Pretty sure The 454 Alpha combo (only used for 2-3 yrs) used 1.36 gears to make the drive last a little longer.

That is a fact. Well the gear ratio anyways.

How would a bravo 2 act behind this boat with a 7.4? I know it's not a b1 or B3 but it may be available.

https://louisville.craigslist.org/bp...682265974.html
I don't see an inner transom plate.
Shipping one of these on a pallet is way less expensive than you think.

the Bravo came out in 1988 and up till then the 454 mated to an alpha one of 1.36 gear ratio. There was a couple of reason for the alpha to have 1.36 gear ratio when mated to the 454. Anyone what to take guesses at why ?.

if you can get a seller willing to do that. Some people won't even ship a prop let alone a drive.

what gr am I looking for on a bravo 1 or 3?

A bravo 2 is designed for heavy, slow work boats. They are physically larger lowers. You would be dragging more surface area with a b2 than a b1. No need for a b2 on a 242, over kill and losing speed.

The b3 is a great unit. Very efficient and very low slip ratio. However the props limit out at 26 or 28 I believe. No doubt it would give you one hell of a hole shot. They mainly come behind under powered engines in somewhat heavy boats. For instance my buddys 23' crownline bow rider with mpi 350 mag. It spins 26p props and the best I've gotten from it is 53mph. Not bad for that boat.

I personally would stick to the standard b1 with 1.5 gear as most of them came with.

If I find a bravo with the inner and outer transom plates what else is needed? Will my alpha steering hook up to it? I'm assuming my trim pump hoses will work. How about the shift cables?

Need a Bravo shift plate maybe a drive bottle. Everything else is pretty much a straight up deal.
I have a '86 242b which I swapped from Alfalfa to Bravo.