Dick Kereny watched like a proud father as Cal Hartline put the pedal to the floorboard in his 1986 Grand National to become the first Turbo Buick to go 8s with the stock 109 block. As you can imagine, this was no easy feat and it didn't happen by accident. Dick pulled the former daily driver out of retirement six years ago with the intent of having the fastest stock-block Turbo Buick in the country. Oddly enough, after years of work and thousands of dollars, things turned around in less than a week.
"I got a call from Cal Hartline, and he said, 'We need to be the first stock-block to break 9 seconds, and i have just the turbo to do it.' He flies out to Arizona three days later, we change everything around to fit in this big turbo (including using an electric water pump, rJc 5-inch downpipe, hartline's four-bolt turbo headers, and switching the pulleys around), he makes the 8-second pass, and then gets on a plane and goes home. it's funny-he almost hit the wall four times, but never lifted," Dick explains. since running 8.955 at 156 mph, Dick has returned his Gn to its tsm (turbo street modified) class trim for competition purposes, which entailed reinstalling the interior and other pieces removed for weight savings on the 8-second pass. A Precision turbo 70mm hairdryer, terry houston 3.5- inch downpipe, and Arizona Gn headers have all found their rightful places back in his Gn's engine bay, as he has now set his sights on the tsm record. Despite winning the tsm Point series last year, and also boasting a healthy lead this year, his best of 9.40 remains a sore topic (even though he holds the record for mph at 145 and is only .05 away from tying the e.t. record).
Dick's success is in no doubt owed to the fantastic team he put together to build his Gn, which includes cal, who makes good use of the fAst Xfi engine management and Ams1000 boost controller. his tuning abilities are a huge part of making the stock-block survive. meanwhile, mike Zimmerman of Zimmerman racing engines is responsible for building the high-dollar motor. the Phoenix shop bored, honed, blueprinted, and balanced the engine, equipped with billet main caps, an rJc girdle, clevite bearings, and a moldex billet 3.625-inch stroke crank. cP forged pistons with total seal rings and crower titanium rods are thrust in the 3.820-inch bore for roughly 250 ci of displacement. this high-compression motor relies on champion aluminum heads ported, polished, and extensively machined by Zimmerman. A proprietary-grind comP cams solid roller spins up to 7,250 rpm while enacting isky valvesprings, t&D 1.75 ratio aluminum rocker arms, smith brothers pushrods, and ferrea 1.90 titanium intake and 1.60 exhaust valves.
A ported stock upper and lower intake manifold and Accufab 70mm throttle body from Precision turbo accept 28 to 30 psi of charged air, cooled by a custom rJc front-mount air-to-air intercooler. Delphi 96-lb injectors and an Aeromotive electric fuel pump supply the 1,000-plus hp motor with an ample supply of VP racing fuel. the high-octane cocktail is ignited using an msD 7Al box, distributor, coil, and wires, as well as Autolite plugs. the exhausted mixture is dispensed post-haste via a 3-inch dual exhaust setup with flowmaster mufflers and a tiAl wastegate.
 Dick is trying to keep a lid...  Dick is trying to keep a lid on most of the engine's specs, but he did say that using a Moldex crank, Crower rods, and CP Pistons, the stock 109 block claims 250 cubes. Zimmerman Racing Engines machined and assembled the motor using billet main caps and an RJC girdle to keep the bottom end intact. A vacuum pump is used to remove crankcase pressure created from up to 30 psi of boost thanks to the Precision 70mm turbo. For the record setting 8-second pass, a much larger custom turbo from Cal Hartline motivated the Buford. Hartline is also responsible for tuning the FAST XFI system and AMS1000 boost controller. |  Competition Chassis in Phoenix...  Competition Chassis in Phoenix built off the existing rollbar installed by Crew Chief James Lester to create the certi-fied NHRA-legal rollcage. A host of Auto Meter gauges, Kirkey race seats with custom covers, Crow harnesses, and a Cheetah shifter make piloting the GN a reality. An MSD 7AL ignition box, AMS1000 boost controller, and FAST XFI were also necessary additions to the interior. |  Mickey Thompson 28x10.5 slicks,...  Mickey Thompson 28x10.5 slicks, Hoosier skinnies, lightweight Weld draglites, and Aerospace Components brakes keep rolling resistance to a minimum while proving crucial for traction and stopping power at both ends of the track. |