Need a new out drive................. a couple of questions.............

[Fiat4Fun]

So, in one of my previous posts, I mentioned some nasty sound then I stopped the motor.
This on my 260HP 1986 Alpha One Gen One drive.
After pulling the outdrive, I found metal pieces in the upper gear housing, and I can't turn my drive shaft.
The interesting thing is, before I pulled my drive, I started the motor, and saw the drive shaft spinning!
Thought maybe I lost the engine coupler, but found not signs of it on the drive shaft splines.
When I pulled the drive out, I can't spin it at all. I did notice that the water pump from the lower was not
pulling water from the muffs when the motor was running It also did not go into reverse of forward gear.

So, I am convinced I need a new outdrive. I am going to get a complete unit, even though my lower was new from Sierra earlier this year.
I am just afraid that metal shavings and stuff might of messed up the new lower.

A couple of questions, I have a 1.50R ratio drive marked on my original upper, so I assume that is now the 1.47? The other question I have,
is there any advantage of getting a different drive ratio, like a 1.67?

Right now I am thinking of getting a SEI complete unit, any great deals out there and are they readily available?

Thanks and any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Bob

 

[500dollar744ti]

Stick with the 1.50 or 1.47 ratio drive, the gearing is all in the upper unit, the lower units are the same. I've only heard good things about SEI drives but I bought a used one from a very meticulous boat owner who broke it in properly and then decided he wanted to upgrade to a Bravo drive. The SEI lower unit blew up on me last season, I'm still using the upper.

I decided to buy a really beat up looking lower unit on Ebay for $100, so far it has been great.

You can also find good used upper and lower units or complete drives on your local craigslist. Just make sure you pressure test them before installing them, any leaking seals will allow water to get in and eventually harm the drive. When I was new to boats and first got mine, a leaking upper seal is what caused my original drive to blow up after ingesting water.