IBM 486DX2-50, linux kernel 2.0

This suddenly came into my mind, since I might need to down grade my kernel, may be I should try kernel 2.0.x, I don't need all those new driver, and the frame buffer may work too. I download kernel 2.0.40(latest!), but it does not compile on my system, same for kernel 2.0.38, 2.0.39. Kernel 2.0 only tested on gcc-2.7.x. Luckily I still have the redhat 5.2 CDs, which came with gcc-2.7. Finally I can get it compile, but it doesn't run on redhat 7.1. Insist of using kernel 2.0.x may need a lot of work around, but the compress kernel size is just half(300k) or the 2.4 version!