High School Hot Rod

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  #31  
Old 12-09-2021, 07:42 AM
Lil GTO Lil GTO is offline
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Sounds like a great idea. I was involved with a program that grew into a National program called Hot Rodders of Tomorrow.

High school teams from all over the country competed in an engine building contest all on the same engine models with the same tools to see which team could get the engines apart and back together again in the shortest time.

It was a phenomenal program and the guys and girls learned a lot about team work.

I sponsored a team for 4 years while working as national sales manager for a high performance friction manufacturer.

Spent 34 years in the high performance and racing industry sold vehicles for 5 years of my semi retirement and finally called it quits but we need tradesman and women desperately.

The dealerships I worked for in Texas had me recruiting technicians from the army bases as they have GM training schools on many bases for people getting out in the coming 18 months.

These are full on training facilities just like the ones at the GM training facilities in MI.

At that time there was need within just the GM network for 3000 technicians and that was 5 years ago it probably much higher now then add in all the other brands and independent shops and you can see the need just in the auto industry alone.

Dealerships are competing for techs and they actually steal them from each other.

Quote:
Originally Posted by spd2918 View Post
I am thinking of starting a nonprofit organization to mentor high school students in the area. The goal would be providing students with life skills, confidence, and direct jobs skills. I am seeking input from villagers and gauging volunteer availability.

In Superior WI I created and ran a nonprofit called Spartan Hot Rod (the high school mascott was a Spartan). We saw a need for young people to learn a craft and work on a team. Each year we provided a small group of kids a motorcycle or car project. They worked with adults in the industry to repair and restore it. We auctioned the vehicle at our own spring car show and that funded the next year's build. It was fun for the adults and I hope it made a difference in the kids' lives.

(Photos on the Facebook page "Spartan Hot Rod")

This program was open to any interested student. Some students went on to work in the trades. Some went to college. All left with more confidence and something to talk about at a job interview. The number one thing employers are looking for is a person's abilityto work on a team. We eventually were able to offer a small grant towards trade school tuition.

I am seeking to guage interest in starting such a program here. I see many small area schools that would benefit and each school could have its own program. We could have a spring show where the projects would be auctioned.

There are many small volunteer opportunities for car crazy villagers like project management, parts/ vehicle acquisition, transportation, advice, etc. Non-car person help could include public speaking, accounting, legal advice, fundraising, etc.

If there is sufficient interest i can host a public meeting to further explain the idea.

Any thoughts?
  #32  
Old 12-09-2021, 09:52 AM
HotRodBoy HotRodBoy is offline
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Thank you for taking this on!

We are driving down from MI this weekend as "new Villagers" and would love to hear more about this.

I'm recently retired from GM Design and am very familiar with the design and build process of "concept vehicles" and "design evaluation" properties. Prior to covid, I was involved with mentoring a few local high schools on their less than adequate trades programs and also helped established an in house "hands on" program during the summer months.

As you know, it's very rewarding to work/lead young enthusiastic people and try and spark their interest into a rewarding career. The auto industry surely needs them!


(BTW, any ex-GM Design Center employees out there? I would love to hear from you! You know we are a tight knit lil' community...)

Last edited by HotRodBoy; 12-09-2021 at 10:00 AM.
  #33  
Old 12-09-2021, 07:30 PM
DaleDivine DaleDivine is offline
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Originally Posted by Driver8 View Post
Start with repairing motorcycles, golf carts, go karts and such. They're cheaper to learn on then a car and internal combustion engines theoretically operate on the same principle. I learned that way rebuilding a '72 Norton Commando and gradually I transitioned to autos. Todays engines are all computerized however, making it difficult as a teaching model.
Great Idea. I agree with starting on golf carts, motorcycles, etc. as a beginning.
We need more golf cart repair services here.
  #34  
Old 01-29-2022, 09:31 AM
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I'm reviving this thread now that we are past the holidays and family visits.

Id like to put together an informational meeting for any of you that are interested in forming a group. You don't have to be a mechanic to help out, nor made a big commitment.

I will look into reserving a room somewhere in the middle of the bubble. I will post it here and start a new thread as well.

Thanks, Brad
  #35  
Old 01-29-2022, 09:42 AM
RICH1 RICH1 is offline
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Go for it!
  #36  
Old 02-02-2022, 09:03 AM
clouwho clouwho is offline
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Default AWESOME idea. Please include my husband and I in your information planning session!

What a wonderful idea!
By the time my son was 3 years old I had noted in his “baby” book that he was going to be an engineer or gear head. It was in his DNA.
Sure enough, by the time middle school aptitude tests were being administered, engineering and automotive were at the top.
All of my best friends are married to engineers. I married an engineer. All of these engineers tended to be gear heads as well.
I knew my son was leaning towards the auto tech side because he really disliked the idea of office bureaucracy and sitting at a desk all day (the single biggest complaints he heard from all those engineers).
I got him a b-body at 15, started a thriving local b-body club (where I met my engineer/gear head husband) and we were literally off to the races!
At that time schools didn’t have the great Vo-tech options they have now (which I am hugely in support of). I made him get two years of college in case he decided to switch to engineering.
We were strategic. He knew he would enjoy road racing BMW, and he knew the highest pay would be in high end imports, so he pursued that initially. He built and raced his cars, made good money and found his niche.
He switched to Mercedes for financial reasons a few years ago.
A couple of other posters mentioned the dire need for techs. If anything they have understated it. My sons dealership is beyond desperate. His team has always been a 3-5 guy crew. He has been the ONLY person on his team for well over a year. He turns over 120 hour weeks almost every week. He is burning out.
To get their backlog cleared they are letting him keep the ENTIRE payment (less parts) for any work he does on a Saturday. This is unprecedented. He goes in once per month and is on track to pay off his home this year with just his Saturday checks.
The dealership continues to give him extraordinary support and comp (he is well into an excellent six figure income this year with outstanding benefits without those Saturdays)
He has had poaching offers nonstop from other MB and BMW dealerships, FedEx, the big delivery contractors that use MB Sprinter vans, as well as Carvana (who just offered him a $250k three year contract guarantee plus his flat rate wages and benefits). My son has pursued his career professionally and it thrills me to see him succeeding at something he loves doing.
Dealerships will pay for tech school, they pay high starting wages, they are supportive. Yet they cannot get people to consistently show up for work, pass drug tests, much less work ethically and diligently.
We have a majority of youth in the surrounding communities (many high risk young men) who surely have these skill sets.
We would LOVE to encourage them to pursue this area of creating a great lifetime career. But it is in not a wrench turning career. It is very much a tech and computer based career.
I think a more realistic starting point would be a golf cart tech program.
It is an excellent start to learning fundamentals. We could have electric and gas carts which would be cheap easy to find here. Parts would be less expensive and certainly more manageable as an introduction to the mechanics and engineering side of engines. Lawn mower repair, or any small engine repair, would also be an excellent starting point.
Starting with golf carts (or lawnmowers) would also allow a very quick, easy, entry into self employment as The Villages has created a huge demand for these services. Three nice young men with a functional truck, good work ethic, ability to buy cheap used equipment and repair themselves could start a thriving lawn business tomorrow. They could also start a mobile cart repair business tomorrow, or get their feet wet working for someone else.
A lot of good, hardworking people don’t make the money they should as they don’t have marketing, budgeting, financial management, or good social skills so hopefully we would include those skill sets within this program.
Those who are more technically inclined could be mentored into the work ethic and attitudes required to be a VERY successful auto tech.
We look forward to hearing from you and are available most weekends.

Last edited by clouwho; 02-02-2022 at 10:23 AM.
  #37  
Old 02-05-2022, 05:15 PM
Laker Laker is offline
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I would support a program that would teach young people how to work on classic cars. Modern cars have a computer plug that technicians just hook up to a code reader which tells them what module to replace. Pull out the bad module, plug in a new one and your back in business. Let the dealerships pay for that training.
But, yes, for training in real skills I would support.
  #38  
Old 02-10-2022, 09:29 AM
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Unless there are objections, i will schedule a meeting for next week Wednesday 2/16 for mid afternoon. I will try to get a location in the middle of the bubble.

B
  #39  
Old 02-10-2022, 09:47 PM
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spd2918 spd2918 is offline
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Well, TV won't let me book a room until 24 hours before the event. This is because we are not yet a club.

Is there a car club out there (officially recognized by TV as a club) that could reserve a room and host us?
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