u neeed to crush the cars so no one will get them when u kick the bucket and burry your cash so they will have to dig up the whole yard and not find it
At 83, I hekped my grandfater restore a VW bus. We did it his way, using body repair techniques I had never seen from the 30s. Soldered patches, and lead over them. He rebuilt the engine in my shop, made his own valve guide drivers, hones, ect. I learned a lot that summer. I did shoot the paint for him, he could no longer see well enough to paint, but the rest he did his way with my help.
I'm 65 and agree with you completly. The little ****ers are just waiting for me to "Kick Off" so they can get in the garage and cart all my **** off to the flea-market! Bad news..I'm taking it all with me!
I do understand the your points, but in think that some of you might have missed that I wanted to put the money into the car, getting it road worthy and back to him for some enjoyment. That $ would also account for the purchase price of the car. Again - thanks for all opinions.
I have a question for you,,why did you wait until you were 32 years old to think about this? Sit down and talk to him,,bond with him and tell him that you would like to help him get his old car running,,that all he needs to do is tell you what to do and you will do it,,if it cost much money you will pay for it just to get to ride with him in the old car you have seen your entire life. I am 60 years old and my kids that are your age have never showed much interest nor do my grand kids,,they all have rode in my old cars. Give me your car is the last thing you need to ask,,don't say it. Questions to ask yourself,,,How many children and grandchildren does he have? Has anyone else in the family expressed interested in the car? If his estate had to sell it would you be willing to step up to the plate and say I'll buy it to keep it in the family? Is your grandmother still living and can you talk to her?,,tell her your ideas about the future of the car and keeping it in the family. HRP
After reading your posts and the comments,29 nash hit it right,you stated that the car has been there since before you,you are 32 years old and in all this time you never made an effort to help your Grandpa out with the car and now you are looking for a way to con him out of it,to bad your ,as you referred to him,stubborn,OLD Grandpa isn"t on the H.A.M.B. to read this .Go find your own project and quit wanting a hand-out.
Yep; OPs question wasn't about "how to help his grandpa", it indicated greed, through and through. It implied that grandpa is an idiot, "a stubborn old german", and needs help deciding what to do with his car. I gotta clue for the kid. Grandpa knows what he wants to do with his car! He's doing it! Already! To go for a visit with a plan on how to get that car "from a stubborn old German" is coniving, selfish, and gramps won't fall for it anyhow... If OP wants to (really) help, when going to visit gramps, follow him around and sit on the couch and participate whilst gramp's does what he does; sit/watch/listen, accept a beer when offered one, etc, that's what a visiting relative is supposed to do anyhow. To insult him by telling him that I know better for him, I want to take over his car for him, would be an insult and could hurt him greatly. It ain't about 'how to manipulate' him. geezzzzzzzzzzzz!
My ten year old (eleven now) grandson wasn't subtle. Asked me "Papa, who gets the hot rod when you die?" Kid cracks me up. I asked him had he heard something I needed to know. Seriously though, lots of good advice already. He knows he isn't going to get to it (the part about "not being stupid"). And I would guess he knows you already have an interest in the car. If you are trying to do the work in hopes of owning the car you may get disapointed, if you do the work to help make an old mans dream come to life, you just might end up with it anyway. It's that whole Karma thing.
No good karma for OP. Selfish brings the other kind.... VOH; If you can't go for a visit to grandpa's house for the sole purpose of interacting with him on his level, just don't go. He don't need any patronizing from a kid that wants his car.
There has always been an interest in that car and it has always been talked about on a year/ bi-yearly basis. I have never worked on it with him or tried to work on it with him becase I left michigan when I graduated high school and moved to wisconsin for college, now Texas. As for other grandkids, yes there are (im the oldest). Dont really think any of the others in to the cars. If i had to buy it in an estate, it would be bought to keep it in the family -No questions.
The first couple times I read your post (this one and the otheres) it seemed like maybe I poked a bear with something of a close subject. I have read them a couple of times and see what you are talking about. THanks for the web-slap. Initially I didn really think of my gesture as greedy, but I am seeing that it really is. Thanks.
I think communication is key. Unfortunately my grandfather was not into cars, much less hot rods, but I still had a good time dragging an old Ford 8N tractor out of the brush and getting it going with his supervision and guidance. Yes, I could have done the job lots quicker by myself, but hanging with my gramps before he p***ed is what it was all about.
Make it ONLY about how to help him fix HIS car, what he wants done, how he'd do it, what he could teach you. NEVER include when or if you might get the car. If it's meant to be yours, it will be, but his way (the way everything about the car should be).
I was out in the farm land with my step son and he pointed out a farm where his grandpa's brother's widow lives. She never had any kids and step son said when they stopped by for a visit the kids had to stay in the car. Anyway there is a 32 Ford pickup in the barn and lots of boxes of new parts . He's waiting for the estate sale some day so he can bid on it..The truck stays in the barn because it still reminds her of her late husband. I had a friend that did appliance repair that saw an original 427 cobra in a 4 car garage. It hasn't moved in 35 years since the husband died.
I don't really see it as necessarily greedy. It is hard to type out genuine thoughts on the computer. On the other hand, I don't see anything wrong with showing interest in something like this that your grandfather liked enough to keep all these years. If your grandfather is like mine he would be flattered and would love spending time with his grandson. I'd help him getting it going and play it by ear not really mentioning buying it. He'll bring it up if that's what is going through his head.
How about "Hey papaw wonder if I could tinker with your old car a little bit, you could help me learn something about 'em." Don't know how well that will work I tried it with my grandpaw's old caddy and he told me to buy my own damned car. The he helped me come up with the 75 bucks to buy a '58 Buick and and helped me work on it as I souped it (the trem soup is relative). Never the less asking if it would be alright if you wokred on it or helped him work on it as a learning experience is a good approach. Being a little older and haveing grown up around older folks I know that older folks as a rule like to "teach you a thing or two."
^^^ I think you are right about old folks enjoying teaching young'ns a thing or two. They are usually full of good advice like- "It's not what you make a year, it's what you spend"- or "Pay for the house, then buy the curtains"- or one he liked to say about me having souped up cars/motors - "Son, you're using a bulldozer to do a shovel's job". Listen to him and you will no doubt learn something (and enjoy it too).
If you do ever bring it home, let me know. I'm working on my father's '37 coupe that I inherited when he died... Slonaker
I lost all my Grandparents by the time I was 17, I'm 57 now. And while I have few memorys of any of my Grandparents, one I would truely have had cherished would have been to have had this type of opportunity for me and especially him. I say especially him because that's all he's been for most of my life is a memory.
Yeah, so they want to inherit your stuff. Is that really that bad? Would you rather your offspring be like HOTRODPRIMER's and have no interest in hot rods? Would you rather have them keep it and use it when you croak, or sell it off for $$$ (or maybe chuck it in the trash)? Tell 'em if they work hard and live a respectable, responsible life, they just might get it when the time comes. Yeah, they shouldn't be "gimme, gimme" about it, but you don't have to be a grumpy old fart, either. That's a shame.
The Jalopy Journal
