well today i was working on an eng. dolly . got my nephews son to weld it up for me ( he is an expert welder ) . he asked me when i was going to stop being an old hot rodder . i told him i refuse to grow up and will be bending wrenches till i die . this got me thinking ( bad at my age ) , who is the oldest active member on this forum ? one who does his own wrenching , i turned 69 last month and i still do . is there anyone else ??? FASTER CARS , YOUNGER WOMEN , COLD BEER . life is still good .

 

Well , no comments ????????????? good or bad ??????

 

At 61 I'm one of the older members--and, yes, I do wrench on my own car. But you, Uncle, you're the man!

JamesC

 

thank you JamesC , did not take your suggestion on the grecian formula . any other older gearheads out there ???

 

Uncle Tom;

I get surprised when i see more senior guys into the thirdgens. Since i still think of it as a "newer" car.

But you gotta keep in mind, that some of the older guys STILL dont like to use "that darn computer" and insist to stay old school all the way.

So although there are many "old guys" who do their own wrenching, few might see this thread. Id imagine there are alot, since its the older guys in shops now that are the only ones who know how to wrench. More and more now, "Repair" shops are turning into "Replace" shops.

That doesnt stop you finding the most senior TGO member though.

 

come on , there must be others who are not ashamed to admit age . lets hear from you .

 

I am only 52, and have no plans to ever stop tinkering with my cars. I use the word tinker, because I don't consider myself as a mechanic, as I don't tackle major repairs, but enjoy doing the maintenance stuff, and minor repairs. Back in the old days, I actually earned a living as a mechanic, but that was a long time ago, and lots of things have changed. It's encouraging to see one who is 69 and still active in what he enjoys. As a registered nurse, I see young older people, and old older people. The young older people seem to enjoy life, live to the fullest, and not let age mentally affect them. The old older people, not only retire from thier jobs, but from life as well. They seem to be sitting there waiting to die. What a waste! My father is 75, drives a ten wheel dump truck for a living, is certified on heavy equipment, and operates bulldozers, backhoes, trackhoes, and frontend loaders all day. He is not a gear head, but does welding as a hobby, and can make anything out of metal. My youngest son owns a backhoe, and my dad did a complete restoration on it. He also restored his 1956 Ford farm tractor. He quit drinking beer, because he drank too much. He is married to a woman 14 years younger then he is. He is interested in current events, politics, and other important issues. I hope that I have some of his genes, and can follow his example. To me that is the way to age gracefully. Keep on doing what your doing, and we will all be better off because of people like yourself.

 

Well, I'm only 43, but I still enjoy rodding and custom cars/trucks. I'm not real partial...anything with some time and performance put into it is cool. My 10y/o daughter seems to take after the old man and wants to get into helping me get my T/A back on the road after helping me with the 406/C-10 job we did. She looks forward to driving it one day.


I have one claim to "old" in this post...I still get off flying my KTM (dirtbike) around a good motocross track. Most guys my age like riding trails.

 

thanks for the kind comments , be sure i am no where near stopping . in process of eng. removal from my 89rs as we speak , by my self of course . any more comments ???

 

kudos to the older guys still doin stuff. im not in those ranks yet but im doin better than most guys my age around me. they actually act like "old" people. im 37 and couldnt imagine sitting around doing nothing and as one member said "waiting to die"
as unk tom said, i refuse to grow up, i tell people i'll grow up when i die. granted when i have a long weekend when im doing a major project i'll feel the after effects more so now than when i was 20 but aint nothing a good hot bath and beer cant fix.

 

Almost 50 now and am more into the sport than ever before.
Once you're done raising a wife and kids, there's a lot more time and cash left to enjoy yourself. Not that being a family guy didn't have it's moments.

 

Raising a wife i like that.

 

well this morning i removed eng. & tranny from the remains of my 89rs that was T boned , severed the rear half of my camaro . anyway removed eng. from below , took my time , did a lot research on this forum , ( god , i love this forum ) and missed one thing , a clamp on the speedo cable on the subframe . took care of it , rolled eng. & tranny out complete with headers & Y pipe . rolled eng. and harness away with out damage to anything . i did this by myself . my nephew & his son tried to help , but i refused . said i wanted to do it on my own . the removal from below is so easy , i would recommend it anyone , to everyone . do your research . the factory installed them from below . why not remove from below ??? anyway be sure to remove springs before you drop front X member . you do need some elevation for this . pls. do search on others that have this . time for a cool one .

 

Well Uncle Tom, you are the man! Keep up staying young by working on our projects. I'm 67 and feeling it, but I've rebuilt the front suspension complete on my 88 GTA, installed stainless brake lines, flex and hard lines, converted to 1le brakes in front, 89 brakes in the rear, installed TA rear girdle on the 9 bolt, Spohn panhard rod, alum driveshaft, new shocks,struts, installed T-top headliner,new dash pad, seals on doors and windows and that's just part of what I've done to the "other woman" trying stay young. Presently finishing engine for vortec TPI 0411 conversion. I too really enjoy this board and the great support many have given me overe the past few years. Thanks to all, Dave

 

I love this forum also but at 55 I sometimes feel inferior here because I don't even do my own maintenance. What I do bring to the table though, is a passion and love for 3rd gens.

 

i`m 47 and still in the car business......it gets in your blood and you can`t shake it off so.......gotta go with what makes me happy.....my cars, wet women and cold beers....i`m not a mechanic, but love my camaro

 

Well, Uncle Tom, I'm no where near anyone's age that has posted so far, being that I'm only 19, but I started tinkering around with cars a few years ago and with my mother loving chargers and my father loving mustangs, I somehow found my way into Camaros and Firebirds. Which all of my gearhead buddies that are in their 30s-50s tell me I'm strange for enjoying muscle cars like them at my age instead of wanting to deal with the twin turbo'd imports.

Been playing with my new Trans Am for a few months now, and like most of you guys, I'm not a mechanic by any means, but anytime something messes up or I notice something strange, I like crawling into it and messing around. Figured out you learn more by doing it than just studying about it, so on top of talking to everyone on here, I'm out there doing what I enjoy and don't plan to stop until I don't have the choice anymore. Haha.

But my hats off to you guys. Don't ever change.

 

you are the man tom. love ya stay young!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i know i plan too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

48 here.....don't think I'l ever stop loving and taking care of cars and bikes..!!
Last weekend my 4 year old son and myself went to a historical motorcycle event.
One of the guest riders was 67 year old, former world champion, Jim Redman, he was still the fastest man in the race....!!

 

i'm still a yung'n to some of ya'll,but I'm my own wrench,there is a saying that associated to my still riding my Yamaha YZ250,but with a couple of word changes,applies to us "You don't get old because you've stopped wrenching..You stop wrenching because you got old." i still ride and I still wrench.got projects for when the kids are grown and gone,1 in college and "the baby" in 8th grade,

 

Hey Tom, and all the other guys who are 40plus. I thought for a long while that i was the oldest third genner on the site. i thought that all these guys were early 20's and teenagers. It is so nice to see so many older guys still into hot rods, especially third gen camaros and firebirds. I will be celebrating my 51st birthday on the 28th of this month. i just love camaros. i have two of them. one is an 87 z28 w/tuned port injection. i have alot of go-fast goodies on it,(bigger throttlebody,hotter cam etc..) the other is an 83 track car w/ a 383 stroker engine. car is set up as an 8th mile racer. i run a pretty big slick on it. car runs pretty good on motor alone, will put a 100 or 150 shot on it later. keep thirdgen hot rodding, Big John

 

Hey John, Where in Qwinnett are you? I'm over by the mtn. Dave

 

Well...you have me by a couple of years, (only a couple) but I'm still building and racing them.

 

i'm near the new(not-so-new) Walmart at the corner of Annistown rd. and hwy 124 in Snellville.

 

4o and wrenching.



Marietta checking in.

 

50.... innner child is holding to 25

 

you give me hope and a good continued outlook on wrenching on my stuff.
im 45 next month,own a 67gto,69 lemans conv, a 88gta, 89 ta. do all my own wrenchin. been doin this a long time, and god willin, ill keep on keepin on.
pine mountain ga .

 

I believe that there is a gear-head gene in some of us. If not, why did people start building tools and machines in the first place? Of our 11 grandchildren, one boy who is now three, had the gear-head thing from before he could talk. He always grabbed the toy cars, trains, and trucks from the toy box, and would have a fit if his older sisters touched one. Starting at two, he hugs and talks to my thirdgen, and acts like he is waiting for it to talk back. Probably too many Knight Rider reruns? He could care less about his mom's minivan. He pays no attention to the other cars in the garage, only the T/A. If the T/A is out of sight, he cries for it. One of his first words was car, and his favorite movie is Disney Cars. His second favorite is Thomas the Tank. Then comes along little brother, now 15 months old. Both boys compete for all the car, train, truck toys, and fight over them. Dare anyone else to touch them. The funny thing is that thier father is anything but a gear-head. My daughter, the boys' mother has learned more about cars and car related stuff since her two sons were born then she ever knew before in her 28years. There may be a gear-head bug to catch, but I also believe that there is a gear-head gene. It will be Grandpa's job to make sure the boys get started on Thirdgen's. Maybe I get then one at first, and let them fight over it!

 

hey 86ws6 you sound like me. i have two gearhead granboys too. i took them to a GoodGuys car show when they were 4 and 5 years old, and they have been hooked on hot rods ever since. they love my camaros. every time they come over, they want me to fire up the race car.(83 383 stroked camaro) they can't wait to ride in the 87 z28 that i'm still putting together. I say, start them out young in hot rods and you will probably never have to bail them out of jail.(unless they're caught street racing)

 

We had an uncle, now deceased, who was a design engineer for GM for all of his working life. A few years before he retired, he transfered from Detroit to the GM proving grounds in Arizona. When he retired from GM he built his own machine shop behind his home in Williams AZ., and did museum quality restorations on early 1900's vehicles until his death in his mid 80's. He just liked turning wrenches.