Kevin:
I can't wait to see this truck
finished. I love trucks.
We're getting ready
to put this cab on this chassis.
-Hell yeah.
-Some big ol' mud tires.
It'll definitely be rowdy.
I really want a nice,
clean look to it.
This look like ash.
-I mean, it's real bad.
-Okay.
Now you've just made me --
[bleep] now you've just
made me upset, dude.
Dave:
Hey, what are you doing there?
Oh, this is a pretty neat car.
-I'm excited.
-Yeah, show cars
aren't always drivable.
-It could all fail.
-We'll just knock this thing out
and get it out of here.
-Awesome.
-This is the most important part
right here.
There's a lot of things
that have to line up.
I'm winging it.
Oh, man.
That's where we're at.
Dave: Clean...
Custom...
Bitchin'.
my name is dave kindig.
Designing and building custom
cars is my life's passion.
With the best mechanics,
technicians, and fabricators
in the business,
quality is our only focus.
We build bitchin' rides.
-- Captions by vitac --
www.Vitac.Com
captions paid for by
discovery communications
we're on the final stretches
of finishing
this beautiful 1951 ford truck,
and it just got out of paint.
Now, if my guys could just
get this truck back together.
We have so many vehicles
that come in and out of the shop
all the time,
even kevin sometimes
has a hard time keeping track.
This is a '36 ford?
Hey, this looks the same color
as the '41, don't it?
Kevin: We build a lot
of vehicles around here.
It's not my fault that they're
all starting to blend together.
Or the '41 --
this is a '41 chev?
This is a ford, not a chevy.
As you can see, we're starting
to put the chassis together.
I might not know what truck
we're putting together
right at the moment,
but I do know one thing,
and that's chassises.
-Whoo-whee!
-You ready?
So we got the chassis back
from powder.
It's all set, ready to rock.
We've got a lot of painted parts
coming back through,
so we're just gonna start
assembling this piece by piece.
Hopefully we don't
run into any problems,
and hopefully
it goes smooth sailing,
and then hopefully
we can get the engine in.
Cab goes on,
then we're trucking.
Before we just get going
on this truck again,
I think it's important
that we give kevin an update
of what the build is gonna be
so that we can get it going
properly.
Our client sent us up
this 1951 ford,
and instead of restoring it,
we decided to modify
every last piece of the vehicle.
Yo, bam -- stretched.
That was quick.
Kevin: We stretch the cab
and the doors.
We tightened up the front.
We made some awesome hinges
for the hood.
We took some body lines out,
we changed some angles here,
and we built a whole bed
from scratch.
This thing's gonna be bitchin'.
I can't wait to see this truck
finished,
brand-new interior
and all put together.
I might be more excited
than the client. I love trucks.
I'll tell ya,
it's gonna look sharp.
Yeah. Yeah, super-excited
on this one.
This is pretty much
exactly what we do every time.
There's no change here.
Petting chassises,
putting wheels on chassises,
fixing the brakes on chassises.
I know this is a '51 ford,
just like I know
how to get this chassis
ready for the cab.
Chassis.
This one does have I.R.S.
We haven't done that in a while.
So, I.R.S. Is
independent rear suspension.
It just seems like
the last couple ones,
we haven't really got into that
too much.
But, you know, it's a little bit
better handling.
You know, obviously,
it's not a straight axle,
so you have a control arm
for both sides
instead of just having,
like, a straight axle.
I mean, you really can't say it
any different than that, so...
A little bit better handling.
Dave:
The independent rear suspension
is a much improved
handling situation.
And, of course,
for a show vehicle,
it just looks 100 times better.
The guys have got
the I.R.S. Installed,
the engine mounted.
Now all we need is that body.
I want you to stay busy.
If you find yourself
with nothing to do
or standing around
looking for something to do,
that's what I don't want.
We're getting ready to put
this cab on this chassis.
Super-pumped.
Getting a lot of [bleep]
done today.
So, gonna try to stay focused
and knock this stuff out.
♪ you used to call me
on your cellphone ♪
♪ late night
when you need my... ♪
let's do the frame.
-Okay.
Let's do the top of the rails,
the sides
where all this dust is.
-Yeah.
Where all collin's little
fingerprints have been.
And mine.
-There's no way
that's clean, dude.
-What's that?
-That rag.
-It's not brand-new clean.
-Don't scratch [bleep]
okay, this is probably
one of the easiest.
It's not crazy tight.
Should be able to slip right on
and bolt it down, so...
I think we're gonna be good.
This one should be --
this one should be
seamlessly smooth, hopefully.
Seamlessly smooth.
All clean?
I just got this one corner,
dude, and we're good.
And if you can get
one hole started,
then it's easy enough
to get that bolt started
and then just kind of twist
the other holes into location.
You're gonna be moving
the chassis a little bit,
moving everything
just a little bit.
The bottom of this thing looks
good, right? There's no hangers.
There's nothing
we needed to deal with now?
It looks super clean.
-Yeah, it looks good.
Kevin: They did an amazing job
on the bottom of this truck.
I think we're good.
-Yep.
Bring it on down.
Go ahead
and raise it down.
-Raise it down?
-That's what I said, dude --
raise it down.
-Hey, tyler.
-Need eyeballs.
Keep your eyes open.
Let's keep an eye on stuff.
-Okay.
♪ you used to call me
on your cellphone ♪
♪ late night when
you need my love ♪
those arms are gonna clear
those bed mounts, right?
Yeah.
-Do you want me to lend an eye
on the back real quick?
-The more, the merrier.
-Okay, let's go down.
-Go ahead.
-Watch that arm on that mount.
-Yep.
Kevin: ♪ you used to call me
on my cellphone ♪
okay, we're gonna get close here
on the bed mounts,
so we gotta go slow.
-Okay. Okay.
Take it down.
I mean, we're good here.
All right, stop.
We got to go towards your side
a little bit.
My mount is gonna end up
hitting the body.
What's the score?
We need to come --
the back of the chassis
needs to come to the passenger
side a little bit.
Okay. You guys are back there.
Can you move it?
Are you gonna
clear there or no?
Currently, yeah.
Does that help?
It gives me clearance
on the cab,
but we're gonna have to watch
this mount on the corner.
Do you know
what I mean?
I have four guys watching
every corner of this truck.
We're gonna take it slow,
and we're gonna take it steady.
So where are we at?
Can we go down more, or...?
-I'm good to come down.
-Yeah.
-You're good, too?
-At least two inches here.
Okay, let's go down.
All right, stop.
I need to go forward
a little bit.
My mount's gonna end up
hitting the body.
Forward? You mean back?
No, forward.
-We got to go way back.
-Yeah.
And this way,
it looks like.
Yeah, we're gonna have to
go forward a little bit.
Well, we can't,
though.
Kevin:
We don't have a lot of room
to move this chassis forward.
Every time you need to
go forward and back
at the same time,
you've got some problems.
-Right now, I'm gonna hit,
so we need to go forward.
-Does the chassis
need to go back?
-Oh, I see what you're saying.
-So we need to go forward,
and then once we get up there,
we'll have to slide it back.
Um, yeah.
So we do need to go forward.
You only have half an inch...
On my side.
I don't know what you have.
-I have like inch and a half
on my side.
It's gonna be
super-tight.
Kevin:
So much for seamlessly smooth.
The new rocker design
on this '51 ford
has made it a little tricky,
a little tight
to get it on and off
this chassis.
Where it rolls in,
the mount is gonna hit it.
Okay.
So we need to go forward,
come down, and then go back.
-Just watch the block.
-I have four fingers.
Okay, ready? We're gonna
go forward a little bit.
You guys, watch those mounts.
-That's all I got.
Okay, go my side
a little bit forward.
I have my fingers here,
so we're good.
Kevin: Okay,
we're good right there.
That's all I can go.
-That's it?
-We're moving the cab.
-Yeah.
-Okay.
-Tyler, you got to
be careful, okay,
because this cab
is a light cab,
and you can move it with your --
with your arms off of the lift.
Okay?
-Yep.
Because it's just small.
There's no doors on it.
It's just a -- it's a small
piece of sheet metal,
so it's not crazy heavy.
So you can bump it
and move the truck off the lift.
Try to bring it down now.
Slowly.
Collin, you got the front
all by yourself, okay?
-Okay.
-I think we're okay up there.
-So far.
Currently, I'm gonna clear.
Are you good?
-You good, justin?
-Yeah, I'm super close.
I just have fingertips.
-Same. Real slow, bro.
With everything painted
and powdercoated now,
we have to be super-careful
not to scratch,
ding, dent
any of this stuff.
Hold on. Hold on.
I just don't want my fingers
dragging on the cab.
Here. You're good.
Move your fingers.
There you go.
-Okay, are we good?
-Yep.
-We're gonna go real slow.
Just go real slow.
-Yep.
okay, I'm clearing.
-Justin?
-Yeah, I'm good. Keep going.
And then can we -- are you at
the point you can go back
with the chassis yet?
-No, not yet.
-Okay.
Just say when.
-We're real close.
-The chassis needs to go my way.
The back of the chassis
needs to go to you?
-Mm.
-What was that?
Dave: We're well on our way
to make this '51 ford
a full-on kindig-it design
show truck.
The guys have the body
almost aligned with the chassis.
But before you can actually
tighten all of the
body mounts down,
things can get a little tricky.
-We're real close.
-The chassis needs to go my way.
The back of the chassis
needs to go to you?
-Mm.
-What was that?
Justin m.: A washer.
Tyler: Okay, I can start
going back now.
Okay, the chassis can come back
about an inch.
You guys ready to go back?
-Yeah. Go back a little bit.
Very slow.
-Justin?
I can come back a little
on my side.
Okay?
-More?
I'm good for now.
I mean, we're not lined up.
But can I go back any more?
-Yes.
-Okay.
The only reason
I'm trying to get back
is we got a shifter to deal with
up here.
-You're through. I can see it.
-Right there.
I'm really,
really close.
I think we're good
right there.
We are good.
-A little towards my side.
I'm pretty far off.
I'm off by about --
almost half-inch.
A half inch?
We got to pick --
we got to pick a side.
-Yeah, we can't --
-just come --
-okay, I'm gonna come
your way, justin.
So what happens
a lot of the times
is if everybody tries
to get their hole lined up
perfectly all at once,
it makes it hard.
Ready?
-Yep.
Just -- okay.
-More?
-Now, back just a hair.
Slightly.
Right there.
Okay, now a little
towards justin.
-Like, I think I can get it
from that point.
-Can you?
Kevin: So, you know, you have
four points like a box.
Just pick one
and focus on that one,
then everything else
will kind of fall in place.
We can bar it if you can get
a point of the bar in a hole.
-Here, let me do this.
-Yeah.
-I've got a bar in the hole.
-Okay.
Okay, so you just got to
barn it. We're gonna come down.
-Yep.
-You feel good about that?
I do.
-Okay, go ahead and go down.
-Shifter good?
-Yeah.
-You guys okay back there?
-I am.
-Yep, yep.
-Shifter's clearing nicely.
-We're so close.
It's about money up here, bro.
-Okay, we're set.
-Down, down?
-Yeah, just go down.
-Big bird has landed.
-Cab's down.
Everything looks good.
What's next on this one is we'll
probably do a little bit --
we kind of put the cab
on this one --
or the body, I guess you
could say -- on this one
a little bit sooner
than we normally would.
Make sure we got enough room.
That's perfect.
Let's bring that other table,
too, over here
because that's part
of the truck.
The engine's
not really complete yet.
We're missing accessory drives,
we're missing intakes.
We still don't have exhausts.
So we're gonna probably go ahead
and just finish up
a lot of the chassis stuff.
That's where we're at.
-Perfect, dude.
I love it when a plan
comes together.
While the guys keep at it,
there's another project
in the shop
that needs our attention --
a real stylish
'36 ford roadster.
Hey, what are you doing there?
Oh, this is a pretty neat car.
Yeah, it's not too bad.
He brought it in,
and he bought it at an auction,
and he said that the drivability
on it is not that great.
So we're gonna look it over
and either address these or...
So, but you've already kind of
played with this a little bit.
So you hooked up
all the carbs,
because when it got here,
it only had the one
hooked up, right?
Yeah, when it got here,
just was running off
the center carburetor,
it idled,
had horrible power.
Thought it was
quick and easy.
We hooked
the linkage up.
The linkages and the best
design, if you will,
it takes a lot
of leg strength
to get the other carburetors
to work.
Once we got that hooked up
and drove it,
the drivability
was even worse.
I mean, it's real bad.
-Okay.
Dave: Having the car
not exactly wired right
is gonna probably lead up
to the reason it's not
running very well.
Talking with the customer,
he sounds like he wants to
go to a four-barrel.
He wants to drive this.
-Just simplify it.
Yeah, he wants it
drivable, simple.
He still wants carbureted,
but he said
he bought this thing
to drive it.
This '36 ford apparently
was built by posies.
Posies -- ken fenical, an old
friend of mine from back east --
built some pretty cool cars.
This one in particular
has got all the right moves,
the right color,
the right stance,
and just not the right
intake manifold.
Hey, this is
a cool car to drive.
-You may as well give him that
because, like I said, there's
so many moving parts here.
Not to say that
you can't take the time,
but he's gonna be double --
double the amount of time
to get this set-up running
versus changing the intake,
putting a four-barrel on it.
-It's gonna be a lot more
reliable, too.
One single carburetor's
so much easier.
Kevin: So with three two-barrels
is what this car came in with.
It's not that it's inefficient.
It's just that it takes
a lot of tuning,
and there's a lot of linkage,
there's a lot of things
going on.
Basically,
there's three carburetors there.
You have to tune them all
perfectly,
and if you don't,
it doesn't run right.
So we may as well
just go to one four-barrel.
We're all fans of the three
two-barrels. They're awesome.
The guy wants a four-barrel.
It's his car.
We're gonna make the thing run
good so he can get in it
and enjoy it.
-Perfect. Perfect.
-Yeah.
He just bought it, wants it
going down the road, so...
Yeah, it's a super-cool car,
so I'm excited.
-Yeah, I'm pretty pumped, too.
It's pretty cool.
-Yeah. Yeah.
So hopefully it's a quick
in-and-out --
get it together
and make him happy.
Well, let me know -- as soon as
you have a parts list together,
let me know, and we'll
get the stuff coming.
And then, as soon as
the parts are here,
we'll just knock this thing out
and get it out of here.
-Awesome. Sounds good.
-Far out.
-Right on, right on.
-Right on.
This is a pretty simple swap-out
for us.
All we got to do
is get this car disassembled,
and I hope we don't find
any other issues.
Collin: They're pulling
all the bolts off,
starting on the passenger side.
Pull off the fenders.
We don't scratch anything up
as we pull stuff out.
Pull off these rods right here,
and start disassembling
everything inside on the intake.
Justin m.:
We've got the oil out of it.
We've got the coolant out of it.
We're gonna start
taking it apart
and putting all the new stuff on
and getting it ready to drive.
We took the old point system
out, and we're gonna put
a brand-new distributor in this.
We're gonna put a brand-new
electronic ignition system
in it.
The ignition system
on this car
is what sends all the spark
to the spark plugs
at the exact time
they need spark.
I was thinking about putting it
behind here.
There's just not really
a whole lot of flat surfaces
to mount or build a bracket to.
When it comes to these cars,
kind of the skies
are the limits.
You kind of have to find
your own place to mount this.
It's not like a factory car,
where you're just
unbolting apart
and bolting it right back
to where it came from.
We actually have to
find a spot for this,
and this goes along with
most of all of our builds
when we start to change things.
It won't stick up
behind that glove box
up on the bottom
of the dash?
Collin: I can put it
on the back of the glove box,
which...Should work,
but the glove box isn't metal.
It's cardboard.
getting this '36 ford
back on the road smoothly
isn't going as planned.
It won't stick up
behind that glove box
up on the bottom
of the dash?
Collin: I can put it
on the back of the glove box,
which...Should work,
but the glove box isn't metal.
It's cardboard.
When mounting
this ignition system,
we want to make sure
that you can't see it.
We want to make sure it doesn't
bounce around in the car.
Now, if we...
...Made that smaller.
[ chuckling ] no.
Kevin: It's a good thing
we have collin on this job
because, you know, under
the dash of this car is small.
The engine bay is really tight.
Collin's small.
Collin's smallness
is gonna work out just perfect.
I'm glad he's here.
And I'm gonna move some of this
wiring that's already existing
just up a little bit,
and I'm gonna stick this
right here.
So that way, it's a nice,
flat surface and everything.
Have the main trunk
and everything
and tie the new wires into.
Just make it look nice.
Good job, collin.
You're just the perfect size
for this job.
No one should
ever see it.
Collin: Parts are in.
We have everything except for
the carburetor right now.
So we're just gonna
get everything set up.
We have the motor ready.
So just gonna get everything on
that we can.
Kevin: To swap out
the carburetors on this car,
first we got to
remove everything,
and we got to replace
the intake manifold.
The intake manifold
in this car
obviously has three ports
for three carburetors.
We're gonna replace it
with one big port
for one carburetor.
Collin: Now just gonna
put in all the bolts,
tighten them all down,
get the torque,
then we just gotta put in
the coolant-temp sensor
and plug all the holes
that we aren't gonna be using.
Kevin:
One of the last pieces to go in
is the distributor,
and this controls the ignition.
This is what sends the spark
to the spark plugs
just at the right time.
They're not really tricky.
It's just old-school technology.
You just have to line --
this goes into the camshaft,
that sits on the intake,
and then this is what
drives the oil pump.
So you have to have that
lined up into the oil pump,
or it won't drive all the way --
or it won't set
all the way down.
Kevin: Munk's probably installed
thousands of these.
This should be no big deal.
that's because the oil pump's
gonna be facing the wrong way.
I'm turning the oil pump drive
because it has, like,
the female side.
So this, if you will,
is gonna be the male side.
And then there's a female side
that looks like this.
And when I slide this in, that's
gonna go into the female side,
and that's what drives it.
He'll have this thing dialed
one shot.
I'm not even worried about it.
was there a collar for this
in the box?
I felt it drop in there, but
I knew it wasn't far enough.
So this distributor
has a collar,
and basically what this does
is the distributor
rides off the camshaft,
and the distributor has to sit
right at the right height
to grab the gear.
He just has to make sure
that the distributor's lined up
perfectly with the camshaft,
you'd be good to go.
Take one.
That funky little guy won.
[ sighs ]
maybe he's just off today.
Take one didn't work so well.
Let's just see
how take two goes.
No, take 1 1/2.
It's metric.
[ laughing ] metric.
One more.
I thought this was gonna be
pretty simple
for justin to get accomplished,
but we're on take three.
I mean [bleep] happens.
Give the guy a break.
Take 1.65, isn't it?
Take 1.65 -- metric.
first try!
I did like five against.
It's actually good
justin took a couple times
to stab this thing in,
because in that time,
the carb showed up,
so we're ready to
button this car up.
Yeah, the carburetor is here.
Getting it put on.
I like to come in just when
the good stuff's
about to happen,
you know, towards the end.
Hi, justin.
How's this thing?
You got good timing.
I literally wiped off
my fingerprints,
and I'm gonna find out if you're
gonna fire me or hire me,
I guess.
-Are we starting it?
-We're gonna try.
-Heck yeah. Can I turn the key?
Yeah, tear it up.
Ready?
-Yep.
This should be
a one-shot deal.
Fire it up,
turn a couple screws,
get it on the road.
All right, let's do it.
[ engine starts ]
like a champ.
You're hired.
Hell yeah.
Sounds good.
That sounds great.
Little high idle. That's perfect
when it's cold, right?
-Yeah, it won't stutter down.
-It'll get warm.
I like it.
-The engine sounds healthy.
-It does. I want to see
what it does.
Shut it off,
and take it for a ride.
-Yeah.
Let's move some cars
and get this thing down.
And I want to go for a ride.
-Heck yeah. Let's do it.
Do it.
Kevin:
I really like this car.
I like the swoopiness of it.
I like the styling of it.
Whoever put this car together
in the first place
did a great job, has a really,
really good eye for design.
Oh, it's so nice.
-Oh, yeah.
Nice and smooth.
Runs right.
That's how this car
should run.
It's a nice, custom,
tops-off cruiser.
This is a nice car.
Comfortable.
Yeah, it's one of those things.
I mean, show cars
aren't always drivable.
-That's a true story.
-That is true.
This car is 110%
way more reliable and drivable.
We took over two-thirds
of the linkage out,
and this thing runs great.
This thing
is smooth now.
It's a nice car.
It's an excellent start.
It just needed
a little go.
Yeah, it just needed
refined.
Dave: Time to finish
this '51 ford show truck.
The body and chassis
are now mated together.
Man:
Big bird has landed.
Now kevdog is working on
getting the accessory drive in,
and this should not be
any kind of a problem.
All right, so we got
the accessory drive on.
I got the belt on in one shot.
I bet you he can't do it
in one take.
Kevin:
It is not [bleep] going, dude.
[bleep]
I win. [ chuckles ]
it's pretty tight, dude.
Dude, that's as far as
that [bleep] will go [bleep]
that's the right number, too.
Uh...
Now you've just made me [bleep]
now you've just made me upset,
dude.
Now we're gonna put the --
[ laughs ]
dude, it's not [bleep] going,
dude.
Doesn't really look like
it's going, dude.
We better check the number
on this guy.
I just want to reiterate,
I got the belt on in one shot.
Got it?
Now it won't come loose.
-[bleep]
-yeah, it's on.
-Hell yeah.
-Hell yeah, we got it.
-That was easy.
Drive belt installed --
one take.
Front ends of these trucks
are always tricky.
There's a lot of parts
to these trucks.
There's a lot of things
that have to line up.
And this is an lsx 454,
so that means it has ls7 heads.
The intake that we're using
is actually for an ls3,
but we have an adapter.
So we'll have an adapter plate
that goes on to these heads,
and then we're gonna
get the intake on.
The intake looks great.
This customer didn't want
a lot of polished stuff,
so we had it all painted.
It looks amazing.
It's ready to go back in.
I can't wait to see this on.
So these adapters adapt the ls7.
The bolt pattern's
just a little different,
the angle's a little different.
So with these adapters,
you're able to run ls3 or ls7.
And when you paint them
up all nice,
they kind of just go away, so...
Yeah, I don't think that we ever
have done an eight stack
on an lsx 454,
so this is a new one for us.
The eight stack really lends
itself to this build, again,
because trucks have really
deep engine bays.
And if you don't build something
up, they just look empty.
So you have this, and then
you have the intakes
on top of that.
So this thing will end up
being, you know, this tall
by the time it's said and done.
They're all hooked up,
so you can see
when you hit the throttle,
all the blades open up.
[ imitates engine revving ]
like, that's how it goes.
So, you know, knowing
is half the battle.
You know, usually when
you do an eight stack,
you get a little bit
more performance,
and you get super-crisp
throttle response.
'cause you have a blade
for each individual cylinder,
unlike a normal one, where
you just have one big blade.
So after this, we're gonna
lay some wires up here,
get all the injectors plugged
in, get all the top finalized.
We'll get some knock sensors
put in,
get the starter, exhaust put on.
So this is a really great
jump-off point.
I know that collin's already
pre-wired this engine.
It's all loomed.
It's ready to rock.
Oh, this is the lsx flux, so it
should be right around 650-ish.
It'll definitely be rowdy.
I think the toughest thing
with this truck
is going to be the amount
of things that we have in here.
We have
a tiptronic-type shifter
that's gonna mount
to the steering wheel,
a/c, nice audio system.
Trucks are always interesting
just because
there's little space
with a lot of wire.
So now we're hanging systems,
make sure everything's
gonna clear.
This thing's gonna be cool.
I'm super-excited for it.
Tyler:
Yeah, so originally, these doors
have hinges on the outside.
Hinge area, the stretch,
all the window stuff
is all custom.
It just looks like a four-door
from the outside.
So we're just trying to get
the door bolted up.
Kevin:
Tyler's just sitting there
tightening it up right now,
and I think we're gonna be
in the money.
No, the gap looks good.
It looks really good.
Man: We are putting these
inner fender wells in
because the outside fenders
have to attach to this.
Basically,
this was the first piece,
and then everything else
goes around it.
Justin m.: Yeah, it's
coming together pretty good.
We got the radiator in there,
vents are in there.
Kevin: Well, it's very busy
in the assembly shop lately.
Got a lot of things happening.
So we're looking good.
Man: Getting the exhaust
set into place.
Piece of cake!
While kevin enjoys a much-needed
vacation from assembly,
the wood and the metal strips
just showed up from the shop.
Now, will just needs to come up
with a creative way
to make it all fit.
Let's get some boards out.
I'm not sure what they ordered.
-It's ash.
-Oh.
-It's ash. Came from ash tree.
Will: What I'm curious about
is this ash
is all over the place
in the -- in the, like, tones.
And this looks like ash.
Kevin: That's because it is ash,
dude.
Dave can get real picky
about wood grain,
so will needs to lay these out
in an artistic manner,
as is dave was here.
Just try to make the grain
kind of make sense.
You know, if one board's
better than the other.
Well, I'm super-pumped, dude
it looks good.
Kevin:
Now that we have all the boards
and trim all laid out,
all will needs to do now
is trim everything to size.
Will: The biggest trick is
not to get ahead of yourself
and make some mistake,
which I love to do.
These are crowned across the top
just for the look.
So we're just gonna
gently scribe these,
and then we'll just machine it
back to that line.
And then everything should fit.
Kevin: Will's gonna
have to come through
and basically machine those flat
so they sit under the bed
perfectly.
Will: Do both ends.
Little bit of a process,
but we'll get it.
These are aluminum,
so they're super-easy to cut.
I'm just basically
etch-a-sketching.
I want to cut it right down
where that whole dome start.
Basically, just eyeball it,
chase it down.
These are gonna get chromed,
so you can imagine they're
gonna get sanded and polished
and everything
across that surface.
Oh, man. It looks nice.
There's just enough room
for chrome,
and then they should be
just pretty spot-on.
I think
it's gonna look great.
We're gonna whitewash it
like the interior.
It's probably not gonna get
a lot -- very much darker.
It's gonna be, like, washed
with that color on it.
So that's super-cool.
Let's see. What's next?
What's next?
What's next is installing
this bed on the truck frame.
The goal is, basically,
the bed will go on.
All the assembly can get done.
A lot of things can get done.
And then we can just
put it together, so...
This is a big moment.
So, yeah, kind of cool.
Okay, so here's the game.
We've got to basically
go backwards off of this.
So walk it off the cart.
So we've got to
go backwards
and then up
once we get past there.
So up and back, right?
-Oh.
-Okay, go backwards.
Do you just want to pull
the cart straight out or...?
No, leave the cart alone.
Leave the cart alone, please.
You're out.
okay, then keep that up high.
Yes.
-Higher?
-No.
-Lower?
-Yeah.
Well, this is
a piece of cake.
Well, let's just go --
let's just go slow.
-Okay, I'm good.
-No.
Will: Well, let's just go --
let's just go slow.
Well, this is
a piece of cake.
-Cab good?
-No.
I got an inch
from the back wall.
Go ahead, come down.
Come down a bunch. Yeah.
Is is okay
to come down now?
Watch your fingers.
Right there.
-Pretty clear.
-Yeah, you're good.
Like that.
-Now it's a truck.
-There we go.
-You like it?
Looks like it needs
some 44s in the back, right,
some big ol' mud tires?
It was like nothing,
and now it's like...
Now it's a truck
all of a sudden?
Yeah, too bad those
front fenders are on.
We could go muddin' in this.
-We still could.
We still could.
[ laughs ]
this is a show truck,
not a mud crawler.
But, yes,
we're gonna stain it.
[ blows ]
so what we got here is the ash
wood for the 1951 ford pickup.
And I want to kind of give it
the same color
as what's on the interior,
but I want to see the grain.
So this is just brushing on
the solvent finish.
We want to see this color,
but we still want
the wood grain.
So that's one coat.
We're gonna try a second coat.
Can still see the grain.
Oh, yeah, look at that.
The second coat, we've now taken
and held more
of that magic marshmallow color
in there.
That's really gonna look nice.
Okay, we're gonna try
one more thing,
and that is what they call
a water pop.
What it does is it opens
all of the pores of the wood.
Two coats with a dry brush
looks pretty good,
but I'm gonna try
one more sample,
and this is gonna require
a little water.
Hey, javi, do you have water?
There you go. Perfect.
We're just gonna get it
just a little bit damp.
This will open the grain
so it'll hold just a little bit
more color.
By having the water pop,
it opened up
more of the finer grain.
This was how heavy
that grain looked across here
by opening it up
and allowing that base color
to go in to all of the grain.
Looks like it really kind of
helped out the cause.
Looks like we got a recipe.
Sand it with 400, two coats,
and a water pop.
Let's see how it looks
in the interior.
Oh, yeah.
No, that's gonna look sharp.
Oh, yeah. That's gonna be great.
-I like it.
Dave: That will really tie in
with the interior color.
Dave: All systems are officially
a go on our '51 ford.
The next thing for me
is get on that drawing board,
design up the interior
so we can start building it.
today, I'm putting together
the designs
for brandon's '51 ford pickup.
Now, this interior, I really
want a nice, clean look to it.
And so, this stone color
that I've come up with
for the leather,
I think, is gonna look
really, really good.
Looks really, really good
with chrome, too.
Just a little bit of accents
to make it pop a little bit,
especially with the ruby paint
on the outside.
Now, with a show vehicle,
I particularly like to hide as
much of the controls as I can --
wipers, the headlight switch,
the keys, all of the buttons.
I'm gonna try and hide as much
as I can in the center console
so I don't have a bunch of stuff
across the dash.
I might even try and put
the air conditioning control
in there, too.
We'll see what happens.
I think a couple of pieces
of black detail,
such as the pedal inserts,
you know, just very, very mild
stuff in here.
I just really want it
super-clean.
I think that's gonna be the key
to this show truck.
Well, I am super-excited
to show the guys
what we've come up with here.
And I'm really excited
for justin
to take a look at it
and build it.
Justin s.: All right,
so the plan of attack here
is I'm gonna have jesus
start foaming up the seats.
These are a very difficult seat,
the way this pattern is.
Then I'm gonna have cody
building door panels.
Then hopefully we can get those
out of the way.
With everything going on
with what we do in this shop,
is you got a lot of fabrication,
a lot of building,
a lot of shaping, and a lot
of tedious parts to work on.
And there's no cutting corners
with any of it.
Cody's actually building
some armrests
that have some metalwork
being done in them
to match what kindig-it's built.
And then me, I'm gonna get going
on this headliner.
So right now, we're building
a metal channel here
that we can
tuck the leather into
so we have a finished product.
The key here is it's got to fit
this door --
this inner door jamb just right,
so it can't be too big,
or the leather's gonna overhang.
And if it's cut to short,
it's gonna look not that great.
We have a lot of prep work
before we can even
set this leather,
and it's a one-time deal.
The structure for the roof
is pretty tall,
so I'm just trying
to even it out
before I even
start chipboarding it.
This is the most important part,
right here.
Key here is to make sure
that it's glued really good,
because if
these first couple layers
aren't glued good,
it could all fail.
And that's the last thing we
want, is a headliner coming down
because it's a lot of work.
The last layer, we're gonna
go on with some chipboard now.
This is gonna
just make it solid --
one more layer.
That's gonna give us
the structure we need
to start foaming.
Has to be tacked up
just right.
You can't set it too dry,
and you can't set it too wet,
or it's gonna fail, so...
Got to find shape.
You know what I mean?
I'm winging it.
This whole side's ready
for foam,
and then we can make
a snow globe.
Has to be tacked up just right.
So right now,
I'm just installing
the first layer
of quarter-inch pad,
and we'll get it blocked out.
You don't want to nick it,
and it's just like bodywork --
you want to get it straight,
you know?
Sanding it smooth
and not nicking it.
You can't nick it.
Every one of them is
a different challenge, for sure.
With installing this piece
of leather
that we have tack-coated
over here...
Ready, jesus?
Fold it this way.
...The most important part
is the center point
because we only have
a big enough hide
to make sure we can't run short
on one end or the other.
Okay. Keep it tight.
Almost like you're gonna
pull through to him.
I'm gonna crawl under you.
Got to be tighter, guys.
Snug it, feel like you're
putting tension on jesus, even.
Pull your way.
Right there.
Okay.
Now we got to go back
this way.
Tighter.
Pull your corner, jesus.
Back corner towards you.
That way.
Cool.
Once the steam -- ow --
hits my leg --
[bleep]
once the steam hits the leather,
it's there,
and it's there for good, so...
Well, now that I got this all
tack-coated,
I'm reactivating this glue
into place,
and it's gonna be
a one-time shot.
We're committed.
front corner of this one
laid out nice.
I'm gonna go to the back,
and that's going to be
definitely the hardest part.
Let me get it set.
Tension is gonna be very tricky
on these corners
because you just can't lay
that leather in the corner.
You're gonna have it
all wadded up and wrinkly.
Well, right here, I'm just
trying to fit the leather
into this corner,
trying to make it fit
with no wrinkles
because I'm having to pull it
from side to side.
Like that.
You know what I mean?
We gotta stretch it out
from side to side with tension.
That's why I need help.
The majority of it
is gonna be one piece,
and then we're gonna do
a big cell panel piece.
Set that corner down.
What I ended up doing
is putting two seams up
in the rear quarters,
which I've had to do before.
I'll trim it back, tuck it,
and then get to
the rear quarters.
The rest of it laid out
really nice, actually.
I feel pretty good about this.
We still have a few obstacles
we got to work through
and a center console to build,
and we have about five days
to do it.
Dave: Justin's right.
There's not much time left,
and mark and brandon are
coming to see the truck,
so it's got to be perfect.
no, that's gonna look sharp.
Oh, yeah.
Dave: I'm so excited to have
my good friends from texas
come all the way up here.
Mark and brandon
have been waiting
for this '51 ford show truck
to be built, and it's done.
Brandon: I'm excited to see
the truck being finished.
What concerns me is the color.
Man, I just don't know
about the color.
Mark: You know, I took
those colors and the carpet,
and they didn't look very good
at all.
Watch your step here,
guys.
I don't know what to expect.
It's just hard to understand
exactly what it's
gonna look like.
Brandon: I'm at a loss of words
right now.
I don't know
how to explain it.
So, you don't like it?
Mm-mm-mm.
I love it.
I love it.
-Dave, you knocked
this one out of the park.
-That's beautiful.
What a fun truck
to build for you guys.
-It is gorgeous.
-Let me show you around this.
There's so many details.
What do you think of the wheels?
I love them.
The size of the wheels,
the brake calipers,
the stuff behind them,
and the way they sit up
in the wheel well,
it was right on.
I think the color goes really
well with the truck itself.
Yeah, it does. That bronze
really kind of brings out
the little bit of bronze
undertones that are in the red.
Brandon: I was afraid it was
gonna be too dark, the color,
but, man, that's right on.
-Yeah.
-Exactly what
we were looking for.
-You can't beat pearl red.
-No.
Just a really great combination.
Very classic.
I like that reveal that's on
the running board right there.
It matches the front
and the rear fender.
That is slick.
-But tell me about
the bottom of the door.
Looks like y'all
added rocker panels.
We did, which gave us the
ability to not have a big gap
between the surface
of the running board
and the bottom of the cab.
Brandon: I think the stance
is just perfect.
It's mean. My goodness.
I mean, everything just flows
from the front to rear.
So around the back here, we have
a lot of really cool details.
Man, look at that air diffuser.
Whew!
-So you remember the extra
grilles that you gave me?
-Mm-hmm. Yeah.
-Well, I put them to use.
-He took the grilles
and made them into
a rear bumper.
It turned out just fabulous.
I couldn't ask for
nothing better.
You got to see the inside
of the bed here.
So that's ash wood.
-I really like that.
-Yeah.
-Wow.
-Can I touch it?
-Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
It's yours.
You can touch it.
Mm-mm-mm.
That's beautiful.
Mark:
Everything flowed together,
the colors matched.
It's amazing
what they was able to do.
Brandon: I like the strips,
as well.
Everything on the outside
of the trim,
everything that you see
is all done in chrome.
So it's very easy to keep clean
and very showy.
We won't be hauling nothing
in this.
Be hauling a*s.
That's about it.
Speaking of that, let me
show you the business end.
So the business end here --
before I open it,
I want you guys
to see the grille
and some of the work that
we've done up in the front.
You can tell
they really set it back far.
He pushed the grille back
three inches.
He leaned
the nose of the hood back.
Top-notch.
So it just looks
more aggressive,
you know, kind of giving it
that race red f1 styling
but in a classy
'51 ford-style way.
That's beautiful.
That's beautiful.
Let me show you under the hood.
You're gonna love this.
And there we go.
Ooh! That's pretty
that is beautiful.
Raising them stacks up
like you said,
it really filled the inside
of that cavity up.
Isn't that k*ller?
Wow!
The colors -- the color
of the motor, oh, it's nice.
Simple, clean,
and it's actually something that
you would be able to get in
and drive it from coast
to coast if you really cared to.
Of course, I think we should
show it first.
Yeah.
It's gonna be a show truck.
We just haul it around
different places and show it.
Does it run?
-You want to hear it?
-Yeah.
Justin and his guys
did amazing work
on the inside
of this thing.
It's all leather,
mercedes velour carpet.
Now, that's beautiful.
I really like it.
Isn't that gorgeous?
Did you see the headliner, too?
That's all one-piece leather?
-Oh, I love the interior.
It looks sharp, and I can't wait
to take it and show it around.
So, in the center console right
there is all of your controls.
[ engine starts ]
that sounds mean.
[ laughter ]
that little button right next
to your window switches,
just push that once.
The zoom-y button.
[ engine revving ]
oh, we could play with that
all day long.
Go ahead and rev it up.
[ laughs ]
[ engine revs ]
sounds really mean.
That sounds nice.
Dave: Isn't that nice?
Whew, that was the best part.
[ laughs ]
-you like that.
-It's the fun button.
[ engine shuts off ]
bingo.
Dave,
this is beautiful.
It's more than
what we bargained for.
Brandon: You don't really notice
the changes, the subtle changes,
until you really start
looking at it.
But it's bitchin'.
Thanks, brandon.
Mark: We've owned the truck
for over 35 years.
I didn't think
it would ever happen.
It's a dream come true.
It's been quite an honor to
build this truck for you guys.
Giving us the opportunity
to really go nuts
on this body style has been
just a fantastic experience
for my guys and myself.
I can't think of anything else
I would do to this truck.
And for you, thank you very much
for your service.
And we're very proud of you.
-Well, thank you,
and it's a privilege
to be part of this.
Mark:
It's probably one of the nicest
vehicles I've ever seen.
I was so happy.
It was so beautiful.
Dave, I love it.
It's...
It's perfect.
It's far beyond my expectations.
It is. It's --
I almost want to cry.
[ laughter ]
well, I'll get you guys
some kleenex.
Let's start the tears.
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07x07 - Unfinished Business
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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.