Be A Hero ….

[Trulyvintage]

 

 

Jim

[edinmass]

In my youth.......we learned it by trial and error. Today, try getting a kid in the garage to get dirty.......

[STEVE POLLARD]

15 minutes ago, edinmass said:

Today, try getting a kid in the garage to get dirty.......

LOL.... I have four kids, ages 15 thru 21. My youngest has some interest, but the others, none at all. I tried to peek their interest ( car shows, going for rides and doing maintenance ) nothing....My oldest boy who is 20, just got his driving permit.... they are into their electronic games.

 

Steve

[SC38dls]

When I did my pickup I offered any kid from the church youth group my wife dragged me too every Sunday an opportunity to come to my garage and learn how to rebuild the engine & transmission. I even said I would buy the pizza!  No takers. They all were driving SUV’s newer than my car. I think a lot of parents just want to give their kids more than they had in life. This throw away world doesn’t help. We all have to learn just because it’s broken doesn’t mean it’s worthless  Hell look at me, my body is a mess. On second thought that may not be a good example 

dave s 

Edited November 4, 2021 by SC38dls (see edit history)

[jpage]

When I was a kid, I developed an interest in cars from building models. Later, in my teens, I was best friends with a couple of brothers in my scout troop. Their family was poor and all of their vehicles came from junk yards. I learned a lot just from helping them get their cars running. We even did the painting with porch, floor and deck enamel! I don't know everything about cars but, what I did learn, like Edinmass, it was all trial and error! It also helps to have a little initiative!

 

[STEVE POLLARD]

20 minutes ago, jpage said:

I developed an interest in cars from building models

That's how it started with me and going out into the garage with my Dad when he was working on the family cars....I was the official 5 year old drop light holder...lol

[46 woodie]

Absolutely, I have pictures of my grand daughters when they were six or seven years old trying to weld scrap steel in my garage. I set them up, gave them all the protection they needed and gave them the basics. I stepped back and let them go at it. Of course the welds looked like garbage, but at least they tried and kept at it. Every time they come into my garage I showed them a tool and asked them what it was for. I'll bet there aren't too many kids that can identify taps, dies, broaching tools, and all sorts of tools. When my oldest, grand daughter now 16, started drivers ed the instructor asked the class what a dipstick was. The only person that knew was my grand daughter. Everything I do in my garage I have let them try, from spray painting to grinding etc.

[bryankazmer]

The high school robotics programs involve both the programming and building of things.  My father-in-law volunteers as a coach.  He says some kids are just starting with use of hand tools but they do build things and learn to fix them when they break. 

 

One age group older you have the various college engineering contests like SAE racer, SAE solar, concrete canoe that have been around a while. 

 

I'm not disagreeing with the general issue, but there are a few candles.

[Bhigdog]

Do public schools still have shop and home economics classes? Oh, wait. That,s sexist. Mike Rowe where are you......bob

[Walt G]

Interesting to read how many got interested in learning how to fix cars or how they went together by building model cars. I did as well - it was the days when the smell of the glue and paint weren't a known health hazard!  My Dad did some mechanical work but wasn't into it, my uncle on my mom's side was , so weekends when we would visit him I helped him clean spark plugs and watched how he removed them from his 1952 DeSoto. Bought my first old car ( or any car) at age 13 it hadn't run since 1935, had to have running boards because I loved watching the Untouchables and Roaring 20's tv shows for the cars! Friends I met via ownership of the car I bought became my mentors and picked me up and we drove to their house so I could help them on their old ( pre WWII) cars. AT age 16 I helped remove and install a transmission on a 1931 Plymouth - on our backs with the floor boards out and the cars wheels  about 6 inches off the ground at the front. Helped another friend remove and install an exhaust system on a 1940 Cadillac series 75 on our backs in his drive way. Etc. It was how you learned.

 

[bryankazmer]

The last I knew, "home economics" was "life skills", taken by boys and girls.  A kid told me they were making french fries.  i was surprised that a school would do deep frying due to safety issues.  I asked what was the recipe.  " Open the bag and put them on a tray and put in the oven."

[SC38dls]

It’s not just the kids problem in my goofy opinion. We lived in a small complex before moving to SC. I would open the garage door and start doing something on the Studebaker and be under the car look out and see three or four pair of legs. It wouldn’t take long before I would hear “ I don’t know why he has this old thing he should just just buy a new car and take it to a shop to be fixed”.  Not one of them had a clue about or why I enjoyed old cars and doing the work. This was in an area of older down sized couples, not kids!  Kids will get involved if given the opportunity and support to keep trying. It’s just easier for parents to give the game controller to them and leave the parents alone. 
Before my daughter could drive she was taught how to change a tire, check the oil and water. We taught her how to drive stick shift. I bought a Triumph Spitfire that needed a lot of work. She helped rebuild the engine, floors ( typical TR floors rusted thru) put in shocks and all kinds of repairs. She didn’t become a mechanic but she got the basic knowledge of how things work. I’m sure many of you did something similar with your kids. Why did we do it, so they learned they could and that was because we supported that effort and wanted them to understand they could do it. I didn’t have much parental support as a kid but I had three football coaches in my life that for some reason took me under their wing and gave me direction and purpose in life. It’s not just your kid you can do this for but any kid that shows the smallest interest in doing something. 
dave s 

Edited November 4, 2021 by SC38dls (see edit history)

[pkhammer]

 My best friend who comes to my house nearly every weekend to hang out in the garage has a Nephew that started tagging along a few years ago. He has taken a great interest in old cars and had helped me with many jobs and I have helped him learn to weld and do other repairs. He has come to Hershey with me the past few years and loves it! He is now 17 and is taking body shop classes at the local Vocational school and working part time in a Restoration shop. He inherited his grandfather's '55 Chevy 2 door sedan and is working on restoring it now. He plans to make a career out of bodywork, repair and restoration. There is hope!!

[Walt G]

"Hands on" then meant lifting things, twisting a wrench, using screw drivers that had different tips for different screws - today "hands on" means pressing plastic buttons.

I taught art for decades - NO Computer art- that was in computer class. My classes were all pencils, rulers, erasers, a compass to create a circle and it held a pencil. Pencils were sharpened by cranking a handle, . SO I had the distinction of teaching and also being "old school". 🙄

[TerryB]

1 hour ago, bryankazmer said:

The last I knew, "home economics" was "life skills", taken by boys and girls.  A kid told me they were making french fries.  i was surprised that a school would do deep frying due to safety issues.  I asked what was the recipe.  " Open the bag and put them on a tray and put in the oven."

We make them at my house that way!  It’s Family and Consumer Science class now.  Kids do learn things differently today like the robotics classes mentioned.  We have to remember that for most of us this car stuff is a hobby.  Hobbies take all forms.  I never had a boat, played golf or rode horses for a hobby.  My interest was things with engines and wheels. It was a great diversion, as most hobbies are, from my day job in the electromechanical and computer world.  A bad spark plug was more fun to diagnose that a broken embedded computer software code.

[John Bloom]

I Think some of the appetite for this line of work needs to be developed in increments.  Take a kid who has never accomplished anything mechanical in their life and try to get them interested into the car hobby/restorations and it is just "A bridge too far"........Find something mechanical that is much simpler and needs something done with it.  Something that they have interest in and buy the project and do it together.  My son who thinks old cars are cool, but has never done any repairs, is going to start a restoration of an old Coke Machine with me over Christmas Break.  When we are done, I'm going to give it to him.  It is a Cavalier Model from the 60's.  (The picture isn't mine, but is the same model, no pics of mine on my phone).   Being a young college guy, I know he wants to have it in his house at college with beer in it.   That is exactly what I would have done too!  But, I can already see him with friends on a Friday night putting in a dime, opening the door, and pulling a bottle of cold beer out of it.......and telling them "My dad and I restored this old vintage coke machine".  That is the reason I'm doing it.  To plant the seed for a fun mechanical project on something vintage where he can have some pride of accomplishment and start talking about it.   It isn't a vintage car.......but it is a start.  I find interest and confidence and skill has to be developed.  What are their interests........shop in those categories for a project to do together.  (Old Bike, A Longboard Kit, etc....)

 

 

  

[Frank DuVal]

I taught my daughter to weld, same way, basics then here is a pile of scrap, weld it together. Then weld in these body patches. Then it was how to prime, block sand and finish paint. 

 

She hasn't been in the garage for two years now, except for doing her oil changes and replace the coil pack on her Encore. But, she has an excuse, we are building her house! She learned to lay oak floor quick. All on a 45. Painting, even fancy painting with stencils, great. Now it is laying tile floors and walls. 👍

[mike6024]

4 hours ago, STEVE POLLARD said:

they are into their electronic games.

It's sick really, they are like a disease those video games. Widespread problem. Impacts basic education.

[1937hd45]

Some kids are better than others when it comes to non cellphone skills. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by 1937hd45 (see edit history)

[TerryB]

1 hour ago, 1937hd45 said:

Some kids are better than others when it comes to non cellphone skills. 

Give him time, he will call Uber to deliver that stuff!

[SC38dls]

Frank, your daughter is more than welcome to come to my garage to prime, block sand and finish paint if she feels the need to keep her skills up. I’ll even buy the pizza’s and beer!  
dave s 

[zepher]

I have not done so for a few years but I used to host 'Install Meets' at my house.

Back then, I was very active on a Nissan owner's board and there were a ton of younger people that wanted to do basic maintenance or modify their car but did not have the space, tools or experience to do so.

Two or three times a year I would put together a meet where interested parties could bring whatever parts they wanted to install and we would get it done.

The main condition was the vehicle owner had to get in there and get dirty working along side those of us that had experience spinning wrenches.

It was a an all day event that usually started around 10am and would end after midnight when the last car finally left.

The most cars I had at one time filling up my culd-de-sac was 32.

We did everything from tune ups to lowering springs to headers.  We even did a nitrous kit and a turbo on a couple cars.

Sure, it was the import crowd but I know that at least a couple of the young'ins got interested in muscle cars after attending the meets and going for a ride in my '64 Malibu convertible.

All in all it was a great time.  There were sign up sheets for food and drinks and we barbequed, hung out and worked on cars all day.

Matter of fact, I had a meet the first weekend after I had moved into my house on the culd-de-sac.  I got the garage put together before the rest of the house was unpacked and the first thing I baked in that oven was a pair of headlights someone wanted to open up to do some custom work on.

 

I wouldn't call myself a hero, but maybe 'hero adjacent'. 

Edited November 4, 2021 by zepher (see edit history)

[erichill]

My daughter helped me in the shop from a very young age. My son had no interest until he was 17 and bought  a busted up Miata to raid rally.  Hid very first project on it was replacing the clutch.  He and his buddies did it without any help from me. All i did was help him get the car up on jack stands because I w wanted to make sure it was safe.

[Skvitt]

Sometimes I can convince my grands to help me... Sometimes they even do ...

[1937hd45]

I never got the shot of the expression on his face when he ripped his first wheel free off a tire....priceless. 

[Rusty_OToole]

When I started working on cars we had things like slant six Valiants where carburetor, distributor, alternator, water pump etc were right out in the open, obvious and easy to get at. There are no cars like that today. I don't even want to work on my own late model, I take it to a garage, and I don't blame any young person  for feeling the same. If there was any fun in car repair it disappeared long ago.

[1937hd45]

5 minutes ago, Rusty_OToole said:

When I started working on cars we had things like slant six Valiants where carburetor, distributor, alternator, water pump etc were right out in the open, obvious and easy to get at. There are no cars like that today. I don't even want to work on my own late model, I take it to a garage, and I don't blame any young person  for feeling the same. If there was any fun in car repair it disappeared long ago.

 

 

I felt the same way back in 1965, the new stuff was too complicated, and never had any interest it the stuff up to today, but some people think nothing about spending the time block sanding the battleships. 

 

Bob 

[plymouthcranbrook]

A couple of years ago my then 10 year old grandson and I went into the garage and spent part of the day doing a tune up on my 52 Plymouth. Plugs, wires, pts and condenser etc.   After we got done, Me telling him what to do and showing him, and him turning wrenches we then had to take it for a Test Drive. I swear he was grinning the whole time. Of course now as a young man of 12 he is much more interested in Hockey but a small match was lit.

Edited November 6, 2021 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history)

[1937hd45]

Another favorite, scrapped it the week before Hershey. 

 

Bob 

[zepher]

13 hours ago, Rusty_OToole said:

When I started working on cars we had things like slant six Valiants where carburetor, distributor, alternator, water pump etc were right out in the open, obvious and easy to get at. There are no cars like that today.

 

I started working on cars when they were the same.

All fairly simple but most of all they were pretty much easy to get to everything you needed to get to.

Modern cars are so cramped for space that many, many things must be done by feel.

I am very happy to see most manufacturers are getting away from timing belts and going back to timing chains.

The 60k mile service interval on the timing belts was a major pain in the rear, especially when the engine is sideways and there is very limited room between the front of the engine and the engine compartment.

But I still do the vast majority of work on all my modern cars as well. 

Recently, I even upgraded my vehicle scanner to one that not only pulls engine codes but it also reads ABS, SRS, transmission, electronic parking brake control, reprogram key fobs, steering angle sensor, and some other things I can't remember right now.

 

 

[Dave Henderson]

Times have changed, but we do encourage youth to learn about cars and repairing them by offering them opportunities to watch repairing going on, giving them rides and free or low cost subscriptions to club publications, invitations to meetings and shows, etc.  In this area a Model T take-apart car at shows is always a big hit, with a pile of parts being assembled and the car being driven off under its own power in 15 minutes or less.
My early interest in repairing cars was first stimulated in the early '40's when I was a pre-teenager by looking at the many fascinating car parts in Sears catalogs.  Then one Christmas I got a MoToR's  repair manual.  That did it.  With those references repairs of the simple cars of the era were not difficult to understand and master. 
As for youthful interest, it just isn't like in the olden days.  I have a 26 year old grandson who hasn't ever learned to drive.

[60FlatTop]

When I was a kid the older men had trouble differentiating between being a mentor and imposing their values on the young. I grew up with automotive friends my own age. We were all readers and studied manuals, articles, and anything car related.

 

The old guys had very little of value to us. They, literally, didn't know the difference between a trunnion and a truncheon. I can hear it echo in my head today.

 

If you do volunteer to help a young person learn at least think about how they perceive you. It doesn't help when some old truncheon holds his arms out and taps his fingers on his thumbs. I see that a lot, funny how the term comes to mind so quickly. You will always be an example. Try to be a good one.

[1912Staver]

On 11/4/2021 at 7:38 AM, Walt G said:

"Hands on" then meant lifting things, twisting a wrench, using screw drivers that had different tips for different screws - today "hands on" means pressing plastic buttons.

I taught art for decades - NO Computer art- that was in computer class. My classes were all pencils, rulers, erasers, a compass to create a circle and it held a pencil. Pencils were sharpened by cranking a handle, . SO I had the distinction of teaching and also being "old school". 🙄

 

I agree to a point. My son has only a little bit of interest in cars. But lots of interest in art. He is quite good at drawing, but his passion is video art / animation. You can do video without a computer , but painstakingly laborous. I doubt 1 in 10,000,000 have the patience for stop motion animation.

Those that do have a true gift. I know if my son coulden't use a computer his results would be far short of what they are today. The same with his music. He can play the piano reasonably well but almost never does. 99% of his music at this point at least happens with electronics.

[Buffalowed Bill]

Back to basics education doesn't leave much for manual arts. 

 

When I grew up being able to drive was our right of passage, but to get to that point most of us had to work for the privilege. Nobody was going to buy us a car, or pay for our insurance, or put gas in the tank. It became a necessity to know how to repair our own car. I'm not sure how much I loved the process, but the results were worth the effort.  

[Walt G]

Art created or finished by computer I understand and can appreciate. But like the early cars we enjoy - those cars can't be restored or fixed by connecting to a electronic device. If the basic skills of art - drawing, using a hand held eraser to correct a mistake, an ellipse template to make a curve rather then "free hand" , etc. do take many more hours of work but need to be done to understand the process and gain some ability.  Playing piano - that was why player pianos were also invented ( like starters to replace cranking a car by hand) 

IF the power goes down and out - due to storms, over use/demand, the world won't stop if basic skills and knowledge are present. Yes it takes practice and that takes time as well.

I also agree that 1 in 10 million have no patience for stop motion animation but have they at least done it once on a few cells? Did the lay over work to see or even view a program/film/video of how that was done 80+ years ago when the cars we now love and collect were new?

I am not professing that "progress" not continue nor not be respected, but the ability to do something by hand and/or eye ( match an mix color for a car to paint, not by aiming a computer wand at a sample but by looking at it ) should never be dismissed either. As mentioned I am "old school" believe in learning basics first.

[TerryB]

It is not the end of the world if your child/grandchild does not share your interests.  The part that is missing is mentors who are willing to teach skills.  How do I know?  I was the Scoutmaster of a local Boy Scout troop that no longer exists because no one wanted to be in leadership roles anymore.  Leaders have to give up their time to do this and that’s getting to be a scarce thing to see.  You need background checks today too to work with youth which costs money and time.  There is no easy answer, and remember we need doctors and plumbers and carpenters and electricians and all kinds of trades to keep the world spinning.

[60FlatTop]

I noticed a point where my children began to show signs that made me think they felt they were in competition with my cars and the hobby. Disinterest can come from that. I backed off on the events and participation at that point. I feel lucky I was aware enough to act on it.

[1912Staver]

And I am 90% old School myself.  I like a bunch of things about CAD , but for simple drawings I almost always do them by hand on paper. 

 We are in danger of a whole bunch of things being lost as the generations pass through life. 

 Around here there is a housing crisis / price bubble that is beyond belief. If you can only afford a 400 - 600 square ft. apartment ,$400,000 - $550,000 these days in my area. You are never going to own any tools , old cars or darned near anything. Your phone and clothes will about sum it up.

 That is what a good many, city dwelling Canadian young people are facing these days. Vancouver area and greater Toronto { several million people }. A parking garage can be a good chunk of a Million.

 It's nuts and the stop climate change people want it to get even worse. { the UN sponsored movement towards " you will own nothing and be happy "}

For many young the only available option will be the virtual world.

 

Edited November 7, 2021 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Max4Me]

Several months back I posted a comment stating that modern cars are so complicated that "we" can't work on them anymore. Pfeil (apologies if I spelled that wrong) called me on that (and rightly so!). I should have said "many" (most?) people can't work on modern cars because they are more complicated and often require specialized equipment. Coupled with that is a fundamental lack of knowledge of the basics of how/why things work. They grew up in a time when you flipped a switch or turned the knob  and whatever was supposed to happen miraculously worked-with no understanding why. I remember when my daughter was young I had a new-fangled GPS device mounted on the dash. I told her we just put in the address of where we wanted to go and it would give us directions. Her response was, "How does it know where we are?" When we got our first remote-controlled TV, my wife would hold the remote vertically so she could read the keypad, but was frustrated because it didn't work. I had to explain IR and line-of-sight. Again, a fundamental lack of understanding of how things work. (Oh, and don't get me wrong. My wife is a smart lady. She holds three teaching credentials and has a Masters in Educational technology.) As things get more complicated and "Plug-and-Play"becomes the norm, people have no need to understand or fix them. Besides, as has been pointed out on this site, it's cheaper and more beneficial to buy new than fix old. So I'm not sure it's a matter of don't want to as much as don't need to do so.

[Larry Schramm]

On 11/4/2021 at 9:40 AM, STEVE POLLARD said:

That's how it started with me and going out into the garage with my Dad when he was working on the family cars....I was the official 5 year old drop light holder...lol

 

That would be me too.  I vividly remember on the floor on my back holding a shop light helping my Dad rebuild an inline 6 in a 1955 Chevy as one of my first big projects with my Dad.