Do you have a car obsessed high schooler who wants to learn how to fix cars? Can’t find a program or mentor who’s willing to take a student under his wing? Consider having your child learn the skills at home with a project car. Here’s how my son did it and how the project benefitted him.
First project. At 16, my son bought a broken down 1984 Volvo 240 for $800. He forked over an additional $300 for a companion parts car. I wasn’t too thrilled to have two junkers on the drive, but hey, the payoff was worth it.
Why a Volvo? Volvos 240, 740, and 940 are perfect first project cars according to my son. Millions were made over many years, so the parts are plentiful. These cars are inexpensive and easy to find. The engines have a simple design. There’s ample room in the engine bay to work. Tolerance is high which means there’s room for error when making adjustments. Finally, according to my son, Volvos are really cool. They are trendy and easy to engine swap and modify.
Learning. To get started on any project, my son downloads the owner’s manual. He watches YouTube videos on repairs and participates in online forums for that car. He also brainstorms with his dad who has an engineering mind to help him diagnose problems. He takes pictures of the parts he is working on and digitally documents his work. Flow diagrams help him stay organized and create a certain logic. Detailed documentation like this makes it easier to pick up where he left off when inevitable time gaps occur. Documenting also allows him to share progress and ideas with other automotive enthusiasts online. Here is his work on a forum thread: Turbobricks .
Parts. Once he diagnoses a problem, he orders parts through online companies. Parts can be expensive. Oftentimes he salvages interior and exterior parts from junkyards. Our local parts yards post online inventories so you know when a car of interest shows up. That’s when you cancel your plans and head to the junkyard. Cars get picked over quickly.
Tools. My son reassures me that the necessary tools are rather inexpensive. Purchase the cheapest socket wrench set, screwdriver set, and torx bit set from Harbor Freight all for around $100. Specialty tools can be borrowed from Auto Zone. The deposit to borrow a tool gets refunded when the tool is returned. So, it’s truly free to use.
Garage or not. A dedicated garage spot for a project car is a luxury not everyone has. But don’t let that stop you from embarking on this valuable learning experience. My son completes his projects on our crumbly gravel driveway. He’s endured challenging weather and pesky critters. I wish more than anything that we could build a separate garage for him. Some people rent storage space and set up a garage there.
Business skills. My son’s first project was a steppingstone to numerous benefits. First of all, he got his first car operable, and it’s still his faithful daily driver three years later. Remember that parts car he bought along with this car? He fixed that car and sold it. The income from that car was used to repeat the cycle of fix and sell or flipping as they call it these days. Marketing the car to sell is another valuable skill to perfect. Taking photos and writing an effective listing can fetch higher interest. Then you have to communicate with buyers. All in all, first car projects can help budding mechanics learn business skills along with mechanical skills.
Social. A precious reward is the time my son spends working with his dad on these projects. They brainstorm together, sweat together, and cheer together. So very sweet. My son also has friends his age with the same interest. They work together on each other’s cars even partnering on some car-flip ventures. Another social aspect is participation in the online car forums. The local vintage car community is relatively small. They make connections and provide the inside scoop on parts and available cars.
College. As a senior, my son contemplated enrolling in the automotive program at a local community college while knocking off coursework for an engineering program. However, he was accepted into the engineering program at NC State right away, so he opted for that. I believe his hands-on automotive experiences helped him secure that acceptance. For one, he wrote an application essay about a particularly challenging situation he faced on one of his projects. This allowed him to highlight his mechanical skills and problem-solving skills – important attributes for engineers. Not many applicants have authentic hands-on experience like that. Despite not enrolling in an automotive program, he’s learning from a master mechanic. Read on.
Job. The community connections my son made through the online forums, purchases, and local transactions, allowed him to find a part-time job at a garage that specializes in the vintage cars he loves. He’s essentially an intern learning from a master mechanic. The job is providing much needed income and valuable skills. Such a blessing!
Satisfaction. Rebuilding a car engine and solving a plethora of problems results in great satisfaction. You have a car that works. Perhaps you’ve added more power to an engine through modifications. If you’ve resurrected a classic vintage car, you get attention on the road and in parking lots. People take pictures of your beater. Vintage cars draw people in much like a cute puppy. We’ve had people shout out their windows while barreling down the highway. “What year is it?” If you end up selling it, you get to see the excitement in the buyer’s eyes. A Saab my son and his friend partnered to flip was sold to a military guy who wanted a unique car. He and his friends couldn’t wait to pick up a keg and get the party started.
Costs. The costs associated with a project car can be justified as educational costs. This type of education is valuable because it requires some serious reasoning and hands-on learning. These types of lessons integrate into the brain more effectively than lectures and reading. If things go well with your project, you can sell the car and recover your costs. You may even come out ahead. Perhaps the opposite occurs. You discover that diagnosing problems is difficult or fixing problems is not your thing. Maybe the costs are limiting. In this case, you can still sell the car and hopefully recover all your costs. If you lose some, it’s still noble to categorize those costs as the cost of education. As some debatable author once penned, “If you think the cost of education is expensive, try ignorance (not having an education).”
Concluding thoughts. A high school student can learn mechanic skills at home if he possesses certain attributes: passion for auto mechanics, an aptitude for mechanics, problem solving skills, patience, and organization. Family support is essential as the car will take up space on the driveway or in the garage. It will look ugly with missing parts and flat tires. You will drive to Auto Zone ad nauseum. Your son’s clothing and skin will be greasy and oily. His fingernail beds will become permanently black. Besides those issues, the benefits can be tremendous like a high paying job, a startup business, or engineering school. Furthermore, you can look forward to higher end vehicles showing up on your property. Perhaps you will get to drive some pretty cool cars yourself. Right now, there’s a beautiful 1990s red Alfa Romeo sitting on my drive. When the coolant system gets fixed, I plan to give it a run. What I’m really looking forward to is when a Porsche 911 shows up. It might become mine. Parents, support your child’s dreams.