Thanks Paul, I will be buying a rebuilt 292 from Cliff (from your area) and will also have him rebuild my heads.  The block is bored out .040" so there may be a slight improvement in performance.  The one thing I'd like to do is keep the car data plate correct.  That means a 292 2-barrel so no change there. Would you suggest some improvements I should consider that still keeps it "original"?

Some of the engine gurus may have other suggestions that don't show, but you might consider a street porting job. However, Y-heads are tricky & some of the old hogging out ideas don't work well on them. They have been extensively re worked and tested by John Mummert in the past & more recently by the fellow that goes by Joe JDC on this site. The other thought that comes to mind would be to use a 57 "B" intake & 4 barrel, only a concours judge would know it's not correct to that car & it can easily be restored to original..no harm done..        


Paul

Balancing, milling the heads, and decking the block for minimum piston to head clearance are just some of the ways to increase the performance while having the engine look stock.  As you’ll be replacing the pistons during a complete rebuild, then using a more modern piston that uses metric rings can be worth as much as twenty horsepower by itself.  Swapping out the original 2V carb with a later model and larger Autolite two barrel carburetor will also help the overall performance while still retaining the look of the original carburetor.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)