Kids, will they ever learn?

[Flatie46]

I have a son who is a senior in highschool, whom I love dearly but sometimes he needs a good kick in the butt. (I know don't we all) He has a '52 Plymouth Cranbrook that's pretty much his toy. I'm proud that he bought the Plymouth with his own money and that he has done alot of repair work himself. He let me know this afternoon he'd found a Chevy 305 he wanted to buy and put in the Plymouth. Now if the car was without an engine or was smoking and knocking I might be ok with the idea but this car has a Jasper rebuilt 230 flathead. It's very low mileage and dependable as a hammer. This car is rough but drives really well. I may have talked him out of it for now but it is his car and I can't tell him that he can't do this. The car's a big hit at school and I know his buddys have probably told him a V-8 would be much cooler, but man... I hate to see him do this.

[greg g]

peer pressure and the lure of ultimate cool is hard to resist.....

hope he can resist the black side.

[windsor8]

If you cant talk him out of an engine swap at least maybe you could sway him to going with a Mopar V8.

[TodFitch]

Whats the matter with kids today?

[PatS....]

See if you can find him a similar car without a drive train and then do the swap...just maybe with a 318 or 360. The experience can't hurt, you'll know where he is and what he's doing in the evening and on weekends.

It ain't the worst that he might want to do, and it might save an old Mopar from the scrap heap.

[Flatie46]

See if you can find him a similar car without a drive train and then do the swap...just maybe with a 318 or 360. The experience can't hurt, you'll know where he is and what he's doing in the evening and on weekends.

It ain't the worst that he might want to do, and it might save an old Mopar from the scrap heap.

This is true.

[Plymouthy Adams]

mention that there is such a thing as staying true to the code..if that does not work you can always mention that fact he may not find favor in your will...

[Robert Horne]

I have a son who is a senior in highschool, whom I love dearly but sometimes he needs a good kick in the butt. (I know don't we all) He has a '52 Plymouth Cranbrook that's pretty much his toy. I'm proud that he bought the Plymouth with his own money and that he has done alot of repair work himself. He let me know this afternoon he'd found a Chevy 305 he wanted to buy and put in the Plymouth. Now if the car was without an engine or was smoking and knocking I might be ok with the idea but this car has a Jasper rebuilt 230 flathead. It's very low mileage and dependable as a hammer. This car is rough but drives really well. I may have talked him out of it for now but it is his car and I can't tell him that he can't do this. The car's a big hit at school and I know his buddys have probably told him a V-8 would be much cooler, but man... I hate to see him do this.

I sure wish I had a Jasper rebuilt 230 flathead very low mileage and dependable as a hammer engine, that I could put in my...............shop, and admire and talk to everyday. I would feel like the luckest guy in the world.......But no, what do I have, and old 37, 201 that has been sitting in an Illinois cornfield since before I was born. I am so depressed, I think I will go make another pot of coffee............

[chopt50wgn]

tell him..........friends don't let friends drive chevies............. or put motors from a chevy in a Mopar

[Cpt.Fred]

if he doesn't want to hear:

please make him put the 230 in a box and sell it to me.

[Adam H P15 D30]

If he is intent on putting a V8 in the car, find a more period correct motor for it. If I could find a 301 or 331 POLY I would think about swapping it out also. Those old Polys are just as cool as a Flathead.

[Reg Evans]

Quick.....buy him some headers and a dual intake. That might satisfy his peer induced urge. He can get a higher compression ration for a lot less $$$ than Pete's finned head by having his head milled. He'll still be able to use the car by only upgrading one thing at a time as he can afford it.

Show him this photo of Blueskies engine.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Reg Evans

[thrashingcows]

tell him..........friends don't let friends drive chevies............. or put motors from a chevy in a Mopar

Ain't that the truth...

But if he's he!! bent on putting a V8 in the car, make sure he knows the "Added" expense of this kind of installation, money that could get him ne w upholstry or body work and paint..etc. Also try and sway him to a 318/360 if possible.

[Powerhouse]

Who pays for gas?

[james curl]

Put yourself in the kids shoes. Just to put the eye candy on his engine that BlueSkies had on his engine would would set you back close to two grand, then an adapter to either install a T-5 or a Turbo 350 is another $750.00 without the transmission. The Chevy doesn't require an adapter for the transmission if you use any GM pattern transmission or bell housing. You can buy a new 350 Chevy crate engine complete for less than three grand. No matter which way you chose you will want a different rear end for the emergency brake, it just keeps on going. He needs to sit down and do the math and see if he can come up with the kind of money to complete the project in a very short time frame. If he takes the car apart and tries to build it over a couple of years it most likely will never get done. Most young people have too much on their plates for a long term project.

[Drdialtone]

I fortunately can remember back to my high school days (daze). My grandmother had a 52 Chrysler with a Hemi in it. I could have it for free, but I had to get it in California and bring it to Oregon. Two stupid kids, my best friend and I turned it into a road trip, put the hemi in the TRUNK of his Newport and drove it back to Oregon. There it sat in the garage for a great deal of time, only to sell it as scrap. I would have never understood the complexity of what I "thought" would be cool to do and the reality of what it meant to actually do it. As it turns out, the scrap hardly paid for the gas, but was a great investment in understanding, "be careful of what you ask for!!!"

[Alshere59]

Put yourself in the kids shoes. Just to put the eye candy on his engine that BlueSkies had on his engine would would set you back close to two grand, then an adapter to either install a T-5 or a Turbo 350 is another $750.00 without the transmission. The Chevy doesn't require an adapter for the transmission if you use any GM pattern transmission or bell housing. You can buy a new 350 Chevy crate engine complete for less than three grand. No matter which way you chose you will want a different rear end for the emergency brake, it just keeps on going. He needs to sit down and do the math and see if he can come up with the kind of money to complete the project in a very short time frame. If he takes the car apart and tries to build it over a couple of years it most likely will never get done. Most young people have too much on their plates for a long term project.

I like this line of thought. Are you aware how much this will take in work and cost? You can do a hot engine update for less costs and equal cool points. Also keep resale value for what it is anyway.

[PatS....]

When I was that age and my daily driver was a 49 Chrysler Club coupe that I worshipped I was tired of how slow it was, tired of driving an OLD car all the time and being a kid...I wanted more power!

I didn't do a swap or anything...I parked it and moved on to newer bigger more powerful and the old Chrysler sat more and more.

If you don't help the kid indulge a fantasy, other fantasies will take over. The new fantasy might not like YOU...if you get my drift.

[Flatie46]

Alota good points here, you guys have made me feel better anyway. Like I said, I really couldn't tell him no being that he bought it with his own money. I talked to him about it and he's kinda dropped it for the moment. He's a good kid, he's more mechanically inclined than most of the kids his age. He put the lift kit on his truck himself, he saves and buys things he wants with the money he works for and yes he buys his own gas. I have a poly engine he could have but it's been out in the weather so long uncovered it'd be a nightmare in broken bolts taking it apart. I wouldn't care if he wan't to make a hotrod out of something else but really I think he's about to be too busy to work on one. He will be graduating in two weeks, then taking college and vocational classes. I don't want him to start it and me have to finish it to keep it from being junked. I guess I kinda freaked when he mentioned it but I just hate to see a car that runs and drives so well dissected on a whim. I know he would regret it later on. Gonna keep working on him.

[glendale]

i have a 51 plymouth with a 350/350 i installed. tell him a mopar is a way better easier fit. i'll post pics of both if he would like to see. i was having second thoughts about untill i drive my buddies 51 dodge the other day. and then i remembered how dog slow it is.

[Flatie46]

i have a 51 plymouth with a 350/350 i installed. tell him a mopar is a way better easier fit. i'll post pics of both if he would like to see. i was having second thoughts about untill i drive my buddies 51 dodge the other day. and then i remembered how dog slow it is.

No, he doesn't need to see pics and slow is a good thing when it's your teenage son. Thanks anyway.

[Niel Hoback]

I suggest you get him to read this thread so he can see how many others are concerned that he does the right thing.

[Flatie46]

I suggest you get him to read this thread so he can see how many others are concerned that he does the right thing.

I was thinking the same thing.

[Drdialtone]

When I was that age and my daily driver was a 49 Chrysler Club coupe that I worshipped I was tired of how slow it was, tired of driving an OLD car all the time and being a kid...I wanted more power!

I didn't do a swap or anything...I parked it and moved on to newer bigger more powerful and the old Chrysler sat more and more.

If you don't help the kid indulge a fantasy, other fantasies will take over. The new fantasy might not like YOU...if you get my drift.

Another point about the fantasies of this age... I too bought my own cars, starting with a 65 Pontiac Tempest (4dr - embarrassing for a teenage boy!!), but my dream was to buy a Porsche. I did - first a 1961 Super 90 for $1800 bucks (Geeze, I wish I had that now). Love it at first, but then the "power bug" bit me and I was driven to sell the 61 and bought a 67 911 S. Vastly more maintenance and upkeep with the 4 cam, 6 single barrel carbs. Sure, it was fast as a bat out of hell, but the money it sucked out of my wallet went equally fast. I ended up selling the 911 because I couldn't afford to keep it on the road. Now, many years later, I longingly think of the 61 and almost never about the 911. The elegance of the 61, craftsmanship, and the simplicity of keeping the 61 running made it a real dream car. I had to learn all of that the hard way; but I have never forgot it.

[TodFitch]

I suggest you get him to read this thread so he can see how many others are concerned that he does the right thing.

If he doesn't listen to his father he'll listen to a bunch of old geezers?