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American Restoration
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00:03Up next on American Restoration.
00:07A customer wants me to check out a really old Japanese bicycle.
00:11What about parts?
00:12Uh, that's a good question.
00:14Where the hell are we going to find brakes like this?
00:16Japan.
00:17A customer wants to try his luck and do some picking in the boneyard.
00:20This is like the Coke machine area.
00:21I have a Coke machine already though.
00:23Ooh, what's that?
00:24This thing's cool.
00:26I need some money.
00:26For what?
00:27For a barbecue.
00:28How much you need?
00:29Thanks.
00:30This better be the best darn barbecue in Vegas.
00:34Remember back in the day when things were made by hand and people took pride in their work?
00:40My name's Rick Dale and I bring these things back to life.
00:45Every restoration has its own set of challenges.
00:49There's no owner's manual for what we do, but there's no job we can't handle.
01:08Earlier, I got a call from a customer that wants me to check out a really old bicycle.
01:13These things can be very valuable, so I can't wait to see what he's got.
01:17Hey, how are you doing?
01:19Very good.
01:20You Rick?
01:20Yes, I'm Rick.
01:21How are you?
01:22Clayton.
01:22Clayton?
01:22Good to meet you.
01:23You're the one that called about the bike?
01:24Yeah.
01:24I came down today to Rick's restoration to have him take a look at a vintage Marushi bicycle
01:30that I have.
01:32See if he could possibly restore it for me.
01:34So, tell me about this bike.
01:36This is cool.
01:38Found it in an antique store.
01:40It kind of popped out and said, I'm unique.
01:42I'm something different.
01:43From what I can tell, it's somewhere around the 40s.
01:46It's all straight shaft drive, no cables.
01:48It's a work bike.
01:49You can tell.
01:49They use this for a reason, for a purpose.
01:51It wasn't just something that a kid or a person would get on and just joyride around.
01:55Right.
01:56This thing was a tool.
01:57This Marushi bike was made in Japan right after World War II, when the country was in shambles.
02:03Bicycles and motorcycles were the only reliable way to get around.
02:06So, they became an essential part of everyday life.
02:09What's really unique about this bike is on every piece of metal, there's some kind of embossment.
02:14Right.
02:14I've noticed that even the nuts and bolts has, like, the company logo on each nut and bolt.
02:20That's incredible.
02:22It's got the rear kickstand, you know, like a motorcycle.
02:25It even has a lock.
02:26Oh, yeah?
02:26So, if this went up like this, you lock this down, now it's locked.
02:30Right.
02:30It's locked to where it won't come down.
02:31Right.
02:32Wow.
02:32That's pretty cool.
02:34I like the fact, too, is that the chain guard completely wraps around the chain.
02:38They could literally ride through the rocks, the water, and never have any damage.
02:42The rear brake on it is a drum brake.
02:44Right.
02:44Something different.
02:45Totally.
02:46This bike is designed like a tank.
02:48The frame is solid steel.
02:50There's no cables to fray or break, and the chain is totally protected.
02:54It's built to take just about anything you can throw at it.
02:57So, what are you seeing done with this?
02:59Somebody painted the bike, so I would like to bring it back.
03:02Bring it back to original state, original color.
03:05The real color of the bike was black.
03:08I like the badges.
03:09If you look up front on the badges, I mean, they're almost brand new.
03:12Right.
03:12I know the handlebars were chrome.
03:14Right.
03:14And it looks like the brake levers and maybe the rod mechanism were chrome.
03:19Right.
03:19So, bring it back like if you were to go into a store today and buy it.
03:23Okay.
03:25So, how we're gonna start is we'll probably have between six and eight hours tearing it down.
03:30The frame's about the only thing I can sandblast.
03:33It'll go to the body shop, all the fenders and the covers and everything.
03:37I can see there's some dents and stuff, so we'll end up bodying those all out four or five hours
03:41and that.
03:41We'll put the black paint job on it, and then we'll go to assembly.
03:45And with all that said and done, we'll probably ride around 2,500 to do the whole bike.
03:50You know, everything needs to be right on this.
03:52We don't want to do any, no hack job.
03:55The main thing is done right.
03:56That's all there is to it.
03:57Yeah.
03:58Okay.
03:58So, are you good with that?
04:00No problem.
04:01All right.
04:03Thanks for bringing it in.
04:04All the little details in this bike are gonna look amazing once it's restored.
04:08But that also means it's gonna take a lot more work to get it there.
04:21This thing's all bent up.
04:22Let's take a picture of this so we know we didn't do it.
04:26I've worked on a lot of bikes before, but I think this thing was really well built back in the
04:29day.
04:30We want to start cowboy wheels.
04:31I say we attack the front and then just move.
04:34I can't wait to start tearing into this thing and make it look new.
04:37Is that a rivet?
04:38Yep.
04:38It's a Japanese rivet.
04:40We've got to get that nut on.
04:43One tire.
04:45One kickstand.
04:46Where in the hell are we going to find brakes like this?
04:48Japan.
04:50You have to heat that up, man.
04:51I don't want to get too hard.
04:53I don't want to twist that apart.
04:55Sweet.
04:57Ta-da!
05:05Hey, Rick.
05:06Hey.
05:07We have a customer.
05:08It's good to meet you.
05:08He wants to find something in our boneyard.
05:10Sure.
05:11Awesome.
05:12All right.
05:12I've been collecting all sorts of stuff for over 20 years.
05:15Everything Ron and I buy when we're picking usually ends up in the boneyard until we're
05:19ready to restore it or use it for parts.
05:21And every now and then, I get a customer who wants to try his luck and do some picking in
05:25the boneyard.
05:26So what are you looking for, Norman?
05:27Well, I'm looking for something new, something unique for my game room.
05:31Okay.
05:32I'm here at Rick's Restoration because I would like to have something restored, but I don't
05:36know yet what it is.
05:38I'm going to show you some of the stuff we have.
05:39You've got a lot of items.
05:41There's a gynecologist chair.
05:43That's something.
05:44I can't seem to get rid of that.
05:46I wonder why.
05:49There's like the Coke machine area.
05:51There's some ones that hold the small bottles that all you did was put in a nickel.
05:54And they're absolutely beautiful done up.
05:57I have a Coke machine already, though.
05:59Okay.
06:00All right.
06:00Well, here's some cool stuff over here.
06:03Wow.
06:03Look at all the machines.
06:04Yeah.
06:05You know, there's cigarette machines out of the 40s and 50s.
06:07I used to think those were a big deal.
06:09You're not into smoking, are you?
06:10No.
06:11Not yet, sir.
06:12Okay.
06:13All right.
06:13This row over here is candies.
06:16Candies.
06:16Now, that's my favorite.
06:17I mean, these are really cool done up.
06:19You know, they have eight poles on them.
06:21You can put candy bars in them.
06:22Nice.
06:22I got a really cool little candy right there.
06:25Ooh.
06:26What's that?
06:26This is an Adams candy machine.
06:28This guy's actually the pioneer of vending machines.
06:32It held chiclets or the small ones.
06:34It was a penny machine.
06:35When you put the penny in, you pushed it down.
06:37Some of them have little weights in them to hold the candy down.
06:39Oh, sure.
06:40When the World War II came about, the vending machines here were
06:43going out of business.
06:44And then later on after the war, then they picked back up again.
06:47In 1942, the government started rationing metals such as steel and aluminum in order
06:52to make planes and tanks for the war.
06:54So production on things like vending machines came to a screeching halt.
06:58Yeah, I'd be very interested in this piece, Rick.
07:00Yeah?
07:01Yes.
07:01I always wanted a nice gun machine.
07:03Can you make it look beautiful?
07:05Oh, yeah.
07:05Oh, yeah.
07:06Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:07How do you see this being done?
07:09Original.
07:09Yeah, okay.
07:10Okay, so totally original.
07:12Yeah, totally original.
07:12Okay.
07:13And then, of course, we'll chrome the little knobs up like they used to be.
07:16The keys broke off in it.
07:18Okay.
07:18So getting it open is going to be a little bit of a deal.
07:21You know, it's been sitting out.
07:22It needs work, Rick, but I feel that you could handle this, couldn't you?
07:27Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
07:29How much would it cost to restore this normally?
07:32Like anything, I have no clue what's in there.
07:34Right.
07:34I have no clue what's missing because it's not open.
07:37Some sort of stake taking a shot in the dark, you know?
07:40You won't know until you open it.
07:41Right.
07:42I mean, this thing, what did I buy this thing for?
07:43I think about 100 bucks.
07:44So, you know, if I clean it all up and do it all original,
07:48I'm probably going to sell it to you for right around $600.
07:51$600.
07:52Okay.
07:53It's a bit of work.
07:55Yeah.
07:58It's a deal.
07:58All right.
07:59Awesome.
08:00That piece has been out in the desert for a long time,
08:02and it looks like it's very rusted.
08:04I hope he can pull it off and make it look new again.
08:07Let's go inside and hit the road to redemption here.
08:10All right.
08:16Hey, babe.
08:17Hey.
08:18So how did you do?
08:19Did good.
08:19He ended up buying a chiclet's vendor, and, yeah, he wants us to restore it.
08:24That's great.
08:25So what you got there?
08:27Money.
08:28I need some money.
08:29For what?
08:29For a barbecue.
08:30Oh, yeah, that's right.
08:31I forgot.
08:32Every year we do a little family barbecue for the guys, and this year, Kelly wants to organize it.
08:37How much do you need?
08:38How much you got?
08:40How much do you need?
08:42$300.
08:43How about $100?
08:47$200.
08:49I'll take it.
08:50Thanks.
08:51If I negotiated with my customers the same way as I do with Kelly, I'd been out of business 20
08:56years ago.
08:57I'm going to see none of that change, that's for sure.
08:59And for $200, this better be the best darn barbecue in Vegas.
09:13All right.
09:14Earlier, a guy picked out a cool little chiclet gum machine out of the boneyard that he'd like to get
09:19restored.
09:20There's an issue with the lock that we've got to figure out before we start tearing it down.
09:24So I'm going to have Brett Lee take a crack at it.
09:34There's a key stuck in the hole, so I can't get to nothing.
09:38Well, that's not good.
09:40Sometimes with rusted old machines like this, the lock is so messed up, you have to drill it out.
09:44Keep it straight, we want to shoot it right through that lock.
09:46And with Brett Lee doing it, it's easier said than done.
09:50Be careful, those are cowboys drill bits.
09:55Pop that sucker open.
09:56Oh, there it is.
09:58Go ahead and take that glass out.
10:00I don't want to break that.
10:01There you go.
10:03Sweet.
10:04This thing is full of .
10:06Is there any candy in there?
10:11Okay, how are you going to get that nameplate off?
10:13I have no idea.
10:14I think what we need to do is get you a nice small drill bit.
10:17Get those four out, and we should be able to just tap it right out.
10:20Go slowly.
10:29I told you, go slow.
10:38Recently, we got a 1940s Japanese bike that we're going to restore to factory new condition.
10:44We sandblasted all the green paint off the frame, and confirmed that the bike was originally black.
10:48But before we can paint it, Phil has to bang out about 70 years of wear and tear in the
10:54factory.
11:03Kelly's really gung-ho about doing the annual barbecue for the guys.
11:07We usually keep things simple, but it looks like she bought enough food to feed half the Las Vegas strip.
11:16What's going on?
11:17What's going on?
11:17Well, this is all this stuff for the barbecue.
11:18But I just wanted to do, like, you know, burgers and beer, just like a normal, you know, an average...
11:24Well, we are doing burgers and beer.
11:26These are veggie burgers.
11:27These aren't real burgers.
11:29These are something somebody made up, and they call them burgers.
11:32These are burgers.
11:34None of my guys are going to eat that crap.
11:35They're not going to know the difference.
11:36We're going to put some cheese on it.
11:38It'll be fine.
11:39You make sure that we have some burgers and beer at this barbecue, all right?
11:46Por favor.
11:47So you want me to go out and spend more money?
11:48It wouldn't hurt my feelings if you took some of it back and exchanged it for the real crap.
11:53Really?
11:53I don't want to hurt Kelly's feelings, but I got bigger health issues to consider.
11:58Because if any of my guys got to eat a veggie burger with low-fat cheese, I'm dead on the
12:02spot.
12:02Try to get some real meat and some beer.
12:05Light beer.
12:05I mean, look at this body here.
12:06Does it look like I need light beer?
12:08Okay.
12:09Light beer, babe.
12:20Everybody's been chipping in to keep this 1940s Japanese bicycle on track.
12:24Ted did an amazing job molding new pedals from the old ones, complete with the original logos.
12:30And the seat was totally torn up, so I had it re-cushioned and re-upholstered in black leather.
12:37Unfortunately, we couldn't find the kangaroo ornament that mounts on the front fender.
12:41So Tyler's going to help Ted make one from scratch.
12:45What's up, Ted?
12:46My dad wanted me to come tell you.
12:48He wanted me to learn something.
12:49Tell you what, I'm getting kind of tired of doing this anyway.
12:52The Marushi mascot is a kangaroo, and they have this fancy thing on the front fender that kind
12:57of looks like a Rolls-Royce hood ornament.
12:59And we're trying to recreate that by carving it out of a chunk of aluminum.
13:02It's all yours?
13:03What am I supposed to do?
13:04Close your eyes and picture what a kangaroo looks like.
13:07Compare that picture of the kangaroo in your mind to what you're holding in your hand, and
13:11you can't go wrong.
13:12You'd be surprised how well that works.
13:14For the record, I've never carved anything before, so I'm thinking the odds of total failure
13:19are very much in my favor.
13:21Turn it on.
13:22All right?
13:23A little dip in there.
13:25Good enough.
13:26Hold it firmly.
13:27Let the tool do the work.
13:29If you bear down on it, that's when it's going to skip.
13:32There you go.
13:39You're one of those people that make spaces when you're concentrating and doing something.
14:02One down, a hundred to go.
14:05For such a small item, this chiclet machine has become a big pain in the butt.
14:10Back in 1942, they actually made the chiclet boxes a little bit smaller.
14:14So the ones you get today just don't fit in this machine.
14:18So Ted saved the day by making 100 tiny chiclet boxes by hand, each with matching artwork from
14:25that time period.
14:27But we can't just stick empty boxes in there.
14:29So Brett Lee's filling all 100 boxes that we made with chiclets that we got from the store.
14:35Man, this is going to take forever.
14:37Why am I always the guy who has to do the boring jobs?
14:49Who's this?
14:50I don't know.
14:53How you doing?
14:54How's Elon?
14:55Good.
14:56I'm here to see Rick.
14:57Have you seen him around?
14:58Oh, I saw him on the boatyard earlier.
15:00All right.
15:00The boatyard?
15:00All right.
15:01I'll take you this way.
15:02Great.
15:02I'm here at Rick's to pick up my chiclet candy machine.
15:05Yeah, he's right over there by the sink, I think.
15:07Great.
15:08Thank you, Tyler.
15:08Yeah, no problem.
15:09I'm chomping at the bit to see what it'll turn out to be.
15:13There he is.
15:14Good to see you, sir.
15:15Good to see you.
15:16All right.
15:17Good to see you just out here rummaging.
15:19You here to pick out something else?
15:21No, I want to see that gum machine that you did for me.
15:24Oh.
15:24I've been actually looking for it.
15:26Looking for it?
15:27Yeah.
15:28It's not ready?
15:30You know, I was looking for it back there.
15:32You lost it, huh?
15:33Look at that one there.
15:34Okay.
15:36Dang.
15:37She's a bunch of rest.
15:38Let's see if this is in here.
15:39Okay.
15:40Nope, it's not in there.
15:41Why don't you look in that one?
15:42Okay.
15:45Oh, man.
15:47You scored.
15:48Looks like you scored.
15:49Oh, this is beautiful.
15:52That is gorgeous.
15:54You like it?
15:54I love it.
15:55I love the colors, the polish on it.
15:58It's vibrant.
15:59It's going to look so great in my game.
16:03I saw it before, and I see it now.
16:06Tell me exactly, what did you do to it?
16:08Well, I mean, it's like anything.
16:09We have to tear it apart to come down to what's missing, what's going on, how it works and all
16:13stuff.
16:13In order to get the finish like this, this really smooth finish on anything, there's a lot of
16:18work.
16:18It's not like you can just slap a coat of primer on there, shoot it with paint, and there you
16:23go.
16:23There's a lot of sanding involved.
16:25Get that real, real nice coat of paint on there.
16:28You know, remember when you got it?
16:30It was really, really faded on the front, and the paint was just gone, right?
16:33It was sort of a tan, brown looking stuff.
16:35This is the original powder blue on the front with the maroon sides, and they had this Adams
16:41decal on every one of them.
16:42And that's how it looked, and it came out really nice.
16:48You know, the inside of it, some of this is stainless, some of it's straight steel.
16:51The steel got shot with a stuff called cast paint, so to give it that cast paint look
16:56again, you know?
16:57And then all the stainless stuff got all polished.
16:58These are aluminum stoppers.
17:00Those are the weights that hold the gum down and keep pushing it down.
17:03Awesome shot.
17:04I'm pretty happy with it, too.
17:05I really like the way it turned out.
17:09Rick, it looks great.
17:10I'm chopping at the bit.
17:12Do you have a piece of gum for it?
17:14You want to see if it works?
17:16Yeah, I'd like to try it.
17:17Okay, well, here we go.
17:18Here's a penny.
17:19All right.
17:23And then there's your gum right there.
17:25All right.
17:26Try it out.
17:26Woo!
17:27Yeah.
17:30Excellent job.
17:31Thank you, Rick.
17:32You did a sweet job.
17:33Sweet!
17:35Thank you, Rick.
17:36All right.
17:36You bet.
17:37You bet.
17:37I was thoroughly impressed with the machine.
17:40Rick does such a good job.
17:41He's one of the best.
17:42He really is.
17:56It's been a lot of work, but we're finally in the last stage of the Marushi bike restoration.
18:01And it's still coming together piece by piece.
18:04The customer's on his way down.
18:06I sure hope everything's tip-top before he gets here.
18:09This thing is badass.
18:17How's it going, buddy?
18:18Pretty good.
18:19You good?
18:19Good.
18:20I came down to Rick's restoration today to pick up my Marushi bicycle.
18:24You're the Marushi guy.
18:25Rick!
18:26The Marushi guy's here!
18:38Awesome.
18:41It's just awesome to watch him ride that bike out.
18:43I mean, it just totally blew me away.
18:45It just stands right out and says, look at me.
18:50What do you think?
18:50It's what I was hoping for, something that came off a showroom floor.
18:54Right.
18:54Just like you go down and buy it at a bike store.
18:56It was one Japanese nightmare.
18:58It had so much paint on it, you didn't even know what was there.
19:01You know, they kept covering it with the green, and as you were tearing it apart, it was like
19:04hidden little secrets on it.
19:06At least you got all the paint out of the emblem.
19:08Yeah.
19:08Yeah, all the emblems.
19:10It wasn't just like a normal bike.
19:11Yeah.
19:12It's very ornate.
19:13You know, they went to extra detail on this thing, you know?
19:16It's like these pedals.
19:17You know, they were stamped with their name in it like that.
19:20So we made them out of a composite material.
19:22I was dumbfounded.
19:23That's how good a job they came out of.
19:25I mean, they look original in there.
19:26So what's in the box?
19:28What's the deal in the box?
19:29Well, I was just showing you that, you know, it was a carrier, you know?
19:33He'd be hauling something.
19:35He did a very good job, and he superseded my expectations of what I was thinking it was going to
19:39look like.
19:41The hardest part on this whole restoration is parts, you know?
19:44It came in probably 90%, but that 10% was the worst.
19:50I mean, I'd much rather have the 10% in my hand right now.
19:54So this kangaroo that was on the front of this, Ted spent hours and hours carving that piece out of
19:59a piece of aluminum, you know?
20:00It would have been nice to find one of those, but that thing's built just like it was.
20:03He just took the picture and went, eh.
20:05The seat came in, so we took it down to the upholsterer, and he stretched that stuff out and made
20:10it look just like, you know, it would have in the day.
20:12Yeah.
20:12A lot of the parts were pitted, beyond pitted, so we had to polish it out so it would look
20:17nice.
20:18Well, looking at it, you know, you've taken something and turned it into, you know, a piece of art.
20:23Yeah.
20:23Thanks.
20:24I mean, you did a really good job, and I appreciate it.
20:26You bet.
20:27You're happy, I'm happy.
20:28Thanks.
20:28All right.
20:28Let's go into the office, and then I'll have somebody help you load that.
20:31I can't wait to ride it this weekend.
20:33I really can't wait.
20:43Come and get it.
20:46The annual barbecue is finally here, and Kelly pulled everybody together for a great time.
20:51I just hope no one realizes we have veggie burgers, otherwise my head's going to end up on the grill.
20:57What is that crap?
20:58Where's the beam?
21:00Well, look at him.
21:01All right.
21:02I wanted to thank everybody, and I wouldn't be able to put out the amazing products that we actually do
21:07without every single one of you.
21:09It's such a pleasure working with y'all, you know?
21:12Please.
21:13Please.
21:14Please.
21:15Please.
21:17Please.
21:18Please.
21:18Please.
21:18Please.