- 16 hours ago
The team get to work reviving a 1960s popcorn machine. Later, they face a big challenge when a client brings in an antique Michelin Man air compressor.
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TVTranscript
00:04up next on American restoration oh man let me see this thing I came down to try to get my
00:11little
00:11Michelin Man compressor restored I need to research it and find out if this is worth thousands or
00:16tens of thousands okay what you guys here to look at like a candy machine this is an old candy
00:22machine something a little bit bigger this piece right here I don't think so my business relies on
00:27being able to make the sale what you got going on well here's the deal I'm gonna ask Kelly to
00:32marry
00:32me remember back in the day when things were made by hand and people took pride in their work
00:40my name is Rick Dale and I bring these things back to life every restoration has its own set
00:47of challenges there's no owner's manual for what we do but there's no job we can't handle
01:09hi how are you two doing fine how are you man I'm Rick hi I'm Cindy Cindy good to meet
01:14you hey
01:14Rick nice to meet you earlier I got a call from a couple that want to go through the boneyard
01:18and
01:19maybe pick out something they want to get restored this place has stuff that spans over 70 years so
01:25hopefully they're gonna find something that they really like what you guys here to look at we got
01:29a room outside of our theater room we're looking for something that looks real cool like a candy
01:33machine or a vending machine well let's take a tour cool I'll show you around we're coming to Rick's
01:38restoration today because we're looking for something that he can restore for us there's a
01:41lot of stuff in here okay something to put outside our theater room so you know why we're watching
01:46movies we can have something to entertain with this is a candy machine we used to put you know
01:51gumballs up here peanuts in one I think we're looking for something a little more unique okay
01:56something a little bit bigger I think I think so okay some more substantial okay this piece right
02:02here oh yeah this is probably a late 40s early 50s candy vending machine that used to be in theaters
02:08and also be in front of stores and what it did was you put different selections along across here but
02:13the coolest thing of this machine is that it also had an area where it took gum and each time
02:18you
02:18turned it you got to see a different display they're very rare that's cool what would something
02:22like this run these things with this selection on here because it's so rare is 7500 okay and now
02:30being fully working yeah it's fully working and restoring the whole insides and making it all brand
02:34new again yeah yeah all right all right well let's look around there's more stuff I'm sure when I
02:41show people around the boneyard I really got it turned into a sales I know how incredible these
02:46things look when they're fully restored but sometimes it's hard for the customer to actually
02:50visualize that what about this wow yeah I like that one this machine is probably late 50s early 60s
02:58nice and is it a popper or it doesn't actually pop popcorn okay just warms the popcorn you just put
03:04like a regular popcorn cup I guess in there you want to know the coolest thing of this yeah it
03:08drops
03:08cups no when you put the dime in it lets one cup through lands down there the door stays shut
03:15it fills
03:16the thing full of popcorn and then when it's done then you'd lift it up and you'd pull the cup
03:20out
03:21this would be awesome for a party or something really cool it's a cool piece it's a it's a part
03:25of the past
03:26that you know a lot of little kids or anything even remember awesome so first what we'll do is we'll
03:31tear it apart we'll sandblast remove all the paint that base is a little rusted so we'll redo all the
03:36metal and make it perfect and then we get done with that then the last things we'll do is we'll
03:40polish these two pieces here put some nice paint on it the color scheme that we'd like to match is
03:45mostly red some black but besides that it's really up to you and what would you be asking for that
03:50I'd
03:51sell for six thousand six thousand six thousand six thousand okay we have been looking for a while
03:58and it is something unique it really is it I think this is piece we're looking for yeah this is
04:03this is gonna be cool you're gonna love this done yeah I mean seeing it now and seeing it done
04:06is
04:07gonna be huge thank you okay so what I want to do is I want to tear it apart okay
04:18we just sold a
04:20vintage popcorn warmer that we're now restoring for a customer unfortunately we don't have a key we can't
04:25pick it throw it out I always try to teach Bradley some new tricks and right now we need to
04:31drill out
04:32these locks because they're beyond saving inside there's little uh brass fingers so what you do
04:37is you take the drill bit and you drill out the top you drill out the bottom open it yeah
04:41oh look at
04:43that look it's still got cups in it that's cool so let's take the top off good all right
05:08hey how are you I'm John how you doing John good to meet you what's going on I've got this
05:13old
05:14michelin man I want you to take a look at that's cool let's see I have no idea how old
05:18oh man let me see
05:19this thing I came down to Rick's restoration today to try to get my little michelin man compressor
05:24restored I've never seen one before I saw it I decided I had to have it I used to be
05:29in the tire
05:29business and thought it was really a cool thing to have I mean this thing is awesome how old do
05:35you
05:35think it is by the looks of it maybe 40s look at that thing I don't even know what it
05:39is well
05:40here's the deal michelin brothers own this tire company now keep in mind that this company started
05:44in like 1898 I mean this is a early early early tire company and the mascot was designed around
05:51tires and he was drinking their thinking was is that it drinks the hazards away this piece here
05:59is something that would have been at a gas station and all it is to do is is pump up
06:03your tire it's just
06:04a compressor the michelin brand is a French company that's been around since the 1800s this compressor
06:10is a huge part of their merchandising and it is extremely rare so have you seen one of these
06:15things before have you ever worked on one never in my life you know I can see it's made in
06:19France
06:19it's got you know it's got totally tagged out everything's written in French you got aluminum
06:24in here we got steel on the front end I mean wow that's cool so tell me what would you
06:30have to do to
06:30this to restore where would you find the part for this thing well that's part of the battle I mean
06:35first thing I need to do is research it and find out if we can get parts or even find
06:38out what
06:39they look like if we can find out what they look like then I can replicate them but also when
06:43I do
06:43the research it's going to enable me to figure out if this is worth thousands or tens of thousands
06:49okay and then you know a couple hours tearing it apart we'd have to you know sandblast it or glass
06:55beat it probably we've got a couple hours doing that so John I'm looking at about $1,500 it's rough
07:02I mean there's a lot more work than you think in this thing a lot of research my truck isn't
07:07worth
07:07$1,500 yeah but I'm telling you right now this is this is worth a lot of money um what
07:18are you
07:18thinking you want to get it done yeah get it done let's do it all right awesome thank you thank
07:25you
07:25let's go in the office I only paid 40 bucks for it and he popped me with $1,500 but
07:30hopefully it's
07:31worth it when it's all done coming in hot coming in hot earlier a guy brought in a really rare
07:44Michelin
07:45man compressor that he wants to get restored so I got cowboy and Dave tearing it apart we'll heat that
07:50going up a little more and there's brass on brass fittings they don't like to come apart oh
08:00well to tear this air compressor part basically what I have to do is clean up this motor and
08:04we'll be good to go yeah I think we got it here we go yeah swing everything right now is
08:13really
08:14going well we're into the new shop business is booming and I owe it all to Kelly we've been
08:19together for years and I think right now is the time to make her mind and pop the question but
08:26I had
08:26to let Tyler and Brett Lee know about it I'm gonna ask Kelly to marry me are you all right
08:31with it
08:31whatever makes you happy yeah I uh I'm planning on asking your mom to marry me that's cool I mean
08:40you guys keep each other level so all that's left to figure out now is how to actually pop the
08:45question well what do you think yeah we're gonna have some fun in this yeah yeah yeah a couple came
08:59in and purchased a popcorn warming machine from the boneyard they want it fully restored so we got
09:04to see what shape each part of the mechanism is in so this is the cup unit when it's turning
09:09it's
09:09telling it to send out one cup at a time and this piece is where a coin would go through
09:14the mech has
09:15to take a coin drop a cup and heat the popcorn so I got Fonzie one of my top mechanics
09:21helping me out
09:21okay we want to see if it works first so let's plug it in okay now go ahead and pretend
09:27like you're
09:27sending nickels through it one two okay nothing nothing nothing so our motors not spinning well so
09:36much for being easy this thing has no sign of life it didn't even twitch so we're gonna have to
09:42take the motor apart and figure out what's wrong with it okay so just go ahead and get that apart
09:46and
09:46maybe got it tell all right awesome it got here oh yeah that's what I'm talking about what got here
10:05what the hell is this it looks like something to make pizza or something it's a lake since the new
10:11shop is so much bigger than the old one it allows us to store more equipment and farm out fewer
10:16jobs
10:16the need for a round lid on the Michelin man air compressor inspired me to buy an old lathe so
10:22that
10:22we can machine metal pieces I still can't tell what this machine does see this piece right here that's
10:28a tool okay cutter so this is like a blade almost yeah yeah it's a cutting tool you know you
10:34could take a
10:35piece of metal and it goes in here and the machine rotates your metal really fast like a piece of
10:41wood on a wood lathe by operating this and this at the same time when it goes in it just
10:46literally
10:46grinds in the metal you can take and make the metal round possibilities are endless it's what your
10:51imagination is totally endless and anything metal you just make it you make it out of steel boom you
10:55bring it out you got yourself a handle you bring it out you got yourself a cap Dave we'll oil
10:59and clean
11:00it all up scrubbing oil it yep sounds good all right Ted is tracing all the artwork on the popcorn
11:12dispenser he'll use those drawings to create perfect reproductions of the original graphics that we can
11:18apply after we get done painting once the tracing is complete we can sandblast all the crud off the
11:24body panels so that we can prep them for bodywork while the other guys are tackling the popcorn dispenser
11:29I'm bringing the Michelin man back to life with a fresh coat of white paint I'm also using a nice
11:34glossy black paint on the compressor unit for contrast once this thing gets put back together
11:39it's gonna look sharp on top of all my projects going on I've been trying to sneak away and plan
11:50my
11:50proposal to Kelly one idea I have is to make a sign to help do the talking just in case
11:57I can't get the
11:58words out so I've been making a sign on a foam core board hopefully when she sees it she's gonna
12:03be
12:03blown away now that the guy's got this old lathe cleaned up we can machine the lid for the Michelin
12:16man compressor without the lathe you could not take a raw piece of steel and make it into a lid
12:24while that's happening Ted's gonna finish up on the details on the Michelin man to really make it pop
12:35all right cowboy I got the motor in bushings are in pistons on cowboy and I are doing the final
12:43assembly on the Michelin man air compressor Rick's got a customer coming in soon so we really have to hurry
12:49looks like he's gonna smoke a cigar or something what do you think Kyle it looks pretty damn good
12:53I hope it does all right I'm ready for a beer it's not even lunchtime yet what are you talking
12:58about
12:58lunch beer no
13:10how you doing how you doing I'm doing good I'm John cowboy I'm looking for Rick I'm here to pick
13:15up my
13:15Michelin man that little guy the little guy all right let me go get him Richard I came down to
13:21Rick's restoration today to pick up my 1940s air compressor hey John how you doing Rick good to
13:27see you bud how's it going it's going good man you done with it uh yeah we got done just
13:31got done with
13:32it actually it'll air up a tire I hope so those are big tires you want to see it let's
13:38check it out
13:38come here it's over here when I dropped it off that thing was garbage I almost threw it away it
13:43was so bad
13:43I hope he got it to work I don't know if he did or he didn't um we'll see all
13:49right so you're ready
13:50to see this you remember how nasty it was I really want you to envision right now how bad this
13:55thing
13:55was no working rusted out nasty thing come on come on why don't you get excited come on buddy all
14:01right
14:03okay okay you got your vision I'm ready one two three check that out holy is that bad man that
14:15thing looks brand new it looks awesome huh when Rick pulled the sheet off that thing I was blown away
14:21I
14:21could not believe how good it looked I didn't even think that was mine it looked like a whole new
14:25machine it was just amazing the thing's incredible that is everything was missing yeah there's a lot
14:31of work in this thing wow isn't it cool it didn't look anything like this let me tell you what
14:37I did
14:37we tore it apart and we first got the motor out and and figured out that the whole motor had
14:42to be
14:42reworked again and then it had a lot of pieces missing so we fabricated a cap to sit inside there
14:48and then
14:49hold the gauge looks really cool that is so neat and we went and did all the body work on
14:53the man
14:54and then Ted went and did all the art you know did his banner on there that's amazing um had
14:59to
14:59replumb it we took all the plumbing made it exactly the way it was there's a little cigar here coming
15:04out of his mouth that's the air comes through that is so cool man and it works we're gonna find
15:11out
15:11yeah let's hear it let's hear it all right John I got an old inner tube that we can test
15:19all right
15:20I'm gonna plug it in drum roll yeah I was gonna say you better stand back the force of this
15:26pressure
15:26could kill you you ready let's hear it that sounds gnarly and it's fast that's some good pressure
15:35right on that's cool pumps really good I was amazed when he plugged that thing in how mean and gnarly
15:41it
15:41sounds you got 20 pounds in it that's a lot for a tube that's pretty cool though there it did
15:46up pretty
15:46quick that thing will air up a tire look how small it is it's so cool it sounds cool all
15:53right so what do
15:54you think Rick that was awesome isn't that cool that was awesome I think it's the coolest piece of
15:59advertising I've ever seen and I looked around trying to buy one of these and these things sell
16:04for about about 1,500 bucks not restored I mean now fully restored like this with the right collector
16:10you could probably sell this for $4,500 do you take checks yeah that is absolutely amazing I was
16:20pretty impressed I think it's just such a cool piece thanks man I appreciate it cool I have a bunch
16:24of cars that I take car shows I'm gonna set it out there I'm gonna air up some tires I'm
16:28gonna have
16:29fun with that thing I'm gonna show it off the popcorn machine is in its final stages we're painting it
16:41red and
16:42black to match the customers home theater and recreating all the original graphics
16:55boom there it is the pieces to the popcorn warmer are done so cowboy and I are gonna put it
17:01back
17:01together Rick has a customer coming in any minute so we have to make sure this thing is perfect
17:09there it be hey hey Rick how you doing man today we're here at Rick's to pick up our vintage
17:261960s
17:27popcorn warmer so super excited to see our popcorn warmer I can't wait to show it to you when we
17:31picked the popcorn warmer out was really in pretty bad shape it was this brown color there was a lot
17:35of rust on it we have some concerns but we've seen Rick's work before and I'm pretty sure he's gonna
17:40make it look awesome all right so you guys ready to see it you're so ready to see it here
17:44we go
17:45there we go oh my god that is so cool oh all that awesome does that look cool perfect when
17:56I walked up to
17:57that machine for the first time I realized Rick put the pop back in popcorn look good oh yeah oh
18:04I love
18:04the red the red is perfect the colors you know we told them red and black and Rick hit it
18:10right on
18:11so what do you think this is awesome it's it's it's beautiful I I'm speechless let me start at the
18:17top this was very dented cowboy ended up pound it all back out again and then getting that all polished
18:22out it really turned out good and then on the glass we use like three different kinds of compounds so
18:27we
18:27could polish it all out and the inside underneath that popcorn is clean enough to eat off of and if
18:31you remember the front of it was real rusted down in here remember yeah so went did all the bodywork
18:37and then Ted went and did all this artwork yeah but no decals so nothing will come off I love
18:42the
18:42colors you picked yeah I mean just the silver really pops yeah it looks very bold don't it yeah the
18:48big
18:51question is Rick yeah what's that does it work doesn't work we got to see it that's always a big
18:57question for me all right well we're gonna give it a shot right now okay so keep your fingers crossed
19:03all right okay all right all right oh that is perfect I love it I love it perfect would you
19:16like
19:16some popcorn nice warm oh it's even warm yes warm Rick took this iconic popcorn warmer and brought it
19:23back to life so that it can be used again and and that's a wonderful thing fresh and hot it
19:28is fresh
19:28and hot it's over 60 years old and I think we got another 60 years out of it it's something
19:32we're
19:32gonna pass down to our kids it's just a great piece we're gonna have a have a group of friends
19:37over and watch some show all your friends are gonna like it until the popcorn's gone we got two more
19:43in
19:43the back it's really rewarding when a customer picks a piece out of the boneyard and has me
19:50restore it I mean that's what it's all about taking an old item and giving it a second life well
19:56thank you oh sure sure here's your keys you brand new popcorn machine thank you
20:06it's time to propose to Kelly I made a sign to try to get the words out correctly I sent
20:11Tyler in to
20:12go get her I'm gonna pop the question to her I hope she says yes hey Kel yeah hey uh
20:18my dad's
20:19outside and he's been working on the shop side I want you to come take a look okay okay cool
20:22let's
20:22go we go think she owe me a soda I got her they're here hey man I put up this
20:30new sign I wanted to
20:31show you okay all right you guys want to give me a hand yeah you got me Bradley don't let
20:37me fall
20:38you got a new sign without me yeah we made a sign have you guys seen this well I haven't
20:43seen it
20:44well now I'm dying I need to see this I gotta admit I'm a little nervous I mean here I
20:49am about to pop
20:50the question and um I don't really know what I'm gonna do if she doesn't say yes ready ready one
20:57two three
21:03Kelly first day I met you I knew that you were the one and um we've been through thick and
21:08thin in
21:09family and business and you've held it all together and Kelly I want to know if you'll take my hand
21:14and
21:15will you marry me are they puking up there
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