Hi there

My eldest son is picking his options within the next 2 weeks and he really would like to get in to customising cars.
He would like to get in to all aspects of the job, detailing, air brushing, modifications, designing to name but a few. But we don't know how to have a proper look for these business's that are local to us.
I know he is too young atm, but there is work experience during the 2 years and this might help him get in to a local business.

Can anyone please point us in the right direction with some ideas, hints and tips please?

Also we live in March in Cambridgeshire so something as close as poss to us would be great, or I will have to become a taxi driver lol

Thanks

 

Tell him to get a saturday job in any garage/bodyshop to learn the basics. He'll probably be sweeping up and making tea for a while, but it's somewhere to start

 

Things like air-brushing is very specific and imagine that he would have to concentrate on just that to achieve. Saying that there is definitely money in it as demand is relatively high in the right places. I was going to have air brushing lessons but the biggest place in the UK has a 12 month wait!!

If he wants to be more general the only way for it is free labour, as awful as it sounds but very few garages will want to pay for a saturday junior these days. If they do all he'll be doing is making tea and coffees!

 

Brew boy to start off with.

 

Yeah I know that's the way it works, but trying to tell a teenager that lol

 

Get him to come on here then! There's people with a LOT of experience in the bodyshop trade, and if he can't take a bit of guidance off them, then maybe he needs to think of a different career path!

 

That's an idea, but do you think people will really give a teenager advice?
I am new to these forums and from what you get off of some other forums, well They are not very helpfull to say the least

Now I am not saying that because of anythingthat has happened here (as so far its all been pretty good, even with my first post I got a ribbin but it was all good fun )

 

If he's full of attitude then he'll get nowhere. But barring a few exceptions they're a good bunch on here and will give him sensible advice. He does need to lower his expectations if he doesn't think he has to go through the sweeping/brew making stage though!

 

give chip foose a call

 

tell him to drop me a pm ,


i used to be a tea boy. sweeper at blue oval ,

now ive started in my mates new business venture and im now the companys refreshment technician and dust piling co-ordinator for the entire premises ,


i know what your thinking , and yeah its taken 2+ years to get to this point , and alot of hard work


the ladder is tall fella but you got to get on it at some point !!!

 

So what's the best way to find a suitable place near'ish to home?
Have had a quick look on net and it comes up with 2 places. 1 is in Peterborough and the other is in St Ives (Cambridgeshire). Not my idea of close tbh

 

Sorry guys, just noticed these posts

I think with the attitude we may overcome that lol

And who is Chip Foose? Sorry for any ignorance here


I also used to go to school with a guy called Christopher Spooner. His dad is Gordon Spooner. Is he still about on the car rally scene can anyone tell me?

 

http://www.chipfoose.com/

he's got a programme on Sky Discovery Channel quite a lot

 

his best bet is to go in person to garages ,bodyshops etc and offer his services free in exchange for an insight into the industry,his attitude/appearance/personality will get his foot in the door somewhere ,oh and tell him it wont be like ....................pimp my ride

cheers james
cheers james

 

Got a perfect opportunity for him to do a couple of bits for spraying (RS bonnet and an after market front bumper). They both need prepping for a good spray. but I get "I'm not sanding it down, get it sand blated!"

WTF!

I am so knobbed off with him atm that I have sent him to his room rather than me shout abuse at him

So I now think that he has gone back to "I don't know what I want to do"


Thanks for the help though peeps and if he does pull is hand from out of his arse, they may still come in handy

 

You could always take the approach my old man did with a know it all teenager. He put me to work on his building sites digging holes and labouring. He also gave the guys free rain to administer all and any practical jokes and mick taking they saw fit.

His view was 'if you dont get your head down and sort yourself out this is what you will be doing for the rest of your life' Also taught me that being clever and answering back to an 18 stone bricklayer can have an extremely bad repocussions!

What about finding a small classic car restoration company? Ok its not pimp my ride but he will be learning the basics and improving his CV. If he comes accross right and his labour is cheap or free the company might see him as a small asset. Bound to have more luck that way than a full on custom house?

 

Do you have a garage at home?

If he wants to get into moddifiying, customising then my suggestion is to maybe buy a small project that he can work on - the end result being a car he will own when he passes his test that will make his mates SICK with envy.

He will learn as he goes, make mistakes, moan like fook, but it will be HIS project and HIS car. You may need to spend some ŁŁŁ on materials and bits, but if he shows enthusiasm - which the more he learns the more he will, then it's all working towards the right end.

He don't want to prep it lol, well that is the crap bit, but the most important, so maybe watching shows like 'Overhauling, Wrecks to riches USA, Custom my ride - not pimp my ride lol!!.

These shows wont give him masses of knowledge, but lots of inspiration at what can be done. If he can get a weekend place in a garage then great, but he will learn alot through trial and error and reading up on how to do it, and practice.

Stuff like airbrushing, well this imo requires and artistic flair to be good at it, best way is buy and airbrush kit, read up on how to do it and then practice doing it - you have to have patients thought.

Mike lavalle is a guy to check out for some awesome inspiration

http://www.killerpaint.com/gallery.html

He is a teenager so going to be a bit hot headed and want it to be done now now now, in time with practice and knowledge he will learn it is all in the prep, the more work you put in the better it will be.

 

Good ideas there and the one about a car for him is really good, but I have no garage (but I have a worshop) and as I have been out of work since last May (only child tax credit coming in) I am unable to afford to buy him a cheap wreck

We have the meeting at school tonight to see what's on offer for him to take as options, so we shall see what's what there and help him to make a decision hopefully. A mate of mine who does all his own work on his cars and others who know him, has said we can pop over when he has a workshop day at his place next and my son can get his hands dirty. You never know, it migh be my car he works on!

 

Fair play for being so supportive and trying to help get him started.

 

watch a 4x4 is born, that guy goes through the things step by step really learn alot from it, he rebuild his v8 in one, even i could do it after that (i think ) and im a moaning teenager

its a great program in which he builds a series 3 pickup body onto a range rover coil sprung chassis with the range rover v8 but the aspects of it would be applicable to most cars imo

as american hotrod is a good show the fabrication skills of those guys is amazing, but not as down to earth as a 4x4 is born, a bit more specialist

you have to start somewhere and you cant start off airbrshing etc, look at the guys who do it, there old because it takes alot of time to get there

think he needs to pick one area to realy go for it in, when i get a job to pay for it im going to do a night course in welding and spraying as its a skill id like

as for options at school, hell need maths, you need that in everything but its compulsary anyway, ict, and at my school with the options we had id take rm and a thing that was like the designing of it all, cant remeber the name of it

 

I want him to have a better life than I have had. I never made anything of myself and I don't want him (I have 2 boys but the other is only 11) to follow my foot steps.
He loves cars so it seems like a good way to go. Just hope he can stick at something and persue it to the best he can and make something of himself.

My youngest plays footbal for a local team but he would also like to be a mechanic So when there older I could get some free service for my car

 

I used to temp in a computer firm a long time ago and the bloke I tempt with (I found out) used to do custom work on all sorts. He was getting cash for his business.
Anyway he done the body kit on my saxo (very cheap) in a rainbow metal flake and he done my interior in a demon flip for free (was an awesome interior) I was the envy of people on the SSC forums lol
He was really good at all sorts, but he specialised in air brushing Do you remember the Eclipse in the first Fast and Furious film (I think it was the first one)? Well he airbrushed the whole of one of his cars in the same as that.

Here's a couple of pics of the car from the film.





The work that went in to it was just amazing

 

Well the evening at the school was ok and we came out with my son wanting to do a Diploma in Society, health and development (it was that or hair and beauty) and an extra gcse in Design Technology

A mate of mine will let us know when he's working on cars at his place and I have another mate who is a fabricator that may also be able to help out. So hopefully we could be on the right path for his future