IMCO Shortie
 

Anyone tried a shortie IMCO. We've done one on a 240 Sport, and a 24 outlaw. Both picked up 4+ MPH, and handled much better. This is an inexpensive way to boost speed and overall handling.

Steve

How short, did it have accesive blow out coming on plane, how much???, Have you tried on a 25 outlaw?, Do you want to try it on a 25 outlaw??

Re: IMCO Shortie
 

Wow, that's surprising. I've heard of others who had such bad experiences with the short drives that they removed them. Can you tell us your performance before and after as well as the props used? I'm guessing you had to switch to a 4-blade prop to maintain adequate grip.

By the way, you mentioned "inexpensive". Don't those things cost around $3000 - $3500?

I guess thats why Baja moved the X up in 2002, picked up a couple mph's, Baja has been running those drives a little deep on the older boats{<2001] might try it one day, thanks for the tip
Mark

I have a 95 24 outlaw and would like some more information on your experience with the Imco shortie. Could you give the HP of the 24 outlaw, year, the props, before and after speeds, etc. Thanks

Where did you hear this?

I have a 97 272 but wanted to see somene elses results instead of being the guini pig !!!!

I tried one on my 2001 25 Outlaw and lost 4-5 mph and it handled much worse.

ouch

the x was raised 2and 1/2'' on the 02 33 outlaws and 1and 1/2 on the 29, I havent heard anything about the 25 or smaller, only twins

2 1/2" is HUGE. I hope it can stay hooked up. I would guess they ship with Bravo 1 props now instead of Mirages.

This is the kind of result I've heard before.

Totalmp is selling an IMCO shortie on the parts for sale forum. That could have influenced him to start this thread.

Shorter drives work for 2 reasons. One is they carry the boat flatter and don't waste as much HP lifting the bow, and the other is they reduce drag. On boats running over a certain speed (this speed is different on every boat) the air helps lift the bow naturally and the short shaft will generally work. Older cat hull almost always benefit from the shortie because the tunnel naturally lifts the boat (at lower speeds than most v hulls) so the drive doesn't have to. Most 24 plus ft v hulls below 80 MPH probably need the deeper drive to help keep the bow up. Once a speed is achieved to allow the air to hold the bow up, the benefits of the short shaft will be realized. I guess my point is the SS drive will probably be beneficial on these type of boats, but may not be noticable until enough HP is added to get it going a certain speed. At these higher speeds the bow will naturally carry and more benefit will be noticed from the drag reduction. On my Baja 210 Sport and My dads Baja 196 Sunsport the Short drives work great. On these smaller boats the bow gets pretty light at 60 MPH plus. Both of these boats top out at or above 80 MPH. I may be wrong, but from what I have seen it is something like that.:rolleyes:

on my 78 Glastron Carlson I raised the X 2 1/2 inches and gained 10 mph. I later bought a Alpha SS that is also 2 1/2 inches shorter than stock and again raised the speed about 4-5 mph. The prop shaft was 3 inches below the pad bottom. When I got done this boat was doing low 90's. It had a SB FORD that put out over 500 HP. Everytime I raised the drive height the handling got better but I did have to run a large 4 blade prop. At about 80 mph you could feel the entire boat lift up on the air going under it . Very stable boat but weird feel at first.

Sorry, I've been out of town for the holidays. The boats we tried were a 24' Outlaw, about a 1996, the boat ran very flat, and porpoised. We added the shortie, and the boat increased handling and speed increased about 2 MPH, we then switched props from Mirage to Bravo 1, and picked up another 2.

We also did a 240 Sport, w/ a 502/525 HP engine, the boat ran 72 MPH w/ a Mirage. We then added 2" shortie, and tried a Hydromotive and a Bravo, and the best we saw was 76 with the bravo 1. We then repowered this boat w/ a 555ci/650 HP, added an extension box, and the boat runs right at 90.

I am not trying to sell you anything, just trying to help out as most of us on this site are. Anything for more MPH. Feel free to call me with any questions.

Steve

I have a 24 Outlaw with about 520 hp. Basically the same as both boats you tested. What further info can you give me on your tests. What happened to the handle. Thanks for any info.

Anybody else play with these on a 24? Thanks, A4

I have a 2'" shorty that I keep swaping with the stock case. I'm with Wette Vette on this one my boat seemed to ride flat with the shorter drive uless I had it trimed up so much that I was shooting a 3-4 foot rooster. My boat never ran better than 78mph and that was with the longer drive. I couldn't use a three bladed prop with the shorty the boat woudn't plane. This year I will try all types of combinations again. I just got a 1" spacer so I will try all different hights and props. I have an older 240 sport and I still don't know how you guys are getting the speeds you do out of it without violent chine walking mine is bad. trying to drive through it or counter acting it doesn't seem to work to good for me. My steering is tight I have a Latham duel ram full hydraulic setup on it. oh well maybe it's just me.

We raised the X on my 250 sport 4" which might be a little high but other than having to slip it a little to get on plane it helped everything. The boat carries the bow perfect and at anything above 70 you feel as if you can walk away from the helm. It really helped it more than any other addition to the boat. We did this before the shorty drives were available so we had to patch the transum and cut a new hole and raise the mounts. I have a buddy with a 24 Outlaw and it porpoises so much you feel like you are on a horse. Wardey

The outlaws definitely benefit from the shorter X, the older the boat, the lower the x was. The boat will ride a little flatter, but don't try to overtrim it, and no, a 3 blade won't work. The best combinitation we've found on any boat is the shorter drive w/ a 5 blade Hydromotive. Best all around handling and speed.

ON the 240 sport how short did you go 2'' or 3'' I'm looking in the spring to buy one.

We just went 2" shorter. I think 3" would be too much. The extension box added great benefits also. Speed and Handling. Depending on power, the 2" shortie w/ Bravo 1 works well on the 240. Call me if you have any questions, or need help with anything.

Steve

totalmp,

If you have, or ever have tried, an Imco 2" shortie on a 36 Outlaw I would be interested in the results of that application.

Thanks,
Mark

we did a 2'' on a 01 33 outlaw with 500's and picked up 6 mph with labbed 30's, evry thing was great just a little hard to get on plane

Liquid asset,

33 Outlaw is close to the 36. May be good indication of what to expect.

30s seem like they would be a little two much prop. What RPM did it turn them?

Mark

5100