After reading about Jim Hand's 455 with 400 big valve heads, I pretty much copied what he had done back in the late 1990s.
http://www.pontiacstreetperformance....ld455jh99.html
I have 1971 #96 heads with Ram Air III manifolds and a Holley 750, but everything else is about the same. My car does what you said...makes good power, starts and drives well (on 93 pump gas).