My soon-to-be-teenage son has always be marginally interested in my hotrod stuff but he really digs doing the electrical work (soldering, running the multi-meter, etc) more than anything else and I encourage that love of all things electrical anytime I get a chance. His buddy from next door however....is ATE UP with hotrods. That guy is in the garage anytime I'm in there. He's always asking questions and generally hanging around anytime I'm wrenching on the 54. He's always wanting to know the specifics of what I'm doing and the specifics about the car, the engine, etc. So....the other day, I walked next door and asked his dad (who could care less about cars) if it'd be OK if I let his son turn some wrenches and get more involved. He said it was fine. Today I let him crank the 302 (it was loud....coming right out of the exhaust manifolds) and rev it by pulling on the carb linkage. That dudes eyes lit up like it was Christmas. You could almost see the hotrod-horsepower-obsession being born in his mind....right then and there. I thought it was a cool thing....passing on the knowledge that my dad taught me....that he learned from his dad. My 6 year old has had that crazed look in his eye around my old cars for a couple years now, so it's now typically him and the neighbor kid in there with me, handing me wrenches, etc.
It is kind of annoying at times to have multiple kids in there when I'm trying to get things done, but it's totally outweighed by the fact that all of this has to be having an impact on these young guys. Maybe 30 years from now, they'll be here on the future-HAMB talking about how old-man Allen took the time to let them turn a wrench on an old Ford.
Awesome! In times like these, passing on the passion of mechanical things is very important. I see my nephew in his teen years and shudder. He's a vidiot (video game idot). Has no interest in fixing or working on anything. He brags about how fast he can text! His dad is an electrician, I'd think some of that would have worn off on him, but that's not the case. I saw a teenage girl interviewed on the news and she stated that her world would crumble and die, if she lost her precious ipad. Sad.
Kids dont forget anything. Both your son and the neighbor are gonna remember nothing but nice things about YOU well after you are gone.... cool.
Damm there should be more people like you. I've been trying for years to convince my dad to let me build something. Wishing there were people like that so I can learn more
Its great to see the gleam in my kids (3&8) eyes when we go for a ride in one of the old ones, especially when one of their friends see us and wave really big.
My kids love it when i pick them up from school sometimes in one of the cars,Their friends ask them questions for days afterwords about how cool it is to work and ride in the cars.
kids spell love T.I.M.E it is the best and only gift that anyone can truely give of ourselves i wish i had a kid to share my garage time with or any of my time those of you who do you are truely blessed and i envy you
I have two grown and married boys/men. #1 Liked the cars after they were finished and he could cruise. Hardly ever came out in the garage but did learn basic mechanic skills. His 1st car at 17 was a bone stock Isuzu PU. He liked computer games, playing saxaphone and cooking. He's now a photographer that drives a lowered Toyota, Honda or something Japanese. #2 Liked the garage and jumped in with both feet. His 1st car at 15 was a S10 Blazer 2.8 4WD that he 2WD frame swapped, added a 4.3, shaved, roll pan, drop spindles, frame notched and Camaro wheels. I helped him but only when he took the lead. He doesn't have a hot rod yet but he will. He's a full time engineering student and works heavy construction. Still has time to buy O/T cars with a problem, then repair and sell. He drives a jacked up Dodge. Both are great kids, just different interests.
I guess that's what it's all about. You get one quick ride through life...you might as well do some positive things. The neighbor kid told me this afternoon that he's after his dad to buy him an old car that he can fix up. His dad told him to come ask me what to buy.
It probaly doesnt come across over my keyboard, but i'm only 27. i grew up heavily into vintage motor cycles and even built a harley when i was 12, by the time i was 16 i was doing everything hotrod i could, but growing up i never had a garage to do it out of so very little serious stuff got done, now i'm working out of 2 garages and honestly have surpassed almost everyone i learned from in knowlage and ability, and pretty much find myself teaching some of the people that got me into the hobby. I guess i can say i'm really indebt to those people that showed me stuff when i was a little kid and now i find myself doing what i can to get others interested, whether that involves explaining what i'm doing to someone who asks a question or just a little blip of the gas to some kid transfixed on some vintage tin i'm driving
It would have been great to have more inspiration growing up, all I had was my older brother who drove the '65 International pickup to look up to and watched him tinker on it a little bit. He soon left to live in Germany to live a new life with a wife and kid, and my family have no serious interests in old cars. I wonder how I got so interested, cause there's really no one I know to show me everything. It was passed down to me from somewhere. . I'm curious to check in about family history!
hahahaha well at least he has sense enough to send his kid the right direction. Man you did a good thing, maybe it will keep him away from video games and give a young girl a man that can do something around the house!
me and my brother are doing that with two friends but there not teens there in there 30tys and 40tys its fun and at the same time if you dont want to work on something they wont haha ande my son has had that look in his eyes the last 10 months now that i let him play in my 56 when im working in it anf the first time i seen the look is when he was playing with a buddys flathead here is a pic of that
Another HAMB member (60galaxieJJ) showed up at my house the other day to look at an old truck next door, I was expecting someone older. I didn't ask him his age (20 something) but I did ask why he wasn't into import cars. He popped the hood on this primer gray Galaxie and there sat dual quads. My question was answered. Don P.S. I'm gonna check out his car club and see if there are more. Might have to become a member.
When I was 18, I hired a neighborhood welder and he was very happy to help me with my hot rod. He used to race 1/4 midgets and I will never forget what he said to me, "I wish that you were my son instead of the one I have". His son never wanted anything to do with the midgets that were scattered all round his garage. Thinking it over through the years, I'm sure that he would have given me one of them if I had shown interest in them
Its been said before here, but you are giving these guys a little taste of the hobby and they'll always remember it. That's the spark that lights the fire that hopefully keeps this hobby alive for generations. I'm a huge proponent of that. Give a kid a ride in your old car, let 'em throw some wrenches and teach them what you know. I don't want to see these things in a museum 30 years from now...I want to see them on still on the road!
I have three boys and a girl, boys are 11,12,16 my girl is 15. My youngest boy and oldest boy love hot rods, my the other two could care less they think they are cool but just not for them. They get that from there momma's side of the family lol.My oldest boy has a 51 ford car and a 67 chevy truck he loves both of them and did most of the wreach time him self with me in the back ground. My youngest boy wants a 70 chevelle so I guess I'll be looking for one befor to long. Now all my kids have been in the shop to learn how to change a tire ,oil, do a tuneup ect.
in 2007 I helped a friend retrieve 5 Model A's out of a barn after sitting for 30 years. He kept a roadster, I bought a roadster and the remaing ones were sitting outside a repair shop for sale. The second day, a 21 year old kid comes running into the garage asking who owns the cars. He ends up buying a 29 coupe. Since then the 3 of us, my friend who originally found them and the young guy and I have had 5 years of friendship and fun building our cars and cruising around. As i write this, that skinny kid is now driving his 29 Model A coupe to North Carolina to start a new job working in a professional Hot Rod shop, a dream job for him. So, if you see a 29 coupe with primered fenders heading south today, give him a thumbs up!
Can't start them to soon. My grandson is three and could live in the shop with grandpa. His mom and auntie art car people and have been around race cars and trucks since they were real little. Never had a son. Always with me in the shop , he keeps me inspired. his questions and his innocence are always welcome, hopefully he will remember these time well after I am gone. I never had the opportunity to do this with my dad and had no brothers or uncles to share times like this with. The car world has brought many long and lasting friendships. Always fine time to build and share in the shop the relationships you will build will be longer lasting and a way more rewarding than what you build. My little buddy My shop foreman
I spent several hours working on the 54 yesterday....and my helper from next door was there the whole time. My two boys were out riding bikes, killing bugs, threatening squirrels and would occassionally come into the garage and ask the neighbor kid to come play. He'd be gone for a few minutes and then be right back...asking me what was what on the car. That kid spent the whole day in the garage with me....never got bored....never complained. I've never seen anything like it. My two boys love the old cars too, and they'll work with me for a half hour or so and then go ride bikes or build forts for two or three hours. We have several hundred acres of woods right behind our small neighborhood and it's a veritable kid's wonderland. I had access to pretty much the same thing as a kid and as ate up as I was with cars at age 11, I still spent the better part of the day out exploring. The neighbor kid's dad wandered in the garage about midway through the day and asked me if I was being hindered or bothered by his kid and I told him no.....that it was fine. But I did take a moment to chat with him about potential careers/training/education that they should start thinking about for him. I thought that the days of obsessed gearhead kids were long gone. Apparently not.
Nice work.. Like was said before, don't over look the "kid" inside the older guys that get bit "later" in life. I got one right now on the line, he kinda liked cars and old bikes for most of his life, but never had the means or time or whatever to really get interested. He's in his 50's and is ATE UP as you say. It happend when he helped out a friend financially by buying his car. It's and OT monte carlo, but it has an 871 blown sbc. Hadn't really run good ever.....That's when I got involved and he wanted to help. Now he's collecting bikes and looking for older hotrod stuff he likes. It's never too late?
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