Teenager V6 250 to V8 350

[bobthecop]

My dad had a friend in school that had a hot rod buick, and in showing off, tried to beat the train, and didn't make it, so I had a VW bug as my first car, my second oldest bought a 91 talon with the turbo, and although he didn't get hurt, tore up axles, transmission and transfer case trying to get the front wheels off the ground. I drove the crap out of that bug, fortunatly it only had 60hp. You know your kid better than any of us. I'd do it but be ready to take the keys and make him take the bus if he abuses the truck. On the other hand my youngest, has a '69 with a 350 and has never had a ticket.

As my dad did for me I have done with 4 boys, you pay the gas and insurance, and if you break it you are a foot til you fix it. I help them with the mechanics, but the parts come out of their pocket. If something breaks that was not their fault, I chip in for parts.

[OLDIRON69]

My first vehicle was a '71 LWB with a 350, double hump heads,high lift cam,hedders..the works. It would burn the tires off it in a heartbeat. Like said earlier, when he has to buy his first set of rubber he'll think twice sbout the whole deal! Put a governor on it so he can only run 70 mph.My .02

[CPNE]

Originally Posted by 68wip

... I'm leaning towards not doing it,...

You answered your own question. Why put it up for debate?

If you need another opinion, I'll offer this:

What if you do install the 350, then he or somebody else gets hurt because he tries to race a Honda? How would you feel about your decision then? I don't care what he or any of the under 25 crowd here says, abuse of power WILL happen. These trucks don't exactly handle and/or brake well compounding the problem.

FYI, my 16 year old son has a 350 but it's stock, backed by a 3 speed on the column and a 3:08 peg leg rear.

[68wip]

Originally Posted by CPNE

You answered your own question. Why put it up for debate?

If you need another opinion, I'll offer this:

What if you do install the 350, then he or somebody else gets hurt because he tries to race a Honda? How would you feel about your decision then? I don't care what he or any of the under 25 crowd here says, abuse of power WILL happen. These trucks don't exactly handle and/or brake well compounding the problem.

FYI, my 16 year old son has a 350 but it's stock, backed by a 3 speed on the column and a 3:08 peg leg rear.

'Leaning towards' is not an answer, it's more likely that it will be my answer but I wanted to hear different opinions from all age groups out of curiosity more than anything else.

[CPNE]

I guess my point was not obvious. If I were "leaning towards" one decision, then about-faced based upon input from others AND the unthinkable happened, I could not forgive myself. To me, that ends the debate.

[68wip]

Originally Posted by CPNE

I guess my point was not obvious. If I were "leaning towards" one decision, then about-faced based upon input from others AND the unthinkable happened, I could not forgive myself. To me, that ends the debate.

i totally understand what you are saying.

[russellmarling]

Work on the truck with him to capture his interest. If he has a lot of work in the truck he won't want to destroy it. Let him earn the 350 by taking care of his truck. Give him something to look forward to by telling him that you guys can work on the truck together and eventually swap in the 350. He will treat the truck better if he thinks of it as a work in progress instead of thinking of it as a beater. Beaters get beaten, works in progress get improved upon. This will be a great bonding experience for you and your son that you will never forget. My first car was a Camaro with a 406 that took me 2 years to build. My mother gave me the benefit of the doubt by saying "If you are determined to destroy a car, you will do it, it doesn't matter how fast it is." I didn't feel the need to prove that it was fast because I knew it was fast, a lot my friends who had beaters would say "Check this out! My Geo Can do a burnout! If had been given a beater, I would have driven the hell out of it too. Give him something that he wants, so he will want to work on it and take of it.

[sleepyboy]

Agree with Andy...Any size motor in a truck still gets in wrecks, rolls over and keeps parents up at nights.

[danny6892002]

Look am only 21 and my first truck was a 1989 GMC longbed(it had a cam) i did a couple of burnouts but noting fast because i was afreid of a ticket. Well the good thing is that i live 15 miles off on the border so evry weekend i would go to Mex and go crusin in Matamoros( I was born there). And you know when you have crazy friends they tell you to hit the gas and you do what they tell you. What am traying to say is that some times friends put pressure on you and you go crazy. I did race a cuple of times but it was my daily driver so if something went wrong i had to pay for it. I dont regret any of the thing that i have done and believe me that high school years have been the bet till now. I say get him the 350 make him happy, if something is going to happen its going to happen no matter what.

[skchevota]

My truck had a big block when I was in high school (same truck) I had to build it so I respected it . Not to say it did not see its share of abuse! When I broke it I just built a biger moter. As the yaers have went on and kids came, I went to a small block, and now down to an I6 ..... Ok who am I kidding its a Cummins, but my point is If the kid is wanting to be involved in the project, then DO IT!!!!!!!!!! He will treat it with a lot more respect if he has to help build it and has his blood sweat and tears in it. If you just hand over the keys to the I6 he will not have the same respect for it, guaranteed. Besides, he could be at home with you doing a father son project, or he could be out with some punk friends experimenting with drugs...... I woud go for the project.

[OLDIRON69]

A great bonding experience with the son too!

[67ChevyRedneck]

I had my 67 when I was 17. It was a 250 with a 3 speed manual. It was all I could do to get that truck to go 75 mph. I put the 350 in when I was about 23.

I'd leave it out for now. The truck runs fine and gas will be about the same. 320hp is a lot of power for these trucks. They'll do 0 to 60 quick but the 60 to 0 isn't so good.

[71Chevy4-speed]

Make him earn the smallblock swap like stated above. He will appreciate it more, he'll still abuse it as we all did... do but he won't abuse it like someone that has no respect for it cause someone else paid for it. I drove my 71 C20 through highschool paid for all my own parts, gas, insurance etc. 350, sm465 and 4.56's it chewed through gas but I wouldn't have changed it for the world.