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00:00I need you to come look at something.
00:01Coming up on American Restoration.
00:03Mr. Muscle!
00:04Nice!
00:05These things are like impossible to find.
00:06I found one.
00:07What you got here?
00:08An old gas pump.
00:09We wanted to bring it back to life.
00:10Alright, let's unload this thing.
00:14What are your expectations of what you want me to do on this motorcycle?
00:17I want to hear it run.
00:20It wants to fire.
00:24Yeehaw!
00:25Across this country, five shops are breathing new life into classic American designs.
00:31From rusted out Mustangs, to broken down Harleys, and everything in between.
00:39Each job has a story.
00:41Love these things!
00:43Woo!
00:46This is American Restoration.
01:02Bob's been saying for days, when are you going to unwrap it?
01:04I said, I'm going to unwrap it when Chris gets here.
01:06Let's get to it.
01:08Oh my God, my hands are shaking.
01:10I am freaking out, man.
01:13Unwrap this thing.
01:15Oh my God.
01:16Yeah.
01:18Look at that thing.
01:20You guys nailed it when you bought this thing.
01:23Some old friends of mine, Pat and Chris, asked me to restore a 1911 Wagner they recently bought at an
01:29auction.
01:30The bike looks to be in very good condition.
01:33It is so original, it's really almost too good to be true.
01:36The original seat, the original bars.
01:39Look at the patina on that paint.
01:40Wow.
01:41Look at that.
01:42You know, I've heard about this before, but I've never seen it.
01:45Look at the patent date.
01:46September 16th, 1902.
01:51Wow.
01:52Look at that.
01:54George Wagner was the brains and the brawn behind the Wagner motorcycle.
01:58A very clever bike built in Minneapolis from 1901 to 1914.
02:02His invention was quite unique.
02:04Of all things, the exhaust ran through the frame.
02:07He was really a great innovator of the American motorcycle.
02:10Bob, look at this.
02:12It's modeled.
02:12That paint's been modeled.
02:13It's 104 years old.
02:15I'll tell you what happened.
02:15No, that's not from age.
02:17I know what happened.
02:17What happened?
02:18At the auction house, the guys cleaned it.
02:21Do you think you can clean that up?
02:24I'm going to certainly try.
02:26To be honest with you, I'm kind of worried about the paint.
02:28It's kind of an issue for me because it is so original.
02:31That's the thing about the bike.
02:32It's original paint.
02:33So I'm hoping that Dale and Bob can really be careful with that paint because I'd rather not even have
02:39it rubbed out.
02:40I would just kind of leave it the way it is.
02:42Where's the plate?
02:43It's a three-year plate, which I'd never seen before.
02:46Look at that.
02:47Yeah.
02:4713, 20, 19, 12, 13, and 14.
02:51And it's from Minnesota.
02:52It's from Minnesota.
02:53It's the same model that Clara rode, same year in its original paint.
02:59This could actually be Clara Wagner's motorcycle.
03:02Clara Wagner was George Wagner's daughter.
03:04She was also one of the first licensed female motorcycle riders.
03:08If Clara Wagner was the former owner of this motorcycle, that bike would be priceless.
03:13What are your expectations of what you want me to do on this motorcycle?
03:18Get it running.
03:20I want to hear it run.
03:21I've been around a lot of old motorcycles.
03:23I've heard a lot of them from the cannabis.
03:24I've never heard a Wagner run.
03:26How many people have?
03:27I don't know.
03:28I have not.
03:28Not many.
03:29The object is to get the bike running and to preserve the originality of a bike, even if it has
03:34a few dents, a little rust, whatever.
03:36Any motorcycle from that era that has the original paint is far more valuable.
03:41That resonates with a lot of the collectors these days.
03:45We've got a game plan here.
03:47We're going to take this bike out of the crate.
03:48We're going to put it on that table.
03:50I would like you guys to help me do that.
03:51Then we're going to run you out of here so Bob and I can get to work.
03:54One, two, three.
03:56Chris and Pat are asking me to do the repair and restoration work on this 100-plus-year-old motorcycle.
04:01I'm extremely nervous about the machine.
04:03It could be quite a job.
04:05The paint is thin and it's very old.
04:07If I damage this piece of motorcycle history, I'll feel terrible.
04:11Bye.
04:12Bye, Dale.
04:13See you.
04:13I'll call you guys later.
04:14Okay.
04:14All right.
04:24I love that sound.
04:26This bike was last running over 100 years ago.
04:28I have a great trick up my sleeve that should allow the engine to turn and make it run.
04:33If it doesn't and causes more damage, there goes my reputation.
04:38The hot plate's a trick that I figured out about seven or eight years ago.
04:42And, of course, an engine doesn't know when it was shut off last, but the last time it was shut
04:47off, it was hot.
04:50So by heating the engine, all the parts expand to the same position they were when it ran last time.
04:54That should free the engine up, giving it some room to breathe.
04:57And it's starting to warm up right now.
05:00It's still stiff.
05:01Pat and Chris knew that at Wheels Through Time, everything runs.
05:04There was no better place to see their machine come back to life.
05:07It's exactly what we do.
05:09Take old pieces of history and make them run.
05:12Right now, the chain is really happy drinking all of this oil.
05:19Well, that's a good sign the hot plate's starting to work.
05:21We're getting some drops of oil come out of that engine.
05:24The engine's building some heat right now.
05:26I'm going to give that some time before I turn it.
05:29Everything is feeling so good.
05:30Look at that.
05:30Look at that.
05:34Now we see if she turns.
05:37Oh, that was good.
05:38If I can just make this turn one time, that would tell me that everything in the engine is free
05:44to run.
05:46It's going.
05:47It's gone.
05:49360.
05:50Thank you, Mr. Hot Plate.
05:52You've done it again.
05:54It's alive.
05:56Hey, Bob, it's alive!
06:09How you doing?
06:10Bodie, right?
06:11Yeah.
06:11How's it going, man?
06:11I'm Cor.
06:12Cor.
06:12How you doing?
06:13Doing well.
06:13Doing well.
06:14You got here.
06:14An old gas pump.
06:15I'm well-known for turning these classic cars into these super high-performance cars, but I also build just about
06:23anything.
06:24Anything old history, I'm up for the challenge to bring it back to life.
06:28Dave over at Barney's has had it lying around the shop for a while, and we wanted to, like, revamp
06:33it and make it.
06:33That was a surprise.
06:34I know Dave.
06:35I've done some stuff for him.
06:36Dave is a client and also a friend of mine.
06:39He is the owner of Barney's Beanery.
06:41It is a well-known restaurant in L.A. on Route 66.
06:45So when you think Route 66, I think old cars, vintage hubcaps, wheels, tires.
06:50Well, that's what his decor looks like inside of his restaurants.
06:53It's pretty cool.
06:54An old Wayne.
06:55Yeah, man.
06:57I can tell it's an early 50s because of its height.
07:01In the late 40s, early 50s, they started lowering them to match the lower sleek designs of the cars.
07:08So what are you thinking?
07:09Well, I don't know.
07:10We just kind of want to refurbish it, you know?
07:12It's something new-ish, you know, but still kind of keep the old-school feel of it, you know?
07:18Okay.
07:18How about we get creative and turn it into something else, give it a new purpose?
07:24That'd be awesome.
07:25What do you think, Mitchell?
07:26Like a liquor cabinet or something?
07:29Yeah, I think it'd be cool if the front opened up.
07:30You like that?
07:31Yeah.
07:31Okay.
07:32Maybe we'll put a hinge on one side.
07:34That way it'll swing open, do some diamond plates, some mirrors or something.
07:38It'd be a cool little liquor cabinet.
07:39Maybe the lights will turn on when it opens up.
07:42Cool, man.
07:42So what do you think something like this would run us?
07:44Well, since I know Dave, I could probably help him out.
07:47I mean, I could try and get it done for between $2,000 and $2,500.
07:51Awesome.
07:52Okay.
07:52That'd be cool?
07:53Yeah, yeah.
07:53I think he'll be excited when he sees it.
07:55Yeah, me too.
07:55That's really cool.
07:57All right.
07:57Let's unload this thing.
08:08Get into breaking down the machine.
08:11Get some of this metal work done.
08:14It's going to be real nice.
08:15I'm going to put my best metal worker, Kirk, on this job.
08:19He's going to start pulling the panels off, hammering out all the dents, getting it ready
08:22and prepped for paint.
08:23I want to fully restore this thing to brand new, so I want this thing done right.
08:30Hammering dolly here.
08:33So I'm going to get this all nice and straight, so that can make it into a door.
08:41Basically, you know, metal, it's just however you can manipulate it back into place.
08:46I'm kind of leveraging it in one spot, but hitting it in another spot while applying pressure,
08:51which then bumps the metal back up.
08:54It's a really old technique.
08:56It's becoming a dying art.
09:04On the front pieces, I left the paint to show the highs and lows.
09:16Check the glass fit up real quick.
09:19Sweet.
09:27I don't think the stickum's going to hold it.
09:30Hmm.
09:34I need to go see what Bodie has to say about this.
09:38Hey, Bodie.
09:40I was out there, and I was fitting up the glass.
09:43I've got some double-sided tape right now, but I don't know if that's going to work all that great.
09:48Yeah, that'll work.
09:49Yeah, that's fine.
09:51I'd like to figure out.
09:53What the hell is that?
09:59Oh, dude.
10:04Here, it fell for it.
10:06Oh, .
10:09Oh, that was the sign I just fit up and fixed.
10:15Dang.
10:18Hours.
10:18Sweating bullets.
10:20What happened, dude?
10:22I was trying to move it.
10:23I've got to bring that new car in over here.
10:25Fell right off the back.
10:27Oh, man.
10:29This is all dented.
10:30This got pushed in.
10:32I'm going to help you straighten it back out.
10:34That's definitely a setback.
10:36As soon as he's done crying, we can get back to work and fix it.
10:40Oh, my God.
10:41Oh, my God.
10:43Oh, my God.
10:45Oh, my God.
10:47Oh, my God.
10:49Oh, my God.
10:51Oh, my God.
11:06My name is Steve Vail.
11:08When I was in high school, I bought my first classic car.
11:10And after I restored that, I just fell in love with the work.
11:14And that's what I've become passionate about ever since.
11:17The classic styles and workmanship that define the generations before us are being replaced
11:23with cheap facsimiles of the real thing, but not at my shop.
11:27There are so many amazing old things out there from signs to games, cars, motorcycles, anything
11:35that can be made better than new with just a little bit of hard work and some elbow grease.
11:39When a classic piece of Americana leaves my shop, it's not only restored, it's reborn.
11:49Yo, Steve.
11:51What's up, Chris?
11:52How you doing, brother?
11:53When I'm not working in the shop, I love to be training or competing in professional arm
11:57wrestling tournaments.
11:58Chris Myers is a really good friend of mine.
12:01He coaches the group of guys that I train with, and he's coming by the shop today to drop
12:04something off real wild that he wants restored.
12:07Look at it.
12:08Mr. Muscle.
12:09You got it, brother.
12:10Nice.
12:11This is from the 80s.
12:12I've been looking for one of these for 20 years.
12:15Zamperla, Mr. Muscle, an arcade game.
12:18These things are like impossible to find.
12:20I found one.
12:21They made this game in the early 1980s when arm wrestling was just at the height of its
12:25craze.
12:26Sylvester Stallone's over the top was coming out.
12:28There was tournaments all over the place.
12:30They only made a couple hundred of these games, but in my opinion, it was by far the coolest
12:34ever made.
12:34The year I graduated high school, 1987.
12:37Out on a date with my girl at the county fair, and I walked up, put my quarter in, hit
12:41that
12:42number one button, and I figured for sure I was going to smash it, and I got my butt kicked.
12:45And I would love to have that opportunity to get that same machine that same way and have
12:50a more level playing field.
12:52This thing's awesome, man.
12:53It's in bad shape, though.
12:54Look at this dude's arm.
12:56His thumb's broke.
12:57Somebody painted it with a brush.
13:00Now it's your job to make it work.
13:02Yeah.
13:03I mean...
13:04Where's all the parts?
13:07This is the parts box.
13:08Yeah.
13:09What is this, a seat cushion?
13:11It's in the armrest.
13:12Yeah, this is no good.
13:13Put this box back in the truck.
13:15Did you see the back?
13:16Is there any circuit boards in it?
13:17Yeah.
13:18There's a lot of wiring to do on this thing, man.
13:20There's a lot to it to get it working right.
13:22You know that's all in Italian?
13:24You're Italian.
13:25You know you read Italian?
13:26I don't read Italian.
13:27Can you restore Italian?
13:29I can restore Italian.
13:30This isn't going to be cheap, man.
13:31Oh, come on, man.
13:32What are you thinking?
13:33Leave this thing down in the shop for a couple months or something?
13:35Let me screw around in our free time?
13:37What are you thinking?
13:38I want it next week at practice.
13:40Next week for practice?
13:41Everyone's coming for practice.
13:42We've got to show it to them.
13:43Come on, man.
13:44You can do this.
13:44You do this stuff all the time.
13:48We're talking at least...
13:50I mean, it's going to cost $4,000 to do this.
13:53So...
13:54Anyway, you can give me a break.
13:55A little break.
13:56Armreston coach break.
13:57I'll tell you what.
13:58You want to beat this thing, right?
14:00I do.
14:00Get your pride back.
14:01I want my rematch.
14:02Here's my idea.
14:03You beat it on Superman.
14:05All right?
14:07Knock $1,000 off.
14:09Deal.
14:10Okay.
14:11It's on.
14:11Sounds good.
14:12Well, let's get in the shop and get working on it.
14:14We don't have much time.
14:19Ready?
14:20Yes, sir.
14:20We've got one more practice left before the next big tournament comes up.
14:24And we have to have Mr. Muscle finish for that practice because I want to unveil it, pump the team
14:29up.
14:29I know that everybody's going to be so excited about this.
14:32Even the guys at the shop are so excited, they're going to be at this practice.
14:35So we've got to get this thing done.
14:44Mr. Muscle's hand came into us, busted up, glued together.
14:47It was all stress cracked.
14:49We've got to fix this thing properly so that it can take the abuse of people arm wrestling.
14:54And it's going to have a ton of pressure.
14:55So what I'm going to do is get right into all these stress cracks and broken spots with the grinder
15:00and make room to put our good, strong fiberglass in there so we'll do a good repair.
15:05What I'm going to use is a reinforced, basically a Kevlar type of material.
15:09It's really strong, good stuff.
15:11We're going to leave this fiberglass a little bit high so that I can come back in here with the
15:15grinder
15:15and shape the stump exactly how I want it.
15:26Okay, so I've got the rough shape pretty much where I want it.
15:29It looks really good, starting to look like a thumb.
15:31I've got his fingernail back in.
15:34Here we've got our premium body filler that we use in the shop.
15:37It's a thermal set plastic.
15:39They get hot and that makes them harden.
15:41You never want your filler to be more than a quarter inch thick.
15:44We want to keep a nice thin layer.
15:46We'll keep that principle throughout the whole repair process.
15:49Thin with our filler, thin primer, thin paint, and that'll basically keep the repair lasting a lot longer
15:55than if you were to just pile material on there and it'll look a lot better too.
16:00We're going to finish sanding on the filler repair, feathering the filler into the existing fiberglass
16:06so that when it's all done, you won't be able to see the repair.
16:08Everything will blend together.
16:10All right, so that's looking really good.
16:13The thumb came out perfect, actually, just like I wanted.
16:16So next step, get the rest of the arm sanded down to bare fiberglass.
16:19Then we're going to put our fill primer on it, get this thing painted.
16:24Check this out.
16:26What is it?
16:27Check it out.
16:28What?
16:29What's it saying?
16:30No way.
16:32Yeah, way.
16:32Yeah.
16:39All righty.
16:41There we go.
16:42Kirk's pulling the metal panels off this 1950s gas pump so we can get this thing out to paint.
16:47We lost a lot of time with that thing falling over, and this thing's got to be delivered to Barney's
16:52beanery tomorrow.
16:56We got it pretty much cleaned up.
16:58I'm going to dress it down a little bit underneath here, get some paint off so that I can weld
17:02up those holes.
17:04Need a clean metal surface in order to weld properly.
17:13Because it's a hole, I'm going to use my copper paddle because the steel won't stick to the copper.
17:26Looks good.
17:29How's it going, Kirk?
17:30Good, good.
17:32Very cool.
17:33I'm going to weld it up.
17:34So what do we want to do with this thing?
17:35We're going to turn it into a liquor cabinet.
17:37Liquor cabinet.
17:38Oh, nice.
17:39Nice.
17:40I want to see it.
17:41You know, I just do the painting.
17:42You want to see it or you want to use it?
17:43I don't want to use it.
17:45I don't want to use it too.
17:46So I'll call you when it's done.
17:47And I want it the same exact red as that galaxy right over there.
17:51The galaxy.
17:52Yep.
17:53Viper red.
17:54Viper red, right?
17:55All right.
17:56Cool.
17:57Thanks, Alex.
18:01Thanks, Alex.
18:24I'm done.
18:25I hope he liked it.
18:27And the customers too.
18:40But right now, I want to start with this 104-year-old seat that's got issues, but it's extraordinary.
18:48For a bike as old as this Wagner to be in this condition is a one in a million.
18:52And it's very delicate work.
18:53When you have something as rare as a Mona Lisa, you don't leave it to amateur hands.
18:58That's why it shows Bob, the historian, for his patience, his tolerance, and his attention
19:02for detail.
19:03And I'm going to take on the saddle first.
19:05It's fragile, dried out.
19:07So I'm going to be putting a mixture of oils and fats into the leather and set it in the
19:13sun and hope that it all emulsifies and goes back into the leather.
19:17Get some moisture back in that beauty.
19:19The paint on the Wagner is recoverable in its original patina, but we've got to do it carefully.
19:24I'm nervous as hell because these things can go awry with literally one hand swipe of
19:29the materials that you put together.
19:30My concoction is a home recipe passed down to me from my grandfather.
19:34Real fond of this and some elbow grease.
19:38First effort at cleaning this stuff up.
19:41Keeping this original patina is crucial.
19:43If I mess it up, I'll go down in history having messed up the finest original paint Wagner in
19:47existence.
19:52I want to try this back here where nobody's going to see what this concoction is going to
19:59do to the stuff that was sprayed on here and not impact this French gray paint that's
20:09irreplaceable in its original condition.
20:15It's coming off, but it's not taking patina.
20:17All right, let's try for the big enchilada.
20:21You can see all of the modeled leavings of a cleaner on top of this original paint.
20:27Oh, I'm liking this.
20:29Oh, yeah.
20:32Look how that's clearer in there.
20:35Oh, yeah.
20:37All right, here's the big deal.
20:39Try it on the decal itself.
20:41This is hold your breath time.
20:51Oh, my heavenly days.
20:53Look at this.
20:55Robert, you're the luckiest guy in three counties.
20:58Three regions of the universe.
21:03This is working nicely.
21:05The modeling is disappearing.
21:08The clarity of the decals is standing out in stunning relief.
21:12And nothing so far has flaked off or disappeared.
21:16I'm thrilled.
21:18It's coming, but it's just slow.
21:23A little at a time.
21:24A little at a time.
21:26A little at a time.
21:38Bob, Pat and Chris are going to be here early.
21:41Hey, how did the paint come out?
21:42You're not going to believe it.
21:50Oh, look at that.
21:53Bob, you did it, man.
21:55It's all night long.
21:57It's an inspiration.
21:58The machine is an inspiration.
22:23My good friend and coach of our arm wrestling team, Chris Myers,
22:26is having us restore a Mr. Muscle arm wrestling game.
22:30I bet him $1,000 that once we're done with it,
22:32he's not going to be able to beat it on its highest strength setting.
22:35So we need to get working on this arm
22:36and make sure that the whole mechanism is working perfectly
22:39so that it's next to impossible to beat.
22:41This thing's looking awesome, huh?
22:43Yep.
22:44You got it all done?
22:45I got it all painted, man.
22:46That looks great.
22:47Let's get this thing together, huh?
22:49Yeah, look at that.
22:50Ready, Steve?
22:51Yeah, turn it on, Petey.
22:55So far, so good.
22:56Good start, right?
22:57Who's the test pilot?
22:59Go ahead, Keith.
23:00Okay.
23:01What are we going for?
23:02Superman.
23:02What are you talking about?
23:03Superman, right?
23:04Yep.
23:04Tough guy.
23:05Might as well go for the big guns.
23:10Yeah!
23:11Come on, baby!
23:13Oh!
23:13What do you think of that?
23:14Let me see this thing.
23:21Ah, yeah, all right.
23:24Tough way too easy.
23:26That's not Superman.
23:28Oh.
23:28So Mr. Muscle has four strength settings,
23:30Superman obviously being the highest.
23:33The only problem is that right now,
23:34Keith is beating Superman.
23:36He's just a pretty tough guy,
23:37but I think we need to obviously switch something around
23:40because it's not right yet.
23:42I mean, the mechanics of it are there.
23:44The belt tension is right.
23:46Everything's set up.
23:47Is that electric brake working right, Keith?
23:48Yeah, it looked like it was.
23:51Try another setting, maybe?
23:58He's not even pulling on my arm at all.
24:00This is way too easy.
24:02I've known Steve since Steve walked
24:04into my industrial arts classroom
24:05as a seventh grader.
24:07Stevie was a really hard worker as a kid.
24:10Now working with him, I see the same thing in him.
24:13Everything has to be perfect
24:14or it won't go out the door.
24:16Maybe it's with the micro switches.
24:17Maybe we got an issue with electrical.
24:19These guys are coming soon.
24:20I mean, we're in trouble, guys.
24:22We've got to do something.
24:26I think this is going to be a great fit for you guys.
24:29I think you're going to love it.
24:30Fantastic.
24:30I've got to see it.
24:31All right, Mitchell, you ready?
24:33Well, bam!
24:33Holy smokes!
24:36Wow, that's amazing.
24:44Something's not right.
24:45We don't have time for this not to be working right.
24:47There's like 30 people going to be here real, real soon.
24:51We've got a huge arm wrestling practice at the shop today.
24:53My whole team's coming.
24:55Our coach, Chris, that we're restoring this Mr. Muscle Game 4,
24:57he's going to be here.
24:59And we need it working 100%.
25:01Now, we've got a problem where,
25:03on its hardest setting, it's easy to beat.
25:06It's got to be something in the wiring.
25:08Maybe I got the wires crossed.
25:10Could they be reversed or something?
25:12Maybe.
25:12Something to be backwards?
25:13Yeah, that could be.
25:14No problem.
25:14We'll get it done right now.
25:16Pete's going back through,
25:17and he's rechecking all the wiring,
25:18and we're going to see if we can figure this thing out.
25:19This wiring's been something
25:22with the Italian mixed in there,
25:24trying to figure out where everything went.
25:27We should be good to go.
25:29See what we got?
25:31Let's try Superman.
25:44That's Superman.
25:58All right, guys.
25:59Just talked decor.
26:00We're going to put it in here by the pool table.
26:02Tilt back a little bit.
26:03This secret liquor cabinet is going to fit in real nicely
26:06at Barney's Beanery,
26:07being a historic bar with tons of vintage decor.
26:11Dave, the owner, knows nothing about the gas pump
26:13since it's a surprise from his employees.
26:16Hey, man.
26:16Let's take it right here.
26:27Sweet.
26:28Perfect.
26:29Yo, man, what's up?
26:30Hey, man.
26:31How are you?
26:31All right.
26:31I got a little surprise for you.
26:33Really?
26:33Yeah, come on this one.
26:35Bodie.
26:35What's up, man?
26:36What's going on?
26:37How are you?
26:38Good.
26:38How are you doing?
26:39I'm the owner of Barney's Beanery.
26:40It's a classic Route 66 roadhouse.
26:43It opened in 1920.
26:44When it came up for sale,
26:45I couldn't believe that I could get my hands
26:47on the place where Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin hung out.
26:49It's nothing better.
26:51Your employees wanted to give you a little surprise.
26:54Fantastic.
26:55Yeah.
26:55The guys brought me something that was in pretty bad shape.
26:59We brought it back to life.
27:00I think this is going to be a great fit for you guys.
27:03I think you're going to love it.
27:04Fantastic.
27:05I got to see it.
27:05All right, Mitchell.
27:06You ready?
27:07Wa-bam.
27:09Holy smokes.
27:10It's the gas pump.
27:11So much better.
27:13Wow.
27:13That's amazing.
27:14Pretty cool, huh?
27:15Yeah.
27:16Unbelievable.
27:16From what you dropped off to what it is now,
27:19it's come a long way.
27:20It doesn't look anything like it.
27:21It was dented up and in bad shape,
27:23so we hammered all that out.
27:24It had the old San Francisco police and fire department here.
27:28We just went with all the traditional signage that went with this thing.
27:31Unbelievable.
27:32Really amazing.
27:32I mean, it doesn't get better than this.
27:34Well, it does actually get better than this.
27:36Really?
27:36Not only is it an old gas pump, but it is now a liquor cabinet.
27:40Wow.
27:41Wow, fantastic.
27:41And you got the high octane in there already, too.
27:44Exactly.
27:45Fantastic.
27:45Are these piston rods?
27:47Yep.
27:47They're out of a 41 Ford flathead.
27:50Wow.
27:51Yep.
27:51And the spinners were when you were adding your fuel
27:53and those things would spin.
27:54That's amazing.
27:55So we tried to bring it back to life as much as possible.
27:59Do the numbers set?
28:00Do they work at all?
28:01The numbers do set.
28:02Spin the thing around.
28:03It's pretty tough.
28:04It's old school, man.
28:06Very cool.
28:07Cool, huh?
28:08And check it out.
28:0931 cents per gallon.
28:11Wow.
28:11Now we know it's an antique.
28:12Now you know it's an antique.
28:13It's really impressive, guys.
28:15Thanks so much, man.
28:16It's really sensational.
28:17Bodhi, you outdid yourself again.
28:19You know what?
28:20I think we should start testing out some of these bottles here
28:22before we start talking about prices, okay?
28:24Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
28:25Can you whip up something with this?
28:26I got the shot glasses.
28:27I'll go get it right now.
28:28Yeah, right on.
28:52Come on in, everybody.
28:54Hey.
28:55What's up, man?
28:55What's going on, bro?
28:57You're going to like what we got for you, man.
28:59Mr. Muscle's all done.
29:01Painted, buffed, all assembled.
29:03Everything's working perfectly.
29:04But he's got a long history with Chris.
29:07They've got a grudge match to settle.
29:09I got 1,000 bucks riding on Mr. Muscle pinning Chris,
29:12so we're going to see what happens.
29:14What's up, everybody?
29:15What's up, man?
29:16Thanks for coming down, guys.
29:18Most of you guys know that a week ago,
29:20Chris brought us a piece of junk.
29:24I mean, it's a pretty cool piece of junk.
29:26We've been working, like, day and night
29:28to get this thing done in a week's time frame here.
29:31And I think you guys are going to be pretty impressed
29:33with what we've got under this tarp.
29:34So without further ado,
29:36I think we should show you guys what we got here.
29:39Yeah!
29:40Oh, yeah!
29:44So this is a Zamperla Mr. Muscle arm wrestling arcade game.
29:49Chris brought it in, and his arm was broken off of him,
29:53and the elbow pad was like a bar stool.
29:55The wiring was a disaster
29:57because there's five circuit boards in the back of this thing.
30:00We read it, all the big flake on it.
30:02Airbrushed them all, painted them,
30:03and we put the Steve's Restorations tattoo on his arm,
30:06and here it is.
30:07We put our heart and soul into this thing to make it perfect.
30:10Chris's biggest problem, though,
30:12is that it's also working really good,
30:14and it's going to be almost impossible to beat.
30:22Me and Chris worked out a deal.
30:24If he beats him on Superman,
30:25I'm giving him 1,000 bucks off.
30:27It's on.
30:27Well, let's see if you can get your revenge, man.
30:29This thing ain't going to be easy to beat, man.
30:31Most likely impossible.
30:33Superman, this is Kryptonite right here.
30:36I was like, oh, my God.
30:38Are we going to have a reliving
30:39of what happened the first time?
30:41I got my family, I got my friends, my team.
30:43They count on me.
30:44I'm their leader, and I'm supposed to be strong.
30:45And I'm like, no, not again.
30:47Let's go.
30:48All right.
30:50Get it, get it, get it.
31:10It's on.
31:11Let's see if you can get your revenge.
31:15After 20 years of wanting a rematch with Mr. Muscle,
31:18Chris is about to get his chance.
31:20If he beats him now, it's 1,000 bucks off the bill.
31:23But we've restored this thing perfectly,
31:25so Superman is next to impossible to beat.
31:41I just closed my eyes,
31:43and I squeezed with every fiber of my being,
31:45and I pulled.
32:10You know, man, I'm happy you beat him.
32:12Me too.
32:1430 years ago, I played with this thing,
32:16and looking at it now,
32:17it's like I stepped in a time machine
32:19and went back to that year,
32:20and I got a redo of that play.
32:23I had my chance to do it exactly the way I wanted to do it.
32:25All right, let's get to practicing, everybody.
32:27Come on.
32:39Okay, it should have a ground,
32:41and it should have a hot.
32:42This looks like the ground.
32:47And that's well connected.
32:50Everything's hooked up.
32:51Spark right here.
32:57I got the Wagner engine to turn,
33:00and that's no small feat.
33:01The next thing we have to work on is electrical.
33:04Our voltmeter will tell us
33:05if we're getting our voltage to the coil box.
33:08I got six volts at the battery.
33:11Without a battery on the charger,
33:13this little baby ought to light up
33:15pretty as a Christmas tree.
33:18As old Christmas tree.
33:22No Christmas tree.
33:25Nothing.
33:28Christmas tree.
33:30No spark.
33:36I've hit a stumbling block on the electrical
33:38on the really frustrated.
33:39It's time to move ahead.
33:40Look at something else.
33:42You just get the wheel ready.
33:49Easy does it now.
33:52Okay, here.
33:53We got to wiggle that wheel in.
33:55Okay.
33:56I got the spacers.
33:58That's what I'm talking about.
34:00With things looking great so far,
34:02we can get back to the electrical.
34:03After that's done,
34:04we'll be one step further
34:05to making this bike run.
34:07The battery charger
34:08has enough voltage
34:09to show us if we have spark,
34:11but here, look at here.
34:12No spark.
34:13If we're not popping,
34:14there's got to be something in the points.
34:16I'm going to take the cover off.
34:17Prior to 1980,
34:18all motorcycles and cars
34:20had a points ignition system.
34:22What the points do
34:23is they make and break
34:24a circuit that allows the voltage
34:25to fire the engine.
34:27They need regular adjustment
34:28and need to be clean.
34:29If we can get the problem
34:30with the points aligned,
34:31we should be able
34:32to get this machine running.
34:34Okay.
34:35Change that timing on that side.
34:37How much?
34:37Right up there.
34:37Just bring it all the way forward.
34:39I want to make contact.
34:40Right here.
34:41All vintage motorcycles
34:43have a mechanical timing adjustment.
34:45Bob is advancing the timing
34:46on the machine
34:47with the left hand control.
34:49When he finds the right range,
34:50we should be able to indicate
34:51some flow of electricity
34:52through the points.
34:53What, have we got to ground?
34:54No, we're good.
34:55We're good.
34:56Hot here.
34:57Hot there.
35:00Got it.
35:01We got it.
35:01That's it.
35:02We got it.
35:02Fantastic.
35:05How the hell does that go on?
35:06You tell me.
35:07You took it off.
35:08Bob, come here.
35:11C.W. stamped on the ignition timer.
35:15You know what that could mean.
35:16I'm not believing what I'm saying.
35:24Bob.
35:26Come here.
35:27C.W. stamped on the ignition timer.
35:31You know what that could mean.
35:33This is Clara Wagner's motorcycle.
35:35What else could it be?
35:36They're not going to believe this.
35:38Pat and Chris asked me to restore
35:39their 1911 Wagner motorcycle.
35:42We had a hunch this could possibly be
35:44Clara Wagner's motorcycle,
35:45the first lady motorcycle racer.
35:47It had all the earmarks,
35:48the right ear,
35:49the color,
35:50make,
35:51model,
35:51the license plate.
35:52And then we found
35:53the undeniable evidence.
35:55Unbelievable.
35:55Look at that.
35:56Clara is in the building.
35:58This is her bike.
35:59Clara was the daughter
36:00of the founder
36:00of the Wagner Motorcycle Company.
36:02And at the age of 15,
36:03she became one of the first
36:04female competitors
36:05in motorcycle racing.
36:07I believe this is
36:08Clara Wagner's motorcycle,
36:09which makes it
36:10extremely valuable.
36:11But let's just get
36:12this thing going
36:13before our guests arrive.
36:15All right.
36:15Here we go.
36:16Got it.
36:17All right.
36:25Oh, she's rolling nice.
36:27Those guys are going
36:27to be here anytime,
36:28you know.
36:30Bob and I have a lot
36:31of time invested
36:32in the Wagner motorcycle
36:33and Pat and Chris are here.
36:35If we don't get
36:35this machine to run,
36:36which is our goal,
36:37we will have failed
36:39in a big way.
36:40It's one thing
36:40to let a client down,
36:41but it's worse
36:42to let a friend down.
36:44There it is.
36:46Wow, that's beautiful.
36:49Wow, that's so good.
36:50Yeah, Bob.
36:53Look at this.
36:54Wow.
36:54Look at this.
36:56Unbelievable.
36:56I know it.
36:58Everything's turning
36:59nice and smooth.
37:00See that?
37:01Oh, my gosh.
37:02Yeah.
37:02But I'm really liking this.
37:04I am so proud
37:05of the work
37:06that Bob did on this.
37:08Oh, it looks so nice, Bob.
37:09I'm just thrilled.
37:10We set out to restore
37:11this machine
37:12to its original condition.
37:13Bob used some
37:14of his magic
37:15to clean up the paint job
37:16and restored the leather
37:17on the original saddle
37:18to a condition
37:19that I actually
37:20couldn't believe.
37:20I found a vintage tube
37:21for the old tire.
37:22It was the proper size
37:23and it looked perfect.
37:24We've also worked
37:25on the motor
37:26and the electrical system.
37:27With those in place,
37:28we should have
37:29a running machine.
37:30And there's a surprise,
37:31too, that you'll really like.
37:32Watch this.
37:33We had this ignition problem.
37:35We couldn't find spark,
37:36but we had to get in the points.
37:37Check this out.
37:39You might see it
37:40without the light.
37:42What is it?
37:43Check it out.
37:46We had a hunch
37:47this might be
37:48Clara Wagner's motorcycle,
37:49the first female
37:50motorcycle competitor.
37:51It had the right plate,
37:53came from the right place,
37:54and it was in the right condition.
37:56And then we stumbled
37:57on the undeniable evidence.
37:59What's it say in there?
38:00C.W.
38:02Ha!
38:02Ha!
38:04Ha!
38:04God!
38:05No way!
38:06Yeah, way!
38:07No way!
38:12C.W., I looked at the little
38:13cover for the points,
38:15and I turned it over
38:15in my hand,
38:16and I looked at it,
38:16and I said,
38:17what?
38:18You could see
38:18a little C and a W.
38:19I thought I was, like,
38:20seeing things,
38:21and I'm like,
38:21wait a minute.
38:22It's got, like,
38:23chills.
38:23You know,
38:23I couldn't believe that I was seeing the CW.
38:26It could really be Clara's bike.
38:28It is her bike.
38:29Oh my God.
38:31So here we go.
38:33Let's try to start.
38:34Let's start it.
38:35We checked the compression and the fuel flow
38:37and they work surprisingly well.
38:38We know the wiring conducts electricity
38:40and like all bikes of the era,
38:42it starts with a pedal operated ignition system.
38:45The question is, will this bike start?
38:47Are we all ready?
38:48Ready.
38:49Moment of truth.
38:52It might be a hundred years since anybody ran that bike,
38:55so that would be fantastic to have a hundred-year-old machine
39:00come back to life.
39:01Come on, baby.
39:02Yeah.
39:03Yeah.
39:06Oh, it's got compression.
39:07It's got great compression.
39:08I can hear that.
39:10We gotta get some spark though.
39:11Did you take the plug out?
39:13Oh, we took the plug out.
39:14Check it?
39:15Is it sparking?
39:15Oh, we checked it.
39:16Is it sparking?
39:17Oh, we check everything.
39:19Oh, yeah, it's the compression release.
39:21It's probably when we're not getting the spark, right?
39:24It's very likely.
39:25Okay, here we go.
39:26All right.
39:28Oh, yeah.
39:29It wants to fire.
39:35Suck!
39:36When Dale is on the scent, you know, he's like a hound dog, you know.
39:40He sees what he's going for and he knows it's there,
39:44and we just kind of let him go and try to support him all the way through.
39:48There.
39:48There's a problem right there.
39:49What is it?
39:50Suck valve.
39:51Oh, okay.
39:51So it wasn't moving.
39:52I got to thinking.
39:53I didn't hear it wheezing.
39:54You know how a suction valve all goes.
39:57Yeah.
39:57It wasn't making that noise.
39:59Right.
39:59We just discovered the intake valve's not working.
40:01Out it comes.
40:02A little bit of lubricant.
40:03The intake valve goes back in.
40:05It should start this time.
40:07Come on, girl.
40:07Here we go.
40:12Come on, Clara.
40:13It's all defined.
40:16Oh, it's close.
40:18Not a pop.
40:19Not a pop, but boy, the valve is moving.
40:20We have all those ingredients going on.
40:23Nope.
40:24The spark went away.
40:26Hey, where's the screwdriver?
40:27I'm going to try reversing the polarities.
40:30All cars and motorcycles today are negative ground.
40:34This motorcycle comes from a different time.
40:37Usually, you have negative ground, but some bikes do it backwards.
40:42George Wagner could have done that too.
40:44Right.
40:44We don't know.
40:45I went to the positive ground.
40:46Is this the magic we're looking for?
40:49Oh, that spark.
40:54This is it.
40:55Here we go.
41:00Dale's been awful good to you.
41:06All right.
41:08Clara.
41:09Clara.
41:10Clara.
41:12That's what we're talking about.
41:16Robert.
41:17Hey.
41:17Thank you, man.
41:19Clara lives.
41:20Clara lives.
41:21Good God.
41:22When it comes to life, it's like, you know, reanimated.
41:26You're Dr. Frankenstein and your creature is arising from the slab.
41:32But one thing is for certain, this is the best original Wagner in the world.
41:36There's no doubt.
41:37There is no doubt.
41:38And the privilege of working on this bike is something that I'll never forget.
41:41It's a privilege to have the great Dale Wachsler start our motorcycle.
41:46Nobody in this room ever heard a Wagner run.
41:48It is a magic moment.
41:49History relives itself every day at Wheels Through Time.
41:53Bob, let's call it a day.
41:55I'm busted.
41:56I'm busted.
41:57I'm busted.
41:58I'm busted.
41:58I'm busted.
41:58You'll be right.
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