I've got a coworker who is in the process of rebuilding a 350 for his demo derby car and he was looking at a 60 over bored block. My opinion was to stay away from it for fear of overheating it even worse than what normally happens during a demolition derby. Any input??

Sounds like a perfect place to build a "questionable" combination, if it splats no worries. ;) I've never built a demo derby engine before but I would suspect machining it along the lines of an air cooled engine would allow it to live longer once the coolant is lost.
An extra .001 or .002 piston to wall, cast pistons, super low compression.
Open up the side clearances on the rods to allow extra oil spray on the pistons and bores for cooling, HV oil pump, 7 qt pan, extra bearing clearance, light valve spring pressure, stock or very mild camshaft, extra valve guide clearance, that sort of stuff comes to mind.

Yes, cheap, almost worn out stock!!

And put it in a HEAVY car..........

pdq67

i like that. air cooled clearances. the whole combo sounds great to me too. can you fake a radiator up front and hide an electric fan/electric water pump/hose routing setup with a second radiator "properly" located somehow??? that would be cool!!!! pun intended!!

I thought they put the rad. in the back seat and piped it up front??

pdq67

I thought they put the rad. in the back seat and piped it up front??

pdq67

Nope... Just a fuel cell and battery are moved into the passenger compartment.

The radiator must stay intact in the front of the vehicle.
(Water only in some derbies and some allow the radiator to be removed entirely but not relocated.)