The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Headers, and intake for 292

I,m interested in putting headers, and offy intake on my 292, I assume I will have to heat it with water for drivability, not sure whether a small 4 barrel, or should it run a 2 barrel. Also which headers would be the best, cast type, or tubular. It will be in my 65 k20 and may be used for some light hauling would I be better off with this cool setup, or just rebuilding it stock.
Thanks, Coal

Check out www.speedwaymotors.com They've got some header choices in both cast iron and tubular for the two different type of Stovebolt engines.

Cast iron is going to be more trouble-free and a lot quieter. Tubular is just plain noisier. It's not a bad sound, but they do make more noise. For that many cubic inches, I'd probably err toward a small cfm 4 barrel carb.

Hey coal,

Everybody has their own way of doing things, so take all these opinions with a grain of salt. I am going with the Offenhauser intake, A 390cfm Holley, and a set of long tubular headers. There is no way my ears can tell the difference between one type of header and another. I am also building my own cold air box to feed the Holley. More important than carb and headers will be switching out your old distributor for a '75 or later HEI! The HEI makes a huge difference in starting, idle, and overall performance.

Best wishes,

Les

Hi Coal - I did almost the same thing with my '64 C20. It was originally a 292 3 speed on the column. The motor was really tired so when we did the rebuild we used "propane" pistons, added a very mild cam, Clifford 4 bl intake and Hedman headers. (He's "Otis" in the Gallery.) We also changed the 3 speed to a 5 speed and it works great as a driver. We do tow a trailer with our '56 Chevy on it and it does OK - it works hard on hills or fighting strong winds. When we put the engine together I had a 465 cfm Holley carb that I figured would be pretty close to what it would need so thats what we ran it with. It ran OK but seemed a little weak at lower rpm and didn't seem to have "crisp" throttle response. The plugs looked really white but I was thinking maybe they were a heat range too hot. On a whim I tried a different carb. I had a box stock Edlebrock 600 which I figured would be too much for it but thought I'd see what it would do. I was amazed. It ran MUCH better - throttle response was better it would pull from low rpm better and the plugs were tan. I know that on paper that is way too big a carb for that engine - I also know the engine runs way better than it did with the smaller carb and the fuel mileage is the same. For what it's worth...

Keep us updated. I'm going the same route eventually. My 292 is getting a rebuild later this year, and headers/intake are in the works.

i have a clifford 6=8 water jacket intake and langton's headers

you WILL have to have rotated the headers IF you retain the stock steering box w/ this combo

http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=5A-1.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=4A-1.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=4495365-R1-018-7A_1-1.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=7A-2.jpg
http://s67.photobucket.com/albums/h298/1951otter/?action=view&current=3A-2.jpg

appriciate all the advice and anymore that someone would what to lend!

I know it goes against everything the "experts" say but I have a Clifford 4 barrel intake on the 292 in Otis ('64 C20, long box) and have never hooked up the water heat to the manifold. We live in South Dakota and don't drive him a lot in the dead of winter but in plenty of cold weather and have never had a problem. No explanation as to why but have run it for several years without a problem. For what it's worth...