Got a friend that's a boater and member of this site as well that is a welder and fabricator by trade. We were talking the other night about taking some alpha uppers we have laying around and making them shorter, similar to the alpha ss. What all is different internally between a normal alpha and the ss version other than the intermediate shaft that connects the upper to the lower? Anybody have any experience with this kind of project?

becides that shaft and the upper neing shorter you will also need a cle lower case which is on the bridgeport outboards..
what your talking about has already been done..
heres the trend..

http://www.rlcboats.com/triple_digit...pledigits.html

That's where we got the idea. Not so much worried about the lower as we could add nose cones. My other question would be does anybody know if those rlc drives are legit or garbage? Isn't that the same "triple digits" that got laughed off this site and could never prove the boat ran that fast?

theirs a guy on donzi.net that is running one of his drives,,he said he picked up like 7 mph (i think)..

also a guy named rootsey, he made a appha ss drive also on donzi.net

I've got a ready to bolt on Alpha SS for 2350 if anyone is interested. 1.32:1 ratio

I know that guy with the Donzi if he is from MN, its a Donzi 18. Have have yet to see the drive because he blew up his motor the year get got his drive and I haven't seen the boat out since. He said it was 7 or 8 grand for the setup, and he may be sending it back to get another 1" taken out.

for that much coin I would be trying a Blackhawk instead..

Just got off the phone with the guy at RLC, the folks that make the aftermarket performance alpha drive. He told me a shortened drive will not help unless I'm turning 6000+ rpm. Told me my engine needs to make peak power at 6100. Says they build a "pleasure" boat engine that turns to 6400 rpm and still runs reliably on the low end and is perfect for skiing and water sports as well He also told me I'd gain 3-4 mph by switching out my 650 cfm carb for a 750 cfm. I think 650 cfm is plenty for a mild 350 in SBC but I may b wrong. He also stated that 5200 rpm is not enuff to get any kind of speed out of the boat. I'm calling on this. His answer to a cam was to call comp cams and tell themi want a 6000 rpm cam. Can anybody shed some light on his theory? I'm already at 62-63 mph. Looking for 65-66. I really don't see the need to turn an engine that hard to get the speed I'm after.

Forgot to mention, drives start at $3500 and go up to $7500 depending on options and carry zero warranty

He hit 85 with a new 500HP 383.

I had a Alpha SS on my last boat, a '88 Baja Sunsport 196. I sold it with a stock Volvo-Penta 350. My mechanic and I did back to back testing between a stock Alpha and the SS within 1.5 hours. The boat ran 60 with the stocker and 65 with the SS while only spinning 4800 RPM.