Why not see if it'll run before going thru all of that and see.. those engines can take a beating. I've had radiators clog solid, thermostats stick, hoses blow, and more cause overheats. It would suck to have the motor gone thru and find out when the fresh one overheats that is the radiator. .
I remember when I got my first ramcharger I got it in the fall. Come spring time it started to run hot.
Growing up I had a neighbor who owned a radiator shop, went and had him get me a new one. When I went to swap them out I found the front of the old one plugged solid with leaves and such. Couldn't see it with the AC condenser in the way. I blew it out and refilled it, burped the air out and ran it. no more overheating....
I never did put the new one in.
Not saying that's your problem but Ice seen cars parked in the back 40 for some really crazy minor problems.
How many miles on your car?
Now if you're doing what you're doing for the experience, or cuz you want to build it up "anyway, no matter what" that's great. But if it was mine I'd want to at least try to get it running before I went thru all of that just to see if it would