I'm putting an 8.1 496 into my boat which has a alpha gen 2 drive .Will this be able to hold up with so care or is this drive unsafe do to the hp and torque ,I know the drive is capable of 300hp and back a while ago someone said they were running 450 hp on a alpha drive. If the drive is unable to handle this engine maybe so good leads on a drive could help. Thanks Jeff

May work for a while on a small boat,but probably will puke sooner or later. You'll have to use the Alpha shift plate because of the "cut out " switch and find a way to wire it into the harness to kill the motor when you shift. 2 different types of switches Alphas had too, one made ground, the other was a 12 volt shunt.Need to cut the water hose on the outside of the transom plate so the drive can pump water freely (new motor will have thru hull pick-up) and need block off plate on inside of transom plate for removed water tube.

I've had a couple of Alpha/ BB rigs. My 2 cents worth is: it's torque that kills them, obviously not the best option for BB's, but go EASY out of the hole and they'll last a whole lot loger-

an alpha will die behind a big block. the death will be sudden and dramatic. best of luck.

Like ctuck659 said "go easy". A friend of mine has an '87 30' Webbcraft with 468s and Alphas and has never blown a drive . Yeah , I know , suprizing isn't it? Another friend had a 400+hp 406 and Alpha and beat the snot out of it for three years , including straight arm hole shots water skiing.(light boat)
Key here is no straight arm hole shots and watch catching too much air , those re-enrties are hard and drive parts
All that said , you are over the limits of an Alpha. You could get lucky and get 4 or 5 years and then again.....