Engine Rebuild

[TheJoker2017]

Hello all, new to this forum and still new to the second gen trucks.

I currently own a 2001 1500 4x4 with the 5.9 magnum. The trucks has 211K miles and runs rough with a broken valve spring and burns oils. Here soon I am going to start stripping down and rebuild an engine from my old 2001 5.9 V8 that I wrecked to swap into the new truck. I would like to keep the bottom end parts stock (crank, connecting rods, pistons) and keep stock heads. As far as heads go, I was thinking about porting the intake and exhaust runner to allow slightly better air flow. Id also like to think about getting into a bigger camshaft, any advise on that? or should I just stay with stock cam?
I'm more of looking for a basic build with a few little changes here and there for a little peak in the performance department. What have you guys done to engines you've built? any advise to a first time engine builder? Could I build the 5.9 for around $1,200-$1500? Any leads for places to get reliable parts?

Thank you.

 

[dapepper9]

Basic boltons are best option. You can do a basic re-ring and bearing job pretty cheaply, the largest cost is going to be machine shop. Let them do cam bearings unless you're familiar with the procedure and are willing to purchase more than 1 set of bearings on the assumption you mess up. They'll likely require the block be cleaned and magnafluxed as well before they do anything else. They can also let you know if you'll need an overbore.

Cam will require custom tuning and stronger valve springs. Minimal gains to be had vs what you can see in my signature. Boltons are super easy to do and make the truck very comparable to early hemis in terms of horsepower but with more tq. You'll see i have a 2bbl M1 intake manifold, it's no longer available new and hard to find used. Hughes has their airgap which performs virtually identically.

 

[TheJoker2017]

Thank you!
With the Hughes intake, would I be able to use factory Throttle body? or would you recommend a slightly bigger Throttle body?

 

[dapepper9]

You can use either but bigger will better suit you. I like the hipotek 53mm. Best pricing around and perfect machine work on a stock core.

 

[TheJoker2017]

Alright, thank you very much for input! this doesn't seem to bad rebuild now. Next step is transmission and transfer case... $$$

 

[TheJoker2017]

The rebuild kit I'm looking at getting includes a new cam and tappets. Is it a bad idea to run old (198K miles) push rods and rocker arms? If I should get new ones where should I get them?