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00:00Coming up on American Restoration.
00:02It's a tank.
00:03That's awesome.
00:03This was a carnival ride in the 50s.
00:05I'd like to be able to get in it and ride around.
00:07How tall are you?
00:08Six foot.
00:09You guys are killing me.
00:11What the hell is that?
00:13It's a motorized pogo stick.
00:15Wow.
00:16Who'd get on this?
00:17Perfect.
00:17You're elected.
00:191948, Davis Devon.
00:21Man, this thing's unreal.
00:22We're a museum, so I'd like to get it done to museum quality.
00:25Let's go.
00:26Let's do this.
00:27Come on, baby.
00:28There we go.
00:30You got it.
00:30We don't got it.
00:32We don't got it.
00:34Yeah!
00:35Across this country, five shops are breathing new life into classic American designs.
00:41From rusted out Mustangs to broken down Harleys and everything in between, each job has a story.
00:51Love these things.
00:53Woo!
00:56This is American Restoration.
01:07The amount of cars in history down here is insane.
01:09Yeah, you got a couple hundred of them.
01:11Sheesh.
01:12Something for everybody.
01:13This is amazing.
01:14The Peterson Auto Museum is one of the largest rare car collections in the United States.
01:19Leslie, the curator, has called us up because he's got this really unique car that he'd like us to restore.
01:24But first, he's given me and one of my mechanics, TJ, a tour of the garage.
01:29Man, I feel like a kid in a candy store.
01:31This is a Rolls-Royce.
01:32This is a Phantom One.
01:33Man, it's huge.
01:34We call it the round door rolls.
01:36The door is almost completely round.
01:38Well, this is very cool, but what else you got?
01:40Well, we got plenty else.
01:42This is the very car Elvis bought for his then-girlfriend, Linda Thompson.
01:47It was a 1971, first year for Pantera, and it's also got bullet holes.
01:52Elvis shot this car.
01:53When he could not get this car started, he got mad at the car.
01:56He pulled out his gun, and he shot it three times.
01:59And all three holes are still in the car.
02:01They're in the steering wheel.
02:02I can see it now.
02:04In here, it won't start.
02:05Come on now, baby.
02:06Come on now, Pam.
02:07Give me a start.
02:09You know what?
02:09That's probably exactly what he did.
02:12I can see it.
02:12I don't know.
02:12It looked like he was going in.
02:13The leg shaking.
02:14Isn't that what he did?
02:15He convulsed?
02:16Yeah, I think it was a, you know, kind of like, and then he gave it up.
02:20Well, this is all cool, and I appreciate you showing us all this stuff, but why don't we
02:25take a look at the car we actually came for?
02:271948 Davis.
02:28Follow me.
02:29All right.
02:30This is it.
02:32Davis Devon.
02:33Davis Devon.
02:34Actually, it made the first car was the Davis.
02:37They called it the Baby.
02:38The second car was the Davis Delta, and the remaining cars were called the Devon.
02:42Now, you look from the back.
02:44It kind of looks like a regular car.
02:46You know, a couple of wheels back there.
02:47You've got a trunk.
02:48But you kind of walk around, and you say, well, this is kind of unusual.
02:52First of all, it's only got one bench seat.
02:54Then you kind of work your way more to the front, and you say, wait a minute.
02:57This car has only three wheels.
03:00Looks like a shoe.
03:01It does look like a shoe.
03:02I've never seen one of these up close before.
03:05This is a California car.
03:06This was made right here in Van Nuys.
03:09Gary Davis was a used car salesman who decided to go out on his own in the late 40s and
03:14build
03:14his own car.
03:15There was only 13 of these things actually made, and only 12 still exist.
03:19To see this thing in person, that's pretty cool.
03:21And look at the very front.
03:23The headlights are actually concealed behind movable panels.
03:29And notice how it's all mechanical.
03:31It's mechanical.
03:32It's got some springs in it, and it just releases the trigger, and bam.
03:36Man, this thing's unreal.
03:37What are you thinking you want us to do to it?
03:39Well, we're a museum, so I'd like to get it done to museum quality.
03:42The thing about a museum restoration is these things have to be perfect, down to the very
03:47last detail.
03:48And the tricky part is, there's just not a lot of information to go on.
03:52There was only 13 made.
03:53You can't run down to the local auto parts store and grab a part if you're missing something.
03:57Interesting thing about this car, it ended up in Colorado.
04:01The would-be Davis distributor, he got a Davis for all his trouble in the legal settlement,
04:05and it ended up being parked in front of a donut shop with a sign on it to attract people
04:10to buy donuts.
04:12Well, that would do it.
04:13Now, I'm assuming this is not the original color.
04:15We don't think this is the original color.
04:17I've seen pictures of them, and they're like a pastel yellow, like an off-white.
04:22Yeah, we did a little sleuthing.
04:24This probably had green metallic paint.
04:28Really?
04:29It very well could have been the car that was in the only color pictures of the Davis
04:33that we're aware of.
04:35It should be that color again.
04:37We'll probably find some more once we start tearing it down and check it out.
04:40Now she's ready for you.
04:42Ha!
04:43Let's go.
04:44Let's do this.
04:45Okay.
04:46How do you open the door?
04:47You open the door by pushing that button, but we're not going to open this door.
04:50If I were to open this door, it'd probably fall off.
04:52That's the reason we're talking to you.
04:55Okay.
04:55Let's see if I fit in this thing.
04:57This'll be good.
04:58All right.
04:59More room than you think in this car.
05:02Actually, wow, you're right.
05:04Climb on in.
05:05Let's go cruise it.
05:06I'll shut the door.
05:08All right.
05:08Turn the key.
05:10Come on, baby.
05:13Got it.
05:15Yeah, listen to that baby bird.
05:19Oh, this thing's cool.
05:20All right.
05:21Here we go.
05:22Ready to take her away?
05:23I think so.
05:29Come on, baby.
05:31Come on.
05:33Come on.
05:34We got it.
05:35We don't got it.
05:36We don't got it.
05:43Woo!
05:44Okay.
05:46You sure that's first?
05:47Let me try that again.
05:49Okay?
05:49Motor starts up fine.
05:51We try to head up the ramp to get out of there, and it won't make it.
05:54This thing won't get out of its own way.
06:13It's like flooding out or something.
06:15Getting the Davis out of the garage seems to be a project in itself.
06:19We're going to have to look under the hood and see what's going on, because this thing's
06:22just not running right.
06:23Get some wires loose.
06:26All right.
06:26Give her a shot.
06:27Let's see if that did it.
06:28All right.
06:30Contact!
06:32All right!
06:33You got it.
06:34So we lift up the hood and look underneath.
06:36There's two spark plug wires that aren't connected.
06:38We're only running on two cylinders.
06:40No wonder we couldn't get it up the ramp.
06:49Oh, yeah!
06:51Much better!
07:07A few guys from the local American Legion post-217 have me swing by today and pick up
07:11a project.
07:12I can't wait to see what they want me to do with it.
07:14It's a tank.
07:15We found it in a flea market.
07:16That's awesome.
07:17We do a lot of charity work.
07:19A lot of it's with the kids.
07:20Vets.
07:20And we thought maybe we could use it in the parades.
07:22Very cool.
07:23We're part of the American Legion riders.
07:25We raise funds for the soldier, sailor, airman, marina, coastguardsman that's killed.
07:30We pay the scholarship for their children.
07:32We've known Andy for a while.
07:33He rides with a different motorcycle group.
07:36We've done a lot of charity events together.
07:38Do you know what it was by any chance?
07:40No, not for sure.
07:41This was a carnival ride in the 50s.
07:43It was an Allen Herschel Army tank.
07:45This pipe right here gives it away.
07:46It was a carousel.
07:47That's how they connected it.
07:49This thing had a wheel in it, and when it was going around the carousel, it would look
07:53like a tank.
07:54The Allen Herschel Company was one of the first companies to make rides specific just for
07:59the kids.
07:59So seeing this tank ride come in would have been a really big deal.
08:02What do you want to do with it?
08:03You want to make it back the way it was?
08:05Smiley had an idea about fixing it up somehow so someone could sit in it.
08:10How big of a person?
08:11About my size.
08:12In this?
08:13Yeah.
08:14Okay.
08:14I'd like to put some wheels on it, be able to get in it and ride around.
08:18How tall are you?
08:19Six foot.
08:20You know, this was made for kids.
08:22Okay.
08:23We've got to chop it up.
08:24We're going to cut it so a guy your size can fit in it.
08:27You going to tow it in the parades, or what were you thinking?
08:30No, actually, if you could put some kind of motor in it.
08:32How about we put it on a go-kart where you could actually drive it?
08:36Wow.
08:36That sounds good.
08:37What do you think?
08:38The other thing I'm looking at here is you've got a cannon on this thing.
08:41What if we made this usable?
08:43We could probably shoot something out of it.
08:44Sure.
08:44Maybe some confetti or something like that, something safe.
08:47Yeah, make me happy.
08:48Make the kids happy.
08:50Now for the bad part, this isn't going to be cheap.
08:53This is all aluminum, which means we're going to have to do some specialized welding and fab work on it.
08:58These tracks are going to be a bit of work trying to stretch these.
09:01I'm thinking you're going to spend close to $4,000 to make it drivable.
09:05Oh, $4,000 is a lot of money for us.
09:09Yeah.
09:09All the proceeds that we make through all of our events go to veterans organizations to help the veterans and
09:14the families of veterans.
09:15So we don't usually have a lot of money on hand.
09:19Let's help them out, Andy.
09:21How about if I give you the labor and cut it in half?
09:25You know, is that something that's doable for you guys?
09:27That sounds good.
09:28I love what you guys do for everybody, and if I can help, that'd be awesome.
09:31Yeah, absolutely.
09:32Thanks, guys.
09:33Thanks, brother. Appreciate it, too.
09:34We'll make it cool for you.
09:40The American Legion's a non-profit.
09:42They do a lot of good, but they don't have a lot of money to spend.
09:44So we're going to use some parts and pieces we've got laying around the shop to try to help them
09:47out and save them some money.
09:48Wow, brother. We've got some stretching to do.
09:51Let's start hacking this thing up.
09:59Spin it around.
10:07We've got the tank cut in half.
10:09We're going to set it on top of the go-kart, try to get some measurements, figure out where we've
10:12got to cut from here.
10:15Oh, look at that.
10:16Any thoughts on covering these wheels?
10:19Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out right now.
10:21One of the things that's important to me on this project is to keep it looking like a tank.
10:26The tires being on the outside won't do it.
10:28They've got to be brought on the inside, but it's got to be easy to control.
10:31It's going to take a little bit of creative thought to make this happen.
10:33We're going to make the wheels this way.
10:35Okay.
10:36Make it into a three-wheeler.
10:37Space on the tank is really crucial.
10:39We don't have a lot of room for two feet and two wheels in there.
10:42We're going to make it a trike.
10:43Plenty of room and keep everything hidden so it still looks like a tank.
10:51I'm 5'8".
10:52Smiley's only a few inches taller.
10:54I think we're pretty good.
10:55Plenty of leg room.
10:56That's a start, dude.
10:58We're a long way from home.
11:02It's very important that we find the factory color.
11:05I've not seen it yet.
11:06There's no color under here.
11:08Whoa.
11:08Check this out, dude.
11:09No way.
11:16Here she is.
11:17This thing's so unusual.
11:19Yeah, for sure.
11:20The Peterson Auto Museum has asked us to restore this 1948 Davis Devon.
11:24That means we're going to have to take the body off, go through the chassis, overhaul and tune up the
11:29motor,
11:29make sure it's running perfectly, and put this thing all back together like brand new.
11:33Where do you start?
11:34I say we pop the hood.
11:36We'll pull the bumpers, straighten those out.
11:38Front end, pulling the motor, trans.
11:40Let's do it.
11:41Let's do it.
11:44You know, I'm looking at the body, and it doesn't seem like it's in that bad of shape.
11:48It is aluminum, so there's not going to be a lot of body rot, but we still got a lot
11:51of work ahead of us
11:52to make this thing worthy to be in a museum.
11:57Oh, yeah.
12:00Bingo.
12:02Bingo.
12:03Teamwork, pal.
12:04That is so cool.
12:06It's very important that we find the actual factory color.
12:10I'm not seeing it yet.
12:11When a car has been repainted, you can usually find areas where there's some original paint.
12:16The best thing that we could do is start tearing panels off, pulling upholstery out,
12:21and really get down to the nuts and bolts of this thing and see if we can find a piece
12:25that didn't get repainted.
12:27Whoa.
12:27There she blows.
12:29Good job, Mitch.
12:35This thing's pretty crazy, man.
12:37Whoa.
12:37Check this out, dude.
12:38Some of the original color.
12:40Now that we've pulled away the weatherstrip from this fender.
12:43Take a peek.
12:44What do you think?
12:45Wow.
12:46I think it is.
12:48It's like an olive, kind of a lime olive green.
12:52That's pretty cool.
12:53Right on, man.
12:54They'll be happy to hear that.
12:56Leslie wants us to match the original color on the Devon.
12:59I think we found enough to pull a sample off of that I should be able to paint it the
13:03exact color it was back in 48.
13:06All right, let's get the rest of these body panels off.
13:08Let's get this roof off first.
13:20Bob.
13:22Hi.
13:23Jamie.
13:24Nice to meet you.
13:25Nice to meet you.
13:26My goodness, what in the world.
13:28This is the Pogo Stanger called your mouth.
13:30It's a gas-powered hop rod.
13:32Wow.
13:32That's a wild thing.
13:34I've never seen one.
13:35That hop rod made by Chance Manufacturing Company.
13:39It's a very unusual piece.
13:40Hop rods were only manufactured for two years, from 1972 to 1973.
13:45There's just a handful left out there.
13:47This is the original handle.
13:49Most of the other hop rods that are online that I've found didn't have this.
13:53It's a wonder that's still on there, being plastic.
13:55Being this old.
13:56It still has the original hop rod pads on here, which is neat.
14:01And of course, you know the sticker, but it's taken a lot of wear and tear and rust and, yeah,
14:06the dent.
14:07I hope that's not from some little guy's head.
14:10Put that on there.
14:11I know.
14:12I found the hop rod at an auction.
14:14It was kind of tucked away in the corner.
14:16Nobody really knew what it was.
14:17We'd collect different type of antiques and stuff, and I had to have it.
14:21A gas-powered Pogo stick, that's just really cool.
14:23What would you like us to do with this?
14:25Well, I'd like to restore it back to this original condition.
14:29You know, get all of this painted and the rust off, and I'd like to see it work.
14:33I would, too.
14:35Well, this is quite a bit of work, but I think it's doable.
14:39Do we have a deadline on this?
14:41I would like to get it in the next two to three weeks.
14:45I'm going to give it to my husband for his 40th birthday.
14:47We've talked about restoring it and just hadn't got around to it, so I would really like to have it
14:52done by then.
14:52This will be a challenge, and we like challenges.
14:55We'll do our dead-level best.
14:57Okay. Well, thank you.
14:58Thank you very much.
14:59Here, let me walk you out.
15:00All right.
15:07What the hell is that?
15:09It's a motorized Pogo stick.
15:11This loads up gasoline and C-cell batteries.
15:15Deliver the power to the spark plug.
15:17That's probably like a little two-stroke motor.
15:19Yeah.
15:20Every time this piston in here moves up and down, the spark plug fires, and the kids blast off.
15:28You want me to see what's inside?
15:30Yeah.
15:30All right.
15:30Let's see if I can spin this.
15:35Can you pull it at all now?
15:37Success.
15:38This thing is ancient technology.
15:40The cylinder itself is made out of pot metal.
15:43It'll break pretty easily, so we've got to be really careful.
15:46Easy.
15:46I can't tell if it's turning or breaking.
15:49Don't break it.
15:52Hey.
15:53There we go.
15:54There she went.
15:55There it is.
15:55Just a little bit of finesse.
15:57That's all we needed.
15:58Uh-oh.
15:59Rust.
16:00Not good.
16:01Oh, boy.
16:01Rust is a corrosion, and it's got to be removed.
16:04You'll never get any kind of proper oil seal with corrosion on the cylinder wall.
16:09The only way we're going to get this thing apart and get the rust removed is by soaking
16:13it in penetrating oil overnight.
16:15If we're lucky, that'll allow us to be able to take it apart and see if it's even fixable.
16:20That's something you never want to see inside an engine.
16:33I got all this stuff to make this cannon work.
16:37We're modifying this old carnival ride for the guys of the American Legion.
16:40We're going to make it a drivable mini tank.
16:42The old cannon was just for show.
16:44They want to shoot confetti, and if they want to shoot confetti, we're going to shoot some
16:48confetti.
16:52We'll just make a little seal here.
16:55This goes in like this.
17:01Throw some butyl around this whole area.
17:04Yep, so it'll seal it.
17:05We'll make a rubber gasket for it if this works right.
17:09All right.
17:14All right, we're going to test this thing out.
17:17Hopefully, this works.
17:18Turn it around.
17:20You ready?
17:21Yeah.
17:22Three, two, one.
17:25Ooh!
17:27That's fun.
17:28Nice. It works.
17:29We're not shooting a golf ball.
17:30You're going to kill somebody with that thing.
17:34You grind it, and I'll figure out how to make this thing work.
17:37We've shot some foam balls.
17:39It's working okay.
17:40I want to see how much pressure we can get back there.
17:42Really shoot something out for the guys.
17:43Figure we might as well have some fun and do a little target practice.
17:48No.
17:49No.
17:49You're going to break it.
17:51Shoot it.
17:51You dumb.
17:53All right.
17:54Well, we're going to fire off a golf ball now, which is probably going to destroy something
17:59on that back wall.
18:00And we'll see if we can hit one of these pop bottles.
18:03Okay.
18:05Three, two, one.
18:08Bam.
18:09Bingo.
18:10Success.
18:11All right.
18:15Yo.
18:16I just got a pallet full of some powder-coated parts back for the Davis.
18:20You need to take a look at them.
18:22They don't look too hot.
18:23What the f***, man?
18:31Yo.
18:32What's up, bud?
18:33What's up?
18:33I just got a pallet full of some powder-coated parts back for the Davis.
18:37You need to take a look at it.
18:38Davis?
18:39Some of the chassis pieces.
18:40They don't look too hot.
18:42As far as I know, it wasn't supposed to go out yet.
18:44TJ Mitchell and I, we're tearing down this 1948 Davis Devon for the Peterson Auto Museum.
18:50We're cleaning up the chassis.
18:51We've got to clean up the suspension.
18:52There's some seriously rough welds.
18:54We've got to do a lot of cleaning up.
18:56In no way is this thing ready for powder-coating.
18:58I don't know how they got packaged up or who did it, but...
19:01I just pulled it in right now.
19:02The whole chassis and everything went out?
19:04It's not looking too good.
19:08Check it out here.
19:09We've got...
19:09Oh, man, dude.
19:10We've got A-arm for the front suspension, but...
19:12I don't know.
19:13Look at all this, man.
19:14Yeah, I told...
19:16I said I wanted that all cleaned up.
19:18Yeah.
19:19What the f***, man?
19:19I don't know.
19:20Usually when you get things back from powder-coating, that means you're ready for assembly and to
19:24put the car back together.
19:26This means we've got to sand off the powder-coating, we've got to fix the terrible welds, and we
19:31have to send it back and we've got to get it re-powder-coated.
19:33All right.
19:35Why don't you go ahead and let's make some new plates and clean up some of the welds
19:39on the chassis?
19:39I'll do my best to salvage what we got here and we'll get it back in business.
19:43Thanks, man.
19:56This entire unit just is comprised of basically a cylinder and one central piston that contains
20:03a valve, and if we can't get that piston out, it's never going to function properly.
20:07Jamie's motorized pogo stick was in nasty condition.
20:12Rusted, busted, terrible shape.
20:16So now Kirk's trying to clean it out to see if we can get the motor running again.
20:22It's actually moving.
20:24This guy continues to come out.
20:26Without damaging it, I will be incredibly happy.
20:33Awesome.
20:34It's amazing to me how this whole system works.
20:36You've got a couple ports for a carburetor and no real vacuum lines or anything like
20:42you would expect on an engine.
20:43Instead, you have these small grooves.
20:45As these grooves pass over the orifice in the carburetor, it creates a vacuum to pull
20:51just enough fuel in to get into the combustion chamber, which is incredible.
20:55Right now, I'm going to hone out the cylinder and then I'm going to clean up the piston itself
21:00and clean out the grooves so that it gets that vacuum.
21:07The rust and the metal shards over the years, all this stuff's coming out of here now.
21:13I'm going to put a little bit of lithium grease in there.
21:24Perfect.
21:26You can see my paper's breathing.
21:28That means I'm actually getting vacuum from my rings.
21:32All right.
21:33All right.
21:46We're turning this old Carnival Ride tank into a working go-kart for the guys at American
21:50Legion.
21:50I'm going to have my fabricator, Kevin, add 13 inches of aluminum in the center of it
21:55so that these guys can fit in.
21:58Making a duplicate set of tank tracks 13 inches longer than what they were stocked because
22:03we extended the body, the tracks.
22:05So now we have to make these fender covers to go over top of the tracks.
22:13Aluminum, definitely a lot harder to weld.
22:15It's not as forgiving as steel, but we'll get it done.
22:22Well, we've got it welded up.
22:23Now we've got to clean it up.
22:38All right.
22:39Fits pretty good.
22:39One more to go.
22:40I had Kevin turn the go-kart into a three-wheeler.
22:43It gives us a little more foot room inside.
22:45It lets it handle a little better for the parades.
22:47Dude, that turned out nice.
22:50Where'd you get them handlebars?
22:51Actually, the handlebars I stole off of a 72 Superglide we have tore down and racked
22:56up in the loft space.
22:58I had to steal throttle housing off of another Triumph project we're working on and found
23:02the brake lever off of a Sportster.
23:05I stole the motor off my daughter's go-kart.
23:07So, fair is fair.
23:09Not the only stolen part on this thing.
23:11We're keeping the cost down on this project by scrounging up old parts I have from leftover
23:16projects.
23:16I don't want to charge them any more money than I have to.
23:19They're a non-profit.
23:20They do a lot of good.
23:20We want to help them as well.
23:22It's all workable now and everything.
23:24As soon as we hook it up, throw the motor on, we can take it for a test drive.
23:31The motor is only a three-horse.
23:33Fair because it's a parade vehicle.
23:35I don't want to give them something too fast, especially with three wheels.
23:38It's probably faster than you're going to want to go in this thing.
23:40Yeah.
23:50All right.
23:50That's that.
23:51Yep.
23:53Ready to rock?
23:55Hold on one second.
23:56All right.
23:56I've got something for you.
23:58Try that on for size.
24:00Nice.
24:05Rock on.
24:35How is it?
24:36This thing's a blast, dude.
24:38It's awesome.
24:39I've test driven this thing now.
24:41I've put it through its paces.
24:42I've hit curves, jumped over rocks.
24:44Everything I could think of.
24:45Had a lot of fun.
24:47I hope it's going to handle the same way once we put the body on it.
24:50All right, man.
24:51Here's your helmet.
24:51I'll write it back.
24:52All right.
24:52Let me know when it's ready for paint.
24:54All right.
24:59Wow.
25:00It's ready to try out.
25:01Oh, no.
25:02I don't want to do it.
25:03That hurt.
25:04Good luck.
25:11The body work is almost done on the 1948 Davis Devon.
25:15The only thing really left is for TJ to fix one of the hinges so we can hang the door.
25:19Just chamfered all the edges here, ground all the rust off.
25:23And we're going to tack it together, flip it over, keep everything straight and flush,
25:28and weld her up.
25:36Well, it's not the most beautiful thing in the world, but the most important thing is
25:39it's going to hold, and this door should not fall off ever again.
25:44So with the hinge done, we're coming down the home stretch.
25:47Leslie from the Peterson Auto Museum is coming by to finalize some colors on the paint,
25:51upholstery, and carpet.
25:52I got a little surprise for you.
25:54Yeah?
25:55You know how we were talking and you were hoping that this car was the number three or four
26:00that was used for all the advertising and stuff?
26:02Oh, yeah.
26:03And it was that green color.
26:04Uh-huh.
26:06We did find the actual green.
26:08Really?
26:09So it was that car.
26:10That green?
26:10It's that green.
26:11No way.
26:12Not only that, but I have matched the color, and I have a sample of it.
26:16Oh, my God.
26:18That's pretty cool, huh?
26:19Oh, that's perfect.
26:20That is the actual color it was.
26:22I knew it had to be a color other than that blue.
26:25I think it's exactly what you're looking for.
26:26Oh, that's perfect.
26:27All right, cool.
26:39For being such a small project, that hop rod was a real challenge.
26:44Now, the restoration is almost complete, save for one crucial detail.
26:48That decal was torn and pieces missing.
26:50It's an important part of the nostalgia of the piece.
26:54So now we're off to the French shop to see Michael, and I'm hoping he can make something
26:58perfect just like the original.
27:00Ever seen anything that looks like this before?
27:02Is that a pogo stick?
27:03Well, it's a pogo stick, and it's gas-powered.
27:07Nice.
27:08Ever seen that before?
27:10We've got to reproduce this decal.
27:13Okay.
27:14Let me take a look.
27:17Sure.
27:18We can do that.
27:18No problem.
27:20What I'm going to do is I'm going to start with manipulating some fonts.
27:24Drop it in.
27:25Now that I've got everything, we're going to go ahead and start cutting.
27:33The computer sends a signal to the machines who are actually cut on the outside lines of
27:40all the files we've created.
27:43It's a very delicate process.
27:57All right, this one's complete and ready to put on.
28:09Are you ready?
28:10I am.
28:11I'm super excited.
28:12Jamie's hop rod has really taken shape in the past week.
28:15We really brought this thing back to life, and I can't wait to see her reaction when
28:19she sees it.
28:20Come on.
28:20All right.
28:21Let's go see.
28:26Oh, my goodness.
28:27What do you think?
28:29Oh, wow.
28:30We tried to keep it as original as possible, so most everything you see here is original.
28:35We had to take the cylinder and hone the cylinder out because it was so rusty.
28:40We painted it.
28:41This decal is a commercial-grade vinyl custom-made decal, and it was quite a process.
28:48The foot pegs are original.
28:50They look great.
28:51Your husband can jump up and down on this thing to his harsh desire.
28:55Oh, and you got the dent out, too.
28:57That's awesome.
28:58Yeah.
28:59Happy?
29:00Yes.
29:01I love it.
29:02That's great.
29:03It's got batteries in it.
29:05It's got gasoline in it.
29:07It's ready to try out.
29:08Oh, okay.
29:10Don't ask me to do it.
29:11Yeah, I'm not going to either.
29:13Kirk, you're elected.
29:14Oh, my.
29:15All right.
29:15Grab your helmet.
29:17Let's see what we can do.
29:17Let's see what we can do.
29:19Good luck.
29:20The motor in this pogo stick is not really powerful, but I'm anxious to see what it'll
29:24do.
29:25All right, guys.
29:25You ready?
29:27Careful.
29:31Blast off.
29:38Blast off.
29:40All right.
29:42Ooh.
29:44Very cool.
29:46That's awesome.
29:48You're very good at that.
29:51Man.
29:55That looks great.
29:56Yes.
29:57Wonderful.
29:57There you go, ma'am.
29:58Here's your hop ride.
30:01My husband is going to be so surprised and excited.
30:04It's beautiful to move.
30:06It is, guys.
30:07It's just, this is awesome.
30:08Your husband will love it, I'm sure.
30:10Let me take this to the car for you.
30:12All right.
30:12Wonderful.
30:13Sure.
30:18Brought some friends with us.
30:20Bring it out.
30:21All right.
30:24Can Smiley drive it?
30:26Hop on in, Smiley.
30:35Dale and Herschel tank was stripped down to bare metal when we got it.
30:38All the body work's done.
30:40Now we're going to get it into paint, so we get it done and get it back to the guys
30:43put
30:47together.
30:48The paint we're using today is drab green.
30:52This is actual military grade paint.
30:54This is industrial stuff.
30:55This doesn't wear off.
30:57This is made to be abused.
30:59It's the paint they would use on a tank, so we're really staying realistic with colors.
31:05Most things that you paint are flat panels.
31:07This has a lot of little areas we got to get inside.
31:10Where the feet go, where the motor goes, on the tracks, everything on this thing has a
31:16little nook and cranny.
31:17It's very detailed.
31:18And that's the first coat.
31:20We'll let it dry for a little while, put another coat on.
31:22Hopefully, everything will be good with two coats.
31:25We can get it to George, get it back out of the parade circuit.
31:34We painted the stripes and the blue field, and we had to let the blue field dry so we can
31:40put the stars on it.
31:41So I've got my grid drawn out, and now I'm going to paint the stars on there and make
31:45them look like they're weathered.
31:47Got my white reduced already.
31:49Grab my brush, and away we go.
31:51Get my dry brush action on it, so I can get the streaks to show.
31:57They're not all perfect because the flag is looking somewhat weathered.
32:03So I'm not worried about filling them in, having clean lines.
32:09Anytime you can work with vets and help them out, I enjoy it thoroughly.
32:13I am a veteran.
32:15I was in the U.S. Air Force for four years.
32:18Had a year overseas.
32:20Enjoyed it very much.
32:22With the tank being of early 50s vintage, we only had 48 states at that time.
32:29And when this is done, this will have 48 stars on it.
32:34When we do restorations like this, I like to keep with the originality of the time period.
32:43Two more stars here, and then we're going to be done with those.
32:47And we're going to let it rest a little bit, let the paint dry.
32:50Now we're going to do some more light distressing of some paint strikes through the blue to make
32:55it look worn as well.
32:58And there's our field of 48 stars.
33:24Today we got the American Legion guys coming down to pick up the Alan Herschel Carnival tank
33:28that we turned into a working go-kart.
33:30I think it turned out great.
33:32It's going to be awesome for them to use in their parades.
33:34I think everybody's going to be happy with this project.
33:37Hey, what's happening?
33:38Hey, how you doing, brother?
33:39Bring a couple buddies with you.
33:41Brought some friends with us.
33:42Today's the big day, eh?
33:43Y'all ready for this?
33:44Kevin's put a lot of time into it.
33:46George has put a lot of time into it.
33:47And I think you guys are going to be real happy with it.
33:49Great.
33:50So, you ready to see it?
33:51Yeah, we're ready.
33:52Andy!
33:54Bring it out!
34:02Look at this!
34:14Absolutely cool, man.
34:17Man, that is fantastic.
34:18How you doing, man?
34:19I don't know if you guys remember what this thing looked like a while back.
34:22Yes, I do.
34:22That is absolutely unbelievable.
34:25Remember, it was a little bit shorter.
34:26Yeah.
34:27It's 13 inches longer now.
34:28It's three wheels.
34:29We wanted to keep the tires where you couldn't see them.
34:31Uh-huh.
34:32Kevin's an awesome fabricator.
34:33The interior, Kevin made out of old army burlap sacks.
34:36Wow.
34:37It's got Harley-Davidson handlebars on it.
34:39George came in, did the wonderful lettering and graphics on it.
34:42I'm glad you got the 217 on the side.
34:45That's the right number, correct?
34:46Yeah, that's the right number.
34:47Yeah, yeah.
34:48I like the old look.
34:50I mean, it looks like it's been done 20 years ago.
34:53George knows how to make things look old and new.
34:55Wow.
34:55I got the big question, can Smiley drive it?
34:59Smiley can get in it.
35:00We've been waiting for this for a long time.
35:02Hop on in, Smiley.
35:03I think he'll be all right.
35:05We test fit it a couple ways.
35:07All right.
35:07All right.
35:09He's in.
35:10Yeah.
35:11All right.
35:14It's a tight squeeze, bud.
35:16Okay, you better give him some space now.
35:18Don't worry.
35:19I've called the fire department.
35:20We've got the jaws of life here in case we need to get out.
35:25All right.
35:26Great throttle.
35:27Great throttle.
35:28All right, here we go.
35:28Here we go.
35:31Here we go.
35:41The controls felt just like being on a motorcycle.
35:44It felt pretty good.
35:45I think I could go a long way with it.
35:46The best part of the whole tank ride was seeing Smiley, not just driving it, but a Navy guy
35:52wearing an Army helmet.
35:54That was the best part of his drive.
35:56And the fact that he could get in it and drive.
36:01All right, Smiley, we're going to have some fun.
36:03A cup of confetti.
36:04Breakfast cereal works great.
36:06Give her hell, Smiley.
36:08Yay!
36:12We expected to just try to get another little toy to run in our parades, and they built
36:16us a one-of-a-kind parade ride that's going to be there for years, and the kids will have
36:21fun with it, and the people will have fun with it, and the vets will always have a lot
36:25of fun with it.
36:25Somebody's got to give you the envelope.
36:27We're going to let you keep the envelope.
36:29You keep doing your good work, and we're happy to be a part of it.
36:31Wow.
36:32Amen.
36:33Amen.
36:34Wow.
36:35What a guy, man.
36:36Thanks a lot, brother.
36:37Thanks a lot.
36:37I mean, you guys have done such a great job, and then to give it to us, so we'll use
36:41those
36:41funds for our Boots on the Ground project, Boots for Veterans.
36:46We'll think of you, and we'll tell the vets where it came from, because that's going to
36:49be coming from you guys.
36:50We appreciate it.
36:51We want to be part of what you guys do, and we're glad to be a part of this.
36:53One more, guys.
36:55One bunch of guys, man.
36:56What a great bunch of guys.
37:01I can't wait to see the car.
37:02Come on in.
37:04Oh, my God.
37:06Bodie.
37:07That's insane.
37:15Hey, you want to pick it up?
37:16Yeah.
37:17We got all hands on deck right now trying to get this 48 Davis Devon back to the Peterson
37:21Automotive Museum.
37:23Mitchell and I are installing the motor and transmission right now, and I think everything's
37:27going to go pretty smoothly.
37:28I can actually probably pull it back to you a little bit.
37:31Okay.
37:33Yeah.
37:34I'm good back here.
37:37So right now we're setting the motor and the transmission in the Davis, trying to get the
37:41chassis all finished up and make it a complete roller so that we can set the body on.
37:46So far, so good.
37:52We're in.
37:54That looks much better.
37:55Get the driveshaft in and keep going.
37:59While the guys are installing the driveshaft on the Davis, Alex got the body and parts
38:03out in the paint shop, getting it painted the shade of green that it was painted originally.
38:08Wow.
38:08Looks good, huh?
38:10Looks really good.
38:13Oh, the firewall looks really good, Alex.
38:16I love all these rivets, all the old rivets across here.
38:19I think it looks awesome.
38:21It's going to look good with all the gauges and everything.
38:24It's going to look nice.
38:25It's pretty.
38:26Alex and the guys in the paint shop did an awesome job on this thing.
38:30It perfectly matches the original color back in the day.
38:33Now it comes to assembly time.
38:35Putting this thing together is not going to be an easy task.
38:38This thing is aluminum, so we have to be extra careful.
38:45Okay, go down.
38:49Then go forward, forward, forward.
38:53Okay.
38:54All the holes are good.
38:55Yeah, they're right there.
38:56Very cool.
38:57Thankfully, the most simple thing is going to be the wiring because there's just not much to it.
39:01You've got brake lights, you've got headlights, and you've got ignition wires.
39:05So I'm going to start assembling the dash, putting all the gauges in, start wiring.
39:09We had all the gauges reworked, but we wanted to keep the original faces.
39:13So I'm going to install this wiring harness.
39:15It's definitely not factory, but it's going to make things more reliable.
39:20It'll give everything its own fuse, kind of bring the whole electrical system of this car up to date.
39:25And that way we should have far less issues with it.
39:27Leslie is itching to get this thing on display at the Peterson Museum, so we can not make any mistakes
39:33right now.
39:42Buddy.
39:43How are you?
39:44How are you doing?
39:45Good.
39:45How are you?
39:46Good.
39:46It's great to see you.
39:47Good to see you.
39:48I can't wait to see the car.
39:50Yeah?
39:50Come on.
39:51Check it out.
39:51Yeah.
39:52Come on in.
39:55Oh, my God.
39:57Oh, I love it.
39:59Bodhi.
40:00This is insane.
40:02Oh, my God.
40:03The green is perfect.
40:04And the white top with the white sidewalls is just...
40:06It's awesome.
40:07You guys made a Davis look sensational.
40:10Right on.
40:11Not many people could have done that.
40:12This thing was a lot of work, man.
40:14Not bad it was.
40:16It's just so odd.
40:17The way the panels all go together and everything.
40:20I know it was a challenge back in 48 for these guys to put it together.
40:23And I see why they only made 13.
40:26Well, Leslie, check out the inside, man.
40:28I gotta see this.
40:29The door opens now.
40:31Hinge was broke.
40:31That's why the hinge had just shorned off.
40:33Yeah, we fixed the hinge.
40:34This is great.
40:35New carpet, new headliner.
40:37All your little latches have been re-chromed and restored.
40:40Everything.
40:41All new door seals, window seals.
40:43This is fantastic.
40:45Can I see the engine?
40:46Of course you can.
40:49Oh, my God.
40:50This is beautiful.
40:52There's nothing that you left untouched.
40:53Nothing.
40:54Every little piece on this was cleaned up, restored.
40:57This is probably the most correct Davis I have ever seen.
41:00Thanks, man.
41:01As absolutely correct as it gets.
41:03I like how sensitive you were to the period details.
41:06Why don't you sit in it?
41:07Oh, yeah.
41:13Oh, look at this thing.
41:16Everything's still exactly the same to operate everything.
41:18Remember how hard the lights were to open?
41:20Yeah.
41:21Pop right open.
41:22That's perfect.
41:24And all the Stuart Werner gauges.
41:26Yep.
41:26Went through all those as well.
41:28Made them look like new.
41:29I love it.
41:30I'm blown away.
41:31I'm blown away.
41:33This is everything I've always wanted this car to be.
41:35This project turned out to be a lot tougher than I thought it would be.
41:38But to have something like this displayed at the Peterson Automotive Museum, to me, is the highest of honors.
41:46This Davis looks amazing.
41:47It's like it just came off the showroom floor.
41:49People are going to love and admire this for generations to come.
41:53Being the car guy and enthusiast that I am, that is truly a dream come true.
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