OUCH hole in my CLE

[jaroot]

i have a mod VP gearcase running on my alpha SS... kind of a run of bad luck this spring with her.. first the upper gears and now a hole in the side of the gearcase... i never knew anything was wrong in her until it was on the trailer and i saw it leaking oil from the small crack...

i don't have it apart yet so i cannot judge what went other than i know the rear bearing in the carrier is bad... i can feel it when i spin the propshaft... the small pushed out crack leaking oil is on the top of the bullet just forward of the pinion C/L and below the water pickup. there wasn't much metal on the magnet either...

my issue is that i don't really know anything about this gearcase. it has the diecast nose cone and according to the fiche has a bit different stack up than the alpha, alpha SS and other outboard CLE lower cases use.

Collabela Perf put this drive together for the guy i bought it from a few years back. I spoke to them when i bought the drive and they told me they had put 3.0 Litre gears in there... when i did the upper i pulled the carrier to look things over and all appeared perfectly fine. well i guess not. she has a 1 inch propshaft in her and it has way too much forward to backward thrust... even before she broke whatever it is broke in there...

what will work and won't work in this case. the hole can be repaired... figuring out what parts will fit in it is another matter altogether. will a new sportmaster bolt up in place of this thing?

any help you all can give me is much appreciated... just kind of frustrated this early in the season... but i guess that's what i get for putting 400+ through her... even in a light boat..

thanks eh

Jamie

[jaroot]

someone has to know something out there....

from what i have gathered... 2.5, 3.0 and alpha gears will all fit in the housing...

fiche has different bearing numbers and the 3.0 (sportmaster, torquemaster, etc) and alpha forward / pinion gear have same P/N but different rev level... reverse gears are totally different P/N.

2.5 gears from the old cle's... well nothing even close...

so honestly... if anyone can shed any light on deciphering this i'd appreciate it... i have a lot of time inside of alpha's.. gee wonder why... but little time inside of OB cases and ZERO inside of Hi-Perf OB cases... i just hope someone can clue me in on any unforseen differences i am going to encounter...

thanks

J

[Greg Moss]

The Alpha one pior to the gen 2 drive all the same mounting patern as the 2.0l - 2.5L ooutboard line. They shift different than the Mercruisers do. The Gen 2 alpha is the same mounting pattern as the 3.0L outboards ou could I guess make an outboard lower unit work on the stern drive if you changed the shift shaft on the 3.0L lower cause it has a short drive shaft so merc can just change upper drive shafts to get different lengths. The 2.0-2.5 lowers would work if you change the drive shaft and put a washer on top of the shift seal. You can shim any gear set to fit in any housing. It just matters what upper you have for the lower to fit. You will also has to drill the oil passage hole to pump oil from the bottom to the top half of the drive. Lot of work. Mercruiser had a CLE alpha case wouldn't it be better to find one of those or find stock and cone it.

[jaroot]

thanks for the info greg.

the alpha SS has a totally unique upper housing which is extremely rare, only manufactured from 86 - 89... the CLE lower for it is patterned off of the old CLE outboard lowers. from what i am told the SS gearcase is thicker to handle the stresses of increased torque and hp. a stock alpha SS gearcase isnt very easy to find... the upper is MORE difficult yet. i don't have my gearcase apart yet but from the look of it... it can be repaired with the TIG...

therefore the 2.5 CLE, etc will bolt up to the SS driveshaft housing... which is what Lake X did to my drive... yes it is actually the prototype alpha SS drive... if you look at the 300 tempest brocure you'll see it bolted to the engine... driveshaft housing is not fully machined and the gearcase is a MOD VP cast nose cone, side water pickup gearcase, not an alpha SS original gearcase with low water pickups... the alpha (pre gen II) can ONLY accept the regular old alpha lower as far as i know.. maybe it'll accept a regular OB lower too, that i cannot answer. as far as the new 3.0 sportmaster stuff... and what it'll bolt to i have NO idea...

the part you really took care of for me was the internal gearing question as far as what i can use. i've already been taught the difference for the shifting mechanisms... i had no idea... but now i do.

anyone have extra 3.0 Litre gears in 1.62 flavor sitting around? actually, which are stronger.. the 3.0's or the alpha's? or SOMETHING ELSE?

thanks eh

J

[ken medendorp]

Call Dan feltenburg at premeir motorsports Gun Lake Mi 1-269-792-8080

[Greg Moss]

If you well around the pinion bearing race it will shrink and the drive shaft will not fit or if it does it may not be shimable.