302/311 SR1 with Small Blocks and Alpha drives.
 

292 / 302 / 311 SR1 with Small Blocks and Alpha drives. Anybody ever see it / do It ?

Sounds like a bad idea to me, unless there was three of them

I’ve seen 311 with small blocks but never with alpha drives. Same goes with the 302.
I as well don’t think it would be a good combo for that setup.

Why?

Few late 80’s Scarab II’s in my area still around since new with 330hp 454’s andAlpha drives. No real issues with them.

I know of a 302 that came from the factory with small blocks/Arnesons. Not sure if the guy still has it but it's been sitting inside for years just collection dust.

Service manager at the marina says the 6.2 Mercruiser is equal in power to the 7.4 , when propped correctly gives the same performance and better fuel economy.

Small blocks and Arnesons, I would think the center of mass would be too far forward to run really well. Unless the cabin was gutted and had ballast in the stern.

Engines mounted backwards with v-drives feeding baby Arnesons.

Are you looking to repower an existing boat that has Alphas already?

Not me, but we were talking about the 6.2 litre as a replacement for the 7.4. He never mentioned changing the drives . Didn't the factory put 330's in front of Alphas ? I was wondering if the factory had ever used a Small block / Alpha combo in the 302/311 boats. There is only 3 mph difference in a 272 SR1 between the small block package vs 7.4 Bravo's

I think the big block Alpha deal was just for one year. The 6.2 would be a decent replacement for the 330, but if (when) you want more, it's going to be difficult.

Yes there were 330's in front of Alphas. As to years with boats there could be any weird situation.
But seems there are a lot of 1987 Bajas with 454/330 Alpha combos. 1988 was first year for Bravo AFAIK.

Well if one wanted to pay and play the original Mercury as some do.
And to be a Guinea pig, they just released these that were discussed on here.
400HP VS 350HP of the 6.2's. Probably more torque also as it has a 4" stroke crank.
https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...y-409-mpi.html

I had a 272 sr1 1988 with twin factory 320 efi 5.7 small blocks and bravo drives 1.5 ratio. It was faster than the 330 big block equipped ones. by about 5mph. And it was much quicker. I attribute this to the efi efficiency, the higher wot rpm and the much lighter weight. The 320 efi I had came from the factory with aluminum efi intake, aluminum eddie marine manifolds and risers.

The 330/Bravo 272 SR1 boats were very back heavy and would run about 61/62 mph. That hull is better suited to a lighter engine/drive combo.

Yes, my small blocks would push it to would run 68 mph gps, 72mph pitot speedo at 5400 rpm w/mirage plus 23's (had nose cones too, not sure if that helped)
https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.off...627993ae5a.jpg
1988 sr1 272 w/ 320 efis

double post sorry