The damn kid is not motivated to get his corvette looking nice. Not sure how to get him to want to get out there and get things. Done, we got the block back. The crank is ready to go. We are going to lap the valves since I have new springs and umbrella seals for the heads. Afterwards, my other son said we can take them to his work and hot tank the heads. I am refusing to do any work until my youngest son wants to do the work:

We have one heater hose we need to take off (old)
Lap and replace valve springs and seals. The heads were worked on but the seals were all cracked. We have one more head to match port.
We need to replace the freeze plugs in the block plus it needs a good washing.
There are parts sitting on the floor which are halfway painted.
I bought some aluminum naval jelly for the bare aluminum parts.
Stainless steel headers and chrome side pipes need to be cleaned up.
Radiator needs to be painted with new seals.

We have everything we need in the garage to get it back on the road.

One weekend, we could be at the place where we can start building the engine. Its frustrating but probably comes with his age.

 

Yeah…..maybe you will need to build the car for yourself or sell it.

 

Thats what I keep telling him... I told my other son I would sell it cheap to him.

 

We made as safe as we could by fixing the headlights, replacing the calipers and pads and installing the borgeson steering box. Now, I want to make it reliable. He knew there was a problem when we found two broken rings plus excessive piston slap. I think he his upset on how long it has taken. The weather has been so bad there was no way I was going to allow him drive. We have had one rain storm after another.

 

He is 16.
He may not have the passion you have for building classic cars or even a passion for cars.
You can only try, if it works great, if not, you can’t force him to like it.
It’s not a bad thing that he doesn’t share your passion.
Maybe you can share something he totally enjoys.
My son and daughter, both now grown, love cars, boats, motorcycles, camping, just like I do.
I also remember sitting in separate rooms for hours, on our computers, playing video games, trying to seek out and kill off the other.
Bond with them any and all ways you can.

 

He liked drive it. You would think he would want to get it back on the road. I do not expect him to share my passion. This week, I am hoping we can make some good progress.

 

I feel your pain. My younger brother had the car passion. We restored a 1968 SS 396 camaro together. We had so much fun.

My son didnt have the car passion. I restored his 1978 Trans Am for him. Suppose to be a father son project. Could not get him to work on his own car.

 

Last night, he did get out there and painted the front accessories so that was good to see him take the initiative. He was complaining that the AC box has to come out in order to remove the old brittle heater hoses. He had left part of one of the short cut hose which was closer to the body on. I removed that one and now it looks like I might be able to get the other hose which is jammed up against the box. It looks like I can get a wrench on there to get it loose. I had to let it rest since I cut a hole to allow the rest of the radiator fluid to drain out . The way, I been working with him is to show him what to do then let him try. Then I help get the job done once he is stuck. Sometimes, I split up the work up if its a large job like painting the firewall or parts cleaning.

He wanted to argue that the passenger fender rock deflector did not need to come off when I was adamant that it does... Well I won that battle. Now he has one more part to clean up. Plus looks like that frame rail can be cleaned up and painted too. ...

. I keep telling myself he will thank me afterwards. Learning how to wrench is good knowledge to have for the rest of your life. No need to have AAA come change his tire. Now, they might need to bring some gas if he is out of town. In town, its called "walking".

 

For me, I had the passion but Dad didn't!...
He liked cars and everything but didn't know how to work on them. Oil changes were done by Conoco.
But that changed when my Aunt married her 3rd husband, an ace mechanic just back from Vietnam.
Tom got me my 1st ride in a Vette, and when he bought a Mobil gas station in '73 he hired me at age 15 to pump gas.
Everything I learned about cars would come from there. I sure do miss him...

 

My Dad had no passion for cars but was poor (and Cheap) so I leaned many things regarding car maintenance from him. I have the passion (fever) but my son does not. He told his wife as he pulled into Jiffy Lube for an oi change I know my Dad wherever he is just got a bad headache and is having chest pains.

To OP- I don't think you can teach motivation.

 

Now for the nasty medicine: You need to determine if the problem is ...
1. "Not interested" or...
2. "Lack of motivation" or
3. "Lazy".
My grandson took a ride with me for about an hour.
He complained the Vette was too stuffy (no A/C).
I told him to "Roll the window down".
He said "HOW!"
I said "Turn the handle with the round ****".
He said "That's too much trouble!"
(Then the Doorgunner in me replied)....."THEN SWEAT".

Great project YOU have going, though !

 

Sounds like something my older son would have said back in the day... "My hand and arm hurts!"

 

I’m sorry if this becomes offensive to anyone, ….. frankly if young people whomever they are arent interested enough, and can’t find a real passion for meaningful things….that’s their problem. I give up trying a long time ago with my own children. It’s not my job, it’s theirs. Video games / cellphones or social media obsessions are not meaningful passions. They are mindless wastes of time.

 

I don't know the details of the selection this family project but is a '74 Corvette a car that is high on the son's list of desirable projects? I like working on my wife's '74 but a lot of my car friends tell me it's a waste of time working on a C3 that hasn't got three chrome bumpers. The advice I've given friends for decades is don't start a project just because a good deal came along. Stick with cars that really excite you because the amount of work will be the same for a 4 door Nova or an early Camaro but the end...

 

He picked it out.

 

New update! Yesterday, my son was asked to go to the junior prom. Man, how things changed? Now, for this dance its the girls who are supposed to ask (twirps dance). Guess what, now, he is motivated!

He wants it done by April 20th which I think it is doable. We are not waiting on any work. This weekend, I plan on getting all of the valve work done (port matching and lapping). Then my oldest son can take the heads to his work to get hot tanked. We only have a few parts to clean up before we can start working on the engine block. We are gonna replace the freeze plugs then take it to the car wash for a good soak. We live close to one so that makes it easy for us. I usually spend about two hours cleaning then drying out all of the crevices then use lots of WD40 afterwards.

 

Great news!

 

He got to drive it and he likes how it drove. Its just that we were hearing drive train noise after installing baffles. The throwout bearing was squawking bad. There was loud ticking sound which at first we thought was a loose rocker. Well after adjusting the rockers three times the sound would not go away. It kept coming back. I was concerned it might be a cam going bad. Well, luckily it was not. Rather piston slap... It would happen even at running temperature. The engine came out and was bored to .030. The rods have been mic'd and new cam bearings. The crank has been polished. Someone replaced the clutch recently. All we had to do was clean up the flywheel surface a little since it was slightly glazed.

New parts:
Cam
lifters
Pushrods
ARP head bolts
valve springs
Timing gear and chain
valve stem seals
Complete gasket set
rings/pistons
New throw out bearing
New oil pump screen.

The work that I want done before we touch the block:
The heater hoses needs to be replaced. The old ones are off.
Use Naval jelly to remove the oxidation on the valve covers, alternator, bell housing and parts of the starter.
Paint the starter.
Clean up all of the various wiring connectors so no bad grounds.
Polish headers and side pipes.
Finish the work on the heads.
Install radiator seals and paint radiator and AC radiator.

Really its not a big list... We could have it done with one solid worth of work on a weekend. Then off to building the engine...

 

Motivation is a great thing.
Now you know what motivates him.
Young girls and nice cars.
Sounds like he’s on the right track.
I remember when life was that simple.

 

Good to find another non-bumper snob.