11x07 - Amphicar

[bunniefuu]

This time on Wheel of Dealers,
I buy the tall man's dream car.

This is going to be a real treat for Ed.

But it's not just a car, it's a boat.

I'm on the high seas, captain.

Ed is over the moon.

Awesome. These things are fantastic.
I love amphicars.

But he soon discovers that
his dream is hiding a nightmare.

My sinking feeling is finding new depths.

I buy cool classic cars that need work.

Ed is the mechanical genius
who turns them around.

And then we sell them
on, hopefully for a profit.

Two thirds of the world
is covered in water.

So if you like cars and you
like water, what do you do?

You buy one of these, the
German built 1960s amphicar.

It's very rare, with less than


But arguably the most
effective boat car in history.

The amphicar uses the engine from a
Triumph Herald with a custom hull body

and a special gearbox which allows transfer
of power from wheels to propellers.

It costs so much to
develop, the company sank.

Aside from the huge crim
factor, the one thing that

drives me to want one, it's
the dream car of Mr Ed Chyna.

So the question is, where
am I going to find one?

They don't exactly grow on
trees, I'll be honest with you.

I think I've only ever seen one in my life.

I've got a funny feeling this is
going to be a bit of a challenge.

There are only two cars for sale in Europe.

One is at 45 grand,
twice what I want to spend.

The other is a project at 25.

The word project puts me off.

Most amphicars ended up in the USA

and the Florida-based restorer is
selling one on behalf of a customer.

He hasn't worked on the car but he
reckons it drives, floats and is complete.

It floats alright, that's good.

And he leaks.

Lovely.

So it all starts, stops and goes.

Bye bye.

Well the good news with this car is
it's $35,000 which is around £20,000

and that's for a car that runs,
drives and as he says, floats.

This is exactly what I'm looking for.

I reckon I should go
and stand in front of it.



where the car's freshwater lakes
are perfect amphicar territory.

If a little dangerous with the
high numbers of crocodiles,

the car is in Tavirus,
an hour from Orlando.

Hello.

How are you doing?

Fine.

Are you Dave?

I'm Dave the Wave.

Dave the Wave, at last.

I've come a long way to come and meet you.

Very nice.

This is it then, a little amphicar.

Yes it is.

Wonderful.

Now you know all about these
because you sort of look after these,

restore them, fix them up, yeah?

That's my living, is restoring amphicars.

Well let's have a good look round it.

What's this number on
the side, what's that for?

That's Florida registration, it's got
to be assured as a boat and a car.

So that's like the boat registration.

Double taxation without representation.

I like the white wall tyres, the
red paint and the white hood.

Can we have a look under this?

This will be the hood
on this car, wouldn't it?

Now the difference with an amphicar
is you need this key to unlock it.

because if you've got it open and
it hits the waves, it'll let water in.

It's carpeted, is that right?

Well the boards themselves are original
but the previous owner liked carpeting,

ours to restore it, I'd go
with the original grey wood.

Carpeting in the boat
doesn't really work, does it?

Not for me.

No, not for me either.

It's got a good white hood, hasn't it?

Is that original?

It's a real OEM style, it's not an
original, it's been a replacement.

Yeah, I can see that, it
looks in really good order.

Being that we're in Florida and the
sun's always shining, should we get it off?

Absolutely.

This is quite bad here, isn't it?

The previous owner used copious amounts
of body filler and fibreglass and goo.

You think this rear quarter
definitely needs fixing?

There's no doubt about it, it's no good.

Right, let's jump in, shall we?

Oh, it's very nice in here, isn't it?

It's not bad.

Yeah, it's great, I like the seats.

The dials and the gauges, they look
very period, but they look very worn.

Again, I'm going to say the word carpet.

That doesn't seem
right inside this vehicle.

No, as you can tell, it collects the
sand and of course then it gets wet.

It's not my first choice.

Now that is a little Triumph
Herald engine, isn't it?

Yes, it's 11.47cc, 43 horsepower.

Is it good enough?

You know, it's honestly
a really good engine.

It does the job well, it
gets great fuel economy,

almost 30 miles to the
gallon on the highway.

And a gallon per hour on the water.

Wow.

So it's really frugal.

Is there something missing here?

Well, that's where the original bilge
pump would have been mounted.

And then it would have
came over to here to go out.

The previous owner
put two submersible bilge

pumps in and they
squared out the side now.

So they're in the wrong place.

They're definitely in the wrong place.

Shall we have a look underneath,
because that's where the props are.

Look at that, there they are.

Dual screws.

Dual screws. Isn't that cool?

Look, props underneath the car.

I think the only thing left
for me to do is to take this car

stroke boat out for a test
drive. Is that alright with you?

Absolutely.

I've driven a lot of different cars,

but this is the very first time in
my life I've ever driven an amphicar.

It's alright, it's quite
comfortable inside.

It's got a nice big cabin.

It actually feels very
much like a little Triumferral.

Makes the same noise.

This car's unique selling point is it turns
itself into a boat and it goes in water.

So I think it would be stupid
of me not to put it in the water,

because I've got to see if
this thing can really float.

I can't believe I'm
going to do this by hand.

Get to the top of the ramp,

put the car in neutral, engage the props.

I can hear them turning.

That's it, away I go.

Okay, so this will be
a very first for me ever.

I'm now driving a car into water.

And I'm in.

And I'm away.

Look at that, how cool is that?

And the props are working.

I can see them spinning up the back.

Oh, that is just the coolest thing ever.

That is absolutely epic.

Wonderful.

Oh, how cool is this?

And China is going to absolutely love this.

Going to love it.

I've got water breaking over the bow.

Wicked.

And it actually handles
alright in the water.

And whenever I take
the test drive in a car,

I'm usually concerned about
leaks coming from the engine.

In this instance, I'm worried about
leaks coming from the chassis.

I'm on the high seas cutting.

I think you've got to say
I've made up my mind.

This happy car is coming home with me.

There you go.

And out onto dry lands.

I can't believe I've just done that.

And away I go.

That's it.

I'm just driven out to sea.

And away I go back onto land.

Oh, I'm so happy in this.

So how was your ride?

Fantastic, yeah.

I loved it.

Did you get it in the water?

I got it in the water.

It's the first test drive I've
ever done in a car in water.

It's scary, isn't it, when you
plunge in for the first time?

The first time, the second time,
the third time, the hundredth time.

It's terrifying, trust me, it's fun.

I just want to have a deal with you.

I want to get it bought.

Good.

So how much is it?

$35,000.

$35,000.

It's so much money.

Will you take $30,000 for it?

Absolutely not.

No, no, no.

You can turn around, walk down the road,

and somebody else will
jump in this seat today.

At $35,000, we're firm.

So you're not going to take
a penny less than $35,000?

Absolutely.

So it's $35,000 or nothing at all?

Exactly.

I'll take your hand.

Yes, I've just bought myself an Amphicar.

I love it, and I know Ed will.

Yes, this car might be
difficult to find parts for,

tough to sell, and potentially very costly,

but I'm hoping that a big risk
equals a big profit of around $10,000.

Why did I buy a rare Amphicar?

Yes.

Two reasons.

One, it can do this.

And two, it's Ed's dream car.

Ed China is going to absolutely love this.

I'm on the high seas, captain.

I can't lie, it does leak a bit,

but surely a little leak
shouldn't upset this dreamboat.

I've decided it might
be safer to drive it to the

shippers rather than
sailing the car back home.

Now, first up, let me just tell
you how happy I am with that deal.

I know $35,000 seems
like a lot of money for this

little old car, but trust
me, $35,000 is nothing.

This is a car, and it's a boat.

It's a very, very unique vehicle,
and I am so happy with the deal.

Now, when we get this
car back to the workshop,

I've got a pretty clear idea
what we need to do with it.

The first thing is that bodywork.

Not only that, there's a few
other leaks around the car.

I've noticed that a carpet is soaking
wet, so that means there's other leaks,

so we need to address those problems too,

because trust me, $35,000 will
turn into £35,000 when it's in the UK.

This is going to be a real treat for Ed,

and I can't wait to see his face when I
rock up outside the workshop with this.

Hey!

Thought I heard something.

How are you doing? You all right?

Awesome. These things are fantastic.
I love amphicars.

Sometimes when I get a car, I
buy it because it needs rescuing.

Sometimes I buy a car for the profit.

Sometimes I buy a car
and your chin hits the floor.

But this time, I went
all the way to Florida,

and I bought you back this,

because I know this is
the favourite car of your

boyhood dreams, and it's
a treat for you to work on it.

Well, thank you. It's
the sort of car I would

go man for, but before
I do go mad for it,

I obviously want to make sure
that you haven't bought a lemon.

So let's have a little deeper look.

OK, well, there you go. Look at that.

Well, it does look kind of a little untidy.

This isn't right.

This should have wooden panels in
here, and it should be nicely done out,

and it's a little bit,
well, a bit of a mess.

I can see some leaves in the bottom.
Does it leak?

I weren't going to buy
the car without testing it

in the water first, so I
did take it in some water.

After a while, I noticed
that all the carpets got

wet, not only at the
front, but inside the car,

and it took a long time to drain out.

Once I got it out of the water,

water was dripping out
of it for a long, long time,

but apparently that's normal.

See, now I'm starting to
get a bit of a sinking feeling.

Oh, don't get a sinking feeling.

Please, please. It's lovely.
What do you see inside?

Look at the interior.

It's lovely, beautiful little interior.

Not much to do in here.

No, it's great. It's really lovely.

It's exactly what you expect from the car.

I love all the extra dials and switches,

because, of course, some
of this is to do with the fact

that it is actually a
boat as well as a car.

Now let me show you down the back,

and before we get to the engine,

you see these two holes here?

Yeah, it is the bilge pump.

That pumps the water
out that gets gathered up.

inside the boat, and
it ejects it out the side.

Well, they're in the wrong place.

They should be down the back.

And while you're taking
those off and moving them,

we've got to do something
about this rear quarter panel,

because, as you can
see, it's full of filler.

That is very bubbly, isn't it?

I don't think filler
floats very well either.

No, filler doesn't float very well at all.

Right, now let me show you the engine.

I think this opens up that
way, but it don't look peculiarly.

It opens up on the side.

There, Ed, you will find a British engine,

a little four-cylinder, 1150cc,

out of the Triumph
Herald, believe it or not.

I know, if we get this right, Ed,

this one is a whopper.

It will deliver us a Titanic profit, and
I'm talking a profit of about £10,000.

That is very brave, but bear in
mind what happened to that ship.

Okay, let's not go there, because
that's not going to happen with this.

Let's get it in the workshop,
get it up on the ramp.

But what a load of fun,
it's going to be good fun.

It's going to be great, isn't it?
I knew you'd like it.

Now this is an amazing moment for me.

I have been a fan of the amphibious
vehicle ever since I was a small boy,

and ever since I actually got
to drive one of these things,

the Amphicar has become perhaps
my favourite vehicle of all time.

And why do I like it so much?

Well, who would be crazy enough
to try and combine a boat with a car?

Well, someone like myself,
which is why it fits so well.

And now I get the honour
of actually working on it.

And that brings me to
the first part of my voyage.

A question that needs to be
answered that Mike didn't do a

very good job of was, in the
water, does this thing leak?

Boats are usually made of fibreglass,

but the Amphicar is steel,
just like an ordinary car.

I need to look for signs of water ingress.

Holy moly.

I'm afraid there are signs of potential
problems dotted all over the car,

but under the driver's seat is an
area that's been patched up big time.

I need to get a closer
look at that from above,

so out comes the interior.

Well, things certainly seem
to be going from bad to worse.

Now, obviously, the Amphicar
is not supposed to be a sieve,

but we have actually
found plenty of evidence

on the outside, at least, of minor
repairs that have been done really badly,

but I've now found a major
repair on the inside of our hull here,

and you can see all
this fibreglass has been

put down to try and
stop the water coming in.

And a fibreglass repair
on a fibreglass boat

is fine, but on a steel
one, it's not so good.

And you can see it's actually
peeling away from that steel,

and I imagine going by
the evidence of all the water

and leaves that have collected
inside here, that's a pretty major leak.

So what I want to do
first is peel all of that

horrible stuff back and
see how bad it really is.

Wow. Well, there's plenty of
evidence of possible leaks here.

You can see you've got
this hole in the metal here,

but there's actually a
layer of rubber sealant.

over the top to stop the water
coming in, which may have

worked a little bit there, but
there's definitely a leak here.

Look at that. There's room for three
fingers to go through this hole here.

That is pretty shocking.

So I imagine that's what
Mike was talking about

when it took ages to drain
out, of course, because it's

filling up with water when
he was actually in the water.

So I'd like to see this
from the other side.

This is serious.

The hole is in the worst possible place.

It's not flat, it's on the edge of a sill

and on the junction of
three different panels,

and that makes it about
four times harder to weld.

Check that out.

Now, that is not a good repair.

Now, obviously, because
this thing's been in the water

for quite a bit, I expect to
see a certain amount of rust.

I'm not going to give
Mike a really hard time.

because the rest of the
vehicle seems to be okay.

It's got all the right bits
and pieces attached to it.

But the thing is, if all the repairs.

have been done this badly, then
we might be in for a bit of a nightmare,

and there seems to
be plenty of evidence of

other attempts all over
the rest of the vehicle.

So I need to now look at
those and see how bad they are.

Every single area I dig into shows
signs of poor short-term patching up.

I have to say, my sinking
feeling is finding new depths.

All of these repairs I'm just peeling
away are just really bad botches.

You can see there's
rust all over the place,

there's loads of holes, but
it needs to be done properly.

You need to put in actual metal.

So because everywhere
I'm touching is just kind of

falling away to rot, I need to
do something more drastic.

And unfortunately, although it's
the right thing to do for the car,

it's going to involve a lot
more time, a lot more money.

I'm going to take this car back to bare
metal to see the full extent of the damage.

Over at the paint shop, I decide
to soda blast our amphicar,

which will strip away
the paint and any filler.

This is gentle on the
older metal underneath.

A sandblaster, for example,
would blow it to shreds.

Well, this is quite amazing.

I've never seen quite so much filler
that's so thick on the whole area of a car.

It's quite awesome.

But the good news is, you can see up here,

it's actually much, much thinner.

So that's just normal paint,

but you can see it's getting
thicker and thicker and thicker.

And it looks like somebody's
actually put in this repair panel here,

and you can see that rot has
started to kind of rot out again,

which is why we had
all these bubbles in here.

So at least now we know
exactly what we're dealing with.

It costs £300 to hire the blaster,

and it's tough, laborious
work to burn off all that filler.

This is an amazing process,

because you can see exactly
where all the really nasty repairs are,

and all I'm finding on here
is even worse repair work,

but equally, you can see all this lovely
clean metal here, which is unsullied.

So we're getting a much better
picture of what's going on with the car,

but if I find any more stuff like this,

then it's going to be an
absolute disaster, I think.

And so far, it's taken me
quite a few hours just to clean

off this one side here, so
this is going to take a while.

In a few more hours, I'll
know how bad the rot on the

Amphicar is, and if I'm
going to be able to save it.

I get a feeling Ed's
motoring dream isn't going to

plan, so I've tried to find
ways to cheer him up.

The Amphicar is missing a part,

and the plan I've got to replace it
was surely put a smile on his face.

My destination is, of course, a boatyard.

Hello, are you Jeremy? Yes.
Jeremy, nice to meet you.

You all right, mate? Nice to meet you.
Yeah, and you, mate.

I'm quite excited about
being down here today,

because this will be
the first time I've ever

bought anything that's
not car-related for a car.

So what I need is an
oar, just in case the engine

fails and I can paddle
it through the water.

So what can you do for me?
That's it, that's the kind of thing.

That's a paddle, a three-foot paddle.

We make these here in-house.

Okay, that's good, isn't it?
Just something like this, yeah.

That's perfect, almost.

That'll get us to shore, won't it?
Couple of those.

You can buy paddles made of plastic,

but there's nothing more
charming than one made by hand.

Jeremy's woodworker, Gerard, forms
the paddle from three blocks of spruce.

So it's gluing it all together first?

It is indeed. Pre-prepared surfaces.

I love a bit of woodworking.

My grandad used to be in
the woodworking business.

The PVA glue goes off quickly,

and then we can start shaping
out the handle of the paddle.

All right, Mike, this is the bandsaw.

Just got a few health and
safety bits to get on there.

Grab some glasses? Yep, no worries.

Awesome. Some air here, defenders.

Just got you deafening yourself.

All right, if you just want to
keep nice and clear of the blade.

I can't hear a word you're saying there.

The industrial bandsaw
can shake 200 paddles a day,

and this is one of the most
dangerous machines in the workshop.

And once that's planed down
and sanded, it starts taking shape.

Bitness enough?

Yeah, I say that about to do it.

There you go, lovely.

Yeah, just about ready to go
and stick some varnish on there.

Good, let's go for it.

The paddle needs two
coats of marine varnish

before the sign writer Martin gets
busy with an Amphicar logo I provided.

I'm certain I've got a steady enough hand,

but it can take years to learn
this graph, so please bear with me.

How am I doing so far?

Yeah, you're keeping kind of to the lines.

What do you mean kind of?

It's not a fast process, but
it's a great one to witness.

If this doesn't cheer
it up, then what will?

That's quite good, isn't it? Yeah.

Well, what a great day,
real craftsmanship at work.

And look at the result.

We've got this custom-made
paddle unique to our Amphicar.

It's even got the name written
on it, and they only cost £80 each.

I can't wait to get them back to the
workshop and see what Ed thinks.

I wanted to collect the profit
of £10,000 on the Amphicar,

but Ed's dramatic decision to go back
to bare metal has put that at serious risk.

The way things are going, we
might not make any money at all.

In between these two panels, there's
a whole tonne of expanding foam.

It's not looking good.

This is an Amphicar.

Oh, that is just the coolest thing ever.

It was Ed China's green car.

Perhaps not any more.

Holy moly.

You see, the car isn't
as good as I'd hoped.

It leaks, and Ed's had to go back
to bare metal to solve the problem.

So where are we? Well, we're all at sea.

Well, this goes to show just
how great soda blasting is.

I knew there were going to be
some surprises under the paintwork,

but I certainly wasn't
expecting half an inch of filler.

It looks like a fossil.

You can actually see
all the different layers

where people have been bodging
over somebody else's bodge.

It is an absolute nightmare.

Of course, this stuff was all over the whole
car, so it was really weighing it down.

So you can imagine, in the
water, this stuff isn't that buoyant.

So it's great that we got rid of it, and
now we can see what we have to do next.

It's quite simple, really.

I cut out the rot.

The first cut is to get rid of that old
repair panel on the rear three-quarter.

And once that's gone,
it's clear the panel beneath

also needs instant
removal and replacement.

And because the lower metal is
flat, I can cut a new repair panel,

drill holes across the top,
and spot weld it into place.

And now the larger problem
of the panel that sits above it.

Now, this is the rear three-quarter panel

that might first notice these
big bubbles in the paintwork.

And these holes are actually
what caused the bubbles.

Of course, this metal is actually rusted,

and that can expand up to


which, of course, is why
those blisters can form.

But actually, you can see why
the rust started in the first place.

In between these two panels,
there's a whole ton of expanding foam,

and obviously that just absorbs the
water and it just rots from the inside out.

Now, having cut the rot out of the car, I
now need to replace it with some new metal.

And what I need to do, I'm going
to have a nice joggled edge on here.

So what's going to happen, I'm
actually going to bend the metal

so you can have another piece
of metal, or the original bit of metal,

so there's a lovely, lovely
seam, nice and strong.

But then also, you've got these
little folds on the edges here.

That's how the car was
originally put together.

So I need to allow enough
metal for that as well.

And of course, as always,
you want to be measuring

at least twice before
you do any cutting at all.

I use this tape to project how the panel
would have looked before it rotted to bits.

Once it's cut, I use the press to
make half folds on each seam.

Right, so the car was
originally put together like this,

and what happened is these
flaps are kind of folded flat

and just kind of go and just grip another
panel that's actually already on the car.

So I want to form this on the bench.

So what I'm going to do is
just use another piece of metal

so when I beat this down flat, I've
got the right kind of size spacer inside,

and hopefully it should fit perfectly.

when it goes back onto the vehicle.

It looks tidy, but it won't be strong until
I've spot and seam welded it into place.

It's critical not to put too
much heat into the body shell,

as this can cause rippling,
so I go one weld at a time.

I work down the side of
the car until I can avoid

no longer the huge, rusty
hole under the driver's footwell.

My grinder not only
gets rid of the base panel,

but also the support bracket,
which I'll need to remake.

I make up a repair panel for the base,

which butts right up against
the cuts I made previously.

This is looking pretty good, actually.

I spend hours getting this right.

If it's not perfect, then I'm wasting
my time going back to bare metal

and trying to get this
car on the right course.

Well, having now replaced the floor,

which is obviously in a right state,

I now have to put back
this structural member here,

and you can see this
is also in a bit of a state,

so what I've done instead, I've
actually made a paper template,

and this way I can
check that it fits perfectly.

So now all I have to do is turn
this into something out of metal.

It is possible to buy some
repair panels for this car,

but they're expensive,
and in my experience,

even a pre-made panel will
need a lot of fettling before it fits.

So I've now put a bend
into my repair panel.

The next thing I have to worry
about are these swaged holes.

Now, the reason for this is not
really for actually saving weight,

it's actually to add strength
to this structural member.

Now, I've got a very clever tool
for actually making these holes.

You can see it's got a
cutting element there

as well, and also like
a forming element.

So the idea is, now I've drilled the holes,
I just clamp this either side, wind it up,

it'll actually punch the
hole and then form the

metal to form a lovely
little swage. Fantastic.

This tool costs £110 and has to
be ordered online as it's a rare size.

So let's see if our new panel fits.

Oh, look at that!

That is fantastic. It
looks pretty much the

same as the other
side, but the best bit is

that these new holes at the
bottom here are going to let

any water that might get
in to the cab of the vehicle

all the way out to the back
where the bilge pump is.

So all I have to do now
is weld it into position.

I work around our craft and most of the
repairs are not as involved as this one.

I've never had a car in the workshop
before that's needed so much metal work.

How much would this cost
if a specialist took it on?

I was told around £10,000,

so I'm saving a fortune,

which I'll need to spend at the paint shop.

I'm desperate to see the Amphicar. Come on.

The thing is, now, remember when we got it,

it did look okay, but there
were a few little blemishes.

Well, it's been through a
bit of a journey, to be honest.

Wow! Oh, Ed, it's brilliant.

I knew that if I got you a
car you absolutely loved,

you'd go the extra mile or
extra knot in terms of this.

You've stripped it all the way
back, literally, to the bare metal.

Yeah, well, the thing is, it
was never really my intention,

but the only way really to see
how bad the whole car was.

was literally to strip everything back.

How much welding has
gone back into this car?

Well, I think percentage-wise,
I guess all the

panels we worked on,
I'm saying 110%, actually,

because we had to buy a new bonnet
because that one was so full of filler.

All this work, Ed, is going
to translate into hard cash.

Are you sure?
Because it has been a huge amount of work,

and up until now I really have
had a bit of a sinking feeling.

This is such an interesting car.

We're going to run some big bucks out
of it because you're doing the job right.

So what about the colour? Now we've
stripped it back, should we change it?

Absolutely not. No,
I still feel that if we're

going to be bobbing
around in any waters,

anywhere, we want to be
seen, so we should keep it red.

Well, now I've seen
it, I'm full of confidence,

and I reckon, from here on
in, it's going to be plain sailing.

Mike remains buoyant, but getting
the Amphicar painted inside and out.

cost us £4,000, but
the results are stunning.

Wow, this is looking quite spectacular.

I mean, in its time in the workshop,

our Amphicar has gone through
a series of transformations.

First of all, when it turned
up, it looked pretty much OK,

but then having been stripped
down, it looked absolutely terrifying,

and then after hours and
hours, in fact, days of work,

it now looks, well, pretty
much like it's just come

out of a factory, albeit
halfway through assembly.

The Amphicar looks blemish-free,
and despite all of that welding,

the lines of the car are still intact.

We're looking for top money on
this car, and to make sure we get it,

I need to investigate one item
that threatens to ruin everything.

I'm talking about the bilge pump,
and that's this little chap just here.

Now, obviously, we've welded
up all of the holes in the hull,

but it's inevitable, if you're
bobbing around in the water,

that some of it is going to
get back inside our vehicle,

and the idea with the
pump is to actually get

rid of it, so what happens
is the water collects,

there's a little switch here,
which works like a float.

As the float is operated,

you can hear the pump coming on.

Now, the idea with that, of course,

is the pump scavenges the water
and then Chucks it overboard.

Now, there was a number of problems
with this whole system at the moment.

The first is, our little float switch
here is actually floating around itself,

so there's nothing to say
that it won't float on the

surface of the water and
not actually operate the pump.

Also, the wiring's
looking a little bit sketchy,

and it's not as if this pump
is fresh as the daisies.

I think the best thing to do
is have a slightly closer look.

Well, this is the bilge pump from the car.

Now, it's not what the car
would have had out of the factory.

That would normally sit
on the back of the engine

bay, cost about £1,200,
if you can find one.

They are so rare, and clearly, the
previous owner had a problem with that

and has obviously gone for
something you'd find in a normal boat.

Now, we already know it goes,
because I actually heard it in the vehicle,

but I'm sure that all these leaves aren't
going to help much with its efficiency.

The pump is dead simple.

It's just an impeller, not
a propeller, inside a case.

And it draws a high
volume of water as it turns.

Well, that's the idea.

Let's give it some power
and see how well it works.

The spec for this is


so it should shift this
water in a few seconds.

So, hopefully, when I operate that,

all this water should
end up in this bucket.

Well, it's actually pretty impressive,

although I don't know if it
looks like 1,500 gallons per hour,

though I'm not actually sure
what that quite looks like.

But clearly, there's a
load of leaves inside still,

so I think maybe what I
should do is have a look inside

to see if anything might
be impairing the impeller.

It only clips apart, so
it's easy to take a look.

Well, it's actually not as
bad as I thought it might be.

We've still got all of the impeller
fins themselves, which is good.

There is quite a lot of wear
on the top of each of them,

and also quite a lot of wear
in the cover here as well,

so it may not be working
as efficiently as it might do.

And also, we don't know
how old this is either.

Now, to buy a brand-new pump and
switch is only going to cost us £100.

When you think about how
much money and time we've

spent getting the
amphicar looking this great,

it would seem nuts to actually
scrimp on something so important.

So Mike visited a boat shop and delivered
me a brand-new pump, switch and wiring.

I decide to seat the new pump
in the central part of the chassis,

which has drainage going to
it, unlike the previous position.

All the Jubilee clips need to be tight,

but if you try too hard, you
could damage the pump's outlet.

I weld a stud to the floor to hold the
new switch so it doesn't float off again.

Now, we've got the bilge pump in place,

and of course, the water
it's going to be pumping out

will be coming through this
hose here and leaving the vehicle.

Now, the previous owner
had the little outlets on the side.

We've obviously welded those holes up,

but there is actually one of the original
holes just here on the back of the car,

and this is the fitting
that it would normally

have gone in here to
connect to the hose.

But actually, I've managed to find this
rather nice kind of chrome-plated one.

Now, because there's so much other chrome
on the car, it'd be nice to switch the hose

just to make a little bit of extra
sparkle on the back of the vehicle,

but what I will do is
put the original fitting

in the glove box, just
in case the new owner

wants to go right back to stock.

The new pump and various hoses and fittings

are all in place, but the job isn't
finished yet because by removing the pump,

I've left three holes in the underside
of the car, which I'll now weld.

This project is now definitely
on the crest of a wave.

We've got rid of any
leaks, sorted out the rust,

covered the whole lot in a
lovely coat of fresh new paint,

and now, for sure, the water
will definitely be kept out.

Our Amphicar has never looked better.

Ed's really turned things
around from a disastrous start.

The setbacks have cost us time and money,

but we may yet turn some
profit on the Amphicar,

though there's a hurdle in store.

Will it be allowed on the water?

The boat safety examiner has turned up.

He's going to let us
know if we're grounded.

This is Ed's dream car.

I have been a fan of the amphibious
vehicle ever since I was a small boy.

But the Amphicar project
has been beset with problems.

It's full of filler.

That is very bubbly, isn't it?

Ed's cured the rot and
even painted the car,

but now our Amphicar needs
some safety modifications.

Now, the whole idea of an Amphicar is
you're putting along some nice country lanes

and then suddenly you
come across a beautiful river.

You think, that looks lovely,
I'm going to drive straight in.

But unfortunately, in Europe,
you can't actually do that.

because this isn't registered as a boat.

But there is a way.

If you go through a
whole set of stringent tests,

you can get a special license,

and that is actually the
prep I'm doing right now.

This license will allow this
car to legally enter public water.

One requirement is
to use marine-spec fuel

lines and cover them
with a protective sheath.

Regulations were looser back in
the 50s when this car was designed,

and it's not the only fuel-related job.

I have to fit an external
filler to avoid the

build-up of fumes under
the bonnet or in the cabin.

As well as the 37-pound filler, I
also fit a special external breather,

which has a gauze to
stop any water getting in.

Once I'm sure these are
properly fitted to the tank,

I'm required to add
some waterproof sealant.

Well, this is our original fuel tank, but
you can see it's got a few modifications,

the first of which was
actually the fuel take-off.

It used to be on the
bottom, that's had to be

welded up, and it's
now been put on the top.

There's a little pipe that
goes all the way down

to the bottom again so
the fuel can be scavenged.

Also, you've got the
original filler is still there,

but you have now got a new
filler coming out of the side,

which of course is going to
go to our external filler there.

Mike didn't like the original internal
boards with smelly carpets attached,

so he sorted me out with some beautiful
handmade marine boards for £200.

Boat safety is all about fire protection,

so there's more work
to be done in the cabin.

Now, there are a couple of safety features

that need to be accessible
from the cab area.

Now, the first of those
is the fuel shut-off

valve, that's just at the
front on the bulkhead,

but the other one is
some kind of k*ll switch

for all of the electrical system.

The idea is you
can turn off all of the

electrics with just one
switch, and this is it.

And I've decided the best place to put it

is on the base of the seat because it's
accessible, but also out of harm's way.

It's exactly the same sort of
device as required in a racing car.

And with it installed, I can
replace the ship-shaped interior.

Another detail is a set of
instruction stickers which tell

the emergency services
where the switches are located.

The fire extinguisher doesn't
need one because it's visible.

And finally, a waterproof
case that encloses the battery.

Well, we've done what we can do,
but now I've got to get out of the way

because the boat safety
examiner, Paul, has turned up

and now he's going to spend a couple
of hours going over our empty car,

and hopefully, after that,
he's going to let us know.

whether we're good to go on
the water or if we're grounded.

Paul gives the Amphicar
a thorough check over.

But thankfully, reveals we're good to go.

Thank you very much, Paul.

You're welcome.

This is a massive relief

because I can actually
fit the remaining parts

on the vehicle and call
the Amphicar finished.

This isn't the same car
that arrived in our workshop.

It's not just the new metal
that's been welded on.

This Amphicar has
undergone a dramatic change,

and now it's headed
for the top of the market.

In the USA, a dealer was selling
a car on behalf of a customer.

Yes.

It was on the money and a barrel of laughs.

Some corrosion on the car was obvious,

but when Ed dug in, he
found it was in a bad state.

This wasn't a car that could
be patched up and sold on.

Ed went back to bare metal

to properly restore the Amphicar
back to showroom condition.

I went out and made a little treat for Ed,

and when the paint was dry,

Ed swapped over the bilge pump to make
sure leaks would be a thing of the past

and made sure the Amphicar was
safe enough to be allowed into the water.

It's been a massive
roller coaster for our Ed,

but the results justify the means.

The Amphicar was a great price to start.

Adding shipping and travel still
gave us a margin to work with,

but spare parts, stripping
and a respray came soon after.

Safety mods and fees were 800 quid,

and now our fantastic boat
car owes us over 30 grand.

I got a bottle of champagne.

Yeah.

I got a life vest on.

Mm-hmm.

You've got a straw boater,

and you look like an extract
of Brian's Ed Revisited.

I thought we'd go for a
nice drive in the countryside,

enjoy the car, get some fresh air.

What are we doing?

Well, it's a lovely idea, and we
are going to get some fresh air,

but we spent so much time
trying to get our little craft here

completely seaworthy,
at least river-worthy,

that I thought the best thing to
do is get it straight into the water.

But before we do that, a very important
thing is we have to crizen it first.

Whee!

There you go.

I'm over the car.

There we are.

Smashing.

I name you Good Ship Profit.

Nice.

How about that?

Nice.

Love the thinking.

There we go.

Yeah, good.

Lovely.

There you go.

We shouldn't drink and drive yet.

Have a smell of it.

Very good.

Right, let's go for a paddle.

Let's go, yeah.

Brilliant.

Cool.

Here you go, sailor.

Best put the navigation lights on.

So there we go.

Cool.

So now, a bit of forward thrust.

So here we go.

Are you ready for this?

Okay, yes, I am.

I am.

Come on, Ed.

Get in there.

Let's just get that old pump going.

Right.

Whee!

Bit of a bow wave.

You did get a bow wave.

Look at this.

Oh, fantastic.

Oh, we're off and running.

Straight away, yeah.

This is fantastic.

We are now on the open wet, shall we say.

That's great.

What I love about this, and it's a very,
very weird feeling, of course, is as you're

going along, you don't
have direct steering anymore.

You have to sort of think ahead.

You do have to think ahead.

You have to remember that this
steers with the steering wheel, basically.

It's turning the wheels.

And they're not very efficient.

We're going into the open water now.

This is really good.

It's amazing, because coming
up, of course, this is the Thames.

Very, very famous river, but just over to
the right here, you can see Windsor Castle.

Oh, wonderful.

Look at this.

Don't worry about the swans.

Hello.

Beep, beep.

Get out.

Road hog.

Get out of the way.

There's one.

Look at that.

Listen, Ed, this is always a dream
for me to come and do this for you.

And I know it's one of your dream cars.

Is the dream become a reality now?

Absolutely.

This is fantastic.

And I could spend the rest
of my life in here, frankly.

Really?

Fantastic.

I've got to say, once
you're in the water in

this, you just go, oh,
my God, it's amazing.

No, it's the coolest thing.

And the bad thing about this
is, I mean, I don't understand.

We live on an island here, right?

There's waterways everywhere.

Why doesn't everybody have an anti-car?

But suddenly, the perfect
day turns into a disaster.

That's not good.

OK, guys, we've lost drive.

We've lost drive.

I can smell gearbox oil.

Yeah, we've lost drive.

We're drifting.

Well, there you go, Ed.

I mean, it's not what I expected.

But then, if you take
a car apart and put it

back together, one
as complicated as this,

you might have the octieving problem.

And I know that the car's fine.

I just think that whatever it is,
we'll fix it and we'll get it sold.

I think so.

Well, I think it's one of those things.

I think, as you say, this is what
test drives are for, to test it out.

I think it's the sort of thing,
we are really testing it.

But I'm sure it will be something simple.

Let's hope so.

Well done for getting itched.

Well, it floats.

It floats.

It's good.

I think we're doing all right.

I was going to ask £40,000 for this car.

But first, Ed needs to find
out what's wrong and fix it.

Yeah, sounds great.

No nasty noises coming from the gearbox.

Go on, then.

Put me out of misery.

What was it?

Would you believe it was just the
needle bearing off the first motion shaft?

That was it.

So all of that trouble was
caused by that little part?

Yeah, £35, loads of hours, job done.

Seriously?

Well done, mate.

That's brilliant.

So now we're back on course.

We can get it sold.

As the Amphicar is so rare,
I've advertised it internationally.

I did get a bid off this
guy, Roy, behind me.

He's keen, but let's see if
he's willing to buy the car.

You can't really fault it, can you?

It's such a lovely, lovely Amphicar.

It's a nice car.

You did a nice job.

You've come a long way
to come and see this car.

I came from Holland, and
we use them a lot in Holland.

We've got a lot of water.

I was hoping to get around £40,000 for it.

Don't screw up your face.

£40,000 for this.

It's a car and a boat.

I'm thinking more about £30,000, mate.

I can't take that for it.

If you want it, you
can have it for £38,000.

I'm thinking more about £33,000.

I can't let it go.

It's too nice.

£36,000.

Make it £35,000.

£35,000, and I'll tell you what.

I did a lot of work on these oars.

I'm really proud of them.

They've got to be worth a
couple of hundred pounds.

£35,000 without the oars,
or £35,200 with the oars.

What do you say?

I take two oars, £35,200.

Yes?

Yeah.

You just put yourself an Amphicar.

Thank you.

So our Amphicar continues on its
voyage, banking us a shipshape of £4,600.

We're both really pleased with
the way the Amphicar turned out.

You know what?

With the amount of
work we could have easily

have sunk, but instead
we ended up with a

If you want to see more
cars being turned around,

by me and Ed, join us again
soon on Wheeler Dealers.

Tala.