Me and my son are building his frist car. I'm so stoked he's 13 and where building a 51 ford. We've been working on it for about two months doing body work building the engine for it now where haveing a blast. We are getting ready to have the interior done in it now. weare painting it flat black with a flame job. He's been helping me all the way. When I want to stop he keeps going on his own it's grate. I'm lucky some kids don't want to be around the Dads at this age my son want to hang out with me and work on cars. I hope it last who knows.I might get lucky I just hope he takes care of it. I'll post pics later thanks.
I helped my son build his SBC in my kitchen I was single then /He torqued every nut & bolt X3 When he got to the head bolts done first go around he was proud until I told him they had to be done 2 more times But you should have seen the smile when we set it in his car & fired it up PRICELESS
Spend every moment you can with your son,you are a very lucky guy,keep him occupied with the project.Kids these days get side tracked very easy and sometimes get in to trouble.Stay with it,it seems like its motavation for the both of you.
my dad helped me build my first sbc at 14 it went in my 71 nova a month later, i put on 20,000miles on it from high school till a year ago, i pulled it out and built it over it now makes about 500hp i can never thank my dad enough for getting me into this hobby.
My dad got me started at the same age, 13. And now at 16 I have 7 "projects" so, if he's into it, you'll find out very soon. At least I caught on pretty quick.
my dad helped me build my first motor when i was avout nine years old. then i built two motors in conjunction with eachother(with the help of my dad) one ended up in my buddy DIXONs 37 p/u on here ran really hard. the other ended up in my first car 71 nova
If he helps build it and appreciates all that goes into building one, he'll be more likely to drive it responsibly and take care of it, plus the relationship building that is going on at the same time is priceless.
That is great. I know whenever I am working on my Caddy my youngest daughter is always out with me . when she was 3 and i first got the Caddy she would say when ever she saw an older car .look daddy theres a caddy. You gotta start them off young. it shore makes you proud. She has a chair in the garage shes been working on for a while. I never new that chairs used so many tools. hopefully she will keep the interest.
For some reason It seems like I've actually seen some of this story. There was this guy I meet in georgia his son was 13 and they were building a shoebox. Cars looking good. Hope you guys enjoy driving it as much as building it
Sounds great.thats exactly what my seven year old Jack wants to build.an old shoe box.were on the hunt.
my dad had tons of cars before i came along, so he passed on all the knowledge he could but when i was rebuilding my engine i noticed that he was just kind of standing around and never really had answers to my questions. so i finally asked him if hed ever pulled an engine apart and his answer was "hell no! i never had the patience for it!" we laughed and both dove into the assembly. the thing ran perfect for years which made us both proud.
Hotrod projects are the best thing out there for our kids. My son and I went to work on a 51 ford truck I had. It had a frame off 15 years ago and was in bad need of a cosmetic job. It took us a couple of summers to get it done. He is now in Italy waiting to head out to Afghanistan soon. Our project is in the shop finished and waiting for him when he gets out of the army. His mother did the picture thing on the project and sent him the book to show his buddies over seas. It will be memories for a lifetime and the best of times. I wish all kids and dads could get involved as it would help eliminate a lot of troubled kids out there.
Thanks Guys me and my son are going to the interior shop today to pick out the colors. My son's been around cars his whole life. He spends alot of time in the shop with my Dad. When he was born My dad would take him to the shop with him. My dad has a 56 chevy my son helped do some sanding on it when he was about 3. My dad painted the car. About 3 weeks later my son told my dad (PAW PAW) that he sanded the car. I about died. he took 80 grit and sanded around the back door handle. I told my dad I'd Fix it. He said the hell you will it stayed that why untill last year when we changed color on it. So He's got the hobby in his blood I just hope he wants to keep hanging out with his old man.Thanks every body for your input. My hopes are that when he startes driveing he'll take care of it.
Frist: Please don't get any parts in backwards, LOL. Back to the stories: I started working on cars at 15 yrs old. The guy next door was a mechanic and supplied me with what I needed to do a valve job on a 283. Well, I told my dad I was going to start working on the car and he started helping me out with cleaning parts, etc. Even though he knew aircraft engines, he more or less neglected car engines. But to make a long story short, he did help out, and even got me a new Craftsman 1/2 socket set. We got it back together and he thought OMG, this is not going to run. Low and behold it started and all that needed to be done was to tweak the dizzy a little. He was amazed that it ran great. Still ran warm, but that was because of a clogged radiator which was rodded out and everything was great after that. Point to be taken, fathers and sons (and daughters) should take part in their hobbies, it makes a great bond.
This is great. I spent alot of time with my Dad as a kid working on cars. My Dad is an Old school self taught mechanic and he taught me alot about mechanical work and paint and body work. Those times where probably the best times I had with my dad. He and I never got along except when we were working on cars. I say that if your son has an interest in it, be as supportive as possible and see it through to the end. Im sure with all the blood sweat and tears he puts in the project he will definately take care of it.
keep the interest alive..and try to keep it going for as long as you possibly can, no matter at what level.. child / adult interaction is the best thing you can do for your kid. my 10Y.O. Daughter is into it somewhat, I dont push it on her , but she shows interest, and when she does i jump at the opportunity to show her, and get her involved.. she has a great eye at finding the pre 60's vehicles..she found the one in my avitar, and a few others we havent bought
My son is seven has his own tools and loves to take stuff apart. He's not real crazy about putting anything back together yet.
My son Nico has been running around our shop most of his life. He started cutting up old bikes and welding them back together as choppers since he was 9. He built this one when he was 12. Now he's building a '64 Caddy coupe, built the motor at my buddy's machine shop. modified the engine compartment for the SBC. Keep your kids in the shop, it's better than them running the streets getting into trouble. I can honestly say cars and race tracks kept me out of prison.
You guys are killing me about the Frist ok I know I can't spell It will be ok. I know it's spelled FIRST. ANd this ishis First motor not mine so I check all the parts. Thanks again Tim and Timmy
Good deal, the motor in my car now was a father/son project that we did in our basement back in 85/86. He died in 2002 but I have that and so many other memories to reflect on. I will do the same for my sons...
Frist engines aren't that rare, yes they eventually run like carp, then they fereez up. Eventually they are frostbitten and used for property markers. Please don't let this happen to your sceond engine. (All in the spirit of laughter) Again, u r doing a great thing working with the kids, they might give you trouble in their teens, but when they get a little older they will appreciate everything you taught them.
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