Inliners International Forums General Discussion Engines 292 rebuild

i have a 64 chevy c20 with a 292. i have toyed with the idea of that vthing but the more i read here, the more i want the 292. from my readings here, this is what i think will be a good one. this is for an everyday driver with good power.

fuel injection... i guess the easiest way is tbi. i am thinking holley 670 or the commander 950 depending on the torque/hp i can get.

intake....i am thinking the clifford

head....valves 1.90/1.60 int/exh, bolt in lump ports intake, exhaust---same thing?? (help)

headers...not sure what brand yet

pistons....would like 9.0 - 9.5

cam....something like 248/258 duration, .448/.460 lift

hei ignition

trans.....at this time i have a granny 4 speed but will probably go with a overdrive automatic

rear end....4.56 gears with 31" tires

right now i am just in the planning stage. any comments and suggestions are welcome. with this kind of setup, does anyone have any kind of idea what i could expect torque/horsepower. any and all guesses welcome. thanks

one thing i forgot to mention, i like the idea of a roller cam with comparable duration/lift. of course, either way i will have roller rockers.

I don't know anything about TBI. But I'm running a 500 CFM Edelbrock 4 Bbl on an Offy intake on my 292. 500 is beyond the scale for a 300 CI block (292 @ .030 over = 296 actual) at 4500 RPM. I've had to lean it way down. I rarely go over 3 grand except maybe on the freeway. 670 would be way over-carburated if it's anything close to a carburator set-up.
Also I have Clifford headers. They work real good, and this is the second engine they're on. [They went 250,000 on the last 292.] My engine has a Crane 260H cam. I have a Pertronix ign set-up in the future -- stock points right now. Vehicle is a '68 C/10 stepside, with SM465 and 3.73 posi rear. Tires are 235/85R16LT Dunlops.

thanks for the feedback so far.

walt... i was looking at the hei and the headers at stovebolt. the offy intake was another one i was thinking of. now it looks like the offy wins.

orange...thanks for the info on the cfm. the tbi holley 670 is rated for up to 275 hp. that is why i thought that would work. i like your choice of cam. i have seen people talk about "sm465", what is it? trans i guess, but what kind? also what kind of gas mileage do you get?

A TBI from a 350 89-94 chevy/gmc truck will be fine for everday driving. Get an adapter plate for the OFFY intake and bolt the TBI on. While your at the junkyard grab the entire fuel system from the donor truck ( sender to TBI and the entire TBI wiring harness including the sensors. If you use megasquirt you don't need the GM EFI controller.

Consider using megasquirt for the controller. For $200 its the best way to get injected. Check www.msefi.com or ask here and I'll answer your questions. I've been running it for 3 years now.

Ask on the MSEFI list there may be someone nearby to help you get it running quicker.

The SM465 is a synchro-mesh granny 4-speed, the successor to the SM 420 that ended US production after the '67 model year. They're about the same. The 420 has even lower gear ratios in 1 and 2, but I can't quote them offhand. If you don't like your 420, you won't be thrilled by the 465 either. I like mine because it's in a TRUCK, not an overstuffed elcamino, but a go anywhere, do anything, heavy duty bush stomper that's OK in traffic too. The 465 is pretty bombproof. (Except maybe for the synchro rings.)
As far as mileage: the jury's out. I used to get about 12 mpg on the old engine. Breaking this new 292 in , I was getting less than 9 mpg. After my buddy [who has a lot of experience tuning Carters and Edelbrocks] replaced a couple of metering rods and fine-tuned my 1404, my data showed I was getting 18.4 mpg. I don't believe that. I must have made a math error somewhere. I will try again.
I used to run a Holley 390 CFM. It was a good carb and closer to the ideal 400 CFM the charts show. It was over 27 years old, and I was tired of dealing with popped power valves every time it backfired. I found it too complicated to tune solo. Carters are easy, I find. Carter doesn't produce their AFB anymore, so I got the Edelbrock. Carter used to make a 400 CFM AFB, but Edelbrock isn't marketing anything that small, so I have to lean out the 500. Since the AFB/"Performer" design is a vacuum secondary design, I hear, it won't let you dump too much gas in. But I'm no carb expert.
Hope this helps.

thanks guys.
efi-diy....i think i might head out to the junk yard this weekend to see what i can find.

68orangesunshine.... as i dug further into this site earlier today, i found out the sm465 wwas a granny 4speed. i have 2. could be one of each you described. i do like them. they are in trucks. in the sf bay area, the commute is getting old with a clutch. that would be the main reason to go to an automatic. also thinking bout replacing the rearend with one i can change the gears in.

I know what you mean about driving in the city. I was on a roadtrip to LA some years ago in my '71 Jimmy. I got a charlie horse from shifting and double-clutching in crosstown rush hour traffic. So much action that the cotter pin holding my clutch lever to the clutch rod [going thru the firewall to the Z-bar] popped on me while downshifting and I was stuck in gear while rolling. I got it fixed on a sidestreet after about 60 minutes crawling under the engine and submerging below the dash. Got back on the road and it popped again about 3 miles further. This time a guy in a '72 Blazer came by [it was maybe 3.am by now] and asked If I wanted to sell my truck. Cool guy. He went home to get me the only thing that would make it go -- an 6 penny nail. [The PO's shadetree remedy and the only thing that worked.] It got me back to Tucson.