292 flow #s

[SBC]

No help here Randy----I have always wondered if the exhaust does not pick up with a pipe, was it "butchered"? or maybe designed for a different application.

I think Ken Sperry said when the 18 deg sbc head was being developed, the first exhaust port design was down on power----when bench tested with a pipe they saw a difference in the flow path.

Gary C

[novadude]

Why were '292' heads "turbo" heads? Where did the "turbo" name come from?

[Ron E]

Why were '292' heads "turbo" heads? Where did the "turbo" name come from?

As I remember it (thats a disclaimer) Chevy was working on some sort of turbo deal that used an open chamber casting. The ports on the 292 came from that exercise. So, the turbo name is actually incorrect, due to the chamber, but there is a connection through the port design. The turbo name just stuck.

We've got a single 292 head here that J.D. McDuffie gave us way back when we first got into airflow. He was an independent 'cup racer (imagine that today) He'd buy used ones from well funded teams, freshen/repair, and race them. This one just reached the point to were it wouldn't hold water. No markings on the head, so I don't know who did them, but he was good. It flows low 290's

[bigjoe1]

Someone brought up the name CHA. This made me laugh out loud. When I was at Edelbrock ( 1969 to 1983) They used to let a bunch of Pro Stock racers came out early for the winternationals every year and run and tune theiir engines on their dyno( NOT TODAY ) anyway, CHA did up a trick set of iron turbo castings and they put them on Paul Blevins 331 prostock engine. IT LOST 101 HP, and every body just about shit. It was SOO embarrising because Jim Mcfarland thought this guy was the best head porter in the world. I laughed my ass off.

JOE SHERMAN RACING ENGINES

[ProGSX]

I have a set that flow 296cfm. I have the whole engine, 330ci, done by a guy name Bill Jenkins. 2.055" intake 1.6 exhaust.

[Carnut1]

Bump for an old thread.

[racear2865]

Just like Adger, I built a 391 SBC with one of the first set Of these 292 "Turbo" heads that we did and had 2.05/1.6 valves. Was normally aspirated, then went with a 871 blower on methanol. Ended up in Popular Hot Rodding. As I remember they were never sold on a car , only across the counter. At a later rebuild, flowed heads at around 260+ on intake. Dont remember exhaust. Car is now some place in Florida and last time I heard, still has the 292's on it. New owner called me about 2 years ago on engine info. Unreal its still together.
reed

[mag2555]

My understanding of it is that the so called turbo head was based off of the 292 casting , but the turbo head had large differences , like the chamber if I recall right?

[cgarb]

I have a set of 292's I ported a few years back. I sort of copied a set of 492's Larry Ladd ported for my uncle back in the late 70's. I am going to pull them out of storage this winter and work on them some more with the help of a new machine shop I've been using and their flowbench.

[maxracesoftware]

good coincidence for an old Thread ,
last nite i was searching thru boxes of old Dyno Data
and found a ton of old Flow Sheets from 1980's to 1990's ,
on #292 Turbo Heads, #520 Power Pack Heads,various BBC and SBC old cast-iron Stocker and SuperStock,etc

most Flow Sheets have Data to .750' Lifts and some up to .850 Lifts
and most also have what various Intake Manifolds + Carbs Flowed while bolted to Head

i noticed all the PhotoBucket links on the #292 and #034 Bowties , are now dead

[cgarb]

Can a set of 292's get in the 280's without tubing the bolt holes and welding on the pushrod pinch area?

[maxracesoftware]

Can a set of 292's get in the 280's without tubing the bolt holes and welding on the pushrod pinch area?

i never did weld the pushrod areas on any #292 Turbo Heads i Ported ... but i did always maxout that area without breaking thru

here's Flow Data from Benoits C/ED 296cid Turbo 292 Heads
March 4, 1986
2.035" Int/1.600' Exh Valves
4.000" Bore Fixture
197.0 Int Port CCs no Headbolt Tubes , no epoxy anywhere, no welding,etc ( 198.66 CCs with 57.29 to 58.0 cc Chambers, 12.0 CC Total Deck )
.750 Lift = 281.5 CFM @ 28" inches and 228.9 CFM no Flow Pipe on Exh

296 cid SBC C/ED ran 8.160 at 165.13 MPH at 1490 Lbs , A1 Powerglide/Converter, 33" Slicks
i have 5.89:1 rear gear ratio wrote on Flow Sheet ..but might have been 5.86:1 ?? instead
i wrote the Weather of that 8.160 ET 165.13 MPH Run was 29.90 BP, 90.0 Def, 65.0 % RH according to Benoit

CompCams Solid Roller Specs :
283/292 durations @ 0.050
.680"/.640" Valve Lifts
108 Centers in at 102.2 IntCL
12.0 CC Domes Bill Miller
4.032" Bore x 2.900" Stroke = 296.22 cid
11.46:1 actual Comp Ratio ( hard to get a lot of CR in small engine w/292 Turbos )
5.690 C-C Alum Rods #010 Chevy 4-bolt Block

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
same engine as above.... but with MADCAP #292 Turbo Heads in Sept 3, 1985
ran best of 8.33 ET at 163.86 in much better Weather 296cid at 1490 lbs
MADCAP Flow numbers on my Bench
194.0 CC Intake Ports ( no welding, no epoxy, no headbolt tubes )
2.035/1.600 Valves
4.000 Bore Fixture
266.5 CFM int at .750 Lift
219.5 CFM exh at .750 Lift no flow pipe

************************************************************************************************

Rick Ray SS/CS NHRA
Jan 16, 1991
Ron's Porting Service #292 Turbo Heads
305 cid SBC
2.040/1.600 Valves
4.000" Bore Fixture
best Intake Port = 279.1 CFM @ 28" ( with Holley 300-25 Manifold Moroso 4 Hole on top of 1" open spacer + 750 CFM 4779 Carb = 262.2 CFM )
best Exh Port = 219.5 CFM @ 28" no flow pipe

same day ... cracked Lee Shepherd #292 turbo Heads
279.1 CFM at .750" Lift 4.000 Bore Fixture
205.7 CFM exh ports no flow pipe

i Ported #292 Turbos for Ricky Ray ... flow tested this same Day ... set NHRA SS/CS Record later on with these Heads
no welding, no epoxy, maxed out Pushrod Pinch, no headbolt tubes
285.8 CFM at 28" .750 Lift
223.6 CFM Exh no flow pipe

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

using a 2.055/1.600 Valve combination in #292 Turbo Heads
and no welding, no epoxy, no headbolt tubes,etc
on a 4.000" Bore Fixture , even on a conservative Flowbench, you should get near 280 CFMs
surely in the 280's CFM range on 4.060 to 4.125 Bore Fixture

[cgarb]

Alright...that's good news for me then. I'm sure it's not going to be a cake walk but I was thinking it was going to require way more work to get there, and a larger port. If I can get that with a less than 200 runner, I think I will be heading in the right direction. I bought a brand new set of BRC shaft rockers for these heads. It was new old stock I found that someone was selling out of a closed up machine shop in Canada. Still has the 1980's paperwork and instructions with them...lol. So my nostalgic engine build begins...lol. Any of those flow sheets say what size intake gasket they were cut to by chance?

[maxracesoftware]

Alright...that's good news for me then. I'm sure it's not going to be a cake walk but I was thinking it was going to require way more work to get there, and a larger port. If I can get that with a less than 200 runner, I think I will be heading in the right direction. I bought a brand new set of BRC shaft rockers for these heads. It was new old stock I found that someone was selling out of a closed up machine shop in Canada. Still has the 1980's paperwork and instructions with them...lol. So my nostalgic engine build begins...lol. Any of those flow sheets say what size intake gasket they were cut to by chance?

Mr Gasket #111 or #113 ??? pretty sure .. 111 is thin and 113 is twice as thick intake gasket

i created an exact aluminum full Head width template from Mr Gasket , so i could layout/scribe consistent Ports

also was angle-milling those Heads at least 0-.080 to 0.000- 0.125"setup even on ET Bracket versions
and 0-.180 to 0-.220 angle-mills all out
used Pioneer cast-iron tapered plugs to plug up steam hole trough areas near spark plug side

[cgarb]

Thank you for your information. I was thinking about an angle mill too. Not anything bad but I would like to get the chamber under 64cc which would get me a little over 13-1. You don't happen to have any photo's of these heads do you by chance?