Originally Posted By: MIGHTY6
 Quote:
Was wondering from a more stock standpoint what would make more sense for a basic affordable novice race engine out of either. Seems to me that the 250 would be able to handle higher rpms in the more stock format with the shorter stroke. The fact that they can use 307 pistons also seems like a benefit. It also makes sense that they would get more benefit from a larger cam due to the smaller displacement (ie. 292 cam in a 250). It also seems that they should be able to take the same sorts of internal modifications that the 292 would take to gain horsepower (ie. lump ports, smoothing, crank mods, 194 head, decking, etc).


I think a 250 is the better way to go, even though I have raced 292's from day one. I feel the 250 has a better bore to rod ratio to make hp. A lump head would better suit that displacement also. A 250 has a power band like a small block v8. Parts like blocks and cranks are easy to find.

Now, with that being said a 292 will make big power too. It takes more specialized parts to make them work. For the novice builder like me, it took some dyno time to figure out where the power is in these motors. I'm not saying I have it 100% figured out either but we are closer to it.
A 292 is like a 800ci v8. A small bore w/a large stroke on the crank. These motors do not like to rev or rpm.

My .02 cents Steven




That's pretty much my thinking on the situation. Seems like when I was building my 292 it was harder to find parts since some were different than the 194,230,250 parts (ie. water pump, side covers, etc). Seemed like the 250 parts were easier to come by and cheaper in most instances. I like the fact that the 250 can take the 307 pistons... that makes things more affordable. It also seems like there's a lot of guys out there making big power on the track with the 250s. A lot of them putting forced induction to them also. Kind of leads me to believe that they had a reason to stick with them instead of investing the time to track down a 292 to dump money into.

There's a lot of useful info in this thread. Thanks. I think I'm more confident in my decision to pick up the 250 for a future project. Now I just have to find something to put it in...... \:\)


'40 Studebaker project Chevy 292 powered.
'51 Chevy business coupe 216ci inliner
Inliner's #5360