Warmed-over 360+16 year old=too much?

Once again, I am calling on you guys for advice.

My 12 year old son loves THE (its not mine, apparently, he says its his. So I call it "the 68") 1968 Dart in my father/son resto thread. I made my mind up a while back to keep it for him, do pretty much all the work + whatever I could do to make it safer. It will have big bolt discs, poly bushings, front/rear sway bar, 8.8 rear with discs (I have to figure out the 8.8" rear with relocated springs/what sway bar, but that is a ways off lol). I doubt I will let him keep the manual steering. He wants a manual trans, I still have one set of pedals. I'll worry about the treasure hunt for the linkage, etc later too. I may even make it have power brakes. It will have all new lines, suspension, etc.

I am a paranoid parent. Members of my family aren't known to be sane all the time. My son has a pretty level head, I trust him with alot. But, I know how stupidly I drove my Dart at 16 years old, just to see what I could do. Knowing how I drove, I'm tempted to install a cage and harnesses in the Dart for him lol.

Now the big question. I have an 85 360 that I could rebuild for it, with a mild cam, std bore, heads with a good valve job, he can port them. Cast iron intake, exhaust manifolds, maybe even a thermoquad. Basically a real solid mid 70's style 360, like the LRE trucks.

Do you guys think that is a stupid idea? Should I just find a stock 318 or 273 2bbl and let him learn to tune, etc? Or even put a slant/3 on the tree back in it.
(to be honest, I drove crazier with the slant than my first 360 lol)