ATK 5.9 Magnum crate motor horse power

The OE Magnum head crack issue is over rated in the sense that it will be an issue to a running driving vehicle. Of course you would never use a cracked head to rebuild and use in your car, but, if you own a Magnum engine and the heads are cracked, you would never know.

If you build your own Magnum engine, as far as I’m concerned, the only head material to use is aluminum. Edelbrock’s for low to mid level performance and then the Trick Flows for mid to high power levels.

You could use a MoPar W head and pushrod oil the valve train, but unless your building a balls to the wall engine, I would not bother with a W series head unless you already have it. The head itself (W-2/5) isn’t that expensive anymore, just a bit pricey on rocker gear. (Stepping up and above a Harland Sharp set up.)