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you better be comming out of the hole , like an old lady with a shopping cart! otherwise its going to sound like a blender with
nuts and bolts in it.
I have a 350 mag with a alpha gen2 1.5r Im still afraid to get on it out of the hole. mabye in labor day weekend Ill pound it a little
bit. cause if I toast it then at least my summer isnt ruined.

hey puder are the gen 2 stronger then the gen 1 s?

txboater

I'm not smokin' much right now! Can't afford it!

I know the ALpha is way under what is needed, but so isn't the bank account right now.

I am keeping my eyes out for a good used Bravo. If I get any sort of a windfall, then in it will go!.

Until then, I like the old lady analogy, slow and eaaaaaaasssy!

Iggy

WWW TOPDJ COM,
My Formula runs a 350 MAG, 270hp, with an Alpha gen1 (1.5:1). It's currently got over 400 hours on it and when I'm coming out of the hole I've got the hammer all the way down.
No complaints from it.... yet.
Some day I'll upgrade to a Bravo.
So don't be afraid, punch it!

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Iggy what kind of lube u running ? drive shower?
boat year size weight?
my is 25' around 3800lbs 1992

Iggy

Using regular Merc High Performance gear oil (the blue/green stuff) and no shower. Change it twice a season and our season runs from March to November.
Boat is a 1988, 21 ft and 3100 lbs (dry) turning a 21p Mirage.

jpclear

Origional Merc gears were cast/treated. They had the HD upgrade on gears that were forged and used in the Alpha SS. You NEED to use the HD gears for any BB application and still be carefull out of the hole. The ratio is not the concern; the torque of the BB is. Going to the more cubes (like more torque) will put you over the edge and you will spend most of this summer on the beach. Either stay with 330 HP or upgrade outdrive and all. --- Jer

blue thunder

I have a buddy with a 454 toting about 400hp through a 1987 alpha drive. This is on a 240 baja. He babies that crap out of it, but has blown the upper out of the outdrive several times. He trys to get on plane like an old lady, but the problem is the boat runs great. As soon as he gets a little air, he blows the drive on reentry. Often he gets away ok with quick throttle back, but one wrong move and there goes another $1,500 and a couple weeks time. Spend the money up front if you plan to keep the boat so you can romp without worry. I suspect a 21 footer with that kind of power will be hard to keep from launching and even harder to keep off WOT!.

Good Luck,

BT

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when were the forged gears used I have a 92 gen2 says 350 mag on drive is there anything that someone could tell be about
the improvements

jafo

Heat (and of course the torque of a BBC) will kill an Alpha without mercy! I have a pair of built SBC's in a Formula and have had no problems, but I have added Simrek drive showers, internal reservoir kits, and run RedLine ShockProof Heavy gear lube (ditch the green stuff, no comparison in lubricity and gear shock-load protection to RedLine) The temp drop with these add-ons was over 60 degrees F measured with an infrared, and no more chalking on the outdrive. There is a slight advantage in a twin install with Alphas since they share the load, but I still would only run SBC's in front of them.

I'm with the other guys on the Bravo swap though, you WILL have a disappointing season no matter how you baby it with that 502 in there. I've seen plenty of grenaded Alphas running 330's. Spend the money on the Bravo now- Alphas aren't cheap, especially when you go through a lot of 'em!

cuda

My wrench had an alpha and a BB on his fishing boat. Granted it isn't a performance boat, but it is big and heavy. He told me he got 3000 hours from the alpha before he upgraded engine and went bravo at the time. The drive was still working when he swapped. Of course like I told him, he probably had the habit of keeping oil instead of saltwater in the drive.

As a matter of fact, I stopped in to see him yesterday and pick his brain about a boat that I was looking at that had twin TRS. He almost snapped his neck looking at me a shaking his head no! He said not to touch it with a ten foot pole, he didn't care how good a shape and how nice a boat or what a great price. While I was there, they were swapping out his BB for a new 496. He said a customer wanted to buy his engine, so he went with the new 496.