On the street, torque is king. One of the best and simplest ways to make gobs of frame-twisting torque is with cubic inches. Among the torque kings in the GM world are the Buick, Pontiac, and Olds 455ci twisters, but it's often the Olds that wins out. While the good Dr. Olds factory variants have been the staples of Rocket performance building for decades, Edelbrock's aluminum head contribution has made building one of these big-blocks enticing and weight conscious. So when it came time to freshen up the tired 455 in our budget '64 F-85 Olds project, we learned a few assembly tricks for our fat-block we thought we'd pass along that will ensure our Olds lives a long and prosperous life-and makes some acceptable power, too.
With our Rocket 461-inch motor assembled, it will be an easy evening's work to swap in our lighter and more powerful Edelbrock aluminum-headed 461ci thruster using a set of coated 1 3/4-inch Dick Miller Racing headers.
The plan was a much more street-conservative approach versus our usual max-out horsepower effort-more of an everyman's big-block. We wanted a daily-driver engine with pump-gas-friendly compression and a Comp flat-tappet hydraulic cam to enhance the Olds' already legendary torque. We really enjoy cruising the F-85 with its patina paint, so future plans include either a tight converter combined with a California Performance Transmissions 200-4R overdrive automatic, or maybe we'll retain the TH400 and just slip a 2.56:1 rear gear behind it. Either way, our recipe called for a motor that would make stupid low-speed torque while still pushing our F-85 to mid-12 quarter-mile times. All this was also with an eye toward not destroying what was left of our meager car budget.
Since we had never assembled an Olds motor before, we relied heavily on advice and assistance from Don Barrington at Barrington Engines and Dick Miller Racing (DMR), whose Mississippi-based shop offers tons of options for the Rocket engine builder. Barrington and Miller helped us avoid the common assembly mistakes on our 461ci street engine, and much of the success of this engine is due to their significant contributions.
After cleaning the block, Barrington bored the block 0.030 over and torque-plate-finish-honed each cylinder to fit the 4.155-inch-bore-size hypereutectic pistons.
Search and Destroy
While it would have been cheaper to rebuild the existing 455 in the '64 F-85, we knew the build would take some time, and we wanted to continue to drive the car. We found a used 455 short-block on Craigslist that got us started. The crank was wasted, but for $200, we bought the short-block and an extra crank that we discovered had a trashed thrust surface. Engine and Performance Warehouse in Anaheim, California, repaired our ailing crank and gave it a perfect 0.010-under treatment. We then took the block, crank, rods, and pistons to Barrington Engines where Don Sr. and Don Jr. cleaned, bored, and torque-plate-honed the aging jet-boat motor. West Valley did the balancing act.
One trick Barrington and Miller suggested was replacing the stock Conestoga wagon-era rope rear main seal with a neoprene lip seal from a 460 Ford. Next, the guys encouraged us to add cam bearing restrictors that direct more oil to the mains. Our next surprise came with the rear main bearing clearance measuring a wide 0.0041 inch. Barrington says this was factory intentional to flood the rope seal with oil to prevent it from overheating. Barrington suggested we retain the clearance because it would require expensive line boring to repair, so we followed his advice. We've also outlined a couple of other Olds-specific assembly techniques that can save you some grief when assembling a street Rocket.
Edelbrock Aluminum Heads
Our own flow testing and DMR's experience showed us that the off-the-shelf Edelbrock aluminum Performer RPM heads flow about the same as a set of factory iron C heads. This limited flow is partly due to the requirement that the ports (especially the exhaust) remain in their stock locations. We wanted to improve on the intake flow slightly without spending big bucks for CNC porting, so we tried the classic 30-degree back-cut trick on the Edelbrock valves, which netted a minor flow improvement. The Edelbrock heads measure 77 cc and combined with the 15cc dished KB pistons create a 10.2:1 static compression.
Flow Chart
Edelbrock Performer RPM Olds Aluminum Head
2.07/1.68-inch valves (PN 60519 complete)
77cc chamber
188cc port
VALVE LIFT
INTAKE
EXHAUST
EXHAUST TO
INTAKE
RESULT
OPEN
WITH PIPE
INTAKE
30-DEGREE BC
(CFM)
(CFM)
(CFM)
PERCENT
(CFM)
0.050
34
25
73
--
--
0.100
70
53
76
70
--
0.200
137
95
69
144
+ 7
0.300
195
132
67
206
+11
0.400
234
168
72
246
+12
0.500
240
185
77
237
- 3
0.600
245
194
79
239
- 6
A simple 30-degree back-cut on the Edelbrock intake valves was worth as much as 12 cfm at 0.400-inch valve lift. The production 455 head we tested at 0.400-inch valve lift flowed only 190 cfm. Our modified Edelbrock's amazing 56-cfm flow improvement at 0.400-inch valve lift is a 29 percent gain over the stock heads.
Cam Specs
COMP XE-268-H-10
DURATION
DURATION
LIFT
LOBE
DEGREES
DEGREES
(INCHES)
SEPARATION
(ADVERTISED)
(AT 0.050)
Intake
268
224
0.485
110
Exhaust
280
230
0.490
Test Day
Edelbrock agreed to help us with the dyno testing, and Edelbrock dyno veteran Curt Hooker bolted our 461ci Rocket to the company's SuperFlow dyno. Before firing the engine, we pressure-lubed it with a homemade tool that really was nothing more than a 6-inch-long Allen bolt. The bolt head is used to spin the hex drive oil pump driveshaft. After properly timing the Performance Distributor D.U.I. HEI distributor, Hooker carefully broke in the Comp flat-tappet camshaft for roughly 20 minutes using Royal Purple's 10W-30 break-in oil.
Test Day
Edelbrock agreed to help us with the dyno testing, and Edelbrock dyno veteran Curt Hooker bolted our 461ci Rocket to the company's SuperFlow dyno. Before firing the engine, we pressure-lubed it with a homemade tool that really was nothing more than a 6-inch-long Allen bolt. The bolt head is used to spin the hex drive oil pump driveshaft. After properly timing the Performance Distributor D.U.I. HEI distributor, Hooker carefully broke in the Comp flat-tappet camshaft for roughly 20 minutes using Royal Purple's 10W-30 break-in oil.
Big-block Olds engines are famous for making torque, and this combination was no exception. Even at a mere 2,500 rpm, the Olds cranked out nearly 490 lb-ft, then went on to grunt out a solid 511 lb-ft at 3,700 rpm, and still managed to make a solid 445 hp at 5,000 rpm. The torque was expected, and we hedged our bet a little by trying the Edelbrock Torker single-plane intake to see if we could give the horsepower a bump. If you look closely at the torque numbers, you can see a slight dip in the curve between 3,800 and 4,500 rpm that may be due to a combination of the single-plane intake and the large 2.00-inch dyno headers. We would expect some if not all of that dip to disappear in the car with the use of our Dick Miller 13/4-inch headers and a muffled Flowmaster exhaust. We'd like to thank Edelbrock and specifically Curt Hooker for his time, expertise, and the benefit of his expansive experience that made our dyno flog much easier. Real-world dyno numbers are always better than best guesstimates. Overall, the effort was a great success, and now all we have to do is drop it into our '64 F-85 and enjoy all that torque.
Dyno Results
RPM
TQ
HP
2,500
488
232
2,700
482
247
2,900
470
259
3,100
468
276
3,300
484
304
3,500
499
332
3,700
511
360
3,900
493
366
4,100
473
369
4,300
475
389
4,500
498
426
4,700
492
440
4,900
473
442
5,100
456
443
5,300
423
427
5,500
408
428
Peak
511 at 3,700
445 at 5,000
Average
474.5
358.7
Parts List
DESCRIPTION
PN
SOURCE
PRICE
Edelbrock RPM heads
60519
Summit Racing
$1,651.00**
Edelbrock Torker intake
2730
Summit Racing
285.95
Edelbrock valve covers
4485
Summit Racing
45.95*
Holley 750 vac. sec. carb
0-80508S
Summit Racing
299.95
Holley mechanical fuel pump
12-836
Summit Racing
69.95
Keith Black hyper piston
KB277-030
Summit Racing
309.95
Sealed Power ring set
E-243X-30
Rock Auto
44.79
Federal-Mogul main bearings
108M-10
Summit Racing
103.39
Federal-Mogul rod bearings
83345P
Rock Auto
70.99
Sealed Power cam bearings
1234M
Rock Auto
33.79
Fel-Pro full gasket set
FS8171 PT-4
Rock Auto
70.79
Neoprene rear main seal
40032
DMR
16.95
Milodon oil pan, 7-quart
30305
Dick Miller
255.00*
Milodon windage tray
32225
Summit Racing
56.95*
Milodon oil pump pickup
18411
Summit Racing
42.95*
Milodon oil pump shaft
22575
Summit Racing
21.95
Milodon brass plug kit
34045
Summit Racing
14.95
Melling oil pump
M-22FHV
Summit Racing
59.95
Comp hydraulic cam, lifters
CL-42-223-4
Summit Racing
209.95
Comp timing set
2113
Summit Racing
41.95
Comp pushrods, 0.100 long
7664-16
Summit Racing
116.95
Comp 1.6:1 roller rockers
19044-16
Summit Racing
299.95
Professional Products balancer
80022
Summit Racing
84.95
ARP rod bolts
185-6001
Summit Racing
58.95
ARP head bolts
180-3600
Summit Racing
75.95
ARP balancer bolt
180-2501
Summit Racing
19.95
DMR oil restrictor kit
DMR-5104
Dick Miller
33.00
DMR oil pump shim
DMR-5110
Dick Miller
19.00
DMR cam thrust button kit
DMR-5745
Dick Miller
54.00*
DMR front oil gallery plugs
DMR-7020-7021
Dick Miller
31.13
DMR fuel pump eccentric
N/A
Dick Miller
23.00
DMR lifter valley tray
DMR5850
Dick Miller
54.00*
DMR two-piece timing cover
N/A
Dick Miller
119.00*
DMR water pump
N/A
Dick Miller
139.00
DMR headers
DMR6821
Dick Miller
682.94
Performance Distributors HEI
42720
Performance Distributors
305.00
Dupli-Color Gold paint
DE1604
Summit Racing
6.95
Bosch standard spark plugs
FR8DS
Rock Auto
28.24
Fram oil filter
PH25
Rock Auto
4.49
Quaker State oil, 6 quarts
10w30
Local auto parts
19.50
Subtotal
$5,883.05
Barrington machine work
Clean and mag block
N/A
Barrington
100.00
Bore and torque-plate-hone
N/A
Barrington
290.00
Resize rods, install bolts
N/A
Barrington
100.00
Machine side clearance
N/A
Barrington
50.00
Balancing
N/A
West Valley
200.00
Grand total
$6,623.05
Mark 7 Radiator
Call
Mark 7
650.00
*These components could be deleted from the buildup to save money. Subtracting these parts from the overall cost would reduce the price by $627.85.
**This price includes Edelbrock's $50 rebate. Plus, you get a couple of Edelbrock T-shirts, too!
