luck with that.

Autogateman may be able to do it. Send him a pm

looks like they used big block exhaust. and cut it down and rewelded for a small block.

Doubled up on gaskets. Bracing to install next. Sounds great:

Got the bracing installed. However, major issue: flange gaskets on good flange side leaking exhaust badly. Will try to reseat and report later. I'm too pissed to work on it now.

Reseated gaskets and all is well. Thought I had major malfunction again, though. There was enough exhaust escaping to make me think my muffler had cracked. I said a few choice words. Then I realized I had not reinserted the dip stick in its hole which was letting crankcase air out. Problem solved. Gaskets are holding well for now; no leakage yet. Will monitor.

Another qualtity control issue surfaced. The pin used to secure the silencer is too large for the hole drilled by the manf. I'll have to enlarge it to make it fit.