Am I Crazy to Ask This?

I have been given ownership of a 2001 Regal with 2 corroded and broken Bravo 3 sterndrives and transom assemblies. New assemblies and outdrives and props are $25k….would converting to Alpha drives be a suitable alternative?

depends upon how much boat you are talking about and what your expectations are...

Honestly, there are a lot of clean used boats for sale at reasonable prices...it would be more effective to buy one ....

dmenders said:

I have been given ownership of a 2001 Regal with 2 corroded and broken Bravo 3 sterndrives and transom assemblies. New assemblies and outdrives and props are $25k….would converting to Alpha drives be a suitable alternative?

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Agree with makos comments how big is the boat ? Can also go back in with bravo ones vs the threes

you probably need to find good used transom assys and drives to make this cost effective

Thanks for input…it is a 28 ft Regal Commodore, with generator, a/c and nice interior cabin. It’s a pretty nice boat. Will Bravo 1 sterndrive mate up with engine ok? I don’t really want to pull the motors to change their outputs. I need both transom assemblies too.

I assume it has two V6? Just be careful that you get the drives with the same gear ratio. Should be the 1.95 flavored ones. Yes drive splines are pretty much a standardized size so you could bolt up drives from Volvo, Mercruiser etc. If you change to a different manufacturer (these came with VP Duo Props, B3 was an upgrade ha ha) then you'lll prolly have to yank the engines and change the inner transom. Given the tight quarters of the engine compartment, that may mean removing the genny, tankage and who knows what. So stick with the B3 if at all possible. Are the props still good? Reuse those! I have seen good used go for about $3000 per, so 25K is a bit high on the estimate.
Think outside the box. Call around to various marine repair shops and let them know you're looking for two drives. Shake the trees, you might get lucky.

I failed to specify that there are 2 5.0 liter mercruiser engines on the boat.

o2batsea said:

I assume it has two V6? Just be careful that you get the drives with the same gear ratio. Should be the 1.95 flavored ones. Yes drive splines are pretty much a standardized size so you could bolt up drives from Volvo, Mercruiser etc. If you change to a different manufacturer (these came with VP Duo Props, B3 was an upgrade ha ha) then you'lll prolly have to yank the engines and change the inner transom. Given the tight quarters of the engine compartment, that may mean removing the genny, tankage and who knows what. So stick with the B3 if at all possible. Are the props still good? Reuse those! I have seen good used go for about $3000 per, so 25K is a bit high on the estimate.
Think outside the box. Call around to various marine repair shops and let them know you're looking for two drives. Shake the trees, you might get lucky.

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Yeh and I wrote the wrong ratio too, so you want the 2.0 ratio drives. You should check on the engine rotation.. I believe that they will both be standard rotation which is why you have to stick with a B3...no prop walk on these. If you try to use drives with single props you'll find the boat constantly pushes hard to starboard

Thank you sir!! Appreciate the info. The props are bad...the boat hit something. One gimbel is broken too.

A propeller shop will be able to straighten and restore your propellers. As for the drives, unless they have been eaten away by corrosion, you should try to save them. Broken bits can be replaced. One gimbal is wayyy less than two whole drives and while it might seem intimidating, these things can be repaired by you. We can assist you through the process. A couple special tools needed but they are easily obtained thru our host and not expensive at maybe $30 for all the ones you'll need. If the skegs have been sheared off, those can be repaired.
I hate to see you spend a pant load of money when you could be back on the water for a couple thou

PS re: prop shops
You would be amazed, AMAZED at what they can do. Missing blades, even completely folded into a twisted lump, they can make it like new. I would even go so far as to say that they can put one or two knots more top speed on along with balancing the sets to make them silky smooth. I understand that just buying new is easy, but these are expensive propeller sets, it might be worth it just to get an estimate.

That's all very good info...I appreciate you putting it in here for me. I'll look for a prop repair shop and look into the parts I need. The casings do show some corrosion...rebuilding them might be a viable alternative.

Thanks.

Highly recommend Black Dog props in Stevensville, MD.

The Delta Propeller Company Deals In Boat Propellers Of All Kinds - Delta Propeller Company are in the SW corner of Ohio (Cleves) on the river. I've used them for 40 years. Call them and then mail the props to them. They quit repairing Aluminum props last year but make SS, Bronze and others look brand new. As a veteran and longtime customer I always get a 35%-40% discount off list price.

I've found new slightly used engines that were replaced because the customer wanted V-8s (or larger V-8s). Check the big marinas for "take outs".