Glenn Hunter’s Turbo Bel Air: Solidly in the Sevens

Tales of mystery and imagination often speak of the Holy Grail and the seemingly insurmountable quest to find it. The Holy Grail of drag racing is often thought of in similar terms, such as an elapsed time or a top speed. For Glenn Hunter, his quest for what once seemed impossible was to break the seven-second barrier with his ’56 Chevy street car. Today, with new technology, he’s on the cusp of achieving his goal.

Glenn’s Tri-Five came into his hands from his father, who had bought it for himself as a project car. However, as many projects go, it languished until Glenn began working on it. Glenn yanked out the original six cylinder in favor of a warmed over 327 backed by a four-speed. It was just a 13-second street car, but it was a passion for the high-schooler, and one modification ultimately lead to another.

Money (the lack of) was an obstacle he needed to overcome, but hard work and busted knuckles bought experience and knowledge to achieve his dream. He eventually built a supercharged 427 big-block Chevy which brought low 11-second runs. This lead to low 10s with a 509 big motor. This engine was the recipient of several blowers, including an 8-71, 10-71 and eventually a Whipple W510R 305 series screw charger. Glenn continued working to gain more power, but his Chevy always remained a street car above all else with only occasional drag strip appearances.

During this time, fastest street car competitions were all the rage with the auto enthusiast rags. Glenn saw his shoebox Chevy’s potential to make some noise there, so he began making appearances in True Street and DOT tire competitions and an occasional annual power cruise. As he modified the car to increase performance, it became an Internet sensation as time slips dipped into the eights. There were others pushing the envelope as well, so when the opportunity to go twin turbo presented itself, Glenn jumped at the chance.

Glenn started the 2015 season with a 555-ci stroker combo using a Dart aluminum block, Lunati crank and CP flat-top pistons. A Comp Cams roller orchestrates the valvetrain with 2.300 intake and 1.880 valves within Chevy BMF billet aluminum heads. Atop that is a Pro-Filer Sniper intake manifold modified for fuel injection by Tommy V, with a Wilson cast elbow mounting a 123mm single bore billet aluminum throttle body. Borg-Warner supplied a set of prototype S400SX turbos featuring an 88mm inducer high-pressure ET-R billet compressor wheels with a 110mm back wall. This is matched with a journal bearing center section and a T6 1.32 A/R exhaust housing that supports big top end horsepower. Bob Toby of T&W Welding & Fabrication in Deer Park, New York plumbed the turbo installation and built the custom headers that discharge the spent gases through a custom 5-inch-diameter exhaust. Behind that is a Turbo 400 transmission manipulated with a B&M shifter.

Using E85 ethanol flex fuel allows Glenn to bump the compression up to 9.5:1 for more power while minimizing detonation. Fuel is supplied by a Bosch pump during low rpm operation after which a Weldon 2345 kicks in when the throttle position sensor exceeds 15%. Fuel management of the E85 mixture is handled by a Big Stuff 3 sequential fuel-injection system along with a stock GM flex fuel sensor.

Markow Race Cars of South Windsor, Connecticut built the chassis, which is certified to a 6.50 E.T. with a Fab 9 rearend assembly using 3.40 gearing, Strange 40-spline axles and a 4-link. The front suspension uses a K-member Glenn fabricated with suspension pieces, spindles and brakes from a 1992 ’Vette. Viking double adjustable shocks are used on the rear with similar units on the front from Strange. Weld wheels are used all around with 33×18.5 Mickey Thompson E.T. Streets on the rear.

With the exception of a single parachute and wheelie bars, the body remains essentially stock with a stock steel hood and original equipment glass all the way around. The paint is the same single-stage PPG system that Glenn painted the car with in 1991.

With the Bel Air weighing about 3,600 pounds race ready, Glenn has posted a 7.88 at 188-plus mph with the Turbo 400. That doesn’t make this the quickest or fastest street car currently on the planet, but some newfound turbo power now has him at least in the conversation. We believe those expectations will climb even higher with additional track time as he turns up the boost.

---