360 magnum budget build

If you run the stock retainers on the magnum head you will probably run into intereference with the Hughes cam. I have a cam with 496/512 lift and had less than 20 thousandths clearance between the bottom of the retainer and the top of the valve stem guide. Hughes sells retainers that solve this problem and they are about 65 bucks. Also on a reground magnum cam the best centerline achievable (or so I have been told) will be about 113 which will definitely take out the "lopey cam" sound out of the equation. The stock pistons are hypereutectic which should handle your needs for street driving. The magnum head has good quench with stock pistons, that is one of the reasons that they do not need as much advance as as an LA motor. I can't vouch for kb's with a stock magnum head.