IMCO 2" Shorty on Bravo X
 

Hey everyone,

Just bought a 2006 Velocity VR1 the other day and the previous owner installed a IMCO 2" shorty on it. The boat has a bravo X drive from the factory, and he is also giving me the stock lower, although it needs a new shaft as the one in it is bent (he hit a rock and chipped the skeg, etc.). Anyways, I dont know much about these lowers at all, other than a bunch of posts saying that some people gained 5+ mph with it and some people lost 5+ mph with it. Also been reading a lot about water pressure being too much and a pressure relief valve having to be installed due to more water pick up. Was hoping that someone on this forum could tell me a little bit of what to expect over stock with this drive, should I keep it on the boat or install a new shaft on the stock one and run that? Boat has a single stock 496 H.O. on it.

Also dont know how to trim with the IMCO shorty either, do you trim up when running it like a stock drive? I am unsure because it is 2" shorter than stock so im guessing you dont have to, but then again, I dont really know!

Call the Factory and see if they have any speed/ specs with that motor and a stock drive. Test yours and see where you stand.

Chris

I dont think you'll see much improvement over the stock lower, higher water pressure is usually seen in 80+ mph boats, trim it like the bravo lower and you'll be fine

https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...-outdrive.html

I looked into this when I bought my VR1. With a stock lower, my propshaft is 3.5" below the pad.

My VR1 ran low 70s with stock 496HO. They are setup to run off the showroom floor. Just add more HP if you want more speed.

Yeah, I didnt install this lower, like I said, I bought the boat with the IMCO 2" already on it. I might just rebuild the factory lower and put that back on the boat

Run it first see how it is, then change the lower and see what happens.

Thats what the plan is. The previous owner said that he hit a rock and he took a chip out of the skeg. Says that the shaft is a little bit off centered, like it has some wobble in it. Will one of those skeg guards and a new shaft fix this? I have never replaced any internals in a lower before, so im not sure if something else might be damaged in there that wont allow for another shaft

Dont use a skeg guard. If you ever want your boat to be fast, that isnt the way to do it. They scrub speed. A decent shop that installs the prop shaft can heat, align and tru the skeg. FWIW, by the time you buy all the tools to do the lower, a shop would have done it cheaper, faster, and got all the gear lash and tolerances correctly.

If the boat can get on plane with the -2 shorty, it will be faster than a regular lower. Get some Velocity guys to chime in on setup, there are plenty out there.

Shorty
 

Did you ever decide to keep or sell the shorty? I am in the market for one.

Thanks, Cory

i just had mr gadgets rebuild and modify my bravos and added imco -2 lowers. they work awesome, i run better water pressure ( 25 psi ) which helps keep my water temps under 220 no matter how long i run it hard. And i picked up 3 mph!

on a VR Velocity?

220* water temps??? :eekdrop:

Oops . oil temp never goes over 220. my water temp is right at the thermostat 140

and unless it is running full throttle the oil temp stays at 190.