alpha to bravo???

[Fish boy]

I have a friend with a 22c Small block who is thinking of upgrading to a bravo drive from his alpha. Anyone done this and if so, what does it take? Good idea, bad idea??

thanks,

fish

[Mr X]

It takes a chuck of money, you need a new gimble assembly.......motor has to come out for that. Also the motor will now need a raw water pump as the Bravo has NO pump in it

[Fish boy]

thanks X, the big $$ will probably kill it, but if you got the gimble and the raw water pump, are they just bolt on, or will it be a much bigger project than that??

[Pismo]

The Bravo transom hole is the same as the Alpha so it is just bolt on. You have to drill two more holes in the transom. Then buy a transom assem with trim rams, a drive, and rig in the raw water pump. Also disable the shift interrupt. Min $4-5k. Why the switch? What is wrong with the Alpha. It will handle 400+hp if driven gingerly.

[Rootsy]

need a drive (of course) bravo transom assy and rams, inner transom plate and bellhousing for the motor as well as a bravo coupler for the flywheel....

bit pricy but getting rid of the alpha stuff, if in good shape should help alleviate a bit of the cost...

JR

[MOP]

I just did the bravo shield swap on my 22 SB but will be trying a BH drive, it is a bad swap but like mentioned above pretty expensive. I have seen a posts saying the bravo will slow you down slightly due to the larger lower unit, no doubt the Bravo is stronger then the Alpha. The Alpha is not a bad drive there are tons out there on pretty big cruisers and a lot here on the board with some pretty serious HP going through them. My opinion I would stick with the Alpha, run good synthetic oil and put a shower on it, if it does blow buy another they are cheaper then a Bravo save the $$ for beer and gas!

[Fish boy]

thanks guys, as always some great advice from you folks.

[MOP]

Jamie you can use the Alpha coupler and bell housing, everything fits I may not bother swapping those with a stock to lightly modified SB.

Phil