Hey all! I'm new here and was hoping for a little help.

I'm at a point with my pickup I'm ready to overhaul a lot of things on it. It's a 96 1500 with a 5.9L and an auto trans. My main focus atm is the motor. I'm wanting to build a new engine for it since it's got plenty of leaks to pick and choose from, however this is my first time building up a Magnum (I mainly mess with turboprops lol) and I want to do it right. Does anyone know any rebuild kits, parts, etc. I should upgrade or buy to give the engine more durability? I'm not necessarily looking for power gains, just (somewhat) over the top or better quality parts that will keep the engine running for a long time.

All I have planned at the moment is the Hughes airgap intake, and stock ported heads. However, I could totally be wrong about those plans, which is why I'm asking for second opinions from others who have experience in this or similar situations. ANY help is appreciated! TIA!

 

When I swapped the existing 5.9 magnum motor with a good used 5.9 motor in my truck a while back, I was in the same boat. I wanted to enhance the reliability and longevity of the engine. To that end, I added the following parts, in addition to the normal parts, such as new water pump, FelPro engine gasket set, re-manufactured distributor, etc. :
. double roller timing chain and gear set
. timing chain tensioner
. Mopar Performance hardened oil pump drive
. Melling high volume oil pump
. Hughes intake plenum plate kit
. Milodon 8 quart oil pan, oil pan pickup and dipstick tube (found used)
. Hughes Big Gulp throttle body
. JBA shorty coated headers (found used)
. Upgraded exhaust system to 3" from the cat back using Dynomax UltraFlo Welded Muffler - #17233 (3" inlet and outlet) and Magnaflow Converter - #99047HM (dual 2" inlets, 3" outlet, front O2 sensor port)

 

I drag raced a freshened up stock 5.9 short block with after market heads/intake etc, it's a tough engine.
The weak spots are:
The heads, yours are most likely cracked between the valve seats. Don't spend any money on them. There are better heads out there.
The stock valve springs are barely good enough for a stock cam, if it's apart replace them.
The plenum sucks oil, it's an easy fix, lots of info on the forum.
IMO. the stock oil pan is fine, I shifted mine at 6500, never ran out of oil, ditto the stock volume oil pump and intermediate shaft. I still run a stock volume but blue printed oil pump on the 500 RWHP 410 magnum in my Dakota with a modified oil pan. 7 quarts.
Stock Crank and rods, no issues, you could upgrade to better connecting rod bolts, although not REALLY needed, but since you're replacing them anyway...
JBA shorty headers look better, not much of a performance upgrade over stock manifolds, the exhaust killer is the stock Y-Pipe and catalytic converter.
If you plan on towing, keep the stock intake manifold for low end grunt. If you do go to a different intake manifold you will need a PCM flash for it to really work.
A PCM tune on a stock truck can work wonders, I use a SCT on my 98. Flyin Ryan Performance is the man. frptuning.com
I was towing my race Dakota with my 98 gas Ram, I had an M1 intake, after market Magnum R/T heads (out of production) Pace setter long tubes and a list of other parts to put on, my transmission went out, I had it rebuilt with a better converter and valve body mods, the truck was so much stronger I sold all the parts and stuck with stock. Now I have 24 valve Cummins to do the towing, but still have the 98.
IMO...do a stock rebuild, bearings, rings, gaskets, new oil pump, double roller timing chain, new water pump, better heads/springs if you can find em, repair the plenum and save some coin for the transmission, I've had two 46REs, both needed a rebuild.
I used this book a lot when I was starting out. "How to rebuild your Mopar Magnum V8". it's on Amazon.