Being a Dad is Cool.......

Cherish every moment you have with your children,listen closely to them,and love them with all your heart. be there for them no mater what i takes. take alot of pictures. teach them what you know.Sometimes it seems as if thier not listening but they are.I'm seeing alot of great caring parents here and it's wonderful. I don,t mean to bring this down or make you guys sad but last fathers day I lost my son Left turn.I can,t begin to tell you what that has been like,I live from day to day, and miss him so badly.Cherish the blessing that God has given you.Even the hard times with your children are not that bad and they will pass with the help of your love. God bless you all.the small things are the most important and are what you will remember most. most sincerly 6bt Bob Serlet

 

Our oldest son came in from college last week, we did a thrash and finally put the new rear in the studebaker. Went up to Little River Saturday night to test it out. I made a couple passes to make sure it was ok, then gave him the keys, he ran 12.62 then a 12.34, quickest he had gone was 13.30's with the old trans and conv. Don't know how to describe the feeling watching your son go down the track in something he helped put together. Didn't know a kid could smile so big. Or a dad........

 

6bt, I am so sorry for the loss of your son. Will keep you both in our prayers.

 

6bt, so sorry for your loss


Our son (many years ago) working on a set of lowering blocks for my pontiac



My dad working on his pile of parts

 

It's so nice to see Dad's who love their kids and take the time to really be a Dad. Guys who don't have no idea what they are missing out on.

Mine are now 41, and still my very best friends. Can't imagine my life without them being in it. Here is a very old picture from sometime in 1970 when they were not quite a year old. I got them started early on cars and bought two electric fire trucks for them before they could even sit up. But after they could use them they would zip around the house, knocking stuff over and laughing like mad.



And 40 years later they are still best friends and still working on cars together.




Don

 

Hang in there, We had our own troubles getting started but never did the IVf bit but tough none the less.

Sorry for your loss, sounds like you have lots of great memories to cherish those times. hang in there.




My daughter wanted to help me in the garage, fixing a Flathead!
pink dress and all...





and my son "driving" the beast before loading it up for the St Pattys day parade. 53 Ford C600 Marmon Herrington, Flathead V8 Straight Pipes.
Video, Click on to play.

 

My little girl is my shadow, (6 now) huge car nut too! I love every minute with her. I can't go out to work on one with out her help. She will break down into tears if she finds out I worked on one with out her. She has told me my Sedan is not a Hot Rod because it has fenders and a top, and Hot Rods don't have those. She has her first car she wants to build already planned out. A Model A Roadster, no fenders, or hood, black paint and red interior. Glad we still have my Dads 29 body! I am so happy that my Dad and grandfather have been there for me. I am so happy to be passing the torch on to her.

 

It is cool being a dad....though you loose your identity over time. I'm known more as Dax and Kerrington's Dad or the father of those Texas Longhorn Swimmers, than as Reggie.

2012 NCAA 200 Freestyle Champion:

 

Being a dad is very cool, and being a grandad is just the icing on the cake! We had a tough time keeping my oldest son out of the garage from the time he learned to walk! I can remember many times I turned to grab a tool and found him laying beside me under the car!
My oldest grandson is pretty much the same gearhead my son was/is. He's got stacks of car mags everywhere in his room, and is always excited to get involved with anything to do with cars.
This is an OT pic, but it was taken right after the three of us reassembled my '71 when it came home from paint:

 

Shane as a cubscout leader, thats the best thing to see when the boy is actually making the car instead of his dad!

 

Being a dad rocks! Stressful at times but worth every minute. My little guy is heavy into dirt riding like I was as a kid. We ride together as often as possible. He helps me with the 34 as often as I ask. He mostly busts my balls like my wife does because it doesn't run yet. lol
Here's a could pics.

 

Memories I'll never forget.

Packing his first wheel bearing.



And several years of Quarter Midget racing with him and his sister. That finally came to an end when she beat him for the season championship.

 

6Bt, very sorry for your loss...
And all the other fathers and mothers on here who have lost a child..

 

Look into adoption.
Take it from a Dad who knows: DNA doesn't mean shit.
Anybody can be a "father." It takes a lot more work, time, effort and love to be a "dad."

-Brad

 

I've got too many stories to tell about me and Boy Wonder... from being the team to beat at the Pinewood Derby (only kid in his troop to use a bandsaw, drill press, dremel tool, sand/disc sander, hand drills and a blowtorch to build his cars!) to "one-way plane ticket to buy a vintage vehicle" road trips to teaching him to drive stick shift when he was 12... on the Bonneville Salt Flats during Speedweek in '07.

He's 16 now.
"I need new tires on the Dakota."
So buy them.
"I thought you were gonna buy me tires! You said you'd buy tires so the truck was safe and sound when you gave it to me!"
I did. The front tires were bad. I bought new front tires. When I gave you the truck, it was a safe, running, good-looking vehicle. YOU get to keep it that way.
"Oh... well... if I'm buying rear tires, I guess I need to change the way I'm driving then..."


Bwaaaahahahahahaha!

-Brad

 

Yes it is

here's my boy @ 9yo.



and here he is today



love this big guy!!!

 

All of you that are "young dad's" right now, try and remember these wonderful days. You will need those memories when they become teenagers and they really need your help. Keep in mid during those most trying times to come, that you too were once that kid yourself.

 

yea hillbilly lucky he didnt get zapped when he touched that lift!!

 

A few years back my daughter and I spent the summer fixing up a 60 Chevy for her to drive during her senior year in college. I have a great pic some where of her with one hand working the cherry picker with the six banger hanging from it and in the other hand is her phone and she is texting some one.LOL
A great summer that we will both remember. She is an artist and lately I have had her doing some pinstriping. Already puts some of the pros to shame.

 

I'm (almost) 38 now. My wife and I started a little later than most. Our boy, Cheytan aka Bubba, aka Doodlebug, aka Moose, aka Mister Peanut... and the list goes on... just turned 3. It was no secret from about the time he was one that he had a real natural mechanical ability.

One snowy day a month before his 2nd birthday I taught him how a ratchet worked as I tore down a cast-iron 4V intake from an AMC 360 on the kitchen floor. It only took once. I broke all the bolts free, and he proceeded to turn each one out and set them in a pile, nice and neat. I stood and watched, just as proud as I could be.

Thinking back, I can't remember who I was before he came along, but I'm pretty sure I didn't know then either since he hadn't come along yet. I am Daddy, the almighty. Every word from my mouth is golden, everything I do is the best, and there is nothing I can't do. At least... that's how HE sees me, so I'll do my best not to let him down. I plan to teach him all he cares to learn, and by the time he's 15 he'll have the knowledge to bring Hellfire and brimstone to any rod shop he walks through the doors of. I'm pretty sure I'll be learning a few things from him, too.

Those of you who ARE fathers, don't be content to just be a father. Be his/her DADDY. Those of you who have lost a child, my heart goes out to you. And those of you who are trying/planning/practicing/what-have-you, be prepared to take on a great responsibility, an incredible burden, a financial strain, and the single greatest love you will ever experience in your life.

 

some of you dads/uncles/grandparents may understand because you had family like this but if you don't you have no idea how much of an impact working in the garage make on you. I am 15 years old. My dad isn't a car guy but he still supports it most of the time. My Grandpa and Uncle are who kept me going. I've been working in the garage with my grandpa as long as i can remember on his 1956 ford custom in its later years, his 1947 chevy business coupe street rod, and his most recently finished 1931 Model A coupe. My uncle has a 1941 Willys coupe that i fell in love with from the start and have been crazy about Willys ever since. They have made and are still making a huge impact on me and now i own (Not HAMB friendly but still cool to me) a 1975 Camaro LT coupe that my grandpa and I have been building together for the last 2 1/2 years. I can't thank them enough for getting me started in it.

 

Where to begin? As was stated before;spend as much time with them as you can because they grow up in the blink of an eye.If I have one regret in my life it is not spending as much time as I could with my family.Working crazy hours trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table seemed to be more important(it isn't by a long shot).
Remembering the long distance collect phone call from my 15 year old asking what our Blue Cross number is because he just broke his arm on the ski trip to Canada put on by our church.The calls from my wife at my second job asking me to meet her at the hospital because they're digging gravel out our son's chest after a not so successful motorcycle jump.
Having my 10 year old at a job I'm working and he wants to try his hand at striping so I let him pull a practice line down the side of a $150,000 Rolls-Royce and havinb a salesman take a shit fit.
Buying him his first(and only;the rest he bought himself)car and teaching him how to take care of it properly.
Listening to him on the phone as he excitedly tells me of buying back my first new car(an 82 Mustang GT)from the guy I sold it to so many years ago and what he's doing to get it back in shape.Unfortunately I can't be there to help him because we're a thousand miles apart.
And now he has a son who is a total gearhead(at 3 years old)and blasts around the neighborhood in a miniature race car I built for him.The scary part is he is the spitting image of me(and my son)when we were that age!
And yesterday was a most special day of all:I finally got to hold my great grandson for the first time since he was born a month ago.He just came home from the hospital where he underwent open heart surgery(at 12 days old)to repair two holes in his heart and his collapsed lungs.Despite all the problems the prognosis is for a full recovery.His nickname is ROCKY because he is such a fighter.
He spent an hour and a half in my arms asleep after wolfing down his formula that my wife had fed to him.Just looking down at him smiling and occasionally opening his eyes and then just as quickly closing them brought back so many memories.Yessir;it don't get much better than that.

 

This is my little girl. Shes almost 4 months old now.. I love her to death. Already working on her little peddle car.

 

the good and the bad is what makes it a family,some have had it easier than others, some kids just love to test your patience but you love them all the same ,2 daughters and one son, girls were the hardest but you will have others who say boys are , now back to the garage to help Meat Claws but it his new indash SAT Nav , the reason for meat claws would be evident if you see the way things break for him,

 

just wait being a dad is great but papa as she calls me is pretty cool to.

 

Wouldn't change it for the world. Greatest blessing in my life.

 

Yep, Most any man can be a father but it takes a special kind of man to be a DAD.

 

Being a dad is the best. Your kids never doubt that someday it will be on the road.

 

Having two kids is probably the best thing I ve done in my whole life.
And it s a neverending project

 

x2