Hey, I just sold myold sportster and am loking to get a some more power for my 1951 Chevy Deluxe. I would really like to pick up a 292 or 250 straight 6...but SBC seem to be all over the place. I am not looking to go to the drag strip,just get down the road faster. 1st, does any one have a 292 for sale? 2nd, would a 250 i6 be ok if I cant find a 292? 3rd, would I lose my mortal soul if i put a 350 in my 51?
250s and 292s are awesome, and fun motors to build. i seen lots rebuild and running for under $600.00, and lots of aftermarket parts for those. Offenhauser has lots of multi carb set ups for those engines, and you can also check out Cifford performance for exhaust, cams and more...hope this helps out.
Just picked up three (3) count 'em, three, 292's yetsreday. Two are from John deere combines.......an often overlooked source of these engines, but they were widely used in that sort of application. Worth checking with farm/construction equipment salvage dealers for a good used or rebuildable core engine. Inline engines are inherently smooth runners and while the 250 would be an excellent street engine, the 292 has not only more power from displacement, but more torque from the longer stroke. Would be a good choice, either way............250 or 292............. Ray
correct me if im wrong -AGAIN- but didnt the 292 have the intake that was separated from the exhaust manifold, as opposed to the 250 which the intake was cast as one peice with the exhaust manifold?
All the 292's had a seperate intake manifold, like the earlier 230/250 engines. I have heard rumors that the one piece head/manifold is very subject to cracking. If I were going to use a 250, I would find at least the early head, if not the whole earlier engine. If your question about price of one of those 292's was directed to me.......I will tell you that I am not certain of their condition at this point, except for one I got from a nephew, and his is 'locked up'. He bought a Chev pickup, with the engine in that condition, replaced the engine in it's entirety, and gave me the take-out. So, until I know what any of them are like, I don't want to price, much less sell one of them. In the end, I want enough good pieces to build one for myself. Probably there is enough material for two, I just don't know that at presesnt. Ray
I'm pretty sure that neither has the same motor mount set up as the 216 that originally came in your Chevy. Over the years i have seen magazine articles on how to swap them in.
If you would like a 292 with a little more juice, check this out. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=415129 will sell with or without the transmission.
read 6inarows reply, and do as our beloved Squirrel says....he's right, and also go check out inliners.org ................
I had 2 uncles [brothers] that went out and bought new identical 63 chevy pickups..one was a 292 and one was a 283, both with granny 4 speeds. Naturaly they had to take 'em out and race them....the big 6 won out every time. I had a great 292 slated to go in a Frito Lay truck when the company changed it's polilcy to use only diesels...my buddy, who did all the maintainence on the fleet, sold me the brand new 292 for a fair price and it went into my little 68 chevy shortbox with an old 55 chevy 3 speed overdrive tranny. Put a clifford header and 4 barrel intake with a Q-jet and a late HEI distributor....dorve that thing for many years with a few trips to Bonneville, California and all over the midwest....was a great road-truck with the overdrive but never got more than 17MPG...
They made two versions of the integrated head. One with a two bbl carb and dual exhaust manifold. That version was prone to cracking heads. The other has a 1 bbl carb and single exhaust outlet. I have ran them and gotten great fuel milage 24 mpg in a 64 3/4 ton with 390 rear gear ratio. We also have a 66 GMC short bed with a 68 250 powerglide. It has a Offy intake holley carb hedders and a mild cam +040 over bore see pic,s OldWolf
Ok, So I am sold on the 292 and it sounds like it'll bolt up (with a new bell housing?). Should I just replace the tranny? I love my 3 on the tree, but will the stock tranny take the torque?
Way to go, RoadRaider. Build the 6. It might cost you a little more, but when you raise the hood, you'll draw a crowd every time. You won't regret it. Do it right, and you'll be really pleased. And if you run duals through Smithy's or Porter's, she'll bark and cackle and carry on when jump on 'er and put a big smile on that mug of yours....
You can sometimes pick-up after market goodies at any swap meet ,car show,Race track (dirt Or drag) at a fair price. When it comes to piston replacement you can use the SB 307 pistons In the 250.
Had a 292 with 350 turbo in a 48 GMC pu many years ago. Ran down the road with the big dogs all day long.
250 or 292. I have both. The heads interchange on 230, 250, 292, except for the ones that has the intake manifold/head all cast in one piece, called 'integrated' head. The combustion chamber on the 230 is about 10cc smaller, but will work on both 250/292. There are as many 250s available with the conventional head as with the integrated head. It's incorrect to assume all late motors had integrated head. '79 through '83, some had integrated, some didn't. You have to look at the head. 250 Blocks will accept either the integrated or conventional head. Disadvantages of the integrated head. They are expensive to do a valve job, warp so have to be re-faced/milled after being removed, even if only ran a little bit. The Clifford or Offy intakes won't work on the integrated head. The advantage of the 250 with the integrated head is it gets about 15 more horsepower, with no decrease in mpg. One thing I would do different if doing my custom truck over would be to put in a TH350, will bolt right up. L6 vs V8? Can't compare them, apples to oranges. . I love my L6s! .
it's sort of correct to say that, because you won't find an integrated head on a 60s engine But you still need to look and see what it is....
Just don't want somebody to ignore a '79 through 83 motor because they think all have integrated head. Many of them have conventional head. With those that do have integrated, if you take the integrated head off, the blocks are identical, conventional head will work on all of them.
Your old tranny will not be a direct bolt up to a late bellhousing. The Chev passenger cars had a different bolt pattern. Pickups used the same bolt pattern as later ('55 up pass trans) and were torque tube thru '54, but I don't think they are much heavier duty, if any, than the passenger trans. If you go to the effort to get a good 6, or V8 for that matter, you may as well swap out the rear end for open drive and you will exponentially increase your choice of compatible trannies, stick or automatic. Ray
I have a friend that has a 1964 Chevy El Camino for sale that has the running and driving SIX banger and three speed trannie with a Clifford intake/four barrel carb for a thousand bucks and you can drive home!
I used a Mercruiser (boat) 250 Chevy in my 48 Fleetliner. It came balanced, and I put a 4 bbl. intake and an Edelbrock carb, (probably too big, but it worked), and headers and duals. A th350 and 57 chevy rear finished it off. Ran great, got between 19 and 21 mpg, as best as I could tell. Got the front end wrecked for me last month. I miss driving my buzzin' half a dozen. You won't regret the 6 banger. Have fun. Anyone got 46-48 front sheet metal?
The hot ticket for a good driver would be a 250/292 mated to a 200R4 overdrive. Then think about a 3.73:1 or up rear. That would make for a real cool, sound, solid, driver.
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