The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop How do you guesstimate horsepower & torque...???

I'm just trying to get a ballpark figure of the HP of the 292 build I'm finishing up without putting it on a dyno (because I don't have one conveniently available).

You're welcome to take a stab at mine:

- 292 engine (.060 over - stock deep dish pistons)
- Offy 4 bbl intake
- GM stock HEI
- Dynomax tube headers
- Elgin performance cam with the following specs(194I/204E .050; .464I/.494E lift)
- head rebuilt to stock specs. No porting/polishing

I'm guessing around 200 real horsepower is about right and maybe 250 ft/lb of torque. Come on! Sling your numbers at me!

-ftyler

200 hp at 4500 rpm sounds about right.There are programs available to guesstimate engine power, the ones for popular engines are fairly accurate.A good dyno test is a trip to the drag strip this spring,please post photos of your truck doing burnouts

Tony I was a little surprised to find that the stock 292 produces only 115-120 real horsepower max. And about 200-225 lb/ft of usable low-end torque. The numbers for the smaller sixes (230/235/250) have to be downright pitiful. :confused:

Is that right, Ftyler? Those numbers sound low to me.

What does Santucci say? Fred in Kansas?

Ed B.

The numbers for the stock 292 seem low? Those numbers are what I find when searching on the internet and looking at "No Quarter Sixes'" website.

Up to 1972 the numbers for the 292 are in the neighborhood of 175 HP at 4000 rpm and 275 lb/ft of torque. Post '72 the "net" (true) torque/hp numbers are given and they are much lower but more accurate

-ftyler

We'd have to calculate Ftyler's static compression to get an idea of what his engine could actually do. If he had bumped up his CR to 9.5:1, a longer duration cam and some mild port work, I don't see why 220-260 HP couldn't be done.

There has been much ado about Gross vs Net ratings. The differances between the same engine rated at gross, then net can be huge. However, the larger differances appear on the v8s, where tuning, fuel, exhaust, compression and accessory drag is more apparent than these old low-RPM 6s turning only a water pump and generator.

Prolly the big differances between gross vs net for a I6 would be that the compression ratios dropped at the same time as the switch from gross to net ratings. And the cam profiles were more conservative than pat robertson.

The '62 235 was rated 135 HP@4000 and 220 ft-lb at 2100 RPM. Gross. Of course the 235 went out of production before the Net ratings. But I imagine that the net would still be 100-120 HP because compression could stay at 8:1, and the small accys & exhaust wouldn't make much difference cuz the head design sucked anyway.