First of all Bishop, the oil filter for a 1954 engine only filters about 12% (arguable that it can be as much as 18%) of your oil. If both ports were completely blocked off, your engine will still get ALL of its oil pressure and run the very same as if the filter was working perfectly. In other words, the oil filter has nothing whatsoever to do with engine performance. Oil filters were an option back in the day and many of them are just capped off at the engine block. You can relax about engine damage.
The very worst thing that can happen is your oil will be unfiltered for that 700 mile trip as long as those lines are tight and there is no leakage.
