The last time most high-performance powerboat fans saw Factory Billet, a famed Outerlimits Offshore Powerboats V-bottom powered by twin flexible fuel 1,950-/1,650-hp turbocharged Factory Billet engines, in action was in late August at the Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in Central Missouri. And they got an eyeful, as on the first day of competition the canopied 51-footer blasted down the three-quarter-mile Shootout course to set a new V-bottom record of 164 mph.

The team at Factory Billet has stayed busy since the 51-footer’s record-setting performance at the 2020 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout in August. Photo by Pete Boden copyright Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

More than satisfied with their uncontested performance—Dennis and Jason Parvey, their friendly chief rivals, weren’t able to field their 43-foot Black Thunder this time around—Factory Billet owner/driver Jim Schultz and throttleman/engine builder Mike Faucher returned to the Factory Billet Engines facility in Lake Zurich, Ill., and got back to work. Faucher and his engine-building teammate Matt Faucher (no relation) tore down and rebuilt the boat’s drives—where they adjusted all gear tolerances—and went through every centimeter of its engines, which they had equipped with new water-jacketed turbochargers and electronic waste gates before the Shootout.

But Faucher and company returned to a few projects outside the scope the Factory Billet Outerlimits itself. Using a combination of existing parts from a 632-cubic-inch engine created by another builder and a mix of new previously installed components, they are building a pair of engines for a well-known Outerlimits 47 GTX purchased in 2016 by Cass Shewbart of League City, Texas. Playing of its original XXX handle, Shewbart renamed the 47-footer XXX: Disturbing The Peace.

A colorful character who took delivery of a new Outerlimits SL 44 with Mercury Racing 860 engines power during the 2020 Miami International Boat Show, Shewbart tasked the Factory Billet crew to sort out the completely dysfunctional engine program for XXX: Disturbing The Peace. Shewbart was less than pleased with the current state of the 632-cubic-inch, Whipple 4.0-liter supercharged-equipped engines and the previous work performed by another engine shop.

The project required new Dart blocks, which thanks to COVID-19 took longer than anticipated to arrive at the Factory Billet shop. So, too, did a number of other new components including pistons for the now 628-cubic-inch engine.

“Getting stuff for Cass’ engine build has been really difficult, and it’s not necessarily things you would expect—like oil filters,” said Faucher. “Parts that used to be readily available have become painful to get.”

Cass Shewbart, the owner of XXX: Disturbing The Peace, turned to Factory Billet to sort out his engine woes.

Faucher expects the engines be completed by spring, which will be more than enough time for Shewbart to get his 47-footer dialed in for the 2021 Lake of the Ozarks Shootout. Faucher’s goal is for the engines to produced 1,500 to 1,600 hp for the top-speed contest, after which they will be detuned to a more-manageable and reliable 1,100 to 1,200 hp.

During the past couple of years, the Factory Billet crew worked closely with the Parveys to develop what Faucher calls “plug-and-play” three-speed transmission kits for their 43-footer. A pair of those three-speed trannies, which Faucher and Schultz originally created for the Factory Billet V-bottom, are headed to a 51-foot Mystic catamaran—the first cat to be equipped with the setup.

“Dennis and Jason Parvey, they were the guys who really helped us with the development the of our stand-alone, plug-and-play kit,” said Faucher.

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