I'm buying a rebuilt 5.2 Magnum, rebuilt block, rebuilt heads with the small combustion chambers, new pistons/con-rods, stock cam, stock valves. The engine is still not assembled, other than the block and heads. My goal is to have a torque strong built 5.2 with higher compression ratio than stock. Because I still have to assemble the engine, now is the time to upgrade the pistons to Keith Black to get the compression ratio up to about 9.6:1 or higher versus the stock 9.1:1. With the right intake, headers and exhaust the 5.2 Magnum can produce 400hp and near 390 ftlb of torque for a strong responsive engine, a fun engine going into my 1956 Dodge pickup.
But, another goal too is for a daily driver that can run on pump gas, meaning 87 octane, without octane booster or needing to run premium all the time. I am going with a 8HP-70 8-speed trans to enhance the overall performance and hopefully get decent fuel mileage. I plan to use a driver adjustable timing distributor system, so if needed I can adjust the timing retard if pinging under load is an issue with the higher compression engine. Does anyone have direct experience running a higher compression 5.2 Magnum as a daily driver on pump gas?
But, another goal too is for a daily driver that can run on pump gas, meaning 87 octane, without octane booster or needing to run premium all the time. I am going with a 8HP-70 8-speed trans to enhance the overall performance and hopefully get decent fuel mileage. I plan to use a driver adjustable timing distributor system, so if needed I can adjust the timing retard if pinging under load is an issue with the higher compression engine. Does anyone have direct experience running a higher compression 5.2 Magnum as a daily driver on pump gas?
