Rotation of Drives
 

I have a 1987 Scarab II with 454's in it. Both motors are turning clockwise. I was wondering:
1. If I am able to change the rotation of the drive without changing the whole lower unit?
2. How I would go about doing this and where is the best place to get the parts needed.

What kind of drives?

Alpha 1 drives.

Takes a counter rotation gear housing (lower unit). You can't just run an Alpha in reverse like a Bravo.

You would have to change the drive or at least the lower unit on one of them.

FYI the Alpha drive was only availiable for 2 years for use with the 454. They never held up well to the torque of the big block so the Bravo came into play.
Here's a link to a site where it's mostly Alpha and Bravo guys. I'm sure you can get a lot more Alpha information over there.
http://forums.iboats.com/

The change is made in the lower unit, no need to change the entire drive. I am not sure if you can change internals and use the same case, or if the case is different as well, likely a good drive guy can answer that for you. Had this done many years ago on a 32 Pachanga with 454 / 330's. I put 550 hours on that boat over six seasons and never had an issue with the Alpha drives.

Wish I could say the same about the Bravo's I've owned since then. :eek:

Thanks for the input, now the question is where to buy the parts needed to make the change, any suggestions?

IMO Do yourself a favor now and start looking for a set of Bravo's. You can pick up a set of drives and gimbles for cheap from someone doing an upgrade and save yourself the aggravation of having to repair the Alpha you just spent $ on. The Bravos will hold up better than the Alpha's, their nothing great either just a bit stronger and it's a pretty simple swap over.

Remember that a straight swap for Bravos will loose the OP some speed as a favor for giving him a more robust drive in his application. Yes, most 454/330/Alpha combinations blew up a long time ago. But, if you've very careful with them and have a relatively light boat, they can actaully last. One guy up here has a 22' Pachanga with that combination and it's never blown up. Of course the guy babys the hell out of it ..

If you plan to stick with the Alpha you might want to check these out.
http://www.sterndrive.cc/mm5/merchan...ercruiserAlpha

Ok, thanks for the info. I'll have to way out the options and dollar difference. I don't plan on keeping this boat forever but while I have it I would like it to run it's best.
BTW TOOStroked, my boat is a 30' that ways about 9500 lbs.

I'm not sure if it came that way new with both turning clockwise? Chances are that the previous owner popped one and just replaced it without caring which way it turned. Yes you could baby it but that's no light weight your running. Just a matter of time and if you plan on reselling it down the road a few MPH for durability and value goes along way. I know I wouldn't buy it with Alpha's on it. My 2ct's worth.

A buddy of mine has a Tiara, I believe it's 32' but it came from the factory with 2 RH drives. He's got small blocks in it though, not that that matters. He told me once that the mechanic at his harbor told him they have less problems then the counter clockwise drive. Got me.

Ok let's say I wanted to do this right and get the best drives for my boat without killing my wallet. What would you guys suggest?

You need to consider the age of your boat, condition of the motors and interior and everything else and decide just how much you are willing to put into it. If you want to swap both drives and transom assemblies and trim systems to Bravo's you are probably looking at 3-4K at least in used parts to do so. And then theres the labor. If you are just wanting to change the rotation of one drive as in the beginning of this thread then I would just get one of those SEI lowers for $900. As you said you don't plan on keeping the boat forever maybe now is the time to consider a different boat. When selling the boat your not going to get that much more if any for it having Bravos then it's going to cost you to swap over to them. Lot of people don't even know the difference between a Alpha and Bravo. All they know is they have the money and want to buy a boat.

OK, wait a minute. Reading back to your first post, I just noticed that you said that both motors are turning clockwise. That's normal now days. Counter rotating engines are a thing of old school. Are the drives both turning the same direction? You sure? Just checking, assuming that the drives are both turning the same, I agree with picklen except for finding a pair of useable Bravos with gimbles for $3-4K. Maybe $6-8K but that's neither here nor there. Like he said it comes down to your budget and what your willing to spend on it. Nobody recovers their investment. Unless your attached to that particular boat, selling it and moving up might be your best move. The cheapest way to go would be the change of the lower itself. The most sencible thing TO ME after that would be the Bravo swap providing I was going to keep the boat for several more years to get some use out of my expence and labor. With stock engines or even mild mods the Bravo's should be fine, no need to go to somethink better unless you want it.

I think he was refering to the drives. A bit of info I'll pass along that I learned working with Mercs
is that the engine rotation is determined by looking at the rear of the engine and the way the flywheel is turning. Counter clockwise or LH is the norm. RH or clockwise rotation also call counter rotation is the thing of the past. Also "ALL" Mercruiser STERNDRIVE engines are LH or considered to rotate counterclockwise, looking at the flywheel.

Hi iam looking to buy spare B1 lower unit mayb 2 is there stuff any good??

I know about the LH but I didn't want to confuse it anymore. Also I assumed that he was talking about the drives from the begining but figured I might as well ask, who knows? Still right on about selling might be the best option. Thanks pickle!

They are both turning clockwise at the props. Plus the props themselves are both right handed. As far as at the flywheels I'm not sure. I'm not an old pro at the go fast but I have been around alot of machinery from tugs to heavy equipment. So I have a good grasp on what im looking at.
As far as a new boat that is a few years down the road unless I hit the lottery, lol.

That being said and looking at the advice from the posts here, I'm leaning hard towards a counter rotating alpha and hope for the best.

Personally I have never dealt with them. However I have heard a lot of good reviews about them. The price is right and they come with a 3 year warranty.