I have a 89' alpha setup on boat. Switching over to bravo setup.

What year did they make the bravo better. Mid 90's compared to late 80's?

Will my alpha trim rams work on a bravo setup? Are they the same size?

Bravo transom assemblies seem to be the same except for the newer ones with drive resovoir? Correct?

Going to put 650+ n/a SBC hooked to the bravo..6500-6800 rpm. Want to be able to run it hard. Is there a weak link in the bravo that should be upgraded before I install it. I need to find bravo assembly and drive still. Of course budget is always a issue lol

Thank you for your time and any info you provide.

you want a mid 90s or newer bravo1 drive, your boat is light enough that a b1 might hold up okay,

Your alpha trim rams will work (only if it's a gen1 alpha). But I believe they are 3/4" longer then bravos so they will lift the drive slightly higher in trailer mode. Some say they won't work but I did the conversion on my boat and used alpha rams with 0 issues.

Bravo transom assemblies have 2 extra bolts/studs then the alpha, so you will need to either A line it up and drill the hole or B what I did was buy the 3$ merc paper template which gives you all the bolt holes then align the other 6 and drill the last 2. Be mindful the holes have to be on the same angle as the transom.

With that kind of power in that small of a boat be sure to run hydraulic steering. Even it's an add on ram for now. You don't want to break a swivel pin or a steering cable at 75-80+.

Btw I love the idea, and love the sound of a motor spinning 65-6800rpm.

Oh and you didn't mention anything in your post but just an FYI you will need the belt driven seawater pump and possibly a different shift bracket because the bravos do not use the interrupt switch that the alpha does. So on your harness you'll need to safe off the coil wire that runs to the shifter plate. But the bracket is the same size so it will bolt back on with no issues.

Thank you for the info. I appreciate it

The Bravo and Alpha Gen II transom assemblies are the same for holes and cutout. And actually, they both use the same inner plate.

The weakest link in a stock bravo is the top cap. Buy a finned top cap. Next would be the 1" shafting both propshaft and vertical. Going to 1 1/4 shafts would be nice.

Mr. Gadgets (O S O ) member can build you a Killer b-1 drive @ a great price.
SUPER nice guy to work with and he has a Kabota. I did same conversion in 2012.
P.T.L. Rory

Check out my thread on the restoration of my 1979 Formula 255 Liberator. I swapped out twins to Bravo I.I am running twin 400+ horsepower 355 Vortec SBC's.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/f...or-update.html

This will answer most questions you may have. If you have something that you don't see an answer to send me a PM...I'll be glad to help.

In the meanwhile...as has been said before...you wand mid to late '90's with a preference to '98 and later. As a rule...don't try to mix and match rams...bad idea. Also...I decided to use a crank driven raw water pump and pull thru the drives...works very well.

Good luck with this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R526BfFVXbE

If you follow the mercury marine suppression chain you will find that the alpha gen one rams are the same as the bravo. They are the same length as they are the same part.

As a matter of fact I have 4 sets of rams that came factory with bravo's but have the alpha part # on them. Looked it up and it superseded to the bravo part # as the alpha ram changed 100% when gen 2 was introduced.

OK...I have 2: sets of Alpha I Rams that would not work on my 1998 Bravo I Drives...they don't even look the same nor are they the same length. That's the reason I made sure the Rams I have are for Bravo I. The most obvious difference I see is the provision for a sacrificial anode on the Bravo Rams that the Alpha I rams don't have.

I understand that Alpha Gen 2 Rams are the same as Bravo but I'm not sure.

I will try to take some pics and post them. for comparison.