My boy's first Mopar!

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Great story, tell him to keep up the good work. My son got started when he was younger, now he builds his cars fast enough to walk by me on the track.
 
Thanks , he may read this thread ... sent his mom the link . I have no more progress pics to post 'till he sends me something . but I've got a few other semi - relevant pics to share...

This is what he has in mind for the finished product ... Color is PB5 electric blue pearl ,same scoop but with Rally wheels instead of mags. No stripes. Black interior. V8 w/ auto .
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...And here's the family cleaning up mom's hot rod before we headed out to Cruisin' the coast .
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The kid has good taste...My first car was a B5 '69 Barracuda.
Nice picture of your family too.
 
Family has been busy so Vaughn hasn't sent me any progress pics on the Duster but I got this pic today ... I've got a mid 90's Chrysler Sebring Convertible ,These cars have neat bucket seats with built in seat belts ...Vaughn has decided he doesn't want to use them in his Duster ... want's to use the "Ol school" bench . They had a bit of mildew on them because the top is shot on the convertible and it was a bit humid under the tarp so this is a pic of him cleaning them up , we will remove these from the car and I hope to sell them or trade for Duster parts ... I may set them in the duster just to see how they look anyway ... I think these would be safer than the bench and factory 3 points
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When I was young I thought you had to have bucket seats if you wanted to have a cool car. After my first girlfriend I started to like the idea of a bench seat more. - Keep goin' Vaughn!
 
Awesome story. My dad taught me to save money by working on my cars myself whenever possible. It was fun (sometimes) and I wish he lived closer so he could help out with my Dart and Polara, but I'll never forget the times we spent together working on cars. Plus I get to learn more about my car every time I turn a wrench. I think it's cool that you are letting him choose how to build it and not discourage him. You should put the Sebring seats in to "check out" how they look when he is around, give him a subtle hint of what he could have.
 
bellhp said:
Awesome job on the firebird ... I'm hoping that if a kid has some sweat equity into his first car he might be a little less inclined to tear it up like say the old family beater . Any truth to this or am I kidding myself.
So far so good Stan , I know I'm having fun working with him too ... and it's easier on the knees than paintball and he just kicks my but at video games .
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You have a good plan. Not kidding yourself.
He MAY still do something foolish. But he will understand the limitations of the car much better and be more likely to survive. New car insulate most uneducated drivers too much form the environment IMO and cause a lot of accidents.
I speak from experience with my son's car that we built.
 
it's good to see interest from these young guys in the hobby. i have a 8 year old grandson that is also very interester in the classics. he is right there with me everytime i work or clean sassy for a show. it will be his someday. this dart has a slant also with a offy 4 barrell intake, a 390 holley 4 barrell , and dual hooker headers with 2 1/2 stainless steel exhaust out the back and 40's flomaster mufflers. no one believes it is a slant six especially when i'm doing burnouts. i get called a liar all the time. i love it. happy thanksgiving day all.
 
I had asked Vaughn to remove the taillights so he could sand around those areas where he doesn't have access with his DA . He removed the rear side marker lenses OK but when he tried to remove the taillights I guess he broke a couple bolts ... I encouraged him for trying but I guess I'll have to help him with further disassembly when I get home. I'm guessing that the bezels will need replacing ...not sure where the bolts broke but I'm guessing they twisted out of the pot metal bezels or snapped off , he didn't elaborate . Well it's back to the fun stuff for him :tongue3:... he's gonna tackle the inside of the trunk with a norton strip it disk , wire brush and vacuum.
 
He's learning. I don't know if I ever learned anything myself when things went right. - But I sure as heck learned from the times things went wrong. Come to think of it, I must be nearly a genius by now. LOL. - Keep at it Vaughn.
 
get a couple cans of rust penetrant and spray every possible nut bolt you guys might take off. like everything! if ya never take it loose it would hurt.

like the other guy said.... great to see people substituting hard work for throwing money at it.....

it great to look at someone's beautifuly restored car... but when he explains how HE did it, then it impresses ME!?
 
Sorry I let this thread fizzle out , I had a change of employers and for the first time since high school (over thirty years ago) was unemployed for several weeks ...scared the $hit outta me! Any way all is good now , but money is tight so no big purchases for a while ... doesn't mean we ain't workin' on the Duster though , just haven't had time to devote to the internet ... sorry internet .

Update : Took out the seats to see how bad the floor was ... no surprise here , floor is totally shot!
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I took out the worst section of floor to get at the crossmember / torsion bar ... good news, crossmember is sound so on with the project .
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Drilling spot welds!:cheers:
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Plasma cutter !
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... we still have more floor to cut out , will update with pics when it's all out . In the meantime , I took Vaughn on a hunting trip to Alabama ... and...

He bagged a 340!!!! :blob:
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Nice trophy! Thanks for teaching your son to do something for himself. More kids need that lesson.
 
That's something to be proud of. Are you going to teach him to weld now?
 
He always looks so enthused in the photos. I get a kick out of this thread!
 
Awesome story!! Tell the kid we are pullin for him!!!!! Need more Mopar faithful out there!
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Cool story Vaughn! I will follow your trip through the restoration. Looking forward to see your result. Your dad should be proud how you make priorities and how you make progress on your car.

Hats off Vaughn!
 
clhyer said:
Congratulations!
I have a similar story with a car resto done with my son. We started when he was 14 and finished when he was 19. All those pics show him growing up - in more ways than one! The car we restored was an old Pontiac that I had bought when I was a kid and had kept.
When we finished I tossed him the keys and said it was his, I was going to find an old Mopar...
C
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Yeah "old" Pontiac my ***. I have seen this car in person in Cal's garage. This thing is absolutely beautiful. I would give anything to own it.
 
This is a great story. You are making memories that will carry the both of you the rest of your life!
 
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