Swapping a Bravo 2 out for a Bravo 1
 

Taking on a little project boat, it’s in useable condition, but has a few things I want to address. One thing is the drive, it has a Bravo 2. It works, but the boat will never reach its potential with a Bravo 2.

What exactly would I need to replace if I wanted to swap in a Bravo 1? Is it just a lower unit change? How should I go about selecting a gear ratio? It’s a 22’ boat with a 502, aiming for 60+mph on top end.

Gear ratio for regular Bravo 1’s is determined by the upper gears. Bravo 1 lowers all use the same gears.

Thanks, maybe I'll buy a gear set and just replace whike it's apart. Thinking 1.50 is a safe ratio.

1.5 is what 90% of Bravo boats have. You need to find out what gears are in the current Bravo upper. They could be 1.50 already. A Merc gear set is like 2k. IMO, better off to just find a good used complete Bravo 1.

Yeah, there are several on marketplace right now. I’m sure I could recoup most of it by selling the bravo 2. There’s nothing wrong with it, just not the ideal set up.

When I pick the boat up I’ll look at the prop, may be able to get away with scouring the web for a higher performing prop.

If it’s a. 2:1 B2, putting a B1 lower on it will give its 1.5 gearing