I just purchased a 71 442 with a stock 455 auto drivetrain.Got it from my grandfather who bought it as is in the late 90s. It was running a few years ago and had a older restoration performed at one time. It has been sitting for a few years, but ran when he parked it.
Anyway, I would like to do a street build on the engine at some point. I want good performance, fun to drive but it has to be drivable and reliable. How do the speedmaster heads and intakes compare to to edelbrock stuff? I was thinking the edelbrock performer cam looks like it has decent specs for what I want, but would be open to suggestions.
How is the quality of the speedmaster valvetrain components on the assembled heads?

 

Speedmaster stuff has potential but the Edelbrock stuff is better out of the box hands down.
But your first priority should be to up the compression. In its current form it’s barely 8.0:1 if it has the stock style pistons in it etc.

 

yes, I have been researching and reading everything I can. Higher compression would absolutely be part of the build. Probably 9.5:1 or so
suggestions for pistons or manufacturers would be welcome, I am not sure what my choices are for pistons

 

Don’t cheap out on pistons and rods. Find a machine shop that’s either familiar with Oldsmobiles, or won’t fight you on the machining quirks with Olds engines.

You can do much better than the Edelbrock cam. Get with cutlassefi (Mark)

 

are the stock rods not strong enough?
Maybe a stroker is in order, you know, “while we have it apart”. Sounds fun but it’s getting expensive fast lol