what is the best head to run on the street/strip on my 454? an open/closed chamber oval port head or square open/closed port head. i dont know much about build ups on big blocks and i wanted to hear from a guys who eats and sleeps big blocks. i plan on using nitrous no more than 200 no less than 125. i want my compression in the mid to high 9's. thanks for any info  

Without a doubt an oval port with an open or "semi-open" combustion chamber.

The oval port has distinct advantages in fuel quality, velocity, and outright power whereas the larger chamber unshrouds the valves - which is desperately needed by a stock valve angle big block. Some aftermarket heads have re-designed chambers that were shrunk to anywhere from 110-115 cc but 119-122cc is still most common.

Try not to be swayed by valves that are too large which help to inflate flow numbers. I think a safe and useful number is a 52.5% valve to bore ratio with a slightly "rolled" valve angle aftermarket big block head. This means that to utilize a 2.3" intake valve you would need a 4.375" bore - which is boring your 454 .125" over, which brings about issues of casting thickness...  

but i want to keep the stock bore and go with a 4.250 in stroke crank. which will bring out to a 489. which of the mentioned cc chambers will be best for my application? as i say i want my compression ratio to be in the mid to high 9's along with type of piston flattop, dish or dome. so oval port with open chambers it is. might add it is a street strip daily driver.  

A 4.25" bore and 4.25" stroke equates to approximately a 482.3 cubic inch engine.

Static compression is very dependent on the distance the piston is beneath the top of the deck at top dead center. Compression is a measure of how much area the charge is squeezed into so obviously the volumes of the components within the cylinder matter but it's just that piston to deck clearance is more of an unknown in some situations, so I can't get very specific...

What I can say is that with a 115cc chamber and a flat top piston you will not reach 9:1 compression. Obviously this becomes even worse if you settle on larger, more conventionally sized chambers. Even with a 110cc chamber above a flat top piston you will be reaching to get 9:1 compression. The answer is to use a small dome. Are you planning on using forged pistons or are you staying 'low-buck' with castings?

I must add that no 480+ cubic inch performance engine should be a daily driver. Depending on what kind of output you're looking for you can much more easily run into cooling problems, cold-start problems, maintenance problems (leaving Holley carbs sit for a while is not good), possible detonation problems and most obviously fuel economy problems. The costs with a big block are two-fold as the initial build costs are much higher than a small block and the maintenance costs are also much higher than a small block...

If I may finish my rant, a daily driver is a computer-controlled vehicle that you can jump into that will start right up and get 20 miles per gallon. It IS NOT a vehicle that has trouble starting cold or hot, a vehicle that you must worry about ring wear or the rings seating, a vehicle that gets 10 MPG, and or a vehicle that barely stays running at a stop light.  

well put! i will settle for a 468. i plan on running forged pistons. so with a small dome what CR am i looking at? thats a good definition at of a daily driver. your'e not ranting. you saved me a heap of money. now should i go with a carter, edelbrock or quadrajet carb. the holley turned me upside down and why is it not good for a holley to sit up? QUESTION i plan on using a 700r-4 tranny packed with tci goodies. will the tranny hold up to the power of the big block considering it to be a street strip motor? many told me that  they aren't any good. i wanna know. thanks  

I thought you were planning on using a stock bore. Now you're going to bore it .060" over, ???...

Small dome doesn't do it for me. And it's difficult for me to quote any compression ratios for you when you don't know what you're going to do!

I love well-built Quadrajets for street engines as they can support a fair amount of power but depending on your goals a Holley may make more outright power...

Holleys just need rebuilding if they sit for extended periods of times, especially in cold climates. Needle and seats like to stick, the old gaskets like to go away, accelerator pump diaphragms like to rupture, etcetera.

A 700R4 should be fine for you if the output isn't too high. More than likely you won't be using a lockup converter, and that helps eliminate some potential problems that can pop up with the overdrive.  

i wasnt planning on using the stock bore. i shouldve been more clearer. i either wanted to go with a 489 or 468 with dome pistons. i know you can bore it out to .100 over and .060 is safe. so using a lock up converter what problems will i encounter?  

I just meant that you will need a converter that has more stall than stock where a lockup will be unnecessary since you won't care about cruise speed economy.