Imco SCX
 

I would like to hear from people running this drive. I now run SC's on my 42 Tiger and engines are KE675 and lets just say that the SC's are too small.

I am considering just getting the uppers and reusing my lowers or getting complete drives with the option to swap lowers if needed.

I preffere reliability over speed but do not want to loose too much speed.

I am after good/bad about drives and pricing. How much do you pay for a complete drive and how much for just the upper. I can see the price for the upper on Imco's website but I guess they can be had for less. Also how much cost the helmet that is needed?

I have outside steering with wingplates that bolt up to 4 of the 6 studs that hold the drive in place and I assume that the boltpattern/size of studs is not the same which means I can not reuse my wingplates?

I know that there are other treads on this but I just feel that by now there must be a lot more drives running and with more hours on them. Let me know what you think.

Cigaretteman

Do a search on IMCO SCX. There are a few guys on here that have posted.

I love mine. I kept the SC lower. No speed loss compared to just the SC.

Chris

Chris,
I am in the process of switching to an SCX upper this winter. I wanted to keep my SC lower. I have talked to Imco, the SCX upper will not mate to the SC lower unless you replace the vertical shaft. However, they say they are making a coupler that will adapt the SCX upper to the SC lower. How did you get around this? Replace the vertical shaft? Were there any other issues to get the 2 to match up? How many hours did you put on the upper?

Hi Chris, I have already been througe OSO and read all treads. I just hoped that there would be more people out there running it that would chime in on it.

Are your prop in the same hight now as with the SC upper? I know the lower bolts up, but are the SC and SCX upper the same height so the propeller will end up in the same height after the swap?

Cigaretteman

Vinny,

I bought IMCO's conversion vertical shaft, and installed it into my SC lower. This conversion shaft has a larger diameter than the SC vertical shaft, so comes with the correct bearings and races to make this happen. Other than this, the lower mates to the SCX upper just the same as before... you can even use XR spacers if needed.. you just have to use the correct length SCX coupler for spacer applications.

I only put a couple of hours on the drive before pulling the motor to go off to Dustin for some engine R&D upgrades that he will be offering for the 600 & 700 sci motors.

The drive is noticably beefier than a SC, and I went exactly the same speed as before the conversion.

Chris

The SCX will place your prop-shaft depth at exactly the same depth as the SC drive.

There were no speed differences between the two uppers (SC & SCX)

Chris

Chris,

Thanks for the information. I have been in contact with Imco. They say they will have an adapter coupler available very soon. I am going to wait to see how that develops, if not, I will go for the replacement vertical shaft.

I was just in the classifieds and saw Diamond Performance advertise the SCX drive for 16.995$ am I missing something here? On Imcos website a complete upper is 9.309$ and a complete lower is 5.470$ = 14.779$ so diamond performance will put the upper and the lower together for you at the bargin price of 2.216$ ???Maybe it is just me but I would expect a complete drive to be cheaper than buying a seperate upper and a seperate lower.

Cigaretteman

The helmet kit is about $850+

You also need a 20 oz drive reseviour which from IMCO is about $400 because the drive holds 5 quarts, and the reseviour needs room for oil expansion.

I think this drive is really the solution for broken Bravo's.
It also has a built in oil cooler in addition to the drive cap cooler.

Chris

Cigaretteman,
Email sent.

Thanks
Dick

How much of a weight difference between the SCX and a XR?
.

You mean speed wise?

nope, I gather they are the same with the SC foot,

I was thinking physical weight. I have ITS with the drive further out there.
.

That price is wrong, i have corrected the price to $13500.00
Retail $14779.00

SCX weighs 162 lbs. XR is about 110 lbs if I remember correctly..

I love my SCX with sc lower. The drive shifted hard but after installing the imco extension box it seems to shift like butter. No problems to date 700hp with around 10hours. I never broke a xr but wanted the extra security.

John did the imco extension box help you out any?

Will the Imco SCX work on a ITS set up?

Yes it will

John's GPS puked out on the trial run with his extension box.... hence no speed data.

According to his instrumentation, he was going 20 mph... all the time.

P.S. Supposedly Lavorsi has just released a GPS antenna that does not require a battery.

Chris

Do they provide a upgraded input shaft and u-joint assembly or do you swap over the merc stuff?
.

I was misinformed about the weight of the SCX.. more like 185lbs.. Sorry for that. :(

is that with the scx lower?

That is a complete SCX drive, around 185#. What does your BMax weigh Dennis?

The B Max has a big expansion ,I have a puke tank for the oil reservoir.I got the Get Real rez it was too small and was not machined correctly,It took 6 months to swap out the first set that was leaking.the second set rattled in the bracket,you could hear it at the helm it was so loud,POS get real said they would take care of it,FBS!! I fixed it myself:angry-smiley-038:

Amsoil didnt like me calling aireation.ok it foams :evilb::evilb:



:rolleyes:

Heavy I don't know but I bet it is up there

How did you fix the rattling Get Real reservoir? Other than that, were they OK?
.

I put a set screw in them.even being small it stands out. They look great,I just need a bigger size ,I only run about 7/16 of oil level in them.

Will the SCX drive except silent choice exhaust?

No

CB-BLR, Thanks for the quick reply. How is the whipple upgrade doing. Any problems? Would you happen to know what SCX are rated for in HP? I'm having a problem with throwing blades and blowing XR uppers looking for something to last.

I was told by IMCO it can handle 750lbs torque.

My motor is down at Dustin's for R&D on upgrade stages 3-5. I have had no problems with the Stage II upgrade (aprox 730 hp).

Regarding the SCX... IMCO is reporting zero failures of the upper gear-sets to date. Some of these have gone on 1100+ horsepower motors. They did have some initial shifting problems that have been rectified with better billet parts.

I think the SCX upper is the solution for most of us that have been eating XR uppers. I don't think it will solve your blade throwing problems. Sounds like you need better (or a different style) of props.

Chris

How much extra stress is going to be placed on the gimbal with the extra weight and how is the CG of a boat affected by putting an extra 150 lbs (twins) that far out back on ITS?

Anyone with experience on this?
.

[QUOTE=CB-BLR;

I don't think it will solve your blade throwing problems. Sounds like you need better (or a different style) of props.

Chris[/QUOTE]

Chris, The blades i've been throwing were 6 blades 3 Herings and 2 Throttle ups. The good thing is Julie stands behind there work with replacements. I like the idea that you can run a #6 blade with the SCX lower should stop that problem.

Bob

2112,
You can add an Imco Gimbal ring to your transom. They are now working on a solution for the trim indicator for the ITS.
That will be a relatively inexpensive way to beef up the transom assy.

Dick

14 hrs so far trouble free behind a 900hp / 870lbf blower motor in a 4000lb 25ft cat. SCX upper / SC lower.

This was the package recommended by IMCO due to concerns of the bigger foot on the SCX lower at high speeds causing some serious stern lift when run on the surface.

Sure beats buying gear sets repeatedly :)

P.S. This thing shifts so smooth, you would think that there's a tranny in the boat.

I have an ITS as well and was wondering how difficult the retrofit of the SCX upper would be.

I dont want to rip the ITS off the transom.

What else besides the trim do I need to look at?

UD

It will bolt right on with the shaft change

UD,
a different input shaft is used on the ITS. It is the Merc ITS input shaft, I believe. Add a couple hundred dollars for it above the standard setup.
Options include color, (silver, black) propshaft 1 1/4" or 1 7/16" Hub comes with it.
You will need a new helmet, reservoir, and the drive. If your motor won't idle down to around 800rpm.. you can install a shift interupter switch.
Thats about it. Like I said they are looking at the ITS trim indicator at this time. They should have something in the near future.. You will probably have to use their Gimbal ring to accomadate the trim sender setup?? Not a bad idea to install their HD gimbal ring..
Hope that helps.
Dick