NEW Mechanic (PHOTO)

Vintage911Racer · 02-27-2004, 08:42 AM

Here I am with my new mechanic. My son Blake. I just go to tell you how much fun it is to have him around at the track. he changes my brake pads, rotates my tires, helps bleed the brakes, he knows how to start the car and work the carbs from the back to keep it idling. What a thrill.

I used to do the same things for my father growing up. I guess it is in the blood.

pwd72s · 02-27-2004, 08:56 AM

Great photo Mark. He has to be the "coolest" kid in his class....

Vintage911Racer · 02-27-2004, 09:01 AM

He loves it. I laoded up my race car in the trailer and took it to his school for his show and tell day. He had the whole class outside and explained racing and the car to his classmates. I guess you can say I was a proud father at that point.

Grady Clay · 02-27-2004, 09:11 AM

Mark,

Take him competitive kart racing. You won’t believe how much fun you both can have. Where else does your teen come to you and say “Let’s go racing”?

I crewed for my son, starting at age 10. Last year at 17 he raced Spec Miata (a lot slower than the shifter karts he raced.) He is now testing in Formula Mazda at under lap record times. Racing will get tamed down a lot for college this fall. First things first.

I recommend taking your kid racing, not both racing. I have seen several dads go kart racing also. It’s not the same experience. This is a real unique opportunity to stay connected with your kid through some difficult teen years. You crew for him in his karts, he crews for you in your cars.

All through middle school the racing was dependent on grades and behavior. We never had a problem but it wasn’t lost on any of the kids when some of the competitors had to come to the track and only watch.
Try this:
Have any of you raced karts?

Best,
Grady
gradyclay@hotmail.com

Vintage911Racer · 02-27-2004, 09:19 AM

Grady,

Thanks for that. He is dying to get into Karting. The kid can drive. I take him to the local karting tracks and I am amzed at what he can do against older kids. granted these are not super fast karts, but they are real 4 stroke karts that go about 40 mph. He loves it. As do I.

vash · vash's Garage

that is a great photo. you guys have the same profile!

put some small sized mechanix gloves on him and some safety glasses and he will look a pro! bonus points for his young size on any work to be done under the dash! i.e. pedal cluster, headlight switch, etc.

side note: are those battery powered impacts any good?

Vintage911Racer · 02-27-2004, 09:27 AM

We better have the same profile. I had to make many trips to the hospital to return the onese that did not look right. I've got to make sure I get ehat I payed for.

J/K

Side note answer.

battery powered impact. Yeah, it works pretty good. gets them to 100ft lbs. of torque easy. However I only torque mine to 95.

Makes working at the track a cinch. Yet they are not as fast as a true impact wrench.

rcm · 02-27-2004, 09:30 AM

Just awesome!

JackT · 02-27-2004, 09:30 AM

Mark, there may come a time in the not too far future that you will have to push him to go with you to the track. It will take a lot more effort on your part to get him to go. Push him because once he gets to the track, you and he will enjoy it just as much as you do now. It's just a matter of getting him there.

Jim Richards · 02-27-2004, 09:31 AM

Quote:

He loves it. I laoded up my race car in the trailer and took it to his school for his show and tell day. He had the whole class outside and explained racing and the car to his classmates. I guess you can say I was a proud father at that point.

Mark, I'll bet your son was proud, too. Imagine some kids bringing their pet turtles and your son brings a vintage 911 race car, complete with driver. Hard to top that!

Vintage911Racer · 02-27-2004, 09:40 AM

I must say, it was pretty cool. I felt like a real pro. I put each kid in the car and stood beside them as photos were taken of all of them. I was even in my race suit. My son wanted me to wear it so he could explain how it is made of "nomex" to protect me from a fire.

Race car (as it is now) $40K
Getting married for the 2nd time (too much)
Bringing your race car to your sons show and tell (PRICELESS)

Grady Clay · 02-27-2004, 11:55 AM

Mark,

I did the same thing. I took the GT-2 914-6 on an open trailer to second grade show-n-tell. I put a socket over the throttle stop so the engine wouldn’t free-rev over 4000. Boy did the class love that as they each got to sit in the seat and rev the engine. Of course that was just prior to a scheduled 25-hour maintenance overhaul.

Back to karting.
How old is your son? Most start in Briggs & Stratton or Comer 4-strokes and then graduate to age appropriate faster karts. For experienced racers an 80 cc shifter is appropriate at about 13. By 15 they can be in 125 cc shifter karts. The 125s are F1 performance at less than FV prices.

At age four we went to a fun kart place where they had karts that were walking speed. We went out with me holding one hand and he steered with the other. After a half lap (100’) he was off and running.

At age six Bobby Rahal let him sit in his Champ Car. That did it.

We first went to the tracks and rented competition karts at age 10. We used the slowest one possible at first. After a day he was ready for more speed. We went and watched the kart events. The first event he wouldn’t go in the paddock, he just wanted to sit in the grandstand and watch. After an hour or so, it was OK to come into the paddock. He is a careful kid who likes to know what he is getting into.

The first year (age 11) we bought a new Margay Briggs & Stratton powered kart and raced 27 events. The next year we bought a second identical kart, just different class, and raced 29 events entering two classes. Same for the third year. The forth year (age 14) we bought an 80 cc shifter kart, outrageous performance. And I now had a skilled driver. He raced the 80 and occasionally a 125 over the next years. Last year he got a ride with a team in a Spec Miata. The Miata is a lot slower than the shifter karts and forced him to go back and relearn momentum racing. Over all this he knows good sportsmanship and how to take care of the machinery – no crashes, no DNF, and still win. The first day he got in a Formula Mazda he was turning lap record times. Last summer he got some laps in a GT-3RS Cup car, guess what he wants to drive.

As I said, college starts this fall and racing will get tempered. Professional career race car driving is not in the plan. Down the road, he has to pay for his racing.

Another important issue is how your teen approaches street driving. My son had all the mechanical skills and we had been discussing street safety issues since age 12 or so. He worked his tail off to complete the AAA classroom requirements when he was 14. At 15 he could get a Learner’s Permit in Colorado. He had a full year (age 15) driving with us in the car. Now, just turning 18, he has no accidents, no tickets and is a responsible driver. He leaves racing for the race track.

Looking back over the past eight years, we both agree they have been the best ever.

Best,
Grady
gradyclay@hotmail.com

Vintage911Racer · 12:46 PM

Thanks fior the story Grady. That is great.

I will someday soon get him racing a Kart. However, I am not ready to slow down on my own racing experiences as I am only 34. A few moer years of serious racing for a me and all the attention goes his way.

DId I mention I have a 11 year old daughter "Taylor" that is dying to race carts just as much as him. However I am a little more concerned with her. She crashes anything that moves. SCARRY. But this may be a good way to teach her how to drive or ride or walk better. She is a great soccer player, she is on a Club tournament team. But some how she does not do as well in things that move.

}{arlequin · }{arlequin's Garage

that is so cool. both of you are lucky.

Grady Clay · 02-27-2004, 02:18 PM

Mark,

You don’t have to slow down your experiences, just add to family fun.

There is only a small window of opportunity. Get them both in karts now. In a few years it will be “too late”, their interests will be elsewhere, hormones and all.

Find a regional race group that has girls Taylor’s age. If necessary, point out that this is where the boys are. My son also shows American Saddlebreds partially because that is where the girls are.

Invision Taylor at 16 and you have to decide weather to let her take the family car to the mall with her friends. Wouldn’t you trust the situation better if she were an experienced racer? Let her experience mild crashes and DNFs at this age in a kart and not at 17 in a car.

OK, I’ll get off the horse.

Best,
Grady
gradyclay@hotmail.com

Vintage911Racer · 02-27-2004, 02:23 PM

I hear you on that one.

Good point. I dont even want to think about ehr being 16. SCARY........BOYS

Zeke · 02-27-2004, 02:35 PM

Z-man should combine these threads. I replied on the other one about fathers and sons. Here, I will reply about Grady's karting. I did race side bey side with my stepson in karts and kept on racing after he dropped out. BUT, when the Grand Nationals came our way at Adams in Riverside, I parked my kart ane wrenched for him. He came in 2nd. 3 heats, 1 win and two 2nds to the other driver who had 2 wins and one 2nd. Had the other driver not finished 2nd in the last heat, we would have won the National Championship on ponts. The heartbreak was the second heat. We were getting dialed in to the track and we blew off everyone by the 3rd heat, but the 2nd heat was almost a dead heat. We lost that by a foot at the line.

Sorry to ramble about this, but racing with your son, no matter who is driving is a real neat deal.