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00:00You guys are going to love this.
00:01Coming up on American Restoration.
00:041963 and a half Ford Galaxy.
00:06This is going to take a while.
00:09When in doubt, cut that out.
00:12It's 1940. I bought it out on an estate sale.
00:15They made a couple hundred of these.
00:16You found a diamond, man.
00:18What's up, gentlemen?
00:19How do you like to fill this Cadillac?
00:2059.
00:21It's growing moss.
00:22It's not going to go anyplace.
00:24Let's make it happen.
00:28Across this country.
00:30Five shops are breathing new life into classic American designs.
00:34From rusted out Mustangs.
00:36To broken down Harleys.
00:39And everything in between.
00:41Each job has a story.
00:44Love these things.
00:45Woo!
00:49This is American Restoration.
00:58You guys are going to love this.
01:001963 and a half Ford Galaxy.
01:02Blake, did you pull that out of?
01:04It's got a good roof.
01:05Fenders.
01:05Pretty cool, huh?
01:06It'll be cool if it's the rare one.
01:09This hunk of junk may not look like much, but it's a 1963 and a half Ford Galaxy, which is
01:15a pretty sought-after car, especially if you're a Ford nut.
01:18This was the first time that an American manufacturer ever released a vehicle mid-year.
01:22February of 1963.
01:24So my client Dave has this car dropped off.
01:27This Galaxy is going to take a ton of man hours.
01:31That means I'm going to have to pull people from other jobs.
01:34We really got to get to cracking on this thing if we're ever going to finish it.
01:38This is this guy's baby.
01:39He's had this forever.
01:40He wants big horsepower.
01:42He wants it the fastest Galaxy on the street.
01:44They made two 63 and a half Galaxy Fastbacks.
01:48They made the regular 390 and they made the 427.
01:51So you think this is the rare race version?
01:53It could be.
01:54It would explain the badges being missing, the motor being missing, and the hood being missing, because those were three
02:00big pieces to a 427 car.
02:03We'll have to look up the VIN.
02:04Whether this is a 427 car or not, we're going to make it one.
02:08In mid-63, Ford released a race edition Galaxy to meet NASCAR specs.
02:13It had the 427 V8, which was a way bigger motor.
02:17It had the fiberglass hood and a lot of different styling on the trim in the body to lighten up
02:21the weight.
02:22Less than 5,000 of these were made.
02:24If Dave's Ford truly is a 427 car, that makes it worthy of a top-notch restoration, despite what it
02:31looks like right now.
02:32What do you think, Mitchell?
02:33Where do you start on this thing?
02:35That entire door jamb's missing.
02:37Both front fenders need repair.
02:39Trunk pan, floor pan.
02:41No hood, obviously.
02:43Engine trans.
02:44This is going to take a while.
02:46It's missing some pieces, but I think we should be able to find some of this stuff.
02:49He wants a clean, stock look.
02:51You know what would be really cool, too?
02:53I know where I can get my hands on a camera.
02:55A 427 stock motor.
02:57That would make it fast for him.
02:58Right?
03:00Do between 750, 800 horsepower.
03:03That would be badass.
03:05If you want it fast, that would do it.
03:06Definitely get it moving.
03:07Let's get this in the shop and start tearing it down.
03:09All right?
03:10Sweet.
03:11Chewing up rust and spitting out fresh cars.
03:18I had a hunch that this may be a real 427 car just because the hood was missing and the
03:23badging was missing.
03:24Those are sought-after parts on these things.
03:26We ran the VIN and we got a winner.
03:29This means that this is one of 5,000 of this year and this edition.
03:33With that and Dave's personal attachment to this thing, we're going to pour everything we got into it to make
03:39it the baddest galaxy in California.
03:47What have we gotten ourselves into it?
03:50A rusty mess.
03:54When in doubt, cut that out.
03:57Dave's 63 and a half Ford Galaxy is going to need so much work.
04:02It's missing the transmission and the engine, trim and moldings.
04:06It's missing interior pieces.
04:07And now that we found out that it's a real 427 car, it's going to make it that much harder
04:12to find the pieces that are missing.
04:18To complete this thing in a decent amount of time, with the amount of man-hours I'm going to have
04:23to put in it, this is going to be a tough one to pull off.
04:42If this is how the whole build is going to be, holy s***, we're in for the long haul.
04:57What's going on?
04:59Dale?
05:00Yeah?
05:00Jerry.
05:01Nice to meet you.
05:01That's my wife, Rosie.
05:03Nice to meet you.
05:03What do you got?
05:04It's a 1940.
05:05I bought it at an estate sale.
05:07What did you pay for a pile of junk like that?
05:09$500.
05:10We're excited.
05:11We want to have you restore it for us.
05:12You're the king.
05:13That's a Harley wheel.
05:15This happens here all the time.
05:16Somebody will bring me what's called a basket case.
05:18It's literally a cluster of a thousand parts.
05:20They don't really know what they have.
05:22Well, you can sort through all the parts, but it really comes down to one thing.
05:25And that's the engine.
05:26That serial number that's on the left side of the engine tells us if the bike is worth restoring or
05:31not.
05:31This is the whole deal right here.
05:35Oh.
05:37That's a good number.
05:39What do you mean?
05:40Well, look at here.
05:41See that?
05:42See, most of these are Army bikes.
05:4442 WLA, 41 WLA.
05:47They probably made over 50,000 of those things.
05:49This is a 1940 WLB.
05:52They made a couple hundred of these.
05:541539.
05:54I can't believe that.
05:56You found a diamond, man.
05:58In 1940, Harley got the contract to build the Army machine for the government.
06:02It was called the WLA.
06:04About 66,000 were built by the end of the war.
06:07However, the rare one is the WLD.
06:09They only made about 300 of those.
06:12Today, they're very sought after.
06:14With that number, you'll never need this.
06:16Let me tell you why.
06:17Race bikes don't have mufflers.
06:19You ever seen a NASCAR with a muffler on it?
06:21Straight pipes.
06:22Straight pipes.
06:23What am I going to do with that, Tom?
06:25Military surplus.
06:25This is WLA.
06:27So this is a real muffler, and it's worth hundreds of dollars.
06:30Wow.
06:31I'll trade the muffler for the seat.
06:33You see how this works?
06:34Yeah, yeah.
06:34You got more in the car?
06:36Everything's in there.
06:37No.
06:38No.
06:38I'm having a lot of fun going through Jerry's basket case, and I found a lot of WLA parts
06:42that he doesn't need.
06:44The WLD parts, which makes up the majority of his project, are actually quite good.
06:48I think in the end, we'll do a little bartering, lowering the cost of Jerry's restoration.
06:52It's the right year for the fork.
06:55That matches the engine.
06:57Wow.
06:57You have the most important components, the fork and the engine.
07:02When I was a kid, my grandpa had a 1940 Harley.
07:06Yeah.
07:06It's been a real close, personal thing for me to duplicate.
07:09I guess the important thing is, what is it going to cost?
07:12You're looking at about $18,000.
07:14If we finish this bike and do it right, the bike could be worth 40 grand.
07:17I'm going to build you a motorcycle.
07:19Thanks, man.
07:32If I try to do this myself, I'm going to be here all night.
07:35Hey, I've called in my mechanic, John, to help me sort through the pile.
07:38We'll get it done in no time.
07:40Check out our new project.
07:41What are we up to, my man?
07:43Well, this bike is freaking awesome.
07:45It's a 1940 WLD.
07:47Got one big problem.
07:48Yes, I'd say those are the wrong jugs on that engine.
07:51Well, you picked it right off.
07:52It's half the engine.
07:53We've got a good lower end, no top end.
07:56So we're going to source them.
07:57So what I want to do right now is I want to start going through some of this stuff, lay
08:00it out.
08:01Let's get all the nuts and bolts separated.
08:02Then I'm making a pile of things that need to be cleaned and blasted.
08:06Okay.
08:06Let's make this thing happen, man.
08:10That's an oil pump gear, isn't it?
08:11That's an oil pump gear for a pan head.
08:16We get quite a hodgepodge here.
08:21Hey, Dale, wait a minute.
08:22What does that look like to you, buddy?
08:23Check that out.
08:25That's precious metal right there, brother.
08:27What?
08:28Look at that.
08:29That's a find right there.
08:30You know what you did?
08:31Yeah, I do.
08:321936 knucklehead.
08:33Yeah?
08:33In original condition.
08:35Jerry's estate find is chock full of treasures, and rare pre-war Harleys today are quite valuable,
08:40and the parts that make them up are equally as valuable.
08:43Some are worth hundreds.
08:44Some are worth thousands.
08:45Add it all together, and his leftovers are going to knock a huge chunk out of the cost of
08:49his restoration.
08:50But more importantly, the core of his project, the WLD, is mostly there, and that's something
08:56that doesn't happen very often.
08:57Let's keep digging, Dale.
08:58There's probably some more diamonds in this treasure trove we got.
09:01Do you have any idea how much money this is going to save him?
09:04Take that right off the top.
09:05You know what?
09:05That's why people bring me bikes.
09:07Get this tank sandblasted first.
09:09I'll be back in a little bit.
09:10All right, buddy.
09:13I love these Cadillacs.
09:1559's my dream car.
09:16That's everybody's dream car.
09:17There's the 59.
09:18That's not a whole car.
09:20You've got pieces of cars in the field.
09:22Yeah, but it's Cadillac.
09:23You're killing me, Phil.
09:34Hey, what's up, Phil?
09:35Hi, Steve.
09:36How are you?
09:36Good to see you, man.
09:37Good to see you still on that.
09:38What do you got here?
09:39My latest acquisition.
09:41A great client of ours, Phil, who's also an avid Cadillac collector, just bought a new
09:45car.
09:46I can't wait to check it out.
09:48The 76?
09:4976.
09:50Eldorado Convertible.
09:51Nice.
09:51I love these Cadillacs.
09:53There's a lot of cool cars, but these things are like the king of the road.
09:56I've been in love with Cadillacs since I was 13 years old.
09:59And since then, I've had probably 30-plus Cadillacs all years from 1938 up to 2009.
10:05What about now?
10:05You got anything else?
10:06I got a couple of project cars that I'd love to do something with them, but making room
10:10for my new dream garage.
10:11What do you got?
10:12I got a 59 and a 53.
10:1659 is my dream car.
10:17That's everybody's dream car.
10:18It's the ultimate Cadillac.
10:19Yeah.
10:20Yeah, they're out back in the field.
10:21What is that?
10:22That's the 53.
10:25Where's the rest of it?
10:27Those are 53 parts.
10:28There's a fender and a bumper.
10:30Yeah, but it's Cadillac.
10:32And there's the 59.
10:33That's not a whole car.
10:35That's just a part of a 59.
10:36Yeah, well, it's the most important part.
10:38It's the back part.
10:38So you don't have cars.
10:39You've got pieces of cars in the field.
10:41Yeah, yeah.
10:42You're killing them.
10:43They're valuable.
10:44You've got to be able to do something with them.
10:45The Cadillac has always been the epitome of luxury and style in an American car.
10:50And the 59 Coupe de Ville is by far the coolest car that they made.
10:55One of the best things about the 59 Cadillacs was their tail fins, the biggest fins the Cadillac
11:01ever put on a car.
11:02They did that because this was the height of the space race, and they wanted these things
11:05to look like rocket tail fins, which is what they called them.
11:08These things aren't attached to a car anymore, so we need to get creative and do something
11:12with them to save them rather than put them into a scrapyard.
11:14Well, that one's kind of still together.
11:16You could maybe put like a fish tank in it, line the walls.
11:19No, we can't do a fish tank.
11:21I was thinking a big beer cooler, maybe.
11:23Yeah, you could do that.
11:24How about gardening?
11:25You could put some flowers in it, make a flower bed.
11:27No, that's how it is now in the backyard.
11:29Yeah.
11:30You could make a sculpture for the front yard.
11:32Yeah, I don't think my neighbors would appreciate it.
11:33They wouldn't like rotted cars sticking out of the ground?
11:35No, no.
11:36Well, you're building a new dream garage.
11:38Right?
11:40Why don't we take that thing and make a couch?
11:42I mean, you already got the back of the Cadillac.
11:44That's how people make Cadillac couches, right?
11:46Mm-hmm.
11:46The problem with these Cadillac couches is that they're small.
11:49Everybody does them look like a love seat, and they all look the same.
11:52You need something bigger.
11:53You've got a dream garage.
11:54You're going to have buddies over.
11:55You're going to want everybody to be able to sit on the sofa, watch TV.
11:58It's going to be freaking cool, man.
11:59You think you can do it?
12:00I know we can do it.
12:02Sounds good.
12:1159 is growing moss.
12:14What's up, gentlemen?
12:16How do you like Phil's Cadillacs?
12:19Beautiful.
12:19I just picked up the pieces for Phil's Cadillac couch project.
12:23We've got a 53 and a 59 Coupe de Ville.
12:25They're important pieces of the cars, and we're going to bring these things back to life,
12:29combine the two cars, and make an awesome piece of furniture.
12:32Cadillac invented the tail fin.
12:34Then in 58, Chrysler made big, huge fins, so Cadillac had to outdo them in 59 and made
12:40the tallest fin yet.
12:41They also put the twin jet pod taillight in, and this was the P38 fighter look from World
12:48War II.
12:49Coolest look ever in a back of a car.
12:51But it's not going to go anyplace.
12:54It's going to go in Phil's living room.
12:57Yeah.
12:57Okay.
12:58It's an awesome couch.
12:59Somebody obviously already cut the back end of this 59 up like they were going to do a
13:03couch, but that's been done way too many times.
13:05People have been making custom car couches forever, but everyone does the exact same design
13:10where you sit in the trunk, and it's like a typical love seat.
13:13We're not going to do that.
13:14We're going to break the mold, and we're going to make a piece of art that's one of a kind,
13:17and when this thing is all said and done, it's going to make a statement.
13:20So what I want to do, I'm thinking we cut both fins right off, right?
13:24And then cut them off to use them, bring them together around the back at a point.
13:29We'll make them the back of the couch, and now we've got a big sofa, and then we'll
13:33have those 54 fenders as armrests.
13:36Oh, I got it.
13:37First thing we need to do is get it to sitting off the trailer and start cutting it apart
13:40with some torches.
13:41You can't go back once you start.
13:43Let's make it happen.
13:47Get her started.
14:13Oh, yeah.
14:15Your seats are a little tall.
14:16Well, yeah, the whole couch has got to raise up a little bit.
14:20Yeah, definitely.
14:20Pete, I think we need to leave these for armrests.
14:23What do you think, Jimmy?
14:24You end up with a double love seat.
14:25Or we could cut this out and have this be like the odd man out chair.
14:30Go to the drawing board.
14:32We'll take some pictures of it and actually get this thing edited out.
14:36Get an idea of some directions here.
14:38All right.
14:39Cool.
14:39Come on, Wiley.
14:40Come on, boy.
14:54It's all hands on deck with Dave's 63 and a half Ford Galaxy.
14:58We're having to replace floorboards, door jams.
15:01There's a lot of stuff that we have to fabricate by hand, which is making it pretty tough.
15:06Mitchell and I, we're working on replacing whatever sheet metal we have to.
15:10I got Kurt straightening out the bumper and getting rid of all the rust and everything else
15:14wrong with it.
15:15This thing is in such rough shape.
15:17To keep it from sucking up all of our resources, all we can really do right now is just keep
15:22hammering away on it.
15:28These old bumpers, they're all real thick steel.
15:30I'm going to get this all broken down.
15:44You know, it's got some dents.
15:48It appears that we're twisted a little bit, so that means it took a hit.
15:54This bumper is really twisted.
15:56It's probably seen a ton of fender benders over the course of its life.
15:59You can't really use machines to straighten this thing out.
16:02You've got to do it by hand.
16:04You've got to massage these things.
16:05Use finesse and keep looking at it.
16:08Try and find those lines and those angles.
16:14All right, I can send it out to get acid dip, get all the rust and chrome off, and when
16:20I get it back, I can get it fit up to the car.
16:29Oh, man.
16:32I was hoping that wasn't going to happen.
16:39Oh, yeah.
16:45I've got to get this motor torn down, and the first thing I've got to do is get the
16:49cylinders off.
16:51God, I wish he had the right heads.
16:53The super rare 1940 Harley-Davidson's WLD is the diamond in the rough in Jerry's estate
16:58basket case bike.
17:00Unfortunately, only the bottom half of the engine is WLD.
17:03The upper half, WLA.
17:05Not nearly as rare.
17:07They made over 60,000 of those.
17:13Oh, look at that.
17:15I think I have everything in house to build Jerry's 40 WLD, except for the rare cylinders.
17:20Now, I have a friend of mine who has a set, and he said for the right price he would
17:24ship
17:24them.
17:24And while I'm waiting for them, I'm going to separate Jerry's improper top end from the
17:29bottom end, making sure that bottom end's in good shape.
17:34And that's not in great shape.
17:36Loose connecting rods are the kiss of death on an engine.
17:39If your rods are loose, it's going to knock, it's going to bang, and you're not going very
17:42far.
17:43It'll never sound right.
17:44It'll never run right, and it'll blow up right away.
17:46I've got to take this whole thing apart.
17:49First, I've got to take the pistons off.
17:55Piston one.
17:59Piston two.
18:01This thing's going to have to be stripped down to every little part.
18:04Clean, blasted, replace the rods, true the crankshaft, reassemble it.
18:10It's going to be a long road.
18:19Going in.
18:21When I rebuilt the engine on the WLD, John is preparing the body parts in the sandblaster
18:26for paint.
18:27Some of the best pieces in Jerry's pile are the tanks.
18:30The right tank is an oil tank, the left tank is a fuel tank, and they're very identifiable
18:35to a 40 WLD.
18:36When gas sits in the fuel tank too long, it causes oxidation and rust.
18:41We hope that's not the case on Jerry's tanks.
18:44Oh, man.
18:49I was hoping that wasn't going to happen.
18:53What I just found on here when I was sandblasting is a patch of lead, which was used in the
18:58old
18:58days as a body filler right there.
19:00We can't leave that on.
19:02It's a real nuisance because it'll shrink.
19:03So how we fix this is I take it over, I got a torch, I heat it up, I get
19:07it hot enough
19:08where it's molten, it slides off.
19:10I put it up behind with a sandblaster, then we fix it with a more modern plastic-based
19:14body putty.
19:15Get it ready for the painter, they'll prime over it, and off we go.
19:18So off to the torch chamber.
19:20Lead is not the greatest thing to breathe.
19:22Got the respirator.
19:24Lead was the common filler back in the day.
19:26It was soft and pliable and easy to use.
19:29But over time, people figured out, not only is it poisonous, but it shrinks after long
19:34periods of time.
19:35And nowadays, plastic fillers are used.
19:37That's what John is doing to get these tanks back in shape.
19:55You can see there was about a quarter of an inch of lead in the middle.
19:59There's the old lead right there.
20:00You can see how much it was on.
20:01It was a pretty good chunk.
20:03I'll sandblast to get that ready for a more modern plastic-based body putty.
20:19Over the past few weeks, we've been working really hard to transform Phil's 59 and 53
20:24Coupe de Ville's into an awesome piece of art.
20:27One of the very important finishing touches is going to be the trim work on the back side
20:31of it.
20:31We brought both of these quarter panels together, and we need some Cadillac trim molding to connect
20:36them.
20:36We got this side panel trim off of an old Cadillac at a classic car junkyard.
20:41So Marty's cutting and welding these pieces to fit, and we're going to hand polish them,
20:45and it's going to look like it was meant to be.
20:47There are clips underneath here that set down the twist, and this actually locks.
20:52They're about every six or eight inches.
20:55And snap right in place.
21:18The icing on the cake for this Cadillac couch project is going to be the hand pinstriping.
21:22And I'm going to have my buddy Howie, who's one of the best in the business, lay it all
21:26out for us.
21:27But he's not going to do just any old pinstriping on this couch.
21:30He's going to lay down 23-karat hand-spun and variegated gold leaf pinstriping.
21:35The whole thing will take him a few days to finish, but in the end, it'll definitely be worth it.
21:39I can guarantee you that Phil has never seen anything like this.
21:42Gold leaf 101.
21:44The varnish is the glue that holds the leaf on.
21:48I'm careful where I put it down.
21:53You can almost paint with the leaf.
21:56Right.
21:58And break off the excess.
22:03Some people do this with the heel in their hand.
22:06Right.
22:06And I found it's better to tap it.
22:10And now you've got your gold, now you've got your gold.
22:13Awesome.
22:16Want to check that light, Marty?
22:18Anything?
22:19Nothing, nothing, nothing.
22:20Yeah, Phil's here.
22:21He's waiting out front.
22:22We don't have much time left.
22:23Hold on.
22:24What about now?
22:25Nope.
22:31Hey, Bodie.
22:32Yeah?
22:33Dave's here with the hood.
22:35Oh, cool.
22:35We've made some really good progress on the 63 and a half Ford Galaxy.
22:39My client Dave wants to talk about some ideas on what he wants to do with the hood, the hood
22:43scoop,
22:44and how we're going to still keep this big, giant 427 V8 fitting underneath of it.
22:49I want to keep the whole car all steel.
22:51Okay.
22:51I want a nice metal scaled down replica of the big fiberglass teardrop.
22:57All right, so same look, just kind of scaled down.
23:00Exactly.
23:00All right.
23:01Perfect.
23:01We'll buy an actual fiberglass scoop.
23:04You want to use it as a template to scale down?
23:06Yeah.
23:06On top of all the countless hours we've already spent on the car, repairing floorboards, tons
23:12of metal work, Dave throws in something new.
23:15He wants this hood scoop.
23:16Originally, they're fiberglass.
23:18They're huge.
23:18They stick up.
23:19He doesn't want that.
23:21He wants us to scale it down, and he wants us to build it out of steel.
23:25I'm going to tell you, though, it's a lot of time, a lot of labor, a lot of work.
23:28Well, you know, I don't have a problem with it at all.
23:30All right.
23:30I just want this thing to look .
23:33We can do that.
23:34We've got so many hours on this car.
23:36I've had to pull my guys from other jobs.
23:39It's killing me.
23:40I want to just see this thing done and out of here.
23:43Thank you, Ben.
23:44All right.
23:44I'm looking forward to it.
23:45All right.
23:45Okay.
23:51Okay.
23:53Making a custom teardrop-shaped metal hood scoop is not an easy task.
23:59This takes a lot of skill, patience, time, a keen eye.
24:04That's what's going to separate this galaxy from any other, and it's going to make it one
24:09in a million.
24:09So I just got this Thunderbolt hood scoop.
24:12Now we're going to duplicate it.
24:14So my game plan now is to make an outline of the basic shape, and I will make myself
24:22a template, and put it on a nice big sheet of 18-gauge sheet metal.
24:28Mitchell's switching out the dies on the bender, and that's going to put a curve on this.
24:32So what it's going to look like after we run it through the bead roller is it's going to
24:36look like a big stamp caiman to chunk stamp this thing out.
24:41We'll make some pieces that'll run across to where I can start filling it in.
24:45You want to go ahead and start on those?
24:47Sure.
24:48And I'll cut this out.
24:57So right now I'm cutting out all the excess material with my hand shear.
25:02I got the template I want.
25:04I got the curve I want.
25:06So this will leave a nice, clean line that's easy to work with.
25:15Hopefully Mitchell's done making our little templates that run across here so we can start
25:21setting it on the hood and taking a look at heights.
25:25Oh man, those are going to work perfect, dude.
25:28Why don't we tack these in, and then we can kind of start shaving these down to fit the
25:32contour of the hood.
25:40Let's take a look.
25:47We're going to have to come down, we're going to have to grind, we're going to have to cut.
25:50We'll just start following the contour of the hood.
25:53The end is finally in sight.
25:55I'm almost done with all the metalwork on the hood scoop.
25:57We're getting ready to send it out to body and paint.
26:00I'm really liking what I'm seeing.
26:02I like that.
26:03I like the direction it's heading.
26:15This right here is the most dangerous piece to put on, so let's try not to scratch the
26:19paint.
26:20Just line those up as you go, Joe.
26:22Yep.
26:23We're just about finished with our Cadillac couch project.
26:26We took rusted out Coupe de Ville parts that Phil had sitting in his field, and we turned
26:30it into a beautiful piece of art.
26:31I'm going to wire her up.
26:32I want the headlights to work on this thing, and the taillights too.
26:36It's not really rocket science, but we're converting 12-volt lights into a 110 power
26:41source.
26:41Phil's waiting for this couch, and I know he's really excited for it, so we've got to
26:44get it wrapped up so he can see this thing.
26:46Want to check that light, Marty?
26:48Checking.
26:48Ready?
26:49Anything?
26:51Nothing, nothing, nothing.
26:52Nothing?
26:53Hold on.
26:55What about now?
26:56Nope.
26:57Guys, Phil's here.
26:58He's waiting out front.
26:59We don't have much time left.
27:02I've got all the positives.
27:04Ready?
27:05Yes.
27:05Work.
27:06Tail lights.
27:08Good.
27:09All right, we're good over there.
27:10Both lights are going.
27:11Nice job, Joey.
27:13That looks great, guys.
27:14You guys get the cushion, and I'm going to grab Phil and show him his couch.
27:17Nothing like last minute.
27:19Nice job, gentlemen.
27:20Show us.
27:25What's going on, Phil?
27:26Hi, Steve.
27:27Good to see you.
27:28How you doing?
27:29Doing great.
27:30Remember the piles of sheet metal?
27:31Yep.
27:32Wait till you see what we've turned them into.
27:34You're not going to believe it.
27:36Check it out.
27:37Wow, look at that.
27:40A little different than what you brought us here, isn't it?
27:42Look at that.
27:43It's huge.
27:45Unbelievable.
27:45Pretty beautiful, right?
27:47Wow.
27:48Wait a second, Phil.
27:49Check this out, man.
27:50I'm not done looking.
27:52Well, guess what?
27:52You haven't seen nothing yet.
27:55Oh, look at that.
27:57We wanted it to be different than any other couch that you've ever seen.
28:01I love the chrome.
28:02Look at these.
28:03Isn't that nice?
28:03Beautiful.
28:04Beautiful.
28:05Phil, let me tell you everything that we did on it.
28:07We started with the rusted up pieces of cars.
28:10But we wanted this thing to take over the entire room, so it needed to be big.
28:15So we cut the car in half, put the 59 quarters together, so the fins made that V in the
28:21back
28:21with Cadillac V. Off of that, we took the 54 fenders, we TIG-walled them into the 59 back
28:28end, we got that molded in, and we did all the body work on this thing. We got it looking
28:32perfect, straight as an arrow. There's your 59 Caddy taillights, Phil.
28:37The best taillights ever made for a Cadillac.
28:39Ever.
28:40You got your working headlights.
28:42It's a work of art. The chrome is perfect.
28:44It's all triple-plated chrome all the way around the couch.
28:47You guys did a great job. My favorite color, red.
28:51Exactly. I had to do the dark red upholstery, because that matched the candy apple red that
28:56we faded through all the paint work.
28:57This paint is phenomenal.
28:59Yep, this is all tricoat custom colors that we made. I mean, they're one-of-a-kind colors.
29:04I put their candy apple red fade all around the whole thing to just make the couch glow,
29:08and bring that red and tie it in with the upholstery. It really came together awesome.
29:12Pinstripes, look at this.
29:13Yeah, this is all gold leaf pinstriping.
29:16Wow.
29:16It actually took us four days just to do the pinstripe work.
29:20So, it is beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.
29:24A couch this awesome deserved a name.
29:27It was a Coupe de Ville, so we decided to name this the Couch de Ville.
29:32I think we should sit down and test this thing out, don't you? Let's try it.
29:39What do you think, buddy?
29:40Very comfortable.
29:41Pretty cool, right?
29:42It's like sitting in a brand new Cadillac.
29:44Want to load it up? Get it to your place?
29:46Let's do it. You did a great job.
29:47I'm glad you like it.
29:49I don't like it. I love it.
29:50Good.
29:51I'm just so excited. I can't stop looking at it.
29:53Me too.
29:53It's going to be real sad to have this thing leave the shop.
29:56You can come and visit.
30:05Oh, man. Oh, yeah. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man.
30:14A crankshaft must run true, so when the pistons are going down, the flywheels can't waver.
30:20I'm in the midst of rebuilding the lower end on Jerry's 1940 WLD.
30:24What I'm doing right now is showing the crankshaft to Harley-Davidson's factory specs.
30:29Harley-Davidson was insistent that the crankshaft tolerance was less than two thousandths of an inch.
30:34I had to tear down the engine to replace these little babies.
30:37I've got them installed in the flywheels, and if I spin these and they line up, we're going to be
30:42in great shape.
30:43So the big task is, are they true, and how good am I?
30:51Oh, look at that.
30:53Hey, Dale.
30:55Hey, how you doing, man?
30:55I got your cylinder rebuild kit complete right here, buddy.
30:59Check it out.
31:00Oh, look at that.
31:00All your parts. Well, you enjoy them. I get to get back to work.
31:03Okay, man.
31:03Carry on, buddy.
31:05Whoa.
31:05Jerry's estate sale WLD was kind of a mismatch.
31:09The bottom half correct, the top end incorrect.
31:12But I knew just where to get the correct WLD top end,
31:15and all of these new old stock parts now give me the complete package to finish this engine,
31:21making the bike much more valuable.
31:23New old stock is the best you can get.
31:25It's not like buying remade parts.
31:27This was made in the factory, probably by the Rosie the Riveter.
31:30Every time I open a box like this, I get goosebumps.
31:33Look at this thing. It's never been opened.
31:35Brand new, 1942, heart number.
31:38So this should be a valve.
31:40And that sucker is brand new, made in 1942.
31:45And let's see how it fits.
31:48Perfect.
31:49Now all I've got to do is put it all together.
32:03Dave's on his way to pick up the 1963 and a half Ford Galaxy,
32:06which has come a million miles,
32:09thanks to the hard work and dedication of my guys.
32:12Kirk and Mitchell did an awesome job on straightening up the body,
32:15doing all the metal work.
32:16Alex and the guys did a tremendous job on the paint.
32:20They got the Viper Red laid down.
32:21We sourced out the 427 and we got that installed.
32:25This thing is amazing.
32:26I just need to get the seats in, a couple finishing touches,
32:29and then Bodhi can take this machine out for a test drive.
32:41The best part about bringing a vehicle like this back from the brink of extinction
32:46is knowing that you've created something
32:48that not too many people out there could pull off.
32:51I truly believe that Dave is going to love his new 1963 and a half Ford Galaxy.
33:05Oh my God, do you hear that thing?
33:07Oh man, man.
33:09Oh yeah.
33:11Wow.
33:12Man, oh man, oh man.
33:15Woohoo!
33:16Yeah!
33:21Oh man, I can't believe this little...
33:25God!
33:26Yeah, it came out good, huh?
33:28Oh, it turned out good.
33:29This thing turned out way beyond my expectations.
33:31This build was a challenge.
33:32It was a serious challenge, man.
33:34I didn't realize how bad it was until I brought the guys out to look at it
33:38and we actually started going through it and looking at it.
33:40There's not one square inch of this car we did not touch.
33:46Did the hood scoop like you wanted?
33:48This is what I saw.
33:49This was my vision.
33:50All I did was basically scale down the big giant fiberglass one
33:53so that you could see over the hood when you're driving.
33:55The hood's all steel, no fiberglass.
33:58Everything flows so perfectly.
34:00Now, did we tuck the bumpers in?
34:02Tuck the bumpers in a little bit.
34:03They were in really, really bad shape.
34:05Oh yeah.
34:05So we hammered them, straightened them.
34:07We welded up all the bolt holes so it's kind of seamless.
34:10Man, the wheel with a small cap combination, that just sets it, man.
34:15I mean, this is what this car looks like factory.
34:17Yeah, I mean, just...
34:17But it hauls...
34:19Check out the interior.
34:22Oh, man.
34:24Everything's really subtle, nice.
34:25But embellished.
34:26Yeah.
34:27This is just too nice.
34:29Let me show you under the hood.
34:30Perfect.
34:32The crazy thing about this car, it is a real R-Code car.
34:36Yeah.
34:37So we thought nothing better than to throw a 427 sock motor in this thing.
34:42A buddy of mine had this.
34:43This is a very rare motor and it runs awesome.
34:46It's doing about 750 to 800 horsepower.
34:49I want a tire burner and this is going to definitely do it.
34:51Oh, it definitely burns the tires.
34:53It floors me.
34:54It's just tremendous.
34:55Your reaction says it all.
34:57It means a lot to have a completed project and to see you drive away in it.
35:02Yeah.
35:03That's the best feeling in the world.
35:04I can't wait to drive away in it either.
35:07Hop in.
35:08Let's do it.
35:10Wow.
35:11All right.
35:16When you first drive this car up, the rep and rumble, you just know there's horsepower to the hood there.
35:24I got down the road and punched it.
35:26It wanted to come sideways on me.
35:28It was just like, get ready.
35:30It's coming.
35:32This is retirement at its best.
35:35You dream and you work and you strive.
35:37And now the fruition of all your labor has come true.
35:40It's like, thank you.
35:42I'm glad I did it.
35:47What's that noise?
35:49What?
35:49Oh, that's the neighbors are cutting the grass.
35:54Unbelievable.
35:55Wow.
35:56Oh, ho.
36:10I was so close.
36:12Jerry's 1940 WLD is starting to look like a motorcycle from that basket case of a bike he brought in
36:18his car.
36:18And it better get together soon.
36:20He's going to be here tomorrow and he's expecting a running WLD.
36:24John is assembling the Springer fork assembly.
36:26It was Harley-Davidson's trademark fork, smooth and reliable.
36:30But it's a dangerous job.
36:32The spring can pop and the bolt will fly.
36:34Springer front end is called that because of this assembly of springs that allowed the two segments, the front half
36:42and the back half,
36:43to work separately from each other and to keep it kind of in balance.
36:47But it got its name, obviously, from the excessive amount of springs on this front end.
36:51It's just a really, really good-looking, pretty piece of machinery on the front end of a motorcycle.
36:56Now, in a perfect world, I take the tension off of this and the Springer stays the way it's supposed
37:02to.
37:02I got the saddle.
37:04Oh, man, that is beautiful.
37:06Here, hold the back of that.
37:07I got the nose.
37:09Jerry didn't have the rare 1940 racing saddle in his pile of parts, but he had an equally as rare
37:141942 Harley-Davidson muffler.
37:17However, we made a trade.
37:19We do good work, don't we?
37:20Yeah, but here's where we're at.
37:21They're on the way right now.
37:23We got 14 hours.
37:24We got some work to do.
37:25Let's get this fork put in here.
37:26Just slide it in.
37:28How many turns?
37:29Let me guess.
37:29Oh, about 100.
37:30Don't let that thing down.
37:31We're good.
37:32If a bearing falls out, then we got to take it all back apart again.
37:3899, 100.
37:39That is beautiful.
37:41Hey, check out the tank.
37:43Hold that frame.
37:44On, see, go.
37:45Right there, buddy.
37:47There it is.
37:48Front wheel on.
37:50There we go, man.
37:51There you go.
37:52Okay, right there you go.
37:54Got it.
37:55Hang on.
37:55Let me see if she spins.
37:57Perfect.
37:58Okay, take her down.
38:06I bet you would be Rosie and Jerry.
38:09Yes, you got it.
38:10Nice to meet you both.
38:11I'm John.
38:12Miss me, Jim.
38:13Less than two months ago, Jerry and Rosie brought me boxes of parts they bought at an estate sale for
38:17$500.
38:18They had no idea what they had, and today they're about to find the fruits of their investment.
38:24One restored 1940 WLD racing machine in perfect running condition.
38:32What's that noise?
38:33What?
38:34Oh, that's the neighbors are cutting their grass.
38:38Unbelievable.
38:40Oh, wow.
38:42What the heck?
38:43What's that?
38:44Is that it?
38:49Wow.
38:50Wow.
38:51Yeah.
38:52Oh, man.
38:53How do you like your scooter?
38:53Are you kidding me?
38:55Are you kidding me?
38:55Oh, my God.
38:58I can't believe it.
38:58What do you think of that?
38:59Unbelievable, man.
39:01That's that box of parts you brought us.
39:02Unbelievable.
39:03This is a 1940 WLDR racing bike.
39:06And this is as true blue as you're going to find.
39:09Check out the handlebars.
39:10These are some one-of-a-kind double-stack racing bars, double rubber mounted.
39:15That's your old fork.
39:16That old crummy looking thing with the chrome headlight on it.
39:19Unbelievable.
39:20Yeah.
39:20Look at the tank.
39:221940 tanks.
39:23And you see the stripe right here?
39:25Look in the book.
39:27One year only, 1940.
39:29How do you like your saddle?
39:30Love it.
39:31I traded your one-of-a-kind Army new muffler for the saddle.
39:35That's your rear fender.
39:37John welded 17 holes up.
39:40Unbelievable.
39:40I can't believe it's the same bike.
39:42Every part of this bike has been touched with our human hands at least a dozen times a piece.
39:48So if there's 2,000 parts and we've touched them 24 times, do the math.
39:52And what comes out?
39:53Lots of love right here.
39:55Unbelievable.
39:56The work that they did on this bike was world class.
39:59I mean, I keep saying unbelievable, but I don't know what else to say.
40:03It just describes the work as unbelievable.
40:07I know it.
40:09You want to hear the good news?
40:10John and I, the first day, were unpacking all of this stuff.
40:13John said, what are these?
40:15He had a pair of 1936 Harley-Davidson knucklehead dashboards that are worth a couple thousand apiece.
40:22Guess what your bill is?
40:24$14,000.
40:27Are you serious?
40:29When John reached in that box and pulled that thing up, I was going, where did you get that?
40:34He goes, it was in the box.
40:35Unbelievable.
40:36Unbelievable.
40:37This is the kind of project I love.
40:39Plenty of leftover parts for Dale, and I get to save Jerry $4,000 below the estimate that I gave
40:45him.
40:45Making his bike worth 40 times when he paid for it at the estate sale.
40:50This is a dream come true.
40:51There it is.
40:53Ah.
40:53Oh, wow.
40:54It's like sitting on a Lazy Boy at home, isn't it?
40:56It's like a glove.
40:57It's like a glove.
40:58It's like a glove.
40:58It's like a glove.
40:58It's like a glove.
40:58It's like a glove.
40:58It's like a glove.
40:58It's like a glove.
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