Bravo Drive compatibility
 

Hi All, This season was my first owning a Bravo Drive, it is a 1989 B2 and it has a delayed shift issue which I believe has to do with the clutch. Now that the season is over I figured its time to try to get a plan together to fix it for next year. I have a line on a Bravo upper with the correct gear set for a reasonable price, the only issue is that it is a later drive with the oil return port (1999-2000) and mine is the old style without (1989). I know that SEI mentions on there website that they will plug the oil return port on their lower to work with an older style upper. Is there any reason I could not plug the oil return port on the upper to work with my lower?


Have a GREAT Monday.

Mike

Shouldn't be a problem. I talked to mercruiser about it. I actually found a kit for doing it-maybe at dougrussell.com but i'm not sure

If you have no oil passage in the lower then you much plug the upper oil passage. There is another hole in the vertical shaft cavity that should be drilled to match the old upper. If you look at the bottom of the old lower, you will see two holes that exit just above the bottom of the upper case. Match that in the new one and you should be good.
Hope that helps.
Dick

Thanks for the replys. I am actually working with a B1 lower that has the oil passage boss but is not drilled, This units I believe to be a service replacement. Since I do not have the upper yet to compare to I do not quite understand about the other hole mentioned. Any pics that can be sent. My plan was to drill, tap and plug the oil passage in the upper then bolt together. Note my boat is not a high performance boat and will hardly ever see speeds higher than 30 mph or above 3500 rpms. I heard a rumor that Merc's patent on the Bravo is about to expire and SEI has a Bravo upper in the works.