Are we "The last of the Mohicans ?"

Ratrod, just had a friend who lives close by stop over. He's from Long Island. I'm several years older but he started talkin about the good ole days and we went on for several hours. Here we were, a New Yorker and a guy from central Illinois talking pretty much about the same things.
Hell, we may have not even remembered how it really was but things seemed cool!
This thread has gotten pretty repetitive but most guys do seem to get it. I still remember our first TV with the round screen and 75' antenna to pick up a signal 10-15 miles away. Every time one of those damned Fords drove by the signal went out! I can't even begin to figure out all of this new crap so no longer watch TV.

 

things have change so much since i was a kid.we ouldnt wait ti get our permits or d.l.alot of us had cars way before we could drive. dont seem to be that way today.atleast not with the kids ive talked to.they dont relly care about cars like we did.im not saying all kids just the ones ive had to deal with.they think cool is being able to beat the computer at some game.or have the newest phone.ive had a few youngguns come over here to the shop and all they do is sit in chairs(dont even have the energy to stand) and text on their phones.for hrs. at a time. they have no interest in learning about cars.at least the 25 or so that i know.the first kid that really wants to learn and will work out here with me because he wantas to.and stays after it, will be the kid i give a body, engine and a few other things to.and tell him have at it. there are your parts now build you a car.and i will do it. i promise!

 

I'll have my 3 year old on a bus in the morning.
That's an awesome plan though. The trick is to never let on that that is the plan. Let him/her prove they're worthy of your offer without the expectation of parts to build a car. Part of the problem with kids today is that they want everything handed to them. Their sense of entitlement is amazing to me.

 

My 9YO daughter and I just made a run from mid Michigan to Up state NY and back in 26 hours. We picked up a 30 Chrysler parts car for our 31 Plymouth. She did great on the ride, I was proud that she could handle it as well as she did. About half way home she said to me "dad you are only going to use two doors and the frame?" I said "yes" she responds with "can I have the rest" I said "sure thing, you going to put it back on the road?" she said "no I want to play in it" I said "OK baby" just a a ton of almost lost memories flooded back into my brain about sitting in my dads old "projects" and acting like I was driving a race car. I will foster this in her as long as she wants to do it. She is already thinking and talking about what kind of car she wants.

 

When our son was nine I bought a 48 Chevy panel truck. Actually made a stupid trade. Since I figured I needed more to make it fair I also got a 1950 Studebaker 4-door without engine or tranny and a shortened S-10 with roof cut off and track nose added. It had a stock 350/350 in it and a narrowed Caddy rear end.
I only got it for parts. Parked it next to my pole building visible to everyone who drove down our driveway in the boonies. Our son must have driven that rod project a million miles while it sat there.
Later he actually got it running and used parts like running lights, horns, etc, on our 41 Ford. When he got bright ideas to drive it we pulled the engine/tranny. But that S-10 ugly thing was worth a lot just as his dream machine. He's now nearly 23 and a mechanic.
We adopted him. He was our first grandchild. Before adoption I was working on the 55 wagon and got asked to baby sit the 1 1/2 year old rugrat. I tossed him in the gutted wagon and he turned his first wrench under the dash as I held a bolt from the firewall. . That was our start working on the wagon and other cars together.
The trick is get them around old cars and let them help.

 

"OVER? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor!?" It ain't over until WE say it's over!!!!!!!!!!"

Had to add the link, last time I quoted it several folks did not get the reference

http://youtu.be/Ib43Lfdivdw

 

The other day I was in the garage assembling an OT engine and look up to see several grand daughters watching intently. "What is that Grandpa?".

So we put together a short block. They were facinated watching the pistons going up and down in the holes.

It sure brought back the memories of the first engine that I put together.

 

Well physically I am back very close to when I was a little kid. If I shave can I can I come over and have at it?

Funny thing is that I dn't know a kid in thw world that wants to buiild a car, not even a tunner. But around here they do start driving as soon as they are old enough to boost a car. Well I guess driving is a realitive term.

 

You did good Grandpa!
I remember the first few times I was called grandpa. Now it feels good.
First engine I put together was in my project Model A. Still remember it was actually a truck engine...Number on block was AA.
Still don't know if I built it right but the guy that talked me out of the coupe drove it for years then took it to some danged place in Florida like those grandpas do!.

 

Actually grandpa started out as capaw when the oldest girl was real little. I don't know that being called that gives me chicken skin, but knowing how the girls feel about it does. The oldest girl has had her head stuck in more than her share of engines or under and around in more cars than I care to count. She enjoys doing it but she has absolutely no desire to build or own a rod of any sort. She likes econo boxes of all things.

Some of the younger 1%ers around town call me Pops. Normally it would bother me but it is spoken in respect so it actually makes me feel pretty good.

They are just doing what they know to do. They live within their culture.

The thing that amazes me is that so many young people would rather watch a movie on their I-Pod than to go to a movie theater or even sit down and watch on on a television. Communication is about the same hours on end texting but no conversing.

 

Have some faith. I'm doing my best to make sure we keep it going. Check out this thread. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=704080
It is amazinig though how little the younger generation as a whole knows about anything mechanical. When I was a kid, We had are bikes, Minibike ect to keep us entertained. You had to fix it your self. Nowadays they seem to want to play video games ect.

 

Tman - great quote. And... "This situation absolutely calls for a really futile and stupid gesture to be made on somebody's part. And we're just the guys to do it.''

A great discussion, honored to be here. I build things and I show anyone younger than my 43 years willing to listen - how. And WHY. As I learn, I teach. If you want folks to keep growing gardens, you show 'em how to plant seed.

And for me, in the middle years, I still get around everyone older with more wrench, guitar building, homestead skill, or any other set of knowledge, shut the pie hole and listen & watch them do what they do.

Times will keep changing in strange ways as they always have and it will never be the mainstream who carries any torch, so don't look at them and get discouraged. Ok, just TRY. I know. But the undercurrent moves in its own ways... as it always has.

Rest easy, old soldiers. You AND your work will not be forgotten.

 

i feel like i'm watching an alien invasion sometimes.... will these new guys tear the paintings down in the Smithsonian to use for asswipe, or will they respect the beauty in things? will they paint pubic hair on statues, or cover them up with sheets? do they appreciate art for art's sake, or are they making a sales list for E-bay? do they actually eat newborn children?

the old timers felt the same way looking at us coming up.... three-headed chicken stealing dog molesters, all...... well; there is that ONE guy who...

anyways... passing the torch along requires FAITH that the next guy doesn't burn the house down with it. that's what bugs the shit out of me.... i don't see a lot of "old time religion" in the car scene here.

 

not reading all the post , i may be off .
baby boomers are a one of a kind , not to be repeated . the generation before us was the "greatest generation" because they won the war . we had fun ! post war was great time to be a kid . up to the '80s/'90s this was the greatest nation . no offense .... but the lack of god in the schools , the no draft that got kids out to see the world & grow up on their own .... was the begining of what we have today .
now the generals that were president were different than now .......... im not religious , but i am very patriotic !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ........... steve v/n 67-68

 

I think a lack of necessity has a little to do with it. As well as society. With so much technology and an ever expanding ability to connect with literally the entire world, kids are exposed to SO much that, when it comes to hobbies and interests, they have more choices, and influences on how to make them, then ever before. I'm 29 years old. I was fortunate to be a part of a generation that was just behind the big tech boom, to be from a small town and to be the son of a man's man who is without a doubt a mechanical genius. I wasn't tempted by a computer or video games (although video games were starting to gain popularity by then). I was by my dad's side, working on all kinds of cars, or in his welding shop, all the time. I was either handing him tools laying on a creeper next to him or handing him welding rods watching the sparks bounce of my clothes. My dad's shop, which he leased, was owned by a real deal sign painter and neon sign maker. The last of his kind. I was surrounded by the "right kind" of influences. There are other guys and gals around my age that weren't as fortunate to have an upbringing like mine but still share similar skills and values, but I know why I am who I am, and I agree that the next generations will have fewer and fewer people with trade skills and related hobbies. It's sad, but inevitable. I will do my best to pass on what my elders have passed and continue to pass down to me. One thing that I can tell you guys for sure is that the need for speed and power will never die, and has never declined. I went to Little River this past friday to watch a little test and tune. It's kind of a last resort for a buddy and I when we cant find something better to do on a friday. But to the point, although I didn't see a single car go down the track that was made before 1990 I did see a TON of legit V8 power and otherwise very impressive imports. It's interesting to think about what people like Don Garlitts, Gene Snow and Don Prudhomme were chatting about 40 years ago under those very same pecan trees, and how different, yet still very similar it must be to what goes on today. Terms like PCM, digital retard and mass airflow sensor were unheard of back then, but the competition, strategy, smells and sounds, and bullshit stories are all still in the air.

 

You guys who have kids and are talking about teaching your kids about hotrods and getting them in the garage. You guys have to remember that thats a minority in the greater scheme of things. A kid who grows up around hotrods and cars is of course going to be different then one who doesn't.

You guys talk about young kids not knowing about hotrods and old cars well most have probably never been exposed to it, they might not know what your car is because they may have never seen one before.

I see threads on here about parents buying their kids an old car for their first car, well thats a unique thing. The majority of kids today would not have that opportunity. I also see threads on some forums about really young kids building a hotrod, 99% of the time thats because of their parents support whether it be through helping or funding their project or just them growing up around their parents cars.

One thing not mentioned here is that in reality 9 out of 10 kids arent raised around hotrods. I wasn't I had to get into it on my own even though my dad was a hotrodder back in the 60's.

Drag racings the same way, their are a whole heap of kids in the sport of drag racing who got into it because they grew up around it.

The things kids are interested in today are what they were exposed to growing up.

I had a funny thought the other day which is kind of linked to this kind of thing, as a young guy interested in hot rodding I have heard alot of great stories from back in the days about driving around all over and all hours of the night in hotrods and chasing girls and drinking as much as possible and lots of things that you really don't see in the scene today and the common thing I notice as far as why stuff like that doesn't happen today is the young guys who did it back then grew up got married and had kids.

Alot of things seemed to change once things had to be family friendly.

Don't be too hard on young people coming up they only know what they have been exposed to growing up and alot havent grown up around the things mentioned in this thread.

 

Wanted to add one comment. When Grace and I were on our way home we stopped at a BP gas station in OH and the kid (maybe 23YO) working the counter said "are you going to restore that modle A" I told him no it was for parts for my rod and he was close it was a 30 Chrysler not a 30 Ford. I was impressed that he knew the correct erra just off on the brand.

 

I spent Saturday with my dads old friends - VietNam era guys mostly and one Korean War era. I'm just 47 and we got to discussing the poor work ethic - even my 27 yr old kid has. I think it has to never having having to want... Never being hungry I guess.

Love my kid but laid off and saying EDD covers the bills is not the message I relayed. My rents were born in 1927/8 and vividly remembered the Depression, WW2 and list friends in Korea. I think I got the message I wish I could teach it

My latest sig line says it : Poverty Leaves an Impression

 

Great point. I've often thought the same thing. If you haven't ever "struggled" a bit, it is a different mindset. Being hungry is an incredible motivator (at least it is for myself).

 

If we are the last who do we blame it on?

Ourselves!

Why?

As a nation we have asked for cheaper, better, faster, etc.

Our manufacturers have responded by moving to China where costs could be lowered.

We then got excited as that new Wal Mart, Home Depot, Lowes, Toy R Us, etc. came to town.

We then got upset when old man Bob had to close his hardware store. We got upset that the local grocery closed up. We got upset when our favorite speed shop was replaced by a pimply faced kid who knew nothing about automobiles.

At first we were happy to pay the lower prices.

Now we complain about the loss of hands on jobs but we still want the cheaper prices.

This all had and is having a trickle down effect. There is no longer a small family owned service station where a kid can go hangout and possibly get a job sweeping floors.

We have decided that we don't want our kids to have these supposedly menial jobs.

Instead we have encouraged our children to take a step up, go to college become a doctor or what have you.

We want our kids to be more succesful than us.

We don't want our kids to work during highschool as it might interfere with their grades and prevent them from getting into a good college.

Because of this our children have no income of their own. They cannot buy a cheap $200 beater.

Instead we give them a newer or even a new car because it is safe and they have good grades. A car which they don't need to work on, a car which at most they may add some stickers or a seat cover to.

The local family owned business is a rarity today. Regulations in many states prevent kids under 18 to work and in many other states make it so difficult that parents don't bother to fill out the forms neccesary for them to do so.

Are we the last?

I think we are not.

I think many of the kids today will build hot rods, some may even build what we call hot rods instead of tuners etc.

I think they will be 35 + when they do so, once they have some disposable income and a desire to get away from the office if only for the weekend and work with their hands.

So what do we do?

Encourage shop programs in schools. Don't buy your kids a car, have them earn one.

Buy from the local hardware store as much as possible.

Buy from that little speed shop struggling to stay alive. (support alliance vendors)

Embrace technology but temper it. Let your kids text and use facebook etc. Just set rules and enforce them.

Encourage your child to do what makes them happy. This may not be college, it may be a trade school. Gasp, maybe your child will be a regular wage earner instead of a doctor.

Who knows what we could do if we just tried a little harder.

I have not shopped at a Wal Mart for over 10 years due to almost everything they carry is made in china and for other reasons also.

I spend a little more on things to help the local economy.

I try to buy American made if the item is available.

In the end we complain about the kids today, the loss of manufacturing jobs, the unmitigated use of technology. We forget we are the ones who asked for it and are doing nothing to change it.

 

^ Awesome.

 

At 26 I see a lot of this, the last generation saying how my generation is lazy and wants everything handed to them... yet it's their own children who became that way. You are a product of your environment, if you grow up without someone placing a hard work ethic, and good moral values in you then you will not have them.

There are certainly plenty of people your age with poor work ethics also. I see a ton of middle aged men who are nothing but alcoholic wastes of life with no job, or appreciation of life every day. It all comes back to the parents instilling that work ethic.

My dad made me get a job when I wanted a new BMX bike when I was 13 and I worked all throughout highschool and college. I believe I have a very good work ethic and I thank my dad for that.

 

I believe that you are both onto something. I have been real poor several times in my life, this week comes to mind. My mom lived though the depression and although my grandad fed lots of people (long story) they were frugal.

Someone said that necessity is the mother of invention. Being a have not will make you real creative.

 

I have a twin brother and we are both 24. He has a close-knit group of friends that theyve had since high school. Theyre all troublesome and fun loving and a great group of kids. If half the old timers saw the things they attempted in vehicles; theyd probably laugh and say they use to do the same rediculous things. With that being said; my brother has a early 60's C10 project in the garage that will be don enext year. All of his friends have cars, older mustangs, old trucks, etc. Theyre all very mechanically inclined and they all have their own sets of "toys."

Two of them have older mustangs that are partially brought back to life with rediculous engines in them, the others have lifted trucks with rediculous engines in them, etc. Some of his friends are professional welders and automotive painters. One of them, his father is a hot rodder. the bottom line is that; while these kids are not building hot rods; theyre working with their hands doing many things the old timers did back in the day...just with different tools and vehicles.

i dont know about other kids our age; but the majority of the kids i know couldnt afford a 34 coupe or model a coupe or roadster, etc. Theyre too far out there in price range. Along with that most kids arent around family members who have old cars. The people theyre around have mustangs, camaros, etc. The "modern day" hot rods. The people who are our age who have traditional hot rods are out of the ordinary for our generation. You either built the car you have because your family influenced you or you got bit by the "bug" through research or a group of friends that decided to go that route. If you want the younger generations to stop being a bunch of bookworm pansies then i suggest making an attempt to get them involved.

Most kids wont bite right onto the "building" portion of it so try teaching them about history. show them videos of the old cars going fast and racing, explain to them the historical significance, what made those cars "cool" back in the day. The HISTORY is what got us involved in this hobby. We didnt have family who had these cars and we didnt have friends who had them. The history of it bit us in the ass and this is what we do now. But im going to tell the older generations that the younger generations are never going to give a crap unless you make an effort to get them involved. You hold the secrets of the past, the stories, the memories. If you dont share them and teach the younger people; they will NEVER know.

Dont expect the younger generations to just wake up one day and want to work with their hands and build hot rods; i can promise you it will never happen. Society today wants kids to learn in school, play sports, go to college, and get jobs where they push pencils and wear suit and ties. Part of the blame lies with parents who allow their kids to spend evenings in front of TV and video games, etc. If you want to get your kids/grandkids involved in hot rods and have a mutual respect for history then its the job of those who actually witnessed it to pass the torch and get "us" involved. Society changes as time passes on; and it sucks. if you want us to remember things and uphold tradition then by all means; get "us" involved at a young age.

 

... and spell ridiculous correctly.

(just teasin' )

 

Whoopsie

 

For about 4 years I was an adjunct auto instructor at the community collage. The guys were allowed to work on their own cars if it fit into the class. Some of the kids just had daily drivers, many had tuners and one or two had muscle cars, non of them in all that time had a rod. The last two days of each semester I would drive in my dads roadster or my 63 Sport Fury. The cars would blow the kids minds. You should see the look on there faces when I uncapped the 4 inch headers on the Fury. I know I got more than a couple hooked with that.

My last semester at the school I pulled all the research for a new hot rod class. I convinced the dean to give the class the green light for a once a week Saturday class. Over the last few years the class has been working on a 34 Ford, one Saturday at a time. As far as I know the class fills every time.

 

^^^

 

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=6 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by Ratrod37
... The old guys are to[o] busy bitchin[g] to have fun! ...


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I am not sure what constitutes old. My body certainly lets me know that I am no longer young. ("Is it true that I'm no longer young. But wait oh Lather what ..." Grace Slick)
I probably have as much if not more than anyone. It just takes me longer to do it.

 

I'm nearly 50, never married, no kids. So I got nobody to pass anything on to anyway.

But I did talk one of my younger co-workers into signing up for a welding course at the local community college. Hope he stays with it.