Never tried to put a 292 into a '54 but did do a '59 261. The'59 motor had a longer water pump and yes I did shorten the water pump shaft/new pulley exercise but still had radiator/hood brace probs, and 292's are longer.
The 261 with a 10" (non slipping clutch) will bust them early torque tube trannies like a bear in a china closet, and I believe a 292 will do it much quicker. You must go open drive line with whatever the currently popular tranny/rear end combo is, or drive like a very elderly citizen. Most new stuff has really low first gears to get you launched with practically any rear axle ratio, and have the benefit of a shiftable-on-demand overdrive for economy (happy as a puppy with two tails as hot rod magazine used to say). Do use Langdon's headers as they were designed for such applications-saw a set on the raffle give-away motor at the Boerne convention-really slick looking
and cool sounding. They probably dont give away much to tube headers and will certainly last longer. Really nice thing with the new motors is their weight, even with old springs the front end will not have the sagged-out look. Good Luck!
