I was lucky enough yesterday to spend quality time with both my LBC and
my 10 year old son. He always wants to help when I'm working on my
Bugeye restoration, but some things just don't require 10 year old
skills. Yesterday I was installing the rear bumpers and as anyone with
a Bugeye knows, getting into the boot area and being 49 years old (read:
middle aged fat) is not real easy. My 10 year old son, Justin can crawl
in there and hide if he wants to, so when it came time to hold the
stiffeners in place to start the screws,
he was an invaluable help. He was quite proud of this fact, especially
when I told the rest of the family later that night at the Outback
steakhouse, that I couldn't have done it without him. After installing
the rear bumpers, I let him help me chase threads on the gas tank
fasteners that hang below the boot floor. I'd start the die and let him
turn it up to the top and back it off again. As everyone knows, after
body work and painting, you've got a lot of threads to chase on the
body. Justin gets more and more excited as the car begins to look more
like a car. I have the suspension, wheels, windshield, steering wheel
on the car now. In our two car garage, to work on my car, I first have
to move my wife's car out and then move the Bugeye over to work on it.
I used to be able to just slide it over before the suspension and wheels
were installed, because I had it on a homemade dolly with casters. Now
I have to push it back and forth, turning the steering wheel until it's
centered in the garage to begin work. I figured, here's another task
where Justin can come in handy. If you add all these little things he
can do to help together, he becomes quite involved and he asks if there
is more he can do.
I'm beginning to feel I won't have to worry about the fate of my
Bugeye or other LBC's if we can involve our sons and daughters like this
at an early age. Days spent with dad like this are not forgotten when
we are older and to bring back those days, playing with our handed down
LBC just might make us feel better.
Mike MacLean 60-Sprite
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