[ ok this is my problem i have a 396 in a 1967 camaro convertible now i looove my car!!!!!!!! ok but the thing is i hear bad things all the time about 396 engines i havnt noticed a real problem ..other than it drinks as much oil as gas on some days it still runs good and is clean for the most part ..i guess what im asking is what is really wrong with a 396 nobody will tell em they all just say they have problems ..if i want to fix the problems or replace the engine i need ot knwo why the apparantly suck ,,,,thanks for the info ...

ohh also ...it has a 3 speed auto ...i f**king hate that tranny well i hate automatics ,,its gt a shift kit i belive and it snaps nto 2nd and 3rd liek a damn whip so its cool but highway sucks cuz its geared low and not to muntion i love shifting my own dam gears so does anbody amke a conv kit to go to manual tranny in my car from auto ][/B]
Duuno that there's anything wrong with a 396. Just a lot of cast iron in relation to the cubic inches. I've seen em' go for a loooong time.

I don't know of a conversion kit for manual trans. Not really a need for a kit as some camaros came from the factory with a manual trans. so all you need to do is find a manual camaro donor and swap the parts. Or an easier rout might be to buy the needed parts from an after market source like www.classicindustries.com