I do not agree. Every kid wrecks his or her first car. The truck needs a 318.

Go to where there are retirees (I know, hard to find down there) and buy a Fifth Avenue, preferably with the hydraulic roller cam, meaning '86 or newer, maybe '85 will have it. My Mom's Fifth had a little over 100K and you could still see the honing marks in the cylinders. I could have reused the bearings, they were all very good. Dress the engine with the stuff from the RC.

The later model two barrel 318s are more efficient than earlier ones, better chamber. I mean the ones in the Fifth Avenues.

Add dual exhaust from the manifolds but nothing else until he's been driving it for a while. He'll have to live with the 2-barrel carb. The Fifth Avenue's exhaust manifolds have 360-sized ports so no need to change, if they fit in the chassis.

The 318 is known among car people as the engine that is too tough to die. So this kid must be super talented. Don't give him anything you aren't willing to have come back as scrap. No 340s and no Hemis. You'll live to regret either of those.

Replacing in kind is the quickest and least likely to result in a dead RC gracing your driveway for the next four years.

R.