Adding Imco Boxes
 

Im looking at buying a new set of 3" boxes to free the boat up. When you buy the kit, does it come with everything you need to do the conversion, what all is involved in the labor?

Do you have to raise the motors 3"?
Is there any cutting involved on the transom itself?
Overall is it a painless process?
if anyone has a step by step to post, that would be great.
I'm pulling my motors this year for new carbs/Dyno and thought this might be the best time to get this done.

The engines have to come up also, ( and possibly back somewhat,
due to the transom angl, unless their inner plate addresses that ?), then there's the issue with exhaust outlets, either custom tail pipes, or fill and redrill.

I didnt think about the Tail pipes!

Longer trim lines
longer water lines if you use drive pick up
steering? I bought the imco transom assembly at the same time of the boxes, it has the steering built in.
exhaust
longer shafts for the drives

Its a pretty big project.

IMO if you just want to raise your prop depth buy a set of shorty lowers and see if you get the results your looking for. If not their an easy sell and your back to square one. If you need the boxes to get the props back into cleaner water and your buying new, go with the Stellings boxes. Their adjustable from neutral(actually 7/8" up) to 3" up and use a drive shaft setup instead of the straight shaft so no need to raise the engines.

One other thing involved with engine raising, plumbing, exhaust, mounts, transom cutouts, lets not forget hatch clearance!

do the stellings bolt directly to the flywheel? I see a lot of post about the stellings tearing drives up, and it makes since , becouse the coupler is gone in that set up to absorb the shock! thats the only reason why I was looking into the Imco!

Now whom would you be referrin to willis

Yes they bolt directly to the flywheel, but XR's break,
even in stock form ( with couplers)

DO NOT BUY STELLINGS. They remove the drive coupler and will aid in the destruction of your drive ! Also they come with NO WARRENTY whatsoever. Mine blistered after 4 months and they said there was no warrenty because they were "in the water" Hmmmm let see.......ITS A BOAT.

As stated they do bolt directly to the flywheel via an adapter. Since I moved my engines forward about 2 feet when we added the boxes I used some drive line bellhousings and drive shaft converters(in place of transmissions) then had shafts made thus retaining the rubber couplers. Yes, still trashed one of my Imco SC uppers being to hard on the hammer but since I do alot of docking/shifting I thought it best to keep the couplers. I powder coated my boxes to match my paint so I do not know about any blistering problems. I have the shafts that came with the boxes if anyone needs them.

have stellings on a friends donzi that i drive all the time, he doesn't have any docking or shifting problems at all. i really like their set up better than the others.

Im just saying!

I know of several people that have the stellings from the factory. If they were so bad why did Merc use them.

Stellings also makes a drive saver that bolts to the flywheel and acts the same way as a coupler.

I don't have drive savers and the drives have 500hrs on them. 100hrs with 750hp a side and 400hrs with 425hp.

If your still running standard length lowers, try some -2's. Then if you need to space them down a little...you can.

Im also thinking about thag option as well.

I was talking to a Tech guy at CP and he was really trying to get me to go with the Mayfair Extention box, he said it seemed to be more heavy duty, and had a few options, has anyone had an experience with these or know of a person who has, thanks, they are a tad less expensive as well !

Whatever box you go with your going to have to modify your hyd. steering. With shorter lowers its much less work.

yes, I fugured I would have some transome standoffs made for the rams!

Anyone know where I could look at installation instructions for any of these? :wuerg019: wouldn't mind learning something about them

Installation instructions, LOL, what's that? Pretty straight forward, remove everything from the transom and re-install it all 12" back on the boxes. Seal it real good. More places for leaks to develope. Didn't know Mayfair made boxes, never heard of them.

Hardin Marine produced a set, you can get a PDF off of CP perfomance web site from one of the Imco adds!

Never knew about these either
http://www.hardin-marine.com/c-1422-...ion-boxes.aspx

Do they make adapters for other steering systems?

you could have anything machined, im going to have my local fabrication shop make me a steering ram extension for my Lathem steerring system.

Found their pdf's for alot of the products they carry, interesting reading , thanks

Thats what i have is the Lathams let me know how it works out.

I did the Imco 3" box on mine when I was first getting into boating. It's a very straight forward install. The motor does have to go up and back a tad. The kit comes with practically everything you need. I had to get some angle aluminum to make new mount pads for the engine, but even that was a cake walk. If you go that route, I can give you some advice that will make a few things easier... If you have any questions, call Ron at Imco Nevada - he's extremely knowledgeable and more than happy to explain things in detail. 702-294-3030. I haven't used the stellings box, but I know some people that have, and they all have mixed opinions. They are harder on the drive, and they require more maintenance, especially in the extreme up position- mostly just to do with the u-joints for the drive shaft. I haven't used the Hardin kit either, nor do I know anyone that has- but Hardin makes damn great products, and I can't imagine that their kit wouldn't be top notch. Talk to Scott at Cp if you have questions on that one, that guy is a never ending encyclopedia of go-fast boat knowledge!

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth...