Stock Magnum rods/pistons durability ?

blk00rt said
if you do not have the PIE top end kit yet, I would recommend you read up on them. Some have had decent luck with them but some have said some very bad things about them. I have never dealt with them but I have heard of them in the Dakota RT community.

I have talked to Chris a couple of times, and he seems all right. I know of one person who used him and, his only complaint was that he took a lot longer then first stated to finish his engine. I tried to find any mention of bad work on the Dakota RT forum, but their search function did not find anything. I did find some positive post from about 8 or so years ago when they were a site vendor. If you have some links, or can point me in the right direction, I would love to see it.

toolmanmike said
Disassemble it and check or have the machine shop check the block. Bore wear, ridge, and taper will tell you if it needs bored. A good hone and new rings may be all is needed. (probably not) Boiling the block and new cam bearings and you might as well bore it and have the line bore and decks checked. Bore it and you are replacing pistons. Might as well get a stroker kit. Now it all needs balancing. A stroker really needs good heads. Port yours or bolt on some aluminums? See how this all can get out of control so fast?:BangHead: You need to figure out what you want before you start.

Understood, I have been down this road before, and as mentioned, it is a slippery slope. it starts with it is only a little more for this and that, then the little extras add up too quickly. The one saving grace for me is that I am into my current engine for next to nothing. So even if I were to do something like buy a create engine, it will not hurt me money wise to not use it. I would love to have aluminum heads, but a set of ported cast EQ heads will get me where I want to go. I will have to get the engine down to the machine shop, see what I have, and plan from there.