Is it possible/feasible to replace my Alpha drive with a Bravo? Or is it possible to beef up the existing Alpha? Would like to boost hp (small block) from 270 to around 400. What hp can the stock Alpha take?
Thanks.

An Alpha won't handle 400 HP for very long at all even if you are easy on it. There realy aren't any performance upgrades for the Alpha drived either. You can switch the transom plate,gimbal ring, bellhousing, and drive for a Bravo though. You can usssualy find em priced resonabbly as a complete assembaly, people sell em after they switch to Arneson's or 6's and have the whole package.

that will puke an alpha.

the conversion is pretty simple. I did it a whiel back myself. As long as teh engien out its simple. Unbolt all the alpha stuff (transom assemblie, inner outer ect.) Get a hold of a bravo hole drilling jig/template thing (its a merc part that line sup the drill bit perfectly) then bolt it to eth transom using teh lower hoel sfrom teh alpha, then drill the 2 new upper holes.

once the holes are in bolt up your new bravo transom assemblie and you shoudl be set. LIterally 2 holes and bolt stuff up. The pain in the ass is pulling your engine.

I disagree on that....An alpha will handle 400hp AS LONG AS IT IS A SMALL BLOCK. I have been running 375hp for several seasons an not one problem. I have heard TONS of similar stories. The simple rules are to stay away from the jackrabit holeshots, and make sure you stay away from getting air. Teague and Crocket both feel that 425 is about the limit. The main thing is TORQUE kills alphas....Keep the thing in the water and stay away from the holeshots.....

Also try to make your hp with a 350 instead of a 383....Less torque.

small block 383, 570 hp... alpha drive, 3000 lbs boat. 2nd year running. Haven't hurt it yet. And yes I have tried to break it, no issues yet

MAKE SURE you put a Simrek drive shower on it........change oil often.........Ive had failures in both of my alphas.......both heat related........now they have showers......the alpha is the second hottest running drive in the Merc line........runs hotter than a Bravo.......lets face it a Bravo WOULD ultimatly be the best solution.......but put a shower on it go fairly easy on it and keep the maintenence up and you should be good with that power provided the drive is in decent shape to start with .......bearings and gears arn't ready to fall out of it to start with.........doug

Ive looked and there is no real hop up parts for the alpha.......the only thing I could come up with is a hardened upper gear st from Merc......according to a real repuable source all new gearsets avail from merc are now that spec.......but a Simrek drive shower IS A HOP UP PART!!!!!!

Thanks for all the info. "Jackrabbit" starts are part of the equation, we use the boat for skiing which is why I wanted to update the power (and torque) a little. I would like to keep the cost reasonable, any ideas where to find a Bravo take out? Estimates on cost?? To spend too much on upgrading the drive to a bravo might make more sense to just upgrade boat to a big block/bravo setup, but we really like the boat we have.

A friend of mine had a 20' Rinker bowrider with a 406" small block that dynoed over 450 hp with a Simrek shower and skied with it. When I drove I would ease up on the throttle because I didn't want to be the one to break it
Four years...no problems