My son turns 6 on Friday and absolutly LOVES helping with the car. We let him wipe down the car with a towel and he has his own welding helmet so he can watch and help his dad weld. I'm not sure what else he can do, with out hurting himself (or the car). What have you parents out there done to help fuel the kids interest? What ages do you let them try things?
That rocks....I have both my daughters wipe down the cars with towels, and they can vacuum and what not...But they are only 7 and 3 so I too am limited to what to let them do.
My son is 3 and whenever there is a nut or bolt that he can turn, I have him turn it. I don't remember the last time I was in the garage without him and his favorite thing in the world is to get all greasy with me. When you ask him what he wants to do when he grows up, he doesn't even hesitate to tell you that he wants to paint flames on hotrods with dad. He is in charge of the Califoria Duster. Just last Friday, I took the day off and took just him with me for the whole day to the Frankenmuth show an parked next to my dad. I gotta tell ya - hanging out all day with just my dad and my son was 100% LIVIN'. My oldest daughter, 2yrs old, loves to help with things like the floor jack and loves cars just as much as her brother, but isn't overly hip on grease. The very first place we ever took her was to the local cruise at 4 days old. The youngest is only 5 months old, but I'm sure she'll follow the others into the garage as soon as she can.
My Daughters 9 and my sons 4 about to be 5 and they both love helping with the car and getting it ready for shows and cruize nights. They also love going cruising in the "hot rod" as they call it. My son hates it when I don't pick him up from school in it. They other day he wanted to buy a mag and the store so we let him pic one out, and he grabed an Old Skool Rods. He's just a kid, what can ya say!?
I started helping my dad on his 55 chevy when i was 4 or 5 cant really remember.I used to turn wrenches and hand him tools and stuff. But im 16 now and hes helping me ....JAMIE
Mine are pretty young too - just turning 5 and 3. They are interested for a while but it is usually short lived. I think they just want to play with the other kids. My 3 year old will put stuff together and take them apart. Weird thing is if he take it apart he will put it back together. If you take it apart he struggles. My oldest prefers to go for rides in the hot rod. He really digs it when you "squeal the tires" but the force of the blower scares him a bit. I am not going to push them but hope they want to continue to stay involved. This could be a great thread for the guys that have already been through this to give us some good suggestions. This is what we are going to do this winter.
May I recommend building a mini-bike w/ him? No crazy chopper stuff. Just one of the little, traditional kit ones like this http://www.mfgsupply.com/GoMiniCh***isMiniBikeKit.html/mv_session_id=TDoXcEvd You'd be surprised how much of it he'll be able to put together himself. He'll have a ton of pride in his little "Hot Rod Scooter" and it looks like you've got the land for it. You could even let him prime and spray bomb it the color of his choice. The key to making a project like this work is to not let YOUR ideas overtake his. If that happens, it then becomes your project and he loses interest. I've had this happen to me once or twice.
Good stuff here. My 3.5 year old son's first 2-word-combination was "cool car" (in reference to a Shelby Cobra... coulda been worse, I guess ) when he was about 14 months old. He helps me wash the car some, and turns a few nuts & bolts. He's actually pretty good with ratchets and even Allen Wrenches. I let him work the jack sometimes, too. And he'd disown me if I ever went to a car show/cruise night/etc without him! He even helps me drive the car around from the front driveway to the shop behind the house. (He turns the non-power steering wheel and I work the pedals) A couple weeks ago he figured out how to roll backwards a little then spin the rear wheel (non-posi!) on his pedal car!
I feel so bad sometimes because my 2 daughters want to help me all the time but they are too young for most things, 3 and 4. They are not tall enough to see under the hood but they want to see my engine all the time. The last time I was working Taylor borrowed some of my tools to pretend she was working on her powerwheels jeep. They love driving and riding in my shoebox around the yard sitting in my lap. And I can't wait till they can help me wrench, it will be so cool.
I took My first ride in my dads street rod when I was two. No windows,Exhaust,seat or anything just ******** Hot Rod. That got me Hooked I have been all about cars since. My dad gave me my first car when I was 10 (1959 Elcamino) It was junk but it was something to practice on And I always stayed home and worked on it instead of running around. I would mess with one for a while and than trade it for something better I had four cars before I was 16. My son is almost two and he is on the same road.
Absolutely without a doubt, even though when our 7 year old helps it takes about twice as much time. At age 3 he thought every thing with flames was a hotrod even ricer hondas (my fault). The connections/***ociations they make between things still amazes me. He goes with me to the Rod Shop most every Thursday night. My wife usually finds all kinds of "goodies" in the wash later, torched bolt heads, rusty nuts, exhaust hangers etc.. p.s. the welding helmet is a great idea, he just can't keep from looking away from that bright blue spark. swdobbs...
my oldest(now 20,in college),is a honda freak.he talked me into helping do a japanese spec engine swap into his 80 civic wagon,he took care of the wiring details and computer integration. the middle one(17 yrs.),have worked on quite a few dodge and mitsu. pickups (the same thing basically),together,cobbling **** together. and the youngest(17 as well,a twin),and i just got his 67 fairlane more door running.out with the 289,in with the 351. refrigerator white with blackwalls.pretty good sleeper. i'll work with them on whatever the hell they want to work on,simply cuz they asked me to, and i love them!
I tend to overemphasize the traditional hot rods etc. The truth is...my 11 year old loves low riders. I want him to be interested in cars, but sometimes I think the generation gap gets in the way. When I was growing up, there was little to do inside, so I built go carts etc.outside. He grew up in a neighborhood where houses were close together etc so he couldn't have a go cart or any place to ride it. The playstation and xboxes also consume a lot of his time. It's a different childhood than I had. This winter we are starting to work on his 36 Ford. I am gonna get a project for him to focus on while I do some of the "not so fun" stuff on the ch***is. Maybe a go cart(since we live on an acreage now), have him weld on it, grind on it ...paint it etc. We'll see.
Maybe steer him toward an early 60's Kustom w/ Astros and pinner whites. Throw in some bags in the rear so he can lay it low and throw sparks. Traditional low rider. Best of both worlds for both of you [ QUOTE ] I tend to overemphasize the traditional hot rods etc. The truth is...my 11 year old loves low riders. I want him to be interested in cars, but sometimes I think the generation gap gets in the way. When I was growing up, there was little to do inside, so I built go carts etc.outside. He grew up in a neighborhood where houses were close together etc so he couldn't have a go cart or any place to ride it. The playstation and xboxes also consume a lot of his time. It's a different childhood than I had. This winter we are starting to work on his 36 Ford. I am gonna get a project for him to focus on while I do some of the "not so fun" stuff on the ch***is. Maybe a go cart(since we live on an acreage now), have him weld on it, grind on it ...paint it etc. We'll see. [/ QUOTE ]
He has a 36 Ford pickup, in pieces. I also have the 50 Fleetline. The Fleetline could easily become a "lowrider" of sorts. I think he is in the impressionable age where stuff like hydraulics etc catches his eye. I figure he will change in the next 3-4 years. As he gets closer to driving, he may vary in his tastes.
My son is 13 months old so he can't do anything for quite a while yet, but he's already showing great potential. His greatgrandmother was at our house last weekend in her wheelchair, he grabbed one of his little socks that was laying on the floor & began to wipe off the spokes on her chair. Must be in the blood .... WWS
My big lesson was realizing my son's attention span was about 15-20 minutes. After that, he was done, so I'd let him go and play instead of trying to get him to stay longer. That kept it fun for him. The 15 minutes he was helping me was a loss of productive work time, but great bonding time. When he was 4, we went to the Turky Run at Daytona, and he shopped for a pedal car we could afford. Got it, had it painted flat black and white 2-tone like my '57 wagon, and when I'd work on mine, he'd work on his in the driveway. then when we'd go to the Friday Night cruise ins with the '54 Buick, he'd back his hot rod into the space next to mine. That was the best! He hasn't been into them much recently, because frankly, I've been working on getting the shop set up, etc. We fish a lot together, which is the greatest thing in the world (he turned 9 this summer). He's in Scouts, so we built matching pinewood derby cars--SoCal Belly tankers. His was legal spec, mine weighed 2 pounds with razor thin wheels. One of the big thrills for him was working with power tools while we built it. Now that's how I get him to spend time in the shop with me--running any kind of tools. His friends think the shop is cool too. A couple years ago, I bought him a small black Craftsman metal tool box, let him put parts stickers all over it, and will occasionally get him a tool--he's got a full set of screwdrivers, a hammer, etc. If that scares you too much, get him a 12-foot Craftsman tape measure: six bucks, and every little kid loves a tape measure. It's amazing what they pick up when you don't think they're watching: when he was 5, he came up to the house and said he needed a saw. "Um, what for." "I want to make a slingshot" and then produced a stick with a Y in it that needed to be cut down to size--he had already taken a Sharpie marker and outlined the cut lines. -Brad
Ive got a 6 year old daughter and a 4 year old daughter and a 2 year old son they have all helped scuff primer polish paint and other little paint prep things. the two oldest pinstripe with me alot my wife wonders why i save it but I can see my oldest is gettin better. the 4 year old wants to race but there aint much I can get her into except dirt bikes quarter midgets (too far to drive) or pocket pullers so were starting a tractor this fall she wants me to flame it
my wife works retail so she ends up working on the weekends so when I go out to the garage my 6 year old goes with me. She likes to pretend to take her bike apart and put it back together(at least I thought she was pretending). She will come over to the tool box and fish around for just the right wrench then she'll go over and tinker on the bike a while then she get another wrench. Before you know it I cant find my tools. Shes got them all and the bike is in pieces. I was kinda proud. Till she lost interest when it was time to clean up. At the shows she loves to wipe the wheels down. She would was the whole car if I would let her.
I am fortunate that I was the kid and VonDad was the father. Some of my earliest memories are of underneath the hood of a car, handing tools to my father and hearing him say things like, "This is a distributor, it does........"
[ QUOTE ] handing tools to my father and hearing him say things like, "This is a distributor, it does........" [/ QUOTE ] WOW I wish my kids would wait for me to explain its always "whats that, whats that do, why why why why"
I played the "human" version of "See & Say" for my 3 year old nephew...! Went something like this..., ("This is a cow..., and it says..., "MOOOOO"...!) but I'd say..., This is a motor and it goes ..., VROOOOOOOM...!!! Cool kid but now he likes..., "Swords" (the "W" is emphasised)... ! Mark
As soon as I could walk I was holding a wrench or a hammer. I helped with brake jobs by turning the wheel from side to side and pumping the brakes. I had "welding cl***es" at night. I had my own little red toolbox. I worked on my dirt bikes. the first thing my dad and I did, was to remove the restrictor from the exhaust pipe. I helped my dad make a miniature garage for my power wheels jeep. And for the longest time I was the gopher: "I need a phillips." (dad) "Long or short?" (me) "long." (dad) "ok, be right back." (me)
I wasn't so sure my kid had an interest in hot rods, even tho I usta take him with me in whatever I was driving...usually a shubox. Then, one day he saw a center-fold photo of Cole Cutler's 49 Ford coupe and tacked it up on the wall of his bedroom, right above his bed. At this time, I just happened to be making a deal on this small-town dentist's 50 ford club coupe after he had died. His widow finally accepted my $300 offer for the car but at that particular time I didn't have $300 extra to play with. My son says "I do!" and after a nice long speech about how he was gonna have to do all his school work before playing with his car etc etc, we brought it home. He was 15 and that was 16 years ago He and I built the ch***is as a father-son project with a narrowed nova subframe, narrowed rear rails with a mail-jeep dana 44 rear and steamroller tires. We built a 400 sbc and a 350 turbo together in my garage. It was a great day when he called all his buddies to the house to help lift the body back on the ch***is.....I think I even have video of it. Now, he's married with his own house and big detached garage and his black shubox coupe is patiently waiting inside for him to finish ***embling his hot-rod Chevy 4X4 pickup and the road-race Porsche [my old 944] so he can get back on it. He still fires up the trusty 400 a few times a year so it doesn't sieze from non-use..
Duties that all Hot-Rod kids should learn and why. 1. Tear-down/dis***embly - kids love taking things apart, besides that they can be taught how things work. 2. Cleaning/sanding - in order to look better and operate right, it has to be done. My dad made me clean my spark plugs and wipe down my bike every time I rode. And whn he was working on a car/part, he'd hand it off and tell me to sand it all the way down. It always keeps 'em busy for awhile, plus they are really proud when they get done and you give them a line like - Jeez, that thing looks like brand new!!! 3. Clean tools - nothing ****s worse than going to pick up a wrench when you start to work on something and finding it all greasy. Toss those tools to the kid, he/she can wipe 'em off. It's easy and it just promotes good shop habits. 4. Wrench fetcher - it's just nice to have one, lol. Can also be helpful for beers... 5. Safety steps - they have to learn from the start, you don't want a three fingered kid.... ....I got more, but I have to leave right now.
[ QUOTE ] . He was 15 and that was 16 years ago [/ QUOTE ] I didn't think you were old enough to have kids my age??
I started my boys going to the shows as soon as they were out of their child car seats. Couldn't fit me, mamma and the car seat in the cab of my '56 F-100. They have been involved in helping polish my customs since the ages of 5 and 7 years. Granted, I had to go over all those places again but hey, wax on...wax off. The more wax the better. Now, at 17 and 19, they are fully interested in the scene. The 19 year old, David, and I are building a '64 Valiant wagon that I posted some pix of some months ago. That will be ready for the Rat Fink Reunion in December. The 17 year old, Tim, can't seem to keep himself out of trouble long enough for us to get a project for him. He loves the hobby but I find it hard to buy him a project car after his having gotten his third traffic ticket in a year. He has his eyes on a '64 Valiant hard top to match his brother's wagon but only time will tell when he can get his hands dirty in on a real car. For now Tim is looking forward to helping me swap out my flatty for a 5.0 HO/AOD transplant. I am so greatful that they are this interested. They have a lot of peer pressure to do the import thing. But, when we show off our American iron at the local cruises, they beam with pride. Michael
My 12 year old daughter picked up an interest in hot rods so we purchased a Model A for her first car. This thing is really rough and non running. She helps purchase parts and has been learning how to use tools as well as learning basic automotive principles. It is nice spending this type of time with her and hopefully her efforts will install some responsibilty. Go Devil
well cheif you could always give him a paint brush or a gun theyve got a special in harbor freight that would be really good for a beginner. It's what my dad did for me when I was younger I'm now 15 and try to paint anything I can. I'm never gonna post any of it cuz theres too many real artist on here johnny
Go-Karts and Minibikes/motorcycles. It gets them in on the rush that is the reward for building them. And don't buy brand new ones. Buy something that needs some work. That way he'll HAVE to work on it to ride it. I started on minibikes when I was 5, my brother and I raced go-karts when I was 11, he was 13. Motorcycles after that. Mom will probably hate it, because he'll come home banged up from time to time, just be sure and get him ALL of the protective gear and make sure he wears it. Come a year or two from driving age, get him his own project. Set some realistic goals/timetables. Make sure he knows that this is HIS first car and if he wants to drive when he turns the right age, this car needs to be drivable. He'll catch the fever. He may get burned out now and then (hey, we all do) but he'll get back into it. You'll probably have to do alot of the work yourself, but when he sees that progress, he'll want to take pride in his own work as well.
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