=stern drive question

[mike77v20]

i was either gonna upgrade to a newer model or was just trying to get an idea to go through it and replace some parts boats has been sitting four years till i bought it

[spareparts]

the best deal going is the sterndrive engineering drives(SEI.COM), you can replace just the lower at first, or the upper

[mike77v20]

theres a boat shop that is like a used parts wharehouse for parts ill try there the sei took me to a scrapbook site thatnks for the help

[smokeonthewater]

Originally Posted by mike77v20

the sei took me to a scrapbook site

that's because the website for SEI is http://www.sterndrive.cc/

[spareparts]

thanks for the correct link smoke, BTW, the straight 6 used a 1.65 ratio

[smokeonthewater]

no prob.... My 76 merc 165 hp 250 ci had a 1.98 It came in an 18' sea sprite tri hull. I put it in a Carver 2667 santacruz flybridge sportfish.... I guess they came with 1.65 also tho?


was an awesome engine.... did over 40 in the sea sprite and 25-29 in the 5500 lb (empty) carver depending on how heavy she was loaded up to 6 people 100 gal fuel and 60 gal water

[spareparts]

sounds like someone swaped the drives on that boat, 1.98 ratio is for the 2.5/3,0L four cylinders, the 3.7L 4cylinders and the v6's used the 1.84, the 5.0L V8's and the inline 6's used the 1.65, the 5.7's used 1.5 and the 7.4 used 1.32. The gear numbers changed a little when they went to Alpha 1 gen II, but they a were close to the same numbers, high altitude gear sets usually changed to the next gear ratio up from the standard, the 1.5 hd is the best set available for strength. You can use an Alpha 1 gen I lower any any of the earlier drives, the uppers will also interchange(you have to make sure you keep the correct length input shaft to the engine), the big advantage in an Alpha is the lower unit, they flipped the upper bearing and cut the gears different, it makes the lower 7 times stronger than the MC1 type lowers(has the spring loaded pin on the top of the shaft), the uppers did have better cut gears and bigger bearings, but it wasn't as much of an improvement as the lowers. If you try to bolt an Alpha 1 gen II to an early transom, it can cause all kinds of issues, I've sen it done, I don't know exactly how, but you have issues with shift shafts, and trim cylinders. If you have to do much to the transom, its a good idea to swap up to the A1 gen II transom and drives, they're a lot of improvements to make the later drives/transoms. Then you get into the engine bell housing/transom plate issues, but that's another story. There are some early A1 gen II boats out there that can be had for cheap(bad floors, bad transoms, interiors, etc) that make good swap material for fixing up an older boat

[smokeonthewater]

an alpha (gen 1) will bolt right up... you should have a 1.98:1 ratio... a 1.47/1.5 will also work but will require a prop with less pitch and may cost ya 1 or 2 mph