Getting started.....

mrvette

Phantom of the Opera
Joined
Mar 24, 2008
Messages
15,207
Location
NE Florida
Bet there are some funny and interesting stories from us older guys about how we got into the car hobby, first projects, first cars, first toys, and where you were, burbs, farms, city, .....

I probably have mentioned from time to time, I born/got old in the Wash Dc burbs, 53 years worth....
started as a single digit kid playing with my bike, then go carts which we rode around a square block of streets, then over the adjacent golf course
had the usual toys, but the biggies were Lionel electric trains, and Erection sets....remember them??



Learned to drive on a farm WW2 General's Jeep, out in Rockville, today it's multi million dollar homes....sold off generations ago to be sub divided....

my first car was a '60 vette 283 power slide and windows....
wrecked it in a year,.....bought a '61 Pontiac Catalina dr hardtop bubble glass in the rear.....faster then the vette was....easy....
BUT I could get insurance on it....

I been into electronics since elementary school, about the same time as I started loving leaded gas....I dunno if that's a good thing or not....:goodevil:

my list of cars reads like a laundry list, but it's been some 15 years since buying the last one now.....well not quite, did buy and sell a '88 Fiero Formula here when first getting to town...it was a good little car in many ways....:bounce:
 
started as a single digit kid playing with my bike, then go carts which we rode around a square block of streets, then over the adjacent golf course
had the usual toys, but the biggies were Lionel electric trains, and Erection sets....remember them??

Well, if your referring to an Erector Set, ya, I had one of those along with Lincoln logs....didn't actually have an erection set until I was a teenager.
 
started as a single digit kid playing with my bike, then go carts which we rode around a square block of streets, then over the adjacent golf course
had the usual toys, but the biggies were Lionel electric trains, and Erection sets....remember them??

Well, if your referring to an Erector Set, ya, I had one of those along with Lincoln logs....didn't actually have an erection set until I was a teenager.


I have an erection set, it's about 5'3" and has big..............:drink:
 
Im not an oldie, but i feel compelled to respond because im getting to the point which I have busted my knuckles enough to be dangerous.


I started with legos. I still remember building my first lego set, it was a space ship! I slowly graduated to RC cars. First building and fixing them, then painting and racing. I even made a couple A mains at national events.
After college I finally had enough money to sink into a full size car (other than the DD). 6 months after graduation I bought my 1970 coupe. Ive been learning everything I can as I go. I get a lot from the forums, but the most valuable experience comes from screwing something up the first time. Sometimes I slap my forehead and curse myself, but im sure there are a lot of older guys who did the same thing when they got started.

Unfortunately I have never had someone to actually teach me or walk me though anything. So im on my own.
 
started as a single digit kid playing with my bike, then go carts which we rode around a square block of streets, then over the adjacent golf course
had the usual toys, but the biggies were Lionel electric trains, and Erection sets....remember them??

Well, if your referring to an Erector Set, ya, I had one of those along with Lincoln logs....didn't actually have an erection set until I was a teenager.

I forgot all about Erector Sets! Thats been quite a while since I have heard that term. I think Legos are still around.
 
- '64 Ford Falcon- 170 ci 6cyl, Chrome reverse 4 lug wheels, Mustang bucket seats, a hood scoop off of a Torino and a little tiny english 4 speed- do a hard 1-2 shift and it'd break the pin in the shifter. I made a handful of pins in shop. Big Sun Tach on top the dash. Wouldn't pull a greased string out of a car's azz on a good day with a running start.
 
Age 16. Built a Model T Ford out of parts. I am quite sure there are no more than 2 or 3 parts from the same car. Still have it.:amused:
 
Age 16. Built a Model T Ford out of parts. I am quite sure there are no more than 2 or 3 parts from the same car. Still have it.:amused:
Cool, got some pics Jeff?

Not really sure I'm an "older guy" just yet but I used to mess around with my bicycles (I used to road race) up until I joined the RAAF at 17. There they were kind enough to have us use our own cars as the practical part of any phase that was similar to an aero engine - ie, rebuilding the engine, or carbs, timing etc. Learned a lot there then just kept tinkering. At first, I couldn't really afford to have a mechanic do any work for me so I learned to do stuff myself, then it became habit to do everything myself. Got into speedway racing for a while and learnt a lot more. Ended up out here and a scabby old 82 Vette came my way. Didn't know shit about them so joined some forums met some very helpful people and learned even more :thumbs:
 
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Bird will have to find a pic of his Model T-- Here's mine------

DSC00135.jpg
 
Age 16. Built a Model T Ford out of parts. I am quite sure there are no more than 2 or 3 parts from the same car. Still have it.:amused:
Cool, got some pics Jeff?

Sadly, I have worked on EVERYONE's car but mine since I bought my digital camera. It's buried under the car cover and a pile of parts. I'll post some when I get motivated to work on her again. (I haven't changed the oil in 8 years).
 
Bird will have to find a pic of his Model T-- Here's mine------

DSC00135.jpg
Tim, that is outrageously, seriously cool! Did you restore it or buy it already done? What's something like that worth to buy already done?

Sadly, I have worked on EVERYONE's car but mine since I bought my digital camera. It's buried under the car cover and a pile of parts. I'll post some when I get motivated to work on her again. (I haven't changed the oil in 8 years).
Yes please Jeff, I'd be interested in seeing it. Is it driveable?
 
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Needs a SBC and a modern drive train/wheels/tires/suspension.....:chinese::D:D:devil:

but it looks like a museum piece alright.....
 
That's a neat little car, reminds me of that episode from American Hot Rod where they cut up a nice one to turn it into that hideous thing that boyd dreamt up.
 
That's a neat little car, reminds me of that episode from American Hot Rod where they cut up a nice one to turn it into that hideous thing that boyd dreamt up.

Boyd get too far out there, for sure.....

an old friend, Nav Air Engineer..had a '35 Ford rumble seat convertible....
bought it for 13 grand.....some dozen years and many awards later he sold it for 15 grand....being as it was all steel, I was telling him to make a street rod out of it, worth more money.....steely rods are tough to find anymore....

so he lost his ass on it....because everyone who remembered them new as a kid already had one, or was outta the market/dead.....

so the ones that want it NOW, remember it as a classic hotrod, not a resto...the market changed.....

as I predict it surely will with my beloved shark.....then again ALL cars are down a good bit now....except for the fools on the auction house stage....

can't bearit anymore Jackson.....


:devil:
 
started as a single digit kid playing with my bike, then go carts which we rode around a square block of streets, then over the adjacent golf course
had the usual toys, but the biggies were Lionel electric trains, and Erection sets....remember them??

Well, if your referring to an Erector Set, ya, I had one of those along with Lincoln logs....didn't actually have an erection set until I was a teenager.


I have an erection set, it's about 5'3" and has big..............:drink:

LMFAOOOOO :lol::lol:
 
My first car was a 1963 Ford Fairlane with a 221 cubic inch V8 and two speed auto. But it WAS a 2-door sedan :D
I put on shackles to jack up the rear end so that I could mount huge (for those days) 8.25X14 tires in back. Also went to JC Whitney in Chicago and got a steel pack muffler for it. And of course, the mandatory cheapie tach and little chrome air cleaner on the 2 bbl carb. I was :cool:

We used to go about 35 MPH in town and pull it down into "low" and turn off the engine and them turn it on again to hear it backfire. Did it one time and blew the guts out of the steel pack muffler. We just hammered it back together and it sounded even COOLER!!! :bounce:
 
My first car was a 1963 Ford Fairlane with a 221 cubic inch V8 and two speed auto. But it WAS a 2-door sedan :D
I put on shackles to jack up the rear end so that I could mount huge (for those days) 8.25X14 tires in back. Also went to JC Whitney in Chicago and got a steel pack muffler for it. And of course, the mandatory cheapie tach and little chrome air cleaner on the 2 bbl carb. I was :cool:

We used to go about 35 MPH in town and pull it down into "low" and turn off the engine and them turn it on again to hear it backfire. Did it one time and blew the guts out of the steel pack muffler. We just hammered it back together and it sounded even COOLER!!! :bounce:


My first V8 was a Hipo 289 64 Fairlane.:friends:
 
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