Inliners International Forums General Discussion Hi Performance Old School chevy 292 natural aspirated for power

Dear Guys,
Recently I adquired a race engine from my brother who stopped his project.Now i'm planning to put this engine in a Triumph TR4A body that's been lying around for years and go racing(complete tube car )
Specs are:
292 cubic inch bored 0.060 over,clifford 302/310 cam flat tapped,flat top forged Ross pistons,heavy duty stock rods,(bolts+stotpeened),3 sidedraft 48mm Dcoe Webers.Head 194 with 1.94 intake and 1.60 valves lump port,1.75 roller rockers.Crank has been balanced and a fluid damper SFI is used for this engine.Compression is 10.5:1.Transmission is a powerglide with transbrake (5000 stall converter).Differential will be a Nissan R200 with 4.11 gears.Weight will be around 1700 lbs and slick will be 28 inches tall.(Max Rpm is 6000 ,shut off by MSD.Headers will be 1.3/4 and 32 inches long dumped in a 8inch long collector

Since i don't have acces to a dynometer I would like to get a ballpark figure for how much power this combo can produce and what I can expect in elapsed time in the quarter mile.?????
Any advice from you guys which have all the experience will be greatly apreciated


I'm a six cilinder fan for a very long time(since i've heard off mine heros Cotton Perry and Jim headrick and for now want to keep it naturally aspirated and learn how to build engines.
Thanks in advance for all your input and keep the sixes alive forever.Cheers,Richard

Nose heavy, short wheelbase car = difficult 60 ft.

I will guess 315-400 HP @ the crankshaft.

If you can get the car to hook up could run in the 10- 11 second range in the 1/4

Just me guessing though.

Mike K., would give you a better more accurate guestimate on what your engine should put out. He has built & dynoed many 292 engines.

Years ago, (from a mag article I have), IIRC, Mike Kirby could get 450 HP out of a 292 w/the older Duggan/Sisslle cyl head w/a lot more compression & a big race camshaft.

Mike Kirby can make a lot more power than that now w/the newer cyl head (billet I believe), no water? estimate 600-700 HP range?

He is/was making a engine for Douglas in Brazil last I heard, & it should let Douglas set a class record when he gets it.

MBHD

Greetings . . .

There's a guy over on the fordsix web site fitting a 300 into a TR4 . . .

as a road car . . .

Thanks guys for all the great information.

Wow a Tr4 with a ford 300??game on ha,ha .Very nice build .

I'll problably strech the wheel base with 10 inches since i'm going from ground up.
I even was toying with the idea off putting a truck 14bolt 10.5 diff in the rear for better weight distribution buth the penalty is about 175 pounds.
I'll problably try to start the engine in about 3 to 4 weeks from now and will try to post a video on youtube.I'll let you know.

These cars came in the Tr250 version with a six inline.Some times it's good to be dfferent and try little other things.
I'll try to put the engine as low and back possible.
Thanks a lot and i will keep reading and learning from you guys .
Best Regards,Richard

Wow - looks like he would hit his elbow on the valve cover!

Heavy rearend housings are not the kind of weight you want. Its called unsprung weight which is a bad thing for any kind of racing. Go with a 9" ford, strong with lots of gear choices.

Yup.
Unless the rear is rigid-mount (like some rails) it's going to overwhelm your rear suspension.

X2 on a lighter rear end.

Also, Inliner Marv Wiegand has an Austin Healy with a crossflow-headed 300 Ford six that is said to be a Ferrari killer. It was featured in the 12PN about two years ago.

TR4a!
Well I cant resist that one.
I used to run Spitfires, TR3/4 was too pricey for me, over $1000 which was big money back then.

Just for fun, stock TR4a, 130cid:
17.50 at 76 1/4 mile
Somehow seems faster that low to the ground.

Here is what my DeuceCoupe Gonkulator gets for your 301cid:
Torq 365 at 4100
Powr 348 at 5800

This ASSUMES you can get the 194 chamber to "work" with those big valves, it is tricky, never done it myself but the 1.94 intake might be too big and even then it is tricky to get the small chamber to flow well.

For the car, I calculated a 4000 stall with the torq peak coming in at 4100.

Here are the results, I assumed open headers and cold air intake and:
Lousy traction, as bad as stock 1960s tires and open rear:
2.58 60ft
9.68 at 85.8 1/8 mile
13.98 at 117.5 1/4 mile
6.8 0-60mph

Fully hooked, whatever magic that takes
1.44 60ft
6.70 at 100.2 1/8 mile
10.63 at 124.0 1/4 mile
2.6 0-60mph

A wild ride if it will hook up and go straight.
Will it fit without cutting the firewall?
I looked for the stock (small) bore spacing but cant find it.

Duece Coupe ,thanks for your comments.

.This same engine ran 13.65 (2.2)seconds 60 feet with a trap speed off 103 mph in the quartermile before it ripped the diff mountings off the rear suspension.
This engine was at that time in a 1974 nissan 260 ZX with 3.90 rear gears with 28 inch slicks.Total weight aprox 2300 lbs.
Also, this was with the stock rear suspension.(Squats on acceleration)
I'm planning off using a 292 cilinder head that I have ,because i've read in more threads that it is better than the 1.94.


Since i'm building from scratch,I'm going to stretch the wheelbase at least 10 inches.This is to keep the engine on the front wheel centers.(Damper )I think that I have to cut the firewall because off the lenght off the engine. Cheers Rich

Ok now the "calibration" phase, a few questions if u have time:
On the 260zx -
* Did you weigh the car? Was 2300 w/ or w/o driver?
* Was the 13.65 at 103 with open headers or thru mufflers?
* Running a fan or clutch fan or electric fan?
* Do you have the cam specs, duration at .050, lobe centers, lift?
* Edit: YIKES I think I found the Clifford 302/310 specs
262-272 duration .651 .635 lift YOW.
Would you know the Lobe Centers they were not listed.
Gonkulator says that cam peaks at 4600 torq and 6600 power.

The Gonkulator "wanted" the 260zx to run quite a bit faster so looking for reasons that might slow it down. One other would be a penalty for the small 194chamber.

This would lead to a better prediction for your tr4a.

Duece,

I have all the time.I'm more than glad with your help

weight was without driver.Forgot to mention that so it's more like 2480.
This run was with open headers 1 3/4 lenght was 36inches.(10 inch collector)
Electric fan is used.
Alternator is also used .
I couldn't find the cam card but it is 108 if i can recall.(will give them a call)
The Zx was a starting point.It was more to test things.

The powerglide trans has one problem.This glide was used behind a ex big Block camaro(600+ cubic inches)
I discovered that it has a higher first gear.(bogs a bit at starting line.
Mine main problem I think is the 60 feet.(2.2seconds)I feel that there is a lot more in this new project.)


As you stated I agree that the 1.94 is a problem.I'll switch soon to a 292 head.
What do you think ,use 1.94 or 1.88 intakes??
Hope that i gave enough information,
Cheers

Well ok the Gonkulator still says about 107mph in the 260z.
I can "detune" it of course, cutting all across by 10% gives 103mph.
Of course, a hot day with a headwind could give the same result.
So maybe there is more in there.

As far as the head, others should respond too but I think the consensus is that with the big chamber 230/250/292 head, the 1.94 intake is fine.