i had that same combo/cam on a 6x-4 head 455 back in the 90's but using a holley mech secondary double pumper, car ran great as a daily driver & daily/nightly abused car. never had or noticed any of the "choking" or running like a "turd" related to the performer intake, im sure it would have ran better with a factory intake but aside from dyno or track testing to show a difference, it ran very good in all conditions, no cutting out, bogging, over heating or other issues.
the factory rods did fine in these mild builds for the most part for decades, even in some higher HP race situations... we didnt have forged rods readily available back then. i spun that 455 to 6000+ countless times over 10+ years & 100k+ miles with that build & they lived for ~80k miles in the 74 firebird the 455 engine came out of. i think the stock rods are stronger than some give them credit for, they should be fine on a mild build if kept to a reasonable rpm.
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