The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 292 water pump

I am putting a 292 in my 53 3100. Running altinator and A/C. No P/S. I plan to run aluminum radiator with elec. fan. Do I need a short shaft water pump? Do I run 2 pulley's. The 292 will be 300+ hp. How many cores do I need for the radiator. The prices on radiators seem to be all over the place how do I know what to get? Sorry if these are dumb questions. Thanks for any help.

I am not sure the 292 has different water pump lengths, if it does, shorter would give more room in the engine bay. As far as pulleys go, dependents on the A/C mounting brackets you choose. I believe there are a couple of options available, it depends on which side of the engine the compressor is on. There are also "make your own" kits available.

The general attitude about radiators is to buy the best you can afford. You will get ten different opinions about copper verses aluminum. I am happy with a two row, large tube, aluminum radiator I bought from Afco. It holds way more coolant then the stock one did, yet still fits in the same location. What you will find is the 250-292 engines have a lower on the block water pump mounting location, this was done for hood clearance. What this does to the older trucks is locate the fan much to low in relation to the radiator core. I had to lower the radiator in my truck, the fan blades were below the bottom tank when mounted in the stock location. With electric fans, it shouldn't be a problem, but just be aware, the hose routing may get tricky. If leaning towards aluminum, be sure it's a fully welded type, some use epoxy's to hold them together. Not sure how much it matters, but I would think a fully welded unit could be repaired much easier then a glued together one.

In your case, running the electric fan, you will need a well fitting shroud to get maximum air flow thru the a/c condenser and radiator. It may even take a pusher fan on front and puller on engine side.

Thank you so much for your great advice. I'm going to do a mock up before I send the moter out to be built and start the body work. The 292 has a 3 pulley on it and I have a 250 with a 2 pulley on it. I have 3 235's with single pulleys on them. Don't know if they are the same but hopefully will work for mock up. Thank you again.

This may help,I have a292 in my 53. you have to set the radiator forward in its bracket. I had to cut the top strap out that the hood latch cowl bolts to. I had to make brackets to hold the radiator. Just used perforated strap bent like a Z. I have an aluminum rad. I used the electric fan from a 96 Buick Century. You can use the same water pump from a 250, it fits a little better and will bolt on the motor. Been running it like that for many years. If you would like to see some pics, I could text them. My # 4102159270