New Member Introduction

[MiniVanMan]

I'm mad!! :cool:

Introducing myself here. From the Chicago area, and an engineer by trade. Former military where I learned to fix anything man-made, and hold anything together with a little bailing wire and bubble gum. This background has led me to wanting to DIY anything and everything I can. I'm 100% jack-of-all trades and master of none. So, the one prevailing dream I've had over at least the last 20 years (I'm in my 40's) is to build a car.

Until now, nothing has come across as the "perfect" car to build before the 818. I LOVE the concept of it. Absolutely LOVE it. Very performance oriented, without breaking the bank. That makes it perfect for me, and can keep the wife happy that I'm not heading out to the car lots to buy my mid-life crisis Viper or something ridiculous.

So, the deal is, is that myself and my son would embark on a car building project to learn him some values. Things like hard work, sense of accomplishment, and just getting your hands dirty and making them bleed a bit (or a lot). The problem, and why I'm mad? He's only 5.

So, now I'm struggling with how young can he be where I could get away with teaching him some values, while still building up a dream car.

The easy answer is I'll build mine while he's young, then he can be excited when we embark on his car project when he's about 15. The original goal was to buy him a clunker at 15, and have him and myself rebuild it for a year before he gets his license.

The fact that the 818 isn't even out yet is disheartening, even though I'll hardly be in a position to be first in line to get one. ARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!! REAL LIFE!!! Why do you have to be such a downer??

[Gus]

Welcome to the forum!!

[Oppenheimer]

Imagine he gets to first grade, and his Dad comes and picks him up from school in their 818, and all the kids are like, WOW, what is THAT! And your kid gets to say, that's my Dad, in the car I helped him build.

Even if he just learns which tool is which, so he can be the Tool Gopher, that is helping. He can also pop in some rivits, get some bolts started so you can final torque them down, that sort of stuff. I'm in your age range, and it wasn't the Military, but rather my own Dad that got me started, around when I was your kids age.

It wasn't with cars, it was the house restoration project. I started as the tool gopher, but soon I was doing other stuff too. The house was over 350 years old. There were a lot of repairs, lots of additions, lots of restoration work. None of it was easy as it wasn't built for plumbing, or wiring, and nothing was built to any code or standard. At one point my dad jacked up the whole house to replace the rotted sill plates. BY HIMSELF, using a bunch of junk yard auto jacks. This was no HillBilly operation, he was a mechanical engineer working in the space program. He had it all carefully calculated.

Eventually there were some car repairs too. I recall doing an intake manifold gasket replacement on the family cruiser wagon. It was the only car, and we were taking it apart on a Sunday night and he had to drive it to work on Monday morning.

To this day the greatest legacy he left me was utter fearlessness at tackling any project. I KNOW I can figure it out, and accomplish whatever needs to be done, by myself if necessary, because I saw him do it without fear or hesitation time and again.

Your kid is not too young to start learning these lessons from you.

[wallace18]

Welcome. I agree that he is not too young to help. Even if it just handing you the tools. I watched and helped my Dad and Uncles when I was 5. I ended up becoming a mechanic and electrician. I have built over 9 race cars and multiple resto's. I always remember the time I spent in my youth with my Dad and Uncles.

[RM1SepEx]

Start him now, doing whatever he can...

When I was young my dad had us "help" build the garage, people gave him a hard time as many of our nails missed the studs. He drove em back out and reused them when we didn't see, we were helping

My son started around 5, I still have his little lightweight hammer. Does Home Depot still do those little projects on Saturday?

At 8 I sold my autocrossed Fiero to buy a go kart for him to autocross. I used a big seat, he used a little one inside mit, we made adjustable pedal rods so we could share the kart at autocrosses. He weighed 50-60 lbs, I go 175...

As the years went by he gained more and more responsibility for the upkeep of the kart. You can start with simple stuff like tire pressures

Now he is a Junior at RIT in biomedical engineering! Not sure what direction he will go... replacement joints, limbs, exoskelatins? or nano bots in the bloosdstream vs cancer etc...

He can help now! (always color choices etc.. to start)

[Evan78]

Have him help you build him a go-kart along side your 818. :D

[Evan78]

It wasn't with cars, it was the house restoration project. I started as the tool gopher, but soon I was doing other stuff too. The house was over 350 years old. There were a lot of repairs, lots of additions, lots of restoration work. None of it was easy as it wasn't built for plumbing, or wiring, and nothing was built to any code or standard. At one point my dad jacked up the whole house to replace the rotted sill plates. BY HIMSELF, using a bunch of junk yard auto jacks. This was no HillBilly operation, he was a mechanical engineer working in the space program. He had it all carefully calculated.350 years?! Wow, where was that? Would be great to see some photos of that house and/or the lifting operation. So what does a house weigh?

[Oppenheimer]

Actually its a lot closer to 400 years now, as it was over 350 when I was a kid (my older sister did a school research project where she looked at town records to trace it back as far as she could), and now I'm a bit 'older' than then, and so is the house.

Milford, CT, city was founded in 1639 (the house was built before the city was officially founded). I'll see if I can find pics of the house lifting operation.

[Evan78]

Wow, I figured it must have been in Europe or somewhere else outside the U.S.

[rhenry01]

My grandson is 20 months and I told my wife an 818 would be a great way to teach him fractions, give Pops that 5/8ths wrench. Little does she know that the Subaru components are all metric!

[vnmsss]

Welcome to the madness!!! Very cool that you want to include your son in the build....My daughter and son-in-law caught FFR fever a couple of years ago, and we found them a great project car which became an amazing family project for all of us. With some awesome help from build expert Mark Dougherty and local forum friends, and then 3 year old son, Evan and 2 year old daughter Kendall, they now own and drive their dream. The memories of the build and all of us working together as a family will last a lifetime.....Got for it!!! Karen

http://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?1410-N-Orange-Bucket-of-Fun&highlight=N%27Orange

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r27/snkbtn/16%20FFR/TracyBrandon.jpg

[skullandbones]

Welcome MVM,

You have a great opportunity. If your son exhibits any of your apptitude and you encourage it, (nature/nurture), he should develop the tools he needs very soon rather than when he's 15. I was in the garage watching and "helping" my father at 5. He actually had projects for me like straightening nails. I still have little video clips in my head of the experiences. To exemplify how much a youngster learns, I also picked up some expletives that my father would utter when he missed a nail or hit his thumb with the hammer. So one day, while my mothers best friend picked me up and I said to her, "you son of a .......", my mother practically fainted. Of course, everybody thought it was funny and my father had to clean up his act a little while I was around. So don't under estimate what you can accomplish even at this early stage of the game. Helping you work on the 818 would be one of those great memories. And remember you have some time before that can happen. He is growing as we speak!! Good luck, WEK.

[riptide motorsport]

Welcome!! its never too early..............my dad told me I was building legos and erector sets at 5 and asking for tools at 8 years old.

[MiniVanMan]

This has turned into a great little thread. Expecting a pity party, I got quite the opposite. My son definitely shows aptitude for building and destruction. He has helped on some projects handing me tools. Best story is me working in the attic on some electrical, around an attic full of blown insulation and my son pointing out that I wasn't wearing my proper safety equipment (i.e. face mask). He also moved the ladder on me while I was in the attic. He thought that was hysterical.

Now I just have to work out some logistical issues, like where to put the car. I have a 2 car garage that's essentially just 1 1/2 cars wide. Any of you guys store your cars somewhere other than at home?

[RM1SepEx]

Think portable garage for extra storage or work space... I have 2 of them. The Shelter Logic portable garages from Tractor Supply are a great deal when on sale and much cheaper than the ones directly from Shelter Logic... more assembly, more bolts, shorter pieces etc... essentially same shelter though

[Evan78]

How tall is the garage? With enough vertical clearance, you could use a 4 post lift or similar as a platform for building the 818. When you stop working for the day, you could raise it up high enough to park another vehicle under it.

[vnmsss]

skullandbones......My Dad had me straightening nails when I was a kid too...Now, there's an art..:) He built our house himself, with the help of my mom, and they both taught me to be self-reliant. I agree this is a great opportunity for MiniVanMan.... K

[MiniVanMan]

Yeah, the garage isn't tall enough to put one on top of the other. Though that's a great idea. Build space isn't the real issue. It won't be built at my house. My friend/coworker who's a former mechanic still has all of his tools, and a garage to suit building this thing in. His step-father is a retired mechanic. Another friend is a hot rodder, and his father-in-law owns a professional garage. So, the logistics of that is covered. It's just where to store the thing after it's built, and letting them all let me enjoy the experience and possibly learn something. I know once they get their mitts on the project I'll end up being the tool jockey. Especially with the hot rodders.

Just another pity party. It means I'd have to do another major garage reorganization, and clear off the side walls. Like I said, I DIY everything, from household furniture, to electronics to the point where I've collected A LOT of tools.

Have the goal, figure out the logistics of the goal, accumulate the resources to meet the logistical demands, then build your goal. I'm still in the planning/logistical phase.


It's nice to get my thoughts collected though.

[gmmorrell]

I'm in Chicagoland too and my son is six. Was thinking the exact same thing.

[DrAwender]

Welcome to the Factory Five Family. Kids are never too young to get involved!!! This picture was taken when Jack was only 1 1/2 years old!!! My older son, Jayden was 3 1/2 and both kids love going to the races and helping me out in the garage and even coaching me on the radio. You'll find that both owners and enthusiast of Factory Five cars have created a large extended family. Racing, Shows or just a few getting together for a weekend drive, you just cant beat the camaraderie that this group has.

Jeff
11098

[NicksPapaw]

My grandson started helping me with my Factory Five build at 3. People would laugh at car shows when I introduced him as my chief mechanic until the then 4 year old kid would ask the person laughing if they knew what cleko pliers were. I would crack up when a blank look came across their faces and he would start explaining what they were and how they worked. :) As others have said, it is never too early for them to learn. Welcome to the forum.