02x12 - Vintage Steam Powered Car

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to the Repair Shop,

where cherished family heirlooms are
brought back to life.

This is the workshop of dreams.

Home to furniture restorer Jay
Blades.

Nowadays, everybody spends a fortune
on stuff that once it's broken,

they just bin it. But everybody has
something that means too much to be

thrown away, and that's where we
come in.

Working alongside Jay will be some
of the country's leading
craftspeople.

Every piece has its own story.

It's amazing to think that some of
my work becomes part of that story.

I've always played with things, I've
always repaired things,

and I just love it. There is a real
pleasure in bringing people's pieces

back to life again.

Each with their own unique set of
skills...

I can't wait to get started.

..they will resurrect...

..revive... I'm warm, man!
..and rejuvenate...

..treasured possessions and
irreplaceable pieces of family
history...

Wow! ..bringing both the objects...

She's fantastic!

That's just taken me back 50 years!

..and the memories that they hold...

Oh! Oh, yes!

..back to life.

Oh, my God!

QUACKING

In the Repair Shop today,

Steve feels the heat in his struggle
to repair a vintage steam car...

You can hear it cooking, though.

Yeah. Either that, or the paint's
bubbling off!

THEY LAUGH

..while Dom's skills are put to the
test with some creative metalwork.

It's kind of a bit of origami now.

I just need to fold this along the
lines into the shape that we want

for the top of the lantern.

Once you've folded it, there's no
folding it back,

so we've only got one chance.

Today in the workshop, a love story

between two people, and two bears.

Hello, nice to meet you.

You too.

Jill Preston has brought in two
childhood treasures.

They are absolutely adorable

and they look very comfortable in
their little basket.

She's hoping toy restoration team
Amanda and Julie can nurse these
elderly bears back to health.

Aw! So this is Little Ted.

That's Little Ted. And who did he
belong to?

He belonged to my husband, Edwin,

who had him, I think, from the very
beginning.

We think he must be about 70 years
old,

and my husband used to hold him by
the neck.

We can see that!
THEY LAUGH

But he's still smiling! Yeah!

He doesn't mind at all. No.

And this one here, he lived with me
all my life.

I had him for as long as I can
remember.

So, how did you meet your husband?

I was playing tennis with a friend
of mine,

and along came my husband-to-be and
stole my tennis ball and ran off
with it! Oh!

And that is my first memory of him.

And how old were you then?
I was 15.

Gosh! Wow! So you met when you
were 15?

Yeah, we were married for 44 years.

That's lovely. Oh, that's amazing.

And he was the love of my life.
As he is!

Oh, that's wonderful.

But four years ago, Edwin was
diagnosed with cancer,

his death giving an even greater
meaning to the bears.

It's just this connection between
teddy bears and our life, really.

That's lovely.

So, in effect, these two kind of got
married... They did. ..when you got
married.

They kind of united together.
Yeah, they did, absolutely.

Is there anything that you
particularly would like us to do?

Is there anything, you know, that's
special to you, that you'd like us
to keep?

The squeaker doesn't work any more.

Oh, dear. But I'm very happy to put
them in your hands.

Absolutely. Well, they're
absolutely delightful,

and it will be an honour to work on
them for you.

That's really kind of you.
Thank you. Thank you very much.

I'm feeling sad and happy at the
same time.

They represent the life that we had
together.

And, you know, better to have loved
and lost than never to have loved

at all, they say, and it's so true.

To put the love back into these two
bears,

Julie and Amanda will first have to
carefully take them both apart.

Somebody's already opened up this
tummy.

There we go, it just pops now.

Here's the squeaker that she misses,
here it is. Aw!

Yeah, well, we can see why that's
not working, can't we?

Look, it's full of stuffing.

Someone's been in here already.

What's he got in there? Well, it's a
ball of wool.

Oh, there's another one. Ready?
Yeah! More wool.

SHE LAUGHS

Oh, my goodness - look at that!

They've just put the whole ball,
like a whole lump. Yeah.

How funny is that?

But this is probably all they had to
stuff him with. Yeah, definitely.

You couldn't have gone down the
shops and bought a bag of stuffing
like you can do now. No, no.

The next item to arrive at the
Repair Shop also holds fond
memories.

Sandy Powell needs help reviving a
treasured item which belonged to a
dear old friend.

How are you doing?
All right. Pleased to meet you.
Likewise. In you come.

Steve, would you mind joining me?

Hello, I'm Steve. Hello, Steve,
pleased to meet you. Sandy.

Hi, Sandy. Is it all right to take
it out, yeah? Oh, yes. Absolutely.

Oh, what a great-looking piece!

It is a steam car made by
Mamod. How exciting!

I like steam stuff.

So, tell me a bit about it.

It was left to me by an old mate,
Peter,

who sadly passed away seven years
ago.

Me and Peter were PT instructors in
the Navy,

and we always kept in touch.

Peter was a man's man.

He was the type of guy that, when he
walked in the room, people would go,

who's that? OK, my kind of guy.

And he was... Yeah, yeah, he was
just a lovely, lovely man.

This piece will be a reminder of
Peter.

Oh, absolutely. What would you like
me to do with it,

apart from get it going?

Just get it going. He always said,
I'm going to get that car going.

Never did! Steve, can we do this,
can you fix this one?

Yeah, I think so. I don't want to do
too much to the outside.

I mean, I'll clean some of the rust
off.

OK. But I don't want to make it look
brand-new.

It sounds like an easy one for you,
then, Steve, eh?

We'll see. OK.
THEY LAUGH

Thank you for bringing it in. Leave
it with us. Thank you very much.

And we'll get it sorted. Thank you,
Sandy. Thank you very much.

This classic motor was produced by
Mamod,

a British company that's been making
steam-powered model vehicles for
over 70 years.

I can't take too much of the
mechanics apart,

because it's all riveted together,
so I'm going to clean it up the best
I can.

I'm pretty sure that the safety
valve is working on it,

so that's one of my main concerns
always with a steam toy.

Sometimes these safety valves get
seized up,

and it makes it really dangerous.

The actual boiler could rupture and
then hot water could spew out of it

and obviously scald somebody.

Yeah, that's working nicely.

Meanwhile, Amanda and Julie have
been carrying out drastic surgery

on the two bears. Now that they're
in bits, it's time for a bath.

It's amazing, isn't it? They don't
look dirty, but it's amazing,

70 years of... Yeah. ..dust and
loving, and...

..all sorts. Look at the colour of
my water!

How's yours doing? Mine looks like a
really bad, unpleasant cup of tea!

It takes five washes to get the
teds clean.

Once dry, they can be rebuilt.

The early bears were stuffed purely
with wood wool.

That was everything -
head, body, limbs,

and they were very firm, very hard -
not very cuddly for children.

And then they started to use,
later on, kapok.

It's a plant material, but it is
really, really soft.

I'll have to add a small bit at a
time so I can get it in all the
little bits.

With Big Ted's head whole again,
next, Amanda can sew on some new
glass eyes.

So, my needle goes in through the
eye socket like this.

I've packed him quite firm,
so it's a bit...

I have to be quite firm with it.

I have to make sure I come out at
the bottom of his head. Like that.

So we then just pull like this, so I
can kind of adjust by pulling that
string.

I think the glass eyes that he
would traditionally have had,

really bringing his face to life
again.

And you can see he's really coming
together now.

Outside the barn, Steve and
metalworker Dom are awaiting the
next repair.

Hello, I'm Steve. Sheila, lovely to
meet you.

Jeremy. Hi, Jeremy. Have you got
something for us? We do.

Jeremy and Sheila Newcombe have
brought their prized possession

all the way from Newton Abbott in
Devon.

Oh, gosh, OK. Cor!

Let's take it into the workshop and
have a look at it, shall we?

Shall I take this one? Oops!

Oh, it's falling apart before we get
in! Exactly!

We'd better get it in quick!

After being stored in a shed for the
last three years,

Jeremy and Sheila are hoping that
it's not too late to save this
family heirloom.

Well, I can see what it is. Tell us
a bit about it.

From my understanding, this is a
Victorian lamp stand -

the top of it. I know that my
father acquired it in 1964.

He was in the process of arranging
for the demolition of a large old
pottery.

This lamp post was a
feature outside these buildings,

and he positioned this lamp stand at
the bottom of the garden,

and it became a feature of the
house,

then, throughout the whole of my
childhood,

and right the way through to the
time when we were married.

And then in recent years,

we've positioned the lamp stand now
in our property.

So, this has got a lot of meaning to
you?

I suppose it has,

because it's been something that's
related to my family life through
most of it.

This lamp has always been
part of it.

When was the last time you saw it
working?

Probably around the 1990s.

It was all together, but it was
really fragile.

So I took the elements apart, and I
have all the elements with me,

including the glass and the bits of
the frame that are missing.

The corrosion is so far gone that
there are elements here that need to
be completely replaced.

Absolutely. I think the best thing
you did was take it down

and save the pieces before it fell
down.

I was all for getting a reproduction
one to put on top of our empty lamp
post!

Oh, no! But I couldn't live with
that.

Well done! I think you've got your
work cut out.

Yeah. Thank you so much
for coming in.

Dom's first job is to work out which
parts of the lamp can be salvaged,

and which will have to be scrapped.

I'm going to start with this top
perimeter that's missing.

I've got half of one bit there and a
little bit of one left over here.

This is very, very thin steel,

and the water's got in and it's just
completely rotten.

I want to keep as much as I can of
the original structure and the
original piece,

but this is so far gone,

the best thing to do would be to
just make a new section.

While Dom starts work on the lamp,

Steve returns to the restoration of
the steam-powered toy car,

and improving the old and rusty
bodywork.

I'm just taking small bits of wire
wool, wrapping it around a stick,

and just pop a bit of wax on it just
to help the cleaning process.

So, this is just a wax furniture
polish.

Basically, it helps stop any
scratching of the wire wool,

and it's a great technique for
taking light rust off of items,

or verdigris or loose paint.

I'm going to repaint the panels that
are poorest.

I've got a paint just the right
colour.

With the bodywork refreshed,

Steve can concentrate his efforts on
getting the engine up and running
again,

and he thinks he's finally
identified the issue.

I've actually taken off the piston.

That's the piston there.

That's the thing that actually
drives it.

That goes up and down like that and
drives it.

So, I've polished it all up
so it's nice and smooth...now.

Beforehand,
it wouldn't move very well,

so the steam car wouldn't have
worked very well at all.

Toy restoration experts Julie and
Amanda are in the final stages of

restoring the pair of teddy bears.

And with owner Jill due back to
collect them,

Jay is checking up on progress.

So, how are you getting on? Ooh!

He's coming along, isn't he? He is
coming along.

Does that look a bit
more recognisable as a bear?

It does look...yeah. But you can
help me with the next bit.

What, are you going to stuff him
now, yeah? Well, I'm going to stuff
him. I've made a start.

I've just started putting a layer of
kapok in,

and you can see he's only got a
little body. Into that body, we need
to put this.

And this is? This is his original
trouser leg. Yeah.

And the other one's inside there,

and his original arms and body are
all in that little parcel.

So you've not got a lot of space.
No.

My fingers, cor blimey!

There you go. So it's in.

But we do want him to have more of
a teddy, rounded tummy.

Well, he's got a six-pack - that's
all right, isn't it?

Not very cuddly, though! All right!

But if we gently push a little bit
of kapok in and around that little
parcel of fabric,

with a little bit of tweaking and
working, we can get him looking like
he's... Do you want to have a go?

He needs quite a bit, though,
doesn't he? He will need quite a
bit.

Well, how's Big Ted getting along,
anyway?

So, he's going to have a layer of
that in his tummy first.

OK, wood wool. And one thing that's
really important for Jill...

SQUEAKING

He's got his squeak back.

OK, cool. So you're going to get his
tummy as firm as his legs?

Yeah. Cool. Just got to keep
working on it.

I've got to go. OK. OK.
All right. I'll leave you to it.
Bye. See you.

Big Ted and Little Ted were the
respective childhood companions

of Jill and her late husband, Edwin,

who were married for nearly 50
years.

Jill is hoping the Repair Shop has
managed to preserve the memories
they hold.

Hello again! How are you doing,
Jill?

I'm fine, thank you. That's good.

How are you? I hardly slept last
night.

It was like a child with a
birthday party today! Bless!

Are you ready? I am. Are you sure?

Yeah.

Wow! Wow!

Oh, my goodness.

Oh, I can't believe it.

THEY LAUGH

It's just amazing. Oh!

You can pick them up. Oh!

Oh, bless you!

Oh!

Oh, I'm being silly.
No, you're not being silly at all.
You're not being silly at all.

I'm so happy that you're so pleased.
Oh, goodness! Oh!

What an amazing job.

I think Ed would have been so proud.

Yeah? Good.

It's absolutely lovely.

Thank you so much.

It's like a dream come true.
It's lovely.

Pop them in there, then.

There they go. I feel a very lucky
person today. Good.

I was a little bit worried, because
I didn't want them to look sort of

over-done-up and like new, but they
look amazing, because they look
their age,

but they're absolutely beautiful.

I will always make sure that they
stay together,

because I think that's the way it
should be.

In the metal workshop,

Dom is recreating the handmade metal
frame of the Victorian lamp.

To fill in the gaps, he's calling
on the help of resident
stained-glass expert Matt Nichols.

Hi there, Dom. Matt, hey. All right?
How's it going? Yeah, not too bad.

I heard you needed some glass
cutting. I do, if you've got time.

I just need to make this look like
this, if that's OK?

Yes, well, I'll do my best, yeah,
see if I can do that.

So, I use the edge that's already
straight. OK.

Cut as accurately as possible
on the inside of the pen line.

But obviously, you're dealing with
just a couple of millimetres,

aren't you? Yeah, I need quite a
tight fit.

Got to really try and be accurate.
OK, so, starting at the top...

So the way to do it - thumb either
side like that,

hold it and then you just pull down
and pull away.

And it's just that? Yeah. Just
like... Pulling it apart. Yeah.

And move your hands apart. That's
it, that's it, nice.

Like that? Yeah, and then down and
away.

Wow! Brilliant, yeah. All right.
Yeah.

OK, moment of truth. Go on, then.
Yeah.

You know what? I think that's bang
on, isn't it? That's pretty good.

Great. Three more to go. Lovely.
Thank you very much. All right.

So I'm working on the top part of
the lantern now.

This is probably the most rotten
piece from the whole lantern.

As you can see, there's really very
little left.

This is obviously too far gone.

The only real solution, I think, is
to just make a new one.

To recreate the top of the lantern,
Dom first makes a paper template.

That all looks OK. I'm happy with
that.

He then uses it to mark up the steel
sheet before cutting it out.

It's kind of a bit of origami now.

I just need to fold this along the
lines into the shape that we want
for the top of the lantern.

The actual machine is really
straightforward.

It's just got almost some jaws that
grab and clamp the metal,

and then a flap at the front,
which folds it up.

So, once you've folded it, it's
done. There's no folding it back.

So we've only got one chance.

There you go. You can see it's one
really nice, straight, even,

on the line. It looks ideal.

That's perfect. You can see there it
fits really nicely all the way
around.

So I've just got one more of those
to make for this side.

I'm really pleased with that.

Back inside, mechanical whizz Steve
has been rebooting an old toy steam
car.

He's reconditioned the engine,
touched up the paintwork,

and finally, it's ready for a test
drive,

and there's someone who's more than
happy to help take it for a spin.

Are you ready to test it?
Yeah, yeah. I'm going to fire it up.

I've been able to locate a burner
tray.

So what are those?
They're burning blocks.

OK. It saves putting methylated
spirits into these things.

So - pop that in there. All right.

And then it's just waiting for it to
heat up and boil up.

But it should be quite quick.

You can hear it cooking, though.
Yeah. Either that or the paint's
bubbling off!

THEY LAUGH

Yeah. Oh, there we go. Ahoy!

Are you ready to catch it?
Are YOU ready? Here we go.

Look at that. It's on a roll, it's
on a roll! Oh, it is!

There we go. So, that works all
right. It works perfect.

So I'm pretty pleased with that.

Pretty pleased? Come on, man!
It's more than pretty pleased.

You've got it working and it looks
the business.

Sandy's going to be... I think he's
going to be enjoying this.

Do we have to give it to him
straightaway?!

THEY LAUGH

Sandy is back to see the car that
he's been so determined to restore
in memory of his old friend Peter.

Hi, Sandy. How are you? Hello,
Steve. Nice to see you again.

You too. Come up to the table.
Thanks a lot.

Right, it's been an interesting job
to work on.

I bet it has. Let's have a look at
it, shall we?

Oh! Wow!

Is that the same car? Yeah.

That's wonderful, isn't it?

Crikey! I didn't expect that.

So what was the tricky part?

I guess the tricky part was making
sure that the piston was all working
smoothly.

That was quite tight and rough.

Right. I've taken it all apart,
cleaned it all up and smoothed it
off,

and I've painted the rest of it.

It's really good, isn't it?

Can we see it moving? Oh, you want
it working? Yeah!

I'll just light it up.

MOTOR WHIRS

Ha-ha!

There we are. Wonderful.

We've had great fun with it!

I bet you have, yeah.

What would Peter be thinking now,
do you think?

Well, he's up there looking down,

and he'd have a big silly smile on
his face,

cos he's that sort of guy. Yep.

If he was here now, he'd be running
round, shaking everybody's hand.

It's a memorial, really.
It's a good memory of a good mate.

Absolutely. Thank you very much.
You're very, very welcome. Thank
you. OK.

There's just one project left to
finish.

Out in the metal workshop,

Dom's giving the Victorian lantern
a much-needed lick of paint.

Now he just needs to fit the new
glass back into the frame.

It's a tricky part of the build,

because it's obviously a very old
frame.

I've straightened it up and got it
back into a solid shape.

But there's no room for error with
glass, because it's perfectly flat.

I mean, if these uprights are not
quite straight,

it's going to cause problems with
gaps between the metal and the glass
and things like that.

So, this is a real test of the
previous work that we've done.

I've got two more pieces
in the door.

Fingers crossed that they're
all going to go in as well
as that first one has.

OK, that's the last piece in.

Fantastic that they all fit really,
really nicely.

Brilliant. I can't wait to see
Jeremy's reaction when this is back
in pride of place in his garden.

Jeremy and Sheila came to the
workshop with just a broken rusted
frame.

100 years had left the lantern no
longer fit for purpose.

But after hours of careful
reconstruction,

the heirloom that's been a landmark
for so many family events is being

returned to light up their lives
once again.

I can remember the lamp post from
when I was 11 years old,

something like that. So, yeah, it
has lots of fond memories.

We dream of it being able to be used

and to be properly repaired for
years to come.

Wow!
THEY LAUGH

What about this, Sheila? It's big!

Oh, exciting!

Oh, wow!

Look at that!

Well, that exceeds my expectations.

That is stunning, isn't it?

That is wonderful.

I would not have believed it, would
you?

I think it's amazing. A lot of this
is the original metalwork that he's

carefully repaired and extended.

And I absolutely love it.

Yes, your dad would be amazed.

I don't think it's ever been this
good, has it?

It's never been this good!

Oh, Dad would be chuffed. He'd be
pleased that we'd taken the trouble

to inherit something that he
started, that he started,

and put it back in good order for
many years to come.

I feel a great deal of satisfaction.

It's a job done.

It's something that's been finished
that was unfinished before.

Shall we do it? It looks cool,
doesn't it? Let's just hope it
works.

Wow! Oh, wow! That is great!

Oh, it's superb.
It's lovely, isn't it?

I'm delighted that it's turned out
so well.

And I think it's wonderful. Yeah.

I love it. We're really pleased.

Cheers, darling. Here's to your dad.

Join us next time, as more treasured
possessions are revived...

Oh, wow! ..and their precious
memories restored...

She is just beautiful.

..in the Repair Shop.