Magnum vs LA bash!

skrews said
Its the fact you have to add those parts 5/16 valves, guides, locks, retainers. Thats a real world concern when building a budget motor.
I'm not a fan of the rocker setup, that was a step backward performance wise IMO. I don't believe the stability of said setup is as bad as many of us would think. If you consider all of those owners of those 380 HP 5.9 Magnum crate motors beating the piss out of them, you would think that if it was an issue it would be blabbed about all over the place. The Magnum head just doesn't lend itself well to high RPM duty anyway not enough cross section, I think most people will only turn them around 6K on average, because thats likely most mildly worked ones will run out of breath. As for improving the rocker setup, put in screw in studs, roller rockers, and a stud girdle. I think there are some outfits selling kits to do just this.

On a budget build, I see no issue as well. I'm thinking moderate to high HP applications. Lets start the moderate levels at 500 HP. While that may be a thumper for the street and have the Go-Nads to run well at the track, serious power level, absolute max effort builds is what I was thinking about. A bit more RPM than 6K.

I guess, in reality, valve train stability issues will be there with no matter what your run. Just less with the "LA" type set up and like you said, upgrading is needed over OE issue's.

For street/strip builds, like mostly seen here, I agree most often than not, best power is made and kept under 6500 anyway. And not many at 6500.