Projects Old Rusty . . . a Father/Son '51 Chevy

OK, just a couple more for you low-n-slo54.

 

Drivers door sill . . .

 

you have my vote for father of the year.

 

Oh, by the way, sandblasting sucks!!





This was early in my sandblasting career. Nowadays I scrap the Tyvek suit and rubber boots, just a good respirator and hood

 

Thanks 54 savoy.

I'm having the time of my life. Would rather be working on the Chevy than anything (except maybe playing with my 2 yr old granddaughter)

 

Usually it's the next door neighbor who thinks sandblasting sucks, not the person reaping the rewards. Good luck on that rust. You should have a pretty good hand on it by the time you get done with it. Wish my son had of had some interest in old cars. I'd buy one and before you know it he would make a trade for a dirt bike and then that only lasted a couple weeks. Been begging him to help me finish mine but just can't get him interested.

 

my buddy has a 55 and 57 chevy,all his 15 year old want's to wheel is his skateboard,my 15 year old daughter doesn't understand that satin black IS paint,i guess we're just born with this.i really appreciate that you are doing this with your son and you are sharing this with us.

 

I think I'm very lucky that this little girl put "anything I can use on the Chevy" on her Christmas list in between clothes and other girly stuff.



Amongst the frilly girly stuff, she's getting 3 Mack brushes ans 5 cans of One Shot.

And BrerHair, never forget that he's getting a lot more than a car out of this- he's getting an education and a set of awesome memories that will stick with him forever. Your grandkids will hear the stories you're making with him right now until they're sick of it!

 

Good work. Your son will be the envy of the highschool when he can drive.

 

Sweet action! thanks for the extra pics. I can't wait until my boy is ready to get into his own project.

 

Awesome build!!!
That is some of the best father and son time ever.

Bill

 

wow.. what a thread. wish my son would've had the same get-up-and-go to work on cars.. and i'm soooooo glad i found this thread, my car is apart right now and i didn't take near enough pictures or notes doing it.. i'm for sure saving this thread in my favorites for when i run into trouble putting it back together... THANK YOU

 

One of my favorite build threads ever. Thanks for posting this and you get my vote for dad of the year as well! SUper duper cool man.

 

It's obvious you were a carpenter as you said, you made some nice things out of wood! I can't believe how organized you guys are, that is great. I envy your ambition!

 

Thanks. Wouldn't be Rebstew as in Rebel, now would it? My gr-gr-grandfather was a Pvt. in the 20th SC Volunteers Infantry, fascinating history . . . but that was eons ago. Next generation of hot rodders is arriving, hope he sticks with it. Auto Tech is his favorite class in HS!!

 

Thanks Sam. Fortunately my neighbors garage/drive is on the opposite side - he has no windows, all brick, on my garage side. They don't even know I'm doing it. But Momma knows , less than thrilled.

Has been a steep learning curve on pretty much everything I've done. Spent much time just figuring out the quirks and nuances of all the new equipment, such as the sandblaster. Figured out right away that I needed a bigger compressor, so got a 220V, 14cfm @ 90psi, still nowhere near enough air flow. Can get about 60-90 seconds of blasting done then have to wait 4-6 minutes for compressor to catch up. Need 3 to 4 times the air volume that I have . But, we make do with what we have.

Re-use the sand about 3 times before it looses its edge. Learned that regular screen is too small, takes too long to sieve the sand, so I use a mesh that came with our BB goalpost (goes around water bags to hold down a catch net to keep the ball from scooting into your neighbors yard, which we have never used).

As far as your son is concerned, we are creatures of habit (the reptillian side of our brain). The day may come when he realizes that "this is who we are, this is what we (your family -you) do." Mess around with cool old cars, that is. Your sticking with it (you have no choice, you're got the fever) will one day seem mighty cool to him, odds are. Good Luck!

 

Amen, brother. Might have something there. I have always loved cars, since I can remember (probably one of the fundamental ties that bind us here in Ryan's World). Used to sit in the carport or driveway behind the wheel ('46 Plymouth, '54 Ford, '57 DeSoto, '62 Catalina, etc.) and pretend to be driving . . . by the hour! Of course, there were no video games. To be fair to the kids today, do you honestly think we would not have sat for hours in front of Xbox driving Ferraris on Forza Motorsports, had we had it? I know I would have. My son sure does.

 

Hahaha !! That's great. Wish one of my daughters (3) had any interest at all. They all have zero (less than zero) interest. Oh well, too bad for them!!

You're right about the memories. Hey, can I pontificate for a second here? My oldest daughter is 31 (1st marriage back in the '70's). Her growing up gave me a valuable lesson in the "Passage of Time As It Relates To Childrearing." Which is to say, they ain't little for long. It goes from "Daddy play with me" to "What do you want, Dad" (annoyed that you actually walked into their room) in the blink of an eye. So, when your child asks you to play Candyland, fight the urge to keep after whatever it was you were just doing, 'cause "Daddy play with me" is priceless (and has an expiration date).

Good on ya, fbama !

 

Thanks, Danny. Billy is now 17, Jr. in HS and has been driving for awhile. He has a '96 Maxima and a job at the Harris Teeter grocery store. We went from "let's have the Chevy on the road by the time Billy's 16" to "let's get it driving in time for him to take it to school a few times before he graduates HS" due to the realities of money/finding time to work on it/perhaps a bit over-ambitious. Anyway, he's OK with it, he'd rather stick to our plan and "do it right".

 

Thanks Bill. You are right about that. But I need to tell ya'll something. For the first year or so, Billy would leap up and run to the garage everytime I said "Let's go work on Old Rusty". As time has passed, his enthusiasm for turning wrenches and cutting sheetmetal has waned. His overall enthusiasm for the finished product is as high as ever, he is just not that interested in spending hour after hour in the garage with me. I confess that my complete lack of car-building experience has probably contributed to this. I have spent many hours out there just 'ciphering, figuring out exactly what to do next, and if I do that, how will that affect this, etc.

He's sort of become upper management for the project, very opinionated on all design elements, involved in parts procurement, etc. But he's not that much of a blue collar worker. I'm the blue collar guy. Which is not to say that he doesn't help, he helps plenty. But he's not in there asses to elbows with me every step of the way, if you know what I mean.

Still and all, it is our project, it is another level that we bond on, something between just him and me.

 

Thanks gsport. I read a couple books on "How to . . ." and the one thing they hammered home was "take 10,000 photos, keep a log, and label everything." See my reply to glasshole above as far as "get up and go". Billy is not overcome with gumption. But the project does give him one more reason to turn off the Xbox and get involved with reality.

 

Damn, Johnny, I'm humbled (something that happens to me alot here on the HAMB). Thanks.

 

Go BrerHair Go !

 

Thanks Barnfind. I've got Chevy parts all over the place, hanging from the garage ceiling, the attic, etc. Could always be better organized.

 

Thanks LabRat, you are a stand-up dude!

 

Wow that is an ambitious project. You are making it look easy though.