Jon Wickham is the owner of three 1992 Buick Roadmaster Estate wagons, but one of them really stands out in the trio because it has a vintage 292 cubic-inch Chevy six-banger under the hood.
The 63-year-old engine was built during a bygone era and purchased by Jon for 350 bucks from “some drunk guys at a hot rod shop in rural East Texas” in his words.
Jim Sutherland
Jon was born in the mid-1970s, but he has a deep fondness for retro automotive engineering because its simplicity made it easier to work on older powertrains with simple mechanical tools.
His ’92 Buick Roadmaster station wagon was a part of the early wave of high-tech engineering and now suffered from chronic electronic failure, according to Jon. The problem was severe enough to cripple the car’s performance and provided Jon with an opportunity to go old school and replace the Buick’s factory engine and transmission with the vintage 292 Chevy six coupled to a retro Turbo 350 automatic transmission.
Jon wanted to avoid an LS swap at all costs because he wanted to simplify his wagon and avoid the much more common LS fad in today’s car hobby. Also, Jon was already a big fan of the 292 Chevy engine and understood its reliable workhorse history.
The 292 was typically used for rugged work and could be found in a variety of places, including combines, irrigation pumps and Chevy trucks during the early 1960s. Jon told MyStarCollectorCar the engine was “not meant to go into a car”, but he chose that path for his ’92 Buick.
He added: “Today’s smart tech does not give drivers total control of the vehicle, so people miss out on the pure driving experience”.
Jon’s game plan was a return to yesteryear for his Roadmaster wagon in terms of its powertrain because he wanted a reliable and functional old school power choice for regular use on the road.
The 1992 Buick is a solid example of a then-new style early Nineties direction for General Motors and has a unique design found in several GM models built at the time. Their unique style caught Jon’s interest, along with a sense of nostalgia because he is old enough to remember station wagons from his kid days.
As mentioned, the retro powertrain swap was not an easy one, but Jon has a sizable skill set and custom-made his own linkages and engine mounts for his project. Also, the front cowl of a 1992 Buick Roadmaster extends into the engine compartment, so his 292 six-banger had its distributor mounted on the engine’s front side and consequently provided easy access to it.
The payoff for Jon’s backward direction is a solid and reliable station wagon that he calls a “cheerful car” because it brings back the joy of driving for him. The car is easily able to keep up with freeway traffic and offers smooth performance along the way.
The car went from “not drivable to drivable” in Jon’s words, and he is understandably proud of his decision to save the ’92 Buick. He also appreciates how his vintage wagon prompts smiles and waves every time he drives it because he enjoys providing a lighter, more positive moment in people’s days.
Jon describes the vintage 292 as his favorite engine and it is clear he was willing to make it work in his much newer Buick Roadmaster. It was a very unique approach to his engine swap.
MyStarCollectorCar would like to thank Mike Massey for his role in this story because he was able to connect us with Jon via the Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon Facebook page.
Jon summed his Buick up this way.
.The Roadmaster is one part Troy Paiva’s desert junkyard, and one part Simon Stalenhag’s dystopian visions of dying computers and eyeballs with frayed wires hanging out.
Jon Wickham
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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