Here's the story, a weird one, but a true one I am a youth pastor at a medium sized church in east <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com</st1:State>Tennessee. I am a lover of the automobile. Hot rods, customs, street rods, nostalgic rides, etc. I love them all. The kids in my youth group were always asking if they could help with my projects or ride in my hot rod, etc. I'm not talking all of them, but a good quarter of them are interested in the cars. One or two of them are head-strong on buying their own. That's good, but it's an incurable addiction. Anywho, we are a fairly active ministry of about 65 kids on a good day, or maybe 100 to a convention or something. That being said, we're constantly raising money for the ministry. <O</O If you've ever been around teenagers much at all, you know that they get bored with the same old things. They get bored with the same fundraisers. Adding all of this together, I came up with the idea that we should attempt a car project as a fundraiser. This would bring in all elements of necessity within a great youth group fundraiser: fellowship, a learning experience, teaching the value of work, as well as the possibility of a decent profit. When we this hair-brained idea struck me, I was thinking small. Maybe we could pull an old forties <st1:City w:st="on"><ST1Plymouth</st1:City> sedan out of the woods somewhere and rat-rod it. Then the Lord intervened. There are several fellow car guys in our congregation, and we started putting our heads together. One thing lead to another, and one of those car guys donated this 1962 T-bird. <O</O The plan <O</O The car is a running, driving car with a great body and fair interior. It has sat for a while and will need the general things to start with... brake cylinders, brake shoes, brake lines, radiator hoses, fluids changed, fuel line, filters, etc. I am excited about getting started on this project.<O</O By the time of completion, I'd like to see a new set of wheels (maybe, Its my understanding that these spokes are rare???), some new paint, new interior, some shiny under the hood, and some new shiny where the old shiny used to be. Also, the motor has already been rebuilt, so the car should be fairly mechanically stable. I'm thinking about doing a simple custom touch with a little bit of lowering and taking the stainless molding off of the side for a cleaner look. Any opinions would be appreciated. <O</O A tactical advantage <O</O There is a kind-of hidden plus that will work to our advantage. Since the car is a project of the youth group, which is part of a church, which is a 501-c3 non-profit organization, we can write a tax-deductible receipt for any service or product that is donated to the building of this car. My desire is to have little of our money in this project. It takes a jack of all trades to make something like this happen... you know, a car guy, a business man, a mechanic, a God lover, etc. <O</O Cutting to the chase <O</O I'm posting this looking for all kinds of thoughts. I would like your input on the car, the project, or anything else that is on your mind. Productive people should be constant learners, and I'm hoping ya'll will help teach me. Any information, prayers, ideas, opinions, donations, etc. would be greatly appreciated. Let me know what you think, and Ill keep you all updated on the project!<O</O <O</O
The car can be lowered easily and with little money in it. I cut 1 3/4 coils off of the front coils and made lowering blocks for the rear. I made the lowering blocks out of square tubing. I had to buy u-bolts for it since the bolts have to be longer.
Thanks for the information friend. That's probably the way we will do it. No need in buying new springs.
bigblockdude402: Good for you on the T-Bird project. I am involved with a coulpe other HAMB'ers on a project called "KIDS WITH SPEED", a program that we have been running for several years in Indianapolis. Through numerous contacts in our business, we have come to see a need to bring this program to a broader and wider area. “Kids with Speed” was developed to bring kids ages 14 to 19 in off the street, and into a structured program which provides the youth the much needed support that often makes them join a gang. It is that sense of belonging, being needed and valued as a positive member of the team. As a team participants will be active members of an automotive team from the ground up. The culmination of all their hard work will result in the development of a finished car which will then be show and local events and ultimately shown and raffled off at the US Nationals in August.. This program was designed to expose kids to all aspects of the automotive hobby, including such areas as auto mechanics, auto body work, including custom painting, metal fabrication, math skills including calculating engine horsepower gained from what improvements. Also involved are learning skills such as reading competition spec manuals to calculate building and maintaining a race car to sanctioned standards. This assists in building math and logical thinking skills which most young kids lack today. This program will also focus on budgeting and money handling as they will be involved in promoting and maintaining the car’s over all financial budget. This is what we purchased to start: Here's a link to the progress pictures I have been taking.... https://picasaweb.google.com/105421993671397259537/KIDSWITHSPEED# This is a great program, and although were struggling to find funding in thes hard econimic times, a lot of personal money is benig spent to keep going. The kids are great, most are interested in cars and want to learn more, we have some good motorheads... Were looking foward to a fun summer, as we progress, the kids see progress and that gives them drive to keep going.. Were trying to see if we have the complete motor, this weekend...we do have a stack of parts Our goal this year is just to make that a driver...then advance next year to a car we can drag race in limited fashion..just to expose them to that aspect of the hobby.. Were trying to line up tours in all different areas of automotive work. Drag Race shops, NASCAR, INDY, Hot Rod Shops, Collector, Autobody, Mechancial.. We want them to see all the areas that they can be involved in, given the right oportunities...and we have most of them in the greater Indianapolis area... Just got to get hooked up with them.. We have the same issuse as you FUNDING...we are a 501(c)3 Non-Profit orginazation now, and depend on the generosity of Vendors , business men and other to help us along. We have found make the sessions short, as there interes is short some times too. Don't take on a big overhaul as they do not see much progress from week to week. We are now working on 3 different projects in order to keep all the kids hands busy and interested. We made Business Cards and 3 fold flyers to pass out. we have a "Info Packet" that we hand out to prospective donors.. The end result is the Kids, and seeing thier faces when they accomplish something. I'm sure you will too. Good luck.. have fun, the kids love it. Bill j. "TIEROD".
there are places like tbirdsanctuary.com, and others, that have parts for your project. upholstery for seats is a bit tricky and expensive, especially if the foam is shot. I found a brand new set of seat upholstery at a wrecking yard. also, found seat foam fairly cheap surpisingly from a MoPar parts supplier in Canada. found a complete set of seats in very good condition for $100 on craigslist. point being that you will be surprised where you will find parts.
Tierod, Thats a great thing you're doing. Making a young person know that they're loved and that they belong is one of the greatest tools of promoting success in that individuals life. Its a life changing deal. Not to mention that you're promoting the hoby and inducing life long car people. My hat is off to you. The cars are looking cool too. Hope everything continues to work well for your organization!
bigblockdude402:That's a great ministry your doing too, well needed. it's great to see the kids excitement, when the do something.. The Bird project will be fun,,,good car, looks kool with not much changes.. Hopefully some of your church members and the town will kick in and give you a head start.. Good luck...
Don't go too radical on the mods - you want the car to appeal to the broadest range of people so you can sell the maximum number of tickets. Good luck with what you are doing and I hope it leads onto many more projects for you and your congregation. Well done sir for taking the initiative.
Thanks friends, Thanks for the advice. We're not planning on removing the fender trim. It's in near perfect condition. Discs are an option, but not a priority... We'll see what kind of funds we generate for the project. They are also a good selling point. Dad-Bud, I appreciate the vote of confidence. I hope it works out well. We don't plan to go too radical, as your advice is good. We want to appeal to all the markets available. Thanks again!
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