It does have the drop in pistons and rods now but I did run the stock stuff for a long time. Never had a failure of any kind. I was going to have to take it apart to gap the rings if I wanted to turn it up so I upgraded instead. I drive it too much to worry about it. If it was just a weekend vehicle, I'd gap the rings and be done with it.

The stock parts are fine and really not much different than LS stuff. They will take a bunch of power if you have the right game plan and manage cylinder pressure (hint, lots of rpm). And it will not happen on a stock ECU, save the headaches and go with an aftermarket standalone right off the bat.