Eirik

did a search, did some reading, just wanna know if basic thoughts are correct,

a) a 350 rocket is a small block
b) although being a small block, 455 heads will fit on, as well as intake
c) I dont know **** about olds, but we all gotta start somewhere
d) olds and pontiac 455's same yes/no?

thanks guys!

loadstar

heads yes will bolt up but intake no and old and pontiacs are two difrent breeds of engines

Oldsguy

As loadstar said, the heads would fit but why? And the deck height is different because the stroke is greater on a big block, so because of geometry the distance across the intake is greater on a big block. Olds is better than Pontiac, just don't go to a Pontiac site and ask the same question because they will disagree....

Eirik

head question because i was looking into edelbrock performer rpm intake manifolds (p#7111), and it said extra intake flange material for use with 455 heads so i was just curious more than anything else.

my car is a 2bbl car, and swapping it to a 4bbl is a no brainer, i have an extra q-jet lying around from a v8-s10 project, so i was looking into 4bbl manifolds, and definetly wanted to go with something more aggresive that a straight performer series.

and yes, olds is better than pontiac, i hated my old pontiac but my question was stemmed from looking into valve covers, they have nice finned aluminium ones for pontiac 455, so if they were to fit on my car, i'd nab them up in a heart beat. i like it simple and classic.


also, deck height can be shaved can it not? machining is definetly something i can have done very easily.

Oldsguy

Yes but the deck heigth on a big block is like 4.2 inches and on a small block is like 3.3 inches, there is no way you can shave that much so you can't interchange the intakes from big block to small block. The heads are the same outer dimensions so valve covers will interchange and castings are similar except for actual size of the cylinder diameters. In fact, was just reading about a reference to the 403 on another thread and it's bore is greater than the 455 but it is considered a small block because the stroke is the same as the other small blocks. I think I read someplace on R.O.P. that someone actually bored and stroked a small block to greater total discplacement than a 455 but that was really radical, he used some chevy big block rods for instance. I am not a machinist so this stuff is beyond me.

Eirik

alright yeah, thats very excessive for shaving i some how doubt that the extra .9" would be in the combustion chamber to be shaved anyways. so i'll just work the 350 heads, major porting and the like. but i'll still try the performer rpm for sbo then. thanks a bunch man, the tech info is appreciated. good thing i bought that carbide cutting set eh?

hehe, a 455 small block. that's definetly cool. kinda like the hardcore 454 sbc's...

for reference though, places online showing headers for any olds v8. like, 455 a-body headers, exhaust ports and bolts the same or similar enough?


normally, i'd buy a pair of each from a wrecker and just study them and take notes, but i looked, there isnt any such luck for them at my local wreckers.

Oldsguy

Yes you are right. good luck