Considering a Project Purchase for a Younger Friend

[B Jake Moran]

Steve yes.  His mother asked him and he is excited and ready to help.  While he is a big time gamer, it’s partly because it’s easy and there.  He has a part time job, will be going into the area college body program as mentioned.  But, he needs gentle pushing away from gaming.   

[B Jake Moran]

Well, we got really close. Really close.  I spotted a 1949 Chevy 1/2 Ton on local Facebook marketplace.  It was a high end half ton, 5 window version with chrome grill.  It was a total project but complete, solid with extra parts and less then 100 miles from central Iowa. 

 

I communicated with the seller and explained that it was a "big brother big sisters" type of a situation.  She immediately dropped the price $1,000.   The seller and I arranged to see it today on my way back from work in Fort Dodge.  

 

I looked last night and it said PENDING.  I then reached out to her and requested an update and she said they just sold it, and they had at least 20 people wanting it.  

 

When communicated to my young friend he got pretty excited.   His mom will update him today.  I think from now on, we don't share with him until the vehicle is in hand. 

 

I am leaning toward a truck project.  

[TAKerry]

Irritating that someone will make arrangements for you to look at it then sell it out from under. I can appreciate the whole idea of the first guy there with the cash, but dont tell someone that they have a bit of time to look at the vehicle.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

What Kerry said.  Last car I sold I turned down a higher offer because buyer was driving down from ME to CT and needed a day, fair is fair.

[B Jake Moran]

Bringing this topic back up and will transition to the Me and My Car section.    After a lot of looking and consideration, my wife and I have decided to purchase a 1981 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 as the project car to do with Ashton, the 18 year old young man.  

I don't have photos yet, but here is what it was - 

 

 

Back Story:

Last August when I started to look on Facebook marketplace for a regional project car for Ashton and I to work on, I inherently saved quite a few cars.  Some sold, and a seller up in Minnesota had an orange 1981 Camaro Z28 with T Tops for $3000.  

We negotiated that he would sell it to me for $2200 "without the wheels" or $2800 with the wheels.  Then he dropped the ad and put the car away for winter.  

I saw that it had dropped off, and messaged him.  He said he pulled it for winter, but the messaging kept a contact with him. 

Throughout winter I looked at basically either a bunch of junk, over priced junk or even decent projects or figured out that my broad paint brush interests in older cars did not match Mr. Gamers interests.  (He really likes my 2007 Miata)

 

Finally his mom Jen, who owns the hobby farm where we will do the restoration and is a widower 2 years out, stopped by to help my wife with a house project and I showed them photos and had just gotten the 1981 Camaro brochure to show them.  

Their enthusiasm went through the roof.  Now - my wife owns a Shock colored 2020 SS Camaro with the 6.2L V8, 6 speed and very loud Borla exhaust.  Her friend Jen owns a 2021 Camaro SS convertible in triple black, so.....

 

The 1981 Z28 was originally Silver with Black interior from the factory, with factory T Tops, is a 350 automatic and all 1981 Z28's had a 3.42 rear axle and this one is open.  Somewhere the previous owner painted it a factory Orange Metallic and the seller added the factory correct Camaro 5 spoke wheels from Classic Industries for $600, which is why he was firm at $2800 if the wheels were included.  

There was some debate about the wheels.  1981 Z28 had an optional aluminum factory mag which is reproduced and not too expensive, so I had thought I might go that route, $2200 without the wheels.  

 

But, I like the 5 spoke standard Z28 15 x 7 wheels, these are new, and Camaro used these wheels from inception of the 2nd generation until ending the run in 1981, so we all agreed to take the wheels.  

 

As to eventual paint color, because of the prevalence of Silver cars in the world today we likely will not paint it silver.  Back in 1981, Silver was still quite rare.  Having the Camaro brochure from 1981, there are a ton of cool colors to paint it and keep it factory stock, but I am a fan of the Orange Metallic.  In the end, we will take a vote on color, because that's a long way away.  

My friend Al Kiley, who has been my old car picker upper for 20 years, will go with me on February 18, Sunday, to retrieve the car.  It has a clear Minnesota title, which my wife and I will put in our names.  Ashton and I primarily will strip the car and restore it, but his mom is game, and my wife says she will help.  

Ashton is in a body shop program and wants to work in a Chevy body shop where his older sister works (Chevy dealership) and his brother in law manages a department.  I will likely pay Ashton for his help, he will learn some skills, get off the gaming, and of course can drive the car when done. 

The Z28 will be visually stock, but I plan on adding internal horsepower to the 350, which was a net 175 in 1981, I am hoping for 250 or so.  One of the 1st tasks will be removing the rear axle, and taking it to be rebuilt as a 3.42 posi.  

Anyway, look for the photos in a couple of weeks.   I am slow, but eventually I buy cars. 

Edited February 7 by B Jake Moran (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

Good Deal! Looking forward to seeing your progress. 

[zepher]

Congrats on finding a suitable project car.

 

Those early 80's Camaros were performance dogs but they sure are nice looking, even all these years later.

 

I owned a '75 Camaro 350 / 350 Auto for a few years back in the mid 80's and it was a great driving car.

The only thing I didn't like about that car was the lack of rain gutters.

Have any moisture on the roof, open the door and get inside and you get water all over your lap before you have a chance to close the door.

Other than that, I wouldn't mind owning another one if the opportunity came up.

[RansomEli]

May I make a recommendation? If youse guys are going to repaint the car, Orange Metallic is not a good choice for a first time painter. Start with a non-metallic color that will be much easier to spray and repair when you make mistakes.

 

Sounds like an exciting project.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

4 hours ago, zepher said:

Congrats on finding a suitable project car.

 

Those early 80's Camaros were performance dogs but they sure are nice looking, even all these years later.

 

The only thing I didn't like about that car was the lack of rain gutters.

Have any moisture on the roof, open the door and get inside and you get water all over your lap before you have a chance to close the door.

Other than that, I wouldn't mind owning another one if the opportunity came up.

I may have used that knowledge to soak a female passenger or two back in the day...  😉😁

[B Jake Moran]

2 hours ago, RansomEli said:

May I make a recommendation? If youse guys are going to repaint the car, Orange Metallic is not a good choice for a first time painter. Start with a non-metallic color that will be much easier to spray and repair when you make mistakes.

 

Sounds like an exciting project.

I will certainly remember that, thanks.   

[TAKerry]

White car, blue accents. One of my favorite combos for the f body.

[Jack Bennett]

On 8/23/2023 at 2:04 PM, B Jake Moran said:

 

The boy is 17 and about 6'1" and 200 pounds. Smart but a typical "gamer" who needs to be working, in school or something, or he is gaming.  He was very much abused as an infant, and is quiet and reserved, polite but not very communicative.  

I am old at 60 years old.  I am deciding whether to purchase a project and restore it there with the young man.  
3.  Cost.  All costs would be born by me.  We purchased our Miata and Camaro to enjoy now. As has been well discussed, restorations are out of reach of most of us now, buying "drivers" and already restored cars seems to be the going trend. 

For my part, I am not 100% sure I can do it physically.    Any comments are welcome, especially if you have dealt with a similar issue with your kids or as a mentor.  

 

At 6’1” and at about 200 pounds, this young man is either awfully big for his age or having a bit of problem with obesity.

In the second instance, obesity can be directly linked to inactivity, inactivity connected to isolation and isolation connected to a personality disorder.

While the intentions of your wife are commendable, are you sure this is not a problem better handled by professionals, and your involvement limited to that of a friend?

Apparently he is more of an introvert, and less than an extrovert, exactly the opposite of what you would like him to be.

The worse word in the American English vocabulary is “I” because it usually ends up as a self bolstering attempt to inflate a deflated ego than communicate some initial thought.

In this instance “I” seems to be a person torn between pleasing your wife, soothing your personal issues regarding your retirement, finances, health and ethics.

The other person most involved in this issue is a young man who seems to have chosen a path leading away from what others consider as “the norm”.

This is not 1900, we don’t communicate by smoke signals, and as surely as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are real people, we are on the crux of sending humans into space. And the “gamers” will be at the leading edge of the technology which will allow that to happen.

You have very eloquently described the facilities, machinery and background  association this young man has at his convenience. But, you skirted the explanation of why he doesn’t involve himself in something other than gaming if he already has barns, fields, tractors, and who knows what other resource he can use to enhance his skills and help his mother with her enormous task of dealing with his siblings?

My suggestion is that you guide by nudges, from the aspect of a caring, older friend. And, leave the psychological stuff to people both educationally and emotionally equipped to deal with it than you are.

Lastly, WHY CARS……..cars are the same machinery used to plow fields if assembled into a tractor body, or a fun thing to ride if a old motor scooter or motor cycle is more in line with skill levels and attention span.

I think the saying goes “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”.

 

 

[B Jake Moran]

On 2/10/2024 at 8:47 PM, B Jake Moran said:

I will certainly remember that, thanks.   

Interestingly, 80% of the colors offered in 1981 are metallic.  That leaves Black, White, Red and Bright Yellow.  I can't see us choosing yellow.  Black would work, because it has a black interior but again, with T Tops I was considering changing the interior color.  

Red might work.  It looks a bit darker not bright Red. I need to find one on the Internet. 

[B Jake Moran]

15 minutes ago, Jack Bennett said:

At 6’1” and at about 200 pounds, this young man is either awfully big for his age or having a bit of problem with obesity.

In the second instance, obesity can be directly linked to inactivity, inactivity connected to isolation and isolation connected to a personality disorder.

While the intentions of your wife are commendable, are you sure this is not a problem better handled by professionals, and your involvement limited to that of a friend?

Apparently he is more of an introvert, and less than an extrovert, exactly the opposite of what you would like him to be.

The worse word in the American English vocabulary is “I” because it usually ends up as a self bolstering attempt to inflate a deflated ego than communicate some initial thought.

In this instance “I” seems to be a person torn between pleasing your wife, soothing your personal issues regarding your retirement, finances, health and ethics.

The other person most involved in this issue is a young man who seems to have chosen a path leading away from what others consider as “the norm”.

This is not 1900, we don’t communicate by smoke signals, and as surely as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Elon Musk are real people, we are on the crux of sending humans into space. And the “gamers” will be at the leading edge of the technology which will allow that to happen.

You have very eloquently described the facilities, machinery and background  association this young man has at his convenience. But, you skirted the explanation of why he doesn’t involve himself in something other than gaming if he already has barns, fields, tractors, and who knows what other resource he can use to enhance his skills and help his mother with her enormous task of dealing with his siblings?

My suggestion is that you guide by nudges, from the aspect of a caring, older friend. And, leave the psychological stuff to people both educationally and emotionally equipped to deal with it than you are.

Lastly, WHY CARS……..cars are the same machinery used to plow fields if assembled into a tractor body, or a fun thing to ride if a old motor scooter or motor cycle is more in line with skill levels and attention span.

I think the saying goes “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”.

 

 

Hello Jack:

I appreciate all commentary, I am not thin skinned so I appreciate your thoughts regarding motive and purpose.  I assure you that his mom and my wife and I engaged him to see if his interest was real and it is.  It may wain, but he is in a program for auto body now, and seems interested in that as a career.  He is a senior in high school, works a part time job, and is not overweight. 

 

There are a lot of kids much taller and bigger then I remember when I was growing up.  He works on their farm, where they have horses, cows, and other livestock.  He mows that large hobby farm grass area.   He used to help his dad before he passed away restoring farm tractors, as that was his dad's hobby.  There are several around.  

However, I am not "into" farm tractors and would not have as much skill set restoring those.   We did not push this on him, nor would we push him if he chooses to not be as involved.  However, there are skills he can learn assisting us in the restoration that can carry over to his work in auto body.  
 

Again, I appreciate your perspective.  It's hard to truly convey a story in a forum, so perhaps I did not do a great job.  

 

We are set to pick the car up in Minnesota on Sunday and it will be dropped off at the farm Sunday.  I am not farting around on getting on it, we will begin next week.