[Mike Hall] My name is Mike Hall, and over the last 40 years,
against better judgment, I've managed to amass over 400 classic cars.
These cars are my legacy,
but I'm running out of time to restore them all.
So I opened up a restoration shop with my son, Connor,
and my best friend, Avery, to try and turn my passion into profit,
restoring cars that the average person can afford.
But it's tough making a buck,
so I'm going to have to get the whole car-crazed town behind me
to help get the job done.
[engine revs]
But that's how things roll here in Rust Valley.
[engine revs]
[tires screech]
[guitar rock music playing]
[Mike] Right there.
Have you done anything to it other than let the rats at it?
- I'm aging it. - Okay, so patina is worth money?
Well, no, but rarity and scarcity are.
[narrator] It's early morning at the Rust Bros shop.
- Come on. - Oh, look how that hood opens.
- It is nice. - A collector has come
to look at one of Mike's latest acquisitions,
a 1970 Super Bee.
Actually, it's in good shape.
I know Rick and Ed are serious guys cuz I've seen some of Rick's cars.
Rick's spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars on Dodges.
I know they've probably got cash.
I've owned four Bees. This is the only one that was factory buckets.
Super Bees, they made 12,000. AC, bucket-seat cars,
they might've made 2,000 or 3,000.
So it could be one of 1,500 left.
You don't just find those cars.
How serious are you about selling it?
I want 20K.
Eighteen.
- No. - Come on.
- No. - It needs a lot of work.
I don't care. Go find another one that doesn't. Pay 50.
The car's straight.
Sure, it needs a little bit of rust repair here and there, but everything's here.
Let me think.
Well, don't think too long, cuz now that I'm back looking at it,
I'm starting to get emotional attachment.
Ed, let's have a talk.
- It's a big project. - Huge project.
But you know what? It's actually a good car,
- not rotten. - Solid.
- You're not gonna build it. - **** you.
I've sold two this year.
You're gonna start digging into it, and you can trust me on this one,
- there's gonna be some issues with it. - Ave, Ave...
I have a restoration shop, why are you telling me what to look at?
I know how much you get into it by the time you're doing it.
Avery would love for me to sell all of my cars at his price.
So would Connor.
They don't have the time, the money, nothing invested in 'em.
Don't tell me how to sell my shit.
Twenty grand?
We're going to be into that thing for probably...
- Another 15 grand. - Total.
You have a gazillion cars. Look at the financial end of it.
You don't get it.
These things were an economy car, basically came with no options.
This one's got some pretty funky options.
[Avery] Mike's in the hole, summer's half over.
We need to get cash wherever we can find it.
- Hey, Rick. - Hey.
We like it, but I don't want to pay 20 for it. That's for sure. So...
- That's about it. - No.
It's just a good piece, and I'm in no big rush to get rid of it.
To me, these things are more than pieces of metal.
They're automotive art, and some pieces of art,
I'd just as soon leave hanging on the wall, so to speak.
- I tell you what. Let me think on it. - It ain't going nowhere, Rick.
I know it isn't! I think him and I would be the only nuts willing to pay that.
[Mike] Looking at 20 grand doesn't really make me happy.
'70 Super Bees make me happy.
I'm actually really glad they didn't buy it.
- Thanks for looking. No problem. - Thanks for showing it to us.
[instrumental rock music playing]
What are we doing this morning?
We're gonna go look at a '67, '68 Cougar.
Last fall, some of my dad's old buddies that worked
with him on the railroad stopped by.
The one guy apparently was gonna do this old Cougar up,
so we'll go and see what it looks like.
Remember, Mike, at the end of the day,
- it is a job. - I know.
He's a friend of my dad's. Let me talk money.
- Yeah. - I'll listen to your concerns,
but we're going to look.
[Avery] Here's the place, right here.
[blues guitar music playing]
- Wade, how's it going? - Mike, how you doing?
Good to see you. Where's this Cougar hiding out?
- In the garage. - Okay.
- There's a Cougar in here? There it is. - [Avery] Cool.
- [Mike] It'd be nice to roll it out. - [Avery] You can, it's on wheels.
[Mike groans]
[Avery] Okay. Get her up to ramming speed.
[Mike] Okay, that's good, Wade.
It's a cool piece. Let's just take a quick look.
- Is this a '67, or... - '67, yeah.
Yep, 7F91C, so it's probably a 289 car?
Well, it's got a 302 now.
What I really like about the Mercury Cougar is its styling.
I love that long front end, that short back end.
I don't know why it's never caught on as much as the Mustang did,
but, to me, it's a classier looking car.
[engine revs]
In 1967, the very first Cougar roared to life.
Dubbed the "gentleman's Mustang," the Cougar offered
a luxurious longer wheel base, topped with its iconic electric shaver grille
and hideaway headlights.
To show off the Cougar's power, Mercury hired stock car champions
to race it throughout the 1967 season,
and Motor Trend named it their "Car of the Year".
[Mike] So, what's the story on this car?
[Wade] Well, I bought this car for my daughter,
and the plan was to... You know, restoration.
And so, then, after we started it, she passed away in a car accident.
Oh, no, that's sad.
It's been sitting since then. It was hard to work on, you know.
[woman] Every time he goes in the garage, he has to look at it.
He was supposed to be doing it with Candace.
How long ago was that?
- Fourteen years. - It's a long time to look and think.
Yeah.
- She was a very pretty girl, eh, Wade? - Yes, she sure was.
I can't imagine losing my daughter
and then looking at something for 14 years,
and every time you do, it reminds me of her.
I'm never gonna sell the car.
I thought, I'll get at it when I retire, and the days aren't long enough.
- No. - It means a lot to Wade.
They were supposed to do it together, and he wants it nice and I want it nice.
- Nice. - Yeah.
[Mike] Okay, let us take a look at it, maybe we can help.
I'm just looking. The bottom of the doors look good.
They're just starting to bulge a bit, but they haven't separated.
And these frame rails look really good, Ave.
- [Avery] There's definitely good parts. - [Mike] They're like brand-new.
Hopefully, the front ones look as good, that's a major concern out of the way.
Can I be the bad guy and show some concerns?
- What have we got? - That inner fender looks like
it's been fiberglassed in, and it's all fiberglass in there.
These Cougars, they were a good car in their day.
This car right now? It's got issues.
Last time I checked, fiberglass is for boats.
[Mike] Let's just check out the front frame rails.
[Mike grunts]
- I'm stuck on my hair! - [Avery laughs]
There we go.
See this frame rail starting to go?
We're gonna have to change this, cut this apart,
and do a little bit of repair. The rest looks really solid.
So, what's the story on this engine?
It hasn't started up for 14, 15 years.
- I put a wrench on it, and I spun it. - Yeah.
Is that what you want to run?
- May as well, that's what I got. - Okay.
Okay, so, Wade, there's a little more work than what I thought.
The car... There are some major issues.
The main issue is gonna be what their budget is.
How far do you wanna go? What kind of a job do you want?
I want a job that's not gonna fall apart.
And it doesn't have to be, you know,
like a $100,000 car, because I don't have $100,000.
No, you want a nice driver.
- Yeah. - Well, that's what we try and build.
Basically, just looking at it,
I'm thinking somewhere around 20K.
- [Mike] That'd be... - [Avery] No.
I started out telling her I could do it for five.
You can't.
- Lying to your wife like that! - I knew he was lying, too.
We had this discussion about Mike spending too much money on these cars.
He's learned absolutely nothing from it. His emotions are involved now,
and that car is going to be about 40 grand by the time it's done.
I look at it, I see 500 hours here, minimum.
He looks at it, he sees 200 hours.
- Avery. - Okay.
Be like The Grinch and have your heart grow three sizes this day.
Mike's got a big heart, but you know what? It is a business.
Compassion, profit...
Bankruptcy.
We're going to do the best job that we can and, guaranteed, you'll be happy with it.
- Yeah, just a little bit. - Okay, I think we're good.
[Wade] I trust Mike to do this job,
and Candace would be really happy to have the car done.
I thought this would be a good way to get it all finished.
[Mike] Let the pressure off.
Thinking of Candace right now, and she'll always be with us, for sure.
Bittersweet.
[Mike] Wade, he's had a tough go, and he's been looking at it for 14 years.
He doesn't want to wait until it's too late.
Now he's fulfilled an obligation to his daughter, even though she's gone.
And... I think it'd be a good thing to do for him.
[light rock music playing]
[Avery] We've taken on one big job, my friend.
[rock guitar music playing]
I like the springs that are on her.
Later that day, over at Avery's shop...
There's way too much **** junk in here.
No, there's not. It's all treasures.
[Avery] Mike's been driving me crazy at the shop.
He doesn't listen to anything I have to say.
He will not take any of my advice,
so you know what? I need to take a little break,
get back into my own space.
- Hey, where's this quad going? - Outside. It's leaving here.
Avery put his own projects on hold to start Rust Bros,
but this summer, he's hired his son, Shafin, to help him out.
- I don't need to stay in school. - [Avery] Yeah.
- Look at me, I turned out just fine. - Oh, yeah.
Working with my son is a fairly interesting situation.
Twenty years old.
If you don't just talk to the little millennial exactly perfect,
he gets his little mind all bent out of shape.
[Avery] That pisses me off the most.
The cigarette butts drive me just about mentally insane.
Like, I love him to death,
but it's a typical thing of working with your family.
It should be against the law.
Look at this. Cigarette butts!
I don't smoke!
We need to do an assessment of this here motor and this jewel.
- [Shafin] That should be easy enough. - It's gonna be quite easy for me.
- [Shafin] I ain't cranking it... - [Avery] You are cranking it!
There's no way I'm cranking that.
Look at that.
Three weeks ago, up at Avery's mom's farm...
This is a genuine barn find.
...Mike discovered a 1926 Ford Model T...
We just want to know if we can take that with us when we go.
- Maybe get it running. - We could make some kind of a horse trade.
...and persuaded her to let Avery take it home to fix it up for her.
Don't screw up the car!
[Avery's mom laughs]
So, what do you want to do here? A wraparound seat,
- or do you want to do the cab? - I want to do it as a truck.
The problem being is, it's not what you wanna do,
it's the availability and parts to be found.
Okay, peel the hood off this jewel.
You know what? This is going to be an opportunity to learn him
what a hard day's work's all about.
And maybe whip his attitude into shape a little bit.
Problem with this motor is, these things are from a different era.
- Everything's weird on this thing. - Just get a five-wire wiring harness.
[Avery] For the spark plugs?
- So these are the coil packs, then? - Uh-huh.
They look like Morse code machines.
This Model T, my dad's been trying to get it started since he was my age.
It's going to be very cool if we get it started.
[Avery] You notice it's got three pedals?
Yeah. Clutch, gas, brake.
No.
- Okay. - Doesn't have a gas pedal.
[Avery] This here's your clutch.
The middle one's reverse, high and low.
- This is the throttle. - Okay.
This, here, is spark advance. So, go back,
crank her, start it, give it a little bit of advance,
give it a little bit of throttle, and then, down the road you go.
I tell you what. Go get the battery pack out of there,
I want to see if these coils got any power in 'em.
- How you gonna test that? - I'll show you.
I tried starting this car, oh, 25 years ago.
And the problems haven't gone away.
- [Avery] Is there any power there? - [Shafin] 12 volts.
Coil packs convert a car battery's 12 volts
into the several thousand volts required to ignite the fuel.
- There? - Yeah, 12-28.
If we can get three coil boxes working,
we possibly may be able to try to start this thing.
See if there's any power going through this thing.
Got a screwdriver? Here, it's got a rubber handle.
[Avery] I've been electrocuted quite a bit by coils. Let me tell you what,
it'll get your attention.
That's a lively one!
We've got a bad coil, I think.
Okay, they can crank this thing over,
and we'll see if the ignition works.
Turn it slow.
There we go.
That's good... Ah! ****!
That hurt.
Some of the coils are producing power, but not all,
meaning the engine won't light.
I'm not **** around with this thing. I thought we might get it started, but...
I do know where some boxes are.
The Great White Shark has a whole bunch of coils on a Fordson tractor.
- Another one of your crazy friends, eh? - Yeah.
I'm driving.
[Avery] And down the road we go.
[rock guitar music playing]
Dad, look how cool this thing would be to drive.
Where?
At Rust Valley's biggest wrecking yard...
Wasps' nest.
Donny, better known as the Great White Shark,
he's got more junk than anybody else in the neighborhood.
He's gotta have some pieces here for this Model T, somewhere.
[Shafin] Thought you said it was here?
The tractor was here. It was right there, I think.
- What color was it? - I'm sure it was gray.
It's a Fordson tractor.
It had coil packs on it. Where is it?
I just took a walk over there, and there's a yellow one.
Nothing ever moves in this yard.
There it is, right there. Does it look yellow to you?
What color is that **** tractor?
- Does it look yellow? - "The tractor's not here anymore."
This piece of shit car was in the way.
- Get up, get on it. - Let's see if the coils are still in it.
[Shafin] Woo!
They even look like nobody's even half-killed them yet.
It must be the only new-looking thing Donny owns.
[Shafin] Don't tell him!
The White Shark!
- [Shafin laughs] - What are you two shit-rats doing?
We're trying to get my old Model T thing... car started.
Whose Model T?
- Mine. - He thinks it's his.
- Yeah, it's... - You don't know how to drive a Model T.
[Avery] Not very many people do.
- How many pedals are in the Model T? - Three.
- What do they do? - What do you do with the pedals?
- Middle one's reverse. - What do you do with the other two?
I forget.
Yeah, cuz you don't know how to drive a Model T.
The problem being, Donny, is these coils on this car,
I think, are the original coils. There's two that are good,
and two that are bad, and they're working intermittent.
So, what are these jewels worth?
- Fifty bucks. - I don't know.
- Fifty bucks. - Dad. Pull out the sock.
[Avery] The Great White Shark.
He can smell $50 from about ten miles away.
- There. There you go. - Sweet. Okay, well...
I need some doors off one of them old Fords, if you come across one.
About a '65.
Can you quit looking around?
What for?
Because I'm trying to protect my inheritance. Can we go now?
Before Donny tries and steals it all.
Let me see that sock!
No, the other sock!
- [Avery] There, Donny. - Why don't you buy that van?
- [Shafin] No! Come on. - [Donny] You need it.
- That one, there? - Can we go? No, Dad. Stop.
- [Donny] The one-ton. - Oh, my God.
- [Avery] That right there? - The Fargo.
- That's an international. - Oh, yeah, that's right, I forgot.
Okay, good. Come on, let's go.
Have you ate yet?
Let's go.
- What? - Come on.
You don't need to be buying any more shit.
Why not?
Cuz, too broke. Let's go.
- Bring that sock back here! - [Shafin] No.
[Avery laughs]
[guitar rock music playing]
- Connor! - Yo.
It's time to get this Cougar into C-count city.
We've finally got room.
Back at the Rust Bros shop...
- We pushing it? - There's no engine or tranny,
- shouldn't be that bad. - ...Mike and Connor
are starting disassembly on the 1967 Cougar.
[Connor] Go, go, go, go, go, go.
Oh, baby!
Okay.
- We could almost get two cars here. - No!
- I'm just saying! - No, we can't.
We could. We got lots of room.
- [Mike] What? - [Connor] Look at that.
Corrosion.
[Connor] Fenders are solid.
- [Mike] This is not metal. - No.
Listen to it.
Look, that hole. That's all fiberglassed.
- You think so? - Yeah.
[Mike] No. Tell me it isn't so, bro.
- Oh, Jesus. - [Connor] Yeah, it is.
Unbelievable.
[Connor] There's definitely more fiberglass than steel in this trunk.
Okay, moment of truth. Let's take a look and see how bad this floor is.
Eww!
It's all fiberglass.
It looks like steel, but it's all fiberglass.
This thing's almost beyond repair. It's way worse than it was supposed to be.
Look...
Then they painted it black, so it looked like it was metal.
- Yeah. There's no floor left there at all. - Jesus!
[Mike] No.
[Mike] There's so much fiberglass where there should be structure,
I think the car is dangerous.
If you're ever in an accident, the thing would just buckle.
There's a reason they make 'em out of steel.
[Connor] Oh, there's nothing holding this car together.
[Mike] Hard to tell when we were crawling underneath it and looking,
cuz you could just see black. There's no way that we're patching this.
No. We'd be welding, like,
60 square feet of junk in here.
Twenty grand ain't gonna go very far if we've gotta rebuild this whole car.
- But... - We'd better work really fast!
You might have to find him another Cougar. Don't you have a couple of these?
I got four or five, but this is the one
- he wanted to do with his daughter. - Yeah, I know, but...
we cannot do this for 20 grand.
- [Mike sighs] I should know better. - Yes, you should.
[upbeat guitar rock music playing]
[Avery] I hope they work.
Back at Avery's shop...
Oh, they're tight.
...he and Shafin are testing the new coil packs in the Model T.
We need to see if this thing's got power in it.
We cleaned some wire connections, we've got a new set of coil boxes for it,
- and we got lucky. - Hello, sir.
[Avery] Lordco had a set of spark plugs laying around.
They must've been in stock since the beginning of time.
Okay, turn that crank over.
Okay.
[Shafin] Do we know if these coil packs are even good?
Ow! ****! That's hot!
I think they're good.
Grab me that **** screwdriver.
Crank this jewel over.
- Hear that? - We're in business.
Couple more parts, and...
[imitates squeaking machinery]
Turn it over again. Sounds just like that.
This motor probably hasn't run in over 30 years.
But I tell you what. It's got compression, it will run.
[Shafin] Whoa! Trying to flood the thing?
Just put gas everywhere there's electricity.
We need to be careful starting this thing.
You pull that thing over.
[Avery] Chicken shit.
[Shafin] Go.
If it's the last thing I do, this motor will run.
[electricity buzzing]
I can see owning one of these cars, you wouldn't need a gym membership.
Grab that can of ether.
It'll either rip my goddamn arm off or it'll start. One of the two.
[Avery] Yeah, spray some in the holes.
[engine engages, then stalls]
The engine is finally showing signs of life.
[engine putters]
[engine runs]
We got that car running. Feels awesome, I like seeing my dad happy.
I like seeing him...
do the stuff he loves to do.
- Look at that. - If my dad sets his mind to something,
or getting something running, it will run.
I'm super stoked it runs. It sounds actually not bad.
It is the most simplest engine ever made.
For some reason, it was the hardest engine I've ever worked on to get to run.
I like this thing.
[Avery chuckles]
We should check the oil in it. Might be a hell of an idea.
- What do you think, Shafe? - It's... different.
You open them little petcocks down there.
Oh.
What's this big gob of weld on the side of the frame?
- What are you talking about? - Something you might want to see there.
There you go.
- You see it? - Yeah, I see it,
it's pretty hard not to see it.
I don't know who patched this thing. It's not real safe.
That thing, it needs to be cut out of there and fixed.
You know what? That pisses me off.
It's just never cut-and-dried with this old stuff.
It's a good thing a guy likes this car.
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]
Morning.
It's the final swap meet of the summer
at the White Post Auto Museum...
- Hey, Jim, how's it going, bud? - How you doing there?
...but Mike's busy buying, not selling.
I'm going to try and get a bit of an early bird head start,
check out the vendors and see if there's anything that I really need
before everybody else gets all the good deals.
Isn't that pretty?
Mark, is this your pile
- of choice automotive memorabilia? - Yes.
What's the deal on that beautiful '57 grille?
- I have the panel that needs that piece. - 150.
- 150 bucks? - Yeah.
That's totally reasonable. Done deal. Good man.
Thank you. Beauty.
How's it going?
[man] Look what I just scored, 50 bucks.
- [Mike] These are worth $1,000. - [man] I know!
- Can you believe that? - No.
You're pissing me off!
That **** still owes me three grand on that car.
- Is that right? - Yeah. I'm gonna phone him.
Jeez, I remember this one. Wait, I own it!
Connor.
- [Connor] Hey. - Where are you?
I'm up at your shop.
It's hard to sell anything when you don't have "for sale" signs up.
Okay, I'm on my way.
- Hey, Mike. - What?
How're you supposed to sell anything?
You got no nothing on nothing on nothing.
Why don't you put some prices on these windows?
- Start writing with your finger. - Up the road from the swap meet,
the crew has rolled out some classic cars,
hoping to attract buyers.
25K, what do you think?
Sure.
This is worth 15K all day long.
- Mike. - What?
You need a pair of binoculars to see the price on it.
- Avery. - What?
You're the last person to give advice on how to sell shit.
How much shit have I sold?
- How much shit is in your yard now? - Lots.
- Exactly. - How much shit is in your yard?
- More! - More!
Hey, you know what you need to do today?
- Sell, sell. - Sell something. Just sell something.
- I will. - Okay, I gotta go.
Okay, take care.
Sell some stuff, like your kid asked.
What do you know about selling?
You've had that stupid friggin' 'Vette parked here for two years.
Bet you 100 bucks you can't give that car away today.
I bet you $100 I can sell that car today.
You're on. Get on it.
I'll sell this piece of shit.
I'm amazed this thing started.
Why is he going forward?
Cuz he can't find reverse?
[horn blaring]
**** me.
[horn continues to blare]
He is a ****.
[horn continues to blare]
I would never buy anything off that man.
You just devalued it a couple K.
- It looks good in the trees. - Crank her.
Keep going... Whoa!
You better go make a sign. How are people gonna know it's for sale?
Amazed Mike hasn't discovered this yet.
[Avery laughs]
[Mike] That's the best you could do?
Ave, I'll go make you a sign.
That is just so sad, it's beyond description.
- It's almost as sad as this car. - You wanna buy a car?
No, I got one, thanks!
You get a free plant with it. A daffodil, begonia.
- Hello. How's it going, buddy? - Hey, how you doing?
- Good. How's the day, man? - Good. Yourself?
- Good. Looking for a ride, man? - Oh, yeah.
- This is a beast, right here? - You bet.
[Avery] It's an '81, real close to the last of this style.
It's been looked after mechanically very well, but it needs an interior in it.
- It had real leather seats at one time. - Smells like Grandpa's jacket in here.
Oh, yes. Take a look under the hood.
5.7 liter. Eh?
Oh, look at that, she's had some high-performance work done to her.
Jump in, start her up.
[engine starts and runs]
She purrs like a kitty. Can I take her for a test-drive?
I'll take you for a ride.
She goes good. She brakes, too.
[man] Careful. Don't take it to the highway.
- She's got a bit of pep, eh? - She has her pep.
[man hollers in delight]
Oh, yeah.
[man] Oh, yeah!
That's great. Yeah, she goes. She's a keeper.
- What do you think? - I don't know, the upholstery...
- I'll have to do some work in there. - Well...
Ten grand, my friend.
Ten grand? I think, you know, she's worth about
Seventy-five to eight?
I tell you what... Nine.
- Nine? - Nine.
[man hems and haws]
What about 85? Just to get her out of your hair here.
So your parking lot looks a little bit cleaner.
- This parking lot will never look clean. - I tell you what.
I got a coffee shop in town.
If you come out, I'll just feed you.
I'll give you some coffees, a few free lunches,
and that'll make your belly happy.
Food always makes it go better, my friend.
I think we can do 85.
- Can do 85? Great. - Yes.
You put your mind to selling a car, you can sell it.
Mike thinks I'm an idiot. He needs to pay attention.
I do know what I'm talking about sometimes.
- Ave. - What?
- What's happening? - I just sold this car
to this fine gentleman.
We also got free coffees, too.
- That's right. - He owns a coffee shop,
- we got ten free coffees. - Glad to meet you.
- You get some free lunch. - That means I owe you 100 bucks?
[Mike] Jesus! Did he give you the warranty?
- Yeah. As soon as I get out of here... - The full warranty?
- It's gone! Good. - ...it's gone.
As long as you know. Good luck.
[guitar rock music playing]
- Hey, Wade, how's it going? - Good, how are you doing?
Mike's called Wade into the shop to deliver some bad news
about the Cougar.
There's just too much damage to bring that shell back to life.
There's gonna be some hard decisions have to be made.
Someone was quite, quite creative here.
Everything that we thought when we looked at it was metal...
They just laid fiberglass matting over everything.
- [Wade] Oh, my gosh. - Same thing with the trunk.
It all looked like metal when we were underneath it,
but all of this is fiberglass.
- [Wade] Oh, my God. - [Mike] All of that.
We punched holes through it everywhere.
This Cougar build, the emotion and the memories that are attached
is because the father and daughter were gonna build the car,
and then the daughter tragically died.
I don't know exactly what Wade feels when he looks at the car,
but I know it's more than that '67 Cougar staring at him.
What we wanted to talk to you...
I have four of these down in my back field,
and I have a really good '68.
Basically, we'd be using one of our shells as a donor,
and putting all of your parts on it. We could use your motor,
your tranny, your doors, your trunk...
- The interior. - ...your lights, your interior.
- Dash. - Then it saves us 400 hours
- of trying to fix this. - Yeah, well...
I don't really like to ask him, but...
to do the best job we can do, we need to start with something better.
We'll walk down in the back field and I'll show you our donor body.
Okay.
[guitar music playing]
[Mike] See? All nice and straight.
It's got disc brakes, it's got most of the AC stuff.
Good roof.
Then the same thing with the trunk. This is still all steel.
This one, I think, would be way easier to fix.
- The floor looks way better. - Yeah.
Anyway, between this car and your car,
we can make something that's a nice driver.
Well, I think that's probably a much better idea.
- It'd save a lot of work, and save money. - Work, time, money,
so, I mean, it's a win-win-win.
I'm happy that I brought it to Mike.
It is a way bigger job than I anticipated.
Hey, you know what? I think I've lost a pint and a half of blood.
- Let's get out of here. - Let's get out of here. Go.
He's agreed that it's a better option. It's a whole weight off our shoulders,
but bottom line is the heart and soul of the car will still be there.
The doors, the gauges, the upholstery, it'll all be her car.
- Avery. - What?
You've been here a month working on this.
- What the **** have you done? - Next morning, at Avery's garage...
Waiting for a hand. You can't do everything yourself all the time.
My dear child, nowhere to be seen.
So I brought Mike in. Mike can come and give me a hand.
- [phone chimes] - Hang on.
- Hello. - Is that your useless kid?
Why is my kid calling from your kid's phone? Where is your kid?
- On the boat for four days, drinking. - Where are you guys at?
What are you doing?
[Shafin] We're in Neilson.
I thought you were supposed to be at work today?
No.
Typical millennium child.
"Like, work? When I get around to it."
Why are you on Connor's phone when Connor's on holidays?
'Cause we're hanging out.
- Oh. - Oh.
That's why I'm here helping your dad?
- [Shafin] Well, here. - [Connor] Hello?
- Hey. - Hark, do I hear women in the background?
[Connor] No... Yes.
If he starts being a village idiot, you be his big brother
- and you correct his doings, friend. - Oh, I will.
Okay, bye.
- Okay, bye. - Okay, bye-bye.
Well, what's the plan?
I tell you what. None of this stuff is correct for this truck.
Except for the frame and some of the motor parts.
Gotta strip her down to nothing and start over.
Good, well, where's some tools? Let's get this thing torn apart.
I think they're lag screws.
- Give me a seven-sixteenths, Ave. - Here, try that.
[Avery] I wanna pull this turtle deck off.
As usual, I'm laying in the **** dirt, and you're up there using an impact.
That's okay, I'm getting in touch with the Zen of this
90-year-old piece here.
I don't know if I'm repairing a car or taking a building apart.
Okay.
Ow! ****!
- Did it hurt right away? - Yeah, it did!
Ow!
- [Avery] ****. - [Mike] Sorry, bud.
- I'll kiss it better. - Yeah, perfect!
- You know what this is called, Mike? - Karma.
- [Mike laughs] - Yeah, **** off!
Hang on, we've got one screw over here.
[Mike] Why don't you just go under there and undo it?
- No, you can't. - It's your car, destroy it how you will.
I tell you what, I've been looking at lots of these vehicles.
- I was gonna do it as a truck. - Yeah.
But I changed my mind. My vision is to make a convertible roadster.
Ninety percent of all the trucks you see out there
were made out of cars.
The simple reason is you got more fuel if you had a truck.
During the Depression, and that?
[Avery] They got more fuel ration out of it.
I do believe this used to be a car at one time.
Huh. Maybe, I think, like a roadster, a convertible.
It'd be cool if she can just putt around at 28 miles an hour,
talking on her cell phone. That'd be all good!
[Mike laughs]
I do have some parts for these down in the yard.
I'm pretty sure I got a tub. I know I got some doors.
[Avery] Know what? Before I go further,
I gotta convince my mother that this is a good idea.
This is gonna be an interesting conversation.
It's God's way of reprieving me, she's not answering the phone!
- [Avery's mother] Hello. - Hi.
This project of yours, that we're doing for you.
I think we've got the perfect direction in what to go for you.
Oh, yeah, what's that?
- You're gonna get a convertible roadster. - Not a farm wagon?
You don't need a farm wagon.
All it'd give you is more incentive to drive around and collect junk.
Can I get a sheep in there to take it to the vet clinic?
Put it in the turtle top and lock it in there,
it'll be good in there, it'll be fine, yeah.
- We'll see. - Okay, bye.
Okay, then, we'll see you in a while.
People wonder why I'm the way I am. Eh? Come by it naturally.
[guitar rock music playing]
We got his hood, we got his scoop, we've got his grilles.
- [Connor] His grilles were in good shape. - [Mike] Yeah.
Today, Mike and Connor are transferring parts
from Wade's '67 Cougar to the new '68 shell.
We got a brand-new full quarter coming,
Carl's got the patches made for the trunk drop-off.
Can't believe how solid this is,
- compared to the other one. - I know.
Then we got his fenders, trunk lid.
Actually, why don't we just slap one of these fenders on, just to see?
I'm liking it. Looks like a car already. We're half done, it's almost restored.
The more we can use of his car,
the more it's gonna feel like it is his car, right?
- [Connor] As much of it as we can? - Yeah.
His steering wheel. We'll pull that wheel. It is an original '67 wheel, so,
at least when he's driving the car, he's holding on to, like, the memory.
Pop that wheel. What do we need?
I bet you that's a fifteen-sixteenths or one inch.
- [Connor] Yeah, probably. - Yeah.
- [Connor] Look out, look out. - [Mike] Okay.
That thing hasn't been off in a while.
[Mike] Use the puller.
****. Where's the puller?
Wrench.
- [Mike] Coming? - [Connor] We're good.
Perfect. Done.
Now we've got the steering wheel out, time to start doing the fenders, doors.
There's a whole bunch of stripping and grinding.
- Let's get these into Cassidy. - Okay, we'll get these,
we'll grab the valances, the trunk,
- all that stuff. - Okay.
- We'll see what they look like naked. - I bet they look better than you naked.
- [Mike] That's not saying much. - [Connor laughs]
[Mike] He's entrusted us to do this build in memory of his daughter,
but it's gonna take us a little more time than what we figured.
Getting the Cougar restoration done right means more work
and a longer wait for Wade and Charmaine.
It's gonna be a beautiful car,
and the look on their faces when they see it
is gonna more than make up for the money I'm losing.
It's bad for business, but it's good for my soul.
The Ford Model T is still a long way from being done...
[Mike] You could've come back another 30 feet.
...so, Avery's brought the car over to Rust Bros.
Oh, you ****. Ow!
Good thing this is your mom's,
- not a real client's. - Let her go.
- You couldn't do that with a modern car. - No.
It looks almost like it was gas-welded, I don't know.
Shafin needs Mike's tools to fix the faulty gob-weld on the frame.
Get in here, grind that down,
and let's see how we'll correct the problem.
- Yeah. - Let's get her on track.
While Shafin works inside...
I don't know what that stuff is.
...Avery and Mike go hunting for parts to turn the Model T
into a convertible roadster.
Isn't that a Model-T tub? Yeah.
It is, and this thing's in good shape.
- Have you got some doors for it? - Let's go look.
My mother's worked hard her whole life. She's getting a car.
Ah!
That way, when she visits me, she can enjoy herself and have something
to look forward to, other than me aggravating her life.
[guitar rock music playing]
[Avery] Good. Let's look at it.
I tell you what, you redeemed yourself.
Put her there.
- I think it's safe for Grandma now. - There you go.
Shafin, when he puts his mind to it, he's super talented.
I'm quite proud of him.
Here, that thing gets adjusted up a little bit.
My mother's not gonna be able to hand-crank this thing.
It needs to have a good starter on it.
- [Shafin] Right. - [Avery] You got a seat?
It's right here.
She'll be showing up in a couple days. We need to work as a team.
[Shafin] Look at that.
[Avery] We need to get it done.
[Avery cheers]
[guitar music playing]
- [mother] This what you ran away to? - [Avery] Yeah, it's paradise.
Avery's mother, Helen, has traveled down from Fort St. John
to see her finished 1926 Ford Model T...
Avery, I'll just step into the phone booth and call the cab.
You never know, you might meet Superman in there!
...and she's come dressed to match the era.
Where did you get that thing on your head?
That's what flappers wear. And they usually have fringes on their skirt
and they had a belt down here, long pearls.
- And feathers. - Are you ready for this?
- I'm ready. - I hope you like this thing.
- If you don't like it, I'll take it. - Well, it's gonna stay in the family.
Okay. Open the door!
Oh, my God, it's got a chrome bumper.
[Helen] Oh, my goodness.
Yeah, she's pretty fine.
- You like that? - Yeah.
- Yeah? - Well?
It's pretty good, pretty good.
Now you know what your great-grandfather rode in.
You didn't give us much to work with, Helen, but luckily I had some pieces.
I didn't know if it'd ever get restored,
but I think they did a really good job on it.
It's gorgeous.
[Avery] We got away from spoke wheels. We got some wire wheels.
We'd hate to have a beaver attack and chew off your wheel.
[Helen] It's kind of a special car because my father sold these cars
in the '20s out of Cadillac, Saskatchewan,
so I kind of look on it as a family heirloom.
Got the goldarn custom wind deflector.
Oh, yes, you don't wreck your hairdo.
It's got a locking steering wheel on it,
so nobody steals this thing.
- Oh, my... - It was an original option.
Anybody nowadays couldn't steal it anyway, cuz they wouldn't know how to drive it.
- Yeah, the middle pedal's reverse. - Is that right?
[Helen] The seats and the upholstery are all really nice in there. It's great.
- This is for the fishing rod? - That's where the convertible top goes on.
Oh, I thought maybe it was a buggy lip.
No!
I often wanted a convertible.
I think you should take Helen for a ride in this chariot, Ave.
[Helen] This is going to be an experience.
Oh, there it is.
[Mike] Oh, what's this, Ave?
Well, in the 1920s, they wore this kind of a hat,
- so, there. - Stylish.
- You like that, don't you? - That's stylish, Ave, yeah.
Let's see...
Oh!
- You look like... - That is you, buddy.
- Yeah. - My, look at you two.
A picture of a simpler past.
Okay, guys, be safe now. Have her back by ten.
- Okay, you ready? - Yeah, I'm ready. Let's go.
See you in a week. If we don't come back, we'll write.
- [Avery] What do you figure? - I love this convertible.
I always wanted a convertible, but I didn't know it was gonna be blue.
I'm proud of him, what he's done with it. He's a very talented person, you know.
There's not too many things he can't fix if he takes a notion to.
Get this old jewel into high gear.
Oh, we're really cruising now.
Does about 35 miles an hour, wide open.
[Avery laughs]
This thing's pretty neat to drive.
This build, it cost more than I thought it was gonna cost.
It took a long time.
But at the end of the day, it's all worth it.
[Helen] Can't believe the job you did on this thing.
[Avery] Doing this Model T has got me thinking.
I've sacrificed a lot working for Mike.
I'm kind of wondering if maybe,
should I get into the restoration business with my son, Shafin?
I could make my own decisions, and make my own mistakes.
I need my own projects. I need my space.
It's a chance to show what I'm capable of doing.
It's time for me to go do my own thing, and make my own way.
I think it's time.
[guitar rock music playing]