Information is needed please.

[November66]

I just got off the phone with Tom from 12Bolt and discuss the exchange of taking out my 230/250 and installing a 292. His question to me is to ask is anyone has a 292 installed in the second generation Chevy van? He stated that the 292 is 2” taller than the 230/250 and it may not fit with the carburetor installed.
Does anyone already have the 292 in their second generation? Please help me!

[SteelyVan]

From what I recall others doing......Putting blocks in between the engine crossmember and frame-rail connections....and or flipping the doghouse lid front-to-back? Wait for a reply from those who have done this swap....I think folks were also upgrading to automatic OD trans set-ups at the same time as the motor swap. This would mandate a new non-stock trans crossmember to align with the dropped engine crossmember. Somebody here will chime in with more concise info of what they had to do.

[November66]

Thanks. I’ll wait.

[SteelyVan]

Fliipping of doghouse lid may have been for accommodating the need for raising radiator.... getting the filler neck high enuf to bleed air from cooling system.

[November66]

That make since.

[panelmanrd]

i lowered the crossmember to the engine 2 inches, to lower the fan in the \
radiator, and to allow air to escape the doghouse, had to lower the trans as
well.
I have a rad cap in the upper hose using a 28 inch crossflow radiator from
speedway motors, rad caps are both 16 lbs the overflow fittings are teed and
plumbed to an over flow can

[November66]

Did you have a problem with your carburetor positioning? I would like to go with a four barrel.

[jrinaman]

292 in a first gen. second pic is how i lowered the engine. it was temporarily hanging from one long bolt so i could get to the carb linkage but that big nut is my spacer. an edelbrok will fit if turned backwards and probably the simplest but dual webers is the way to go.

[Leroy Jackson]

You could always just raise the doghouse lid clearance.

That is what I did to fit a blower on mine.

I cut a big hole and fabbed up a drop on cover.

This allowed the drivetrain geometry to remain corrrect.

If you drop the engine, you drop the trans too. This may throw the driveshaft out of alignment and you would end up eating u-joints faster then normal, or pick up vibrations.

[November66]

I appreciate the requested information answers. You guys have given me homework to do. Thanks to everyone.

[108VanGuy]

That's Just How the Club Rolls

Helping other VCVanners with project ideas, parts and experience. We all love our VCVs and are happy to show you how we did it.
108VanGuy...

[November66]

Thanks guys. You are all great!

[AzDon]

U-joints must rep same degrees of bent power path, as the trans thru-shaft and the pinion shaft need to be on parallel planes to be in phase and the "s" shape of the power path between those shafts should be less than three degrees on each end....
Maybe not clear, so lets try this:
The imaginary line drawn through the transmission main shaft needs to run at the same degrees to the ground as the imaginary line drawn through the pinion (differential) shaft....
This pretty much guarantees that the two shafts don't point at each other!
If the two shafts are on parallel planes, the u-joint angles of both u-joints will be the same number of degrees and the two ends will be in phase and free of vibration....Best results are achieved when those u-joints are at a less than a 3 degree angle between the two shafts each joint is bridging....To get to that ideal 3 degrees (or less) angle, the engine trans may need to go up or down some to straighten out the relationship of the three shafts....
Obviously, the shorter the driveshaft, the closer to the same height (from the ground) the parallel planes need to be to keep the short driveshat from needing to bridge a big height gap and therefore need severe u-joint angles... A longer driveshaft gap can spread a larger height difference over fewer degrees of u-joint angle.... So it's much easier to get the driveshaft angles within specs after lowering the drivetrain in a 108 van than in a 90 van...

[lvjjj]

I did not lower the mounts to lower the 292, sits where 230 did, just two inches higher. I did flip the doghouse lid around to accommodate the Weber two barrel on top of the Clifford adaptor. The carb actually sits just about where the doghouse changes heights. Looking at it from underneath, I don't think I needed to flip it around, would have been enough clearance. I like it though as when the hot air comes in, it is forced down and out as the lower part is in back. I also like resting my elbow on the higher lid.