Rebuilding A 1968 Ford Falcon

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From the time we’re young we’re asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up”? Some people answer that question by simply following a family member’s footsteps into a certain field. Other people have a dream that guides them into a career. For me it was more of a challenge that drove me into a particular career.

Last year my father bought a 1968 Ford Falcon. The body was solid with no major dents or holes and only one small ding on the rear passenger fender. The car did, however, have a lot of surface rust all over the body, and a few rusted out fenders. The interior was in surprisingly good shape for a forty-year-old car. There was no engine or transmission, or much of anything else resembling drive train.

My father didn’t have any particular intentions for the car. He just bought it because it was an amazing deal, only $200! I asked my father if he thought I could fix it up; between all of his laughing all he could say was “No”. He agreed to let me try, but told me I was on my own, and I even had to finance the project myself. Still He was convinced I couldn’t do the work properly, or I would give up long before it was finished. The truth is I decided to do it just to wipe that smirk off his face.

Dad said that I could have the car if I paid for, and did all of the work on it. The first thing I had to do was get a job. I lucked into a job at a local grocery store, no easy feat in a rough economy for a fifteen-year-old kid. Although my father has several power tools, they were off limits. All he let me use were a few hand tools.

I started with the body. I knocked out the ding and sanded down all of the rust, and replaced the rusted out fenders. It was a lot of hard work, but I didn’t give up. I di...

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...me a toolbox full of MAC tools for my birthday.

When that man drove off in the Falcon that I had put so much of my time, effort, and money into, I knew that I wanted to do it all over again. I realized what I wanted to do with my life. I am going to restore classic cars.

Although I did make a profit on the car that is not why I wanted to do it. I want to feel that sense of satisfaction from seeing those old beauties come back to life one piece at a time, and see that look on people’s faces when they drive off in a car that I restored.

I have already found my next project, a gorgeous 1964 Thunderbird. If you look at it right now it looks worn and rusted. But if you see it as it once was and will be again it is truly beautiful. I wanted to prove my father wrong, and I guess I did, but I found my future in the process, and it looks pretty good too.

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