I'm building a 455 Olds for my 65 442, I bought the block & heads without hardware - took it in had it bored .30 over, comp cam little agressive, Edelbrock intake. No headers just plan on having a dependable engine not building it to race - however once in a while I may get on it. I noticed there are 2 stud holes above the cam, did some reasearch and see they must be for mounting a windage tray, so I thought "I need a windage tray" I'm not sure of the purpose of the tray, is it to keep the oil in the lower part of the block or slow it from the top draining down? Do I actually need a windage tray for cruisin as that's what I think I will be doing mostly anyway I'm struggling on this and hope someone can help me either find the correct tray or tell me I don't need one, Thanks for the help!

 

Does the windage tray go over the mains between the pan? I was thinking it went below the intake manifold and could not see the purpose of it. It would make sense the tray covers the main bearings, is there anything that goes in the valley over the cam below the intake manifold? I have 2 holes that are tapped in there and I am wondering what they are for.

 

It goes over the lifter galley and covers the cam. It prevents oil from being splashed on the underside of the intake. If you are still running the exhaust crossover, the oil will cook and form sludge on the bottom side intake without the tray.