Not enough younger people in this hobby...

I'm 20 and I wish more people of my generation were into old cars. Not just looking at them but actually working on them and driving them. One of my friends has a '70 Maverick and he uses it as his daily driver. It breaks ALL the time but he always fixes it or gives me a call and I help him learn how to fix it. Another friend has a '73 olds that he has big plans for (twin turbo LS3 with a 6 speed, just what all 16 year olds want right? lol) but he doesn't have the slightest idea of what it takes to build a car like that. Even though old cars are unreliable and expensive to build and maintain, I'm glad some young people do what they can to learn about them and get involved hands on with them. I help my friends out every chance I get, trying to teach them how to work on their cars and to share all the things I've learned while working on mine.

I grew up with my car and it was given to me when I was 9. I started working on it when I was 16 and I didn't even have a job. I started small and did what I could, when I could do it. New battery one month, new fuel pump and plugs the next. I had it running in a couple months with no mechanic skills and a very basic knowledge of how an engine worked. I get just as much pleasure learning about how things work as I get applying that knowledge to something practical. I often spend my nights watching videos on engine building and reading threads on here just trying to soak up everything I can because I know i'll need it someday.

While a lot of people my age are out partying and having fun, I'm either at home doing homework or at work, and collecting engine parts. I've got the parts to build a 340 long block sitting in my bedroom and i'm trying to get it ready for assembly during spring break, only have a couple small things left to get. As nice as it is to go to car shows and see other peoples rides, I'd rather be there with my own car that I built. I got to take my Dart to it's first parade and car show back in August and it was so cool to see people asking questions about MY car and commenting on how much they liked it. "What year is it? I like it!" "Oh it's a 1973, my grandpa bought it new and I've been restoring it." "What's the engine?" "It's a 318 I built myself but it came with a slant six from the factory" "And how old are you?" "19 (at the time)". There's a big sense of accomplishment in working hard and building a car like this especially since I had to learn how to do everything as I did it. I spent about a month doing body work every day after work and on the weekends so I could paint it. It took me over a year to get the 318 built and in the car because I didn't have a lot of money to throw at it. For about six months I had new Cragar S/S wheels and new tires up front but still had the old 14" keystones with 205/74r14 tires out back because I couldn't afford the rear tires yet. Every paycheck I've gotten for the past 3 years has contributed to this build in one way or another. So while It's not easy, it's definitely doable to build a car while young and not making a lot of money.

Even though there aren't a ton of young people in this hobby, we are out there. I've found Mopar people to be more accepting of younger folks than Chevy or Ford guys. I was talking to a guy that had a 572 Hemi belvedere and we chatted for a solid 20 minutes and he fired up his car for me and opened up the dumps, it was awesome to hear that big Hemi roar to life. I also got to take a ride in a 408 Dart which was FUN and I'll never forget it. Then one time I saw this guy that had a turbocharged chevy powered Mustang and the guy was a total prick... It's really encouraging when old timers are nice to the young guys. After all, we're going to be the ones taking care of these classic cars years down the road and we need to know the ins and outs of working on them.

Kind of long winded I know but thats what forums are for right? To talk about stuff and what not. Even though I'm young I try to do what I can to get other people involved in the hobby and I'm always trying to learn something new. Old cars are cool and I love working on them :glasses7: