Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Does anyone know what a Turbo (charger) is?

You could always just do an LS swap like all the youngsters are doing now. There were quite a few of those at the KC Truck show this weekend.

Ahem... I asked you for a "clean up". Not to polish it.
Sure. Understood. I know, it is about as far as I could ever hope to ship it. But it's comforting to have someone your confident in do it, than someone. When I was doing this full time. I'd occasionally need to hunt for someone for my machine work. As my go-to guy(s) would relocate, or just be too backlogged to get timely results. I remember sending a head into "someone" I hadn't delt with before, to get it resurfaced. When I got it back. I discovered DA marks, not mill marks on the head! So I guess when I get the crank off, I'll mic it, and if it's in fair shape, I'll take your advise. But I'd really like to get it balanced, and "trued" as good as possible. As I hope to build the motor up, and hope to never have to crack it open again. I know, wishful thinking. I'll see if the local NAPA has any good leads for me. Unless someone out here on the peninsula happens to catch this thread, and have a recommendation.

Thanks for the reply, and the secret snarky comment.

Chris

I'd say that nitrous oxide would be the least expensive modification that will still convert your well tuned 292 into a scattering of all of its many parts along the roadside...

Dang'it, Carl! That was my next proposition!

Chris

Heh. Might as well swap in a Cummins. But where's the fun, and challenge in that?! Altho both of those would be more practical.

Thanks for the reply, Rusty!

Chris

Fortunately, there's a guy about 20 miles from me who has been grinding crankshafts for me for about 30 years. If he ever decides to retire, I'm not sure what I'll do, but he's a few years younger than I am and he's got a son primed to take over the shop. Here's a little anecdote from back in the mid-1980's- - - -I had sent an Olds 455 crankshaft in for an index and regrind job. My buddy called me up to tell me about a blemish in the shaft and asked me if I'd like to grind the rod journals down another .010" to clean it up. Here's the conversation:

Him: "There's a little low spot on one of the rod journals- - - -do you want to go 20 under instead of 10?"
Me: "How big is the spot, and how low is it"?
Him: "It's about as big as a pencil eraser, and it's .0002" low
Me: "That's a strand of hair sliced 10 times- - - -I think I'll run it like it is!"

I never had any reason to question his work after that!
Jerry

Lets not forget the billet crank for a few thousand. I'm building such an engine and Jerry is correct I has to be built from the ground up. 14 lbs. of boost with stock pistons and rods won't run long enough to get warmed up. It can be done but take my word for it your build will be measured in the 10's of thousands of dollars. Also keep in mind that most of these parts are a one off. When Crower made my billet crank I had to send them a stock crank to work off of and Crower has been making billet cranks forever and it was their first 292. Go for it but make sure you know what you are getting into. I'm looking at 5 to 8 pounds of boost.

Turbochargers were pretty much a back shelf item when they were "dumb". The Corvair Spyder and the Olds F85 Jet Fire were early ones but they had a very conservative 5-7 pounds of boost. The Jet Fire used a alcohol/water mixture to control combustion temp plus it was all aluminum which carried heat away quicker. The Corvair had a fan that blew air down through finned cylinders which gave a quicker response than heat into coolant, coolant into radiator, and finally coolant back to heat source. A more successful "dumb" system was the centrifical supercharger like used on 57 T-Birds. Once systems became "smart" with a bunch of sensors and a central processing unit to INSTANTLY make adjustments for changing conditions then turbos started popping up everywhere. Even with all the controls a turbo engine is best if built from scratch to handle extra heat and stress. When right a turbo engine is awesome with huge torque figures. For kicks watch the McClaren 720S (256ci twin turbo V8) and in street clothing blow the doors off a purpose built for drag Hemi Demon.

400Hp @ around 2000
That's over 1,000 ft/lbs

There are no cheap 392 or 426 hemi engines.

The most obvious “alternate method” that I think has been left out so far is.....
A Diesel engine! They make serious torque and most (nearly all modern ones) are designed for, benefit from, and come with a turbo.

Your HP and torque dreams are readily achievable in an engine that fits in your vehicle, a diesel.

Edit:
Now I see Jerry already suggested a diesel for this application. That’s saying something from a guy that otherwise has very little good to say about Diesel engines.
You should take it seriously and consider this option.