kstyer,sarge81     I have my old/new  396 race engine  siiting in a corner   can I  unstall this in my 1979 c-3   without great amount of money and time    what do you think   this is only a thought       something to think of in winter  dwa

Sounds like a cool idea, but I would say not a good idea in my opinion.

thanks     that's what I think    you told me what I needed to know   396 will sit in corner  thanks dwa

Not just the radiator, but the overflow system and cooling fan and clutch. Heavier motor mounts. Don't forget the larger diameter u joint yoke shafts in the rear diff, and wheel yoke bearing shafts. Of course that means a different dif. Can you do the swap without all of this? Of course. But it's there for a reason. You may not like the results without them. Of course some small blocks make a lot of power and our cars handle that, but ALL the other issues still exist. And big blocks always handle worse due to the weight. I would not do a conversion. But having said that, a big block car is still a load of fun, and yes I would love to own one.