[Shaky]

I wouldn't call it heresy to swap out the 292 for a V8. It all depends on what you want to do with your truck. I have a soft spot in my heart for GM straight sixes because they took me so many places over so many years and did it reliably. When they did break they were cheap and easy to fix.

I just want to cruise around with it and not have to work on it all the time. I also don't want to sink huge amounts of money into it.

I'm restoring a '67 C20 with a 292 and an SM420 (granny-geared 4-speed). Most people would probably put in a more modern V8 and transmission. This would make it faster and a lot more sporty. However, I'm keeping the stock drivetrain and will just add a (very expensive) overdrive behind the 4-speed so that I can keep up on the highway. I just get a kick out of rowing that old cast iron 4-speed and listening to the big straight six.

Playing with performance parts on the straight sixes can be expensive. You can get so much more for your money out of a V8. If I was going to put an eight in my truck I would probably get a stock LS motor and modern transmission. This would make plenty of power and probably get better mileage than an old straight six!

As far as characteristics go, the 194-230-250 sixes are similar to the 292 but also different. They all have the robust 7-main-bearing bottom end and share a lot of parts, but due to differences in the bore-to-stroke ratio they act very different. The 292 has a very long stroke compared to its bore, which is why it makes so much torque down so low.

For a given rpm, the longer the stroke the faster the piston has to travel to go a further distance in the same time. When you spin a 292 up, it is putting progressively larger loads on the main bearings, so I try to stay away from that. The 4-barrel 250 I had like to rev, but that has a much shorter stroke.

Some people build some hairy 292s, but it costs $$$$. For me, on my budget, I've come to the conclusion that I'm going to keep my sixes stock and any performance work will be done with V8s.

As far as all the noise goes - I was amazed when I bought a '68 Biscayne with 24,000 original miles and fired up the 250 for the first time. It was quiet and smooth! All the other ones I had were high milers and rattled and clattered. Also, my 292 in my '67 C20 slipped the outer part of the balancer and vibrated like hell until I put a new one on.

You can put a higher (numerically) geared rear in and reduce rpm somewhat, but an overdrive (either different transmission or add-on overdrive) will really get you where you want to go without sacrificing the low-end.

All that above is my view on things. I'm sure others will have some other perspectives...