# Tell me, where have all the good times gone?



## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

Ma & Pa look back on all the things they used to do, never had no money and they always told the truth... Sing along, you know the rest.

A little off topic, but had to share this guys. My 16yr old is hanging out in the driveway with a few buddies on Saturday. I come pulling up in the 66, and the guys are kind of thinking "cool", look at the shiny red paint.

So, I say hey, lets check out the best part and open the hood-- Here is how that conversation went:

Me- What do ya guys think?
Boys- mmm, grunt, ya, ok
Me- Anyone know how cubic inches this thing is? (look at the pic below)
Boy #1 - Umm, 34?
Me - Cmon now, try again
Boy #1 - hesitation... 455??
Me- Yes!
Boy #2 - Wow, how did you know that?
Boy #1 - Ahh, it says right there (as he points to the air cleaner)
Boy #2 - Ohhh
Me - Do you know how many cylinders this eninge has?
Boy #3 - 4?
Me - With all of that time playing video games, dont you guys at least play NASCAR once in a while ?

Man, it was killing me! I could have been driving a rusty Honda, and they would have been about just as excited.

I guess the times they are a changing!!


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## pontiacmatt (May 19, 2013)

That's funny! My son is 26 and he loves my car. He's been driving it since he got his drivers license 10 years ago. He doesn't know all the specs but he knows it's fun to drive. I'm sure he can tell you how many levels are in Call of Duty and I can't.


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## trues607 (Dec 15, 2012)

Different times,different generations and different interests. Funny how things change.

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## gjones (Oct 8, 2012)

*lemmeouddahere*

I have most parts compiled for my time machine. Closing in on the correct frequency. Only lacking a couple of components, and when I find 'em, I'm outta here! I find absolutely NOTHING about any of this even remotely amusing.


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## gjones (Oct 8, 2012)

*rad*

Leeklm, is that a 3 or 4 core radiator in that baby?


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## trues607 (Dec 15, 2012)

Hey gjones do you have an extra seat in that time machine? I'll bring lunch.

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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Was at the local ice cream shop thursday cruise in last year with my 19 YO daughter who helped me with the build and a guy walks up while i am getting cones. looks at the badges and say it's just a 326 to his son. My daughter corrects him and says..."no it's a bored and stroked to 473 with 6X heads". Needless to say she has already claimed the car as hers, i take her to the Metro park to let her drive it around, still leary of letting her take it on the open road, but happy to say she has earned it with her interest.


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## chuckha62 (Apr 5, 2010)

Written and recorded by Ray Davies, of The Kinks. What do I win?


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## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

chuckha62 said:


> Written and recorded by Ray Davies, of The Kinks. What do I win?


I have always been a little partial to the Van Halen version myself  It was just playing in the shop on my ipod the other day, which made me think of it for this story!

By the way, not sure how many cores in the Rad, it came with the car, and I never really paid close attention to it! I am thinking it may just be one wide core, but will check it out.


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## PontiacJim (Dec 29, 2012)

It is always about the times and what interests Dad's instill on their children. I took my daughter out in the '68 Lemans the summer I got the 400 rebuilt and in. Now its nothing special to look at as it is in light grey primer, I was interested in getting it mechanically rebuilt, running, and driving. She was 15 and lives 800 miles away. I was burning tires, chirping gears, and giving her that pushed back in the seat feeling along with rapid shifts and the howl of the dynamax mufflers. She loved it. Next summer I flew her in for a visit. She was 16, had her learners permit and I put her in the seat. Took her up a quite 4-lane, told her to slow down a bit, then told her to downshift and mash the pedal and hit the next gear. Opened it up several times and spun the belt off the alternator. In subsequent visits, I was informed to have the Lemans ready and running as she wanted to drive it. I would let her take it out by herself and have fun. She of course now claims the car should I kick the bucket. I told her by the time I kick the bucket, I will be 105 and she will be 74, so it will be a long wait. She is now 22 and has a 2005 Honda V6/5speed and I get to hear all the guys she races and beats on the "avenue". All her speed shifting has busted a halfshaft already and worn out a couple of the syncro's on her transmission which she wants to rebuild because she can't shift it fast enough now. Yeah, times are different, cars are different, but the spirit remains the same. Let your kid have the wheel with you in the passenger seat and his buddies in the back seat, tell them all to keep the drive a secret, and find a quite deserted road and show how an "old car" really hauls on a straight stretch. If that doesn't fire him up, you probably won't have to give him that "man to man talk about sex" because he simply doesn't have any testosterone or adrenaline.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

My older son definitely picked up the car gene from me. He'll wind up with the Beast "someday" (in the distant future I hope). He helped me build the engine, I even let him button up the all important bottom end. My younger son isn't interested in cars beyond transportation. He's much more into games and that life, but I *still* made sure he learned how to do his own basic maintenance and repairs --- which he does and is actually pretty good at --- he just doesn't enjoy it much. 

Bear


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Boy she was "talking to", was trying to impress her with his about his 75' vette, she linked him to the photobucket and said heres my car..., thats my Girl


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## gjones (Oct 8, 2012)

*Generation canyon*

My oldest boy and oldest girl took no interest whatsoever in mechanics, but are computer geeks today. My youngest girl and youngest boy always helped me work on vehicles since they were 4 and 5. (And they were GOOD- they would hand me whatever tool I asked for first time). The boy works in a hot rod shop now, and works on crotch rockets on the side. The girl has old fashioned values, and started a nice little family. No matter how much they make you scratch your head sometimes, though, they can still make you proud.  (Although, some of them REALLY make you scratch your head and wonder WTF!). (*ahem* present company is always excused, of course).


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## Piedog (Feb 14, 2013)

Every generation tends to think the next one is a mess. My mom (born in a Mn log cabin in 1910) thought we were doomed because we watched the Three Stooges! Now it's video games, social media, etc. And so it goes.
Hug your kids. 

For some car content: Went to my first cruise-in in the 64 last night. Met a guy with a 63 Dodge 330 - 426 dual quad, wedge, push button. He bought the car new - all original. He's been drag racing 6 decades!

:cheers


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## Indetrucks (Apr 2, 2013)

I'm 36 and had little parental car influence growing up. Dad taught me how to change the oil and do that sorta maintenance stuff myself, but that was on an old Toyota.

Came in to the classic car scene when I moved cities and attended a new High School. Sophomore year I hung out with the "muscle car crowd" because they had the cool, loud, American cars. No other reason I guess...

Never looked back... now i have a garage full of classics and do all the work myself.

Parents have some influence but I think it's your friends who have the most. After all, kids don't seem to want to do what their parents do... as it's not always "cool" to them.


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## jasonblair (Nov 22, 2004)

I'm 35, and I can give you some reasons why this is.

1) Car parts are not as interchangeable as they used to be. Cars are not made with interchangeable parts anymore. On this forum, you regularly see parts that work with 64-77 A-body cars. New cars aren't like that. They are designed on computer modelling software, with very specific parts.

2) Cars are more complex than they used to be. Safety and technological components like airbags, stability control, traction control, etc. are tough for a novice to handle. First off, you don't just need a wrench, you HAVE to have a high-priced OBDII scanner/reader/programmer. How many beginners know how to use that stuff?

3) The 1973 Clean Air Act - Ever since then, not only have cars gotten more complex, it's been increasingly against the law to dramatically change an vehicle. You can't just buy a big motor and swap it into a modern street legal car... legally, anyway.

4) Cars are not the way young people interact anymore. Back in the 60's, kids needed a car to "cruise the strip" to stay in touch with their friends. Nowadays, kids do that through Skype, Facebook, Instagram, etc. For those kids in your story that you couldn't believe their ignorance about engines, I'm SURE they can't believe your ignorance about Wi-Fi routers, peer-to-peer downloading, and figuring out how to defeat the copyright protection locks on Blu-Ray discs.

There will always be car enthusiasts, but with the hyper regulation of vehicles today, it is becoming more of a niche market.


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## gjones (Oct 8, 2012)

*too far gone*

Well, there you have it. Thus the blueprints for the Time transference apparatus. :lol:


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## KingJacobo (Jul 6, 2011)

I'm 21 and wanted my first car to be a big block old school GM. Almost all of my friends could care less about the car, just that it drives, has an ipod connection and gets good mileage. 

I have a boat with two speakers, a carb, smelly exhaust and bad MPG that I have to drive carefully because of the handling and drum brakes.

My car is better.


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## leeklm (Mar 11, 2012)

KingJacobo said:


> I'm 21 and wanted my first car to be a big block old school GM. Almost all of my friends could care less about the car, just that it drives, has an ipod connection and gets good mileage.
> 
> I have a boat with two speakers, a carb, smelly exhaust and bad MPG that I have to drive carefully because of the handling and drum brakes.
> 
> My car is better.


Your car has character!


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Great thread, Guys. Chucka, you have good taste in music but there's no prise for that, only banishment and being labeled a 'fossil'. New cars are pretty much 'appliances'. They are excellent and do everything, and after 200 or 300,000 miles, you throw them away. Can you even IMAGINE trying to restore a 45 year old Escalade or Jaguar? All that plastic and wiring, etc. etc. YIKES. _Nobody_ in my family is into cars except me. I loved them since I was born, and at age two, wanted to be a "raking car driver". All of my family except for myself is mechanically declined. I started working on cars at age 6, when I installed a new headlight in a family friend's '64 Impala. I got no encouragement. Anything with a lawnmower engine was not allowed. I had to build coasters and use gravity for speed. I just found out 5 years ago where it came from: mom sent me a pic of my long gone uncle in his tripower '59 Catalina ragtop (red, of course) and I found out that my mom's dad had the tripower on his '62 Grand Prix because he liked to have the extra power "just in case". AH HA..._that's _where my DNA came from! Again, great post.


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## joesweeting (May 8, 2011)

leeklm said:


> Ma & Pa look back on all the things they used to do, never had no money and they always told the truth... Sing along, you know the rest.
> 
> A little off topic, but had to share this guys. My 16yr old is hanging out in the driveway with a few buddies on Saturday. I come pulling up in the 66, and the guys are kind of thinking "cool", look at the shiny red paint.
> 
> ...



I have had several people ask me if my GTO is the "Dukes of Hazard" car, because of the color and its old. 


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## chuckha62 (Apr 5, 2010)

geeteeohguy said:


> Great thread, Guys. Chucka, you have good taste in music but there's no prise for that, only banishment and being labeled a 'fossil'. New cars are pretty much 'appliances'. They are excellent and do everything, and after 200 or 300,000 miles, you throw them away. Can you even IMAGINE trying to restore a 45 year old Escalade or Jaguar? All that plastic and wiring, etc. etc. YIKES. _Nobody_ in my family is into cars except me. I loved them since I was born, and at age two, wanted to be a "raking car driver". All of my family except for myself is mechanically declined. I started working on cars at age 6, when I installed a new headlight in a family friend's '64 Impala. I got no encouragement. Anything with a lawnmower engine was not allowed. I had to build coasters and use gravity for speed. I just found out 5 years ago where it came from: mom sent me a pic of my long gone uncle in his tripower '59 Catalina ragtop (red, of course) and I found out that my mom's dad had the tripower on his '62 Grand Prix because he liked to have the extra power "just in case". AH HA..._that's _where my DNA came from! Again, great post.


I saw the Kinks in 1982 at the Greek Theater at UC Berkeley, Ray Davies was actually sober and put on a great show... But I digress...

Once in awhile I'll get the opportunity to take someone for a ride in the Goat. People can't believe that the car was so advanced being 46 years old. It rides better than my 2000 Benz, but the gas mileage is way worse... 

My sons (now 23 and 25) grew up around muscle cars, so they definitely have an appreciation, but it's not the same as total immersion like we had. Case in point, a few years ago, we were at a car show and looking at a beautiful '70 Roadrunner with a 383. My son (who was about 17 at the time) said, "Dad, it's got a stroker in it". I guess he was so used to hearing guys with small block Chevys talking about the 383 "stroker" that he just assumed that's what it was. I speak Mopar, Chevy and Pontiac, but I don't speak Ford, so I was able to set him straight.

Cheers!

Chuck


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

I'm 25 and I've always been disconnected from my generation, and even the one before that. When I was 17 I was driving a 58 Buick Special with no seat belts, manual steering, manual brakes, and a broken speedometer. I listened to Metallica, Led Zeppelin, Sabbath, etc (still do!). I grew my hair long and I wore girl's jeans from Goodwill because they were the closest thing to bellbottoms I could find. I spent months hunting down an original Nintendo Entertainment System instead of saving up for a new Xbox (snagged it for $6 from a Goodwill by chance). While I am restoring my GTO I decided to buy a 71 Chevy pickup instead of drive a newer Toyota FJ Cruiser my dad took on trade. Lastly, I know virtually nothing about computers. I absolutely cannot stand how the world has become so digitalized. Take away a kid's computer/smart phone/tablet and they will go nuts before they learn to entertain themselves the way most of us did when we were younger. Do your kid a favor and take them outside. Go fishing, camping, to a car show, to a target range, whatever you have to do.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Orion, you are definitely wise beyond your years.

Bear


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

I agree with Bear... except for that part about girls jeans.  Matt


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

Hahaha, thanks guys. I have my doubts some days trying to get through this whole Masters Degree thing. 

In retrospect the chick jeans were a bit much...


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## geeteeohguy (Feb 2, 2008)

Orion, the flare-bellbottom thing was a drag when it was happening. The darn things kept getting caught in the bicycle chain and would lock up the bike and throw us over the bars. BTDT. They sold metal clips at the 5 and dime to go around your ankles to keep the pant leg out of the chain, or you could tuck them into your socks. I had striped bellbottoms in all the rainbow colors as a kid, and didn't care for them......The real 'hippies' of the era (kids who were 17-25) would split the side of their pant leg up the seam to about knee level, and would sew in a pizza slice triangle of bandana or tie dyed fabric on each side. They were too poor to go to Sears and buy the commercial stuff. The pants were, indeed tight...and usually grungy. Patches on the knees, etc. Usually peace signs. I liked the miniskirt/ go-go boot look on the girls much better! I grew up in the heart of hippiedom: the SF Bay area, and actually was there during The Summer of Love....(as a bewildered kid!!) It's great that you are an 'old soul'.....The old stuff re-visited is some of the coolest and most interesting!


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

I wasn't much of a hippie in high school actually. I was the old-school heavy metal guy who got voted most likely to become a rock star in my senior class, haha. The inspiration for the bellbottoms came my favorite bassist of my favorite band, Cliff Burton of Metallica, who never wore anything but bellbottoms. In case you've ever wondered about my username or my car's name, listen to their song Orion. Cliff wrote most of that song himself.


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## Tropical Goat (Jan 30, 2011)

I was 12 in 1975 (Chicago) and my bellbottom jeans completely covered my earth shoes, then I got into cargo baggies. My big brother bought a 66 GTO with a 421 (or so he claimed) from a lady whose son died in the military. I was permanently addicted! Now I've got my own 67, and some
young expert tells his friends that this is the car that was used to make the original Batman TV series car...yea...That time machine's sounding better and better every time it's mentioned!


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