Chevy 292 upgrades?

[BSabbath]

I recently purchased a 84 GMC Sierra with a 292 inline 6.

I’ve read some threads here and there. I picked up Leo Santucci’s “Power Manual” book.

Any advice on upgrading? I think I want to keep the 292. It runs well now. Not really as underpowered as I thought a V6 in a full size would be. My lady complains about the gas fumes(carb). I would like to add a little horsepower.

Intake? Exhaust? Fuel injection? Harmonic balancer?

 

[77Dmax]

Check out clifford performance. I seem to remember taking a 250 to over 300 inches back in my machine shop days. The Nova ran great. It was a quite a sleeper

 

[75gmck25]

First, don’t make the mistake of ever calling it a V6, which you did in your 3rd paragraph. It’s confusing, and is also often a sign that someone knows very little about engines.

Inline sixes are usually very smooth running (inline six has inherently better balance than a V8 or V6), but American I-6 engines were tuned to be stump-pullers in trucks, so they need a little work to get more performance.

I am not familiar enough with the 292 to give any specific advice, but it should respond to most typical performance mods. My guess is that it probably has the 6 cylinder version of low compression smog-era heads and pistons, so there are probably limits on what you can do with simple top end mods (intake, carb, cam, headers). Clifford performance should be a good place to get some ideas.

If someone gives you a hard time about having an I-6 instead of a a V8, ask them what is used in the current BMW M340i, M3, etc. Many novices have no idea what BMW manages to do with an inline six configuration.

 

[vr1967]

Go to 12bolt.com click on the menu and at the drop down there is inline 6 articles, and further down inline 6 build ideas

12 Bolt.com

Home of the HI-FLOW lump kit. 194, 230, 250, 292 Chevy and 153,181 ,2.5, 3.0 mercury engine. Inline chevy 6 performance, Turbocharging, Custom parts, 12 bolt rebuilding

www.12bolt.com

 

[mcarlo86]

Go to 12bolt.com click on the menu and at the drop down there is inline 6 articles, and further down inline 6 build ideas

12 Bolt.com

Home of the HI-FLOW lump kit. 194, 230, 250, 292 Chevy and 153,181 ,2.5, 3.0 mercury engine. Inline chevy 6 performance, Turbocharging, Custom parts, 12 bolt rebuilding

www.12bolt.com

^^^^^This^^^^

 

[Geoduck]

12bolt & Clifford performance as others suggested. An intake exhaust and carb are NOT cheap but would be a significant upgrade. Your 84 would have that awful one piece intake/exhaust and it's likely cracked or soon will be.

 

[bucket]

Did the 292 get the integrated head like the 250?

 

[496bb]

I don't think the 292 had the integrated head. The Clifford stuff is expensive, and even a used 4 bbl intake still fetch a decent price.

Tom at 12Bolt is a wealth of knowledge on the straight sixes, and has alot of parts available as well.

I have a fresh 292 that was going into my 49 Chevy Fleetline, but may end up using another inline - 235 - for ease of installation and find a Square to put the 292 in.

 

[Frankenchevy]

I’ve been wanting to turbo an inline six in something for a while.