An old #1 Drive. How Much Power????

[Shah Mat]

Will it live with a 300MPI in front of it? The original motor was a Mercruiser 260. It's my ski boat, 1978 19' Checkmate bow rider.

What is teh difference between an Alpha and a #1?

 

[glassdave]

There were some oiling and i believe gear changes made from the MR (#1) and the first Alphas, also the cav plate is different and the Aplha no longer used a spring loaded preload on the vert shaft. You should be fine with a 300 in front of it. I had an MR on one side of my Scorpion as a spare for one season. Boat had 300's and i ran the boat as hard as i usually did to see if it would take it, never had any trouble.

 

[donzi2287]

I used to have a 454/330 on my Alpha and had just over 1000 hours on it

 

[Biggus]

I ran a very tired old MR on my 350 Mag 22 Pachanga for 5 years before I blew it up.

 

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

The alphas are notably stronger. The main difference is the lower gears and vertical shaft.
The good news is the lowers with interchange.

You should be OK if you don't dog it.

I would prop it to turn 4800 to 5000.