JASPER Reman'd Stern Drives

[CheckmateFever]

Gonna bite the bullet and probably install a new outdrive on the Enchanter this spring. The marina that takes care of my boat was trying to talk me into a new SEI drive last year. I'm not totally sold on those, some have good luck, many have trouble. Let's face it, cheap Chinese, but the price is not bad! I was looking through some outdrive options and found JASPER re-manufactures MerCruiser outdrives, and i like was reading about them on their website. Anybody have any experience with JASPER drives? No pricing available on the web page, i wonder how they compare to SEI's pricing? The marina once told me if i wanted to re-power my boat they would go with a reman. JASPER engine, so they must be a JASPER "installation" shop. Marina doesn't open for another month, i'd like to get all the info i can on a drive swap before i head up, SEI vs. any other options!

 

[RNGRDVE]

We use a decent amount of Jasper engines and transmissions at our shop but I never knew they did drives. I can call our sales rep about pricing and other info if you'd like.

 

[Sam I am]

You're smart to avoid SEI as they're poor quality. When I took out the lower on my Ranger, the insurance company wanted to replace with SEI as the cost was less then $2k vs $6K for the Mercury. Fortunately my agent went to bat for me and I was able to get the Mercury brand LU. I believe the reason that the SEI drives are so reasonably priced is that the steel from which the gearing is manufactured is much softer than Mercury steel...thus the cost to machine is much lower. But since it's softer, it wears much, much faster.

 

[Old Navy]

I dont know... But for most of the folks on this site a 6k drive from Merc is a problem. The SEI drives have a great warranty and a low initial cost. Most of the people that need those Alpha style drives have 20+ year old boats that are not even worth 6K. It keeps them on the water.

 

[karzrus]

I think I'd rebuild a drive with Merc or at least high quality parts, rather then get an SEI.


While I haven't looked there has got to be lots of shops that can rebuild and not cost lots more then $2000 or $3000 ??

I guess I'd want to know what parts Jasper uses.

 

[CheckmateFever]

Good info! Yes buying a new drive thru Mercury for 6K is absolutely out of the question for me, but i don't think you can get new Gen 1 Alpha's from Merc. The price for the SEI, about $1400 for a complete Alpha, is tempting, but the warranty is only for 1 year i believe. So that's only 3-4 months of use, if it blows up after the first season you are screwed. The JASPER drives have a 2 year warranty from what i read, and use new OEM gears (does that mean straight from Mercury?). If i bought the SEI i would keep my original Alpha as a spare, and probably have it rebuilt in a year or 2. It's 30 y/o drive that's never been rebuilt, marina say's it's very tired, although it's given me 12 trouble free seasons, other than some sketchy shifting. Yup, i'm torn on which way to go!

RNGRDVE, sure, i am curious as to how much they Jasper drives cost (and if they need a core replacement)! It would be a first Gen Alpha 1. Shoot me a PM, thanks!!

 

[Problem Child]

I have heard good things about the SEI and would not hesitate to buy one. A buddy has been running a 425hp smallblock for 5 or 6 years now with no issues.

 

[Sam I am]

I dont know... But for most of the folks on this site a 6k drive from Merc is a problem. The SEI drives have a great warranty and a low initial cost. Most of the people that need those Alpha style drives have 20+ year old boats that are not even worth 6K. It keeps them on the water.

That's a great point. I can honestly say, if it wasn't for insurance, I'd be rocking the SEI. I should have chosen my words better and said lesser quality than Mercury, and not referred to them as poor quality. Problem Child is correct...you can find satisfied SEI customers without looking too hard. You can also find dissatisfied ones too. But that's boats and motors in general, am I right?

 

[miller]

Bang for the buck the sei is damn hard to beat. I put one on the eluder behind a pretty healthy 400" sbc probably 5+ years ago & it's still performing flawlessly. I thought they had a better warranty than the rebuilt merc. alpha then. If you could find one an alpha ss would be the ***** on your boat!! There's a senator around here that has one. Runs good & the roostertail is awesome!!

 

[CheckmateFever]

I guess it's sounding like the SEI is the way to go, more than likely be the route i end up taking. Like i said, i don't believe SEI requires a core so (being the hoarder i am) i will keep my old Alpha for a future rebuild.

 

[Chellems]

Jason are you going to have the drive changed by a local marina or do it yourself? The SEI drives look to be under $1,300 plus I would imagine at least $100 in freight. I have done some research into the SEI Drives and did see more positive reviews then negative.
The Chinese will without a doubt cut corners anywhere they can including softer steel for the gears but if your not putting 600 HP thru it do you really need the gears steel to be all that.
At the cost of the SEI you could swap the drive out brand new 3x for the same price as the OEM Mercury including install.

 

[CheckmateFever]

Jason are you going to have the drive changed by a local marina or do it yourself? The SEI drives look to be under $1,300 plus I would imagine at least $100 in freight. I have done some research into the SEI Drives and did see more positive reviews then negative.
The Chinese will without a doubt cut corners anywhere they can including softer steel for the gears but if your not putting 600 HP thru it do you really need the gears steel to be all that.
At the cost of the SEI you could swap the drive out brand new 3x for the same price as the OEM Mercury including install.

Chris, i have considered doing it myself, but will probably have Glen Harbor order and swap the drive. They've been pretty good to me over the years since i bought my boat, so i, for the most part, believe them when they told my drive is on it's last legs. Yes there are a lot of satisfied customers, SEI must be doing something right because their drives seem to be selling like hot cakes!

 

[RNGRDVE]

Alpha drive replacement is easy to do with just one person. You shouldn't have a problem doing it yourself.

 

[corey331]

I have known two people that ran SEI drives and both were extremely happy with them. One person had a failure about 8 months out of warranty and SEI still sent him a new one no questions asked. If I had an Alpha boat, I wouldn't hesitate to run one, especially for the money. And like Dave said, changing an Alpha1 is a piece of cake. I know you are very mechanically inclined, so it wouldn't be any problem for ya. Maybe just grab a buddy to help lift it.

 

[Gimme Fuel]

You're smart to avoid SEI as they're poor quality. When I took out the lower on my Ranger, the insurance company wanted to replace with SEI as the cost was less then $2k vs $6K for the Mercury. Fortunately my agent went to bat for me and I was able to get the Mercury brand LU. I believe the reason that the SEI drives are so reasonably priced is that the steel from which the gearing is manufactured is much softer than Mercury steel...thus the cost to machine is much lower. But since it's softer, it wears much, much faster.

Believe it or not SEI's Bravo lower gears are better quality than Merc's right now. Better hardness and wear. Many rebuilders are using them versus Mercs since they do hold up better and are half the price. It may be that neither of the gears are as stout as the early 90's era Merc Bravo sets that seemed to last forever, but the metallurgy of Merc's gears and especially XR sets are garbage as of late.

SEI does make good stuff and their unconditional warranty is hard to beat. Many wish that they would make Bravo uppers. I wouldn't hesitate to use one of their drives. I know many alphas and bravo lowers that have lasted well from them.

After years of the Chinese speed parts being called junk and inferior due to their blatant quality issues, many of them have stepped up their game to compete. Heck, even Procomp/Speedmaster is actually selling some decent parts now. Many big name companies are using overseas castings and assembling/machining here in the states anymore.

 

[Sam I am]

Believe it or not SEI's Bravo lower gears are better quality than Merc's right now. Better hardness and wear. Many rebuilders are using them versus Mercs since they do hold up better and are half the price. It may be that neither of the gears are as stout as the early 90's era Merc Bravo sets that seemed to last forever, but the metallurgy of Merc's gears and especially XR sets are garbage as of late.

I suppose that's possible, but it doesn't seem probable. If that is the case, why doesn't Merc source all the lowers from SEI, slap a Merc stamp on them, keep the price the same and pocket the difference?

 

[ezstriper]

I would run the SEI's before anything that jasper does anymore, nothing but junk from what I have seen in last several years, good thing they have a good warranty !! know a couple guys been using the SEI's been fine...

 

[Gimme Fuel]

I suppose that's possible, but it doesn't seem probable. If that is the case, why doesn't Merc source all the lowers from SEI, slap a Merc stamp on them, keep the price the same and pocket the difference?

Merc probably sources them from a supplier who has a factory right next door to SEI haha. Merc has the market cornered for most service parts, especially with their "in house designed/built" platforms now. Only reason SEI can make what they do is that the patents have expired, unlike the Bravo uppers which Merc has been updating the patents still.

I'm sure Merc is getting parts from lowest bid supplier just like any one else. They just have the "marine" markup on parts! Just like for all of the GM Powertrain/Delphi electronics based engines, for the most part you can pick up the identical GM equivalent part from the corner auto parts store. But the identical part in a Merc/Quicksilver baggie is 4-5 times more expensive.