Hotrod-Youngster

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and new to the big block olds world.
I recently purchased a very tidy 68 olds 442, the engine had a problem and hand to be pulled out, now its out its going to get a full rebuild.
the engine is a 71 455cu but the heads are 76 J head and with my very minimal oldsmobile knowledge means junk right! As I'm in the UK and olds parts are very hard to find and heads are very expensive to ship is there anyway to make these heads better?

I'm installing Speed Pro/TRW Forged Coated +40 Piston, TRW MOLY Rings, COMP CAM 268 HIGH ENERGY cam and magnum true-roller timing set.

Is there anything else I can do to get more power?

Octania

The J's will be fine for ordinary driving.
If you are not racing, it's a good choice.
Frankly I have even seen some pretty impressive race numbers with J's- I assume they were heavily worked.

oldstata

You could list your location and see if so e one near you has a set of heads that you could buy at a good price I have a set of ga heads I would let go cheap I had the motor checked and it was good but I didn't have the heads checked

455man

You could also check out the head porting thread. Lots of good performance tips in it for stock heads.

Wise Performance

Absolutely, J heads are as good as any when properly prepared and ported, they have hardened seats already and just need someone to do quality work on them.
Ours flow around 275 cfm with mild port work. I do offer a ported head exchange in on heads, but shipping would be costly.
good luck,
Brad @ WPE

coppercutlass

I was going to ship cylinder heads through fastenal for I think 50 bucks there about in range. Just some food for thought.

Hotrod-Youngster

Haha, I forgot to mention that i live in the UK.

Mongoose

Wow... an "old school" carbureted 455 in the UK... now there's an expensive vehicle to operate at fuel prices 3 to 4 times that in the US. Yeesh!

455man

Just do the research. You might try some light pocket porting yourself. It's time consuming but dont cost much. Filling or blocking the crossover. If you run headers extending the exhaust center divider could be done also. Lots of "how to's" on the web.

Smitty275

J heads can be made respectable performers. With max work on them you'll see 280cfm tops. You just can't lay the short turn down far enough to get any more out of them. But for a street machine they will work just fine. Follow the home porting thread and ask questions if you have any. A die grinder and a couple of burrs will keep you out of trouble for a few weeks while you work on them.