The race to the finish.
Man!
That's straight as an arrow.
Gonna lay this lite.
Just a lite coat.
Yeah, it look damn good.
[Kyle] Wouldn't it be cool
if I could just, like...
[grunting]
just press that ball joint
in there.
Looking mighty fine, Austin.
[man] Uh,
the body just moved out.
That was kind of sketchy.
Any oil or anything
in my beard,
it just ends up looking
like...
I'm Santa Claus.
[Kyle] Getting real now.
Getting real.
You gotta wipe them off.
You know what?
A tuxedo is so fitting...
[kisses]
for the evening in Las Vegas.
[Dave] When I look
at a blank canvas,
I see endless possibilities.
As the ideas come to mind,
the lines start
to fall into place.
And before you know it,
we have a Bitchin' Ride.
[screeches]
[Dave] A Bitchin' Ride
has intense color...
-[man 1 laughs]
-[man 2] This is gorgeous!
[Dave] performance...
[man] It's fantastic.
-[Dave] ...stance,
wheels, sound.
-[car engine revs]
[Dave] There's one thing
that makes our cars stand out,
ours are Bitchin' Rides.
[screeches]
-[man 3]
Well, it never gets old.
-[man 2 laughs]
[Dave] Very exciting times
around the shop here.
We've been commissioned
to build
a 1958 Chevy Corvette,
and it's a resto mod,
and it's Bitchin'.
This one's gonna blast.
Get all the old paint off...
uh, that will let us see
if the body has any cracks.
It'll get rid of any bodywork
that's on it.
We wanna make sure
that, obviously,
we're starting
with a clean slate.
We got it over.
We had it soda blasted,
we got it back here,
and you know,
it's got a couple of things,
obviously.
It's got a history.
Do you have an idea
of what you wanna do
as far as the engine
and transmission?
This client
has some huge ideas.
Something with some, uh...
gumph.
Yeah.
I've always liked the black
and the silver coves.
-And, uh...
-What are they calling it,
"A tuxedo"?
Tuxedo.
Tuxedo with those Oxblood?
-Yeah...
-[Dave] Well, that was...
Look, I got.
I got chills
because I was like,
"Man, this will be
a really nice one to just do."
[man] And I'll flip it over,
carve out a nice big section
and, uh, feather it out
with some fresh fiberglass.
[Dave] One of the big things
that are needed
on a C1 Corvette
is to extend the inside
of the cabin open.
So we're gonna go four inches
to give a little bit more
legroom
and a lot more class.
I like to lay it out
just the same thickness
as the original material.
That's why
I've cut all these strips
of different...
widths and whatever
so I can, kind of,
feather it out,
slather it on there
and then lay it on.
It's looking pretty good.
Gonna start with my thin guys.
Lay those in first.
A lot of just
getting this, uh...
original fiberglass
prepped out right
and feathered out.
Pretty decent so far.
And that's what.
This piece was a little bit
over four inches.
That way I can scribe it in,
cut it,
get those buttered up nice.
That's, kind of, the idea.
Just a 360-inch bracket
with a hole in it.
[Dave] On the front end,
we had to replace
the front lower balance
anyway.
So, we brought it up
and made the bumpers
much tighter.
So I'm gonna go bend this
into a U.
[machine trilling]
[crackles]
[man] You've got
all the mounts in place
and welded.
Well, um...
they look awesome.
And last, but not least,
we're gonna get rid
of all of the hollow
stainless trim
and replace it
with solid stock trim.
We've got to get
this horseshoe
down on the door.
We're gonna take
this straight piece and...
form it in a manner to...
make that look good.
Big part has to face out.
It's so soft it's surprising.
We need to go past 90.
I don't really wanna mess up
that bend too much now,
so I'm gonna push on it
right here.
Okay, let's go see
what we got.
Pretty cool.
[Dave] With all that
being done,
well, it's time for paint,
baby.
One of the most
iconic color schemes
you can find
on an early C1 Corvette,
certainly, as they had coves
and two-toned the cars,
is a black and white.
I call it a tuxedo.
Most everybody else does, too.
With the red interior,
it, kind of, sets it off
almost like a red bowtie.
And you can't ask
for any better
than the deepest,
darkest black,
and that is Modern Classikk
by Kindig, Black Ice.
And I think this is gonna be
very classic, very clean
and very custom.
[equipment whirring]
-We gotta mask the bottom...
-[man] Okay.
...pretty much like a CF1.
[man] Same thing.
Paint on the outside,
texture in the bottom, so...
[Dave] So when we're doing
a two-tone on these cars,
we usually will paint
one color first,
we'll back mask that,
paint the rest of the car,
unmask it,
clean it up
and then clear coat.
This works out perfectly.
Uh... The plan is,
is to get it...
[grunts]
masked up
and then put black sealer
on it
-and put the...
-[man] You're making it
too complicated.
...put some black on it,
and then put the white on it.
Back, back, back,
back, back.
[Dave] We're gonna go ahead
and put primer sealer
on the entire body
and then go ahead
and sh**t the first color,
backmask it
and sh**t the second color.
[indistinct], man.
We're taking it off.
We wanna cover
all these tiny little holes.
Yeah. All right.
Easy now.
[rock music playing]
[whirring]
[rock music playing]
[indistinct conversation]
[hissing]
[Dave] We're gonna primer
the entire car.
Then we're gonna paint
the first color,
backmask that,
and paint the second color.
Unmask, clean up
and then clear coat
the entire car.
[music continues playing]
[hissing]
So, fellas, all right.
I'm gonna go ahead
and go over and grab Neil
and bring him into the booth
to make sure that I'm putting
the two-tone split
where it needs to go
on the body.
So your trim, obviously,
you landed right across
the top
of these centers
of these lines.
Did you leave a gap
right here?
'Cause here's...
here's the thing,
and I'm not sure
if you knew this or not,
the color's supposed to come
about halfway
and just drop off there,
so you're not looking at white
this way underneath the trim.
-Okay.
-So, am I making a mistake?
Is that,
able to be...
on this edge...
so when it comes right here,
the white can just
disappear off
from underneath the trim,
and it just keeps going?
We could probably do that.
I mean, worst case--
-That's what I'm going to do
then?
-Yeah.
So I'm just gonna
bring my line
eighth inch line right here,
right down these centers,
and then I'm gonna drop it
right down the middle.
That's how...
That's how typically
you'll do these.
Yeah, the chrome
or the trim...
-It should be chrome here,
right?
-Right.
-No, it's that chrome.
-Oh, okay.
Otherwise, I wouldn't
have come and got you.
I would just grab the trim,
just set it up here.
But since I don't have
the trim,
I'm just, kind of,
going off your memory.
You know,
leave a gap right here,
right from the fender
to the bottom of the trim.
The bottom of the trim...
and it's fine
if you see the radius
as long as it's black.
I think that's what I did.
I had it to where it laid...
-right...
-Right on that...
You know,
before the radius ends,
and then it ends.
-Perfect.
-That's where it starts.
-So...
-Cool. That's all I needed.
And with that,
we can get the tape down.
This is gonna start
right here.
-[man 1] Why
did I have to do that?
-[man 2] I have no idea.
[man 1] I don't know.
It was like my least favorite.
[man 2] Dave's like,
"I'm gonna go get the guy
who did the trim."
-[man 1] There you go.
-[man 2] Thank you.
[man 1] Okay, boss.
Man, that's straight
as an arrow.
Yeah. You know...
pride myself on...
straight as an arrow.
-Here's a question
for you, Dave.
-Mmm-hmm.
When you pull a fine line,
-do you pull tension
in your fine line...
-Nope.
I hold firm.
I hold it firm,
um, because
if you pull it too hard...
-[man] It wants
to bounce back.
-Mmm-hmm.
Okay.
Well, it'll shrink back.
So, yeah, you don't wanna...
You don't wanna go too hard.
Having the guys here
and being involved,
and asking questions
shows that
they're paying attention
and care about
what they're doing.
Yeah, I'm buying it.
-I like it.
-Good enough.
-So this stay...
-Quarter inch.
-This does stay white, then,
correct?
-Yes.
-This stays white
up to here.
-From here, it's black.
-From here over is black.
-Okay.
-So everything inside of this
stays white.
-Perfect.
Uh... Get the quarter inch.
I'll go lay that
other side out
and then, uh...
just chase this...
Basically, you're gonna
just gonna chase
the outer contour...
-Right.
-...and then cut back.
-Okay.
-You wanna pull these up,
though...
-Right.
-...and put the quarter inch
down first.
Yep.
That way we don't blow
any black on to the white...
-Got it.
-So, put the... Yeah.
I got you.
Uh...
Should be fine.
We'll lay this down
just so...
it holds down
that fine line...
and it doesn't lift up
during the paint process.
And then we have an issue
with paint blowing into it.
[Dave] When doing
a two-tone tape out,
you've got to make sure
that the surface
is extremely clean
to make sure
that the tape's gonna stick
'cause once you get it down
in place,
you don't wanna come back
an hour later
and see that it's shrunk
and pulled back away
from the body.
So it's very important
to make sure
that the surface is clean.
Also, it's important
to make sure you push it down
very, very hard
and you don't
overstretch the tape.
When you overstretch,
the tape has a tendency
to wanna walk back up,
especially when you do
a cross over.
That's where you
have one layer sitting on top,
one underneath
and you, usually,
have a bleeder.
So if you don't stretch it
too hard,
you can actually push it down
to the edge
so you don't have
a bleeding edge
where the two tape pieces
overlap.
All right, Shannon.
[Shannon] I'm just gonna...
I don't want...
I don't want none
of this blow by.
Yeah, we, definitely,
don't want anything
coming through the tape.
Just makes a bad day.
Yeah, 'cause then
that takes time and...
a whole lot of energy
to make sure that it...
is right.
It's go time!
We're gonna lay this lite.
just a lite coat...
so we can see
what's happening.
Now that the tape's on,
we gotta get started
on the black.
[man] It's go time!
[hissing]
[rock music playing]
Think it looks good?
Yeah. It look damn good.
[Dave] The paint came out
awesome.
And for a tuxedo,
it's dressed to the nines
and it's time to go out
and party.
That looks great.
[Shannon] That looks fantastic
is what that looks like.
[Dave] These colors
look great,
and I can't wait to see it
with the contrasting
red colors
going together on this thing.
I'm happy.
[music concludes]
[whirring]
Get this one going,
and then, uh...
yeah, by the end of the day.
Done.
[Kevin] Paint is done.
It looks amazing, as always.
Now it's all hands on deck
to get this car assembled.
All right, so we're gonna
prep this chassis
and get ready to put
all the control arms on it.
This one's
a little more involved
than our regular chassis.
We have, like,
a sub-frame cradle,
and then the differential
goes into that.
Then,
you have lower control arms,
you have tow rods,
upper control arms.
I think the other one
might be called, like,
a tension rod or something.
Um... Anyways,
what I'm getting at,
there's a lot of stuff
that goes into this.
Everything is powder coated,
everything's chromed,
so it's gonna take
a lot of, uh... time
to prep all this stuff
to get it
to go together real nice.
So...
uh, yeah.
I guess we're just gonna
dive right into it.
[upbeat music playing]
[Kevin] We're gonna start
with the least fun thing,
the rear differential.
They're heavy.
Everything's painted,
we got to be super careful.
Can you pull the blanket out
real quick?
[music continues playing]
[thumping]
[trilling]
This particular chassis
has quite a bit of adjustments
to it.
Um...
So what I am trying to do
is...
just, kind of,
mirror everything
side-to-side
and, yeah, I guess,
make it symmetrical.
[whirring]
[Kyle] Yeah, like...
There, see, now...
I took
that tiny, little bit
off of both sides.
This one
is an Art Morrison chassis.
They have
a lot of adjustability.
But the thing
that gets tricky with them,
is when you chrome
all the hardware
and then,
you powder coat everything,
it seems very, very minute
or trivial, if you will,
the thickness that
that adds.
But when you add all that up,
the eccentrics
no longer fit inside the tabs.
So what are you gonna do?
You're gonna grind the chrome
or you're gonna grind
the powder?
Oh, you're not gonna grind
the chrome
'cause it's just gonna
chip off
and flake everywhere.
So now you gotta grind
the powder coat.
[whirring]
[Kevin] Grinding
the powder coat
off these parts
is not a fun thing to do.
If we go too far,
it'll look like crap,
and we'll, probably,
have to redo it.
We just have to take off
just the right amount.
[whirring]
[Kyle] Wouldn't it be cool
if I could just, like...
[grunting]
just press that ball joint
in there,
just like super strength?
[man] Yeah.
Yeah, maybe someday.
[trilling]
Ta-da!
[trilling]
[Kevin] When it comes
to assembly,
there's a stack
of shiny parts.
We put these on one at a time
and make sure
that they're perfect.
Eventually,
the stack will be small,
the car will be assembled.
All right.
I reckon that's good enough
for today.
You got to love it
when you build a car
over a decade ago,
it rolls back in the shop
for some upgrades.
[upbeat music playing]
[Dave] We built
the Grand Duchess
for a good friend of ours,
Harold,
way back in the day.
And this, we called
the Grand Duchess
because it's classy,
it's beautiful and powerful.
[Kevin] So
when we built this car
for Harold,
the original owner
of the '39 Buick,
it was the second car
we built for him,
and he really wanted
a show car.
He really wanted to go
after all the awards.
So we really spent the time
and made this thing
a masterpiece.
[music concludes]
[man whistling]
[equipment trilling]
[Dave] Mike and Lil
that own the car now
actually wanted to do
some upgrades,
and one of those
is gonna be
to remove the air system
and just put it on
a static drop.
[Kevin] He wants
the air ride off.
I never thought I would be
removing air ride.
I'm a, kind of,
a pro-choice air ride,
kind of, guy.
Um, but here we are.
He just wants some coilovers.
It's his car now,
so, uh, it's nice to see
that it's holding up
pretty good.
Looks like it's got some miles
on it.
It's been doing a thing.
This was before
we bought frames
we built this car,
so, basically,
we clipped this frame
with a Mustang
two-style front suspension,
so it does have the A-arms.
We built the floor link
at the back.
It's nice to see it back.
I'm a little sad
that we're taking
the air ride off, but...
whatever it takes
for him to enjoy the car,
that's what we're gonna do,
so...
[trilling]
[Kevin] So I got the bag out
already.
[upbeat music playing]
[Kevin] I think the reason
that he wants to do this is,
obviously, the technology...
the technology
for the air management system
is old.
We could come through
and update it.
But I think
he's just to the point
where he just would
rather just simplify it.
It's obviously simpler.
I think he's just looking
to make it a little simpler,
something
he doesn't have to worry about
maintaining as much.
You know, you don't have
to drain the water
out of your tanks
if you have coilovers.
It's just the deal,
so...
Okay, I think we're good
to drop this almost.
[Dave] This car
was the recipient
of the 2011 Goodguys'
America's most beautiful
street rod.
So with that,
it's been driven,
which is awesome,
and that's what
you're supposed to do
with these cars.
But there's a couple of things
that need to be freshened up
underneath.
While we're doing
the suspension,
Kevin's gonna go ahead
and take care of that.
[Kevin] Well, I noticed
there's a... there's a bushing
blown out on the rack.
Looks like the rack's leaking
a little bit.
Um, so I'm gonna, obviously,
test fit all this.
And before I get it painted
and things like that,
I'll...
I'm gonna address the rack.
I'll address any loose joints
or any wore out tie rod ends
or anything that I see.
Um, and we'll just, kind of,
go from there,
play it... play it by ear.
My biggest thing
is I wanna get
these arms on...
and the coils in
and get the car sitting
on the ground,
make sure it's all gonna work.
Even if it's just, like,
a very loose setup,
make sure it's gonna work
before we go and spend time
painting the other arms
or anything
'cause if they don't work,
it's just a huge waste of time
on a lot of different parties.
[trilling]
[upbeat bongo music playing]
Perfect.
Just in time for TV,
a little drama.
[thumping]
[Kevin] Maybe I shouldn't have
said that.
[rock music playing]
[Dave] Kevin's working
on the Grand Duchess,
removing the old air system
and putting a coilover
suspension
retrofit back
into that chassis.
You know, sometimes
these lower control arms
can be a little bit
of a pain in the butt.
But that's okay,
because Kevin's been
on vacation.
He needs to put
a little extra time in.
[Kevin] There's no worst case.
We're doing it today.
[trilling]
[Kevin] Okay.
You can see
this is the old A-arm.
It has a big flat plate,
and this is, actually,
where the bag rides.
When I get the new A-arms,
you'll see it'll actually
have a cradle for a shockwave.
So it's, basically,
the same geometry
from here to here to here,
but it just has
some different things going on
for different mounting
in the center.
[upbeat music playing]
[Kevin] So it's nice.
Our friends over at Ridetech
build an A-arm
for a Mustang two,
which accepts
one of their coilovers.
So it's something that you can
really take,
something that's, kind of,
old-school technology
being a Mustang
two-front suspension,
and really update it
with one of their
high-performance shocks
and coilover.
[music continues playing]
[thumping]
Okay.
Now we're gonna
prep the coilover,
if you'd like to join me.
So this is the setup.
So you can see
the hole at the top
where the shock mounted
and the spring rode,
this is gonna
come through there.
And then this hole,
is gonna carry
the weight of the car
on the... on the coil.
So it's all gonna be,
basically, all riding on this.
This goes through the hole.
This goes
in the lower control arm.
Wham, bam! Thank you, ma'am.
We're done.
So one down there,
and then we have...
we weighed the car,
and I got
with the guys over there,
and they gave me...
their weight springs.
So those should be set.
So then the spring goes on.
So...
And then we have
another nylon slider
at the top.
This goes on.
That's the upper cup.
And then, we put this on...
here.
And then we have
one little clip...
that slides down...
basically, holds this now
from coming off.
So what we'll do
is we'll flip it upside down.
We'll spin this up
and just put...
just a hair...
...of preload on it
just so that the spring
is not flopping around on us
while we're installing it.
This goes here,
that goes there.
We'll throw this nut
in here, and again,
a lot of this stuff
is gonna need some lube
and some things.
Um, but we'll...
This is all just test fit.
So we don't get to get
too carried away
with anything by the numbers.
Just like we had talked about,
so just take
the whole assembly...
and the whole assembly
slides right up into
the existing hole, money.
Boom, boom.
Basically, that's in.
Getting the new coils
in the car
and getting
everything adjusted
as far as ride height
and making sure
everything is copacetic
takes a little bit.
But this Buick
has massive wheel wells,
which makes this install
a breeze.
So basically, the back
had a shockwave in it,
which is basically
almost like an air coilover.
It has a shock
in the middle of it,
and then it's surrounded
by an airbag.
So, the ones in the back
just basically unbolt.
And you can bolt
a full coilover in there,
and you're done.
Yeah, basically,
it's pretty much wrapped up.
So I'll go back through,
and the only real thing left
is I'm gonna test.
Put it down on the wheels,
make sure that I can get it
as high as I need it
or as low as I need it,
depending on where
these things set up.
I need to get
the ride sensors off.
We need to take
some of the air line off.
We'll get the tanks removed
and then get
the lower arms painted,
and we should be good to go.
[Dave] A lot of people
love air suspension.
I used to.
I still do in certain cases,
but in some cases,
it's nice just to have
a static drop,
where the car,
you can just get in it, drive.
You don't have a leak
anywhere in there.
And that's where we're going
with the Grand Duchess.
Should be set.
After a successful test fit,
we have everything
chromed, painted,
and back in the car.
She's ready to rock.
The last thing to do
is to get this thing
on the road.
I'm gonna take
a nice little test drive
and make sure
everything's perfect.
Basically, I'm just taking it
for a cruise real quick,
seeing how
the ride quality is,
make sure that the car
is not too low
because there's no adjustment
by a button anymore.
Making sure we can get over,
you know, speed bumps and...
and making sure the wheels
don't rub the fenders,
and make sure
all of that thing.
I think we're pretty good.
So this is just
kind of a final test
to make sure all the geometry,
make sure it acts right,
make sure it steers right,
make sure it does
all the other things.
Speed bumps...
are money.
If you can get over that,
usually you can get
over anything.
Good control.
Yeah, she's just
humming along.
When we originally built
this car,
it was more of, like,
a show car for Harold.
So of course,
we did the air-ride on it
so you could lower it down
at shows.
You know,
make it look super cool.
But I think it has
a really nice stance,
even with...
even with just coilovers.
And now you don't have
to worry about compressors
filling up,
you don't have to worry
about air tanks,
you have to worry
about valves not working.
You basically took-- I took
a lot of the complexity.
Not that it's bad,
'cause I love air-ride.
I love air-ride.
But for someone that just
wants to jump in their car
and not have to worry about,
hey, is the... is it up
high enough,
or whatever, whatever,
I think this is...
this is the right way to go.
So hopefully,
the new owner of this car
just loves the coils
and, uh, will enjoy
the crap out of it, so.
Oh, yeah, we're so good.
[Cole] Kenny,
the back end needs to go.
-Yeah.
-[Cole] Over yonder way.
[Dave]
We're turning the corner
on corner number four.
We can see the finish line
for this '58 Corvette.
Now that the car
is painted, polished,
the chassis is assembled,
it's time to marry the two
and get to the finish line.
Brother, right about there.
-[man] Bump it.
-Okay, is that one good?
Are we gonna mess things up
by having
all this foam on this side
and then nothing on that side?
[man] No, 'cause we're gonna
throw the 300 microfibers
over here to make up
the difference.
Uh-huh, do you wanna get it
to where it's resting
and then take
the hardware out?
-[Bledsoe] Yeah.
-Okay.
[Kevin] So, we use cloth
on the lift arms
to keep the paint protected,
but it is a little slippery.
Not ideal.
Looking mighty fine, Austin.
Bumpin'.
Is this gonna be
like the CF1
where we gotta be careful
of getting our legs
in too far?
It's probably gonna be
exactly the same.
Cloth and all,
it looks lined up.
We're gonna take the body
off the rotisserie.
It's a race to the finish.
We just gotta get the body
off the rotisserie,
which Austin is racing
Kenny on that right now.
I think Austin's winning.
You still gotta get these two.
Take the body,
put it on a sweet new
Art Morrison chassis.
And in less than a month,
we will have it running,
driving on the road,
taking it to shows,
it's gonna be sick.
Bro, are you guys good
on that side?
We're gonna lift it off
this rotisserie for good.
Ready? Okay, going up.
[Kevin] As the body
comes down,
we have to take
a couple moments
and make sure
that some key features
come through the body.
Shifter, engine wiring,
e-brake cables,
this is all way easier to do
as the body comes down,
just as pain
in the a*s after.
Put this body
on the frame,
and I'll feed
the wiring harness
for the trans and engine
through the hole
in the trans tunnel.
Um, aside from that,
I don't think...
I don't think
there's really much
we have to worry about.
I mean, we'll see
when we get closer,
-but kind of hopeful--
-We just gotta watch
that front end
and that core support
coming down on those lines.
Okay, I guess we're worried
about the core support, so--
[Austin] Worried about
the core support, check.
[chuckles]
-[Bledsoe] You ready?
-Sure.
We're gonna get
a little closer,
and then we'll stop
to get the harness through.
But so far,
the core support's good.
We're probably...
we're probably three
or four inches,
uh, forward on the chassis,
so we could probably
stop there for a second.
-[Austin] Bring it
back a little bit.
-[Kyle] And then, Austin,
you wanna pull back
and I'll push back
a little bit.
Okay.
[man] Hold on a sec.
We got everything
that we need through the body.
We can drop it
all the way down
and start putting bolts in it.
[Kyle] You guys ready?
We'll still have
to guide this harness
in some more
once the body comes down.
[Bledsoe] Ah,
but this is this much.
-[man] Here,
let me just do that.
-[Kyle] Dude, whoa!
-Hold up.
-[Bledsoe] Whoa.
[Austin] Oh, yeah.
Touching rubber.
[Kyle] Ah,
the body just moved.
That was kind of sketchy.
When the car starts
to shake a little bit,
that's not a good thing.
[Austin]
Front still looks good.
All right, let her rip.
We got about an inch
until I'm on the body mount.
[Austin] Yeah.
Quarter inch, eighth,
it's down.
[Kyle] Okay, I'm touching.
[Austin] We're touching.
Look, it's just like a CF1,
-except it's not.
-[Austin] Except
it's fiberglass.
It's like the same
but different.
Justin, can we wrap
all of that then,
or are we...
No. It'll be all right.
Normally, this is painted
so it matches here, but--
What? What's painted?
Right where his left arm is.
The color scheme
on this entire build
is very classic
and very k*ller.
But the dash is definitely
gonna set it off.
This is where
you'll be able to see
the third tone
from the outside of the car.
It could be red.
I can wrap it, though.
No, I want it--
I would rather have it
wrapped in red.
We can wrap this.
Okay. Cool. That's what
I wanted to make sure.
[Justin speaking]
[groans softly]
I'm gonna get this
dash pad set in this car
and get all this
stuff mocked up
so I can get
everything cleared out
that I need
to get cleared out.
And then I'm gonna do
a little bit of foam work,
and hopefully,
by the end of the day,
I can have this thing wrapped
so they can go in
with everything
for the dash part of it.
That's the goal.
I think I'm gonna make
a bigger mess than I want.
[Dave] While Justin's making
a huge mess,
Kyle's over here
making a beautiful,
very clean dash cluster.
[Kyle] I'm gonna start
putting some gauges
together for this 'Vette.
Looks pretty good.
Dakota Digital,
their gauges drop right
into the original stuff.
But we also add
parking brake button.
And then we have
a battery button
so that when
the battery button is off,
it kills all power to the car.
'58 Corvette obviously
never had that.
And you don't really
wanna take away
from that 1958 look.
So, you know,
it looks pretty '58,
and then, look underneath,
the parking brake and trunk
are hidden,
battery button is up top.
So, it still looks
pretty 1958 to me.
[Justin] Now, we've got this
all foamed up and fit, and...
So here we are.
It's gonna be
a little bit tricky
stretching in a few places.
Gotta set that center seam
first, like we did, then...
then working this leather
around these coves.
Tedious, man.
You just never know.
Just work it
a little bit at time.
Pull the edges and float it.
I like to float
everything I can.
[Kyle] Getting real now.
-[Justin] Getting real.
-So, you gotta wipe them off.
-[Justin] Yeah.
-Can't have all blurry vision.
Got lunch
or something on them.
[Kyle laughing]
Got lunch on 'em?
[Justin] Okay,
let's put it down.
[Dave] With our deadline
quickly coming up,
it's important to make sure
that we're working very fast,
but very careful
to not mess anything up
and cause any extra work.
[man] Just moving
this back here
as the armrest
moves further back
and put a little bit
of an arc to that.
And then we're putting
a piece of chrome
underneath it
to match the doors
like that.
Looks like I'm gonna have
to move this back hole
a little bit.
I don't know if this armrest
is a little bit shorter,
but I'll make the hole
a little bit bigger
and try it again.
We got a lot going on, but...
we also got a lot done,
so liking it.
Let's get this carpet handled
and start finishing up
fitting these kit panels.
So...
I can dial in
the underneath dash panels.
And finish up helping
to install the seats.
Well, we're gonna be tight
as can be, Kenny,
but I think
we're gonna be all right.
These seats are gonna go,
and I gotta
clean 'em up still.
Just got done
patterning 'em all out.
We gotta put
a double-stitch on
or a French seam,
and then we're gonna go
from there
and sew all these bolsters
to the inserts
and install them.
By 5 o'clock.
Tomorrow. [chuckles]
With the seats
and the door panels
on the right track,
now it's down to the very
small details.
[man] I have my hole
skewed just a little bit here
so that it's at
the thickest point
of the trim itself.
And then I'll use
this scrap piece
just to make sure
that I'm not drilling
too far into the material
or making it so thin
to where when I tap it,
that it doesn't create
a dimple
or anything like that
on the other side.
And you don't need
a ton of threads
to hold these.
As thick as it is,
you're still getting a good
three-eighths of an inch
of screw in there,
and we'll just take
and, uh, put a little bit
of LOCTITE on that.
Won't have any problems
with them coming out.
[Justin] Now, we're getting
pretty close.
I just gotta sew
these two inserts in,
and then I gotta sew
the bolsters to the insert,
sew some listing around them,
and I'm ready to install them,
if we don't run
into any problems,
and then on to doing some
underneath dash panels,
and we can get
this thing buttoned up.
And here we go,
a quarter-inch Landau.
You can get it, I think,
all the way up
to an inch thick.
But if we need it any more,
then we'll just do
another layer.
We'll get all the couple
of pieces here
cut out for that
and then get them glued on.
There we go.
There's always a g*n with glue
in it around here somewhere.
Skirts are getting mounted
right to the wood.
And then I got a foam
the sides of them.
But that's gonna cover
the tracks
so you don't see the tracks
like factory one would be.
These frames are gonna go in
just like they are,
get bolted in.
And then what I've got here
is these four sections.
They get dropped in
and bolted in separately.
Time to make it snow.
I'm gonna feather
and sand all the edges
down to the Masonite,
so then we have a real nice
hard edge to pull against,
and keeps it looking
nice and clean.
The days where I know
I'm gonna be sanding
a bunch of Landau,
I don't put any, uh...
any oil or anything
in my beard.
It just ends up looking
like I'm Santa Claus.
[Dave] All right,
there's no turning back.
It's time to put on that tie
and head to Vegas.
We're off to the races.
[Kevin] SEMA 2024,
I had to jet out of the shop
a couple of days early.
I'm here.
The '58 was almost done
when I left.
This one barely got
in the trailer.
I haven't even seen it yet.
I'm sure it's great,
as they always are.
Yeah, let's check it out.
Let's check it out.
-'58 Corvette
for Dr. Dennis Lawrence.
-Whoo! That's right.
[Kevin] And she looks amazing.
You know what?
A tuxedo is so fitting...
[kisses]
for the evening in Las Vegas.
Doesn't get much more
classic than a tuxedo.
And a tuxedo does not have
a silver shirt.
It's a white shirt,
red tie, black tux.
So this was very fitting
and very perfect.
You have to know
what you're looking at
to understand
the amount of work
that went into this car.
What do I hate the most
on the outside of a car?
-[Kevin] Screws.
-[Dave] That's right.
I don't like
to look at the hardware.
Triple-plate chrome
over the top
of the shaved hardware.
Also, one of the really
big things
that you really would have
to just know
what you're looking at,
the bottom chin of this car
was actually replaced.
We got rid of the bumperettes.
-[Kevin] Mm-hmm.
-[Dave] That usually have
a big gouge
down the middle
of the front apron.
But more importantly,
we brought that up
almost three-quarters
of an inch
to close in around the bumper,
-which got rid of a lot
of really sloppy gaps...
-[Kevin] Mm-hmm.
...that were above
and below the bumper,
-which is just a nice touch.
-I agree.
Another thing that you really
have to look close for
on this car
is we've taken the gas tank,
we've put it in the back.
Usually, on these cars,
they're behind the seat,
and we've basically
sectioned the back deck lid...
and pushed the seats
back four inches
so you can actually fit in
and drive this car.
[Dave] And even though
the doors weren't stretched,
we got rid of the hip buster.
So you're not scraping
the wallet out and leaving it
in the parking lot.
[Kevin] It's just
a super classic look,
all of the small things
just make this car
way more modern,
way more drivable.
If you were
to walk up on the car,
it just looks like
a '58 Corvette.
But then you start to see
all of the things
that we've kind of just
mildly tweaked about the car.
[Dave] The wheels
are actually Schott Wheels.
This is actually a production
in 19 and 20 inch combo,
-which looks so good.
-[Kevin] It's a beautiful
wheel, beautiful wheel.
[Dave] And we've got
some width on this thing
with the tubs in the back,
which is really rad.
[Kevin] The Schott Wheels
on this car,
the fit and finish
on these are money.
The polish is money.
It's perfect.
[Dave] When you get
into the inside,
Justin and his guys
did a fantastic job,
this Rickshaw Red interior.
Can you say
that three times fast?
-Rickshaw Red,
Rickshaw Red, Rickshaw Red.
-[laughs]
[Dave]
The Dakota Digital gauges,
again, fitting the bill,
especially steering wheel.
I love that D-shaped
steering wheel.
Then we modify that,
we 3D print a much thicker
and more of an oval shape,
which was really nice
when it's all leather wrapped.
It's just a nice fitting car
with the Vintage Air.
Everything else has been done.
I really love this car.
[Kevin] Ten,
this car will still be
in style
-because it's just
a modern classic.
-[Dave] Mm-hmm.
And it will still work
because we only used
the best parts.
[Kevin] Absolutely.
-Let's pop the hood
and check the motor out.
-Oh, baby.
Oh, in the jewelry box.
-[Kevin] Just clean
and simple.
-[Dave] Mm-hmm.
[Kevin] Got the Borla 8-stack.
You've got the LS.
And it looks like
a small-block
'cause of the covers.
Accessory drive,
Billet Specialties.
Obviously, Ron Davis Radiator,
the best of the best.
[Dave] That's right.
The fact that you guys
chromed the Corvette valve
covers at Ogden Chrome,
those look so crisp
on that red motor
with the matte finish
and all the polished detail
in the 8-stacks in the Borla,
it's just un-- unbelievable.
-It's just beautiful.
-[Kevin] It's the way to go.
[Dave] I'll tell you what,
when Dr. Dennis gets here,
he might wanna go
see an eye doctor
because he's gonna be
tearing up.
He's not an eye specialist,
but he's gonna need one.
With the engine bay
looking so good,
this thing definitely screams,
"I got some power,
I want to go fast."
Totally. And again,
only '58 has these tusks?
[Dave] Yep. I love
the back of the car.
[Kevin] I do, too.
[Dave] I think
it's very classy
to have these big tusks,
is what they call them.
It's two big chrome strips
that basically go down.
It was one year only,
as the hood was,
and it just really is iconic.
You know exactly
what year this car is
if you know about a Corvette.
This is the first year
of that particular bumper,
where they actually went oval.
But they always had
a round peashooter
-basically sticking out
of the middle.
-[Kevin] Yeah.
[Dave] I think
it was really fitting
to actually smash
that tube and make
that tip come through there
more appropriately.
And then, of course,
Pringle did a great job
with that roof.
I love the red headliner.
-[Kevin] Oh, I...
And those roofs...
-[Dave] Leather headliner's
-real nice.
-[Kevin] ...can just be
so cantankerous.
-[Dave laughs]
-[Kevin] There's so many
pieces, so many rivets,
so many things
that you have to put together.
I mean, a hardtop is an art
in itself for these cars.
[Dave] So many things
to be thankful for,
-that I didn't get stuck
doing it myself.
-[Kevin] Yeah, right.
-There's many things
to be thankful for...
-[Dave laughs] Right?
...at the 2024 SEMA Show.
Flush-mount gas cap.
[Kevin] Versus the big door
right here.
[Dave] The ugly square door
that does not match
the car at all. '58 was
the first year of chrome
-inside the cove,
which is really cool.
-[Kevin] Oh, really?
[Dave] And that kind
of that little scallop
-almost looks like...
-I didn't know '58
-was the first year of that.
-[Dave] First year of that.
Smooth door handles,
love that.
-[Kevin] Obviously.
-[Dave] Power windows
-from Nu-Relics, correct?
-[Kevin] Yep.
Power windows, so you are--
And then, the inside
of this car is just gorgeous.
I love it.
-[Kevin] And what else
am I missing?
-[Dave] The clock.
That was really classy.
[Kevin] And it's got
the electric e-brake.
-So, it's push-button power.
-[Dave] Yep.
[Kevin] Everything is set.
[Dave] A little Chilewich
over the top
-of the speaker in the center.
-[Kevin] Yep, yep.
And so I learned
something on this one.
'58s don't have bezels
-for the speaker.
-[Dave] Oh, it doesn't.
The bezel was left in 1957.
[Kevin] Yep. Yeah.
-See where I went with that?
-Yeah.
'58 Corvette
turned out amazing.
It is a true modern classic.
[Dave] You know,
the only thing that really
is left, Kev, is, uh...
finish, uh, 2024 SEMA Show.
And then give this back
to the doctor.
Yeah, and as soon as we give
this back to the doctor,
we're gonna go on vacation.
-Done. And you know what?
-Whew!
-Let's go practice.
-Yeah, no doubt.
-Let's go.
-[laughs]
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11x09 - Two-Fer
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Reality show featuring Dave Kindig from the Salt Lake City, Utah-based company Kindig It Designs as they show their process of restoring and rebuilding vehicles.
Reality show featuring Dave Kindig from the Salt Lake City, Utah-based company Kindig It Designs as they show their process of restoring and rebuilding vehicles.