Ha Anyone Had A 292 Inline 6 In Full Ton Dually Pickup? Or Had A 292 In General

[Larry]

I got it. You still got that 60s something van?








What do I win????!!!!!???

You win

Ya, I still have that Corvair van but it is a rear engine vehicle. I need to go through the flat 6 in it (just a reseal) and get it running one of these days too. Wife has been riding my ass for it sitting next to the garage for the past 8 years

 

[beags86]

You win

Ya, I still have that Corvair van but it is a rear engine vehicle. I need to go through the flat 6 in it (just a reseal) and get it running one of these days too. Wife has been riding my ass for it sitting next to the garage for the past 8 years

Blazer frame, 292/4500/205 small lift, 32s on steel wheels and hubcabs=
SWEET!

 

[Larry]

Blazer frame, 292/4500/205 small lift, 32s on steel wheels and hubcabs=
SWEET!

You're very very close!

 

[beags86]

You're very very close!

But not the corvan. Hmm.....

 

[Larry]

I hate all things Ford, but I have to give it to them for sticking with their 4.9L 300 six as long as they did. Even modernized it with port injection and OD in the late 80’s. The 4.9L was probably the best Ford engine ever built. During my high school and college years in the late 80’s/early 90’s, my dad’s shop had the maintenance contract for our local FedEx hub. That contract was my baby for years where I took care of a 20+ fleet of Ford Econoline’s, Chevrolet G-30’s and hand full of brand-new at the time 1992 S-10 4x4’s with Gemtop toppers for mountain routes.

I got to say the Ford 4.9’s were great engines. The biggest issue with them was the later port injected ones always had leaks at the air injection pipes in the exhaust manifolds and dropped distributor gears like crazy as well as the vans ate front king pins. I used to keep 2 Ford distributors (and modules) in the wrecker for road calls. The Ford bodies fell part like crazy though. Meanwhile the G-30’s and S10’s with 4.3L’s ate alternators, 700R4’s and rear axle seals on the 9.5” semi-floater (G-van) like there was no tomorrow but never had a lick of issues with the engine or the body/chassis. Not only did the GM bodies hold up better, they were much more comfortable to drive where the FedEx drivers would fight over who got the G-vans. The G-vans all had around 300K on them when I graduated college and moved to Detroit. The days of Econoline and G-vans are long gone at FedEx. Now they are all Freightshaker diesel chassis with Utilimaster bodies along with some new Sprinters.

As far as the 292, they went on much longer than people realize. GM used them in P-chassis right up until 1989 exclusively for UPS and 1991 for Mexican Market P-chassis and medium duty trucks. Sadly, they were carbureted all the way to the end. UPS is the account I support now for Navistar for the past 14 years and they still have a handful of 292 package cars on the road today. One of my UPS buddies is keeping an eye out for a 2 barrel 292 intake.

 

[diesel4me]

I can remember when my dad worked at a gas & electric company in our hometown,they had a huge fleet of trucks,everything from C-10's to C60's ,a few 4x4 3/4 tons too,all ranging from the late 50's to early 70's vintage--and almost 50 "company cars" employees like him drove most of the time that were used to go up to 100 miles a day checking gas pressures at LNG plants ..

The company stuck with straight sixes well into the late 60's--they liked Dodge Dart wagons with the slant six a lot,they used those exclusively for a decade or more,just because the engines rarely gave any troubles..in the late 60's ,they decided to add a few V8's to the fleet,one was a '68 Chevelle wagon that had a 307 and a Powerglide..
Mostly they had GM trucks,not Dodge's,I guess because a local GMC truck dealer gave them good discounts on fleet trucks and would service them until out of warranty..

That 307 engine smoked from day one,and after 32,000 miles the fleet mechanic decided it was never going to "break in" and he re-ringed it with cast iron rings,he claimed chrome rings were not good....it ran sweet thereafter,and my dad liked the car so much he bought it from the company once it hit the mileage and age they usually got rid of them--they used to give employees first dibs..he had that car a long time..I got my license in it,and used it often until I got my own vehicles .

I wish now I had tried to buy some of those fleet trucks,nearly all had 292's or 250 sixes with manual transmissions-mostly 4 speeds..they often sold cheap for like $500 too,and they were kept garaged and well maintained..they probably had at least 40 GM trucks from 1960-66 vintage and several 67-72 models back then up for grabs..

The C-60 bucket trucks even had 292's except for a few 50's models that had the GMC 302 straight six or a 261,they also had a mid 60's C-60 with a 409 V8,and the company ordered a "spare long block" for it in case it ever blew the engine--they never used it,I recall my older brother trying to get hold of it when they were auctioning off a lot of "obsolete" equipment,but he didn't end up with it..it was still bolted to the pallet it was shipped on,all covered with cosmoline and shrink wrap..bet whoever scored that was happy..