08x12 - Not So Subtle

[bunniefuu]

[imitates chef's kiss]

-hi.
-This pantera is gonna be
so kick butt, dude.

Over-the-top crazy.

Now it's just
building the middle.

Basically start building it
panel by panel.

Get this guy to stop laying
around on the job, you two
would probably get more done.

This is like
a 4-legged spider.
Right? [chuckles]

I'm not even scared
a little bit. It's just metal.

I'm super pumped.

I mean, it's a race car.

She's rowdy, she's mean.

Nasty.

-Oh my god, the wheels
are coming off.
-They're coming off!

It sounds so good.

It looks fast
just sitting here.

I mean, that just looks
so mean.

He'll be lucky if he can
pry this from our dead,
cold hands. [laughs]

do you really
believe that, dave?

[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...

-[customer] this is gorgeous!
-[dave laughs]

performance...

[customer] it's fantastic!

[dave] stance... Wheels...

Sound.

There's one thing that makes
our cars stand out.

Ours are bitchin' rides.

-[driver] oh, it never
gets old!
-[dave laughs]

when I first set out to build
custom cars for clients,

I had no idea it would end up
where we're at today.

I think the secret to creating
a shop like mine
is exactly this:

It's passion and synergy.
Everybody with the same
passion, and the same ideas,

and the same love for what
they're doing all going
in the same direction?

Couldn't get any better!

We're currently, right now
working on

the very first
vintage supercar
at kindig it design.

This is truly extraordinary
for us,

and everybody is
extremely excited
to be working on this project.

No.

It's not bitchin'. Not to me.

Panteras are cool cars.

No.

Pantera's a cool car.

The ones back from the day...

Were okay.

It's a cool car, of course.

Um, I'd say
that's a definite no.

Oh, hell yeah!

[chuckling] it's a sports car.

Mmm.

They're kinda modern
for their day.

They could use a little help.

Oh yeah. Definitely bitchin'.
They're cool cars.

Uh, I'm tall,
so I don't fit in 'em.

I'd drive it.
I'd definitely drive it.

Oh yeah.

I love panteras. That was
actually one of my dream cars
growing up as a kid.

Ugliest car I've ever seen.

Wow.

I like panteras, yeah.

I don't like
the pop-up lights.

The pantera is amazing.

The pop-up headlights?
Not my thing.

I love panteras. I've...

I've always wanted
to build one.

Yeah, just need
a little stretch,
and width, and...

-[interviewer]
everything else?
-Stance. [chuckles]

I like the aerodynamic shape
to 'em.

I don't like the pointy nose.

They got great lines.

I always thought
they sat too high.

It's just got like a tough,
mean, sleek look to it.

More power and
a better stance,
without a doubt.

Really muscly, but also
exotic at the same time.

I like things that look sexy.
[chuckling] and that's
one of 'em!

It's ugly.

It's got sexy lines.

It looks like
a skateboard jump.
It's like a ramp.

'cause I'm a bit sexy,
and I know what sexy is.

It's just an ugly design.

I don't know if it's
an italian car or
an american car.

Mid-engine italian sports car?

That's kinda neat.

It's cool and smart.

-It's cool in that realm.
-Yeah. Mmm-hmm.

Just being domestic, and being
american, and being that
super car. Loved it.

I should do research. Can you
ask me these questions,

and let me do some research,
I'll get back to you?

Pantera is just something...

Different.

When they told me that they
were gonna power it by ford,
I was out.

Hmm, I don't know,
it's not like
I [bleep] love 'em.

They're just kind of cool.

Give me some white powder
in miami, I'd be all about it.

[all laughing]

the pantera is not bitchin'.

Of course it's bitchin'!

We may not all agree on what
is bitchin', but when
this car's all finished up,

there will be absolutely
no doubt in mind
what car is the baddest.

I love 'em,
I absolutely love 'em.

Very good friend of ours,
ernie boch jr.,
from the boston area

brought down a 1972 pantera
for us to tear into.

I hate to tear it apart,
but I'm going to.
[chuckles]

[ernie] oh yeah. No, it's
gonna... It's gonna be good.

[dave] we stripped all
the paint off this pantera to
reveal some beautiful metal.

We ordered a brand-new,
high tech roadster
shop chassis, to give us

not only better performance,
but also a longer wheelbase.
We rebuilt the insides,

from the floors
to the center console
to the dash

and put a few rolls of tape
to good use, to see what
the outside could look like.

I wanted something that's very
aggressive, wide.

But I still want it to look
like a pantera.

We don't want to put too much
modern stuff to it, so...

This is a very important
moment, to make sure
that we get it right.

Otherwise, we're back
to the drawing board.

The only thing I see is,
now the car just looks long.

-It looks...
-It's long and low.

-Yeah.
-Long, wide, and low
is exactly...

-Yeah.
-What you want a pantera
to look like.

-[will] well, yeah.
-[dave] it looks like
a concept car to me.

-Right?
-[will] mm-hmm. Uh-huh.

-It's rad.
-Uh-huh.

-[dave] it's good.
-[will] it looks really good.

Um, I'm really happy
with that mockup, guys.

You know, even though
this isn't my design,
this design's really good.

I really think that we
should have put the engine
in the front,

and did a tandem axle
and did a hot tub
in the back, but...

There's always the next one.

[dave] I think, uh, I think
that's gonna really
start to show

the body lines that we're
trying to capture,

and uh, not the overwhelming
fender flare styling.

-The flare will be about
that much wider than stock.
-I like that.

[dave] but the quarters
will be blown out,
same front and rear.

-I think it's gonna be dope.
-That looks way good.

[dave] 'cause it'll still
look, you know,
like a '72 pantera.

We don't want it to look like
a gts, which just

-had those massive...
-Oh, totally.

Dually fenders on it.

Looks good.

Yeah, it's pretty wild.
Now we have a direction to go.

Now it's just
building the middle.

[dave] the stretch kind of
disappeared with the fat body.

We don't want a skinny lady
we want a fat lady.

[chuckles]

here comes the hate mail.
Those aren't emails.
Those are hate mails.

So, I think
this is a really good start.

I think it's just
what I was hoping for.

I think it's gonna look good.
I like the tape too.

-Maybe we should paint
it like that.
-No.

-Well not yellow--
-I'm getting hungry,
and angry and yellow?

-It just doesn't work.
-All of those things?

-[dave chuckles] yeah.
-Awesome.

Far out, dudes.
Let's build it metal.

So, now the fun stuff--

some fun stuff--

fun. Stuff.

Can't talk. Starts.

[tool whirring]

I'm just gonna start
by cutting off the whole lower
part of the fender.

Gonna leave a little bit
of lip for me to graft back
on to change angles, whatever.

So, we'll get that cut off
and then we'll get
a tire on there.

Kind of built the template
out of the tape and now it's
time to make that a reality.

So we're gonna start in
and start putting
the wide body kit on it.

We're building the kit.

It's kindig kit.

Before we get going too far,

we need to insure that the
new tires are gonna fit inside
of the body.

Which one's
the front one, daniel?

Yeah!

-Front wheel drive
for pantera.
-[all laughing]

can you imagine
the tread being up here?

And you're looking at it,
the tread going forward.

-Would be like mario kart
or something.
-Yeah. True.

You know it's a good thing
I keep my renderings around

just to make sure that
we're building the same car.

Otherwise, things could
get out of hand.
Like, I don't know,

six wheel, three axle,
hot tubs.

Just ain't going
in the pantera, man.

[daniel] so I measured
the thickness of the hat
on the rotor.

So, I can get
the accurate spacing,

sort of mimic the thickness
with some washers.

Then we can put the tire on.

Really get a feel for where
this tire's gonna live at.

And get an accurate build.

It's not crashing
into anything.

I think I'm happy with
the turning radius.

So that's cool,
we actually have decent
turning radius.

[david] we want an hour glass
for front and rear fenders.

This will make sure that
we got enough room
for the fender flare,

and we can keep the car low
and have full turning radius.

Jason and daniel definitely
have their work cut out
for them.

Now this is a huge project.

But it's gonna take multiple
people to do it.

I think what's most important
is to make sure that they both
work on both left and right.

Not individually, 'cause one
side won't match the other.

[jason] we'll build a little
skeleton frame of all where
our body seams

are gonna live,
with this tig wire.

So we can really
get a visual of it.

We need to tape over it.

Really get an idea of where
we can do before
we transfer it into metal.

And then we'll start
chasing in metal.

[daniel] we wanna build it
on both sides, make sure
it's symmetrical and

-it gives us
somewhere to start.
-[daniel] I like it.

-[dave] looks rad.
-[daniel] it looks
bitchin', huh?

[jason] yeah, you can't be
scared, 'cause my
mom always told me,

you gotta face your fears,

so I'm not even
scared a little bit.

Not even a little bit.
I got you.

[jason] it's just metal.

It doesn't do what you want,
you just make a new piece.

Now that daniel's got our
skeletonized grid system

of where we want
the body to be living,

basically started building
it panel by panel,

um, 'til we get it mimicking
the shape that we want,

and then weld it together,

so it's just really time
consuming,

but I guess you always have
that worst case
scenario in your mind,

like this is gonna suck
or this is gonna take forever.

Just chasing a
general shape right now.

Kinda hammering it to get it
to where it lays a little bit
better on the skeleton.

[dave] we got a ton of
different tools in
the shop, but really

in this case, the only
way to fabricate this

is good old-fashioned
hammer and dolly.

And then once I get it to the
rough, general shape,

I'll go back and I'll planish
this out, give it a real nice
contour on this,

trying to move a lot of metal
really quickly to get
it to where I want.

I like pantera, the band,
while driving my pantera.
[laughing]

I like it!

[kevin] so right now,
we're just mocking up
all the panels.

We're not too concerned about
how they fit.

We just wanna get an overall,
like, how is this
thing gonna turn out.

Once we get all the pieces for
these fenders in place, we'll
start makin' 'em perfect,

but we have to
start somewhere.

Actually, just seeing what
this thing's gonna look like
is a huge milestone.

[kevin] it is a drawing. We're
just trying to make
it into reality.

[jason] wow, I'm really happy
with how it's coming along.

I'm really digging the
way it's looking.

A little skeptical of the...

The shape we were gonna
chase to accommodate the
bigger tire, but

it's looking really awesome.
It almost looks like it's
supposed to be that way, so.

Yeah, but I'm sure
dave will change it.

-Hey, is this, uh,
this side's fender?
-Yeah, just cut off rough.

Wow.

[dave] we are finally
fabricating the outside
of this pantera.

We mocked up
everything in tape

and now they've finally
started to fabricate
the actual fenders

just like what we designed.

Everything's looking awesome
except for one little thing.

Is this, uh, this
side's fender?

-Yeah, it just cut off rough.
-Wow.

And that is the front fenders.
They're just not
quite there yet.

With just a few tweaks,
it should be perfect.

I want it down a little bit.
I want a little bit of reveal.

Yeah, I don't want it way out
here like a big
gts fender flare.

I want it to flow off that,
I want a little bit of return,

but I think we also need to
come out just a little bit,
maybe an inch.

By simply just
pulling all of this out

and giving it a
nice hourglass,

just so we don't have the
gutter problem,

where you go
through a gutter and it...

-Yeah, yeah.
-It turns and it stops it.

[jason] full bumps. I think
the original body is like

-somewhere right around there.
-Yeah, no, I know.

[dave] so I mean, yeah,
we would have been

clear the hell
in here, so yeah,

you're probably every
bit of three inches
sticking out.

I think you're really
on your way, bud.

I really wanna exaggerate the
front fender bulbous
just a little bit more.

This will allow a little bit
more room

for the turning radius
on these fat front tires,

and give us less fender flare.
I don't want it
to look like a gts.

When you, uh, get a little
closer to getting that flare
on, grab me again, will ya?

Thanks, jason.

[kevin] to achieve the flow
that we want,

we're gonna make
some templates

and then start
shaping some sheet metal.

We're gonna go ahead and tack
up this template so we
have a good solid base

to shape these
fender flares on.

Everything is welded.

Hopefully this is closer to
the shape that
dave is looking for.

Just getting the main body
locked down before we

-dial in the flare, but...
-Oh, yeah.

This is gonna be...

-Something like that-ish.
-Nice. I like that.

-So.
-Well, I think that's really
got some nice flow to it.

That's... That's looking
k*ller. I like how you've got
it kind of rolling back.

This looks really good.

Yeah, I'm stoked.

-I really like this hourglass,
don't you?
-Oh, I love it. Looks so good.

[dave laughing]

it'll look really good soon as
this comes out
on the backside.

-Right.
-It'll look awesome.

Hurry up, finish the front.
I'm excited to see the back.

-Oh, I'm more excited about
doing the back, too.
-Right?

If you can get this guy to
stop laying around on the job,

you can probably
get more done.

[jason] between me sitting and
him laying, we'll never
get this car done.

He can't hear me. Oh, he can
hear me, he's just
ignoring me.

[both laughing]

all right, looks good, man.
Now keep going. Keep going.

Dave likes the direction the
guys are going in.

Now they can get started
on all the finishing work.

I like it.

Cool. Do the other side.

While daniel tries to catch up
with jason, it's now time to
turn our attention

to a brand new project.

Mike lazear's 1965 mustang
fastback was built
for one reason

and one reason only, to drive
the wheels off and compete for
the optima challenge.

-This is 800 horsepower of
ford's finest right here.
-Right.

[kevin] that's the only
way I could say it.

The first part of this project
was to make it bitchin'.

[kevin] there's so many
changes, it's turned
out so clean.

[dave] the second part
is to make sure
it drives bitchin'.

We wanna make sure it runs.

[kevin] the air is
crazy thin here,

so we're just gonna
put a safe tune in it.

We wanna make sure
that when mike

is beating the brakes
off this thing,
that it is always safe.

It never leans out
and is protected always.

[munk] five of this one.

-[munk] is that six?
-[brax] yeah.

[munk] seven. Two.

[brax laughing]

I told you something wasn't
adding up. Let's just do this.

Good hell. [laughing]

[brax] one of our cylinders
for sure wasn't firing.

Well, two, probably.

So now we're retracing all of
them to make sure that we're
getting the right firing order

on our distributor.

[munk] one. Three.
Seven. Two. Six. Five.

Munk and brax are gonna go
over every square
inch of this engine,

make sure everything's
hooked up and ready to go.

Do you wanna check that
timing with that light?

Sure.

-You ready, brax?
-Ready.

[munk] we're just gonna try to
get this thing
running good enough

to get it up on the
dyno and tune it
and make it a street engine.

[dave] making sure
that the car will
idle, start, run.

Yeah, before we get it
to the dyno, you wanna
check the obvious

to make it as quick and
as safe as possible.

-[kevin] so is it better?
-[munk] yeah.

Does it run, run?

[engine starts]

-hey, good job.
-It sounds good back there.

It sounds really good.

[kevin] we got the
engine running and
everything is good.

Now it's time to get this
thing on the dyno.

-Get it on the dyno.
-Okay.

-Sounds good.
-I'll let you get back on it.

[brax] break.

[dave] you know, after 22
years in building up

all of the equipment that we
have throughout the shop,

we've got the ultimate,
our own wheel dyno.

[jason] I am so excited to
have this dyno in the shop.

I mean, before this, we used
to have to trailer the cars to
somebody else's shop,

and if we had any kind of
issues or problems,

we had to pull the car back
off the dyno,

fix it as quickly as we could,
put it back on, so.

[kevin] it is very important
that these cars run very well

and it's kinda hard to
do it on the streets.

You got crazy peoples driving
around in their corollas
trying to hit ya.

It's way easier just to strap
the car on the dyno
and get it done.

[jason] this is just gonna be
so much more convenient

to be able to just
do it right here.

I mean, if we have a problem,
you can slip underneath the
car and just take care of it.

[kevin] having a dyno in
house is a great tool.

It's kinda bitchin'.

I would leave these
on, though.

Leave 'em on and then
just add two more.

Does that make sense?

There's a lot of power
to control here.

We wanna double check that
everything is strapped down

before we start making
high horsepower pulls.

-All right, guys, looks like
you got the car on the rolls.
-Yeah.

I'm super pumped. Strapped
down, safe, front, back.

Exhaust fans are hooked up.

-[kevin] awesome.
-[blaize] this is no standard
dyno run, though.

-Like...
-No. It's a customer-supplied
fe built by jon kaase.

[blaize] based off a


uh, dual overhead cams,

it's 11:4 compression ratio,


At 625 lift. It's a pretty
happy little motor,

-cover our intake.
-So I don't know about this,
dude. That's just the...

-[blaize] it's , uh...
-[brax] I mean,
this is so custom.

This engine is absolutely
bad to the bone

and it has an
extremely high pedigree
as far as engines go.

-Award winning motor.
-Yeah.

In a crazy mustang, like, it's
not a normal dyno pull.

It's gonna be pretty nasty
when it's all said and done.

Nasty.

-[brax] I mean,
it's a race car. You know.
-[kevin] totally.

We just wanna make
sure everything's safe.

Make sure the timing's good,
make sure that we're not

having any catastrophic
problems when he's
actually driving the car.

Okay, so on the first pull,
all we're doing is
checking the...

The air fuel ratio. It's very
important that this engine
does not lean out.

[blaize] so right now, the
computer has a very,
very basic tune in it.

What we're doing now is we're
gonna dial it in
a little bit closer.

Make sure the air fuel ratios
are safe to be
driven on the street

and to make sure that it
doesn't stall when you
come down to idle,

it doesn't hiccup or buck
when you start getting
on it real hard,

and make it tame.

We'll see how she goes.

-Good to roll?
-Yeah.

[engine revving]

[dave] a fantastic day. We've
got our dyno set up, and it's
time for our very first pull.

I'm super pumped.

Strapped down,
safe, front, back.

-[blaize] exhaust fans are
hooked up.
-[kevin] awesome.

-This is no standard dyno run,
though. Like...
-No.

It's a customer supplied fe
built by jon kaase.

[dave] we've built the
ultimate competition vehicle
out of this fast back mustang.

But the one thing we haven't
been able to do

is the fact that we haven't
taken it on the road.

So we're gonna
put it on the dyno,

shake her down, and then we
might go for a spin
around the block.

Good to roll?

Yeah.

Rolling.

[kevin] okay, so on
the first pull,

all we're doing is checking
the air fuel ratio.

It's very important that this
engine does not lean out.

It's too lean.

Just on our initial little
pull there, we're showing
pretty lean.

So we're gonna go
ahead and richen it up.

Let the dyno spool down here.

[kevin] on the second pull,
we'll probably adjust a little
bit of the fuel curve,

make sure the transition's
good off of idle.

[blaize] I'm only giving it
like quarter and a half...

I haven't even
hit full throttle yet.

Also check the air fuel ratio.
It's very important.

Stay slow and conservative
moving up to where
you wanna be.

Don't get into a hurry to go
from this to that, okay?

-Definitely.
-Don't wanna break anything.

You break it,
you buy it. [laughing]

this one'll be a little more
aggressive, right?

That's what I'm doing, like...

Let's go, say, 110.

-Miles per hour?
-'cause in fourth gear,

-we should be
able to do 110 easy.
-Okay.

And not be
screaming the motor.

-Okay, whenever
you're ready.
-Ready?

It sounds so good.

[blaize] it's running way
better than it was
just changing those

few parameters, so.

[brax] it looks really
steady, though.

We made a couple pulls,
we made a couple adjustments,

now it's time to really
push this thing.

-Ready?
-Hey, eyes and ears on
everything you can see.

Now it's time to let this
mother [bleep] eat.

[engine revving]

much better.

I have chills. [laughing]

-as the car was coming up,
I'm going, oh, oh.
-[laughing]

it starts jumping on the
dyno when he let out.

-One bad mother...
Mama... Mama jamma.
-Bad mustang mama jamma, dude.

Oh, yeah, it gets your
adrenaline going for sure.

There was like a piece of tape
that flew off, I was like,

-oh my god, the
wheels are coming off.
-It's coming off!

[kevin] we got this
mustang dialed in,
the numbers look good,

thing's ready for the road.
And hopefully, mike loves it.

Come on, bro! Give it to me.

Definitely gets your
blood pumping.

She's rowdy, she's mean.

It's gonna be a lot
of fun on the street.

Now it's time for mike to take
this old speed demon out

and see what it'll do
on the open road.

[mike lazear] gotta
come up this way some.

My name's mike lazear.

We're unloading a '65 mustang,
we're just gonna give it kind
of a shakedown cruise.

It's been four years
in the making.

I've waited a long
time for this, no doubt.

My expectations are that
everything works right,

we keep it out of the ditch,
everything goes successful,

and this is hopefully
better than sex.

[blaize laughing] let's do it.

[engine roaring]

[dave over phone] we'll just
take her easy on the first
one, get a feel for her.

[dave] mike is absolutely
a speed demon.
He's been fast.

He wants to go fast.
Our job here is just to

simply make sure that it goes
through all the gears

and stays together and sounds
good and is running smooth
and is timed well.

With the car checking out not
only on the dyno but
also on the open road,

it's time for him
to go racin'.

[engine roaring]

-that's gotta be
-That felt good, too.

Right? [laughing]

the car did everything we
wanted it to do.

Everybody in the shop's got a
big smile on their face.

Mike's got a big
smile on his face.

And now, it's time for him to
take it home.

Oh, man. That was awesome,
now that we got it corrected.

It's amazing. Best thing yet.

[engine revving]

[dave] the metal fabricators
in the shop

have turned my pantera dream
into metal reality.

It's got that real subtle
hourglass shape going.
It looks so good.

[dave] we've done so much
custom stuff,

including blowing out
all four quarters,
giving it an hourglass shape.

I love the direction
that it's gone so far,

but we're nowhere near
being done.

It's time to pay attention
to the small details.

Starting with the exhaust.

Every cut I make for this,
I gotta make for that side

and then I measure them
as I go

from the chassis
or the transmission
or whatever.

We don't build a lot
of mid-engine cars here
at kindig it design,

so this one is gonna look
completely different

from anything
we've ever built before.

So it looks like
one continuous piece
through the whole thing.

'cause everything's
gotta look flowy,

versus having
little choppy areas

that are gonna be straight
or anything like that.

This configuration is
just completely different.

But it has all
of the same characteristics

that we build
in any other car.

Oh, what's up daniel?
How's the exhaust comin'?

It's getting there.
It's clearing everything.
Pretty nice.

Where are we headed?

Pretty much mirror
what's going on back here,
in the front side.

-Mmm-hmm.
-And then they're both
gonna sneak back around

and into each, and then
the tips would come
right into the bumper.

For the performance
on this particular engine,

we wanted to make sure
we put a crossover
before the muffler.

This made
a little bit difficult

to find somewhere
to put the crossover.

That's cool.
I like having that crossover
right on top.

A focal point
hides that ugly
motor transmission mount.

And to our advantage,
it actually
created a piece of art.

-The exhaust is kinda like,
a focal point on this car.
-Mmm-hmm.

When you pop the hood,
'cause it's like,
right in your face.

-Yep.
-So, it's gotta look cool.

That thing's gotta be
smooth as silk,
flow just right.

Daniel's got two things
to accomplish
on this project.

Make it functional
and make it look cool.

I have extremely
high expectations
for this exhaust.

Think you're about
the right guy for the job,
so--

-yep. Cool.
-Get it knocked out
and let's, uh, keep movin' on.

Word.

Like, everything can move
except for this.

I have all the angles there,
it's just,

tweaking them to
the right angle, so it'll flow
the way it needs to.

It might just work. Mmm-hmm.

Well, that's a little
more like it.

I think jordan tried to
show me all the math
in this stuff before.

Nope. Not happening. [laughs]

you can use a tape measure
all you want.

You can figure out
the function,
the angles, everything else.

But really, at the end
of the day,

it's all about the looks,
and the sound.

[welder sparking]

[hissing]

[welder sparking]

dude, that's rad lookin'.
Looks like
a four-legged spider.

-Right.
-[both laugh]

-pretty much.
-'cause that's pretty much the
whole exhaust system, yeah?

-Muffler sits here.
-Yep.

Dude, it turned out awesome,
though, man.

-Oh, thanks.
-Fits really nice. Flows good.

Guess you know
what you're doin'.

-Ish.
-[both chuckle]

-I'm just wingin' it.
-Just looks that way.

-[laughs]
-shootin' from the hip.
[shoots]

-yeah.
-[both laugh]

[jason] cool.

Daniel's done an awesome job
on this exhaust.

The only thing that's
left on it, is the tips.

I have an idea
that I cannot wait
to see completed.

Hey, guys.
Look what greg just gave me.

Those things will be awesome.

They're bad a*s.

[jason] those are tail lights,
or the...

-No.
-[all laugh]

[dave] I know, right?
It almost looks like
the right, hey. [laughs]

nope, the exhaust will not
be going through
the tail lights on this car.

So, here's what
I'm thinking, guys.

I love the shape of this.

I'm thinkin' if we can try
and get it, maybe

about right here,
'cause we have the bumperette.

So, we go across right here.

I'm thinkin' about
three or so inches
away from there.

And maybe about, like,
right there.

Maybe an inch and a half or so
off of the bumper.

So, I want some paint
around all of the...

But not necessarily center.

Not really center, no.

No, I'm pretty stoked.
These look great.

They match
the front grills, so...

-[dave] looks trip.
-[daniel] pretty solid.

[dave] right. And this will
take the heat too.

This is the nylon and carbon.

-[jason] mmm-hmm.
-[daniel] yep.

So, yep.
About right there-ish.

I'm stoked.
I know ernie's gonna be
stoked too, so...

-[object clattering]
-rockin'. Thanks, dudes.

-[daniel] yep.
-[grinder whirring]

[tool whirring]

[hissing]

[daniel] I was making
a skeleton for the tips

so it can tie into the rear
and then I can have something
to wrap my stainless around.

-More or less there.
-[sparking]

-[grinding]
-just gonna get a gap.
Perfect.

Just, uh, cover the skeleton
in tape.

So, when I peel it off
I can have a tip
to lay out on the stainless.

And then this will tell me
where I should

put all my brakes
and everything like that.

That's why I do the crosshatch
so when you peel it,
it peels all as one.

Just imagine that's metal.

And that's gonna wrap around
the whole thing, like that.

I've got my templates
all done.

Gonna start
wrapping it around.

-[tool bangs]
-[dave] now that this
is almost complete,

it's time for one more
custom panel on this car.

The hood.
Or would it be the trunk?

The frunk?

[dave] we've really created
our vision of this pantera
being the perfect one.

Panel after panel after panel.

It's time for one more
custom panel on this car.

The hood.
Or would it be the trunk?

[jason] so, we got
the duel grill.

It's already on the pantera.
It'll keep it
the same two scoops.

-Just push it down
a few inches.
-[tools whirring]

give it a more modern look.

Gotta nail it. I mean,
the hood is kinda the focal,
center point of the car

when it's all closed up,
so, it's gotta be right.

It's gotta be capped right.
No room for error.

-We're professionals
around here.
-[tool whirring]

[dave] pantera's a known
for two things:

Looking awesome
and overheating.

So, upfront, we're gonna have
to make sure that we
put in enough radiator

and to be able to get the air
out of that area
as fast as possible.

This is gonna include
some big modifications
to the hood.

Oh, you got-- ooh!

Got a hole in my hood.

[chuckles] I like it.

I was gonna tell ya,
I really would like to use
something like these.

I don't know if these
will actually work.

Similar styling?

Yeah, but that style line.
I definitely like it.

The original pantera had
a little bit of angle
to the radiator.

We're gonna give it
just a little bit more

and then we're
gonna be able to

exit all the air
through the radiator
out the top of the hood.

This will really give
a nice improved look
to the car.

And also, should improve
the performance.

I'll probably just end up
reskinning it,
'cause there's a lot of rust

-and a lot of dimples
and dents so, I'll just--
-okay.

-Remake the hood, so...
-I can buy that.

It looks fast just
sittin' here. Phew!

[chuckles] oh, I'm tellin' ya.

I can't wait to borrow it.

-[jason] I'm in love
with this one.
-Yeah, me too.

I've got a soft spot
for super cars and certainly,
'72 pantera.

Especially with what you guys
have done with it.

Ernie's gonna be blown away.

He'll be lucky if he can pry
this from our dead,
cold hands. [laughs]

-we get a test drive, right?
-Right.

-[both laugh]
-right. All right, well it
looks good, man.

Keep up the great work.
Awesome, thanks.

Cool. Thanks, dave.

[dave] we've pretty much
modified and molded

every single panel
on this pantera.

It looks fast
just sittin' here.

[chuckles] oh, I'm tellin' ya.

-I'm in love
with this one.
-Yeah, me too.

[dave] we've come a long way
on this pantera

and I cannot wait
for what's next.

[jason] I found my new hood
for the pantera
back here in this corner.

So, now I just gotta
cut it out.

The original skin's hammered,
so we're just gonna
put a new one on there.

Hit the easy button.

[kevin] the new hood skin
for this hood, is gonna do
a lot of things for us.

It's gonna give us
a great base, super smooth
and it's gonna make

make this thing
fit the car perfect.

Probably go visit
the power hammer
for a minute, and

get the shape dialed in,

before we start
cuttin' the hole out.

Way easier than
fixing the old hood.

[jason] just go throw some
shape into it, and, uh,

get this pantera
hood knocked out.

[kevin] we're gonna use the
original understructure
of the hood,

but we're going to
heavily modify it.

We're gonna remove
the front half of this
understructure,

to make room for these scoops.

[jason] shape's goin'
all over the place to
make this shape,

then you have the
flat piece of the hood
you gotta keep flat, so...

[kevin] and once the
scoops are installed,

we'll come back and
make sure that the hood
has proper structure.

[jason] you really gotta
control your heat, work
your hammer, and, uh,

don't screw it up, so...

[snorts] here we go.

[jason] this hood is
really making this whole
front end of the car.

It's gonna be sick.

[jason] it's got
awesome stance from
the front grill hood.

Anthe hood's still got
the shape we're after, so,

I'm digging it.

Our gaps look awesome,

panel match looks awesome,

it's past that scary
part of, you're not sure
it's gonna work out.

[dave] jason just
finished off the
vents in the hood,

and this is pretty
much gonna wrap up

all of the major
changes to this pantera.

Oh! God, that's
[bleep] beautiful.

It's so understated,
but every panel

on this car's been moved
around and massaged and...

[jason] I don't think
any body panel is stock,

everything on there
is sheet metal
from the corner.

[dave] and it still
looks like a 72 pantera,

that's what's so
cool, is we didn't

try and make it look like
the newer version, this...

I really wanted
to kinda capture that
early pantera look.

This car is so bad.

From every angle,
it looks mean,

it looks classic,
it looks interesting.

I'm in love.

And I just, I think what
I love the most about it
is how low this thing sits.

-I mean, it takes
up the whole lane.
-Yeah.

It's long and low.

I tell you guys, I'm just
so pleased with the work
you guys did on it,

I mean, this is an amazing
retro-style supercar.

I think, uh, ernie
is gonna flip his lid
when he sees this car.

[jason] when's he
coming in to see it?

[dave] uh, you know what?

I'd like to get some
paint on this car.

Let's get it over to the
body shop, let's get some
paint on it, and stuff.

[jason] I like it bare
metal, let's just clear
the car and go.

[both laughing]

no need to paint it.

-Now, let's not get crazy.
We need to finish the car.
-[jason laughs]

I think, uh, ernie will
be a lot happier with
the color on it.

What are you thinking, color?

-[jason] are you sticking
with the rendering, or what?
-[dave exhales]

I don't know yet.

My client really wanted
to keep this car

more understated
and conservative,

but I'm keepin' that in mind,

but I might be suggesting
something back at him that's
a little more colorful.

My honest opinion is,
is that this car really
deserves to have

what we're trying to capture
with the chrome and some
of the trim and stuff,

that's gonna be around it,

is to try and keep
it looking like
that's the way

-that they might had
built it back in 1972.
-[jason] mm-hmm.

And so, I think
the charcoal gray
would look great,

but I really think that
black interior with the
lime green on the outside,

but maybe just a
little twist on our part,

would really make
it look outstanding.

So...

[dave] the color is
officially not decided,
but the clock is ticking.

This car already looks
amazing in bare metal,

and no matter
what color it goes,
it's gonna be bitchin'.

[dave] man, it
just looks bitchin'.

[dave chuckles]

[jason] yeah, it
turned out awesome.

[dave] man. I mean,
that just looks so mean.

This, this is just...

Man, the gaps look k*ller,
the stance is awesome,

the wheels look
k*ller, the motor...

The hood, the fender
flares look awesome.

That front end
just looks k*ller.

The back end too, the
exhaust tips look fantastic.

Just the right length,
but being that
low is just bad.

Bad to the bone.

And we've got everything
figured out on the car,
and it looks marvelous, so.

Good job, guys.

-Right on.
-Boom, baby.

-Great job you guys.
-Get paid to put it together.

Go to the race track.

-Yeah, I know, right?
Let's get a race day!
-[both laughing]

well, cool. Well, I'll go
let him know it's, uh,
comin' to the body site,

and, uh, well done, guys.
It looks really, really good.

-I don't wanna give it back.
-Yeah, I don't wanna
give it back either!

Just tell him something
happened and let's
just keep it.

-[dave laughs] I like it.
-[all chuckle]

[dave] this is a huge day.

All of the metal
fabrication is finished
with the pantera,

and it's ready to
go to the body shop.

Just the right length,
but being that
low is just bad.

Bad to the bone.

And we've got everything
figured out on the car,
and it looks marvelous, so.

[dave] now we just
need to decide

on the perfect color
for this project.

Ernie always wanted to have
this car done in a gray,

I think I might have
a little different idea.

I was looking at so
many pictures of this
car when it came in,

and of course,
on on the internet,

there's so many in there
that are these bright colors,

reds, oranges, yellows,
and of course, the lime green.

This one looked really
cool, just kinda kickin'
around in the shop,

and to be honest with ya,
the more I looked at the car,

and the more I was stylizing,
I honestly,

I can see this car going
up and down the street
right now in this color.

Colors have gotten so mundane,

and watered down,
and conservative,
and when

this car came in,
in the lime green,
it had a heritage,

and I think to continue
that heritage with this car,

well, I think it would be
a shame to not do that.

It just would be more
interesting to me,

to see it back in an
original styled color.

The gray would look awesome,

but not as awesome as green.

As opposed to the gray,
making it so conservative,

this now is a really fun,
warm-looking color.

Well, I think this is
about finished up.

I'm very happy with it.

I really do hope he likes it.
This, actually...

Well, I think it's fantastic.

I'm envious.

I've "bean" thinking about
making copies.

Get it? Bean?

-I'm green with envy.
-[chuckling in background]

I'm gonna leave now.

[laughing in background]

I love it, everybody
in the shop loves it,

now I just gotta
convince ernie to love it.

I don't wanna be
able to see it from
ten miles away,

have it this crazy purple
or something like that.

Do you have
kind of a favorite
color that you like?

Nah, I, I need a...

Subtlety will be the key.

You know, blue is nice,
but I'm not gonna tell you.

You know, just a
little bit more subtle.

[dave] lime green,
yeah, it can be subtle.

[chuckling nervously]
it's lime green,
it's a classic.

This is a great color,
don't get me wrong,
it fits it perfect.

But I would
prefer something
a little more subtle.

-Okay.
-Yeah.

This might be a
little tougher sell
than I thought.

-Hello?
-[dave] hey,
ernie, how are ya?

Hey, dave.

Really glad you took
the time to talk to me.

I've got a couple of
things I wanted to kind
of go over with you,

kinda catch you up on
where we're at on the car.
Um, first and foremost,

[imitates chef's kiss]

-nice.
-This pantera is gonna
be so kick butt, dude.

I'm tellin' ya, it is radical,
but it's classy, I love it.

The key for me to really
talk the client into changing
the color of the car,

I gotta talk to 'em
when I'm excited.

Everybody's been pumped
in the body shop to
get going on the car,

I'm pumped to see
color going on it,

-I mean, this car...
-Wow.

Just reeks awesomeness.

I gotta be excited about it,

I'm gonna get
him excited about it,

and then I'm gonna
change his mind.

Well, that's the plan.

We just cannot wait to get
this car done, because

it is so over the top,
but classy and cool.

I'm excited, I'm
really, you know...

Powerful, but subtle.

So, that's actually one
of the things I wanted
to talk to you about.

Um, did you get
the new rendering
I sent out to you?

-And the color samples?
-I did.

Okay.

When you came out here,

you said you wanted to
do something that was
a little bit more subtle

than the green,
obviously that green
was quite expansive.

-Yeah.
-I think that,

doing something along
those same lines would
be better, and for the car--

so you mean more like the

original...

Lime green, or...

That super 70's color.

-Is that what you're saying?
-[dave] yep, yep, so,

this, to me, screams
a funner time,

and fits the car,
in my opinion,

a little bit better than
the conservative gray color.

Okay, um...

But of course, I amplified
that color a little bit

by putting the gold
and a little bit of
white pearl in this.

It's still a base
coat, clear coat.

[exhales]

now, I can do
whatever you want.

Obviously, it's
your car, but--

I'll just remind you of
when I first came to you,
and you said to me,

"oh, what are you looking for,


-[chuckling]
-[ernie] and I was like...

-No, no, like 650-700
would be nice.
-[dave] right.

And now the color, um...

I just think fits
the car better.

And that's why I just said,
you know, let me re-render it,

send it out to you,
and see if it would take.

The car is just so intense,
that, that color would just

bring it completely,
absolutely over-the-top crazy.

It is, it is,
but it fits the car.

I don't think it's
a weird kind of crazy,

I think it's a
proper kind of crazy.

Yeah...

I really hope you choose
this, because it's such
a great contrast...

Do you really
believe that, dave?

I honestly believe it,
especially with
the black interior,

it leaves here just
new and improved.

[ernie] if you think that
that's the way to go,

-that's the way we'll go.
-Yes!

Thank you. Thank you!

[dave] I love the
green, I think the car
needs to be green,

you're not gonna
miss this car,

you're not gonna walk by
it without noticing it.

I'm really excited.

-[exhales]
-let me ask
you a question, dave.

I have this idea.

I'm a big music fan,

I know you're a big music fan,

-okay. What, uh...
-[ernie] it's, um, just...

-[dave] do you have--
-well, let me send
you a video,

and you tell me if
you'd be into doing this.

[dave] okay, yeah.

[ernie] this is a
rolls-royce phantom.

What I'd like to do is,
I'd like to paint this car...

Like the lennon rolls-royce.

Okay, that is crazy
as cat crap.

I mean, how cool is that?

-John lennon's
rolls-royce phantom?
-Right.

[laughing] that's just...
You really want me to
do that to your car?