An L/SA Skylark was at this years nationals, and ran an 11.61, I believe. That's a 350 with a Q-jet. NHRA record is an 11.58. Close. Kudos to him.
He was also out there Sunday running in the stock/super stock class race. The event got rained out as well as the bracket racing but that is one sweet car.
NHRA L stock/automatic, which, in this case, is a 1971, 10.25 to 1 compression 350, with a Q-jet. I don't know exactly why they let them run that compression, but they do. Pretty expensive piece, I would guess, and pretty damn fast.
I bet there are a lot of guys who would like to know the formula for making a full bodied 10:1 350 Skylark turn a 10.60.
It wasn't 10.60 it was 11.60. I had a chance to talk to him and he was a nice guy. He said that his combination is actually a '72 350 and rated at 260 hp. He also told me that he made the cut at the NHRA Nationals at Indy. But, he only made a few rounds. That's all I know.
Quote from Isaac Zane: It's been a while since I saw this thread... Since my post in 02, we've gotten a little quicker. Our best has been 11.45 at 115 mph.. This was during a great air day but we still had the car in "bracket mode". Generally we can pick up about two tenths + in all out mode. Lite weight oil and only 2.5 qts., get car to minimum weight for the class, more air in rear tires, etc.. Our Buick Apollo just ran a best of 11.84 @110.42 yesterday. We run the car in NHRA/IHRA "Stock" eliminator. We have to use stock intake, heads, crank, rods, rockers. Our pistons are stock type with the proper dish (17.3cc). The cam is stock lift, .392/.408 but the duration is HUGE. T350 tranny with a 4.56 rear. Car must weigh a min. of 3420 with driver in J/SA. Our Buick 350 made about 390HP on the dyno. We have NHRA approved "stock" dished pistons. Our cam lift is stock, .392/.408. Our heads and intake is not ported or polished as per NHRA rules. Our cam does have alot of duration, about .270ish.... Our crank is stroked .013. A new engine is in the works which we hope will gain a few tenths. Good luck with your 350 __________________ Isaac Zane #3 in 2005 2004 NHRA Stock WORLD CHAMPION # 3 NHRA J/SA 1973 Buick Apollo 350 11.45 @ 114.58 11.63 in K/SA!! 2003 and 2004 US Nat'ls Indy Stock Elim. Winner!! Lee Zane -Driver Barry Johnson -Owner Regarding the other Stock eliminator 350 car in the 11s (the questions are me and the answers are Dan): I am a Buick 350 racer. The thing I like about the 350Buick over other motor is this is the only engine that I know of that will leave the starting line from a 600 rpm dead idle with a q-jet and pull the front tires a foot in the air. Try that with a 350 chevy! 4.56 gears Dan I remember you have been decking the block and milling the heads quite a bit but how much? deck is .011 above the piston top. What overbore? .060 over bore. Did you change around the pushrod rocker allignment at all? Late model ratio for rockers? Adjustable push rods. 5/16" no mods to heads with stock rockers. What head gasket do you use? Felpro .041 You stroke the crank by offset grinding? Stoke crank .013 No piston mods allowed. You run pen headers and stock intake with a customized Q-jet? Headers , stock 74 intake with original numbered 750 cfm Q-jet. As per stock rules. Dan This is the blue print that is right off NHRA web site that I use. This is the piston that I use. You are allowed .015 additonal stroke and up to .070 addtional bore. I use .013 stroke and .060 bore. H.P. Disp. C.R. Ind. Make Model/Transmission Manifold R.R. Lifter Head cc Notes 175 350 10.50 1-4 Roch 7044244/AUTO ONLY 1245060 1.55 H 50.0 2 H.P. Disp. Cl Dish/Dome Ht/Vol Valves Cam Lift Springs Notes 175 350 .010 Dished .075" 17.3cc 1880/1505 392/408 Outer w Damper A A = If TRW L2343 or Sealed Power 2232P piston is used the legal dish spec will change from .075" to .070". H.P. Disp. Gasket Head Cast 175 350 .041 1241861,1243452 **************** What rpm stall converter is used in the 11 second stocker? about 4000 Tire size? 9x30x15 Also what bearing clearances do you guys run on mains and rods? stock wotks fine. Any oiling mods? my own baffle setup. Any jetting info on the q jet? This is unique to the carb. I know you must run stock lift cams but what kind of duration is used? This is as high$ question. What is stock lift for the 74 by the way? .392 in 408 ex same as stock Do your pistons sit about 10 thou in the hole with 17 cc dish? yes I am thinking maybe 11:1 compression? yes What do you use for a harmonic balancer? ATI What are the best 60 foot times you have had? 1.472 What kind of hp and tq numbers does your engine make? and what rpm? not sure Did you ever try the TA intake? yes If so did it run faster? slowed car down .1 sec and is lighter. If you ported it would work.(i know its not legal in your class but thought you might have tried it) Did you ever try that singleplane intake that was on the 551 hp 350 by jim B? I heard you bought it???? No answer... One last question: How are the Hershe rods working for you so far? Great rods! I have to use the heavy. The light rods were our first order that Gary and I put together. They were too light and we had to do a remake. I bough 3 sets to get enough money for the order to start. The light rods were sold. you got one set. I have one set that will be used with the TRW heavy pistons to be legal. This is how there where the light and the heavy Buick 350 rods... If not for this mix up i would not have the lighter rods for my twin turbo 350. Hope this helps. Dan
This is Bob Gere's car. Super car,owner and engine builder. A winning combination. Dan Wilson K/SA 74 Buick Apollo
Bob is a really nice guy. I spotted the car, at the Tech Line and spoke with him at length on Thursday morning and He came by our Carolinas Chapter tent and talked with me several times. I had only 455 parts for sale but he was looking for some 350 parts. He remembered my name and always called me by my name. I really enjoyed meeting him.
So this a pretty much stock engine but with a big overbore and huge duration cam that is running 11's in the 1/4? Am I understanding this right?He is useing custom rods though correct?
Yes, the chassis setup must be perfect! Isaac Zane, Bob Gere, and Dan Wilson are all running pretty much the same times in this configuration. They max out all of the variables like bore, deck height, cylinder cc, and stroke. So even with all that they are still limited to about 359 Cubic inches and 11.0:1 static comrpession. They have strict restrictions like numbers matching q jet, intake manifold, heads, valve lift numbers, and no head porting. They are allowed to run headers, huge stall converters, lots of rear end ratio For the con rods and pistons they have obtained approval to use the Hershe brand rods however the rod and piston package must be no lighter than stock. There are two weights of the hershe rods. Dan uses the light rods with heavy TRW pistons and is legal. The heavy rods can be combined with a lighter piston as long as the dish is the stock CC and the piston and rod package is stock weight. I think that the rods and pistons both have to be approved before they can use them. I have the light rods and they are NICE, I am lucky enough to be able to use a super light piston with mine since I am not in this race class. The savings in rotating mass is huge!
I am not sure you could ask them although I have tried to get the specs from them they are top secret...
