Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 292 in '65 Nova?

Hi all, new here.
I've got a '65 Nova, currently with a stock 230ci, 3-on-the-tree.
I recently got and read the Chevrolet Inline Six Cylinder Power Manual, and the guy talks up the 292ci motors quite a bit. I like the six, and the car is pretty light, so this sounds like alot of fun.
What I'm wondering is if anyone here has swapped their 230/250 for a 292, particularly in the Chevy II chassis, and how hard the mods were? I'm pretty sure I'll have hood clearance, but I'm wondering about the clutch linkage mounts, and relocating the passengers motor mount.
Also, I have a T5 trany that I am going to swap into this car. Will the trany, and the stock rear axle be able to take a mildly hopped-up 292?

You will need a bracket to move the z-bar pivot ball because the chevy2 fork exits at 4 oclock instead of 3 like the other chevys. Twisted6 will be able to help you out there. He will also know what you need to put the 292 in the chevy2.


Clyde "62 chevy2 conv.

hello BLuEyes

Besides the Zbar bracket, You will also need to fab a new motor mount braket for the Passanger side. and You will also need to change the Oil Pan because it WILL NOT clear the drag link. Yes it will clear the hood But you will need to watch out for the type of air cleaner you use. Hope this helps. }[oooooo]

I think that a previous owner blessed me with a Z-bar bracket. The pivot on my car is attached to a bracket that bolts to the two holes a few inches above the oil pan rail. These are the two holes that the Inline Power Manual says are used for the clutch linkage on the 292's. *whew*
Keep my oil pan, check. I suppose I'll have to swap my oil pump pickup along with that.
What do you guys reccomend I do to relocate the PS motor mount? Just a steel plate? That was my initial thought, but then I noticed that the lower controll arm mount is right below the motor mount, and has nothing around it to support it from any bending that a simple relocation plate like that might cause.
As for the hood clearance, I was planning on getting a TBI setup off of a 5.0 car or truck and bolt it to an aftermarket 4-barrel intake. It'll be a bit of work, but I think that the driveability and economy gains should be worthwhile. The TBI units are a bunch shorter than the stock carb, so I should have enough room for a good aircleaner.

The Z Bar pivet is at the oil pan RAIL If you look back in the power manual you will see a Chevy2 block. look on page 13 it is the bottom picture. you will see a boss between the rear main cap(7) and the main cap (6) Or look on page 21 STD LD clutch Pedal Linkage Mountings. The Chevy2 Blocks are all to there own you mit say. But that same Block came in many different yrs.Even in non chevy2 bodys.But that boss is the easiest way to tell a 62-67 chevy2 block/s.
So Unless that plate he left behind LOWWERs the Zbar pivet Ball down to the Oil pan Rail IT WILL
NOT WORK.Trust me on this..Besides myself & 62Clyde and many Others who have Been there tried that.That is why I make the Plates 62Clyde is talking about.Now as to the PS mount you will have to come off the cross member over to the Block. And That one i no lonnger have any of.I wasn't selling enough of them to just keep them sitting around. And that is why I don't show that one on my web site.And i think I Gave the last(first) one away(first off proto) to a guy here in fla.But it wasn't that hard to make a couple peice of 3/8s plate and you can use either square or round stock. and bolt it to the crossmember Don't weld it to the cross member.That way if you ever change back you can just unbolt it. But I have plenty of them crossmembers.
hope this helps }[oooooo]

We used a square piece of 1/4" plate that ran from the two bolt holes you mentioned to the pan rail. The plate was shimmed out to parallel to the block and drilled the plate for the pivot ball so the zbar was horizontal. With a manual trans, exhaust becomes an issue. Stovebolt headers worked for my 66 and I believe Cliffords may also work.

I have seen two methods for the right side mount, but both require the use of an electric pump, which with tbi will be necessary anyway. One is to modify the stock rh mount adapter (metal portion) with plate to attach to the stock mount ing position on the subframe. The other is to modify the subframe to accept the stock mount. Either way welding is required. Also, if I remember correctly the top hole on the bracket that mounts to the block will need to be elongated to get the three bolts in.

Guess I should've said that the bracket is currently in the car and operational. It does put the pivot right there along the pan rail like on p13, but the bolts holding it on are in the two holes higher up nearer the core plug.

Does anyone have any pics of a mount adapter?

What kind of mileage could one expect out of a combo like this? I'm currently averaging around 15 with the 230/3sp in mixed city/highway. I'll be keeping my 3.08 gears when I swap the T5 and adding headers, performance intake and some mild head porting. I plan to keep the cam stock, or just one step above. I'm hoping that the reduction in RPM, and the EFI will have a larger effect than the added cubes and I could end up with closer to 20mpg?

Oh, one more thing - I was reading more on the Clifford Performance site, and noticed they said that a 292 crank would drop right into a 230/250 block making a short-deck 292. Of course, I'd need custom pistons, but the required 1.39" compression height isn't all that short. Has anyone actually done this?

Trust me on this when i say Yes it will drop in But It won't work that easy. The counter weights need cutting. Also The cam installed Has to be for a 292 because the cam has to be notiched. hum
Before i get into a Long Post TELL you what CALL Tom Langdon He has sold these type kits in the past cost you around 1000.oo bucks for crank & pistons call and talk with him.
hope this helps }[oooooo]

$1000
uh, I can get an entire shortblock for $65.
I was thinking about the short-deck block to save weight off the front end and the shorter pistons would lighten the rotating assembley tremendously.

Putting a 292 cam in would be no problem since I'd be dropping the mech fuel pump with the TBI anyways.
Might be easier to just go with the 292 block, except that I can't find anything more than stock replacement pistons, not the 9:1 LP pistons that are supposed to be out there somewhere.

Have you tried Ross or aries Pistons.I know they make custom pistons. You may also want to give Mike Kirby a call. Hp is not always cheap ya know.And what you going to end up with is a 292 low deck.And to top matters off is a block that is sometimes prone (or known) to cracking at the number cyl head bolt over the water pump.So if your going to build a 292 why not just build the 292? If this is a daily driver why are you worry about the front end weight savings? }[oooooo]

Ps chassi works bolt on front clip will save you(take off about 300lbs But thats Not Cheap either)Thats why I don't have it yet (big wish/Dream)

Yeah, I read about the cracking. How bad is it really? I'm not planning on having a cam any more than about 210*@0.05". Looking more for solid torque curve than high HP, shifting at 5000rpm at most.
The car is a semi-regular driver but will probably see more driving once the OD is in there. Car only weighs about 2800# right now, and has about 55/45 weight distribution, so I definately want to keep the weight reasonable. I'd go 'glass, but it IS a street car, so not sure that would be the best idea. I'm particularly attentive to front-end weight though because I want good handling out of the car.
That chassisworks front clip sounds nice. Didn't know it drops 300#, that really makes me drool, but doesn't it use those WAY too small Mustang II front brakes? I'm working on ditching the drums for 4 wheel discs, and won't have anything smaller than 11" up front.

BluEyes,

Just noticed you are from Idaho. Where are you located? If you are local I can show you the adapter etc; far better than a photo.

Let me know

Sorry, I'm up here in Lewiston. Seems you're about 260 miles south.

No that kit from them Has NO mustang 2 parts at all. But mucked from the chevy2 but things have been moved in and back a few inchs along with a drop in ride height. No as to the cracking What i have seen is from over torking or over heating if not a combo of both. I have never(and I shouldn't say that) cranked a block there as of Yet(Phew)
and I raced the same 250 for 17yrs with out a rebuild till now.(shifting @6500 plus rpms and don't leave the line less then 5000) And thats only because I desided to make some up grades.
hope this helps }[ooooo]

Hello,

I have a 78 nova and am considering swapping in a 292 ("considering" because I found one pretty cheap but I already got a 250 in the nova, plus a friend has another old 250 that he's just giving away.)

The car has a TH350, air conditioning and power steering. Will I have any problems up front with any of this stuff?, will the raidaitor hoses change or will the stock molded ones still work.

Finally and most importantly, the passenger mount.. I need to see some pictures or something because I am not really sure how to start. The new bracket will let me keep the clamshell type motor mounts?

please help.

hello ...here is something I have been working on...you will pay basically $600.00 for a set of forged pistons-dome or flat....so for hot street or light racing take a set of the Hyperteutic pistons, and cut the top off- then deck block then mill head AT least .060(more is desirable)....
Also you can have pistons lightened-and I can have this done for less than cost of a $600.00 set of pistons- this would work for a good 6000 rpm engine and have at least 10 to 1 Compression ratio...this is what I am doing to next street rebuild....
this will work but some might not want to do this much work..I have it figured out so far and is less than $600.00.... thought some might be interested in this approach.

can you say anything else about this setup? any pics anywhere? I think I got an idea of what your saying but I don't see why you mean by elongating a hole somewhere. How thick should the plate used be? What material? I imagine it should be some heavy duty stuff..

please help

Luis,

The elongated hole is the top hole on the block portion of the stock right side 6 cylinder Chevy II motor mounts. The spacing of the bosses in the 292 block are just a little off from the low deck motors. I will try to take some pictures this weekend and try to post them.

Bruce

I have some photos of the two versions of the right side motor mount and the z-bar pivot mounting plate for the 292. I do not have a way to post them, so if interested, please send me your email address and I will get them out.