GLM products, are they any good?

[leoo24]

Hi again guys

ok so i've been looking at manifolds and risers for me 4.3 efi, i research and search posts in depth before i decide or post a question, and now have a question

ofcourse aftermarket products are inferior to oem, but are glm risers and manifolds any good at all?

i've seen a couple of comments about people receiving risers that had "made in china" on them, someone, possibly Bond-O said he got a riser or manifold from glm which had a problem and he got it changed and they checked the new ones before being sent out. Bond-O if you read this, do you recall who the supplier was?, seeing as i'm looking at shipping them all the way to spain i'd like to find a supplier who checks the package for defects before sending.

so are GLM products made in china? are there any other manufacturers?

also i've seen people comment on ebasicpower, some bad opinions, some recommendations, so a little confused there!


thanks

Leo

 

[leoo24]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

wow, sorry guys i posted this in the wrong forum, should be in mercruiser repair :redface:


/edit thanks for the move to the correct forum


whilst i'm editing, being a novice i've just realised osco is another aftermarket brand, are they better than glm

 

[Bondo]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Ayuh,....

Somewhere in the archives is a thread by Me, that shows the GLMs I bought,+ had to have Milled Flat at the riser junction.....
They were "Off" about .010....
No problems So Far....
But,...
I doubt I'd buy them again.....

Osco I believe is an old American company, that does produce a Better product than the Chinese 1s....

Btw,....
That wasn't Me that sent them back.....

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Just for info purposes bondo...........how far off is too far off?

I took a flat file to my GLM risers and manifolds just for the hell of it after hearing all the problems.........just wondering how much "slop" the gaskets can hide............

 

[Bondo]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Hi Tony,....

What did you See when you took the flat file to them,..??

On mine, the inside exhaust connection was Low compared to the outside edge.....

I guess I'd probably dampen the gaskets with Yamabond if there was much over a few thousands.....

 

[FreeBeeTony]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

hey bondo...........don't really remember what they looked like, but just thought it wouldn't hurt to hit them with the file...........if I remember correctly the mating surfaces were coated with paint........thought that was kinda odd.

 

[Bondo]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Ayuh,.....

I Wish I had checked Mine,... Before I ran them......

Now they're Flat,+ have a fresh paint job,.... Nice shiney SSteel risers on top too.....

 

[chiefalen]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Saw that pic of that sweet setup. Get in the water yet?

 

[Bondo]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Ayuh,...

It's been tied to the dock for a couple of months now,..... Been out a few times.....

Probably abit of Trolling for Eyes this weekend,...... Maybe.....

 

[Gazza1]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

Over here in Australia you can buy an after market alloy manifols and risers. They are made in Tasmania out of marine grade alloy. The companys name is LUXFORD ROLCOand ver well made. I have had mine for about 6 years and have no problems (touch wood). I had them powered coated from new and are running in saltwater. These cost me about AU$1200. The main reason that I used after market in this case was because of the weight. I have a weight problem in the stern and also used an 86 corvette efi setup (alloy intake). Has made a fantastic difference in power and weight.
I hope this is of some interest to you all.
Cheers
Gary

 

[wca_tim]

Re: GLM products, are they any good?

IMCO makes a set of (Thumper power) manifolds for the 4.3 for about $1000. (that's for the whole set-up - manifolds, risers, gaskets, etc...) they're powder coated aluminum and are touted to make a little more power than the factory manifolds. They also use the same fully separated water passages that the other newer style imco set-ups use which is much less likely to leak into the engine. To put the performance in perspective the imco powerflows for small and big block flow better / make more power than any of the other manifold / riser combos (barring tubular headers of course). IMCO makes absolutely top notch marine products. I have a set of the polished aluminum powerflow manifolds and long stainless risers on my boat that I was lucky enough to score second hand / unused on craigslist (they're $2k new) and they're just about a work of art...

That's a bit more money than the glm stuff (unless you go with those fancy stainless risers like Bond-O), but I assure you the difference in quality will be apparent.