Crank end play, destroyed converter, 408 nightmare

Actually I’m in a suburb valley of Los Angeles at 768’ elevation. To get out of the valley one direction I go over a mountain pass at 1500’. That’s where I got light pinging in hot weather. Just did slight timing chance and other small things to fix.

But that’s with 9.7:1 compression, 416 stroker, edelbrock heads, quench, and a comp 274-S cam very close to original poster’s cam.
Tnx sir. Your case is my reminder of why 91 octane is a definite step down in octane. Then AJ comes along and messes that all up LOL.