Projects Teaching my 10 year old stick shift on my 51 Mercury

Well I may be crazy but I love my kiddos and decided to let my son try to drive my 51 mercury out in the pasture on my property. I learned to drive stick shift when I was 7 in my grandfather's s10 truck, which was one of the first things that got me hooked on cars when I was a kid. Every since I got my car home my son was in awe at the three on the tree. He has driven my other vehicles around the pasture multiple times and simply asked, dad can I try and drive your mercury? Now this car is my dream car and I finally have it. At first I said no because I am super protective of it but then I thought to myself, what a cool memory for the both of us if I can actually teach him on this car. So I did my best, and for his first time he did great. We still have more practice to do but that will have to wait till spring now that we have gotten a ton of snow. I hope you enjoy the video, this was one of the coolest things I have had the privilege of doing. Now eventually I have to teach my girls.

 

AWESOME! A '51 Merc is much cooler to learn in than a '70 Datsun pickup like I did

 

Perfect!!! I taught my oldest son to drive a stick in a 38 Ford. I have a video of that somewhere too. Thanks for sharing!

 

You have your priorities right. Had to watch it without sound as Im sitting at the doc but I see lots of starter and clutch action going on. Looks like he was getting it and having fun. Well done.

 

It took a few goes but he eventually got it. I was wanting him to practice a slow start and stop. I am proud of him for getting us around the pasture a few times. More practice to come.

 

Go get that kid a fat pillow.

 

That is so cool.
Yeah get him a pillow. It'll be a lot easier for him and he'll have better control.

 

Exactly what a was thinking. Hard to let up on clutch slowly if you’re pulling yourself forward to grab the wheel.
But anyway- Great to see! Start em young!

I would always let my kids drive when I had my truck out in a field too! Nothing to hit while they’re learning!

 

Well done! How very well done. Here's an idea, sit your son down on a kitchen chair. You sit on the floor in front of him and have him put a foot in each of your hands. Get him to press down gently with his accelerator foot and come up on his clutch foot with you applying resistance at the same time. Sounds crazy but it works.

 

My wife watched this with me It reminded me of the stories she told about her very short stocky grandma that could barely reach the pedals It also brought back the memory of me driving the almost new 1949 Chevy AD pickup

 

Haha that’s great. Pillows a good idea

 

Reminds me that my 4'10" wife drove my 51 Merc to work every day for over a year but it had a late engine and automatic. It served duty as the family car in that time frame.

 

Ha! My mom started us out in her '54 Merc station wagon. Still remember figuring out the clutch/gas pedal thing without throwing us all thru the windshield!

 

Here I'm thinking about teaching my 19 year old nephew how to drive a manual transmission car. Don't think this will end well.

 

Try turning up the idle a bit, then teach him to feed the clutch properly [without the gas pedal]
I used this method to teach my niece manual shift.

Then teach him to hold it on inclines with the clutch.

Then you need to teach him is how to reverse [and parallel park] with his right arm resting on the top of the bench seat.
Manual 3 on the Tree !! Once he has mastered this "Black Art" he will be a real babe magnet

 

Back when, I had great success teaching stick to others.
Two things I used took away the mystery.
First is explaining an engine's power at idle and through increasing RPMs.
The other I would demonstrate the grab or grip of clutch friction.
This is how.: Sitting on a medium grade hill, engine off.
Place in 1st gear, release parking brake.
Apply pressure to the clutch pedal, Slowly, when the car begins to roll back, ease up to stop it.
Now explain that the friction of the clutch against the flywheel is holding the car.
Again a little pressure to the pedal til it almost rolls.
Now comes the 'magic'. Turn the key to start, the battery does its job, the starter does its job.
The engine idles, the car sits still. giving gas the engine picks up speed, the car does not move.
Now ease up the clutch pedal and pull away.
Proof that the clutch give us motion, if we give enough fuel to make power.
(( of course it helps to have a car without a console for viewing pedals. and not possible if it is a newer job with the safety switch under the clutch pedal ))

 

That is way too cool

 

Taught my kids in my '54 Chevy truck with the granny low...easy to learn to let the clutch out.
Best security system in the world is a stick shift car...no one these days knows how to drive 'em.
Way to go!!

 

Way to go. I think my Dad started me on the Sears tractor pretty young. Then I think I was 12 when he took me out in the horse field. Of course before he gave me the keys, he did a bunch of donuts. Throw a 20 something a set of keys with a real key on it, and they will toss it in the center console and look for the push button.

 

Awesome, he’ll be able to steal old cars, lol. What’s so great is learn to drive a clutch and you can drive anything.

 

b.t.w. Taught my first wife when she was sixteen, on my '57.
Twenty years later, she was still a stick owner.
Then she moved up to M.Benz
At age sixteen I taught my daughter. She can drive anything I got.
My current wife, claimed she knew, but killed 2 trannys while complaining about it.

 

That's great. I was about 14 when my dad put me in an International R 200 with a 5 speed main box and a 3 speed auxiliary.

 

I'm sure other places did this as well, but I remember when I got my license in Oklahoma in 1960. At the time, if you used an automatic to take the test, you were not allowed to drive a manual shift. My test was in a '41 Chevy pickup and I could lord it all over the guy whose Mama let him take the test in her new automatic Chevy.

 

Ha, ha. Absolutely brilliant! For sure next modification - a pillow, maybe blocks on the peddles too..

 

Excellent!!! Tony you are a gentleman, scholar, and an excellent father. Your son will remember that for the rest of his life.

 

Cool! Taught my son how to drive a stick in my old OT Saturn years ago; he even took his drivers test in it and passed the first time out. The instructor was impressed; he said NOBODY takes a test in a stick shift.

In high school I worked at a gas station that also rented U-Haul trucks; at the time (1984) most of the larger ones were stick shift. We had a lady who rented one and claimed she knew how to drive a stick shift, but judging from how she drove away that she didn't. Ten minutes later we received a phone call: she dropped the driveshaft in the middle of an intersection.

 

Not a crazy Dad but a great Dad! Your boy will remember that day for the rest of his life! My Dad taught me to drive a stick when I was 13, I taught my son when he was 15, he's 26 now and will be over this weekend working on his O.T. muscle car, 5 speed Tremec.

 

Thank you all for your kind words.

 

Nice. Made me smile. Will be one of very few of his generation that can drive a standard. Learned on my grandmother’s 68 Beetle while also learning on my dad’s 429 powered 69 Thunderbird. Had to really learn to watch the throttle on that thing after driving the Beetle.