View Full Version : Where to buy a drive
Does anyone know the best place for prices on an Alpha Gen I? They want $1400 to repair mine. That's just bellows, lower shift cable, gimbal bearing, water pump, u joints, and reseal the upper. I hate to put that much in an old drive, and I'm considering going with a new drive.
txtaz
10-21-2005, 04:17 PM
Uhmmmmm MrX has more drives than anyone I know of. Try him
Wes
P.S. Don't listen to Doncig, he'll have you into a blackhawk before you know it. :jestera:
smokediver
10-21-2005, 04:21 PM
I put a newer upper on mine when i did the engine swap . 695.00 . it even came with a new yoke , u joints , gaskets and a instal kit . i can dig up a receipt if you want to call them .they are in fort myers . came with a 2 year warranty . alpha gen 2 .
P.S. Don't listen to Doncig, he'll have you into a blackhawk before you know it. :jestera:
There's one on ebay now. :)
Not sure if they are factory drives but up on Ebay there are new with 1 year garentees for about $1400. One of the members may have better input on them.
Phil
tmdog
10-21-2005, 04:38 PM
Cuda, I was just getting ready to post about a outdrive alternative to a Merc. Yesterday UPS delivered a new drive from Sterndrive engineering. I ordered a Alpha1 w/ 1.47 gears and these are new, case and gears. Case is powder coated and all inards are the same as Merc. or better. I ordered both upper and lower for the price of $1195 w/ free shipping. I blew the upper gears on mine and the cost to repair would more than likely exceed the price of a complete replacement. It has a 1 yr. guarantee. I bought mine thru Royal Palm Marine 727-461-0811. They are located in W. Palm Bch. Fl. Sterndrive Eng. at this time only makes the Alpha Gen1 and the Gen 2. You can buy either upper or lower or both. :biggrin: :biggrin:
Cuda, I was just getting ready to post about a outdrive alternative to a Merc. Yesterday UPS delivered a new drive from Sterndrive engineering. I ordered a Alpha1 w/ 1.47 gears and these are new, case and gears. Case is powder coated and all inards are the same as Merc. or better. I ordered both upper and lower for the price of $1195 w/ free shipping. I blew the upper gears on mine and the cost to repair would more than likely exceed the price of a complete replacement. It has a 1 yr. guarantee. I bought mine thru Royal Palm Marine 727-461-0811. They are located in W. Palm Bch. Fl. Sterndrive Eng. at this time only makes the Alpha Gen1 and the Gen 2. You can buy either upper or lower or both. :biggrin: :biggrin:
Magicfloat, Robert Nelems, just suggested the same thing on another site. He said they have used several of them with good results. I bought stuff from them before, and it was just what I needed at a third the cost from Merc.
http://www.sterndrive.cc/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=106AUC
gcarter
10-21-2005, 07:35 PM
I think that would be a good move Joe.
BUIZILLA
10-21-2005, 07:41 PM
I would get the 1.62 if it was me...
don't forget, that $1,195 still doesn't include the bellows, shift cable, fluid, gimbal bearing, etc, and re-install labor, not to mention what they have done already....
JH
Rootsy
10-22-2005, 11:52 AM
bellows replacement is no picnic... and take some decent time even from an experienced mechanic... most novices would commit suicide before they probably got it finished...
still seems like a fair price for what they are going to do... figure 2 1/2 - 3 hours to reseal and verify shimming and preload in the upper... 5 - 6 hours for bellows and water hose, half hour to and hour for the cable and shift adjustment, hour or so for the u-joints and half hour for the gimble bearing...
if you are worried about the drive durability.. well visual inspection will only do so much... and i agree with Jim... do the 1.62 (1.65) or whatever the 1.6X is... you'll have to reprop but i think you'll be happier with the performance...
mrfixxall
10-22-2005, 01:01 PM
the cheeper ones on e bay are all after market parts sierra makes them with merc stickers ..i get mine from offshore performance specialties in fl 239-433-2601 usuallly 2250.00 +100.00 to ship their oe mercury....
tmdog
10-22-2005, 02:26 PM
bellows replacement is no picnic... and take some decent time even from an experienced mechanic... most novices would commit suicide before they probably got it finished...
still seems like a fair price for what they are going to do... figure 2 1/2 - 3 hours to reseal and verify shimming and preload in the upper... 5 - 6 hours for bellows and water hose, half hour to and hour for the cable and shift adjustment, hour or so for the u-joints and half hour for the gimble bearing...
if you are worried about the drive durability.. well visual inspection will only do so much... and i agree with Jim... do the 1.62 (1.65) or whatever the 1.6X is... you'll have to reprop but i think you'll be happier with the performance...
Why the 1.62 (?) drive compared to a 1.5? You mentioned performance, please explain. Is the drive more durable w/ the 1.62. Say I am running a 23P now w/ a 1.5, what pitch would be used w/ a 1.6 drive?
Pismo
10-24-2005, 08:31 AM
Stick with a 1.5/1.47 if using a V8. There is a reason Merc only puts 1.5s or less on V8s. The 1.65s and 1.98s, etc are good for six and four cylinder motors.
harbormaster
10-24-2005, 08:44 AM
Cuda,
Call me at 713-898-0605
Woodsy
10-24-2005, 08:47 AM
I agree with Rootsy, $1400 isn't all that bad considering they are doing the bellows. That job is a biatch! The only thing they are doing to your actual drive is new seals... thats pretty cheap, probably about $200 out of the $1400 your spending.
Gear ratios are funny things. A 1.5 ratio drive is pretty much the do all standard. Do a search on gear ratios and you will find tons of info. I am with Buizilla & Rootsy... go with the 1.62:1 drive. You will be able to swing a slightly bigger prop and go a few mph faster
Woodsy
Rootsy
10-24-2005, 09:27 AM
my feeling is that turning larger pitches slower results in more horsepower (work over a given period of time) put to the water with better efficiency.. because for one you are not wasting energy by turning all of that mass with a faster angular velocity... it's that inertia thing... therefore you get to spin a few more rpm out of the motor, get a better bite on the water and generally you get a bit of speed out of it... i have seen this as a direct result of changing to a "higher" gear ratio in my alpha SS... if i had ti to do over i'd have gone LOWER than what i was at to begin with... but then i'd have probably really broken parts...
as a "rule of thumb" if you went from a 1.47 to a 1.62 you'd need to go up somewhere around 2 inches of pitch on identical props...
the only drawback comes with big HP in say the alpha... since HP in equals HP out, for 2 given different gear ratios you have a difference in output shaft speed and therefore a difference in torque transmitted through the drive... a 1.62 ratio will put more stress on the lower parts because of the lower shaft speed but increased torque (and therefore shear stress, etc), this is basically WHY you have to increase pitch... because you are putting more torque out at the propshaft...
I need to ammend to this a bit also... HP in = HP out + drive losses... i also see that spinning internals slower eats up less power due to friction, drag on oil and inertia of spinning parts...
Well, the guy kind of had me by the balls, so I told him to go ahead and fix it. It would have been $1000 just to do the stuff on the boat. I'm sure he was sticking me there because I questioned how it broke down money wise. :cussball:
BUIZILLA
10-25-2005, 06:15 PM
Cuda, I really think his price is fair... it's more work than you think.
JH
Cuda, I really think his price is fair... it's more work than you think.
JH
It's just hard to swallow an extra $1100 after being quoted $300 to do the bellows. Hell, that already entailed removing and putting the drive back on. The shift bellows can't be that much work, because I did one once, and if it was that much trouble, I'd surely remember. I'm mostly going with it because I just want to get it done. The next time, I'll take it apart myself. I would have done it this time if I had any idea it was going to be that much. I just figured, hey for $300, I'm better off laying tile.
I also was tempted to pull the drive off my F20, it only has about ten hours on it.
BUIZILLA
10-25-2005, 06:32 PM
Joe, was it the SHIFT bellows, or DRIVESHAFT bellows, or BOTH, that they quoted you to change initially... maybe i'm missing something here.
JH
Just the driveshaft bellows originally.
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