articfriends

I was talking to Aaron at Max Machine worx today ordering some parts (billet xr prop shaft and carrier) to put my spare drive back together. I have been thinking asbout buying/trying a -2 shorty lower. I seem to be getting "conflicting" stories on all the various shorties out there.
1.Max machine is claiming there billet -2 shorty to be 3-5 mph faster then the imco -2" shortie-but I know no one that is running one that switched from a Imco,the mph gain seems a little far fetched
2. B-max claims there "crescent" lower is better/faster then everyone elses shortie BUT strip poker says his were casted VERY rough and he has been sanding them down.
3. Alot of people are claiming the Imco satin finished is best overall but has any one actually bought one and switched from the other brands
4. The only thing I do hear consistantly is the merc sportmaster seems to be slower then the Imco.
Max Worx gets big bucks for the lower housing BUT they are also using some kind of extra support bearing for the vert shaft that supposedly aids in gear/shaft deflection.
Any one have any first hand experience other then they "really like their Imco shorty",Smitty

CB-BLR

Did you ever get the answer to this??

Chris

articfriends

I never did get a answer to this other then 1 guy in Pt Huron who has the full billet max worx drives on a twin,he never had Imco's though to compare it. I recently bought a Imco lower for my boat,so far it has gained ZERO speed over a std length bravo with a very well blended nose cone. If I get it dialed in to where I'm sure its a benefit having it on my boat I am going to sell it and buy the billet lower for the strength of the extra bearing,Smitty

CB-BLR

Thanks for the reply.

So both your nose-coned XR lower, and the IMCO lower are the same speed? But both are faster than your non-coned lower?

Is that correct?

Any differences in handling between the three lowers?

Thanks,

Chris

articfriends

Exactly,I haven't ran my spare non-nose coned lower in a while but it was always 4-6 mph slower then the one with well blended hydrmotive nose cone.I can now run 95 mph with a tweaked 30 pitch at 6200,it will run faster with a 32 pitch but it gets a little out of control. I recently switched to a imco lower,boat isn't as high in the air which is good BUT if you over-trim it blows out and bow drops suddenly then boat bow steers and acts like its going to roll over and kill you. It also doesn't carry the bow well at less trim with imco. I'm going to try a cupped prop but unfortunately its only a 26 pitch so I'm going to see how it runs with blower dissconnected. Its evident boat needs rear ballast as I no longer run with rear passengers. I'm going to see how cupped prop works then add ballast,I also have a 1" spacer I haven't tried yet,the imco just isn't dialed in yet,no time to test again in last few weeks,it rained last weekend and I had a death in the family this weekend,I hope to do some testing before our season is over in a few weeks,Smitty

Griswald

Smitty,

I'd like to chat w/ you about that IMCO lower when you have a chance. You got my #

Clark

CB-BLR

I am sorry for your loss.

Please keep us posted on your IMCO lower testing.

Chris

KAAMA

Sorry about your loss Smitty. God bless you and your family.

Mr Gadgets

Sorry to hear of your loss Smitty! Thoughts and prayers...

articfriends

Thanks,it was my Grandmother who died,she was 88 y/o. I hope to run boat fri afternoon and tune more on my EFI program for running boat normally aspirated. I just re-wrote the whole tune on my computer at home. The way my motor was set-up to run N/A I have to dissconect the blower discharge tube from innercooler,swap from 2 bar to 1 bar map sensor,take blower belt off,swap ecu's, lower fuel pressure from 42 base to 30 and bump timing from 6 deg base to 10 deg base. I went thru the tune and added 4 deg timing acrossed the board,switched it to read 2 bar map even when running N/A and took out 18% fuel in every fuel table. I should now be able to switch by just pulling blower belt,discharge hose & swap ecu,a ten minute job instead of 40 minutes. I still need to fine tune it on the water which I never did with old set-up. Boat ran 74-76 last year w/26 pitch labbed running with no blower,hoping to see more speed and maybe even run my 28 labbed,Smitty