Not a lot you have to do to a 455 to make it a good tow motor, but I would reconsider the "J" heads. These were the most restrictive, smog heads available from Olds from about '73 to '76, and have very small valve pockets. You don't need to scrounge up a set of pricey "C" heads, but almost any other head available from Olds would be better. We have a set of "C" heads, but elected to use some "G a" heads on my kids '29, because for the street they should actually work better in the range they will run at.

Cam, there are so many RV grinds available to choose from. Just work with your cam grinder and tell them the weight, etc and they will get you one that is right for your application. An aluminum dual plane might flow better, but the stock intake with a quadrajet would be ok too.

Tons of these were used in industrial and motor home applications, so you should be fine with just minor refinements for a little more power. Olds made some industrial exhaust manifolds that flowed well and tucked into tight spaces, and these can still be found.

Top it off with a good vacuum advance distributor (electronic) and you are there.


I love these big Olds engines.


Don