Next Step

[CDMA]

Finally have a hole in the back of my boat. The mercuiser jig worked great. Thanks guys.
Geno e mail me your shipping address. I went up the full 2.5 inches on the e dimenion. The hell with hatch clearance it is all about speed right??? Hope I am singing the same tune in a few weeks. Scool has been cutting my spare time short but I still am hopefull for early summer. I have the alpha all stripped of paint and I am stuck. I want to split the upper and lower to change the pump. I have all the fasteners out and I am stuck at the the shift lever on the lower unit. Does any one out there know how to get that off?

More updates to come

Chris

[PaulO]

Chris,
There is nothing to do with the shift lever to seperate the cases. There is a shift shaft that runs from the upper case to the lower and is sperated at the junction with a splined sleeve. Just pull the cases apart. Make sure you got all the bolts. If you come by this weekend remind me to give you the real Mercruiser shop manual.
PaulO

[CDMA]

Great. Thanks Paul. You are the most difficult person to get a hold of. I am going to be away this weekend for Easter. I will try to give you a call tonight.

Chris

[GeneD]

Chris,
PaulO is right, salt water may have intruded into the case and caused some corrosion that is preventing the cases from spliting.
Spray it up real good and use some persuasion. Screwdriver maybe.
The shift shaft maybe full of corrosion too. It is just a slip on splined shaft.
Sounds to me like replacing the water pump is a good idea.
Oh, and you DID take out the bolts in the back of the drive right? There are two back there that will fool you good. One just forward of the zinc, and the other on top holding the zinc. Not to mention the one in the front, on top of the upper casing, if memory serves me right.

------------------
GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida


[This message has been edited by GeneD (edited 04-11-2001).]

[CDMA]

Yeah I got them all. Time for a little motivation. You should know how it went tonight. The drive is always freshwater but I am sure has lived a hard life hehind the 22 with a 300 temptest. And of course I amsure it was driven lightly...haha...my guess is this thing is corn meal inside....we will see. So far I am THRILLED with the conversion. With the exception of the cone clutch the alpha is a FAR superior engineered piece. It is a great intergrated packaage and I am thrilled with how it is coming.


Chris

[CDMA]

I got it!!! All went well. Today I split the drive and painted the transom housing and associated drive parts in Glasurit 22 line. Looks great. Hopefully tommorow I will fit the transom housing and then it is on the the engine mounts. The drive looked fine from what I can see and seems to shift and turn freely.

Chris

My tank is done and it is a work of art. The guy polished the top of it for me.

Chris

[This message has been edited by CDMA (edited 04-11-2001).]

[CDMA]

Ok I know this thread is becoming a dialouge to myself but I have a couple more questions. There was no gasket between my upper and lower. Is that normal? Since my x is raised 2.5 inches I am worried about the water pick up aerating. What is the deal with running an alpha drive without the water pump in the drive or with it just pumping water through the drive and eliminating the hose from the drive to the transom housing?

Chris

[RickR]

There is a little O ring between the cases where the gear oil goes from the top to the bottom.
You might run into a problem with the water pickup. Bass boaters use a nose cone with a low water pickup.
If you want to wait till she's running install a clear hose on your inlet line and look for air bubbles.

Good Luck!

------------------
RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

[BigGrizzly]

Bravo's don't have a waterpump in the lower unit, there on the engine.
Randy.

[RickR]

If you are thinking of using the Alpha with a engine mounted seawater pump you may need to modify the water tube that connects the upper unit to the drive mounted pump on the lower unit.
Since it is on the pressure side it does not seal well. It just takes a small gap to suck alot of air.

------------------
RICKR
mailto:riggerb@aol.comriggerb@aol.com</A>

[GeneD]

Chris,
If you are worried about the water pickup, you can always go to a low water pickup.
Readily available.
My SS does not have one. The water pickup is in the same spot as the Alpha One.
Try this...Put the drive on the boat, and sight down the hull, look where the pickup is in relation to the hull.
I will look at mine today and report on location.

------------------
GeneD
007
Melbourne, Florida