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who wants a weekend car project


Mace1647545504

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that guy has been trying to sell that shitpile for years. I think I remember first seeing the ad in 2014, and back then he had a '64 roller to go with it.

 

to be honest old mid-year corvettes are like tinker toys. Most of the c3 chassis are identical or close enough to the c2 chassis that you can make them work ('68 is basically a c2 chassis, but by '79 there are so many revision to the chassis it requires moderate reworking of the front and rear rails. If you really want to fall down this rabbit hole here are all the frame differences:

http://www.71corvette.com/frames.html

 

point is - parts are cheap and available. If you wanted to build a very ratty hot rod or slow drag car, you could probably do it in a weekend with enough money, space, time, and talent. It ain't gonna have good parts, but a $3500 running parts car c3 and some trips to the hardware store, and don't touch the body at all, and if you started say thrusday night you could be going around the block or making a slow pass on sunday (assuming you had friday off and didn't sleep much the whole weekend). I mean Finnegan and Friedburger could do it, but the rest of us...eh...

 

Begin rant: To be honest though, this is the kind of shit that pisses me off about the corvette hobby. this isn't a $15K body, it's a $5K body and tags, and the rest is the "hopes and dreams" premium. An entire brand new front end from ecklers is $1,700, an entire coupe rear end is $1400. a brand new full body with birdcage that you would just have to sand and paint is $21K so where does this guy come up with the $15K number? not a single panel is useable on that car and the birdcage is toast. the frame? frames are cheap? the vin tag and data plate? it's not a big block car, it's not something rare and special, its a base '66 vette - go to carlisle and you can buy complete project 66's in better shape than this for less money. This is just some dude fishing for a sucker, and honestly it hurts the hobby. If it were cheaper, I betcha some kid with talent could make a fun "king of the mountain" style rat rod out of it - and have it be way better than a '27 T with no original ford parts on it. Seriously, Boomers complain about how young kids aren't into the "old car hobby" and then they pull crap like this to make sure nobody under 50 can afford to waste their time. Fuck this dude, I hope his heirs sell it cheap to a local hot rodder when he's gone (because you know he'll still have it then). /rant.

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Seriously, Boomers complain about how young kids aren't into the "old car hobby" and then they pull crap like this to make sure nobody under 50 can afford to waste their time.

 

This. 100% agree. That and they didn't teach their kids/grandkids or share in the hobby. Those kids found the thrill of racing vidya games and the rest is history.

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This. 100% agree. That and they didn't teach their kids/grandkids or share in the hobby. Those kids found the thrill of racing vidya games and the rest is history.

 

My son wanted to be a mechanic because he’s played some mechanic games where you hop up cars to make them faster. I got him a small engine (mower) to tear down so he could have the experience and see real pistons, valves, etc. After he started he said it was too hard and he quit.

 

I think kids today have a skewed sense of reality due to all these simulator games and the fast and furious franchise making “10 second cars” without much effort. I’ve always tried to temper his expectations and show him examples but you know how it is when you are a kid, until you experience it yourself. Plus with cars today like the hellcat starting out plenty fast, they don’t understand the cost and value of speed. Hopefully it’s a phase and as he gets older we can revisit this but we’ll see.

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My son wanted to be a mechanic because he’s played some mechanic games where you hop up cars to make them faster. I got him a small engine (mower) to tear down so he could have the experience and see real pistons, valves, etc. After he started he said it was too hard and he quit.

 

I think kids today have a skewed sense of reality due to all these simulator games and the fast and furious franchise making “10 second cars” without much effort. I’ve always tried to temper his expectations and show him examples but you know how it is when you are a kid, until you experience it yourself. Plus with cars today like the hellcat starting out plenty fast, they don’t understand the cost and value of speed. Hopefully it’s a phase and as he gets older we can revisit this but we’ll see.

 

Exactly my point.

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If he never had the vidya games but started in the garage he'd likely have a different mindset, no?

 

Disagree.

 

Different generations have different interests. I was never “started in the garage” and was raised by my mom, still turned out more of hands on type guy. She tried to get me interested in many things but they never stuck. She hated that I would waste hours on Nintendo or other games. I try to get my kids into the garage and hands on stuff all the time but they don’t care.

 

I do try and pay attention to what they do care about and help them grow that passion where I can. My daughter loves plants and growing things so I help her plant trees, flowers or whatever. My son likes engineering so we get him technic legos so similar construction sets. Maybe he’ll change with age, maybe not but it’s his choice if he doesn’t want greasy hands.

 

Edit: Often I think kids don’t realize the amount of work that goes into many things and until that amount of hard work is beneficial to them, they won’t see it. They also live in an age where 700+ horsepower is a mere finance away. We never had that option.

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Warning: long post ahead

Having been through a '67 frame off... parts are not "cheap and available" lol.

 

Correct parts? no you are correct. But it is just a chevy at heart and you can find non-correct stuff that will fit and make it run if you aren't too worried about how much it looks and drives like a '66. this year I've seen several C3's that ran with rusty frames for under $3K and that will give you almost all your drivetrain, suspension, and brakes.

 

 

This. 100% agree. That and they didn't teach their kids/grandkids or share in the hobby. Those kids found the thrill of racing vidya games and the rest is history.

 

Or they found other cars, like honda civics, subarus, etc...I remember years ago running into a high school kid who was putting a turbo on an mx6 mazda. I asked him why this and he said he couldn't afford anything RWD and American, and this was stick, cheap, clean and what he had. It actually ended up a nice car. He had a lot of fun with it for not a lot of money, and he didn't have to pay double for something as big as a G body and deal with rotted body panels.

 

Enthusiast car culture in America is bigger than it has ever been, but the boomers have chased everyone under 40 out of hot rods and muscle cars, and the young kids that do play with traditional hot rods, 4 door 60's cars, and sleds they treat like crap. It's shameful.

 

I am not going to lie, I have been taking secret delight in watching some of the 50's cars tank in value over the years, esp 55-57 thunderbirds. these cars were crap to begin with but stylish crap, but watching $50-60K cars suddenly become $20K-$30K cars as the demand literally dies off is cathartic. I'm hoping that they get to $10K-$20K cars and less than $5K for projects so people will rediscover them and make neat hot rods out of them again.

 

My son wanted to be a mechanic because he’s played some mechanic games where you hop up cars to make them faster. I got him a small engine (mower) to tear down so he could have the experience and see real pistons, valves, etc. After he started he said it was too hard and he quit.

 

this reminds me of what a music teacher once told my parents, when I was learning guitar: "buy the kid the guitar he wants (within reason). Why? if they play something they like it helps create encouragement". I learned to work on stuff though R/C gas cars and airplanes. Yeah the mechanical stuff seemed intimidating at first, and a little boring, but I was incentivized to fix it because that was the only way I would play with it, I couldn't afford to keep replacing OS 0.40 engines everytime I struck a prop on the ground and bent a con rod. I hate working on small engines, too hard, too small, and they are boring but I was incentivized to do it because I had started making money with an old snowblower in the winter and I needed it to work in order to have pocket money.

 

Kerry...you came up with the same number..$5k..that i did. MY son thought it was worth $10k. Thank you

 

 

I explained that the front end is a 67 and the rest a 66. I tried to tell him that this will be more work than fun in putting together.

 

If it had a good birdcage I could see maybe $10K. replacing one is a lot of work. A good c2 birdcage starts at $2K and then you have to re-bond all the panels to it (plus remove the old one), not having to deal with that is worth $5K to me. But this car doesn't have a good birdcage, it's shot and the owner clearly thinks you an patch one in place (which is usually how you end up ruining fiberglass panels with heat) which you can't.

 

As for fun? I dunno it depends on your definition of fun. If fun is reassembling someone else's half done project and seeing something that looks clean and nice - this is def not it. If you find fun in making functional garbage out of non-functional garbage, then this could be fun. I do agree it's way too much work either way.

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He likes the mechanics aspect of it, he’s just too young and not strong enough to loosen head bolts yet so I have to do the bulk and what does he learn there? Watch someone else do the hard work...... I will try again when he’s older and stronger to see what he is into.
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Good conversation. My 9yo is very much into cars, thanks largely to C&C, vidya games like Forza, and then by extension shows like Top Gear/The Grand Tour and R&T Crew (subscription box for kids).

 

In the last 9 months I got him out to Rt.555, IFO at Nat'l Trails, and Swamp Buggy Races in Naples, FL as events just to give him a real-world experience instead of videos. All times, he was reluctant and just wanted to stay at home. By the time we were at car events, a half-hour turned to an hour and in some instances lasted a half-day.

 

My point is exposure is good, but I feel his limits. I do most of my own wrenching, but he doesn't want to get too deep. THAT'S FINE. I started out doing plastic models as a kid but got into wrenching when stuff needed repair on a budget during high school. Modern video games are fun and exciting, and CHEAP relative to some of the hobby stuff.

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My point is exposure is good, but I feel his limits. I do most of my own wrenching, but he doesn't want to get too deep. THAT'S FINE. I started out doing plastic models as a kid but got into wrenching when stuff needed repair on a budget during high school. Modern video games are fun and exciting, and CHEAP relative to some of the hobby stuff.

 

I think we’re at the same point. He’s still a kid and will get the hard work aspect when actual wrench time is needed. Maybe he’ll start with a go kart, dirt bike or something then progress. Right now it’s games, models and such because, well, he’s a kid! I’ll likely start out doing wrenching but show, then at some point he’ll do it if he wants it done on his time instead of mine.

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