ALPHA 1 strength?

[THEFERMANATOR]

Not sure if this is the right section or not, but I'm wanting to get other peoples opinions on how strong an ALPHA 1(87 not a GEN 2) outdrive is? Now that I've got my 315HP MERCRUISER purrin, I'm wanting to put it in my 25' SEA RAY CC. But I don't know if the original ALPHA 1 will hold up to it or not. It's currently got an ALPHA 1 in it that is coupled up to a 260HP 350 that is locked(improper winterazation). It's a 1.5:1 gear ratio and appears to be in nice shape(probably not original, but the hour meter only shows 340 original hours).

So SKOOLZ what you think, yey or nay?

[THEFERMANATOR]

Not sure if this is the right section or not, but I'm wanting to get other peoples opinions on how strong an ALPHA 1(87 not a GEN 2) outdrive is? Now that I've got my 315HP MERCRUISER purrin, I'm wanting to put it in my 25' SEA RAY CC. But I don't know if the original ALPHA 1 will hold up to it or not. It's currently got an ALPHA 1 in it that is coupled up to a 260HP 350 that is locked(improper winterazation). It's a 1.5:1 gear ratio and appears to be in nice shape(probably not original, but the hour meter only shows 340 original hours).

So SKOOLZ what you think, yey or nay?

[Skools Out]

my 250 FC Sea Ray has an Alpha I factory with a factory 310 HP Merc. GM 350.

[Skools Out]

my 250 FC Sea Ray has an Alpha I factory with a factory 310 HP Merc. GM 350.

[msbhammer]

SKOOL, I thought that Sea Ray was for me. >:(

[msbhammer]

SKOOL, I thought that Sea Ray was for me. >:(

[THEFERMANATOR]

What year is yours? Have you run it at all with the ALPHA1 to see how well it holds up? My 250 SEA RAY is the same basic model you have. Heres my model from SEARAYS archives.

http://www.searay.com/Archives_Manuals/Sea_Ray_Archives/1987/26%20feet%20and%20below/250CC.pdf

[THEFERMANATOR]

What year is yours? Have you run it at all with the ALPHA1 to see how well it holds up? My 250 SEA RAY is the same basic model you have. Heres my model from SEARAYS archives.

http://www.searay.com/Archives_Manuals/Sea_Ray_Archives/1987/26%20feet%20and%20below/250CC.pdf

[Skools Out]

mines a 86 SR250FC

the CC is nice but i liked the FC models better but the FC models are rare.

are you a Sea Ray Owners Club member?

[Skools Out]

mines a 86 SR250FC

the CC is nice but i liked the FC models better but the FC models are rare.

are you a Sea Ray Owners Club member?

[THEFERMANATOR]

Not a member, I'm still waiting on my title. The FC model is very similar to the CC model from what I've seen. I just don't want to saddle this 315HP gem down in it and have my ALPHA1 go KABOOM.

[THEFERMANATOR]

Not a member, I'm still waiting on my title. The FC model is very similar to the CC model from what I've seen. I just don't want to saddle this 315HP gem down in it and have my ALPHA1 go KABOOM.

[Skools Out]

lol it should do fine. the maindifferencein the CC and the FC is the FC has all fishing boxes and live wells plus more walk around room. The FC stood for Fishing Cuddy. you don't need a title to be a SeaRay owners Member you only need you HULL ID and your model number off the transom. if you call sea ray give them your hull ID they can tell you the month blt. yr blt. location blt. dealers sales location and all that boats life till sold by dealer.

[Skools Out]

lol it should do fine. the maindifferencein the CC and the FC is the FC has all fishing boxes and live wells plus more walk around room. The FC stood for Fishing Cuddy. you don't need a title to be a SeaRay owners Member you only need you HULL ID and your model number off the transom. if you call sea ray give them your hull ID they can tell you the month blt. yr blt. location blt. dealers sales location and all that boats life till sold by dealer.

[THEFERMANATOR]

lol it should do fine.

This doesn't make me feel good. MURPHY's law should be called THEFERMANATOR's law. If it can go wrong, it will for me. I'll give them a call with my hull I.D. though and see what they can tell me. I've got a buddy with a pair of 2001 TBI 260HP motors for $700. One's free and the others seized, but I may go that route to keep the HP down to the old ALPHA drive. But this 315 sounds SWEET!

[THEFERMANATOR]

lol it should do fine.

This doesn't make me feel good. MURPHY's law should be called THEFERMANATOR's law. If it can go wrong, it will for me. I'll give them a call with my hull I.D. though and see what they can tell me. I've got a buddy with a pair of 2001 TBI 260HP motors for $700. One's free and the others seized, but I may go that route to keep the HP down to the old ALPHA drive. But this 315 sounds SWEET!

[Skools Out]

it's not but 5 more HP than my factory motor plus it's not the HP that will break your lower unit it's the torque. what are they on that as in difference wise?

[Skools Out]

it's not but 5 more HP than my factory motor plus it's not the HP that will break your lower unit it's the torque. what are they on that as in difference wise?

[frayed_knot]

It should be just fine, as long as there is gear oil in the outdrive ( take it from me ).

[frayed_knot]

It should be just fine, as long as there is gear oil in the outdrive ( take it from me ).

[C YENSEN]

[quote author=THEFERMANATOR link=board=Performance;num=1172112354;start=0#3 date=02/21/07 at 22:08:35]Heres my model from SEARAYS archives.

Archives!?!?!?!?!? Dont you have a camera, you better hope Hammer dont see this post. Or you will be in a world of s*$T >:( ;D ::)

[C YENSEN]

[quote author=THEFERMANATOR link=board=Performance;num=1172112354;start=0#3 date=02/21/07 at 22:08:35]Heres my model from SEARAYS archives.

Archives!?!?!?!?!? Dont you have a camera, you better hope Hammer dont see this post. Or you will be in a world of s*$T >:( ;D ::)

[THEFERMANATOR]

No camera, I'm slow to catch up on technology. I finally got high speed internet last MONDAY, cameras next on the list though.

I'm wondering how much I can get for the BORG and WARNER VELVET DRIVE that is currently on this 315HP engine? It's got under 64 hours of verified use on it. Maybe I could part out the ALPHA and B/W and get a nice BRAVO.

[THEFERMANATOR]

No camera, I'm slow to catch up on technology. I finally got high speed internet last MONDAY, cameras next on the list though.

I'm wondering how much I can get for the BORG and WARNER VELVET DRIVE that is currently on this 315HP engine? It's got under 64 hours of verified use on it. Maybe I could part out the ALPHA and B/W and get a nice BRAVO.

[parishht]

My wife just said we should hook up a webcam to have video conferences with my kids in Ca.

Could you imagine if the technology was set up
so all of us on the site could converse with webcams. :o :o

[parishht]

My wife just said we should hook up a webcam to have video conferences with my kids in Ca.

Could you imagine if the technology was set up
so all of us on the site could converse with webcams. :o :o

[randlemanboater]

My wife just said we should hook up a webcam to have video conferences with my kids in Ca.

Could you imagine if the technology was set up
so all of us on the site could converse with webcams. :o :o



AAHHHHHHHH


Sorry, I just had an image of MJ sitting in his underware windtalking.........no thanks on the webcam.

[randlemanboater]

My wife just said we should hook up a webcam to have video conferences with my kids in Ca.

Could you imagine if the technology was set up
so all of us on the site could converse with webcams. :o :o



AAHHHHHHHH


Sorry, I just had an image of MJ sitting in his underware windtalking.........no thanks on the webcam.

[C YENSEN]

Or Stinky in his thong :o :P ::)

[C YENSEN]

Or Stinky in his thong :o :P ::)

[macojoe]

Sorry, I just had an image of MJ sitting in his underware windtalking.........no thanks on the webcam.

LMFAO!! Cause thats just what I am doing right now!! In my whitey tightys!! ;)

[macojoe]

Sorry, I just had an image of MJ sitting in his underware windtalking.........no thanks on the webcam.

LMFAO!! Cause thats just what I am doing right now!! In my whitey tightys!! ;)

[spareparts]

that Alpha one should be fine aas long as your not trying to pull up a bunch of slalom skiers. Mercury used the Alpha 1 gen 1 behind some 330 hp 454's in 85-87 with limited success( used 1:32 gears). The main difference( strength wise) between the Alpha 1 and Alpha 1 Gen II is the absense of the o-ring groove on the verticle drive shaft. Lots of gen 1's would break off at the groove under high load or contact. You can update your gearset with the HD 1:50 to 1 gears( stronger than the 1:32's), but by the time you pay someone to install them and pay for the parts, you could buy a complete new drive from sterndrive.com. I haven't used any of their drives, but the people I know that have used them haven't had any problems. The best thing to do in your case would be to run the Mercury High Performance gear lube( the green stuff), add a gear lube monitor( they make an external kit), and posibly install a drive shower to keep the upper unit cool. If taken care of, that alpha will be OK, I built an Alpha 1 SS for a 21 Sleekcraft, that had a blown bigblock in it, I personally drove it to 101 on radar. The guy took it easy on the drive, he'd never hit it untill he was running at least 65, and once a year I'd tear down the upper( he had the 1:32 to 1 gear set) and check the clearances in the drive and reshim if needed. When he sold the boat it was still running the original gearset.

By the way, use good grease on teh input splines, and keep a check on the alignment, pull the drive at least once a year( or 50 hours) and put more grease on the splines, and check the alignment. With heavy boats I've seen a lot of coupler failures from lack of lube, the strain of the heavy boat tends to work the grease out of the splines

[spareparts]

that Alpha one should be fine aas long as your not trying to pull up a bunch of slalom skiers. Mercury used the Alpha 1 gen 1 behind some 330 hp 454's in 85-87 with limited success( used 1:32 gears). The main difference( strength wise) between the Alpha 1 and Alpha 1 Gen II is the absense of the o-ring groove on the verticle drive shaft. Lots of gen 1's would break off at the groove under high load or contact. You can update your gearset with the HD 1:50 to 1 gears( stronger than the 1:32's), but by the time you pay someone to install them and pay for the parts, you could buy a complete new drive from sterndrive.com. I haven't used any of their drives, but the people I know that have used them haven't had any problems. The best thing to do in your case would be to run the Mercury High Performance gear lube( the green stuff), add a gear lube monitor( they make an external kit), and posibly install a drive shower to keep the upper unit cool. If taken care of, that alpha will be OK, I built an Alpha 1 SS for a 21 Sleekcraft, that had a blown bigblock in it, I personally drove it to 101 on radar. The guy took it easy on the drive, he'd never hit it untill he was running at least 65, and once a year I'd tear down the upper( he had the 1:32 to 1 gear set) and check the clearances in the drive and reshim if needed. When he sold the boat it was still running the original gearset.

By the way, use good grease on teh input splines, and keep a check on the alignment, pull the drive at least once a year( or 50 hours) and put more grease on the splines, and check the alignment. With heavy boats I've seen a lot of coupler failures from lack of lube, the strain of the heavy boat tends to work the grease out of the splines

[Blue_Runner]

I have a webcam. What's your IP address? ;D

[Blue_Runner]

I have a webcam. What's your IP address? ;D

[jim19958]

Spare parts is pretty much right on about the alpha,
it will hold up fine with your horsepower, and hes got a good point especially about the spray cooler and drive fill resivoir, most failures occur in the upper gearcase, due to poor/cheap oil breaking down under heat, and low oil level, dont get a big old bravo there heavy and suck up a bunch of horsepower, of course you could go all out and get one of the merc. speedmaster series, (assuming money is no object LOL)

[jim19958]

Spare parts is pretty much right on about the alpha,
it will hold up fine with your horsepower, and hes got a good point especially about the spray cooler and drive fill resivoir, most failures occur in the upper gearcase, due to poor/cheap oil breaking down under heat, and low oil level, dont get a big old bravo there heavy and suck up a bunch of horsepower, of course you could go all out and get one of the merc. speedmaster series, (assuming money is no object LOL)

[THEFERMANATOR]

I've got a buyer for the boat, but he wants a BRAVO with the 315HP engine. My 315HP engine unfortunately has no provision for a shift interrupt switch and adding one will put the ECM into safe-mode(as per a MERCRUISER tech). I have a BRAVO 1 outdrive and gimble that I got reasonably already, but I'm really trying to talk the guy into taking the boat with the 98 260HP 350 TBI motor I got with the ALPHA outdrive. I'm trying to convince him the boat aint worth the $9-$10K he'll be sinking into it with the other engine and a BRAVO. But I aint buildin it for him until I have the cash in hand.

[THEFERMANATOR]

I've got a buyer for the boat, but he wants a BRAVO with the 315HP engine. My 315HP engine unfortunately has no provision for a shift interrupt switch and adding one will put the ECM into safe-mode(as per a MERCRUISER tech). I have a BRAVO 1 outdrive and gimble that I got reasonably already, but I'm really trying to talk the guy into taking the boat with the 98 260HP 350 TBI motor I got with the ALPHA outdrive. I'm trying to convince him the boat aint worth the $9-$10K he'll be sinking into it with the other engine and a BRAVO. But I aint buildin it for him until I have the cash in hand.

[spareparts]

the merc tech is right, the ecm will have to be changed to allow the shift interrupt to work with the alpha( i tried this a coupe of years ago), I'm not sure about straight wiring in a shift intrerupt to the coil, it may damage the coil driver, I thought about interupting the IAC but it would throw codes everytime it activated. That throtttle body motor is more than enough for that V. Keep the MPI/Bravo for the next project

[spareparts]

the merc tech is right, the ecm will have to be changed to allow the shift interrupt to work with the alpha( i tried this a coupe of years ago), I'm not sure about straight wiring in a shift intrerupt to the coil, it may damage the coil driver, I thought about interupting the IAC but it would throw codes everytime it activated. That throtttle body motor is more than enough for that V. Keep the MPI/Bravo for the next project

[THEFERMANATOR]

It aint goin in a V-20, it's goin in a 250 SEARAY CC. The late model shift interupt switch works by breaking the circuit for the coil driver, vs the old style that grounds it. But I was told that if I interupted the signal the ECM would throw a code and go into safe mode everytime I took it out of gear.

Slightly larger(and heavier) than a V-20
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/HPIM0030.jpg

[THEFERMANATOR]

It aint goin in a V-20, it's goin in a 250 SEARAY CC. The late model shift interupt switch works by breaking the circuit for the coil driver, vs the old style that grounds it. But I was told that if I interupted the signal the ECM would throw a code and go into safe mode everytime I took it out of gear.

Slightly larger(and heavier) than a V-20
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t271/THEFERMANATOR/HPIM0030.jpg

[Skools Out]

i know you don't want to listen but it will be fine My 250 has the Alpha 1 with a 330 HP no issues, has 675 hrs

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a46/Skools_Out/Sea%20Ray%20250/SeaRay007.jpg


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a46/Skools_Out/Sea%20Ray%20250/SeaRay009.jpg

[Skools Out]

i know you don't want to listen but it will be fine My 250 has the Alpha 1 with a 330 HP no issues, has 675 hrs

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a46/Skools_Out/Sea%20Ray%20250/SeaRay007.jpg


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a46/Skools_Out/Sea%20Ray%20250/SeaRay009.jpg

[THEFERMANATOR]

My big hurdle with the bigger engine is the ECM and the shift interupt switch. The ECM on my 315HP is actuaully programmed for an inboard and a shift interupt will drive it nuts. My 260 TBI motor is already wired for the interupt and a direct match for the ALPHA1's origanal engine's output. I just want this thing gone and done, I want to get me a 26' BERTRAM or a WELLCRAFT 248(but that's just me).

[THEFERMANATOR]

My big hurdle with the bigger engine is the ECM and the shift interupt switch. The ECM on my 315HP is actuaully programmed for an inboard and a shift interupt will drive it nuts. My 260 TBI motor is already wired for the interupt and a direct match for the ALPHA1's origanal engine's output. I just want this thing gone and done, I want to get me a 26' BERTRAM or a WELLCRAFT 248(but that's just me).

[spareparts]

if I were going to keep it, I'd put the 5.7 MPI/Bravo set up in the Sea Ray, see if you can trade around and end up with a Bravo III lower, it makes a big difference in boats like that 250( i worked at a Sea Ray dealer for 6 years, I 've seen the difference in take off and cruise performance)

[spareparts]

if I were going to keep it, I'd put the 5.7 MPI/Bravo set up in the Sea Ray, see if you can trade around and end up with a Bravo III lower, it makes a big difference in boats like that 250( i worked at a Sea Ray dealer for 6 years, I 've seen the difference in take off and cruise performance)

[THEFERMANATOR]

That's the thing, I don't want it. I don't like the layout of it at all, it's not me. My buddy wants it and knows I have this stuff but is trying to get me to give it to him for what I have in it. Problem is, I don't have much in my 315 and it's worth some money when I can prove it only has 64 origanal hours and a 2004 model. Even the guy at MARINE MAX said the previous owner babied it from looking at the RPM history. I would rather sell these parts seperately and put more cash in my pocket. I really hate how some friends try and milk ya.

[THEFERMANATOR]

That's the thing, I don't want it. I don't like the layout of it at all, it's not me. My buddy wants it and knows I have this stuff but is trying to get me to give it to him for what I have in it. Problem is, I don't have much in my 315 and it's worth some money when I can prove it only has 64 origanal hours and a 2004 model. Even the guy at MARINE MAX said the previous owner babied it from looking at the RPM history. I would rather sell these parts seperately and put more cash in my pocket. I really hate how some friends try and milk ya.