432-Inch Powerhouse
The engine featured here was built by Miller to compete in the 2006 Jeg's Engine Masters Challenge, an annual engine building competition sponsored by Popular Hot Rodding. He has been a regular competitor at the event, always one to showcase the Olds' potential. As Miller relates, "It's a great chance for me to get out there and have people see what I am doing. Last year's 434ci limit worked out well. Since a .030-inch overbore 425 comes out to 432, I was able to run a stock stroke and stock bore with a .030 overbore, and I was there." In fact, Miller's engine is based on a production Olds 455 passenger car block, with a factory forged 425 crankshaft. He explains his objectives this way: "I'm not necessarily in the contest to win outright, but more to develop new products, show people what's available, and what can be done. Like the 403 engine we brought last year: most people don't think the 403s are worth anything, but we made 600 hp, and got it to live and stay together, even with that windowed main web people are afraid of."
Commenting on the blocks, Miller reveals to PHR: "At 500 to 550 hp, they are great. We have a few options in girdles: a halo girdle that connects the first four mains, a halo girdle that attaches all five mains, and then I have what I call a pan rail girdle, which attaches like the halo girdle, but also attaches to the pan rail." He informed us that the older blocks are said to have a higher nickel content, and are considered stronger from a metallurgical standpoint; but in his experience, they all hold up quite well, especially with a girdle installed. In fact, Miller said he has never experienced a block-related failure in all these years of building and racing Oldsmobiles. As extra insurance, this engine was built with premium ARP fasteners at all critical points.
For the power output anticipated in this build, the basic production components were righteously fortified, using a DMR girdle system and Miller's beefy billet main caps. Although the crankshaft was plucked from a factory engine core, Miller had Crankshaft Specialists rework the 'shaft with a custom knife-edging and lightening job, as well as hard-chroming the journals. A DMR windage tray provides further oil control and windage reduction. The stock 455 3.000 journals were retained on the mains, while the rod journals were ground to 2.200 inch, to accept the Oliver 7.000-inch big-block Chevy connecting rods. To achieve the 10.5:1 compression mandated by the rules of the Engine Masters competition, Miller had CP Pistons deliver a set of custom forged pistons in a dished configuration. Aiding in overall power production was a low-friction ring set from Total Seal, with narrow .043 compression rings used in conjunction with 3mm oil rings.
 A tall single-plane Dominator-flanged...  A tall single-plane Dominator-flanged Edelbrock Victor intake lends an elegant look to Dick Miller's 432 Olds, and the long, sweeping runners are poised to direct serious airflow. The Carb Shop 4150 sports a 4500-pattern baseplate. |  A look beneath the carb into...  A look beneath the carb into the intake manifold plenum shows the fully-ported surfaces directing flow to the cylinder heads' intake ports. The manifold's long runners promote torque. |  Digging still deeper below...  Digging still deeper below the manifold is a Dick Miller Racing sheetmetal intake valley baffle. The baffle keeps hot oil from splashing beneath the intake manifold, helping to reduce heat gain. The baffle bolts to stock provisions found in the Olds big-block. |
Coatings For Power
The engine made use of quite an extensive array of coatings from Polymer Dynamics. The outsides of the intake manifold and cylinder heads were coated (primarily for cosmetics, according to Miller); however, it didn't stop there, as nearly everything inside was coated, too, including the crank and rods, for oil shedding. A dry film lubricant was used on the oil pump gears, and the piston skirts received a similar treatment. The tops of the pistons were thermal-coated, as were the intake and exhaust runners, the valves, the combustion chambers, and the bottom of the intake.
Miller explains that the Olds engines build a lot of torque, but admits that the oiling systems need some work (though he has developed techniques to correct these shortcomings). Overall, he considers the Olds a straightforward engine to build. Oldsmobile uses a shallow stock valve angle (at 6 degrees), and he says: "For the cfm that an Oldsmobile head flows, they'll make more power per cubic inch than most of the other heads out there." Until recently, there weren't many choices in aftermarket heads, but now options are opening up. Miller tells us that the Edelbrock heads are similar in design to the original cast iron heads, limiting the all-out potential. For this engine, he went with the Bulldog heads, which he finds to have greater power potential. He used the offset pushrod version of the Bulldog head, which moves the intake pushrod clear of the intake runner, to offer room for larger ports, and ultimately more flow. Flow peaked at 385 cfm in fully ported form, as reported by Miller.
 Custom CP pistons were made...  Custom CP pistons were made with a "D-dish" to preserve some of the active quench area of the Bulldog heads, while delivering a pump-gas-friendly 10.42:1 compression ratio with relatively small wedge chambers. Studs are ARP. |  With the bottom end opened...  With the bottom end opened up, we can see the Dick Miller Racing windage tray, which controls and directs the oil slinging off the crank to reduce oil drag. The oil pump is a Melling unit, modified with rotors treated to an anti-friction coating. |  Bottom-end beef is provided...  Bottom-end beef is provided by Oliver 7.000-inch big-block Chevy rods, a massaged factory forged crank, and DMR billet main caps and girdle. The crank and rods received an oil-shedding coating to help them repel oil. |