Lehman 120 Exhaust Elbow

When you inspect or replace your exhaust elbow, chase the threads. Any little piece of rust, thread or debris left behind will only make it harder the next time. Also, loosening the bolts when the engine is hot can make things easier.

A no brainier. Buy an exhaust elbow from American Diesel and CHANGE it. In the worst case, the elbow was at its end of life and you would have prevented a dangerous failure. In the best case, you would have a spare elbow and a date to plan its replacement.
If I remember correctly, in salt water the elbow should be replaced (unconditionally) after only three years, extended up to five years in fresh or lake water.
For the modest price of an elbow, it is worthwhile replacing it at an interval that assumes the worst case.
Trust me. It is worth it. Don't ask me how I know this.

Cigatoo said:

If you are lucky it will rust through when it fails. Worst case it clogs with rust / rot and backs up salt water into the engine. I would consider that catastrophic. I bet the engine would agree.

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Yes, a hydrolocked piston engine is not a desirable thing.

After removing the bolts wouldn’t replacing them with studs be a better bet ? Stainless steel bolts with brass manifold nuts makes sense to me.

I had one that looked perfect outside. A tap withva ball peen hammer caused it to crumble. Re maintenance, recommend you plan a top end recondition and cylinder inspection at 5,000 hrs