When is my elbow bad? HGE Exhaust Elbows?

Hi all, haven't posted in a while since, well, I sold my Blackman and then the site seemed to be gone, but you folks have always been the most helpful and knowledgeable so here goes.
I notice a little water and what looked like soot at the back of the rubber from where my exhaust elbow meets the "grommet" or downpipe that gets the exhaust to the outdrive.
I removed the elbow and the grommet looks pretty corroded. It also looks like it has already been treated to the repair sleeve that Volvo sells.
I haven't decided what to do about that yet. Open for any ideas. Especially if someone has dealt with the repair sleeve before.
I am wondering when it is time to replace the elbow? The elbow looks rusty (inside) and has lots of soot. Seems like there are some things hanging out of the slots from the inside, almost like reed valves.
I'd rather not spend any money (duh) but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Also has anyone used the HGE exhaust elbows? It looks just like the Volvo elbow (in the pictures) for at least $60.00 less.
My friend recently replaced his with a Volvo unit that he said was poorly constructed. But he has never been very complimentary towards Volvo.
As always, I really appreciate the help and info.

Peter

This one is off a 40 and not that much different than the 41 elbow.
http://www.bocapix.com/data/500/medium/elbow.JPG

The inner sleeve is stainless and the outer housing is cast iron. There is very little chance the stainless will fail. Over time the cast housing will develop a crack or hole in it. That should be easy to identify by the rusty water stain around the suspect area.

Whenever you have the elbow off, clean out the passages on the bottom end. Eel grass and rust flakes like to collect on those stainless fingers and restrict the water flow.

On the turbo end, take a close look at the seam between the stainless and cast housing. Any signs of water weeping through that seam could enter the exhaust side of the turbo. Over all it's very durable part that should give you 15+ years of service.

I don't have any experience with the aluminum outdrive tube repair sleeve. Mine has eroded a bit and I wire wheeled it down to bare aluminum and built it up with Marine-Tex and repainted it. That was 10 years ago and I haven't touched it sense.

Mike

Thank you.
For some reason I thought that grommet was cast but realizing that it is aluminum makes it much less intimidating.
I'll tear into it shortly.

P