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00:00Up next on American Restoration.
00:02I got a billboard from a casino.
00:04Is this the original El Rey?
00:06Yes, indeed.
00:06The place burned to the ground 50 years ago.
00:09I found it lying in the desert.
00:10Wow.
00:11Rick around?
00:12No.
00:12He's not here.
00:13I got a little project I was hoping to talk to him about.
00:15The love tester.
00:16Ah, all right.
00:17We can do that.
00:18You sure?
00:18Oh, we got this.
00:19I usually stick to picking, but I have no problem filling in for Rick on this one.
00:24What is this?
00:25Holy crap.
00:27Ron!
00:28Why didn't you call me?
00:29I think we're going to take a bath.
00:30Oh, is that off?
00:31Yeah.
00:32Yeah.
00:33Remember back in the day when things were made by hand and people took pride in their work?
00:39My name's Rick Dale, and I bring these things back to life.
00:44Every restoration has its own set of challenges.
00:48There's no owner's manual for what we do, but there's no job we can't handle.
01:07Today I got a guy coming in to show me something that he found right in the middle of the
01:11desert.
01:11I don't know what it is, but I can't wait to see.
01:14Hey.
01:15How are you?
01:16It must be Rick.
01:16How are you?
01:17A casino, an old roadside billboard.
01:19That thing looks old.
01:22It's been baking in the desert for about 50 years.
01:25Wow.
01:25Well, let's get it out and take a look at it.
01:27I came here to Rick's Restorations today to get my 1950s-era El Rey Club Casino billboard restored.
01:33I found it lying in the desert in Searchlight, Nevada, just a few feet off the road.
01:37Is this like the original El Rey?
01:39Out of Searchlight, Nevada.
01:40Yes, indeed.
01:41Wow.
01:42Searchlight was the mining town.
01:44Yeah.
01:44That was in the 40s, you know?
01:45They only had like 200 people there.
01:47And then the next thing you know, this Willie, the guy that used to own this, was Martina, Martello.
01:52Martello.
01:52That's what got me interested in it.
01:53We have the same last name.
01:55Oh, really?
01:56It's not common, yeah.
01:57Wow.
01:58That's pretty cool.
01:59For a few years, it had kind of a backdoor brothel.
02:02There were three guys in town that paid a fine for prostitution.
02:05He's the only one anyone talks about because he was the owner of the town, for God's sake.
02:09Yeah, right.
02:09You know, the place burned to the ground 50 years ago.
02:12I've been working so hard to try and bring that part of Nevada history back to life.
02:16It would mean the world to me to see this as close as we can get to when it was
02:19sitting on the highway.
02:21Right.
02:22So, do you want it brand spanking like the first day it went up?
02:25I want it to look good, but it doesn't have to look like there's a new club in town.
02:29Okay.
02:30So, my idea is that we age it.
02:32On the wood, I would try to find old, redwood, weathered.
02:37Been sitting around, but it's in quite a bit better shape than this.
02:39Yeah.
02:39All this hardware, I would keep this and reuse them.
02:43Still keeps the character.
02:44Right, right.
02:45Keep that character.
02:45That's how I see it being done.
02:48What's it going to cost?
02:49The way that I envision it, I'm thinking $2,500.
02:53Oh.
02:55Oh, boy.
02:56Yeah.
02:56Older stuff is more expensive.
02:58The artwork's a little harder to do.
03:02Oh, boy.
03:07Yeah.
03:08You know what?
03:09Let's do it the right way.
03:10All right.
03:11Awesome.
03:12Awesome.
03:12All right.
03:13Awesome.
03:14Thank you very much.
03:15I am very excited about getting this sign restored.
03:18Rick cares about history as much as I do, and I can't wait to see what he does with it.
03:28Hey, Rick.
03:29How are you doing?
03:29Hey, Mark.
03:30How are you?
03:31I'm doing all right.
03:32I'm restoring this sign, and it actually was a road sign somewhere in Searchlight, and
03:37it had El Rey on it.
03:39My friend Mark is a curator for a bunch of local museums, including the one in Searchlight,
03:43where this El Rey sign came from.
03:45So I'm thinking if anyone had more information on this thing, it'd be him.
03:49My problem, my predicament is, is I'm missing colors.
03:52I can faintly see what it is, but I need to know what the sign used to look like so
03:56that
03:56I can do the artwork.
03:57You got anything like that?
03:59I'll tell you what I'll do.
04:00I'll find everything we've got in the collection, and I will meet you down there.
04:04Perfect.
04:05I'm stoked that Mark might have something for me, so I'm going to get in my truck, head
04:09to Searchlight, and see what he's got.
04:11Hopefully, it'll be some pictures or a brochure or something that's going to help with this
04:15project.
04:16While I'm gone, I know that Ron and Tyler are going to hold down the fort.
04:24Hey!
04:26My dad's not here, you can't just sit around and do nothing.
04:28I'm thinking about picking spots, dude.
04:30I'm always doing something.
04:32This is you doing something?
04:33Pretty cool, huh?
04:34Holy s***.
04:36That truck is badass.
04:39Hey, guys.
04:40How you doing?
04:41Rick around?
04:41No.
04:42He's not here.
04:42Give him a day off?
04:43Golfing?
04:44What's up?
04:45Yeah, right.
04:46Kenny.
04:46Kenny, I'm Ron.
04:47Ron?
04:48Tyler.
04:48Nice to meet you guys.
04:49Nice to meet you.
04:49I got a little project I was hoping to talk to him about restoring.
04:52The truck?
04:53No, no, not the truck.
04:54The love tester.
04:55Ah, all right.
04:55We can do that.
04:57You sure?
04:58You going to call my dad?
04:59Call the head honcho?
05:00No, we got this.
05:01You got it.
05:02I'm here at Rick's restoration today to talk to them about having my early 1900 love tester
05:07machine restored.
05:08You're going to tell me which way you're going to?
05:09Learn your dance steps, would you?
05:10It will be a 35th wedding anniversary gift for my cousin, Carmen, and his wife, Chris.
05:15I guess being married for 35 years in itself was a love test.
05:18What do you think, Ron?
05:19I think this thing's badass, for one.
05:21I usually stick to picking, but I have no problem filling in for Rick on this one.
05:25It's turn of the century.
05:27I know these always used to be, like, single.
05:29Right.
05:29One item, but this being three-sided, it's insanely rare.
05:33This simply has a light bulb.
05:35Was there anything on top?
05:35Oh, I've got the part.
05:36Hang on a second.
05:36I've got that.
05:37How do you know all this stuff?
05:38Because you're old.
05:40I haven't been around.
05:41I'm pretty impressed.
05:42Ron actually knows a thing or two about this machine.
05:45This is a Penny machine.
05:46Edison came out with the phonographs.
05:48They go in for Penny, and they'd be able to hear him play.
05:51Oh, cool.
05:51Well, that started the generation of Penny arcade games.
05:53Penny arcade games.
05:54It's very cool.
05:55You got ladies and gentlemen.
05:56So we would put it in here, and Tyler would put it in there.
05:59And then you'd know exactly what your love meter was.
06:02If you put it in here, I guarantee you'd get fickle.
06:05What test do we have on this side?
06:07Over here, we got the oracle.
06:08It's all about love.
06:09It is all about love.
06:10You twist it to what you want the question to be, and then bam, and that just tells you.
06:14Oh, okay.
06:14I see how it works out, yeah.
06:15All right, so this is your fortune toner.
06:18T, the way they spelled it, favorite, with a U?
06:21Uh-huh.
06:22I'm going to have to say it's British.
06:23This is, like, international.
06:25If this was never used in this country, this is British.
06:27It may be different amperage.
06:28Right.
06:29It's a different electrical, so I know all that has to be tested.
06:31Everything may have to be converted inside.
06:32Yeah, because I know, like, if you take a hairdryer to Europe, you're in trouble.
06:36The deal with this is there is a ton of unknowns.
06:39Okay.
06:39Bottom line, you're looking at 7,700.
06:46And it's going to work.
06:47Without a doubt, you're going to have one rare-ass piece that, as far as I know, nobody else has.
06:55Okay, it's a deal.
06:56Do it.
06:57Sound good?
06:58All right.
06:58Woo!
06:59Right on.
07:00Definitely.
07:01All right, let's go take care of some paperwork, and okay.
07:04Tyler, take care of that.
07:06Like always.
07:07$7,700 may seem like a lot of money, but I know the rarity of the machine, and I hope
07:12that they can convert this to the U.S. electrical system, and everything works perfectly for me.
07:22All these nails have to come out, but they all have to be saved.
07:25Is this a practical joke?
07:26No.
07:27While my dad's out looking for more information on this L. Ray billboard, he told Bradley and
07:31I we had to tear it down.
07:32Since we're trying to make this thing look old, we've got to keep all the original hardware,
07:36which isn't exactly easy, considering this thing's been baking out in the desert for 50
07:40years.
07:41We're going to save that.
07:42Yeah, that's how they all look.
07:43Looks like a witch's finger.
07:52Right now, I'm heading over to a museum in Searchlight, Nevada to see my buddy, Mark.
07:56Hopefully, he'll have some archives on this L. Ray Club billboard sign, so I'll figure out
08:01what kind of color to paint it when I get back.
08:04Hey, Mark.
08:05What are you doing way out here?
08:06I run this one, too.
08:07Good to see you.
08:08Yeah, I'm the administrator of the Clark County Museum System, and the Searchlight Museum
08:12here is one of mine.
08:14In Searchlight, there was a place called the L. Ray Club.
08:17If you've got anything on it, I can definitely use it.
08:19I've got a few things.
08:20I'm not sure I can give you everything you need.
08:22Okay, but you do have some stuff on it.
08:23Yeah, I've got a few things, so let's take a look.
08:27This is nice that you've got this kind of stuff in Searchlight.
08:29That's a great town.
08:30It is, and it's got a great history.
08:32You know, Harry reads from here, Edith Head.
08:34Also, some of the artifacts have been found down here.
08:37But anyways, let me show you a couple of things that I was able to find.
08:41This is Searchlight in the teens, just to give you an idea when the town was really booming
08:45down here and doing quite well.
08:47Look at that.
08:47Yeah, it's gigantic.
08:49Lots of their mining, right?
08:51Mining is still ongoing, but really, with the end of World War I, mining started dropping
08:55off, and World War II, all mining was closed down, unless it was a war mineral, and it just
09:00about killed Searchlight.
09:02So that's one of the things when you're dealing with the El Rey, you know, was that Willie
09:06came in right at the end of the war, and his club was about all that kept it going throughout
09:12the late 40s, the 50s, and 60s.
09:14In 46, you know, he built his brothel down here.
09:17Right.
09:17He was well known for that.
09:19I mean, he built the first pool down here.
09:21Wow.
09:22Helped get the airport started down here.
09:24Now, the sign, I could not find a picture of.
09:27But these are the images I could find of the El Rey.
09:30Okay.
09:31This is the font they used.
09:32Yep.
09:32They like that font.
09:34Yeah, this is, by the looks of the cars, your 50s.
09:39And this is 60s?
09:40Yep.
09:40That car is a 60s for sure.
09:42The truck is 65.
09:43But you can see that the sign on the top is gone by this.
09:46You know, I know they're black and white, but hopefully they're of some use.
09:48Yeah, I mean, there is.
09:50There's quite a bit I can use off of this.
09:52I can definitely see that the font is crisper here.
09:55Good.
09:55And I can see that.
09:56And he has it highlighted.
09:58Mm-hmm.
09:58My guess is whatever he used, it would have been whatever was cheap.
10:02Right.
10:02Whatever's handy.
10:03Yep.
10:03Whatever they're painting with that week.
10:05Whatever, right?
10:05Yep.
10:07Okay.
10:08All right, Mark.
10:09Thank you very much for showing me these.
10:11It was absolutely awesome.
10:12Good to see you.
10:12Well, unfortunately, we didn't find out the color for this billboard.
10:16But we did find out enough information to move forward with the artwork.
10:20Now I've got to get back to Vegas and see how the rest of the project's doing.
10:28Until my dad gets back to the shop, I'm overseeing the work on this billboard.
10:32Ted just got done with tracing the artwork,
10:34and now Phil's starting to smooth out all the panels.
10:37We want to keep the authentic feel on the sign,
10:39so I want to make sure Phil knows to leave it a little rough.
10:42That way, it has the look of being out in the desert for a long time.
11:00This is cool.
11:02A little messed up, though.
11:04What is this?
11:07Holy crap.
11:08Ron mentioned that a customer came by while I was out,
11:11and I just saw the machine that was dropped off.
11:13It's really cool, but something doesn't look right on the estimate.
11:17Hey, Ron.
11:18Awesome.
11:19Thanks.
11:19Ron.
11:19Yeah.
11:19Hey, why didn't you call me?
11:23Why didn't you like at least describe it to me or something so that we could, you know, be within
11:28budget?
11:29I think that that 7,700, I think we're going to take a bath.
11:32I think we're going to, like, we'll lose $3,000 right off the bat.
11:35That was that off?
11:36Yeah.
11:36Yeah.
11:38It should have been more like 10 grand.
11:40So, um, we could be losing money.
11:427,700 is a good estimate, but that's what it's going to cost us to restore on a good day.
11:47We need to make a little money.
11:49I mean, this quote's got me worried.
11:50We're really going to have to keep a tight eye on this.
11:52Okay.
11:52Okay, I don't want to cut corners, but we're really going to have to make sure we don't
11:56go over.
11:58Close eye.
11:59And next time, call me.
12:02We'll do.
12:05Crap.
12:12Interesting.
12:13Yeah, I got it.
12:13All of our restoration projects pose unique challenges.
12:17The love tester, Ron estimated way too low.
12:20So, to help this restoration from costing us a fortune, I'm having my guys tear it down
12:24right away.
12:26All righty.
12:33Hey, cowboy, we got that billboard.
12:35Now that we got the love tester tore down, me and Robert, we got to start on the frame
12:39for this El Rey billboard.
12:40We want it to look as original as possible.
12:43This stuff doesn't seem to be splitting out on the ends, so that happens a lot when you
12:47get old dry wood.
12:48Old crappy wood.
12:49Old crappy wood.
12:50Client wants it to look old.
12:52We had to go to this barn and get all this old wood.
12:54I don't know why, but the customer wants old wood on his sign.
12:57Old wood, old nails.
12:58It's just a pain in my ass.
13:00My job sucks, period.
13:04Ow.
13:05Squirrely ass nails.
13:12That's going to make contact with that.
13:15This one's broken.
13:17You guys testing your love without me?
13:19Feel the love, Rick.
13:20Feel the love, Rick.
13:21So I think we're ready to check the lights.
13:23Yeah, well, we want to make sure that this is the power that goes to this.
13:26The love tester originated in England, where the power source is 220 volts.
13:31Where here in the United States, it's 110, so it's a little bit of a conversion issue.
13:36But after doing a little research, I found that Britain didn't switch over to 220 volts to the mid-50s.
13:42So if this is as old as the customer says it is, we may have lucked out, and I mean
13:46big time.
13:47So we're either going to get nice, bright light bulbs, or we're going to get dull, weak, barely lit.
13:53Half lit.
13:53Right.
13:53When we plug this in, we're going to be running 110 volts right through every single socket.
13:59So if everything's right, everything will light up bright.
14:02If it's not, it'll be dim.
14:04And we've got a huge problem.
14:06I suggest we just plug it in.
14:07Go for it.
14:08Let's plug it in.
14:09Hit it.
14:11Ah!
14:11That's awesome.
14:13That's awesome.
14:14Now that we don't have to replace the mech, we just might make the budget that Ron gave the customer.
14:19That's if nothing else goes wrong.
14:21Let's get it done.
14:22All right, Rick.
14:24Feel the love, Fawzi.
14:26I feel the love, Kyle.
14:33One of the most important parts of this sign is making this thing look like it's been sitting on the
14:37side of the road for over 20 years.
14:39So I'm having Ted work his magic and do just that.
14:43Before I start the aging process on this thing, I have to paint it like it's completely new.
14:52Now that that's done, I can start aging this thing.
14:55It's a very subtle process of removing just the right amount of paint in just the right places with a
14:59piece of sandpaper to give it that authentic vintage look.
15:05All right.
15:06All right.
15:32I mean, we wanted it sort of old, and we're trying to figure out the life of it.
15:35Yeah.
15:35You know?
15:35So it was sort of wild.
15:36So we just finished working on it, too.
15:39That's the thing.
15:39When can I see it?
15:40Yeah, come on.
15:40I've got to see this thing.
15:41Come on, come on, come on, come on.
15:41It's over here.
15:42When I dropped the billboard off at Rick's, it was in bad, bad shape.
15:45It was falling apart.
15:46It was in two pieces.
15:47The wood was rotten.
15:48You could barely read any of the letters.
15:50I can't wait to see what it looks like.
15:53Okay.
15:53I want you to picture yourself driving down the highway, and you're just about to come into town.
15:58And here you go.
16:00You're going to be looking right at the El Rey side.
16:03Oh, my God.
16:05What do you think?
16:07Oh, my God.
16:09This is the coolest thing I have ever seen.
16:11Oh, my God.
16:15No, you get a hug for that.
16:17Oh, my God.
16:19When Rick opened up that gate and showed me the billboard for the first time, I was floored.
16:24I couldn't believe the color choices.
16:26I couldn't believe how perfect it looked.
16:28I couldn't believe it was on stand.
16:30It's standing again.
16:31I thought I was in the 50s again.
16:33I wanted to have a beer at the El Rey.
16:34I really did.
16:36I'm going to cry.
16:39What did you do?
16:41What we did is we went and found some redwood that was, you know, it was old, but it was
16:45still intact.
16:46Sure.
16:46While that was going on, we took all the sheet metal and Phil pounded it all out the best he
16:51could without putting any material.
16:53Just basically hammered out.
16:55So that's what gave it this old look.
16:57So you got dings.
16:58Oh, that's so great.
16:59And then it went to Ted.
17:00He puts on all this paint, and then he starts taking it off.
17:04Wow.
17:04So he takes a little rag and a brush, and he starts wiping on stuff, so it ends up showing
17:08through.
17:09Like, if it was sitting, and the sun is baking it, and then it's sort of fading out.
17:13So it's sort of, you know, it's sort of...
17:15All that dirt and sand and trees.
17:16Yeah, yeah, yeah.
17:16It sort of gave it that little rough look.
17:17So his whole life is still there.
17:20That is incredible.
17:21As long as you're happy, I'm definitely happy.
17:23I mean, it sounds like you're pretty darn happy.
17:24How can I not be?
17:25Come on.
17:26It's amazing.
17:27It is.
17:28Thanks.
17:28It's more than I expected.
17:30Good.
17:30I'm glad you like it.
17:31I've been writing a book about the El Rey Club for the last seven years, and all that research,
17:35it's become a huge part of my life.
17:38And to see Rick bring the billboard back to life, it looked exactly as he promised.
17:43Like, it had been in the ground for a long time, just attracting customers for years.
17:47It looks great.
17:56Okay, so the stuff in the paint, make sure he gets out the mat.
17:58And then what about the powder coat?
18:00Powder coat, the...
18:03Hi, how are you?
18:04Hey, how's it going?
18:05What's going on?
18:05I'm Rick.
18:06Ken, Ken.
18:07Ken.
18:07I dropped off a love tester here for you to restore.
18:10Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:11You weren't here that day.
18:12No, no, no, no.
18:13You got with Ron and what, Tyler was there?
18:15Oh, yeah.
18:15Yeah, they surprised me with that little deal.
18:17Did they?
18:18Yeah.
18:18Is it ready?
18:19Um, yeah, it's ready.
18:21Love's on our way.
18:23Let's have a look at it.
18:24You ready?
18:24All right, it's this way.
18:25I came to Rick's Restorations today to pick up my early 1900s love test machine.
18:30I had it restored as a 35th wedding anniversary gift for my cousin Carmen and his wife Chris.
18:36Hey, Ron.
18:37Yeah.
18:38Ron.
18:39Hey, how's it going?
18:40Good.
18:41Recognize this gentleman?
18:42Yes, I do.
18:43I'm about to show him the love tester, and I want you to be involved in this because I know
18:47you were a big part of this.
18:48Dude, you're going to love this thing.
18:50It came out ridiculously.
18:52It is smoking hot.
18:54You ready?
18:54I'm ready.
18:55All right.
18:56There were a lot of issues with the love tester.
18:58It was in rough shape, so I'm really anxious to see what they were able to do with it.
19:02All right.
19:03Let's have a look at it.
19:03I'm ready.
19:04You ready for this thing?
19:04I'm ready to see.
19:05There is more love in there.
19:06This is three times the love in this thing.
19:09Okay?
19:09This is love upon love upon love.
19:11All right, Ron.
19:12One, two, three.
19:16Wow.
19:18That is beautiful.
19:19When I saw the love tester, when Rick and Ron uncovered it for me, I was thrilled.
19:23I think you did a fantastic job on it.
19:25That is beautiful.
19:26Tell me what you've done with it.
19:27Okay.
19:28What we had to do, first we tore it apart, took all the knobs off, all the doors off,
19:32all the glass out, and started from the wood.
19:34So we went and refinished all this wood.
19:36On the sides, look at this one.
19:38If you, you know, when I first looked at it, it would look like...
19:40This side was a mess.
19:41It was all just a piece of cardboard.
19:43Somebody had hand-wrote on it.
19:45Right, right.
19:45I remember some of it looked like it was crayons.
19:47It really did.
19:47Yeah, yeah.
19:48So Ted went and redid all of that.
19:50He redid the dial, and he redid the whole face.
19:52And then we got to the inside.
19:54One of the biggest things we were worried about was the converting it.
19:57Right.
19:58Converting it over to American.
19:59Right.
19:59We knew that it was, at one point, it was European.
20:02And quite honestly, we didn't have to convert it.
20:05Really?
20:06It was my biggest fear, on your end.
20:08Yeah, absolutely.
20:09Biggest fear, we got lucky.
20:10Right.
20:10Bottom line, we got lucky.
20:12So, you ready to see if it works?
20:13Well, let's ask it a question.
20:14Okay.
20:15Right.
20:15Let's go with, will my luck change?
20:17That's what I want right there.
20:18All right.
20:19So this is our possibilities over here.
20:21Okay.
20:21Here we go.
20:22Put the penny in.
20:23Okay.
20:23Now I'm going to turn it.
20:26Escalator.
20:27Escalator.
20:27Great.
20:28One way to make some money.
20:29One way to make some money there.
20:32I could see a lot of care and a lot of work went into this.
20:35I know for a fact, Carmen and Chris are going to love this thing.
20:37You guys did a great job on it.
20:38It's beautiful and everything works.
20:40You did exactly what I wanted.
20:42It's perfect.
20:43I can't wait for my cousin Carmen and his wife Chris to see this.
20:4735 years together, it's going to be a great anniversary gift.
20:50You guys did a great job.
20:51All right.
20:51Awesome.
20:52Awesome.
20:52And then we'll go ahead and get that thing wrapped up.
20:54Thanks, Ron.
20:54You got it.
20:56Wrap it up.
20:57I got some pennies of my own.
21:02Let's see if I'm awesome at this.
21:05Oh, yeah.
21:07That's what I thought.
21:08I got it.
21:08I got it.
21:08I got it.
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