I am thinking about maybe purchasing one of these shortblocks but i'm worried about dependablilty...I mean are they going to break like every other month to fix or am i going to be ok....oh and it's in my street driven weekend car....thanks

 

I have never had one but I would not hesitate if I had the money to run a 396 stroker in my weekend car, I might hesitate to do it in a daily driver but a weekend fun car, yeah I would do it.
GMHTP ran a 396 in Thunderchicken for about 50k and when they took it apart it still looked good and MTI said it would have probably lasted another 50.

 

Thax I am doing the swap after the first of the year. But havent made up my mind weather to build it myself or buy pre made. it just sems like The folks i know Take there cars to the track one week and have there motors out the next. I know fast cars brake but if the motor needs to come out once or twice a year to keep it running i dont think it's worth it!

 

I don't have any personal experience to support this but I recall some reputeable people recommend a 383 over a 396 due to potential piston scuffing and issues with the rod length and pin locations. If you search i'm sure you could find that stated by someone else. Obviously there are some well running 396s though so don't let that scare you off.

-brent