Press Release
January 15, 2004

Sterndrive Engineering published an Alpha One install guide today on its
website www.Sterndrive.cc. The URL address for the guide is
http://www.sterndrive.cc/pdf/a1.pdf.

"This guide was written with the do-it-yourselfer in mind" said Justin Webb
of Sterndrive Engineering. "The illustrated guide provides a step-by-step
set of instructions that makes the installation process easy for a first
time installer." The boat used for the installation guide was a 20 foot
1987 Checkmate with a 260 Mercruiser. This is the same boat that consumed
over $40,000 of gasoline during 2003 testing Alpha One drives.

"This is the first of many tech articles that will be written and published
on our web site" said Greg Pickren of Sterndrive Engineering. "Our goal is
to establish www.Sterndrive.cc as the foremost technical authority on
Mercruiser drives."

Sterndrive Engineering is a Clearwater, Florida company that is offering
complete new replacement Alpha One drives for $1,195. Alpha One and
Mercruiser are trade names of the Brunswick Corporation. Sterndrive
Engineering is not affiliated with the OE manufacturer. For more
information call 727 461 0811.

"Sterndrive Engineering" wrote
www.Sterndrive.cc.

Anybody here had any dealings with these guys?

"Joe Blizzard" wrote in message
...
"Sterndrive Engineering" wrote
www.Sterndrive.cc.

Anybody here had any dealings with these guys?


No dealings Joe, Just a few thoughts.
The price does seem to be too good to be true, doesn't it?
They don't seem to have a dealer network.
All sales and warranty work are FOB Clearwater FL.
The drives are shipped dry and in 2 pieces. I wonder if they have been
assembled as a unit, tested, and dissasembled for shipping? I wonder how the
housings will stand up to sal****er enviornment.
Jim

".JIMinMA." wrote
The price does seem to be too good to be true, doesn't it?

My thought exactly. I see someone from the company is answering posts over
on sterndrives.com's board. Maybe he'll drop by here. [loudly clearing
throat]

Jim,

1) Our economical price is the result of the elimination of multiple layers
of mark-up of the parts and the assembled drives. Sterndrive Engineering is
bringing the parts directly from the manufacturers to the dealers -- there
are no manufacturer representatives, warehouses, trading companies, private
labelers, distributors, or other middlemen. We have made a tremendous
investment in engineering, tooling, and fixturing such as to have total
control of our manufacturing. We have also made volume purchases in order
to obtain the necessary economies of scale. A significant investment has
been made in starting this company.

2) We intend to sign up 4,000 to 5,000 dealers worldwide in the next 3
years. The process has already started and is going quite well. Interested
dealers should call 727 461 0811.

3) The halves (upper and lower) are shipped individually. They are also
pressure tested individually after assembly. During our extensive testing,
we have never had a problem with the assembled halves failing a leak down
test. The fit between the halves is quite good.

4) The cases are treated with a zinc phosphate coating during the finishing
process. We have had an OE case and one of our cases emerged in salt water
(the Intercoastal Waterway in Clearwater, Fl) now for about six months. We
cannot tell any difference in the rates of corrosion. Our cases are made of
356 aluminum alloy which has very good anti-corrosion properties.

Greg Pickren
President and Owner,
Sterndrive Engineering
www.Sterndrive.cc



No dealings Joe, Just a few thoughts.
The price does seem to be too good to be true, doesn't it?
They don't seem to have a dealer network.
All sales and warranty work are FOB Clearwater FL.
The drives are shipped dry and in 2 pieces. I wonder if they have been
assembled as a unit, tested, and dissasembled for shipping? I wonder how
the
housings will stand up to sal****er enviornment.
Jim

Joe,

See thread entitled "response to questions about Sterndrive Engineering".

Greg Pickren

"Joe Blizzard" wrote in message
...
".JIMinMA." wrote
The price does seem to be too good to be true, doesn't it?

My thought exactly. I see someone from the company is answering posts over
on sterndrives.com's board. Maybe he'll drop by here. [loudly clearing
throat]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 03:44:07 GMT, "gpickren"
wrote:

Jim,

1) Our economical price is the result of the elimination of multiple layers
of mark-up of the parts and the assembled drives. Sterndrive Engineering is
bringing the parts directly from the manufacturers to the dealers -- there
are no manufacturer representatives, warehouses, trading companies, private
labelers, distributors, or other middlemen. We have made a tremendous
investment in engineering, tooling, and fixturing such as to have total
control of our manufacturing. We have also made volume purchases in order
to obtain the necessary economies of scale. A significant investment has
been made in starting this company.

~~ snippity do da ~~

When I first saw this post, I thought it was to good to be true too.
However, I received pretty much the same answer - it looks like a good
alternative and the reasoning behind the price structure is sound.

I'm interested in one of these as it would be the perfect solution to
the engine problem in the Chris*Craft I'm salvaging - I have a rebuilt
Stringer drive, bt I'm not sure I trust it.

I would imagine that for my use pattern, it would probably be the
solution.

Need to ruminate on this some more.

Thanks for the link and info.

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
----------
"My rod and my reel - they comfort me."

St. Pete, 12 Lb. Test

gpickren, can we post on your board for non-support type topics? I'm
looking for a better discussion forum than this group.



"Joe Blizzard" wrote in message
...
".JIMinMA." wrote
The price does seem to be too good to be true, doesn't it?

My thought exactly. I see someone from the company is answering posts over
on sterndrives.com's board. Maybe he'll drop by here. [loudly clearing
throat]

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 11:38:11 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 03:44:07 GMT, "gpickren"
wrote:

Jim,

1) Our economical price is the result of the elimination of multiple layers
of mark-up of the parts and the assembled drives.
SNIP
When I first saw this post, I thought it was to good to be true too.
However, I received pretty much the same answer - it looks like a good
alternative and the reasoning behind the price structure is sound.


One thing I'd like to ask/add: are these drives DIRECT copies of alpha
one's? (ie same gears, bellows, U-joints, etc)

The reason I ask is that I'm convinced a stern drive SIMILAR to the alpha
could be made much cheaper and simpler. For instance, get rid of the
transmission in the lower unit and put it directly behind the engine where
it belongs. And I can think of several ways to deal with the wet exhaust
that are simpler than routing it all the way to the center of the prop.

The result would be a simpler, more reliable, and less expensive outdrive.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36

Lloyd,

All of the parts of our sterndrives are interchangeable with the OE. We
engineered it this way such as to follow an established industry standard.
In this way, there already exist a base of trained technicians and sources
of replacement parts. The technology is also well understood and proven.

Greg Pickren
Sterndrive Engineering
www.Sterndrive.cc

"Lloyd Sumpter" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 11:38:11 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jan 2004 03:44:07 GMT, "gpickren"
wrote:

Jim,

1) Our economical price is the result of the elimination of multiple
layers
of mark-up of the parts and the assembled drives.
SNIP
When I first saw this post, I thought it was to good to be true too.
However, I received pretty much the same answer - it looks like a good
alternative and the reasoning behind the price structure is sound.


One thing I'd like to ask/add: are these drives DIRECT copies of alpha
one's? (ie same gears, bellows, U-joints, etc)

The reason I ask is that I'm convinced a stern drive SIMILAR to the alpha
could be made much cheaper and simpler. For instance, get rid of the
transmission in the lower unit and put it directly behind the engine where
it belongs. And I can think of several ways to deal with the wet exhaust
that are simpler than routing it all the way to the center of the prop.

The result would be a simpler, more reliable, and less expensive outdrive.

Lloyd Sumpter
"Far Cove" Catalina 36