Meet the State High teens ‘building community’ by restoring an antique sports car
If you take a drive through one Ferguson Township neighborhood after school lets out, you just might catch a few teenagers juggling auto parts, staining their clothes with grease or pushing an antique sports car down the sidewalk and into their yard.
This isn’t the usual case of teenage tomfoolery. Instead, three State High students are working together to restore a 1974 MGB sports car through long evenings of work, all while learning critical skills and broadening horizons along the way.
The project began when State High sophomore Dylan Beck scouted for a car with the help of his father, Daniel, an engineering program manager at Penn State. Daniel Beck grew up with passions for cars and auto work passed down from his father, while his son had been searching for a major restoration project of his own.
They eventually found the MGB up for auction in Harrisburg and agreed to purchase it for $400, just shy of their “walk-away price.”
“Once this listing popped up, it felt like a diamond in the rough,” Dylan Beck told the Centre Daily Times. “You don’t really find classic cars like that too often over here, and it seemed to be in remarkably good shape for basically sitting outside for a decade or so.”
The car’s price was largely a result of its condition, Dylan and his father said. The convertible’s top was completely eaten away, while the interior was ripped up so much that the teenagers could grab seats and tear them out with ease. Dry rot on the tires made it appear as if the car didn’t have wheels, and there was even a hole in the trunk that ran all the way to the bottom of the gas tank.
The car itself held particular intrigue thanks to a few details left behind. Last inspected in 1990, the car sported a U.S. Department of Defense parking pass on its front bumper to indicate it once called Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base home. The car’s former owner put the vehicle in storage and died about 10 years ago, the Becks said, before the car was abandoned and later put up for auction.
“Even though we don’t know this guy, Dylan is excited to get it back on the road for him,” his father said.
Getting to work
Once the car was in his hands, Dylan Beck knew restoring it wouldn’t be easy.
He enlisted the help of two friends, fellow State High sophomore Evan Passante and senior Eros Hernandez, to get started on the project. Though the three teens already had plenty of experience building sets with their school’s Thespians Society, Hernandez’s wealth of knowledge from working on cars guided the group’s efforts.
For the past three months, the boys have worked on the car at the Becks’ house from 4 to 8 p.m. and often into the wee hours of the morning. Hernadez — the only one with a driver’s license — coordinates rides for the group, while Passante keeps everyone fed with a rotating selection of snacks.
The rusted-out sports car required the rotation of its engine, the replacement of its ignition and the installation of new upholstery and custom-made door panels. Beck, Passante and Hernandez said they spent a long time working to knock out some stubborn welds to get the car’s original trunk pan out of the body. Several holes in the car’s body needed patching, too.
Recent work — including priming the body and coating it with rattle can spray paint — required the boys to move the MGB into the Becks’ yard. The outdoor environment offers plenty of space for the project’s work, but the too-common shower or storm has forced the crew to hastily move the car back into the garage often during an especially wet Pennsylvania spring.
“We’ve made a lot more progress to this point than any of us thought we would,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes we take breaks at night to watch the stars, rest up and think about how far we’ve come.”
As of mid-May, the MGB’s interior is restored, and the car is newly painted with a cranberry red finish that resembles State High’s own maroon. Before it can get up and running, the car needs a new fuel pump and a thorough inspection, which will require towing.
The restoration process hasn’t been without its bumps in the road. The boys said they spent a long while debating the color of the car, forcing them to ask other friends and classmates at State High. Other ideas were a sparkly chestnut brown paint job or a bright red makeover complete with white racing stripes.
“I think these two have really just bounced ideas off of each other,” Passante said of his friends. “We’ve all built each other up to the point where we’re getting a lot of work done, we’re optimistic and we’re clicking. It’s been just a great time working with these guys.”
Beck, Passante and Hernandez have installed a few upgrades to get the sports car up to more modern standards.
One of the most important upgrades for the boys was a new sound system. They installed an 800-watt amplifier in the back of the car with guidance from Beck, who said he has experience with home theater setups. Another key upgrade was a custom backseat glove compartment that could house plenty of snacks, including the crew’s beloved Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches.
“It’s kind of addicting,” Beck said. “You get into a project without knowing how much it might take, but it’s going really well. What’s really driving me is the help of these two, the knowledge we’re gaining and the constant flow of ideas that are going to upgrade the car even more from its original state.”
The boys and Dylan’s father, Daniel, have combined to contribute roughly $3,500 toward the car’s refurbishment. They worked to buy necessary parts in advance and even scoured some scrapyards to save a few bucks.
“Once we get it out on the road, I think we’ll all agree it was money well spent,” Passante said.
Hitting the road
While first considering restoring the MGB, the boys hoped it would be ready for an important high school milestone.
Hernandez originally proposed using the sports car to take his girlfriend to the prom, establishing a target date for the crew when work began toward the end of winter. Beck and Passante gladly worked with that May 17 goal in mind to help their friend roll up to prom in style.
Though the dream of finishing the car in time for State High’s senior prom has passed, the boys are already dreaming of one day rolling up to school in their new ride, whether this year or the next. While discussing the car, they floated plans to use it for trips to the beach, end-of-year school events and other special occasions outside of everyday use.
“We want to debut the car by taking it for a spin that means something,” Beck said.
The MGB is officially under Beck’s name, but he said Passante and Hernandez will receive priority over other friends if they want to take it for a spin. They joked Hernandez’s compensation would be “unlimited date night privileges” once the car is finished.
Unlike many modern cars, the MGB uses a manual transmission that takes some practice to learn. Passante said he hopes to get up to speed using the sports car so he can drive the 2002 Porsche Boxster his father bought years ago. That way, he might be able to drive it by the time he’s a senior, he joked.
The boys have learned a lot more by restoring the car than just driving stick shift. Daniel Beck, Dylan’s father, says he’s impressed by the scope of the project and how much the crew has accomplished despite lacking much experience with auto repair and maintenance skills.
“It’s like a classroom for them,” Daniel Beck said. “It sits in the garage, and they’ve got this goal to get it out the door and on the road with a lot to figure out along the way. I thought I would need to be a lot more hands-on, but I sometimes give just some general direction and they’re rolling with it.”
Hernandez, the group’s most experienced worker, says he hopes to work on cars professionally after graduating from State High. He expects the work on the MGB to give him a head start.
“It’s been great to learn and hone the skills while I’m here so I can take them trade school or use them in the future,” he said.
Building a community
After restoring the MGB for months, Hernandez said working with his friends on such a difficult project has been well worth the effort.
“The collaboration of it all was a blast, Hernandez said. “Heading home after school, working on the vehicle and putting your mind into something we really enjoy has been a great experience.”
Daniel Beck said the project has resulted in far more than a fixed-up sports car. All that work has strengthened the boys’ friendships, taught them new skills and helped them connect with inquisitive neighbors wondering why a rusty sports car is sitting in the front law.
“Through this, we’ve all built a relationship. It’s kind of like a family now,” Daniel Beck said. “It’s not just a friend coming over and they go off and play video games or go to the park. We’re all out there, working on things and thinking through problems. For some of the friends who had no experience doing anything like this, seeing them there and asking what they could to help is amazing to see.”
“It’s not just someone having a car and fixing it,” he continued. “It’s really about building community and confidence all around.”
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