Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines Mexican 292 ?

I remember selling these as GM "Target " engines back in the 1990's

I never had need to pen one up ~ are they Metric threads etc. or what? .

Can I use my old 1969 intake manifold , rocker box etc. ? .

I just stumbled across one and might buy it , it's cheap .

TIA ,

Their very desirable, and everything interchanges just fine with other US made engines.

Thank you .

Apparently they're not so easy to bring across the Border in the bed of my pickup .

I hope this doesn't slip away .

They are typically cast with thicker cylinders, so their worth trying to get a hold of, especially if your looking to build a hot rod engine out of it.

The Mexican built engines actually came in US vehicles. I have many of them that came from it seems 1983 and newer chevy trucks. Even 250's were built in HENCHO EL MEXICO for boat use after they ceased being put in US trucks.

They do seem to be heavier as do the heads.

Can they be bored to 4 inches?
Thanks
Pete

[/quote]
Can they be bored to 4 inches?
Thanks
Pete [/quote]

Possibly, but measuring the wall thickness with an ultrasonic meter is definitely recommended. You may have to measure several blocks to find one with sufficient wall thickness.

Search this forum using the term "Mexican" and you will get a number of informative threads. "boring out a 250" is one of the good threads.

I have sonic checked only a small handful of non-Mexican blocks that would be safe for a .060" overbore race engine. Of the many dozens of Mexican blocks i've sonic checked, there were still a small handful of those that wouldn't make a safe .060" overbore either. Of the ones that were truly thicker in the cylinder walls, they were only thicker by an amount enough to allow them a safe minimum margin to be bored to .060", provided core shift didn't bump it out of contention for consideration. Of the Mexican blocks that were thick enough to bore to .060" over, they were still required to be filled.
Of the many Mexican blocks that I have sonic checked that were thicker and had little core shift, I only saw maybe 2 or 3 that were thick enough to take a chance to bore to 4", and you still would have had to fill it. None of the non-Mexican blocks I ever sonic checked were ever thick enough to bore to 4" with or without filling. I know a lot of racers have run 4" bore engines before, maybe our standards were just higher than theirs or they were just lucky! But if your going to try a 4" bore, luck better be on your side. Headrick, like everyone else tried some 4" bore engines and they never lasted for one reason or another, mostly poor ring sealing because of too much cylinder distortion.
So even if you don't split a cylinder from boring one to 4", there are other issues that will arise that will make a .060" overbore a better alternative, especially if you plan to use it for competition.

Thanx for all the replies ;

Back when the 194/230/250 was a base engine from GM , many of them suffered core shift when made new and cylinder wall drop outs as you were happily motoring along was fairly common .

Anyways , I just want it for my old truck as I run it long and hard , I know to never overspeed a 292 but would like the bottom end grunt they provide .

I used to have a GMC Truck dealer's Commercial Account parts flyer with the GM P/N for the Target 292 but that got lost .

Still trying to hook up this Mexican engine , the guy is a bit sketchy .

Where are you located nate