1987 Alpha1

DTHOUSAND

Cadet
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
16
Hello to all. I have 1987 celebrity210v cuddy. It has a 454 with the alpha 1 gen 1 drive. I can't keep an outdrive on this boat to save my life. This will be the third upper gear case in as many years. I don't abuse the boat and it still keeps eating gears. Why did they put an alpha 1 on a bigblock that year? Does anyone have any idea why this could be happening? I've had the boat 5 years and the first 2 I had no problems. The mechanic that works on the boat said he checked alignment and said it was good. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks Dan
 

Dante04SRT

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
311
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Hello to all. I have 1987 celebrity210v cuddy. It has a 454 with the alpha 1 gen 1 drive. I can't keep an outdrive on this boat to save my life. This will be the third upper gear case in as many years. I don't abuse the boat and it still keeps eating gears. Why did they put an alpha 1 on a bigblock that year? Does anyone have any idea why this could be happening? I've had the boat 5 years and the first 2 I had no problems. The mechanic that works on the boat said he checked alignment and said it was good. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks Dan

Most will tell you that the 454 wasn't offered with the AlphaOne. I believe they'd be correct. Are you sure the motor is the original?

[edit[ Doing some checking on the boat, looks like most came with a 5.7, not 7.4.......... Sounds like you need a Bravo.
 

Haut Medoc

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Jun 29, 2004
Messages
10,645
Re: 1987 Alpha1

The Alpha is only rated to 300 hp, & therein lie the problem....
The GM 454 is rated @330 hp.....
That combo was is rather rare & was only used in '87-88, before Merc introduced the Bravo.....
What gear ratio is being used on the replacements?...
It should be 1:32 not 1:50....
There are gears sets that are 'heavy duty' available, for the Alpha, but....
You will still need to go easy with the right hand on the dead stop starts & lay off of hard acceleration....
The Alpha just can't handle the torque a big block delivers.....;)
Hope this helps.....:)
 

mkast

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
1,934
Re: 1987 Alpha1

The stock gear ratio was 1.32:1 in the Alpha 1/big block installation.
Is the drive being rebuilt with the heavier gears?
Are you using a drive shower?
Are you using synthetic gear lube?
Are you on plane most of the time?
The place that changed the gear ratio on my Alpha said that most of the drive failures concerning the Alpha1/big block installations were due to four ton boats going across Lake Michigan at WOT.
Hull gets on plane, no cooling water on the drive (for extended period of time) drive grenades.
A 21 footer should not be too heavy.
I run this powerpackage on a 23 footer. Hull weighs 2750 dry.
 

DTHOUSAND

Cadet
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
16
Re: 1987 Alpha1

I was told he used the heavier gears,1:32 I don't have a drive shower,I used synthetic lube, and 50% on plane as a matter of fact yesterday when it blew I was 3/4 throttle cruising about 1and1/2 miles down the lake it shouldn't have heated that much. I don't take off wot from the begining i usualy go about 1/4 throttle then 1/2 throttle and i'm on plane. It gets on plane quick. As for the first response they put the alpha on the bigblocks in 1987 it is the factory setup.I only wish they had put a trs drive on it. I wonder what it would take to put a bravo1 on? I wish I could find a junk boat to salvage the parts off.
 

mkast

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Nov 6, 2002
Messages
1,934
Re: 1987 Alpha1

All you need is the Bravo drive and the inner and outer transom plates,
a Bravo prop and the shift cable.
When the hull is on plane, the drive is out of the water, when the drive is out of the water, what's going to cool it?
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
56
Re: 1987 Alpha1

You Alpha is unfortunately at the edge of its capacity- actually a bit over. I had an Alpha go south on me this year and replaced it with an SEI drive (see banner on top of most forums). It has a 3 year unlimited warranty. It may not solve your problem, but may ease the financial pain. Mine was shipped to my door for less than $1300 (complete drive- upper and lower units)
 

Bondo

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Apr 17, 2002
Messages
70,468
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Why did they put an alpha 1 on a bigblock that year?

Ayuh,....

Because the Bravo hadn't been invented yet,+ that's Much too small of a boat for a TRS.....
 

Don S

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Aug 31, 2004
Messages
62,321
Re: 1987 Alpha1

What was your max WOT rpm before they blew? If you were over propped and with the extra torque and HP of the big block, it would always be overloaded and constantly at any rpm have more load on the gears than when propped correctly. Or even slightly underpropped.
You should have been seeing in the 4400 to 4600 range for best drive life.
 

Ed R

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
92
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Yes, we all know mercury had nightmare in(87) with that drive an a big block. It was ment to be paired up with a small, light, boat. Your boat should have been ideal ! When you first blew your upper, did you just replace , gears, housing, both???
 

TilliamWe

Banned
Joined
Dec 21, 2004
Messages
6,579
Re: 1987 Alpha1

I think Don S is on to something. There might be a prop/load issue at play here too. I know the 454/Alpha is not the best combo out there (but it's what they had for those two years), but my dad had a HEAVY Searay 268 Sundancer for 4 years and never broke the Alpha. And when I say heavy, I mean 8,000+ pounds. And he used that boat at least 300 hours in those four years. So it can be done.
 

Ed R

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
92
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Don S is on to something. Set a new set of gears along with new bearings in to a [clean housing]. Set up with proper back lash, and proper rolling torque, and you should be good to go!!!!!!
 

DTHOUSAND

Cadet
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
16
Re: 1987 Alpha1

It was a new case and gears setup by the mechanic that I've used in the past. The prop is a 14 1/2 x19 stainlessThe rpms it ran at where 4800, which is supposed to be "ok" The last upper I did It would hit 5200 rpm's wotThe boat weighs around 4400lbs. When it actually let loose this time I was cruising at around 3800-4000 rpms between 1/2 and 3/4 throttle. I'm thinking of one of the after market outdrives se106? Anyone used one of these? Thanks again for all the input, I don't want to give into the girlfriend and sell it but it's getting costly,an outdrive rebuild per season.
 

Fishermark

Vice Admiral
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
5,617
Re: 1987 Alpha1

No. I have the 5.7 liter, but have a very heavy boat. I meant to simply comment that the Sterndrive Engineering outdrives are well made products.... with a good warranty. I would never consider rebuilding an outdrive when a brand new unit can be bought so inexpensively.
 

DTHOUSAND

Cadet
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
16
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Thanks, I read they don't want their outdrive attached to a bigblock though. I don't think the warranty will be in effect for me.
 

Fishermark

Vice Admiral
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Messages
5,617
Re: 1987 Alpha1

That's the first I heard about the warranty and big blocks. I looked into it a little bit more and ... sure enough. They don't offer their warranty for the unit behind a big block. :(

However, ff you want to stay with the alpha it might still be your best bet financially unless you can find a shop to warrant their rebuilds for breakage... probably not going to happen either. I still believe it would be cheaper to buy and install a SE106 than rebuilding a stock alpha. But then you have the issue that they do not offer the 1.32 gear ratio... so I don't know what to suggest from here. Sorry!
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
56
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Thanks, I read they don't want their outdrive attached to a bigblock though. I don't think the warranty will be in effect for me.

I am using an SE106 and quite frankly don't know how they would know if you have a BBC or SBC in front of it. I have a mildly built 350 and after the initial wear in period (a little gear noise) it has been great!
 
Joined
Aug 24, 2004
Messages
56
Re: 1987 Alpha1

Thanks, I read they don't want their outdrive attached to a bigblock though. I don't think the warranty will be in effect for me.

For what it is worth Mercruiser doesn't want an Alpha in front of a BBC either!
My SE106 was delivered to my house for a little less than $1300 complete (2 boxes).
 
Top