Eliminator Set to Deliver New 27 Speedster with Mercury 1100
After several days of testing on Southern California’s Lake Elsinore over the past couple of weeks, the crew at Eliminator Boats is taking its latest 27 Speedster out to the lake one more time tomorrow before it’s off to its new home in North Carolina.
Eliminator Boats hit one out of the park with its new 27 Speedster powered by a single Mercury Racing 1100 engine.
Click image to enlargeThe 27-foot catamaran, which was ordered by National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Pro Stock driver Shane Gray, has taken a little longer than expected to complete as it was Eliminator’s first time installing a Mercury Racing 1100 engine. Connecting the engine with a Mercury No. 6 drive added to the challenge, as did all of the trick custom touches the crew tackled per Gray’s request.
According to Eliminator’s Fear Bivian, a Teague Custom Marine propeller aerator kit installed on the drive was the final addition and is expected to help the boat, which is propped for midrange and top-end performance, get on plane quicker. Bivian said they’re going to run the boat, which has reached a reported top speed of 134 mph with a 33-inch-pitch Hering propeller, on Friday at Lake Elsinore and then shrink wrap the Speedster for delivery to Gray next week.
The boat is Gray’s second 27-foot Eliminator. His first—a stunning red and gray one that rivals his new gray, black and orange one—was powered by a supercharged 700-hp Mercury engine and topped out at 105 mph (check out the YouTube video).
Click image to enlargeGray, who won the 60th anniversary Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis on Sept. 1 in his Gray Motorsports Chevy Camaro, can’t wait to take delivery of the boat, Bivian said. Although he and Gray Motorsports teammates Dave Connolly and Gray’s younger brother, Jonathan, start the six-race Countdown to the Championship this weekend in Charlotte, N.C., Shane Gray is hoping to get some time on Lake Norman in between races. He’s also hoping he can build off the fourth NHRA Pro Stock trophy of his career he earned in Indianapolis by defeating Connolly for the most prestigious title in the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
“We did a lot of custom work to Shane’s boat,” Bivian said. “We used all-new hardware that has a PVD (Physical Vapor Deposition) black coating that looks incredible. It’s this triple-chroming process that is hard to describe but it looks trick. We tried some new things with the upholstery and we used polished fiberglass side panels inside instead of the standard vinyl pieces.
“We’re also impressed with the boat’s performance,” he continued. “It has some impressive midrange punch. We stepped up—as did Shane—from his last boat. Not that there was anything wrong with his red one. It’s just hard to compare the 700 package to the 1100.”
Speedonthewater.com will follow up with Gray and report back after he gets a chance to run the boat and get used to it.
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Eliminato Builds New 27 Speedster with Mercury 1100 for NHRA Driver
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