Big Country Journal: In Snyder, it’s not “Frahnk-en-shteen,” it’s “VROOM!”
Ron Erdrich's BC Journal
Posted: Yesterday 9:00 p.m.
Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Robbie Jamison watches as a group of students work on the back end of a Ford pickup they are restoring at Auto Clinic in Snyder. Twelve area kids are participating in an automotive class called Project Frankenstein at the auto shop where they are converting a Unibody pickup into a hot rod.
Desiré Malmsten, 13, (left) and Brailynn Garcia, 12, lift a wheel from the Ford pickup they are helping to restore at Auto Clinic in Snyder.
Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Kris Stricklett, 14, concentrates as he drills into the body of the Ford pickup Tuesday. Twelve area kids are participating in an automotive class at Auto Clinic in Snyder called Project Frankenstein where they are converting a Ford F-100 Unibody into a hot rod.
Ronald W. Erdrich/Reporter-News Desiré Malmsten, 13, ducks beneath the lift supporting a 1962 Ford F-100 Unibody pickup truck at Auto Clinic in Snyder. Twelve area kids are participating in an automotive class there called Project Frankenstein, and are converting the old truck into a hot rod.
SNYDER — As the season passes, let me tell you of a different, more recent resurrection. While not as momentous as Easter, it too may change lives for the better.
"As the kids would say, it's taking something old and bringing life to it," Sarah Jamison said.
It's also where bragging rights go to the dirtiest hands. Welcome to Project Frankenstein.
Sarah and her husband, Robbie, along with Bill Lavers of the Development Corporation of Snyder, have started a hands-on automotive class geared to middle school children. But your typical after-school oil-changing, tire-swapping, spark plug-tuning shindig it ain't.
"We're making a hot rod," Sarah said.
That's right, specifically out of a 1962 Ford F-100 Unibody pickup truck. You've heard of Peterbilt? They call this truck "kiddo-built."
"On the Unibodies, the cab and the bed are basically made together instead of being two separate pieces," Robbie explained. "It's got a 292 Y-block, which is a really cool V-8 engine. A lot of people still crave it on hot rods, the T-Bird made the Y-block famous back in the '50s."
Building hot rods was a passion for the Jamisons before Lavers approached them with his idea for Project Frankenstein. At the time, they had just made and sold a hot rod from a 1963 pickup.
Lavers explained that it can be easier to plant the seeds of interest in a career when children are in their early teens or late tweens than later on. That's why they advertised the program at Snyder Junior High School, where 70 students from 7th and 8th grades showed an initial interest.
Of those 70, a dozen came to an open house about the project, accompanied by their parents. That group had to fill out applications and go through a job interview before being selected. In the end, all 12 made it.
"We wanted ones who had a passion for this," said Sarah, describing how one of the students gasped over the phone when called with the news that she'd made the cut. "It was pure excitement that she got in."
"They all get here early, they all remember where their safety goggles are, they all want to be here," Lavers said.
"What's been the most amazing thing to me is that they're not on their cellphones," Robbie said. "The kids are getting so much out of it.
"It's kind of like Boy Scouts," Lavers said. "Tuesday nights you come work in the shop."
The project has been funded by a loan from the DCOS, though the Jamisons say they have yet to dip into it. Part of the lesson is staying within budget for parts and other expenses. When it's finished, the truck will be sold and a portion of the money will be folded into another Project Frankenstein vehicle.
"It doesn't cost (the students) anything, but we have asked them to pitch in for food because we feed them," said Sarah.
Like it's namesake, the Project Frankenstein hot rod won't be made from all of its original parts. But in this case, there was no late-night trip to the graveyard, auto or otherwise, made in the pouring rain with a guy named Igor or his Marty Feldman lookalike. It was just Robbie and a buddy cruising Monahans after a car show.
"We kind of had an hour or so, we just drove around, goofing off," he said. "What we call, 'scratchin'.'"
They spotted the truck sitting off to the side of a house, then knocked on the door to find out if it were for sale. He bought it shortly thereafter with restoration in mind, though at the time not for Project Frankenstein which came along later.
The project started around Valentine's Day. So far, under supervision the kids have gutted the truck's interior and removed the front end. It'll be replaced with the front end of a 2003 Lincoln Town Car and its built-in disc brakes, power steering and independent front suspension.
The interior and the engine compartment will have a finished look when done. The exterior will maintain an older patina-look.
"We want the truck basically back to driving condition to cruise it for the car show that's coming up the first Saturday in May," Robbie said.
That's what 14 year-old Kade Hunter has his sights on.
"I'm looking forward to see how it drives, and how smooth it will ride," he said, adding his grandfather has an old truck, too. "I just kind of wanted to learn more about how they work and what's under the hood."
Nicolas Benavidez, 13, had fun dismantling the truck.
"Putting it back together is the hard part because you've got to realign everything," he acknowledged.
What has the most appeal?
"Honestly, working on old trucks with power tools," he said. "That's something I don't normally do. I've just work on my dirt bike a lot, I've never actually worked on a 1960s truck. That's a first."
That excitement makes its way home, too.
"I get a dad — several, but one in particular — who says, 'My kid doesn't talk much but when he talks, he's talking about Project Frankenstein,'" Robbie said.
Across the room, Kade rubbed at the dark smudges on his cheeks and nearby, Brailynn Garcia, 12, giggled.
"Brailynn wiped her dirty hands on my face," he ruefully muttered.
"He did it first," she replied, still laughing.
But more dirt equals success at evening's end.
"We check hands," said Desiré Malmsten, 13. "We all put our hands together and see who's dirtiest."
Robbie said it has become their signature.
"Man, the first thing my kid shows me is his dirty hands," another dad told him.
Robbie smiled, looking at his wife as the kids filed out the door.
"This is the stuff that pumps me up," he said.
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Project Frankenstein: Antique truck restoration, marketing campaign trigger car star's Snyder visit
Posted: April 21, 2016 - 3:33pm | Updated: April 22, 2016 - 12:10am
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Josie Musico / A-J Media
Adult volunteers Robbie Jamison, left, and Joe Dan Jones, rear, show 14-year-old Kristopher Stricklett and 11-year-old Johnny Jamison how to bleed brakes. For Project Frankenstein, the group is restoring a 1962 Ford pickup truck.
By JOSIE MUSICO
A-J MEDIA
SNYDER — It’s all about kids and cars.
Snyder High alum Robbie Jamison remembers a Career Day talk from about 1986 when Joe Dan Jones, a local autobody technician, bolstered the future mechanic’s career dream.
“It just kinda fed the fire that was growing, because I already liked cars,” Jamison said.
Twenty years later, the pair work side by side sharing their passion for youth education and auto repair. The Auto Clinic Jamison owns near downtown Snyder plays host each week to an antique truck restoration project. A group made up mostly of local middle-schoolers meets Tuesday nights to renovate a rusty 1962 Ford pickup — a task they’ve given the nickname Project Frankenstein.
Step by step, they’re adding front suspension, a power engine and a five-speed Mustang transmission. The list goes on. The students work diligently, nodding their heads intently at each lesson.
“It’s a good opportunity for us to have experience if we want to have a job working on cars,” said Peyton Walker, 14.
Eleven-year-old Johnny Jamison’s voice revealed enthusiasm describing what not to do:
“I have learned that if you take a hose and you take the spark plug out of the block, and if you put your thumb into the tip of the hose and crank the engine, you will feel a compression and it will blow your thumb off.”
But Robbie Jamison notices something missing from the scene. No one seems to have a cellphone out — their attention is on the project.
“Their anticipation and willingness to be here is just amazing,” he said.
Car show with celebrity visit
Project Frankenstein drew attention from a Salt Lake City-based celebrity auto restorer. Dave Kindig, who stars on the TV show “Bitchin’ Rides,” will be in Snyder on May 7. Catch him at a midday meet-and-greet at the Snyder Wheels Car Club.
“I think it’s just phenomenal for somebody of his caliber to come down here for the kiddos,” Jamison said.
Chris Anderton, business manager for Kindig’s studio/garage, Kindig-It Design, said this will be his client’s first Texas visit. Kindig makes about 35-40 appearances a year, but receives two or three requests each week, so he has to turn down most of them.
A request from Bill Lavers, executive director of the Development Corp. of Snyder, seemed to stand out.
“He’s got a soft spot for kids, so when Bill reached out to me and told me about Project Frankenstein, that was something that caught my ear,” Anderton said. “I talked it out with Dave and we thought that would be a good show to go to. Dave likes to see the next generation still have interest in that and do what he likes to do.”
The car show contains 23 different classes, from antiques to street rods to motorcycles. Proceeds are split among a half-dozen local charities and organizations.
A show highlight will be the Ford pickup. By then, team members anticipate it will be fully restored.
Marketing campaign
Project Frankenstein’s 13 young participants split into two teams, then rotate periodically. One group works on the truck; the other on its marketing campaign.
With help from the Development Corp. of Snyder and other local business leaders, they’ve developed a budget, website, social media presence and everything else a real-world auto shop would use. They’ll talk more about their work in upcoming presentations to the local Rotary Club and at Snyder High’s Jump Start Your Future career program.
“We’re trying to present on what Project Frankenstein is, to tell more people what it’s about,” said Corey Landin, 13.
The marketing side means restoring a truck is only one lesson.
“We just introduced them to the aspect of running a business,” said Sarah Jamison, Auto Clinic co-owner. “Some may say, ‘You know what? Building a truck isn’t my forte, but I love the marketing or the computers.’ ”
josephine.musico@lubbockonline.com • 766-8796