Thanks TCBoss302. I can see that the SCX drives are definitely the way to go reliability-wise. And it's great now that I have an idea of what they cost. Wow. Pricey @ $50K for a pair. Since I'm not going to be running in salt, but rather in lakes and rivers, I'm leaning towards either XR's or upgrading the Bravo Ones. I guess it boils down to value. If I can achieve considerably more strength with one VS the other...Wow am I learning a lot here. Very thankful...

Thanks Dick.
I'm leaning towards the XR's at this point. Until then, I guess I need to get used to the boat the way it is and when the 100/hp-itis sets in, then I'l need to give serious consideration to the SCX upgrade. Lots to think about. Reliability, performance, fun.

That sounds goo MichiMike. If I do end up pulling the heads, it only makes sense to put the engines in a diet and drop 100# a piece. I'm assuming the Edelbrock heads have nice large rectangular ports big enough to stick your fist into. Cramming more air into the power plant is always a good thing...

Haha. Made me lol. Yes, I'll be gentle for a while, then I'll need to hear those big blocks sing to one another...

You make very good points phragle. Thanks for the perspective. I didn't even think about the extra heat issue with the superchargers. Thinkin' I'm gonna just get everything in good shape, and go from there. If the heads need to come off, I'll err on the side of reliability over more power. Then, run it for a season, and see what I think about it after that. At the end of the season, I'll have a better pulse for how it behaves and decide what's next.

$50k for SCX's seems high, I was under the impression it can be done for $30-$35k all in. Am I wrong?

Fully agree, I had nothing but problems with the SC lowers since they still had the Mercury gears. I went through a period where I couldn't even get a new set of gears broken in running no more than 3500 rpms and babying the boat... never even took the boat offshore. If I'm not mistaken, there is still no true aftermarket solution for this. Many have tried annealing and re-heat treating, cryo, nitride coatings, etc... you might get a little extra time, but nothing that ever stopped the original problems from happening. Full SCX drives - all IMCO sourced gears - amazing how much better it feels to just go boating and not worry anymore.

50k is really high, I'm sure Mr. Gadgets can help you get a much better price - or try to find drives used in the classifieds.

Awesome info everyone. Thank you for taking the time to reply with thoughtful insight. Now I know what I gotta do eventually and planning for it. SCX x2.

The Edelbrock heads are ok, but it is closer to stock than some top of the line put your fist in heads.One has to remember your working with 177 blowers.In my case i really don't care about making much more than stock HP so this would do nice with stock cam/pistons.At 240 hours all I need is the blowers serviced now but next year a set of heads/head studs is in order.

I never knew what the others cost but if they are in that range for just the upper/lower then I'm way to cheap.