Father/son projects

[Kyle_Eagleton]

So my father and I have been slowly working on our project together. Mostly just stocking up on parts and replacing some things. General maintenence before the big stuff comes. Unfortunately, the old man (almost 4 year cancer fighter) now has cancer on his kidneys. Doctors assure that it can be fixed with surgery. But as of late they have opted for a chemotherapy route . This will really put a damper on things, as we were actually about to start working on the Airlift suspension for my car until this came through.

So, to pass some time until he's in good health again, I'm curious as to who all has done a father/son project before? This will be my first. How'd it come out? Did you guys have a good time doing it? Post up and show off what you've completed! I've seen just a couple on here before and they were looking pretty good.

[MommysLittleMonster]

I don't have any digital pictures of the build unfortunately, but growing up my dad and I rebuilt my 1974 Monte Carlo. I'll have to go home and dig through some old photos.

The car was silver, had a wheezing stock 350SBC with a 2bbl carburetor and a single exhaust, and needed paint. So, first things first, we stripped the car and he put it in primer. I tried to help where I could, learning the essentials of bodywork and what to look for, while he did most of the big stuff. We painted it in a GM color, Medium Garnet Red poly, in a three-stage urethane paintjob. He actually did a mid-coat of clear and paint mixed to throw in extra metallic in the paint, which I didn't realize until years later. I think he did two coats of color, a midcoat, and two coats of clear. We did this the spring/summer of 7th grade for me. My dad taught me how to pick out different kinds of paints, what the ratios did for spraying, how to set up a spray guy, and how to identify when the patterns weren't right. I didn't remember most of it, but I wanted to learn.

After the paint was done, we took the front clip off the car, pulled the motor and trans, and went to work. We rebuilt the 350 and punched it .030 over with flat-top 9:1 pistons, new rings, and a mild hydraulic RV cam, then added headers, a dual exhaust, an Edelbrock dual-plane Performer intake manifold and 600CFM carb. He showed me how to install a cam, set up the bottom end of a block for assembly, and how to do head gaskets and the like. Through this, I learned how the internals of a motor worked- what parts did what, how they worked, and what to look for in an engine when taking it apart. When it was all back together, we painted it the original Chevy Orange. He taught me how to prep a block for paint, how to mask off the little parts, and where I needed to pay the most attention to detail. I loved this- I still use tricks he taught me to this day.

We had the TH350 rebuild with a shift kit, and added a 2,800-stall B&M torque converter. After the motor and transmission were done, we cleaned up the engine bay and painted the firewall, frame, and underside of the hood with some Chassis Saver black semi-gloss paint and got everything working properly. I think this is the stage that contributed to my want and need to have well-executed engine bays- I painted all the bolts, wire-wheeled old rusty hardware, and cleaned up plastic parts as per his direction. By this time, I was in my freshman year in highschool- although I didn't have a job yet, every penny I got was put towards the car. Although my dad ***** it, he understood how badly I wanted to be a part of it.

By the time I was in 10th grade, I did a ton of under-the-table jobs for family friends and my dad's co-workers, and started buying other parts for it. My dad taught me that he wouldn't be buying any more parts unless they were needed, and anything I wanted to put into the car I had to earn myself. I cannot say thank you enough to him- he's the one who taught me self-motivation and that it's up to ME to make things happen. If I wanted something, I had to go get it. And I did- I plunked all my paychecks on a set of 3.90 Richmond rear gears, an Auburn limited slip differential, chrome valve covers and an air cleaner (insert ricer joke here), and I cleaned up a set of low-offset 15x8" Rocket Racing wheels and stuffed them in the back. By my junior year I had a steady job bussing tables at a local restaurant, had my license, and was driving it to and from school and around where I could.


Here's all the pictures I have of the car some 3-4 years ago, it still looks pretty much exactly the same today.



I did this one day after school leaving the parking lot, one of my friends got it on video so I stole a screenshot.


And then, the inevitable happened... I found the fun in driving a 5-speed car that weighted next to nothing and could turn well, and thus my love affair with my Prelude eclipsed that of the Monte Carlo.


Fast forward a few years. I still drive it on occasion to this day, but it's hard to justify when I have my M3 and my Prelude. Still, I hop in it every now and then (or at least when my younger brother doesn't have it) and cruise around with my friends. It's fun seeing people rubber-neck.

[Dr.AK]

Well... pretty much all of my cars have been father/son projects. My dad used to be a car mechanic by trade many years ago and even though his job has changed, his skills haven't faded any.

He's basically my intructor in all things car related. If I don't know how to do something, he'll teach me.

Back when we started with this car thing, it was mostly him doing the major work and me looking over his shoulder. Today, I do the work myself and just ask him for advice and we brainstorm ideas together. He also still helps me whenever I need a second guy to hold something or things like that.

It all started when I bought my first car, a '92 VW Golf and progressed from there, over my E36 sedan, his E36 compact, and my E36 Touring. I know I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for him helping, teaching and pushing me to progress. Doing the car stuff has just brought us closer over the year.

The cars we built together:











Our cars together:





Thanks, dad!

[Skraight.]

My dad has always been my helper/mechanic. He's one of those perfectionists/jack of all trades at fabbing.

Every time I'm working on something and turn around for 2 seconds he takes over and starts telling me to hand him stuff.

But when I was in high school me and him built a 74 Camaro with a high compression 350 with a 2 stage 300 shot of nitrous that we used to take to the drag strip.

He has all the pictures and unfortunately none are digital.

[KarlSpackler]

This was the "Germany" float in my son's school parade. They towed them around the halls.

I took him to school in my M3 baws style. Was a cool day

[Kyle_Eagleton]

Good stuff. These are all pretty sick builds. That Monte is beautiful! and that float is pretty creative. Touring is on point as well

[gdogg16]

Always wanted to do a father son project buy my old man was never interested. I spent my youth in the garage with him working on cars but never projects. I just bought another car to be a father son project between myself and my son. Super stoked about it even if he is only 4 months old and I've already done a bunch of work. But it'll be around for a long time, forever changing.

[Kyle_Eagleton]

Always wanted to do a father son project buy my old man was never interested. I spent my youth in the garage with him working on cars but never projects. I just bought another car to be a father son project between myself and my son. Super stoked about it even if he is only 4 months old and I've already done a bunch of work. But it'll be around for a long time, forever changing.

Your father and my father sound like the same people. Mine is a 33 year aircraft mechanic, doesn't mind working in the garage. But he hasn't caught the modified bug yet. Hopefully this little air suspension project will catch it for him. All the best to you and your son, start him out young!

[mrg7243]

My dad has never turned a wrench in his life. Everything that I know was self taught. I never had a mentor or anything. In fact I taught my dad how to change oil He still doesnt even do that I have to do it for him.

I would have loved to have that time to bond as well have nothing really in common.

Though the Grand National I have was his that I took over.

[martinm13]

My dad has never turned a wrench in his life. Everything that I know was self taught. I never had a mentor or anything. In fact I taught my dad how to change oil He still doesnt even do that I have to do it for him.

I would have loved to have that time to bond as well have nothing really in common.

Though the Grand National I have was his that I took over.

Yep, pretty much the same as you minus the grand national part.

[Kyle_Eagleton]

My dad has never turned a wrench in his life. Everything that I know was self taught. I never had a mentor or anything. In fact I taught my dad how to change oil He still doesnt even do that I have to do it for him.

I would have loved to have that time to bond as well have nothing really in common.

Though the Grand National I have was his that I took over.

Ouch, that would be huge culture shock for me, I did grow up around a handyman. Just not a car enthusiast. If that makes sense. It's like being as good as a pro boxer, but never entering any fights.

[mrg7243]

Yep, pretty much the same as you minus the grand national part.

I got lucky with that

Ouch, that would be huge culture shock for me, I did grow up around a handyman. Just not a car enthusiast. If that makes sense. It's like being as good as a pro boxer, but never entering any fights.

He didnt even know how to do handy work. He was forced to learn all that through my mom

[scweet14]

still trying to convince my dad on a datsun 510 project with a rb20 swap. hes warming up to the idea, or he wants to take my grandfathers old ass accord coupe ('88) and drop a v8 in it LOL

[benz88]

Me and my Dad don't really have a project, I'd like to but it seems like we're always working on something random anyways so It keeps up busy haha.

[martinm13]

He didnt even know how to do handy work. He was forced to learn all that through my mom

If my mom says something is broken, I am the one who has to fix it. The extent of my dad's tool knowledge is hanging a picture. That being said, he's a smart dude and a great business man, he just has very little mechanical aptitude.