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

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metallidart

metallidart

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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)
 
it really depends on your son.... I had a 4 cylinder in a 66 Anglia for my first car. Way souped up, my little brother had a smaller engine in his Anglia and wrecked it being stupid. The main difference between us was that I was always in the garage working on it and knew what was happening when I beat on it. I also knew I would have to fix it! (and pay for it). The neighbor kid wrecked the first 3 or 4 cars he had.... he drove like a complete idiot though.... LOL
 
I wouldn't go with a manual, for sure. For a kid , no matter how responsible , the temptation is gonna override intelligence. Stick gives you unlimited torque multiplication. Yeah a six w/ a 3 speed could easily drop a driveshaft. If you had a 273 accessible, I'd go that route. You can still get in a heap o trouble with that. Plus you mentioned having him involved with the process, that could and should place a little more respect towards the car as he has an interest in it vs. Being given something to thrash on. Good luck on whatever you decide.
 
Drop a 3 cyl from a Geo Metro in it. I would have got in a heap ton of trouble with my bone stock slant had I been unfortunate enough to get caught.

My .02:burnout:
 
Drop a 318 in or slant in it and teach him the ins and outs of building and tuning so he can decide what to do with it when the time comes
 
JMO, Make it a graduation present.

I remember being 16 and i was relatively responsible for my age. I still did extremely stupid things and most young kids wreck their first cars.
 
In general I was a mild mannered kid. But still did a lot of crazy stuff behind the wheel. Should be dead a few times over. No way I would hand and serious power to young male.

funny, our posts are almost mirror images in time and message - must mean something :)
 
I have a 340 from a 68 motor from a 69 dart you should thro back in it.i just pulled it last week 1,500.00 I just built a nice 360 my 65 barracuda the rest is the big mans plan . sounds like you at least have a good relationship with your son ,I took my sons graduation present a 69 original Camaro away from him for trying to put a diff motor in it ,sold the car for 2800.00 nothings in the end and 1 lost relationship. you can only guide him , push him and you"ll push him away is what happened with us g/l look at all us were still kids at 53 when we get around our old friends ,I still luv the smell of burning tires and asphalt and pulling a gear. you know whenever it gets close your taking the first ride anyways===================
 
360 is definitely too much.....maybe just me, but I have met some mean 360s in my time into cars ....with that 3.58 stroke .....they can definitely be mean if pushed.......try and push the envelope on a 360 and I bet it wont hesitate before you do.

I would think a slanty or 318 for a beginner ...a 318 is has good power but runs out of breath quick which in this case could be a good thing....especially with a 2 bbl and 2.76 gears.. they run out of carb and manifold quick.

to me a 360 is a 340 ...I have both and they run pretty close but I think the 360 I had in my dart is meaner than my dad's 340 cuda IMO.

I was older when I started driving but still no matter who you are ...your going to try and push it at least once when your by yourself on an empty back road.
 
Yes, too much. A 360 plus testosterone is giving him a deadly weapon. How would you feel if anything happened to him? He's too young, someday when he has a son he'll understand.
 
When I was 16, I was driving around in a 340 Duster w/ a Manual Shift 727, 4.10 Sure Grip 8.75".

That car would go sideways, on command, and stay there as long as the pedal was planted to the floor.

When I wasn't driving that, I was driving a 4x4 Dodge D50 with a built up 2.6L (Milled Aftermarket Non-Jet Valve Head, Forged Pistons, 10.5:1 Compression, Custom Ground Cam, Header w/ 2.5" Single Exhaust, Dual Weber 2BBL Carbs) and a 5-Speed manual transmission and 4.65 gears.

That thing was a tire burning monster, I could come to a stop, throw it to 1st Gear, drop the hammer and burn the tires through all 5 gears.
 
I totaled my first vehicle, an A100 with a 6/auto at 17 years of age. When you're young you do stupid, reckless ****. If you're lucky you live to talk about it. My parents always had big cars like Electra 225s and New Yorkers, so I learned to drive in powerful cars, but I didn't drive their cars recklessly because I would've got my *** kicked if anything had happened. Six weeks after getting the A100 I hit a telephone pole because of driving fast through deep water to make it splash and lost control. Since I was wearing my seatbelt I walked away from it instead of being seriously injured, very lucky that night.

You don't need a lot of power to get in trouble, but it will get you there quicker.
 
Well maybe for a different perspective, I am 18 and I have never driven my Dad's Dart as it is still in the shop, its a slant anyways. I can count on one hand the number of times I drove his Ram 1500, not because of my driving skills, he just wanted to keep it in good condition and didn't trust the other knuckle heads at my school, lol. I logged lots of miles with the '02 Intrepid. Its got a 3.5 high output v6 (almost the same motor they had in the newer Chargers/Challengers). 240+ hp and a custom exhaust. I had decent get up and go. Could spin the tires pretty well in front wheel drive and pulled pretty hard all the way up to 6500 rpm. Although I wanted a v8 rwd vehicle, I can say that I am thankful for the car I was given. Kept me alive and still had some pep and sporty looks with a mean growl. With the exception to the straight piped Cummins, F-150s, and 318 Ram (my buddy also has a restored '67 Camaro with headers and a 350 (his Dad owns a shop)), I probably had the loudest car. Ricers not counted. Loved my car.

This is not my car, and I never drove over 90 myself (road in '77 Porsche with turbo work and it passed 100 like nothing), but shows the potentional of the Trep. Plenty power for a 16 year old.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHmZP7yA58E"]Dodge Intrepid R/T 3.5 0-60 short gear ratio - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T3B67liH2s"]140mph in dodge intrepid r/t - YouTube[/ame]

So if you are looking for a power number that worked well there is my story lol.
 
He can get in just as much trouble or just as dead with a bicycle.
 
I started out with a Daisy Red Rider. I got a .22 when I was older. Next was a .30-30 past from father to son.

When I was old enough and responsible enough to buy my own rifle, I got a .300 win mag.

That same basic plan should be followed with teenage boys and cars.
 
when the reaper calls, it won't matter what he's driving or doing, it's fate.
build the 360 and let him learn by his rights and wrongs.
 
The problem today is that these kids are trying to control a bunch of power with a cell phone in their hand.

Lots of power + texting + putting the moves on the lady = another dead mailbox.

When you just have lots of power + putting the moves on the lady, like we did 25 years ago, at least you could keep your eyes on the road.
 
Thanks everyone for the input! I talked it over with him, and we may have it figured out. I explained it all to him, and told him nothing is set in stone, but here it is:
--find a bone stock, complete, 318 or 273 2bbl. We will go through it, replace gaskets, bearings, etc. Stock cam, etc. Exhaust manifolds. 904, stock stall. 2.76 gears, maybe even some 2.45 gears if I use the parts from my brothers old 8.25 rear at my dads. Maybe just the whole rear. He will do most of the degreasing, etc, and I will show him how to put it together.
--If I think he is being responsible, I'll let him start upgrading stuff. Intake/carb, headers, cam, port a set of heads, etc.
--Then I will probably sign it over to him when he graduates, possibly with a mild 408 shortblock or something. Unless he loses interest or something, and wants a newer car.
 
1968FormulaS340 said:
The problem today is that these kids are trying to control a bunch of power with a cell phone in their hand.

Lots of power + texting + putting the moves on the lady = another dead mailbox.

When you just have lots of power + putting the moves on the lady, like we did 25 years ago, at least you could keep your eyes on the road.
Click to expand...

I agree, although sometimes it was a little hard to concentrate! haha. I have to hope I raised him right and he has enough common sense to just leave his phone alone.
 
funwithfuel said:
I wouldn't go with a manual, for sure. For a kid , no matter how responsible , the temptation is gonna override intelligence. Stick gives you unlimited torque multiplication. Yeah a six w/ a 3 speed could easily drop a driveshaft. If you had a 273 accessible, I'd go that route. You can still get in a heap o trouble with that. Plus you mentioned having him involved with the process, that could and should place a little more respect towards the car as he has an interest in it vs. Being given something to thrash on. Good luck on whatever you decide.
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Good point. I told him we might go with an automatic, and when the time comes, maybe we can swap it over. I still have a set of pedals, and its still pretty easy to find the rest.
 
Dart_Doctor said:
I say put a slant in it . then if he proves to ya that he can stay outta trouble . bump it up tp the 360
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If I find a cheap slant/automatic, then I wont hesitate. I will even let him try his own hand at welding/reinforcing the k, etc. I have 2 or 3 of them lying around. I do know I did more dumb things TRYING to make my 225 go fast than I did when I turned 18 and put a mid 13 sec 360 in it.
 
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