Does any one have a link to buying sei lower gears by themselves, never seen them for sale individually, would try them myself as the merc stuff is out of tolerance new any ways, Smitty

SEI Bravo 1 lower gears (Merc part no.14063A1) 15/19 tooth count sells for $443.58

http://www.sterndrive.cc/Bravo.html

No need to cut down a perfectly good Bravo XR propshaft just to fit a BI gear.
Just bore the gear on a lathe with the appropriate insert. This gear measured a hardness of 61.5 RHC and I had it finished to size in 15 minutes with no chatter and a perfect finish. BTW The SEI gears are made out of 8620 steel with a hardness depth of .025 to .040 or about .010 more than Mercruiser's. Everything points to a better gear, I just can't confirm if their forging techniques are consistant.
Here's a picture of a gear I cut to fit a Bravo XR shaft, afterwards its a good idea to cut a slight bevel on the bore edge as the propshaft has about an .080 radius on it and it won't seat flush unless you do so

SEI for not doing a Bravo upper is because of patent issues. When that runs out they will have a Bravo upper. I deal with them as dealer. They have a few little things that pop up here and there with some quality issues. They got rid of the junkie impeller in the alpha gen II and since this whole year have a better quality impeller installed. That was their big issue last year.

I guess if you buy a complete Bravo lower you can save some money,
but the prices are not that much less if your looking to buy bearings,lower gear set or shafts,
I guess for the price difference I would stick with Merc original parts.

Much cheaper than Merc if you buy SEI's complete bravo lower kit. Includes everything for the lower for $549
http://www.sterndrive.cc/product/Fit...-121-900K.html

no patent issues. i am surprised they don't do TRS...

yes if you buy the kit,
but if you need just a shaft only about a $75.00 difference from Merc,I quess you could buy the complete kit and save the parts and hope you might need them one day.

http://www.sterndrive.cc/Mercruiser-Bravo-Shafts.html

http://www.sterndrive.cc/Mercruiser-Bravo-Gears.html

Just an FYI.... SEI was started after SBT the jetski engines reman company and as of this year they bought out API Marine - the starters and alt company located in Florida as well. SBT, SEI and API all owned by the same guy as his back ground started with heavy duty trucks service and parts sales along with their drivelines. A lot of their parts come from the Asian markets but are assembled here in America.

They also do a lot of testing on a lake that is owned by them as well. SEI has put a hurt on Mercruiser OEM dealers and Mercruiser for selling new drives as Merc retail pricing on the Alpha has been almost cut in half just to compete currently.. Also Merc tried to sue them (SEI) as well years ago but lost or the case was thrown out of court.