Thread: Help

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HellO All. Any rodders in Maine, up Bangor way? I feel like I'm alone in the world. Don't know nobody who plays with old metal. I'm a newbie, along with my 17 year old Grandson. Need a Mentor. Need lots of input, ideas, instruction, if you please! HellO ------------ Perley

Welcome Perley, to both you and your grandson. Lots of knowledgeable and helpful people on CHR, what are you building? Probably someone here with "been there, done that" experience....

just turn west at bangor,a little 2500 mile cruse ,and you're at donnie's place!
dave's right on! tell us what you've got happening,chances are
one or more people will give you a hand

you come to the right place , send some pics of you and the gransons proj
i cant hardly wait for mine to get big enough ..

Welcome to CHR, Perley. There is a lot of experience here that can help you and your grandson with just about any project. I believe that there are other rodders here from Maine, even though I realize that there are only a few areas of Maine where human populations exceed those of wildlife.

So what cars and projects do you anticipate with your grandson? By the way we oldsters here love eyeing photos, so post some when you get a chance. Checking out pictures of other member's rides helps us get thru those long winter days and nights, too! (Excluding, of course, those lucky members who live in the sun belt and enjoy endless summers).

Well Perley, I can tell you the folks here can be very helpful. As far a "old metal" goes that used to mean mainly Fords, but today there are so many kits for chassis improvement and adapters for v6/v8 engines that just about any car or truck you can find with good body metal can be modernized. Then of course there are quite a few fiberglass replicas of classic models. Unless you are hooked on some nostalgic image in your mind,you can make a nice street rod out of just about any old car with good metal. One problem may be what a 17 year old has in mind. I can recall at age 17, long ago, that I was having a lot of fun with a '31 Model A Fordor but found a certain young lady turned up her nose at my "old car" and I soon sold the Fordor cheap to get a '47 Ford ragtop. The main stream on this Forum is mainly along the lines of small block Chevy drivelines but there are a few Cobras and Socal-VWs as well. The old formula of early Ford body with modern engine is still alive but has shifted to fiberglass replicas unless you are lucky enough to find an original. My grandson is only 3 so it will be a while but he has a healthy interest in slot cars.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder

Hi and Welcome, Glad to have you around. Being in a remote area has advantages too,less people stomping around looking for old tin. Ebay and mail order puts everything at your doorstep,so go for it. Hank

Got some real nice replies, and thanks much. All encouraging too! To sum it up folks, let me say:
Yeah, not many gear nutz around tellin' me HOW--TO, but----actually got 5 FIVE Grandsons, and try watching them all running around with wrenches (and hammers) in their hands, give ya some exciting moments! hahaaaa. Actually though, two live down in CT so they're not around to help much. The oldest is the only one that is around steady, not that his mind is on the project(s) all the time, he is deep into video games, and when not actively engaged, he slips into self induced 'E' dreams of HALO and other games!
Well, yeah, up here the wildlife do outnumber people by a lot! But population is growing like fleas on a dog, why just my road now there is 9 houses in five miles----------gettin' crowded here now. Still, nobody complains about my yard full of Project Vehicles (Diamonds in the Rough)! But competition for the 'old stuff' is still mighty heavy. I believe all of those 9 houses got 15 guys all looking for old tin, and they must all have EBay! Why--just a short while ago I had to pay $255 dollars for a 'rare' '75 AMC Pacer. Things gettin' bad here! haahaaa. On the serious side, we have a '47 Ford Effie truck that we are (trying) to put on a Chevy S-10 frame with a SBC 350 and 700R4 in it. Stripped the s10 down to bare metal including a hundred or so pounds of rust, then gave it a coat of POR-15 with an overcoat of rattle-can Rust-O-Leum. Ready now to start to re-assemble with new front end parts. Lots of head scratchin' along the way, and YES, plenty of Frustration included. We are both learning a lot and sharing a lot of quality time. We have also gathered up a '52 GMC Cab Over Engine, needs lots of work and $$$$$. And a '28 Essex Coupe with Rumble Seat Hatch. Doesn't look like much sitting here. Several pieces now, but got plenty of dreams of what it'll be. Gathered other jun----ehhhhh, great parts vehicles too, '94 Ford Explorer, '84 Chevy S-10 Blazer, '79 Dodge Cut-Away Van, '88 Ford Ranger pickup which we stripped down to bare frame and running gear, and still have my old work van, '89 Chevy G-20 which gave us the 350 and tranny. Also picked up a Ford Model A frame from one guy, and a Model A front I beam axle with wishbone from another, and got lucky and got an Ebay spring for it. All this shares yard space with a '51 Chevy Styleline 4 door that we drive to local cruise-ins. Trying to sell that now. And a '79 Chrysler LeBaron that one of our Daughters drives daily. Darn, gotta cut some more trees and make room for more! I will post some pics some day, soon as I figure out how. Many thanks for the encouragement folks. Perley