This is going into my 92 camaro RS. It will be backed by a built 700R and a GM 10 bolt with posi and 3.73's. It will be a weekend warrior with very limited track use.

97 350 hyd roller block
comp cams Xr276
GM 292 heads (probably)
speed pro forged flattop pistons at around 10:1 static cr
holley 4 barrel carb with mechanical secondaries
weiand stealth aluminum manifold
1.5 aluminum roller rockers
Hedman shorty headers with a 3" catback
100 shot of the juice

I think I got everything. Constructive criticism is always accepted no matter how harsh.

How many horsies? And what do you think she'll run in the quarter?

 

well i think i need to know if the car is red or someother color to help determine gross weight and if you plan on eating before the 1/4 mile pass or not... j/k

 

Yes, the car is red, It is stock weight for a 92 RS plus my 250 pound butt. And I may have a ham and cheese with a little mayo on toast before the pass. Any other questions smartass?

 

haha.. good one SpitotRs305....make sure you got pickles in there ..anywho...3000 stall TC will be good and a tranny upgrade...3.73 rear gears. do some wires plugs cap roter coil or msd box.

 

Yeah, I forgot to add the MSD complete ignition system that I already have and I think a 2800 stall. I was looking for 400 fwhp but I think that the 292's may not be up to the job. Anyway, I have them, they're worked over with a valve job and porting and I got them for a song so I'll try them and see.

 

You smell funny, and you can't read good. Oh, and you're chubby.
haha, ahh, I think i'm the only one laughing at that....

Well, now that the harsh comments are done, this combo is looking better then your last one

Which parts are on hand, and which are "to buy"?

I'd go with steel rockers, and pocket the $ difference from the AL ones.
That's just me though.
I'd also rather see long tube headers. Assuming you use those (68470's? and the recommended y-pipe?) Make sure you chop the y-pipe at the 2.5" neck down, and replace it with a 3" bend.
You've been busy porting the crap out of those heads right? (RIGHT?)

Look into a shift kit, or corvette boost servo. I know nothing about that stuff, but those are buzzwords that sounds fast, that you might want

Those heads probably aren't condusive to low lift flow, and probably aren't great for anti reversion (camminess). Backcut valves, a good 3 angle valve job, careful port work, biasing, chamfered intake valve face, and obviously good bowl work, will work wonders.

What brand of nitrous kit do you have? All the fixins on that?

Sounds like 400HP shouldn't be too hard to hit.

 

All parts listed are on hand. If I were to build it from scratch with nothing to start with, I would do a few things differently, but these are the things that I could get for free by parting out that drag car that I never should have bought. Remember the "so I bought this engine" post?

The system is an NX systen with a 25 lb bottle and a plate system. I think that I'm going to put a progressive shot to it. The engine is actually built and waiting to be dropped in barring a change of heart on the heads at the last second.

And I try not to be rude but I hate it when people chime in with retarded posts and have nothing but stupidity to inject into someones learning process. And I know I'm a little chubby, but my wife loves it!

Thanks for the comments.
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The headers are shortys because the car is lowered 2 inches and the y-pyipe is custom and it is a 3" outlet to the cat (which will become a hollow pipe) and a 3" catback with a magnaflow muffler.

 

haha, sorry, just had to take a cheap shot, you did say "any harsh criticism"

Well, if it's all built and ready to go, then it's a little late for suggestions right? Fire it up and find out how well it runs. It bugs ME to see continuous posts about "what will it run?" from people, then they never take it to the strip and repost in that thread to set people straight. I like to read how fast it ran later!

25lb bottle? Wowza, that'll do the job alright.

Was any work done to these 292 heads? I forget, I remember you got them off ebay right? And they said they were ported, but the pictures made them look like they were hauled out of a mudpit or something, and looked stock..?

 

Oh, its going to the strip as soon as its got a good break in. I'll share the results.

The heads were worked over with a good valve job (according to my guy, one of the better jobs he's seen.) They had some porting done to the runners, but he says not to polish the bowls because something about the texture made for good combustion and that is why "turbo" is stamped on the side. The heads are virgin (according to him) with a little surface rust from sitting up for a while.

Let me correct myself... The shortblock and oil pan are assembled. The heads are still off of the motor because they might get sold to a buddy of mine that can use them on his '69 camaro in stock class. If he doesn't get to me with the dough today, they're going on tomorrow and going in the engine bay.

I like criticism eaven after the fact because I concider everything in my life a learning experience, and hopefully this won't be my last engine build.

And no hard feelings for the fat jokes, I have a good sense of humor, and if you can't laugh at yourself, who can you laugh at? Cheap shots are often the funniest.

 

haha, amen to that one then I'm 140lbs soaking wet (6' tall), I only make fat jokes out of jealousy. I'm trying as hard as I gain weight, I drink protein powder like water now.
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Anyway, yea, ok, those heads should do just fine. They are better used on a car that actually "needs" them to run in a class, but they'll work peachy for ya. I forget what supvisor42 runs, but I know it's something old like that.

Well, about the rockers then, AL rockers do fatigue, and wear out, compared to steel ones. If possible, i'd see if I could trade/exchange those for steel ones. But anyway, just make sure you pop a valve cover every oil change or so, and make sure nothing is pooched.

I prefer the performer RPM (air gap) over the weiand stealth, but I think its a pretty close race, almost just brand loyalty.

If you can get some sticky tires, i'm pulling for ya - high 12's. I'm eager to find out. Louisiana is far enough south that it's racing season all year round right? You guys don't get "winter" right?

 

Yes we do get winter! Nothing like a freezing cold 55 degree december night.

Anyway, I was prating for 11.99 with the nitrous, but If I get into the 12's I'll be happy.

 

Freezing cold 55* eh ? I'm going to go back to my 18* november afternoon, and grumble in misery...
oh, I was thinking high 12's NA. You can go up to higher jets in that N2O kit, so I think breaking into the 11's won't be a problem.

 

Thats all I want is to dip into the 11's. I think I'll stop asking questions now, Drop the engine in and go to the track!

Thanks sonix!

 

I've got the 462's. His heads should have 2.02 valves originally and have the mounting bosses for front accesories.
..which mine didn't. He's got the "good" '69 heads, not the 67-68 ones I did so much work to.
Systalis: are you going to run a serpantine setup? If so good luck with that upper right bolt hole in the D/S head. If you need a workaround give me a holler. Mine's still holding up.

 

Yeah I was hoping to use the same setup from the LO3. Why? Whats the problem.

I know nothing about swapping an engine. I have someone helping me that has done this hundreds of times and he also runs a thirdgen. His is a trailer Queen, though.

Do you think the head/cam combo looks good?

 

The Weiand manifold is you set up for click is for a 97. You need one that will bolt to Gen 1 SBC heads. The big hurdle for the heads will be valve springs. The spring pockets hopefully have been cut out to take big springs. The holesaw trims the outside of the guide boss while enlarging the spring pocket. Those are good heads, don't screw them up.
The roller lifters will need a lot of force to keep them on the lobe. Ever heard of a rev kit?
Figure out if you're going to definately use the 292's then we can work on making everything fit them.
P.S. you can really crank the timing on them unlike the newer "sheetmetal" heads.

 

I did decide that I'm using them for sure tonight. They are at My buddies shop. I'll try to get them in my hands tomorrow cause its been a while since I've seen them. I'll send you some pics and find out what you think.

Do I really need a rev kit for a street engine? Will it be making power that high?
Im not doing any of the work on these heads myself, as this is my first build. I'm just watching for this one.

BTW, I do have the right intake, I just posted the wrong link. Thanks for the heads up though, I'll try to chance that to avoid further confusion.

 

If you get the springs right on the head, you won't need a rev kit. But they're going to have to be tough to keep that cam humping above 6000 rpm. The roller lifters are much heavier than flat tappets and the roller's ramp will be more aggressive. Not that it will be making power that high, but the cam will need a higher rpm band to make the power.
The upper right mounting boss location on the d/s head was moved outward about 3/8" on the gen 2 (roller engines) heads. Only hole they moved. Everything else will line up perfectly.
The problem is the bolt in the P/S bracket is up inside the casting so you can't move the bolt hole sideways. They moved that boss outward for stability so you can't just leave the bolt out. I made a plate to tie the unused bolt hole on the side of the P/S bracket (casting) to the exhaust stud.
I have porting blueprints for the 292s if you need them.

 

Yeah, hit me with them (porting blueprints.) I could use all the help I can get. Without having the heads in my hand and my head under my hood, I don't exactly understand the plate thind with thew bolt hole, but I should be bolting them up tomorrow so, I'll guess I'll find out soon enough.

Thanks for the replies!

 

This pic shows the plate and the spacers for the brace that goes to the back of the pump from the exhaust stud on the headers. This is the p/s bracket for an 88 TPI motor, the L03 may be different. I haven't scanned the blueprints yet so, it'll take a few.

 

Ahhhhhh. I see now. Most people say to ditch the 292's and get some vortecs. Are they really that outdated?

 

Man, those heads are SO OUTDATED that I'll pay the shipping for you to send them to me.
Here are the pics for porting them. They require a fraction of the porting that earlier heads require. Expand the pics full size to read.

 

Lots of timing on an old "fuelie" head like that give the car a real old muscle car sound ( to supervisor ). I think at least, it has something to do with it.
Some nice big glasspacks and you'll be set to TEAR around in that bad boy!

IIRC - retrofit roller lifters are heavier then the stock roller lifters, since they're a tad longer. And roller lifters are heavier than tappets. So a rev kit is nice to have to add the power in the 5800up RPM range. I remember AFR showing a "test" to advertise their rev kit. 100HP added! woo! I'm guessing the springs were so woefully inadequete that the valves were floating like bird in the wind, the rev kit made the cam settle in for the 7000RPM blast, and the power didn't peter out at the top end. So instead of dropping off 60HP, it picked up 40HP, hence "gain 100HP!"

 

I mean really..... I got an offer for $400 for them today. I was wondering if I would be better off with these or vortecs. Most people that I talk to seem to say vortecs. I have no clue.

 

If you have the money get some vortecs and read up about porting those. Just don't screw the 292s up. They don't make'em anymore.
I have a "back in the day" story that I won't tell right now...
Post some pics of 'em when you can.

 

Well I got to his house yesterday and my buddy had the heads mounted up already but I did find out this.

The heads are virgin and were never cut on except for gasket matching. They were completely worked over with a valve job with new valves. And according to the stamped date they were one of the first sets cast.

Supervisor42: Thanks for the porting blueprints and I will use them someday. For now, I'm gonna leave them stock until I get a chance to practice on some more common heads.

On the down side, my buddy had to go offshore early so it looks like I'll have to wait another 2 weeks to get the engine in.

I'll post quarter mile times as soon as I get them. My buddy seems to think I'll get 360 rwhp or so out of my combo, but I'll get it dynoed for those of you that helped me in this thread.

 

Well since you have 2 weeks to kill, find out what valve springs are on those heads. If they are "stock for the day" you'll be lucky to get 250 RWHP out of them with the roller cam due to valve float at about 4500 rpm.

 

I'll call him and ask exactly what they are, but I asked yesterday and he said that he took them off and did something like test their compression rate with some kind of tool and he said that there would no issue with "valve float" as I specifically used those words when I asked him about their adequacy.

If I sound like a retard, its because I know nothing about valve springs. I did ask questions, though, and he has run these heads on his cars before, so I'll take his word for it. I do, however, appreciate your concern.

 

Roller lifters are exceptionally heavy. These heads were never used with roller lifters, so the pockets aren't large.
"normal" 1.25" sbc performance springs are in the range of 100/300lbs (seat/open). So, 100lbs of force when the valve is resting on the seat (essentially preload), and 300lbs with the valve opened max. That spring will work with my xe268 flat tappet cam.

With your roller cam, Comp probably recommends a 1.43"od dual spring setup.
Remember, even "single springs" have a damper inside, and still look like "dual" springs.
Look on summit at comp 981's for a picture of a "single" spring, ie, what I have.
Then look for comp... 986, that's a typical dual spring. You'll probably need some kind of dual spring.

Yea, you probably don't want to keep bugging this guy. You get some advice on "the internet", ask some questions, he answers you, you leave somewhat skeptical. I can see why he might be getting annoyed, my machinist sure was with me
But when you have a motor built, it's nice to keep a log of all the part #'s, clearance #'s, etc etc. Anything that's possibly measured, written down. So if he said the springs are adequate, and he tested them with the tool, he probably got an open and seat spring force. So if you can, i'd see if I can weasel out of him what those #'s are. 130/350 is probably in the range you want to see. The dual springs have a higher rate, so a reasonably smaller seat force can go up to a huge open force. 120/400lbs for example.
Then there's beehive springs, and all sorts of good stuff to add to your confusion.

 

Stock springs: 78lbs on the seat, and 194lbs at .450 lift. You can imagine how well this would work with a 300' roller cam. This was what I was concerned about.
The motor with a 300' cam is going to have to hit 6500-6700 to be faster than one with a 270' cam. He wanted a "nasty" idle so that engine is going to have to spin. I was worried that the springs were "virgin" stock like the head.
That's why my previous post talked about opening up the spring pockets.
There isn't a stock diameter spring that would keep up with that cam even if it was a flat tappet, let alone with heavy roller lifters.
Remember, he said those heads were never cut on except port matching.
Systalis: can you measure the OD of the springs?

 

Please disregard the previous post. I got my threads mixed up. Systalis isn't running a 300 degree cam. That post was made BC, that is "before coffee".
And that is why it doesn't make much sense. I really should know better than that.
Supervisor after coffee><Supervisor before coffee

 

They are dual springs. I know that for sure. He said that they were enough to support that ammount of lift because he measured the open and closed force. I'll try to get the numbers from him.

Thanks guys.