08x05 - It's a Barn Door Deluxe, Of Course

[bunniefuu]

You know, I can't believe
after all these volkswagens
we do,

why does he hire, like,
somebody that's into it?

This one looks
a little different.

This is an original barn door
deluxe 1953 type 2.

A rare bird, baby.

This car here,
bad repair after bad repair.

It's always more work
than you think.

The trickiest part
is not to get shocked.

This thing is super cool,


Not only do I not
wanna mess up the paint,

but I don't wanna mess up
the vinyl.

I'm really nervous
about that part.

I wasn't a huge fan
of this bus when it came,

but this is probably
the best bus I've ever seen.

This is a pretty
important piece.

-Peace.
-And hair grease.

[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.

A bitchin' ride
has intense color...

This is gorgeous!

-...Performance...
-It's fantastic!

...Stance, wheels, sound.

There's one thing that makes
our cars stand out,
ours are bitchin' rides!

Well, it never gets old.

[phone ringing]

how are you, tracy?

I'm good.

I'm gonna jump on the phone
with my very good friend,
tracy,

who has given me
the opportunity

to build the ultimate restomod


But I'm really not expecting
any big surprises.

So, speaking of doing well,
the hebmuller...

It's hot sauce!

We've been wrapping up
on an ultra-rare hebmuller.

Not every day that I get
excited about a volkswagen.

Dude, if you ain't got one,
get one.

It's gonna be
the baddest of the bad.

-You're going to love it.
-I'm excited.

-Hey, got a question.
-sh**t.

I feel like the hebmuller
should have a friend,
a companion.

There's so many different
volkswagens out there.

My other interest
in volkswagens is a bus.

Okay.

But I want something rare,
you know, eye catching,
to match...

Go with the hebmuller,
just to make it a family.

I know if anybody can do it,
you can.

So, you want it to match
everything the same?

I think they should match.
I think they should come
as a team, a pair.

It's, you know,
instead of one of a kind,
you got two of a kind.

Two of the family.

Some people would call this
a big challenge,

I'd actually call it
a second dessert,
or a big opportunity.

I'm already
getting chills here.

I'm super excited
at this point.

Let me make a couple
of phone calls

and see if I've got some
ends on some super early
vintage stuff,

and I'll see what the rarest
of rare is,

kind of like what we've done
with the hebmuller.

-It's gotta go
with the hebmuller.
-Yeah. Man.

You know, I don't make
things easy, right?

No, but you know what?
I love talking to you
on the phone.

I was already excited building
the hebmuller for you,

but to do a matching bus
on that...

That would make my entire...
It would be phenomenal.

-That's awesome!
-Unbelievable!

I'll start looking around.
Let's find the rarest of rare.

-Rare like us, right?
-That's right, baby.

One or two of a kind!

Hey, what...

-[dave chuckles]
-what is this?

A rare bird, baby.

This is an original barn
door deluxe 1953 type 2.

Really rare!

I have to be honest with you,

I've been pretty pumped
to see this bad boy arrive,

and let me tell you,
it's nothing like the normal
bus you see.

We found an ultra-rare 1953,
which is the very first year
of deluxe bus.

This one looks
a little different.

Explain.

So, a couple of things
you're probably noting

is looking
a little bit different.

Obviously, the tail lights
are extremely different.

It has small glass
round tail lights,

instead of the big
oval rounded tail lights,

that normally we'd see
on them.

So, this is all new to me.

I'm gonna have to get tricky.

It's got the quarter glass,

package tray is way up
at the top of the interior,

that deck lid goes all the way
up to that reveal line,
which is pretty rare.

Dave keeps saying
the word "rare".

Rare around this bus
doesn't really make
a lot of sense to me,

but it's making me hungry.

I want steak for lunch
and that's how I like it,
rare.

It's got the ribbed bumpers,
they're steel.

These never really
had any kind of chrome
around the windows.

I might rethink that,
but maybe not.

I don't want to do something
that is too far custom.

I want to keep it classy,
kind of, like the hebmuller.

Because it's so rare?

Is this quarter panel...
Is that installed correctly?

That's installed correctly.

Really?

With all of the spot welds?

Spot welding, they would
body-work that out.

You wouldn't actually
see that,

but that's how it is, dimples.

That's how these were.

We're probably
gonna perfect it
just a little bit nicer.

I don't want to see
that come back.

The more I look at this bus,
and get used to the idea
of how early it is,

the more potential I see
in the beauty of the build.

There's something different
about the front.

Are the noses different?

I mean, I see something
doesn't look the same,

and I've seen plenty of these,
because I've hung out
with you for so many years.

As soon as I point it out,
you're gonna go,
"oh, no kidding!"

there's no vent
above the window.

This is all at the same angle.

You see, I've never noticed,
like, this more
of a peak here too,

now that you say that.

Right, when you go to the ones
that did have the vent,
this doesn't have that peak.

-It just goes round
all the way around.
-Wow!

So, super cool!

And, of course, no turn
signals up front.

It'll have the semaphore.

First I was excited
about steak.

Now, I'm excited about steak
and getting this build
underway.

Looks like we've got
a lot of great parts,
it's in good shape.

I'm pumped.

It's going to be really cool
to see a hebmuller

and a first year deluxe bus
together, matching.

I'm excited.

I think we'll have to pull
everything out
from underneath this thing.

Let's get it
chemically stripped
and start from bare metal.

I agree.
I think that's going to be
our best point of attack,

because who knows
how old this stuff is.

Sounds good to me.

I'm excited for this one.
This will be cool.

I mean it's a volkswagen.

Right now,
I'm taking all the parts off,

so we can itemize it
and send it off to have a dip.

I gotta inventory everything.

This will help me figure out
what is missing,

and what I need to get
or replace.

Tear down on the top
of this bus
was pretty straight forward.

I hope the bottom
is just as smooth.

We're getting this thing ready
to go out to get stripped,

because we don't like
this color.

There's a lot of body work
that we need to unveil.

Yeah, I'm done.

Everything's disconnected.

One bolt to go.

[whirring]

this is gonna be
the tricky part.

The bolts are out, the beam
is ready to come down.

You'd think dave,
the volkswagen lover,

or whisperer, or whatever,
would be here to help.

You know, I can't believe
after all these volkswagens
we do,

why doesn't he hire,
like, somebody that's into it?

I couldn't be more excited
for what I'm doing today.

I am matching the hebmuller,
which is by far one
of the coolest cars,

well, one of the cooler cars
that we've ever got to build.

I get to match it
to a very early vintage


Rare.

I am putting together
the same paint scheme,
same wheels.

I'm going to do the same motor
and transmission

and also the same
interior color,

and of course I think
I'm going to take the liberty

of putting some pop-outs
in the front.


full leather interior,
big stereo system.

It's done classic and clean
to where this steel
is gonna look vintage,

it's gonna look very special,

and it's just gonna be
super cool to see
these two together.

I don't know
if there's another ultimate.

We might find out one day
that there's something cooler,

that we haven't done yet,
but as it sits right now...

We've already done
the coolest of cool,

and this is just gonna add
to the pool.

Oh, that all rhymed.

That's a lot of cool!

So, let's lift it up
a tiny bit.

Good or more?

Talk to me, goose.

I'm up... I'm off here,
so I don't want to have a ton
of pressure on it.

We're risking our lives
to make sure this front end
comes out safely.

You'd think dave
would be here to help.

A little bit more.

Are we gonna hit...

Oh, we're hitting
the lift arms, bro...

With these braces.

These buses are really tricky
to put on lifts.

They're really short
and they don't have
a lot of places to pick up.

If the lift arms on this bus
don't play nicely,

safety becomes a huge issue.

-Go up a little more.
-Yeah.

Good or more?

A little bit more.

Yeah, we're gonna have a...

Hold on, we're gonna
have a problem, dude.

Let's lift it up a tiny bit.

Hold on.
We're gonna have
a problem, dude.

We're hitting the lift arms,
bro, with these braces.

Before we can get this bus
to chemical strip,

we gotta finish the teardown.

And so, far it's been easier
said than done.

You should be able
to pull them down under.

Go a little forward.

Okay, now take it up.

You go on or...

There we go.

There, man!

That was super easy.

I told you
we didn't need dave.

Success!

The vw bus has tore down.
It's sent off to dip.

Let's just hope it comes back
in decent shape.

[engine revving]

in the meantime,
there's no shortage of big
or little projects

willing to come into the shop.

See what I did there,
big, little, bus, this one.

Right on.

My name
is glenn schimmelpfennig,
which is a tongue twister.

The project I brought down
was my 1969 austin healy.

This thing is super cool.

Super cool, super small,
and super rare.

The question is,
is it super-fast?

I see that monster
supercharger on here.

[glen] put a four bolt main in
it, with an oversized crank
to handle the supercharger.

Well, that answers that.
Check.

Delivers right around


It went from red line
with 65 to 9000.

Fun car.

And as long as I'm going down
the freeway it's fine,

but when I get into town
or stop to the stop light,

I have to turn the engine off.

But it's just not evacuating
any of the air.

You want to do
these side vents
because, you know,

this thing's producing
quite a bit more heat
with all that power,

trying to evacuate some
of the heat out of this thing.

With this small car,
having this supercharger
on here,

we need to be having
a lot of air moving through
here to keep it cool.

I think it's a great idea.

Hopefully this brings
the underhood temp down,
gives the air somewhere to go.

I think it's a good plan.

Plus, if we design
and execute perfectly,

this will really add
to the look of this car.

I think it's gonna look good.

I think it's gonna
look awesome on it.

Hopefully,
with these new vents,

it'll keep the essence
of the car,

and blow that air out
of the engine compartment.

-Is this thing vinyl-wrapped?
-Yes, it is.

I put a clear vinyl wrap
on it.

Very thin, so it's still
the true color of a car.

It did create
a little more depth,
but a lot more protection.

I think that's going to make
things a little difficult,

but I don't think
it's a deal breaker.
I think...

Yeah, it's gonna be really...
I'm really nervous
about that part.

Making sure that the paint
and the wrap stays perfect,

that'll be the tough
challenge here.

But, if we get it right,
it'll be worth it.

-Okay, cool.
I'll keep you in the loop.
-Thanks.

First things first,
we're gonna go ahead
and scan the car.

That way we can have
that information
in the computer,

and we can start designing
these vents.

Kind of play with it.
Don't make it too busy,
don't web the whole thing.

Half inch squares.

We'll see what it looks like,
with maybe a split.

Collaboration is key
around here
at kindig-it design.

I'm gonna go ahead
and give him
a couple outlines,

and just let greg run with it.

Trying to keep it rounded.
We want to make it look like
it's from the '60s.

I don't want it
to look billet.

You know,
with the spoked wheels
and everything else,

I'm really, kind of, thinking
it has a lot of italian
and early England.

Maybe if we just do something
kind of going front to back.

Designing it like this,
it should be pulling some air
out of the engine bay,

and hopefully dropping
the under hood temp
a little bit.

Car looks super cool.

I think it'll really be
a nice addition to it.

Greg's done an awesome
job designing these.

Now, we'll have
the client come down
and take a look at them.

So, this is what
I came up with.

It's machined aluminum.

I think it's gonna look
really good.

I think it matches everything.

I think they look fantastic.

Perfect.

I tried to go off
of some of the existing pieces

and kind of make the lines
the same shape.

I didn't wanna make
something look like it was
gonna be on a lamborghini.

-Yeah.
-I think this is pretty
sharp-looking.

That's gonna be so nice
to have that done.

I'll let you know
when this thing's finished up,
and you can come swoop it up.

-Looking forward for that day.
-Right on.

I'm going to go off
of my measurements here,

get it laid out on there,

and then I'm going to mask
the car up.

I'm going to try to use
as few top work tools.

I want to keep the sparks
to a minimum,

and I also wanna keep the heat
out of this panel,

because not only
do I not wanna mess up
the paint,

but I don't wanna
mess up the vinyl.

The big trick with working
on a car that's already
painted and wrapped,

is to make sure you cut once.

Which means you measure twice,
because there is no
second chance on this one.

I think the car
has a little bit of a rake
to it, doesn't it?

If the car
is sitting at a rake,

meaning it's sitting
lower in the front
than it is the back,

it's important to make sure
that we find out
what the level is

of the rocker panel,

and make sure that the vent
goes in that same angle.

This will be very important
to make sure
that it doesn't look off.

I think I got to find
a different method.

The car has a little bit
of a rake to it,

so I want to make sure
that this is gonna line up
with the stance of the car.

Before greg can cut the holes
for these vents,

he has to get them positioned
and make sure
that they're perfect.

Once I cut this hole,
it's kind of permanent.

So, there's the vent
and then there's my cut piece.

Originally, greg was gonna
use the laser to get a nice
straight line on this car.

But, to be honest with you,

with the rake
that's on the suspension
right now,

I think it might be
a lot better just to use
the template.

I just made something
I could print out,
that's the right size.

So I'm going to cut this out,
and then I can just tape this
on here and mark it out,

and then I only have
to cut it once.

Trying to work smarter,
not harder.

Let's see if it works.

Everything's looking good,
so I think
it's gonna work out.

Right on. Let's go for it.

The key to making sure
that he gets this vent exactly
where it needs to be,

is to take your time, measure,
and use the right equipment,
and do not rush.

This will ensure
that we don't melt the vinyl
or mess up the metal.

I've got most of the cuts
all the way through.

So, I think I'm gonna switch
to the air saw.

The hole's cut
and the metal has been filed.

Now, all he's gotta do
is install these
and he's finished.

There we go.

The fit up to the body
is really close.

Looks really good.

Cool.

One test done,
one more big one to go.

We'll see if I didn't
mess up that vinyl.

I guess this part's
kind of important.

I just want to go slow,
because if it does start
coming up,

I don't wanna
just peel it all off.

Looks like I didn't damage
any of the paint
or anything like that.

I think it's gonna work
really well.

Now that I got
the holes cut in the car,

I'm just getting these pieces
drilled and tapped now.

Then I'm just making sure
I don't drill through.

So, I picked a spot
that has a pretty deep amount
of distance,

but I'm only drilling
less than a quarter inch.

And then I'll use a spiral
fluted bottoming tap

to make the threads go
as far as I can
into those holes.

Some custom hardware
and hand finishing

makes it so you can't get
fingerprint smudges on it.

It's kind of like
a nice, even smudge.

And this custom vent
should be then ready
for its new home.

Because this car
is made out of steel,

I wanted to make sure
that this isn't gonna rust.

So this is just some epoxy.

This will just keep it
from rusting.

This is anti-seize.

These are stainless screws
going into aluminum.

This is it.

Some sharp stuff in there.

The reason
this is kind of tricky

is just because
these screws are really tiny,

the area is so small,

all the tolerances
for the holes
are really tight.

So, I've got a few things
stacked against me,
but it seems to be going okay.

A couple screws over here
that are poking my arm.

Cool. There it is.

Right on.

Yeah, you can see
the air path from here.

I think it's gonna direct air
out of there pretty well...

And it looks really good, too,
which definitely counts.

Greg crushed this project.

He did a great job,
and it's definitely gonna
add to the look of this car.

[greg] it feels pretty good
to just be able to make
the piece the way I wanted to,

and the customer's
excited about it.

I'm really happy
with the end result.

I think glenn's gonna
really like it, too.

Now that this bus
has been chemically dipped,

it's now time to find out
what we're really
working with.

What do you think, jason?

This one's actually
pretty good.

This is probably the best
bus I've ever seen,
come into this shop, anyway.

Yeah.

Well, probably didn't
even need to come here,
it was so nice.

This is a pretty
important piece.

Let's take a look around it.
I think we're in pretty
good shape to get going on it.

Did this thing have safaris?

Safaris are very hard
to come by,

apparently
for a barn door deluxe.

The window's
a different length,

because it doesn't
have that overhang.

And then,
what about all these?

We need to do pop-outs
as far back as I can,

but the other part of this,
too,

is that if you look
at the rendering,

I didn't do chrome around
all of the windows.

-They didn't have chrome.
-But it needs that...

It kind of does need it--

...For the safaris,
'cause that's the frame right?

Right.

In the early frames,
it would have had frames
on a lot of the glass,

and especially the pop-outs,
but they were usually
just painted black.

They didn't have
a lot of chrome on a '53.

-That makes sense.
-So...

This is so much more
than just a very rare
vintage bus.

It's now time to unlock
its customizing potential.

Are we doing our trim on this?

-We're gonna do
our trim on that.
-Okay.

The back corners here,
it looks like just pretty cut
and dry, jason, honestly.

Let's just go right up here
to the trim area.

The engine, I don't think
you have to do any mods
to the perimeter.

Automatic transmission
on this one?

Same automatic transmission
as we did in the hebmuller.

Okay.

Same wheel and tire fitment.
Same engine.

We can't do,
like a subaru engine?

Why would you put
a subaru engine
in a volkswagen?

Because it would be fast.

-It'll be fast
with a volkswagen engine.
-Okay.

Yeah. Yeah.

Please send all of your emails
and hate mail to dave--

kevdog.

We're gonna go in
and get rid of all this
nasty repair work,

and try to finish this out.

Just so it has that real
clean stock look.

There's multiple decades
of repairs that have been done
on this bus,

and now,
it's time to take a look

at what we really
got to work with,
and make it perfect.

The difficult part is getting
the separation on these beads,

and making sure that,
like here, how they end,

you wanna have that gapping
the same.

[dave]
there's a thousand ways
to skin a cat,

and in this case,
ira's using a piece of wood,

so you can hammer down
the sheet metal
into this groove

to recreate the ribs.

From gapping to welding
to metal finishing,
everything has to be perfect.

Even if some of this
you won't see,
it's gotta be flawless.

Even on the stuff
that you don't see,

we want to make sure
that if somebody did
get to it,

it's gonna look right.

I'm trying to absorb
that little extra material.

I'm just trying to find
where it's at.

Like, where can I pull it?

While ira puts
the finishing touches
on the front end panels...

Jorge is gonna tackle
the rear quarters.

I'm gonna replace this.

It's not right
for the year of the bus.

It's cut different.

You can come over here it's...
You know,
years of bad repairs.

Just better redo it,
make it look nice.

This curve here, it's just...

Bad repair after bad repair.

There seems to be
a theme developing here.

It's always more work
than you think.

Everything looks easy
and simple,

and then when you start
cutting into it,

or popping out some filler,
and then you realize,

"oh, there's a big hole
back there."

this side has had
some pretty serious amount
of damage to it,

and it's been repaired before
in the past.

I'll have to duplicate
this corner,

and then allow it
to extend below
into the lower dogleg section,

and have a seam
that runs all the way down
to the bottom.

It's getting there.
It's pretty close.

[dave]
the new rear corner panels
have arrived,

and now it's time for jorge
to make them fit...

Which is easier said
than done.

Sometimes these don't fit...

So we get something
that looks like
a quarter panel.

So now,
I get to splice it in half...

And shorten it,
because it's too big.

The trickiest part
is not to get shocked

while I'm trying to hold
this panel together right now.

Looks really good.

[dave]
now, that the rear corners
are looking great.

Now, it's time for us
to get our hands

on one of my very
favorite parts of a bus.

We're doing the doors
on this bus.

I got the front door lined up.

My gaps are pretty decent
on the front door.

The rear door is pretty bad.

It doesn't line up at all.

The body line doesn't flow
with the actual lines
of the vehicle.

So, what I'm doing right now,
is just cutting the edges that
need to be moved around...

To get our gap even,
and then I'm going to come in

and work this body line,
to get everything to line up.

This is heat stop.

Since I'm gonna be leading
right on the skin of the door,
I don't want the door warping.

So, what this does
is it just stops the heat
from moving beyond,

try to keep the door
as straight as possible.

The side doors
are very important
to this van.

Those doors need
to be lined up

and perfectly straight
to the rest of the side
of the band.

These windows are level
with each other,
but the body lines aren't.

So, it could just be
a discrepancy in the...

In the panel itself
from manufacturing.

Volkswagen was never known
to make the straightest cars
in the world.

Heating it up a little bit
and getting the moisture out
of the steel,

just to make it
as clean as possible.

Using lead
on a vintage vehicle like this

is exactly
what the doctor ordered.

This ensures that we'll be
able to get all of the lines
to line up on the body

without having to cut them
completely apart,
and fix them.

Lots of prep.

The biggest thing
is cleanliness

when you're doing lead,
or else it just won't stick.

The tools we use to spread
the lead are made out of wood,

so we wax the wood to keep
the wood from burning.

It also helps the wood to keep
from sticking to the lead,

so it rolls out
a lot smoother.

It's difficult
on a vertical panel,

because it wants to slide off.

Got the lead on,
got it all smoothed out.

Now, I've just been
blocking it out

and changing my line
a little bit,

to line up
with that front line,
and it looks awesome.

We can send it over to body
and get it finished up.

The doors may be ready
to head to body now,
but other parts,

not so much.

This is very gross.

It's pretty bad.

[dave givens] what I've done
is I've blown apart
all the original brake system

and all the bearings
are coming out.

We are full speed ahead
on this 1953 vw
barn door deluxe bus,

and before it goes over
the body shop,

we got a couple
of odds and ends
that we just need to tie up.

We're upgrading our
brake system.

We're going
from the old drum system
up to a disc brake system.

We got a lot more horsepower,
so we got to have a lot more
stopping power.

This is very gross.

We're gonna use parts cleaner
to get all this grease off.

These are all the parts
that aren't needed
to be replaced,

and I wanted
all that old grease,

with all the grit
that's in it, out.

So, when I repack
all the grease where...

It's gonna be running smooth
and less wear.

Got everything cleaned up.

Now I got go pack my bearings,
and start putting everything
back together.

We're going to do this
old-school style,

pack it by hand, make a mess.

Packing one side,
overloading it,

and then pressing it,

so it's coming
through the bearing itself.

If you pack it right,
it should be good
until the bearing falls apart.

Now, we've got to put it
all back together.

All put together.

Spinning good. Done.

[dave] since this '53
barn door deluxe bus
arrived at the shop here,

I have been on cloud nine.

-I mean it's a volkswagen.
-Hey-hey!

So far, it's been stripped,
dipped, straightened,

restored and customized.

It looks awesome.

We've done a ton of stuff
to this bus so far,

but really, we're just
getting started.

We got our front beam set up,
taped up,

so we don't scratch anything.

Right now, we're gonna
get it bolted up...

Make sure everything is square
and even.

Before we can get this bus
finished up in the metal shop
and over to body,

we got to make sure it rolls.

There's some tubes in there
that are blocking our path.

-Do we roll it?
-Yeah.

And as always,
there's no perfect tool
for just any old problem.

Easy, cowboy.

Slide forward.

Sometimes, it's just a matter
of muscle power.

Got it in.

I think we're pretty
much good to go.

Pretty big moment
for this vehicle.

Now, with all the metal
finishing done

and in the rear rearview
mirror,

it's time to get this bad boy
over to the body shop.

Taking it over brandon's crew.
They'll sand it down
and make it look pretty.

I just really hope
the metal guys aren't too sad
to see this thing go.

I love seeing them come
over to body.

That means we're done
over on our side.

I'm extremely excited
for this one.

The bus has been designed
and signed off on,
except for one little detail.

The wheels.

So cool to get this far
into the business

and to find out
that pretty much anything

that we can dream up
and design up,
even if I just sketch it,

I've got the right
professionals that know
how to put this stuff together

and do the job right.

I want to do something
that's a little bit unique

kind of that essence of german


Really,
to keep stance well set,

I really need to run
a 15 up front.

And then in the back,
I'm gonna go ahead and see
if I can actually fit a 17.

So, we'll have two different
sizes of tires and rims.

But I'm actually gonna
invert the center,

where the center cap will go,

but the really big trick
about these,

and that is these
little u-shaped pieces

that basically
it's a trim ring.

Those will be bolted on
from the back side of the rim.

So, we can paint very easily
the inside center,

and then we'll chrome
these little pieces
and bolt them on afterwards.

I think that'll be
a really nice detail,

and something
that's kind of unique
for the bus.

All right, brandon.

So the metal shop has worked
their magic on this bus.

Let's get this thing primed,
bodywork laser-straight.

I wasn't a huge fan
of this bus when it came,

but this thing's turning out
incredibly cool.

This thing's flowing
really good
and coming along smooth.

[kevin]
there was just so much work
everywhere on this thing,

from the doors getting worked,

to all of the hinges
and floor mods,

all these areas
getting worked over.

Getting a vehicle ready
for paint in this shop
is no easy task.

Every single nook and cranny
has to be perfect in metal,

before the body shop
will accept it.

I'm super excited for you guys
to do your panel magic
on this thing

and get it just knocked out.

All the rust is gone
and that's what we need
something fresh to start with.

Most importantly, my job
is to not only help brandon
see what needs to be done,

but get him
in the volkswagen spirit.

-It's just getting--
-it's so hot in here, dude.

[laughing] oh, my god!

I'm not sure if kevdog's shirt
is motivating
or a distraction.

[laughing] that
tie-dye shirt's k*lling me.

I was thinking and just...
This is just an idea,

do you want me to get you
and your crew some of these,
while you're doing this?

I think it might get you
in the spirit to just do
an even better job

than you guys already do.

The way I see it,
anybody working on these
vintage volkswagens

should definitely
wear tie dyes.

That's very freeing.

Very embarrassing.

-Peace.
-Hair grease.

Dude, that's legit.
I might wear this all day.

[dave] first things first.

Before we can start
to perfect the bodywork,

we gotta make sure
this thing is completely
straight, aligned and clean.

Good to go.

Bodywork is by far
one of the most
important steps

of building a car
at kindig-it design.

It takes a lot of time,
a lot of effort,
a lot of steps,

and a lot of talent.

The metal has been brought
down to 80 grit.

It's got the good bite in it
for mechanical adhesion
of the primer itself,

but we also want to make sure
we prevent any flash rust

between when that was
completed

and we get the primer
on there.

So, what we do is,
we have a pre-metal treatment

and that prevents the rust
from happening on the metal.

This basically
will seal the metal

and make sure
that all of the bodywork
is down

and is protected underneath.

This stuff
is very dangerous chemically,

so we're definitely
gonna make sure,

like always, I'm all suited up
and got my goggles,
my respirator,

and nothing getting
in my eyes,

or breathing it in
if I don't have to.

We could have
a beautiful shiny paint job,
we top her off,

and it can go out
in the sunlight a week later,

and crack, if all the metal
wasn't properly prepared.

So, this is all very critical
to making sure

that everything
that we do here
from the next month on out

working on it are perfect.

That's it.
Don't drink it, don't eat it.

Wear your masks.

If your boots don't match
your primer suit,
you're not doing it right.

Kind of working it
a little bit.

It's club brian up in this.

Frankie fender's in the booth.

There's a lot to wrap
your head around when putting
this protective coat on,

and brian is here to make sure
it's done flawlessly.

Now brian gets very upset
if you don't properly clean
the g*ns and for good reason.

Like new.

Brian?

He's a tough nut to crack.

He seemed incredibly happy
with the epoxy.

I think the key on this one
is just to keep him dancing.

Let's mix up a gallon.

With primer, it's so important
that you mix it correctly.

Because if you don't,
it won't cure.

And then all of a sudden,
you'll be sanding,

and then all of a sudden
you're sanding a swamp,

and nobody wants
to sand a swamp.

Precision mixing is the key.

That's something frank
would say.

You just have
to pay attention to detail
with everything you're doing

and think a couple steps ahead
of what's happening.

So, if you don't mix
all this stuff up properly,

the paint on top of it
is just gonna fail,

because the primer
is gonna be soft.

You can see distinctly
the actual primer itself,

the hardener
and kind of some
of the reducer that's up here.

This isn't as sexy
and cool as the actual color

and the base coat going down,

but everything
that we do here
has a step to it,

and a little technique.

[kevin]
primer may not be as sexy
as paint,

but it is so important.

It fills
all the imperfections.

It gives you a nice even base
to continue to sand,

and make this thing
as straight as possible.

I want everything
to be one h*m*,

I think that's the right word,
h*m* mix,

just like a good whole
chocolate milk or something.

Moment of truth.

If you don't put this
on right,

when you flip it over,
dump out on you.

I learned that when I started.

All right, good to go.
Let's do this.

Let's do this.

The first primer is now
down on this '53 bus.

This is basically your
foundation for the bodywork
and a perfect paint job.

The epoxy primer
came out flawlessly.

Now it's time to get dusty.

Make this thing
laser-straight.

It's been blocked down.

Just need to go and sand out
all the little spot welds,

so this way we get good
adhesion for the body filler
that'll cover those in.

Really just as simple
as getting a little fine pad
in there and work those out.

We're getting it
to where it needs
to be perfect.

This bus will be restored
and customized beyond
what it ever started as.

But in the end, on this bus,
it'll all be
in the small details.

[frank] it's tedious little
stuff like this that makes
the difference,

because if you don't do
something like this now,

spread body filler over that,

it's not really gonna stick,

and it can wind up
lifting in the end

and k*lling a really pretty
paint job.

So take the time,
do the job right.

It'll look good in the end.

Just get her nice and flat.

Most people
will never see it,
but still make them perfect.

Sweating b*ll*ts!

Yeah, you don't need a gym
after doing this.
[laughs]

why is everything taller
than I can reach?

Man, what... What is this?

That's not working, man.

This is irregular glove here.

I can see why harlan's
sweating b*ll*ts.

This next part
of the bus project
is a big deal,

and there's absolutely no room
for error.

There we go.

It's the first big spray job
at kindig-it, you know.

That's what makes me
the most nervous, really.

Everything's fine. I got this.

It's gonna be beautiful.

It's only the rarest
volkswagen micro bus barn door


and it's a kindig car.
No pressure.

I want it to be beautiful,
I want it to be one and done,

and something I can be
very proud of.

The guys that have done
the bodywork on this bus
have done an amazing job,

and I have no intention
of losing momentum now.

All right, let's go.