Pieces of steel in cylinder??

Actually, that is a pretty good plan for a grocery getter IMHO.

Honestly, maybe you should check in the local boneyards for a good used 5.9 Magnum. I have no idea what they cost out there.... in my neck of the woods, they are pretty reasonable. There is a subforum here on FABO about Magnum swaps that might be worth checking out. It's not original, but it will be quite step up...more cubes, better compression for low RPM torque, better breathing parts overall, roller cam, so no ZDDP issues. May need a different flexplate IIRC, and I am sure there are other bits to change, but it sure would be an easy upgrade. (And of course, you could get a poor/bad one too.) Edit to add: I see that AJ and I were typing at the same time.... great minds and all that rot LOL