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New engine installation High output eng Alpha One Gen 2 breakage

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beech2000

New member
Recently installed 350HP 400lb

Recently installed 350HP 400lbs torque @ 4500rpm 5.7 in my 19ft. Sea Ray.

After reading some forums I am worried about alpha one upper unit breakage.

My current ratio is factory 1.62
and using 23 pitch quicksilver stainless prop.

The boat runs great but worried about long term effect this season pulling multiple slalom skiers.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks Kevin
 
"Guys: Help me out on this on

"Guys: Help me out on this one.

Kevin: If you have an Alpha 1 Generation I, you may be at the recommended HP limit. With regular OD service and a drive shower, it could run indefinitely. The shower's pressure is controlled by the boat's speed. The shower dumps gallons of lake water over the OD to cool the exterior from the top down. A quality synthetic OD gear oil would help keep it cooler and prevent the gear oil from coking (not cooking) which is basically overheating and breaking down the oil viscosity properties.
Guy"
 
"The 1.62 ratio is not going t

"The 1.62 ratio is not going to help anything. I agree about the drive shower and running synthetic oil, it's a must with these Alphas. If you get the prop out of the water get off the throttle or you will tear it up. Most are broken from too much throttle coming up on plane. Keep it within reason pulling the skiers, no stiff arm WOT holeshots pulling 2 slalom skiers. What type of boat?

I've ran a few 350-400hp SBC's in front of a stock 92 Alpha 1 Gen 1 with no problems. 1.50 ratio, syn gear oil, drive shower, no WOT hole shots. I just recently installed 1.50 HD upper gears in my primary and spare drive for the new motor which is really gonna be testing the limits of the drive.

Drive showers can be had for $75-100 and mount on in an hour. Here are a few pics of mine..

http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=newalphainstalledaw8.jpg"]
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http://img183.imageshack.us/my.php?image=boppercleanedreadytorocyq7.jpg"]
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"Great,

I will check into t

"Great,

I will check into the drive shower.

Which is a better scenario:

1.45 gear ratio and 21 pitch prop or
1.62 gear ratio and 23 pitch prop?

the 21 pitch prop caused the prop to cavitate (I think) RPM instantiously hit 4000RM off before plane.

The 23 pitch prop seems to have a good balance but can tell I will most likely need WOT or close to it during ski mode.

Thanks for the feedback."
 
"I guess I thought outdrive oi

"I guess I thought outdrive oil was already synthetic due to price. LOL

Seriously. Didn't know there were options. Always have run the mercury blue.

Can you recommend a brand and place to purchase?

I live in the Atlanta, GA area and not sure what to buy or where. Thanks"
 
"I would keep your current gea

"I would keep your current gear and prop setup as unless you do the regear yourself it's gonna cost a good bit. Mercrusier Hi Performance Synthetic gear oil, it's green and has a distinctive smell. Around $14-18 qt at most places around here. Any marine shop should have it. I've used it alot and it's good stuff. For the past three years I've been using Mobil 1 75W-90 Synthetic gear oil and it's worked great. Recently tore apart my 1992 Alpha to replace the seals and everything looked awesome. $8qt at Advance, Autozone etc...

A friend of my Father bought a beefed up Bravo drive from the Bravo shop and that's what they recommended him to use. If it's good enough for a Bravo with a 600hp 540ci BBC then it will work for my lil Alpha."
 
"Thanks Ryan,

I've been

"Thanks Ryan,

I've been working on boats for years and gear change is no bid deal for me. Part pricing for gear set and bearing are. I made most of my own spanner wrenches / tooling. But mostly replaced lower housings for drunk friends.

I usually play it safe and opt for durablility / reliability. Didn't realise how weak the alpha are until research.

Think I will price out gear set and bearings. Hopefully unit will stay together this season because I am in the mood this year for performance. Next year cabin cruiser. LOL

Thanks Ryan."
 
"[b]"I've been working

""I've been working on boats for years and gear change is no bid deal for me. Part pricing for gear set and bearing are. I made most of my own spanner wrenches / tooling."

In That Case,......

You otta do what Mercruiser did back when they Tried to run the 454 in front of the Alphas,.....

Drop in a set of the 1.32/1 gears......

I believe they're still available.........

I Agree,... Those 1.65/1s are Way to Short,...
Those are for High Altitude, or the V6 motors....."
 
Bondo is correct. the 1987 454

Bondo is correct. the 1987 454 alphas all had 1:32 gr alpha ones. It still is not best to hammer it out of the hole. plus try to under prop for skiing instead of overpropping.
 
Found a set of 1.32 gears for

Found a set of 1.32 gears for Alpha One on E-Bay.
Are the gear sets the same part numbers for both Alpha Gen One and Generation two?

May not have to worry about drive breakage anyway as it appears as if I have overcamed the engine and its drawing a vacume causing the corsa flapper valves to slam open and close.

Ah the price of performance ahy?

No damage to engine yet but will not run in water until I correct this. Looking at installing the V-Max OE Roller lifters by Rhoads to correct.

Kevin
 
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