looks like i might be buying a truck in the near future with a 292 straight 6 in there. does anyone know of any performance pieces for this motor? im not talking high horsepower performance, just enough to add a little giddy-up. thanks
lotsa stuff available, cams, dressup, intakes, split exhaust, headers, etc. there's a recent book out on the later Chevy sixes, by santucci
I see 4bbl intakes, aftermarket distributors, and tubing headers for them quite regularly at the swap meets I go to. New performance cams are no problem either, and if you're into high compression, find a head from a 194 early Chevy II engine for it.
www.stovebolt.org www.inliners.org (check that, they might be .com, but the inliners site is pretty dang fine!) Also, PM to Hard Luck here, his uncle builds I6's and so maybe he can help too.
A lot of the inliners think that the 194 head is a mixed bag. Yeah, its got a smaller combustion chamber, effectively giving a higher compression ratio, but the valves and port passages are also smaller, which restricts airflow. Better to take a stock 292 head and shave it a touch to get around the same cc's on the combustion chamber as the 194 head. Oh, yeah, check out www.stoveboltengineco.com Later, Kinky6
I know that some don't like the breathing of the head, but as far as I know, all '63-up sixes had 1.72/1.50 valves.
Weldit - Get a copy of the "Chevrolet Inline Six Cylinder Power Manual" by Leo Santucci. They're at Amazon.com for around $15. You'll find ALL you want to know (and much more) regarding hi-performance 292's. The book is amazing.
Weldit - I re-read your message (still having my first cup of coffee this morning - LOL), and see you just want a mild hop up. Get the book anyway. It has tons of valuable info (like a long list of available intake/exhaust manifolds - with photos, etc, etc.), no matter how "hot" you want to go. All the 250 C.I. intake and exhaust manifolds fit the 292. Several "name" cam manufacturers offer grinds for the motor. Like with most all the old Chevies - head work is the key to good performance. There are lots of tips for that in the Santucci book - much of which can be accomplished by you in your garage - and a good machine shop. Keep in mind, stroke is VERY long (longer than a 427 V-8!), so torque is killer (after all, it was designed as a truck motor), but rpms take a while to gather. Gear accordingly. I'm using an aluminum flywheel in my (lightweight) hot rod to keep the rotating weight down and enhance throttle response (cheaper than a lot of "trick" lightweight motor parts). Anywhere you can take weight from the rotating assemblies will help. Pay attention to detail, use your head when planning the components/gearing, etc., and you'll be very pleasantly surprised at the performance you can get. MUCH more info in the Santucci book. Be sure to get it.
http://www.cliffordperformance.com/ inliners is a great group of folks. http://www.stovebolt.com is for chevy/gmc trucks, but they love the old sixes and they have a Hi-po shop forum... you may wanna poke around over there. There are several retired GM mechanics lurking around over there with their hot rodded inline sixes. a few of the books listed here, might be relevant to your 292 build: http://www.stovebolt.com/links/pubs.htm http://www.summitracing.com you can also search by engine on summit's site... Make: CHEVROLET Engine Size: 4.8L/292 Engine Family: GM inline 6-cylinder there are currently some 256 parts listed for the 292. Just so you know. -W
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