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my48stake

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Taking advantage of a snow day from school today my 14 year old pulled our '48 B1D out of the garage under it's own power for the first time that it has been driven since 1973!

 

He's been working on it since this summer.  Rebuilt carb, starter, generator, pulled head and did valve job, painted everything in the engine compartment, replaced water pump/thermostat, complete ignition system overhaul, new radiator...  Yesterday he put the rear axle back together and today changed the diff fluid and trans fluid.

 

This has been a great learning experience for him!  He's beaming!!  Still no brakes (other than the parking brake) and they're not bleeding so we either have plugged lines or need a master cylinder rebuild next.

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That is GREAT NEWS !  His efforts have paid off big time. Hope he takes lots of pictures for the stories he WILL tell ,once his truck is back on the road . He can enjoy the satisfaction of knowing he has his hands on every part of his ride. When he is @ a swap meet he can tell what parts go in & on his truck, not everybody can.     Congrats !

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That is so cool!  give him a ata boy from me.

what the heck is a snow day? :huh:

 

JK :D

 

I'm just curious how they get a snow day with so little snow? We had 9" last week and the metro schools stayed open.

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I'm just curious how they get a snow day with so little snow? We had 9" last week and the metro schools stayed open.

Not sure why the snow day.  I think the roads were wet last evening and froze overnight so it was slick. It was 18 deg F this morning so salt wouldn't work.  I agree, there really wasn't much snow.

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Hey 48stake

 

I love seeing kids working on something besides a video game...congrats on getting it running and moving...

 

MikeC

My son would agree with you.  He feels there is far too much hunting, fishing, and car fixin' to be done for there to be any time left for video games.  So far today he's shot a squirrel, fixed the pilot house, replaced the rear brakes on his mom's Avalanche, and is currently (2 pm) plowing the driveway with the tractor!  I'm guessing ice fishing is next (last week he pulled a 37" 12 lb Pike through a 6" hole)  :)

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Not sure why the snow day.  I think the roads were wet last evening and froze overnight so it was slick. It was 18 deg F this morning so salt wouldn't work.  I agree, there really wasn't much snow.

At least he made the most of a free day!

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This Spring make sure you take him and the truck to a show or cruise or a tour thru town, so he can proudly be introduced as your building partner and receive a few of the complements he deserves. In person complements might feel better than us just telling you to tell him   good job.  Once again  Congratulations to Father and Son 

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I love to hear or read stories like this. This made my day when I read it. Your an awesome Dad. This is kind of how it started for me. From the time I was old enough to start being interested in Dads car, truck all these wonderful mechanical things in our yard . I always wanted to tinker with things. My Dad saw that and nurtured it. He started by showing me how to safely and correctly use tools, put them away when I was done with them. He taught me all he knew and my enthusiasm just exploded day by day. My hats off to both of you. Its a great way to make that father son bond even stronger too. Way to go !!!!!

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Thanks for the kind comments everyone.  We're sure having fun with this.  This past summer he rebuilt my grandfather's '51 Farmall M and started driving that to local car shows (since he can't drive a car on the road yet he thought he'd start on the tractor!)  He's gotten quite a reputation with the old timers around here.  At one of the shows they announced over the PA that they had "351 cars and 1 tractor in attendance".  This upcoming summer he'll have his driving permit (we can get those at age 14 and 8 months here in Michigan) so he'll be able to drive the Pilot House to those same shows.  Should be fun!!

 

Again, thanks for all the comments and I'll pass them on to my son as well.

 

p.s. ice fishing didn't make the cut yesterday.  He decided to pull apart the master cylinder and clean out the brake lines instead.  Master cylinder was seized so it looks like I'll be ordering a rebuild kit next.

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