The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Hopping up my 292

Hey all,
I decided against a V8 swap and want to rebuild my 292 with more performance, seems cooler to me...I would like to try and squeeze 250+ hp out of it, and would like to do as much on my own as I can. *BUT* this is my first inline build so I'm looking for any info on weak spots of the 292, engine recipes, any sort of "don't ever do this" or "definitely do this" info you pro's might have for a new guy. I've done a little research and am pretty certain I'm going to send my head to the www.12bolt.com guys for some work, what work exactly I still don't know haha...but any info will help thanks.

Question 2: has anyone put a Muncie or Saginaw 4 speed behind their inline before? Just wondering how complicated it is. Thanks

There is a book everyone always brings up when this is asked, but the title escapes me. I'll see if I have it saved somewhere. In the meantime, someone else may come up with it.

Larry W.

I think it is:
http://www.amazon.com/Chevrolet-Inline-Six-Cylinder-Power-Manual/dp/1931128154

and / or:

http://www.amazon.com/Chevrolet-Inline-Six-Cylinder-Manual-Edition/dp/1931128278

Larry W.

squeeze 250+ hp out of it
It can be done, but it's expensive. There's no practical way to increase engine size, and you can only raise compression until it won't run on pump gas.
This leaves 2 avenues of approach: higher efficiency (porting, cam, valve size) and higher RPM.
It's also not the same 250 hp you would get from a mild 350 - it will have less low and mid-range power, and only produce peak power at higher RPM.

It does make a pretty good turbo project if you can fabricate.

Ok great, thanks, I had seen some stuff about that book in some of my searches, but I typically like the advice of guys who have actually done the work but this book must check out if I've seen it so much...thanks!!

Look for propane Pistons to start with.

Ed

Get it here:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1931128278/victorylibrary

Propane Pistons? Honesty moment here, I have never heard of that on gas engines haha. Is it similar to propane injection on a diesel? I have a couple crazy diesel friends that were big on that for a while but I still don't really know anything about it

Propane or LPG pistons have a smaller dish/recess to give a higher compression ratio.

SimS

Stick around- - - - -you might actually learn something if you drop the attitude case. Ed has probably forgotten more about stovebolt engines in general than you will be able to learn in the next year or two. Most industrial engines like the 292 Chevy and the Ford 300 6 cylinder have optional parts available for offroad applications, and Propane-fueled engines are used a lot for irrigation pumps, generators, and farm equipment. Since Propane is approximately 110 octane, compression ratios in the 11:1 range are not uncommon on engines running on straight Propane, not in a dual-fuel capacity. When I was in charge of the maintenance shop for a sand, gravel, and concrete producer, virtually every spark-ignition engine we had ran on Propane, and most of them were set up for high compression.
Jerry