I'm nearly finished rebuilding a 455 for my 77 cutlass. I'm using a stock turkey tray intake gasket and I cannot find the factory baffle that covers the cam. If I leave it out will it cause any problems? I recall an olds 350 that I swapped intakes on not having it.

 

Is the intake valley baffle needed?

 

Search can be your friend...

Do I need to use the valley pan?/Oil lifter baffle

 

The turkey tray IS the baffle that keeps oil off the underside of the intake manifold..

 

this is the piece I'm talking about. I actually put the intake on today. And then I found this thing that I left out

 

Yeah, that "thing" is the valley baffle. As stated in the links I provided it "appears" hit & miss if all 350 got them - apparently. I don't know for sure. Also, as indicated in the links I provided apparently all the 455 got them - again, I'm not sure. I'm going to suggest you don't "need" to remove the intake manifold and re-place what you found - you'll most likely be just fine if you used the turkey tray gasket.

 

Thanks man. I'm just gonna leave it then. That iron manifold was not fun to install

 

Eh, what's a mere 55lbs. Yeah, they're a beast.

 

This is where rebuilds go wrong. Olds engineers used unique designs and assembly procedures for a reason. That is what made the Olds V8 a long lasting quality product as compered to other production engines of the time.
The purpose of the lifter baffle is to direct oil that is spun off the rotating camshaft back down to the lifters and cam lobes which is a critical but non-pressurized lubrication friction point. The irony here is premature camshaft lobe/lifter failure is often brought up in these forums. The cam and lifter manufacturers, the EPA, and the oil companies are often blamed but here we are leaving out parts that the engineers put in to prevent exactly that. Humm...
Will the engine start and run without it? Yes. Will not using it affect drivability? No. Will it affect long term durability? Roll the dice. Let us know how that works out. IMO that baffle should have been washed in solvent, hot tanked, washed again, scrubbed with soap and hot water until it was surgically clean, then reinstalled as originally designed. I'll save the purpose of the turkey tray for another time.
Carry on...

 

The low deck (330, 350, 403, etc.) have closed casting area around the camshaft tunnel and thus do not need the baffle as found on the tall deck (400, 425, 455) engines.

 

Thanks for that info. I was wondering why none of my 350s ever had a baffle, and now I know!

 

Me too. Good info.

 

Gonna take the intake off and put it in. Now I know why it's necessary. Thanks for the ìnfo

 

You’re wasting your time. I’ve assembled and torn apart multiple Olds big blocks with the aftermarket baffle, and they were fine without the original one. But do what you want.