“292” “Turbo Heads”, came out in the mid -70’s, and came from “Chevy Power”, before “Bow Tie”, was the thing, and only came semi-finished. Like y’all said, Bill Jenkins / Jenkins Competition, more specifically, Larry Lombardo, for Chevrolet connections he had, figured into the casting design. Another area, more meat was added, was around the spring pockets, as the architecture of the production head castings was the biggest obstacle to how far mods could be carried. These were the answer to days spent welding in a oven / furnace, with cast iron rod and a torch, to get to a point to begin the machine work and grinding. Thanks for the flashback Eric…
Thanks for sharing Eric. I had a customer bring in a set of these 292 heads, not a matched pair. Someone tried to pair up two good heads. Smokey Yunick was heavily involved and influenced these heads in the 1970's Anything Smokey was involved with, was great and notably worth talking about. Along with Crane doing these heads, they started with the earlier GM factory double hump performance heads. Joe Mondello also did these heads. Crane and Mondello had the 1 9/16 and 1 5/8 Round ports. These 292 heads made it to Indy. With also Bruce Crower using these on a 203 CI Turbo charged small block Chevy, 850 plus horsepower if I remember correctly. Other famous notable people used these heads, Bill Grumpy Jenkins, Lee Shepard and others. Thanks for sharing. 👍👍 Take care, Ed. Thanks for sharing.
I know David Vizard talks highly of you, sir. It's funny to think about you guys working together. You know what you want to say and sometimes David, no fault of his own I'm to understand, is more methodical. I love your energy! Makes me wanna go to the garage.
According to Grumpy's book, "The Chevrolet Racing Engine", published in 1976, the first experimental 292 castings were made in 1971. I got a set of Crane Fireball 292 heads in about 1980. I used them on a crate LT1 11 to 1compression short block in a 1977 Camaro Z28. They really worked!
I bought a set of the 292 heads bear in 1981 over the counter at the local chevy dealer had a friend that ported heads work his magic angle milled them 1.25 then ran a TRW piston small dome 0.60 350 ci dyno HP 548 these heads where the best at the time. had it in a front engine dragster it produced 8:50 ETS at 155 MPH BBC could not run with it. wish I still had them just bought a set of promax thanks to your testing thanks Eric
I bought a set of these 292 heads from Chev dealer in 1974. Used them on my 71 Camaro Z28. Still have the heads and the engine. Yes, they were the hot deal back in the day.
LOL, it's a kick seeing how you are amazed at what I used in the 70s and 80s. What can't be seen by these flow numbers, is the tried and true "seat of the pants" improvements when you actually run a set. These were the end all of heads before the aftermarket aluminum heads got going.
Have one in my basement. Stock Car class all Stock. Perfect weld repaired from broken intake valve. Man I wore myself outporting those. Carbides wouldn't last long so I would purchase boxes of stones from Bob Mullen of Mopar fame. Yes intakes would hit right at 305 @800 ? Would braze the floors of the exhaust to gain speed and make a very good backflow dam. I found the 287/292 engine gave the best results. Intake straight wall and building the floors was good over non filled. Best head for the day.
Awesome ! i owned a pair of these 292 back in the 80`s (not the fireball edition just the standard gm over the counter) found them used at the auto swapbmeet in long beach ca
Yep and there was Ron's porting service " Ron's Turbo heads too! Also Brandywine cylinder heads here in Chester county Pennsylvania both companies are still in business
Stick with the 2.02 and keep it unshrouded. This is a small bore gem.... almost in the unicorn category. Crane/fireball? Sweet piece of muscle car era history, and thank you for showing it..
Not gonna lie, its still super cool to see people taking the time to make good power with factory parts Not even counting superstock, its still possible.
Eric, thanks! Been holding on to a set of 292's since 1982 and have wondered how they compare to what's out there by there today. Also, own the book and the Chevy Power Manual from that time. Some good porting info in that manual. Helped me port a set of cast iron 63 Pontiac heads (no flow bench) and go 10.30's at 134mph in a 3400 lb GTO with a stock bore and stroke 455 and .615 lift flat tappet cam. Back in those days the only performance parts for a Pontiac were a Torquer Intake, cam and pistons, everything else you had to fabricate. Enjoy all of your videos, keep em coming. By the way, 100% understand about the time and determination it takes to port the last intake and exhaust as good as the first set. I had at least 40 hours in those Pontiac heads.
Hey Eric, Tim here, now THATS SUPER COOL stuff from the late 60's, and shows how SUPER snazzy they were back then......stable port, angled plugs twds exh......snazzy......no wonder Grumpy was ALL over these.....SUPER RARE!!!...and a GREAT Fri afternoon vid for me....just LOVED IT!!....TY SIR!!!...PEACE to you my brother!!
I had them on a 406 ported from brandywine at the time were killer. I was just a kid in the early 90s. my Camaro was about 3200 lbs and it ran 10.30 at 131. guys didn't believe me that I had steel heads. they were old at that point 2.05 1.625 titanium valves
Hey man, i thought my dads old drag car had these heads so today i popped the head and sure enough they are on a old circle track 406 engine he bought from a guy years ago. Its in a 38 plymouth coupe
Also need to add, someone did some very extensive porting on these heads, they had to. Bronze weld where they went through in places. It's some of the nicest porting I have ever saw. It was signed but I can't remember who did it. The engine makes over 600 hp at 6800 on pump gas and 10.8 compression and a nasty 104 lobe sep roller I did years ago for it.
I’ve seen a few of them, along with the 1.94” version. They were the same casting with smaller valves and straight plugs. We used a pair of them on our class’s project race car, a 66 Chevy II with a 283 punched out to 292 CI that we ran in the 20.90 bracket. We made it to the finals but broke out, running a losing 10.89 to a winning 10.94 in the final round. The biggest problem is that everybody claimed to have the small vale version of those heads. A lot of young guys were taken when they bought used parts. Crane also did a pair of heads for AMC in 1969. They were trying to see how much hp could be gotten out of the early AmC heads. They got 529 hp out of a 390. I’d love to see a pair of those!
Thanks for showing these Eric. Had a set of these on my 68 Z-28 with a large journal 327 with a big Crower solid cam. I always wondered why it ran so hard!
Man that is the most excited I ever heard you get over a set of cast iron heads. Nostalgia is awesome. I swear those looks like Sam's 292 Turbo Crane Fireball heads from over at his UA-cam channel The Reluctant Gearhead. If not he has a set just like them and did a video on them a short while back. He is a cursing SOB so if you don't care for that you have been warned. Me and him would get along well. I cuss like a sailor.
Old guy here. The 292 turbo head was a off road over the counter head, that was never on a production engine. They were 1974 ish and later then replaced with the cast iron bowtie casting. The 292 turbo was like bolting on nos kit compared to the double hump heads. We sold them like crazy in the 70s . I remember them costing 160.00 each. Thanks for posting
They were referred as 375horse heads. I bought a "done up " set that ended up having cracks everywhere. Love e the excitement in your voice. A golden age...
The 340292 heads came out in the early 1970's. When they first came out, a friend at Chevy got me a set to run on my dirt track car. It took very little work to make them really perform. The roof of the intake ports was raised higher than some earlier Chevy performance heads.
Had a pair, stock, no port work, ran them on a home made 302, with a 140 service cam, in a 69 Camaro. 9 years of street driving, drag racing and street racing finally wore a hole in a spring seat and watered down the insides. Ended up selling them to Cortney Hines ( Flash Cadillac). He fixed them, never saw them again.
Great video a friend of mine back in circa 89 had a set of fireballs for a sbf . Chassis car 65 mustang with a nash 5 speed roller engine used the old angle carb torker with a adapter and a dominator ran a 9:98
All NHRA modified production racers including me had used these heads from early 1970's until about 1983..they were angle plugs..The Crane was a junk commercial retail head.The exhaust poerts were round and polished.I had several versions ported by Bob Joehnck He was always improving them..we finally got them up to around 270 cfm in early eighties..if you want to know the history call Larry Meaux he ported my record holding 292 castings.I set records with Larrys 292..they were better than the 034 gm casting that was the next version.Jon Bowman has many sets of these..
My buddy Bob also had a set on a NHRA F Modified Production Camaro (?) that set a NHRA record in the mid 70's on the west coast. They were more furnace brazed brass than cast iron 😁
We had a set of those on our G/Gas 67 firebird. We ran clear valve covers to check for broken valve springs between rounds. Also ran Crane roller cam and valve train. Made power to 9200 on our 302 with Brooks rods. Also ran them on our dirt late model.
Eric, the pinnacle of 292s were done by Manning and Brady mid to late 70s. The exhaust floors and roofs were brazed up and a thick Aluminium plate bolted on. My dad ran a blown small block in Pro Comp back in 77-79. I saw an old flow sheet for a set that said 307 or 308cfm They were angle millled a ton and I believe they had 2.05 valves. They could be made to flow upwards of 290 cfm back in the day. Usually the casting is ridiculously thin below the outer head bolts.
292s are Z28 302, and LT1 350. I had a pair of these ex F5000 in the 90s which ended up on a Classic Supermodified. My machine shop said stick with my then Dart2 heads a they would make more power. Crane Fireball heads were a off the shelf ported head for budget racers. I saw them on several Sprintcar engines around 1990. I know of them being used in drag racing as well. My Crane agent had them in stock for several years. At one stage Crane sold a heads cam intake set. The books I have from the 80s used to recomend a stock LT1 as a base for a racing engine.For oval racing. Yes these were sold over the counter but were a production head. IF you do not drill too deep you can fit screw in studs without striking water on Fuellies. I have had several sets of those heads done,, in the 80s! 292s used screw in studs for the Z28-Lt1 heads. Street car they were 3/8 studs. A lot of this stuff was homolgated for TransAm and drag racing Late 70s had Brownfield [Now AFR] alloy heads for Chevs. Some 5000s used them though some had a porosity issue. They made more power and ofcourse were lighter than 292s When I remember this stuff I realise I am old! Most over 40 y/o info. And for us in Oz these were all quite rare. Angle plug heads were used on other later version fuelie heads. Looking at those Crane heads they were hogged out too far on the short turn of the exhausts. The 5000 ones I had were scarcely touched there. Read all the old books and they will tell you that. Plus I deal/dealt with several race engine shops in period. Sixties? Yes 1969
Totally 100% wrong. Every 302 had 186 casting. The 292 castings were never in a production vehicle, ever. They were sold over the counter and were sold bare. Couldn't even buy them assembled at all. They were designed for an experimental turbo small block in Indy cars. It didn't go anywhere so they sold them at GM dealerships and that's the only place you could get them. They were absolutely never ever ever assembled on any small block chevy production engine. And if you were a serious drag racer in the late 70's to early 80's, these are what you had on your small.block
Yep ! A buddy of mine was using some killer stuff for his jr fuel 302 nitro dragster 7.68 at 196 held the record for many years! Doug Timmons Chico Ca 👍
Wow Eric, I just stumbled across this video about the 292 heads I was just as excited as you were, not too many people know or remember those castings they were the heads to get back then. I have two pairs of them one set I personally ported, they've been hogged out and they use the U-trim felpro 1/8 thick 1207 gasket, for severe angle milled heads I have 5/16 stem 2.05 x 1.60 also the spring pockets were opened up for the 1.625 triple valve springs and titanium 10° locks and retainers they have very large ports because I widened mine at the pushrod pinch and I have BRC offset cups on the rocker arms on the intake side I also had to machine the guides to fit those metal clad reduced diameter seals to clear the inner triple spring all of this is going on a 300 cube small block small journal chevy with a pro ram tunnel ram with two 660 center squirt carbs into my tube chassis Vega with a 6:14.1 gear out back and a 8, 000 stall converter and power glide trans I also have a rare pair of Brandywine cylinder heads ported by that computer and they are 71' castings right around the time Jenkins popularized them but not too many people couldn't get them these heads were on a F modified production Camaro with a 277 cube small block chevy with a 4 spd and 6:50.1 gears in a dana rear I like to have a head flowed to see what they flowed from that shop, if you ran division 1 NHRA in modified production Brandywine cylinder heads were the go to people for those heads
Remember Joe Sherman? In the 80s and 90s He actually preferred porting the 292 head over the newer cast iron bowtie or even Dart or World Products heads. I remember a few Hot Rod or Car Craft articles on his 650 hp 406s on these old tech 292s. I was planning on getting my Cast Iron Sportsman II heads ported by him but just never had the extra money to make it happen.
My buddy struggled with the "Bow Tie" head too! The flat short side floor of the 292's was changed to a high hump in the Bow Tie's and he had to rethink all that he had learned from porting Turbo heads before he made the Bow Tie outflow his Turbo heads.
I bought a blown up circle track 350 (4 bolt) motor from a circle track race car in 1980 that had those heads, and I rebuilt the motor for the street and put it in my 1974 Firebird Formula 400, 4 speed car. It was a fast car. I knew they were special back then. I always wondered how they compared to modern heads. It makes me proud that they were as good as they were after watching this.
Eric, those were available '73 to '80, so those would be 1977. They were very expensive to buy, and my local dealer would not even mess with them even with PIR Raceway nearby.
I ran a set of these on a 400 SBC many years ago. I treated them to a 5 angle valve job and some mild blending under the valve seats. I ran a 236/242 solid roller and a Performer RPM intake. At the time, it became my best SBC engine that I had built. Great power from 2000 rpm all the way up to 6000. They are great heads for sure.
I'm a mopar guy. These heads were the voodoo and magic dust back in the day. The chevy guys would drool about these. It's good to see the unicorn finally.
The W2 head was SO SUPERIOR to the GM stuff it isn't even funny! I look @ some of Chad Spier's latest postings on heads hes doing and the intake entry looks like an old W2 design....Much respect for Bob Glidden who went from his Ford to a Mopar and won yet another NHRA Pro Stock Championship in 1979 with an Engine combination he'd never used before in his career. I'm pretty sure Bob Mullins the Cylinder Head guy in So-Cal helped a lot with the W2 program.
Great video!! Always Loved/heard about those......I,m 51 now,but even back then they were HARD to find and all the older guys had them and oh yes! That was my first book also I got back in late 80,s along with the Big Block version of it also and I still have both! can,t wait too see how much more you make them heads flow man.
I have worked with those 292 casting since they first hit in '71-'72, used to get around 290 cfm at .700" for the modified drag boys. I picked up a set of Brandy Wine ported heads a while back just to see what they did to them and how the flow path was developed. These heads flow 306 cfm at .700" on my SF1020 bench. Didn't realize that Woodward was that far ahead of the game! Now will build a 331 inch old style Pro Stock engine just for grins!! Cool video and an excited Eric!! Its catching!! Dennis Baccus - former Sallee Chevrolet engine guy.
It’s crazy because I had a set of those on a 406. That little small block hurt some feelings in a pick up. Not fast compared to today but thanks for flowing it, brings back good memories!
I had a set that flowed 284 cfm ported by Slovers circa 1980's. 292's are slightly raised so my engine builder welded up my factory chevy z28 intake runner and blended it and finished it off with bead blasting, couldn't tell it was modified. Unfortunately one head cracked. It was around 1996 at the time amd and I replaced it with AFR 210 race ready that flowed 296 cfm and had 76 cc chambers, that was how they came only back then, you would have to have it milled if you wanted smaller chamber. My 292's had 2.05 int while the AFR had 2.08. My 292 accelerated way better, the AFR made great power at the upper end. I missed that 292, it was a great street combo with my 355 solid roller.
Had a set on a 13-1 355 with extensive porting by brandy wine in west Hester Pa. Had a 625/670 crane roller made 565 hp back in the early 90’s. Miss that motor
Had a set on a 406 cubic inch deal in a 64 chevelle about 10 years ago. Was highly impressed with how that car ran. Wish i could have that engine back. Hell the car too
Surprising to see you with a set of those heads, in 1973-1974 I remember staring at a pair Crane Fireball heads at the local speed shop in my area. Dreaming of how they would work in my 61 Impala with 11.1 327 4 speed, they were a bit spendy for my budget as a kid.
Many years ago i set of heads off a g gas car ..i think it was a Monza ..i remember they had a set of hemi valve springs which i had changed to less spring pressure..They were angle plug heads . Angle milled , 2.05 i think titanium intake valves , i dont remember the exhaust size . The intake and exhaust ports were opened up and had a lot of epoxy..i ran a .600 iskey roller cam with these heads in my 302 cubic inch motor in my 68 Camaro . The motor pulled hard to the rev limiter of 7800 ... This experience showed me the value of cylinder heads ..
Hello Eric, I grew up reading that book. My father had it. I still have it and run though it from time to time when I'm bench racing a new engine idea. Great day to ya
I had a set that was casted 291x. No other numbers but they were basically 461s. I grew up outside of Knoxville TN. HVH originally ported em. They regularly out run the early world products and normal double humps
It’s crazy how we geek out over stuff. I go to a car show and was geeking out over an old car that had a ford mustang 5.0 swap done that looked like it was from the eighties. I told my kiddo, that was the hot ticket back in the day, before ls’.
The first production of the 292 was 71, then the improved version came out in 73. It got the "turbo" nickname because of a rumor that it was developed for a Smokey Yunuck 209 inch Indy engine.
Back in the day we would roll those over and redrill the valve guides changing angle 1 degree and put the 2.055 valve in it, then when you angle mill the .125 you get a little more angle change. Just had to be careful on those heads with valve float they would crack under intake seat. But awesome cylinder even for today! Lee Shepard worked magic with those heads!!
"California Bill" Fisher! I have his straight 6 Chevy book from 1954. I agree that these heads are cool. Also, if they were manufactured in 1968, then as of 2024, they are 56 years old.
Hey Eric. Saw this video on these heads. I bought a set of the heads on this episode 52 years ago. And guess what. Still have them. Thinking of sending them out to you to have them checked. Get back to you and I sure learned a lot from your videos. Great work. James
I have a set of 492's factory heads that were ported and sold by Crane as Fireball heads from what i have seen online. My exhausts are completely rounded out. I have the same book too, after all these years!
I've only had one set of 492 angle plugs in my hands as a machinist, that was decades ago. I'm sure those were also over the counter, presumably predating the 292's.
Cast and sold for about 6 months in 1971-72 before the 292 heads superseeded those 492's Grumpy said in his book the very last 492 angle plugs and first few weeks of 292's had some "Special Mo-Jo" in their port designs that outflowed later castings.
@ Eric Weingartner, Great video and thanks for sharing. I have a set passed down from my father. Max race ported (broken through the valve cover bolt hole) and braze filled and raised D-ported exhaust ports. Also fitted with 5/16” valve guides. On the ends of the castings is stamped Manning-Brady Racing Heads and well as Hank the Crank inscribed with an electric engraver. Could never find any info on Manning-Brady but the port work is supreme.
Wow, I’ve never heard of these heads before. Way better flow than I was expecting. Those things would have been considered killers all the way up into the early-mid 90’s. Still crazy cool.
I had a set of these on my SBC in a ‘69 Camaro that I had in high school- angled plug and all. It was as good it gets back in the mid 80s for a street car.
Still have a set of very slightly used, unported 292 turbo heads for an engine build back in the 1980's. I also have a copy of GM blueprints for them with added in suggested porting modifications. I ended up buying a set of new Brownfield/AFR heads that I used rather than the turbos.
Oh shit they do exist 😮😮😮😮, first time ever seeing these. Have read about them and I've been wrenching for almost thirty years and this is the first time actually seeing them. So cool brother thank you for the video 😊
I had a 292 in my shop about 6 month ago. It was angle milled to about 53 cc chamber. Flow was .2 130, .3 179, .4 217, .5 240, .6 244, .7 244. I have idea who ported it, and it did not say crane fireball on it. The owner said they worked great on his dirt track car.
I heard that Bill Jenkins ran stock Chevy heads but I didn't know which heads until now. I have all original '68 El Camino that has the L79 327" and Muncie M21 4 speed. The heads have 2.02 intakes with the combustion chambers relieved around them. I've never seen another double hump heads with the combustion chambers like mine except for a set I bought new from my local Chevy dealer in 1964.
Jenkins made 750+HP with those heads on his 331 cu/in ProStock motor around 1973-74....With some brazing done on them....My friend made 600+HP with 292's on a 287 or 292 cu/in Comp Eliminator motor in the late 1970's....set the NHRA National Record with them....Had a 80lb flywheel and a Dana 60 in the 68 Camaro and a ring&pinion only lasted around 16 runs behind that killer combination. Doug Nash 5 speed transmission.
I Have several books from that era, this one,Smokeys, Grumpys, Davids, etc, But I have learned more in a very short time on U Tube that i ever could reading books, But because i read those i can counter act the BS on UTube also !
Very nice video, this brings back lots of memories These heads were the Holy Grail. Unfortunately these were prone to cracks under harsh conditions. They better suited running on alcohol. W/O valve seats, 2.05 valves could be achieved. The 292 were a little heavier than the 60’s camel hump heads (461). Brownfield might had copied or modified the 292 design into their alum heads; now AFR? The 292 are still respectable heads.
Ken Sperling ( AFR) did take over the old Warren brownfield operation but the heads introduced under the new brand AFR were a huge difference over warrens. I worked for Ken back in the day and do remember the old Brownfields… you may be right….brownfields were very similar to the 292 as I remember. The 220 AFR head will always be a historic milestone in the 23 degree Chevy head world imo.
The Bow tie heads that came after cracked just the same. We ran a set of them cracked for almost 10 years before one hit day in Fontana our 7.03 slowed to a 7.11 with a little puff of smoke at shutoff. The front spark plug wouldn’t come out and ol Bernie Mathers last set of heads was finally done. Took a set of RHS 230s to replace them without going to a full custom ported head, just did the bowls, chambers and milled them.
@@peterchristlieb Bernie was a friend of mine and what a character he was……I smoked cigarettes back in those days and one day we were talking and he said…..” you know…you would look a lot more intelligent without that stick of chalk handprint out your mouth” hahaha….I’ve never forgot that…of course this was after he quit smoking
@@thereadinesschannel7610 .....Both Brownfield and Sperling were consulted on the 292 head design not just Smokey....The early Brownfield/AFR heads were simular in port design to the 292 head with a flat short side port....Later the Bow Ties had a "High Hump" short side entry that made my buddy have to re-think all that he thought that he knew about SBC port flow to get decent numbers from the Bow Tie style heads. Sperling went "in-house" to GM to do cylinder head design for them.
You dont see them because of people like a friend of mine who has a new pair of these in the GM boxes sitting in his attic since before I saw them in 1984😂 Always said he was going to use them on a street car some day. He’s 67 now.
Eric, I hope you get your hands on Trick Flow 200cc camel hump heads and get a chance to port them to it's full potential. At the time I had my numbers matching engine being built Trick Flow only had the 175 heads at the time. I didn't like the chamber and the claimed 254 wasn't enough for me to invest in. I'm sure a few more cfm can be squeeded out of them. My engine builder got my 291's to flow 260 @ .600 and advised that he didn't want to go further because of reliability . Sorry for being long winded but hopefully you get a chance to port a set of Trick Flow 200 camel humps and if you can get 290's - 300, that'll be my next set up. Keep up the good work Eric!
Reluctantgearhead has a video with a pair of those. I have a nice pair that are unported but have been angle milled and cut for 2.055" intake valves. My Dad bought them new in the early 80's and ran them about 18 nights on a dirt late model engine. They still have the blue stripe.
A good friend of mine his dad worked for Harvey crane when they were still in Hallandale Beach Florida these 292 heads single hump where the heads they used for the fireball head from crane
As cast the 292 Bowl area Was really restrictive you had to do a lot of porting If I'm not mistaken the reason these were called turbo heads is because GM At the time Had a program where they were gonna build some turbo motors for Indy And they scrap the program But kept the castings For Individual race use
NOPE! The as cast bowl area of a 292 is HUGE! They might have been too big for the 2.02 valves thats why many went to the 2.05 and 2.08 valves in their programs....I have a set with "Circle Track" porting and the bowl areas are untouched in some areas....HUGE! in their "as cast" condition.
The first over the counter head was a 370 casting in about 1968 or 1969. These 370 castings were also available in Canada on 327's and 350s. They are generally thought to be only available in 1.94/1.50 valves but I have seen them many times with 2.02/1.60 valves with screw in studs. I have a set in the shop right now but these are over 50 years old so who knows how they were originally sold. They are a double hump head and were more of a replacement head than a performance head. The 492's which were came out slightly later were really just 186's with some improvements. They sold these forever in many different configurations, big valve, small valve, angle plug, straight plug, etc. The 292's you have there came out in the early 70s's (I have seen 1973 dated advertisements for those heads) and they made them until the bowties came out around 1981. They were the first widely available over the counter factory race head and were all big valve, screw in studs, and angle plugs. Crane also did 492 casting Fireball heads. I see lots of ads for those Crane Fireball heads in my old magazine collection going way back into the 60's, and in one they say they started selling them in 1962. They used to port them with a perfectly round exhaust port that looks odd, but they sold thousands on them. Apparently they were well priced and worked.
NAH! 292's never left the design board for casting in the foundary until about 1971-72....Right before them were some 492 Angle Plug heads and Jenkins says the last of those were pretty "trick" for head porters....made more air flow than the 292 heads.
In 1972 I purchased a set of those heads at a Chevrolet dealer they are not matched to gaskets no port work has ever been done they are completely out of the box. I still have them on a running engine a 327.
“292” “Turbo Heads”, came out in the mid -70’s, and came from “Chevy Power”, before “Bow Tie”, was the thing, and only came semi-finished.
Like y’all said, Bill Jenkins / Jenkins Competition, more specifically, Larry Lombardo, for Chevrolet connections he had, figured into the casting design.
Another area, more meat was added, was around the spring pockets, as the architecture of the production head castings was the biggest obstacle to how far mods could be carried.
These were the answer to days spent welding in a oven / furnace, with cast iron rod and a torch, to get to a point to begin the machine work and grinding.
Thanks for the flashback Eric…
Thanks for sharing Eric.
I had a customer bring in a set of these 292 heads, not a matched pair.
Someone tried to pair up two good heads.
Smokey Yunick was heavily involved and influenced these heads in the 1970's
Anything Smokey was involved with, was great and notably worth talking about.
Along with Crane doing these heads, they started with the earlier GM factory double hump performance heads.
Joe Mondello also did these heads.
Crane and Mondello had the 1 9/16 and 1 5/8 Round ports.
These 292 heads made it to Indy.
With also Bruce Crower using these on a 203 CI Turbo charged small block Chevy, 850 plus horsepower if I remember correctly.
Other famous notable people used these heads, Bill Grumpy Jenkins, Lee Shepard and others.
Thanks for sharing. 👍👍
Take care, Ed.
Thanks for sharing.
I know David Vizard talks highly of you, sir. It's funny to think about you guys working together. You know what you want to say and sometimes David, no fault of his own I'm to understand, is more methodical. I love your energy! Makes me wanna go to the garage.
Sweet video! I love flow tests on old factory performance heads. This information has been a secret for decades.
According to Grumpy's book, "The Chevrolet Racing Engine", published in 1976, the first experimental 292 castings were made in 1971. I got a set of Crane Fireball 292 heads in about 1980. I used them on a crate LT1 11 to 1compression short block in a 1977 Camaro Z28. They really worked!
I bought a set of the 292 heads bear in 1981 over the counter at the local chevy dealer had a friend that ported heads work his magic angle milled them 1.25 then ran a TRW piston small dome 0.60 350 ci dyno HP 548 these heads where the best at the time. had it in a front engine dragster it produced 8:50 ETS at 155 MPH BBC could not run with it. wish I still had them just bought a set of promax thanks to your testing thanks Eric
Old school race parts pretty neat! Them old boys knew what they were doing
I bought a set of these 292 heads from Chev dealer in 1974. Used them on my 71 Camaro Z28. Still have the heads and the engine. Yes, they were the hot deal back in the day.
Let Eric run them on his mule (when it's fixed)
LOL, it's a kick seeing how you are amazed at what I used in the 70s and 80s. What can't be seen by these flow numbers, is the tried and true "seat of the pants" improvements when you actually run a set. These were the end all of heads before the aftermarket aluminum heads got going.
I thought the set right after this were supposed to be a little better. I believe they were called Bowtiw II.
Love to hear the excitement in your voice. Thanks for sharing.
Those are so damn cool !!! Your excitement came thru my phone and had me smiling ear to ear !!
Have one in my basement. Stock Car class all Stock.
Perfect weld repaired from broken intake valve.
Man I wore myself outporting those. Carbides wouldn't last long so I would purchase boxes of stones from Bob Mullen of Mopar fame.
Yes intakes would hit right at 305 @800 ? Would braze the floors of the exhaust to gain speed and make a very good backflow dam. I found the 287/292 engine gave the best results. Intake straight wall and building the floors was good over non filled.
Best head for the day.
Awesome ! i owned a pair of these 292 back in the 80`s (not the fireball edition just the standard gm over the counter) found them used at the auto swapbmeet in long beach ca
I pulled a set off of a 70 Monte Carlo 350
Jenkins, Shepherd, Bell, Meaux were all good with these.
Yep and there was Ron's porting service " Ron's Turbo heads too! Also Brandywine cylinder heads here in Chester county Pennsylvania both companies are still in business
Stick with the 2.02 and keep it unshrouded. This is a small bore gem.... almost in the unicorn category. Crane/fireball? Sweet piece of muscle car era history, and thank you for showing it..
Not gonna lie, its still super cool to see people taking the time to make good power with factory parts Not even counting superstock, its still possible.
Eric, thanks! Been holding on to a set of 292's since 1982 and have wondered how they compare to what's out there by there today. Also, own the book and the Chevy Power Manual from that time. Some good porting info in that manual. Helped me port a set of cast iron 63 Pontiac heads (no flow bench) and go 10.30's at 134mph in a 3400 lb GTO with a stock bore and stroke 455 and .615 lift flat tappet cam. Back in those days the only performance parts for a Pontiac were a Torquer Intake, cam and pistons, everything else you had to fabricate. Enjoy all of your videos, keep em coming. By the way, 100% understand about the time and determination it takes to port the last intake and exhaust as good as the first set. I had at least 40 hours in those Pontiac heads.
Hey Eric,
Tim here, now THATS SUPER COOL stuff from the late 60's, and shows how SUPER snazzy they were back then......stable port, angled plugs twds exh......snazzy......no wonder Grumpy was ALL over these.....SUPER RARE!!!...and a GREAT Fri afternoon vid for me....just LOVED IT!!....TY SIR!!!...PEACE to you my brother!!
I LOVE YOUR ENTHUSIASM!
My geared mentor had a set of these on a car back in the mid-late 1970s when I was a teenager.
I had them on a 406 ported from brandywine at the time were killer. I was just a kid in the early 90s. my Camaro was about 3200 lbs and it ran 10.30 at 131. guys didn't believe me that I had steel heads. they were old at that point 2.05 1.625 titanium valves
Hey man, i thought my dads old drag car had these heads so today i popped the head and sure enough they are on a old circle track 406 engine he bought from a guy years ago. Its in a 38 plymouth coupe
Also need to add, someone did some very extensive porting on these heads, they had to. Bronze weld where they went through in places. It's some of the nicest porting I have ever saw. It was signed but I can't remember who did it. The engine makes over 600 hp at 6800 on pump gas and 10.8 compression and a nasty 104 lobe sep roller I did years ago for it.
I’ve seen a few of them, along with the 1.94” version. They were the same casting with smaller valves and straight plugs. We used a pair of them on our class’s project race car, a 66 Chevy II with a 283 punched out to 292 CI that we ran in the 20.90 bracket. We made it to the finals but broke out, running a losing 10.89 to a winning 10.94 in the final round. The biggest problem is that everybody claimed to have the small vale version of those heads. A lot of young guys were taken when they bought used parts.
Crane also did a pair of heads for AMC in 1969. They were trying to see how much hp could be gotten out of the early AmC heads. They got 529 hp out of a 390. I’d love to see a pair of those!
Thanks for showing these Eric. Had a set of these on my 68 Z-28 with a large journal 327 with a big Crower solid cam. I always wondered why it ran so hard!
Have that book well-used, well-worn. Thanks as always for all your awesome comparisons, Eric!!!
Man that is the most excited I ever heard you get over a set of cast iron heads. Nostalgia is awesome. I swear those looks like Sam's 292 Turbo Crane Fireball heads from over at his UA-cam channel The Reluctant Gearhead. If not he has a set just like them and did a video on them a short while back. He is a cursing SOB so if you don't care for that you have been warned. Me and him would get along well. I cuss like a sailor.
Old guy here. The 292 turbo head was a off road over the counter head, that was never on a production engine. They were 1974 ish and later then replaced with the cast iron bowtie casting.
The 292 turbo was like bolting on nos kit compared to the double hump heads.
We sold them like crazy in the 70s . I remember them costing 160.00 each.
Thanks for posting
They were referred as 375horse heads. I bought a "done up " set that ended up having cracks everywhere. Love e the excitement in your voice. A golden age...
The 340292 heads came out in the early 1970's. When they first came out, a friend at Chevy got me a set to run on my dirt track car. It took very little work to make them really perform. The roof of the intake ports was raised higher than some earlier Chevy performance heads.
Awesome stuff Eric, I’ve always wondered what those heads we’re capable of🤘
Very cool to see those heads. And yes that was also the first small block hot rod book I ever got as well.
Had a pair, stock, no port work, ran them on a home made 302, with a 140 service cam, in a 69 Camaro. 9 years of street driving, drag racing and street racing finally wore a hole in a spring seat and watered down the insides. Ended up selling them to Cortney Hines ( Flash Cadillac). He fixed them, never saw them again.
Yeah!!. Those first angle plugs did that... Hence the reason for Turbo's of '76 to '82.. Then Bowties.
I'm glad to see some iron head content. There are still a lot of us that run iron heads (yes I know they are heavy and outdated).
Great video a friend of mine back in circa 89 had a set of fireballs for a sbf . Chassis car 65 mustang with a nash 5 speed roller engine used the old angle carb torker with a adapter and a dominator ran a 9:98
All NHRA modified production racers including me had used these heads from early 1970's until about 1983..they were angle plugs..The Crane was a junk commercial retail head.The exhaust poerts were round and polished.I had several versions ported by Bob Joehnck
He was always improving them..we finally got them up to around 270 cfm in early eighties..if you want to know the history call Larry Meaux he ported my record holding 292 castings.I set records with Larrys 292..they were better than the 034 gm casting that was the next version.Jon Bowman has many sets of these..
My buddy Bob also had a set on a NHRA F Modified Production Camaro (?) that set a NHRA record in the mid 70's on the west coast. They were more furnace brazed brass than cast iron 😁
That is awesome brother!!! I really like those heads. Great information sir. Thank you.
We had a set of those on our G/Gas 67 firebird. We ran clear valve covers to check for broken valve springs between rounds.
Also ran Crane roller cam and valve train.
Made power to 9200 on our 302 with Brooks rods.
Also ran them on our dirt late model.
Eric, the pinnacle of 292s were done by Manning and Brady mid to late 70s. The exhaust floors and roofs were brazed up and a thick Aluminium plate bolted on.
My dad ran a blown small block in Pro Comp back in 77-79. I saw an old flow sheet for a set that said 307 or 308cfm They were angle millled a ton and I believe they had 2.05 valves. They could be made to flow upwards of 290 cfm back in the day. Usually the casting is ridiculously thin below the outer head bolts.
292s are Z28 302, and LT1 350. I had a pair of these ex F5000 in the 90s which ended up on a Classic Supermodified. My machine shop said stick with my then Dart2 heads a they would make more power.
Crane Fireball heads were a off the shelf ported head for budget racers. I saw them on several Sprintcar engines around 1990. I know of them being used in drag racing as well. My Crane agent had them in stock for several years. At one stage Crane sold a heads cam intake set.
The books I have from the 80s used to recomend a stock LT1 as a base for a racing engine.For oval racing.
Yes these were sold over the counter but were a production head.
IF you do not drill too deep you can fit screw in studs without striking water on Fuellies. I have had several sets of those heads done,, in the 80s! 292s used screw in studs for the Z28-Lt1 heads. Street car they were 3/8 studs. A lot of this stuff was homolgated for TransAm and drag racing
Late 70s had Brownfield [Now AFR] alloy heads for Chevs. Some 5000s used them though some had a porosity issue. They made more power and ofcourse were lighter than 292s
When I remember this stuff I realise I am old! Most over 40 y/o info.
And for us in Oz these were all quite rare.
Angle plug heads were used on other later version fuelie heads.
Looking at those Crane heads they were hogged out too far on the short turn of the exhausts. The 5000 ones I had were scarcely touched there. Read all the old books and they will tell you that. Plus I deal/dealt with several race engine shops in period.
Sixties? Yes 1969
My LT1's had 186 castings.
Totally 100% wrong. Every 302 had 186 casting. The 292 castings were never in a production vehicle, ever. They were sold over the counter and were sold bare. Couldn't even buy them assembled at all. They were designed for an experimental turbo small block in Indy cars. It didn't go anywhere so they sold them at GM dealerships and that's the only place you could get them. They were absolutely never ever ever assembled on any small block chevy production engine. And if you were a serious drag racer in the late 70's to early 80's, these are what you had on your small.block
Yep ! A buddy of mine was using some killer stuff for his jr fuel 302 nitro dragster 7.68 at 196 held the record for many years! Doug Timmons Chico Ca 👍
Wow Eric, I just stumbled across this video about the 292 heads I was just as excited as you were, not too many people know or remember those castings they were the heads to get back then. I have two pairs of them one set I personally ported, they've been hogged out and they use the U-trim felpro 1/8 thick 1207 gasket, for severe angle milled heads I have 5/16 stem 2.05 x 1.60 also the spring pockets were opened up for the 1.625 triple valve springs and titanium 10° locks and retainers they have very large ports because I widened mine at the pushrod pinch and I have BRC offset cups on the rocker arms on the intake side I also had to machine the guides to fit those metal clad reduced diameter seals to clear the inner triple spring all of this is going on a 300 cube small block small journal chevy with a pro ram tunnel ram with two 660 center squirt carbs into my tube chassis Vega with a 6:14.1 gear out back and a 8, 000 stall converter and power glide trans I also have a rare pair of Brandywine cylinder heads ported by that computer and they are 71' castings right around the time Jenkins popularized them but not too many people couldn't get them these heads were on a F modified production Camaro with a 277 cube small block chevy with a 4 spd and 6:50.1 gears in a dana rear I like to have a head flowed to see what they flowed from that shop, if you ran division 1 NHRA in modified production Brandywine cylinder heads were the go to people for those heads
Remember Joe Sherman? In the 80s and 90s He actually preferred porting the 292 head over the newer cast iron bowtie or even Dart or World Products heads. I remember a few Hot Rod or Car Craft articles on his 650 hp 406s on these old tech 292s. I was planning on getting my Cast Iron Sportsman II heads ported by him but just never had the extra money to make it happen.
My buddy struggled with the "Bow Tie" head too! The flat short side floor of the 292's was changed to a high hump in the Bow Tie's and he had to rethink all that he had learned from porting Turbo heads before he made the Bow Tie outflow his Turbo heads.
I bought a blown up circle track 350 (4 bolt) motor from a circle track race car in 1980 that had those heads, and I rebuilt the motor for the street and put it in my 1974 Firebird Formula 400, 4 speed car. It was a fast car. I knew they were special back then. I always wondered how they compared to modern heads. It makes me proud that they were as good as they were after watching this.
You know something. Thank You. I heard of these heads back in the day. But never saw any. Thanks!!
Eric, those were available '73 to '80, so those would be 1977. They were very expensive to buy, and my local dealer would not even mess with them even with PIR Raceway nearby.
I ran a set of these on a 400 SBC many years ago. I treated them to a 5 angle valve job and some mild blending under the valve seats. I ran a 236/242 solid roller and a Performer RPM intake. At the time, it became my best SBC engine that I had built. Great power from 2000 rpm all the way up to 6000. They are great heads for sure.
Crane fire heads, Crower beast cam and Edelbrock tarantula manifold. Circa 1974 my old man"s combo. Screamed.
That intake was a VERY good one.
I'm a mopar guy. These heads were the voodoo and magic dust back in the day. The chevy guys would drool about these. It's good to see the unicorn finally.
The W2 head was SO SUPERIOR to the GM stuff it isn't even funny! I look @ some of Chad Spier's latest postings on heads hes doing and the intake entry looks like an old W2 design....Much respect for Bob Glidden who went from his Ford to a Mopar and won yet another NHRA Pro Stock Championship in 1979 with an Engine combination he'd never used before in his career. I'm pretty sure Bob Mullins the Cylinder Head guy in So-Cal helped a lot with the W2 program.
Great video!! Always Loved/heard about those......I,m 51 now,but even back then they were HARD to find and all the older guys had them and oh yes! That was my first book also I got back in late 80,s along with the Big Block version of it also and I still have both! can,t wait too see how much more you make them heads flow man.
Great video Eric.
I have worked with those 292 casting since they first hit in '71-'72, used to get around 290 cfm at .700" for the modified drag boys. I picked up a set of Brandy Wine ported heads a while back just to see what they did to them and how the flow path was developed. These heads flow 306 cfm at .700" on my SF1020 bench. Didn't realize that Woodward was that far ahead of the game! Now will build a 331 inch old style Pro Stock engine just for grins!! Cool video and an excited Eric!! Its catching!! Dennis Baccus - former Sallee Chevrolet engine guy.
It’s crazy because I had a set of those on a 406. That little small block hurt some feelings in a pick up. Not fast compared to today but thanks for flowing it, brings back good memories!
I had a set that flowed 284 cfm ported by Slovers circa 1980's. 292's are slightly raised so my engine builder welded up my factory chevy z28 intake runner and blended it and finished it off with bead blasting, couldn't tell it was modified. Unfortunately one head cracked. It was around 1996 at the time amd and I replaced it with AFR 210 race ready that flowed 296 cfm and had 76 cc chambers, that was how they came only back then, you would have to have it milled if you wanted smaller chamber. My 292's had 2.05 int while the AFR had 2.08. My 292 accelerated way better, the AFR made great power at the upper end. I missed that 292, it was a great street combo with my 355 solid roller.
My Dad had that book bought it in 1988
I've got a set of then off my 72 nova. They are some badass heads. They work very well with a flat top pistons and a solid flat tappet cam
Eric, I made my 186 heads angle plug heads... 69 Z28 heads, 2.02" & 1.6"...
Had a set on a 13-1 355 with extensive porting by brandy wine in west Hester Pa. Had a 625/670 crane roller made 565 hp back in the early 90’s. Miss that motor
Made 565 at wheel or flywheel?
@@omarmuniz552 flywheel
Had a set on a 406 cubic inch deal in a 64 chevelle about 10 years ago. Was highly impressed with how that car ran. Wish i could have that engine back. Hell the car too
I’ve had several sets of these ported by a couple different porting shops, Crane among one and Brandywine the other, both were outstanding!
Surprising to see you with a set of those heads, in 1973-1974 I remember staring at a pair Crane Fireball heads at the local speed shop in my area. Dreaming of how they would work in my 61 Impala with 11.1 327 4 speed, they were a bit spendy for my budget as a kid.
Many years ago i set of heads off a g gas car ..i think it was a Monza ..i remember they had a set of hemi valve springs which i had changed to less spring pressure..They were angle plug heads . Angle milled , 2.05 i think titanium intake valves , i dont remember the exhaust size . The intake and exhaust ports were opened up and had a lot of epoxy..i ran a .600 iskey roller cam with these heads in my 302 cubic inch motor in my 68 Camaro . The motor pulled hard to the rev limiter of 7800 ... This experience showed me the value of cylinder heads ..
Hello Eric, I grew up reading that book. My father had it. I still have it and run though it from time to time when I'm bench racing a new engine idea. Great day to ya
I had a set that was casted 291x. No other numbers but they were basically 461s. I grew up outside of Knoxville TN. HVH originally ported em. They regularly out run the early world products and normal double humps
thanks for the info on these .i happen to have a pair.
It’s crazy how we geek out over stuff. I go to a car show and was geeking out over an old car that had a ford mustang 5.0 swap done that looked like it was from the eighties. I told my kiddo, that was the hot ticket back in the day, before ls’.
That was a g00d episode
The first production of the 292 was 71, then the improved version came out in 73. It got the "turbo" nickname because of a rumor that it was developed for a Smokey Yunuck 209 inch Indy engine.
Back in the day we would roll those over and redrill the valve guides changing angle 1 degree and put the 2.055 valve in it, then when you angle mill the .125 you get a little more angle change. Just had to be careful on those heads with valve float they would crack under intake seat. But awesome cylinder even for today! Lee Shepard worked magic with those heads!!
Thanks for the history lesson!!
"California Bill" Fisher! I have his straight 6 Chevy book from 1954. I agree that these heads are cool. Also, if they were manufactured in 1968, then as of 2024, they are 56 years old.
They had a bigger runner,no heat riser and the ex was raised a little bit. Crane ported them and called them fireball. In the day they were the deal.
The Chevrolet 292 Turbo Heads are the Holy Grail of Small Block Chevrolet Heads,
and I'm not guessing.
Hey Eric. Saw this video on these heads. I bought a set of the heads on this episode 52 years ago. And guess what. Still have them. Thinking of sending them out to you to have them checked. Get back to you and I sure learned a lot from your videos. Great work. James
I have a set of 492's factory heads that were ported and sold by Crane as Fireball heads from what i have seen online. My exhausts are completely rounded out. I have the same book too, after all these years!
These in a DZ302 would eat!
Thank you for this video, I have 291's and 492's with the angle plugs, but not a set of these 292's. Wish I did!
I've only had one set of 492 angle plugs in my hands as a machinist, that was decades ago. I'm sure those were also over the counter, presumably predating the 292's.
Cast and sold for about 6 months in 1971-72 before the 292 heads superseeded those 492's Grumpy said in his book the very last 492 angle plugs and first few weeks of 292's had some "Special Mo-Jo" in their port designs that outflowed later castings.
@ Eric Weingartner, Great video and thanks for sharing. I have a set passed down from my father. Max race ported (broken through the valve cover bolt hole) and braze filled and raised D-ported exhaust ports. Also fitted with 5/16” valve guides. On the ends of the castings is stamped Manning-Brady Racing Heads and well as Hank the Crank inscribed with an electric engraver. Could never find any info on Manning-Brady but the port work is supreme.
Wow, I’ve never heard of these heads before. Way better flow than I was expecting. Those things would have been considered killers all the way up into the early-mid 90’s. Still crazy cool.
If someone is seeking details about the 292 head , check out a book by bill Jenkins titled " the Chevrolet racing engine" .
I guy on e bay wanted 108.00 for that book
Nice set of wedge heads!
I have a stock set of 292 on my bench
im doing for a friend.
Nice heads.
I had a set of these on my SBC in a ‘69 Camaro that I had in high school- angled plug and all.
It was as good it gets back in the mid 80s for a street car.
I have never seen a 292 by crane. I have seen several 492s ported by crane that were market as fireball heads. They were super nice.
Still have a set of very slightly used, unported 292 turbo heads for an engine build back in the 1980's. I also have a copy of GM blueprints for them with added in suggested porting modifications. I ended up buying a set of new Brownfield/AFR heads that I used rather than the turbos.
Oh shit they do exist 😮😮😮😮, first time ever seeing these.
Have read about them and I've been wrenching for almost thirty years and this is the first time actually seeing them.
So cool brother thank you for the video 😊
I had a 292 in my shop about 6 month ago. It was angle milled to about 53 cc chamber. Flow was .2 130, .3 179, .4 217, .5 240, .6 244, .7 244. I have idea who ported it, and it did not say crane fireball on it. The owner said they worked great on his dirt track car.
I heard that Bill Jenkins ran stock Chevy heads but I didn't know which heads until now. I have all original '68 El Camino that has the L79 327" and Muncie M21 4 speed. The heads have 2.02 intakes with the combustion chambers relieved around them. I've never seen another double hump heads with the combustion chambers like mine except for a set I bought new from my local Chevy dealer in 1964.
Jenkins made 750+HP with those heads on his 331 cu/in ProStock motor around 1973-74....With some brazing done on them....My friend made 600+HP with 292's on a 287 or 292 cu/in Comp Eliminator motor in the late 1970's....set the NHRA National Record with them....Had a 80lb flywheel and a Dana 60 in the 68 Camaro and a ring&pinion only lasted around 16 runs behind that killer combination. Doug Nash 5 speed transmission.
I Have several books from that era, this one,Smokeys, Grumpys, Davids, etc, But I have learned more in a very short time on U Tube that i ever could reading books, But because i read those i can counter act the BS on UTube also !
I had a set of these heads in the 90s. They woke up a mild build 350 quite nicely. I would love to see a dyno video with these heads vs. Vortecs.
Very nice video, this brings back lots of memories These heads were the Holy Grail. Unfortunately these were prone to cracks under harsh conditions. They better suited running on alcohol. W/O valve seats, 2.05 valves could be achieved. The 292 were a little heavier than the 60’s camel hump heads (461). Brownfield might had copied or modified the 292 design into their alum heads; now AFR? The 292 are still respectable heads.
Ken Sperling ( AFR) did take over the old Warren brownfield operation but the heads introduced under the new brand AFR were a huge difference over warrens. I worked for Ken back in the day and do remember the old Brownfields… you may be right….brownfields were very similar to the 292 as I remember. The 220 AFR head will always be a historic milestone in the 23 degree Chevy head world imo.
The Bow tie heads that came after cracked just the same. We ran a set of them cracked for almost 10 years before one hit day in Fontana our 7.03 slowed to a 7.11 with a little puff of smoke at shutoff. The front spark plug wouldn’t come out and ol Bernie Mathers last set of heads was finally done. Took a set of RHS 230s to replace them without going to a full custom ported head, just did the bowls, chambers and milled them.
@@thereadinesschannel7610I think the Brownfields copied the Bow tie 195s didn’t they? Higher port, 1205 gasket?
@@peterchristlieb Bernie was a friend of mine and what a character he was……I smoked cigarettes back in those days and one day we were talking and he said…..” you know…you would look a lot more intelligent without that stick of chalk handprint out your mouth” hahaha….I’ve never forgot that…of course this was after he quit smoking
@@thereadinesschannel7610 .....Both Brownfield and Sperling were consulted on the 292 head design not just Smokey....The early Brownfield/AFR heads were simular in port design to the 292 head with a flat short side port....Later the Bow Ties had a "High Hump" short side entry that made my buddy have to re-think all that he thought that he knew about SBC port flow to get decent numbers from the Bow Tie style heads. Sperling went "in-house" to GM to do cylinder head design for them.
You dont see them because of people like a friend of mine who has a new pair of these in the GM boxes sitting in his attic since before I saw them in 1984😂
Always said he was going to use them on a street car some day.
He’s 67 now.
Those heads with port work will flow well over 280cfm @ 28" of H20.. They were pretty decent for the time they were cast mid 70’s to @ 80 or so.
Yes they will.......................
Eric, I hope you get your hands on Trick Flow 200cc camel hump heads and get a chance to port them to it's full potential. At the time I had my numbers matching engine being built Trick Flow only had the 175 heads at the time. I didn't like the chamber and the claimed 254 wasn't enough for me to invest in. I'm sure a few more cfm can be squeeded out of them. My engine builder got my 291's to flow 260 @ .600 and advised that he didn't want to go further because of reliability . Sorry for being long winded but hopefully you get a chance to port a set of Trick Flow 200 camel humps and if you can get 290's - 300, that'll be my next set up. Keep up the good work Eric!
Reluctantgearhead has a video with a pair of those. I have a nice pair that are unported but have been angle milled and cut for 2.055" intake valves. My Dad bought them new in the early 80's and ran them about 18 nights on a dirt late model engine. They still have the blue stripe.
Great topic
Thank you
Always heard of them as turbo heads.
A good friend of mine his dad worked for Harvey crane when they were still in Hallandale Beach Florida these 292 heads single hump where the heads they used for the fireball head from crane
I was good friends with Ralph johson at crane cams. Sure do miss him
As cast the 292 Bowl area Was really restrictive you had to do a lot of porting If I'm not mistaken the reason these were called turbo heads is because GM At the time Had a program where they were gonna build some turbo motors for Indy And they scrap the program But kept the castings For Individual race use
Exactly correct!
NOPE! The as cast bowl area of a 292 is HUGE! They might have been too big for the 2.02 valves thats why many went to the 2.05 and 2.08 valves in their programs....I have a set with "Circle Track" porting and the bowl areas are untouched in some areas....HUGE! in their "as cast" condition.
The first over the counter head was a 370 casting in about 1968 or 1969. These 370 castings were also available in Canada on 327's and 350s. They are generally thought to be only available in 1.94/1.50 valves but I have seen them many times with 2.02/1.60 valves with screw in studs. I have a set in the shop right now but these are over 50 years old so who knows how they were originally sold. They are a double hump head and were more of a replacement head than a performance head. The 492's which were came out slightly later were really just 186's with some improvements. They sold these forever in many different configurations, big valve, small valve, angle plug, straight plug, etc.
The 292's you have there came out in the early 70s's (I have seen 1973 dated advertisements for those heads) and they made them until the bowties came out around 1981. They were the first widely available over the counter factory race head and were all big valve, screw in studs, and angle plugs. Crane also did 492 casting Fireball heads.
I see lots of ads for those Crane Fireball heads in my old magazine collection going way back into the 60's, and in one they say they started selling them in 1962. They used to port them with a perfectly round exhaust port that looks odd, but they sold thousands on them. Apparently they were well priced and worked.
NAH! 292's never left the design board for casting in the foundary until about 1971-72....Right before them were some 492 Angle Plug heads and Jenkins says the last of those were pretty "trick" for head porters....made more air flow than the 292 heads.
In 1972 I purchased a set of those heads at a Chevrolet dealer they are not matched to gaskets no port work has ever been done they are completely out of the box. I still have them on a running engine a 327.
I have a set of 292 turbos with 2.05. Went 240 cfm on the bench I use. If I'm not using them I'll be happy to let you use them for testing.
I need to get another SBC mule built first.