Hey,

So I bought a boat from someone and he hit a rock with the lower unit, bent the prop shaft and chipped the skeg. I want to rebuild the lower, but have never done it before. Is it hard to rebuild a lower unit? Do you need special tools? Also can't find really anything on a bravo 1x, only can find the regular bravo 1 for some reason

​​​​​​Currently, the boat has a imco -2 on it, but it cavitates when going on plane. I could just buy some cavitation plates, but was also told that the original 1x lower gave the boat more control and MPH, as the imco lower has more HD parts. That brings me to another question, can you install a drive shower on the cavitation plate?

YouTube has some decent videos on drive rebuilding. Some of the tools are special or simply make it far easier to do the task. While I have never done it personally, it seems well within the capability of a person with moderate mechanical skills. It looks like there are shims and clearances that are critical for the build, so the need for precision dial indicators and micrometers might be necessary.

It might simply be cheaper and FAR easier and quicker to simply a good used or already rebuilt outdrive.

I looked into that, but couldn't find a 1x lower... All that I could find was like regular bravo 1 lowers. I don't think that the 1x was a popular drive

Ive got a pair of XR lowers for sale if interested

How much?

XR lowers

A bravo 1x lower is a std bravo lower. The x part is only the upper

Huge help man. I didn't know that. I'm looking everywhere for a "Bravo 1x lower rebuild kit or assembly" lmfao, no wonder I can't find it!!

I don't want to come out and say it's rocket science but I have a feeling that there's been a ton of guys who were reasonably mechanically inclined who thought they could undertake this job and when they went to run the boat all sorts of things went kaboom.
I've been around I/Os for a long time and I would only trust a factory certified mechanic to do this for me.

The Imco -2 lower is worth 2-3k depending on what gears and propshaft it has. You could easily sell it, buy a Bravo 1 lower, and come out $$$ ahead.

The other option is to just install a drive spacer between the Upper and Imco lower