Definitely using the magnum block, I have crank and rods for either LA or magnum, want to use the la hypereutectic pistons, block already 30 over, magnum a fresh rebuild that went bad in many ways, only a few hours of run time (not a cam issue, one of few things that didn't go bad)
Has new "correct for magnum" pistons with that rebuild,
Rebuild went sideways in a few ways.
With original) rebuilt) heads, never attempted to fire like this/ had multi keyway timing set that was lined up wrong. Spun over with a bar and bent valves/ corrected, bought new EQ heads and bolted them on, stems were too tight and had #4 exhaust kiss a valve when motor warmed up, had at least 2 injectors stick wide open and melted a brand new cat that was installed with the rebuild. Break in oil came out as a silver slurry I've never seen in my life.
My son has the LA parts on his shelf, so I thought maybe I could get use out of them.
The existing pistons in the magnum block are going in the scrap pile no matter what...
I have another magnum crank and rods in the shed anyway, this engine is coming back apart and start from scratch, like an engine that's being torn down for the first time... There's about 3 hours run time on this engine.
I didn't make my maiden voyage around a country mile with it...
After a trip thru the machine shop those crappy eq heads went onto a different short block... To say I was pissed when I had spent $700 in 2016 for supposed "ready to run out of the box" heads then had to spend another $250 at a machine shop to make them really ready to run ... I wasn't happy, the Durango it was in was a 3 year garage ornament after that happened before I touched it again..,.
Basically I'm interested in the ins and ours of balance to determine if I can mix and match parts I already have and save some money but it appears that it will be cheaper to just bite the bullet and buy a different set of pistons and keep it all magnum. Not what I was hoping for but I absolutely don't want another disaster. So back to square one I go.....
This short block is being re rebuilt to go into an 80s D 250 with an NV 4500 behind it and a carburetor on top of it
