09x01 - How Hard Can a Hardtop Be?

[bunniefuu]

-We're on tv?
-[both laugh]

[dave] we're gonna put
a little bit of a twist
of we did.

This car's gonna be
as cool as my mustache.
[laughs]

everybody needs
hard tops in their life.

One day I'll train my mustache
to do this for me.

Take your mustache
and your closed socket
back where you came from.

Think I look better.

-I did too.
-More work.

-Yeah, but--
-looks bitchin'.

I don't even know that
this is going to go in.

-Dave.
-Yeah!

Looks like it's time
for a commercial break.

[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...

-[men laugh]
-this is gorgeous.

[dave] ...Performance...

[man] it's fantastic.

[dave] ...Stance, wheels,

sound.

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

Ours are bitchin' rides.

-Well, it never gets old.
-[dave laughs]

what's this?

Boom, our first 1971 nova.

It's a rare day
at kindig-it design

when the sun, the stars,
and the moon all align.

We've got a car coming
into the shop

that doesn't need any kind
of tear down or anything.

It's ready to go straight
to the customizing.

It's great, you don't see
these done very often.

No, it seems like we're
always on the first
or second generations,

and this is the first third
generation nova that we've
got to work on.

And it's a car that I've never
really worked on before,

and I'd love to do it.

And you know what's crazy
nice about this car

is wherever it has been,

they have such great taste.

[dave] in the door handles,
especially.

[kevin] they already done
installed our door handles.

-Mmm-hmm.
-Check that of the list.

-Hey, we're almost
done the car.
-[laughs]

no, the work actually
looks really good,
and underneath,

and all the stuff they've
been doing on the outside
looks really good.

It's just basically, I think
what we're gonna do is

we're gonna put a little bit
of a twist of what we do.

Pull the bumpers in,
just a little bit.

Um, I'm gonna really kind of
think about whether I'm gonna
keep that hood,

but I think I'm kind of
thinking more of a flat
hood, like I always do.

-[kevin] okay.
-You know, pull the back
bumper in,

just do a little bit
of smooth over,

clean up a little bit more
on the resto mod side,

-not quite so custom.
-Totally.

So there's a full
roadster shop chassis
grafted back in to the body.

-Oh, really?
-Yeah.

Yeah, it's really, really
quite nicely done.

Let me see if I can
get in here.

A resto mod means that
it looks practically stock,

but with a little bit
of twists and changes
maybe to the body fitment.

Maybe a couple of things,
like door handles, bumpers,
lack of a front plate.

That type of stuff,
but a much improved stance,

performance and,
of course, wheels.

There is one major thing
that I think that we're
gonna accomplish on this car

that hasn't been done before.

And that is, I think I'm gonna
made a hard top out of this.

Get rid of the b pillar.

[kevin] so we just get some
custom windows made?

I keep thinking like
a '69 camaro mechanisms
would work just fine.

Hell, if will can make
a c10 retractable hard top,

I'm pretty sure a hard top
on this car would be
pretty easy.

That's a bad idea.

We've got this.

Well, we'll have to obviously
build new blasts for the shape
of this car,

the size of the window
and stuff.

-But I think it'd be...
-That's a bad idea.

[dave] ...Be super cool, get
rid of that b pillar.

[kevin] well, I'm pumped,
looks like a lot
of the hard work's been done.

-[dave] yeah.
-We just get to tweak on it
a little bit.

-All the fun stuff.
-I wish all the cars would go
to these guys first

-and then just send them here.
-[kevin laughs] right?

-[dave] yeah, 'cause jeez,
we're halfway done, hey.
-[kevin] whoever did this car,

thank you, all the work looks
great.

[dave] we feel real good
about ourselves at the end
of this build.

[both laugh]

-because it went really quick.
-Right, right?

-Well, no, I'm pumped.
Okay, let me know on the hood.
-[dave] 'kay.

-All right, cool.
-Well, sweet, I'm stoked.

-Awesome. Thanks, guys.
-Can do.

[dave] today,
we have a '71 nova.

Some other details that have
already been done on the cars,

actually on the rear panel,
the rear bumper was really
kind of cool.

We wanted to change
a couple of things
on the back of the car,

and then we wanted
to bring something
to the front of the car

that had kinda that same look.

So I'm going to again,
sliver the bumpers,
both front and rear

which basically is just taking
the top corner of the bumpers,
both front and rear

graft those into the body,
so they're a tighter fit,

and just makes it look
just a little bit closer
to the ground and cooler.

So my theory behind
changing it to a hardtop

basically gives it a little
bit more of a nice
streamlined look to it.

I've kind of envisioned doing
a really nice fine pearl,

but on the greyish side
of blue,

which kinda might sound
a little bit difficult to do.

There's a ferrari color
that's a lot like this
on the californias.

We're going to try and play
around with like a really

cool silver royal blue.

So we'll have to do
a little bit of c*ck
and see what happens.

And some of the changes
that we've made on this car
are really exciting.

I think, uh, I think
eric's gonna love it.

-[eric on call] hello? Hey.
-[dave] eric!

How are you doing, man?

- Good, dave, how are you?
-I'm doing well.

I guess you got
my package, right?

I did, it just arrived,
and I'm looking right at it,
right now.

Did they send the right one,
does it look like this?

-[eric on call] yes.
-Okay, good. Good,
we did our job.

-[laughs]
- yes. [laughs]

awesome, well, good
to see you.

How's everything out
in sunny southern california,
or northern california rather?

-[eric] yeah, doing great,
doing really well.
-[dave] good.

Little warm, but, uh,
you know what?
We get through it.

-So, all in all, we're having
a good year so far.
-[dave] there you go.

That's awesome, well,
I'm glad to hear that.

Hey, so, um, a couple things.

I mean, we really kind of
talked over all this stuff

but you didn't have
a visual until now.

What did you think
of the rendering?

How do you like everything,
how it went together?

I love it.

You know, the proportions,
the fabrication,

dynamics of the car,
absolutely stunning.

You know, I love
how we're going

in the direction
of a gentleman's car.

-Yeah.
-The cut front bumper,

the rear, and, as you know,

one of the big changes
that I presented to you,

and opportunities I thought,

you know, what your thoughts
were with a hardtop.

I think it's going
to be awesome.

-Yeah.
-Yeah. The more I, the more
I looked at the car

when I was drawing it
and taking that off,

they never made that nova
body style with a hardtop.

This generation of nova
never came as a hardtop.

We want to do something
different that's going
to stand out on this car.

[eric on call] the car,
the design that you have here,

-on the nova, it screams
"custom" and...
-[dave] yeah.

But it's clean and classy
in the same way it's custom.

Yes, absolutely.

So excited to build
this car for you.

And like I say, I appreciate
it, I wish everyone would
bring a car

that's already started in
a good shape like this to me.

Uh, it makes my job
a lot easier.

Couple of smooth offs
on the corners,

a little of restyling and then
definitely push the envelope
with the hardtop.

I think it's gonna be a winner
on this car, so.

Yes, absolutely.
Dave, thank you, sir.

Absolutely, my please.
Take good care of yourself

and I'll be in touch
again very soon.

-All right, buddy, thank you.
-All right, you bet, eric.

-Take care.
-[eric] all right.
Bye-bye.

Mmm, bye.

I'm excited to work on it.

[man] why?

'cause it's not
a volkswagen. [laughs]

[dave] izzy's gonna lead
the charge on this project,

and he's super excited
to get started.

This car's gonna be as cool
as my mustache.

Pretty clean, we're just gonna
do the kindig touch to it.

[dave] there's already
a lot of great work

and great parts already
in this project,

so we're going to go ahead
and get those out of the way
and on the shelf,

so we don't damage them.

Then we're going to go
after the rest of the stuff
that we want to change or add.

As of right now, these wheels
are staying on the car.

Um, they need
repolish anyways,

but we just want to try
and protect this lid
so it doesn't get dinged up.

I just rather not be the one
that messes up a wheel.

Take 10 minutes
and tape off a wheel

versus two hours
trying to fix it.

Proactive, I think is the word
that you use.

The hardtop's gonna be awesome

'cause everybody needs
hardtops in their life.

[dave] one of the big
changes I really wanted
to do on this car

that will be
a challenge for us

is to make a hardtop
out of this nova.

Now they never made one
like this in the factory.

And one of the things
that's going to be very
important in this build

is to get rid of that
roll cage so it doesn't look
like it still has a b pillar.

Sometimes to do
the two step forward,

you gotta take one small
step back.

The roll cage that was
installed was done properly

and it looks really good,
if you want a car
with a roll cage,

but we're gonna make
a hardtop out of this,

we're gonna go ahead
and remove it.

Currently, the old
rendering there.

It's gonna go spoiler-less.

It's not going to go
fast anymore, so

it doesn't need a spoiler.
[laughs]

[dave] the spoiler
looks great,

but the spoiler doesn't
really match the new plan

for the design, so it's
going to be important
to take it off

as carefully as possible.

Gonna remove the end caps here

that were put on
for the spoiler.

Um, they were just
basically built and then

sitting on top
of their quarter,

so we're gonna just
cut the top off and expose it

and then see how much
meat we got in there.

Then start trimming
it back 'til we get back
to the factory quarter.

[dave] so when eric's car
came in it basically had
a rear wing

that did not belong on the car
and I was going to go ahead
and remove it.

So we've already rid
of the one on the trunk lid,

now it's time to remove
the quarter panel sections.

[izzy] I cut a hole
in there just so I could
see what was in there,

'cause, well, I mean it's got
to come off either way,

but at least I know I can cut
this and trim back to it.

Instead of just lopping it off
and starting over.

Whee!

Ow, that's hot!

You got to be careful
because you gotta make sure
you can separate your weld

and the steel, otherwise
you could burn through
your quarter and then

just causes more work.

[dave] removing the rear
quarter wings

is no big deal especially
when it's been done properly.

It's amazing what just
taking a corner off will do.

[dave] having more
of the stock reveal line
on the rear deck lid

is more what
I'm after on this,

and now that that's completed
it's time to get on with
the rest of the build.

I kindig it. [laughs]

uh, we're gonna shorten up
the ends of the bumper.

Tuck it in the car like we
usually do on most of them,

so it doesn't look so bulky.

[kevin] when we pull
the bumpers here at
kindig-it design,

there's a lot of steps.

We're gonna cut these bumpers,
we're gonna narrow them up,

and then we're gonna build
pockets into the car,

to make them even more flush,

then we're gonna have
to make sure that
we get the line right.

These bumpers
are really tricky.

They can be easily screwed up.

Bumper's about a quarter
inch off the car,

and then we want to be at
least a quarter inch inside.

[kevin] you want to make sure
that you don't just
cut off the end

and cap it, that's gonna
look not right.

It's gonna look wrong.

I wanna make sure that it's

looks like it maybe came
this way when we're all said
and done.

We're really gonna have
to watch the design

and really just kind of
use your eye

and flow to make these things
look just right.

There we go.

I think that's way too much.

[kevin] taking a little bit
out of this bumper is easy.

Taking too much?
That's a problem.

You know the side
of the bumper we want
to be flat.

I think it's time to go.

[izzy] uh, we're gonna shorten
up the ends of the bumper.

Tuck it in the car
like we usually do
on most of them.

[kevin] first thing that
we're gonna do on
this 1972 nova

is we're gonna bring
the bumpers in nice and tight.

The first rule of bumper
modification is

don't take too much off.

The second rule
of bumper modification is

again, don't take
too much off.

Look what it does.

I think that's way too much.

[kevin] looks like he's cut it
a little bit too short.

Now it looks like the bottom
of the bumper is recessed
into the car.

So it was kind of tricky
on this bumper

because you're basically
gonna follow this shape

of the bumper and then

as it gets to the edge
of the car,

it's gonna flatten out
and follow this
contour of the car.

You know the side
of the bumper
we want to be flat.

[kevin] so now that we've
gotten a little bit too far
with this bumper,

we can bring it back.

It's not the best situation,
but it's not the end
of the world either.

That right now is my fault,
but it'll look good
when we're done.

[kevin] what we had
to do to fix this was
we had to go back

and we had to add
just a little bit of a sliver
down to the bottom of it.

Smooth it all out,
change the angle.

It looks great, moving on.

-Hey, look at that.
-Hi.

-That looks good.
-Thanks.

Yeah, you run into any snags?

Uh, nothing too bad.

-[dave] good.
-[izzy] nothing
I can't handle.

Far out.

I like how you've just left
that little hint of a bend
right here...

-[izzy] yeah.
-[dave] ...So it doesn't
just look like

-a nerf bar.
-[izzy] so it doesn't
look so flat.

-[dave] yeah.
-[izzy] tried to follow
it out there

which kind of made
this corner kick outward.

[dave] yeah,
but I think you're fine.

[izzy] yeah, it flows,
and that way it doesn't
look flat.

[dave] this by far might be
the sexiest '71 rear end
I've ever seen.

Wait a second.
My wife was born in '71.

I cannot say that.
I can't. I can't.

I'll be in so much trouble.
You have no idea.

But this is a nice rear end.

It was cool before
we started on it.

-It's gonna be
a little cooler now.
-[izzy] yes.

[laughing]

[dave] the client found out
there was the newest,

latest, greatest
that just came out.

And that is the mercury
racing sb4.

This is a four-cam ls
at 750 horsepower.

It should go pretty easy.

There's not a whole lot
hooked up on it.

One day I'll train
my moustache
to do this for me.

[kevin] getting an engine
out of a car is usually
a two-person job.

Nobody likes izzy's moustache,
so he's on his own.

And that is one of my duties
here at kindig it design

as the foreman,
or the manager,

is to step up when
nobody else will.

This is horrible.

I can't even look at this guy.

-Out of here.
-[laughing]

take your moustache
and your slow socket
back where you came from.

-[izzy laughing]
-and it stinks.

-Do you wanna touch it?
-Never let go.

-Touch it.
-No, I don't wanna touch it.

It freaks me
the [bleep] out, dude.

[both chuckling]

-my eyes are up here.
-Yeah, I get it.

-Not down here. [laughs]
-I'm not even looking
at your stache, bro.

My goal is to get through this
as fast as possible

without looking him
in the face.

[dave] want another
set of hands?

[kevin] yeah.

Hallelujah, dave's here!

Let's just say,
just follow it out.

All right.

[kevin] I've never been
more happy to see dave
in my entire life.

The more help we can get,

the faster I can get away
from this stache.

You guys are doing great.

[grunts]

[dave] yeah, I'm not gonna
help out anymore.

Uh, izzy's moustache
was starting to freak me out.

You know what,
I can help you guys.

-Make sure you
write down my time.
-Right.

[kevin] we got the engine out.
Everything's looking good.

Now, hopefully, izzy can
go shave his moustache
and take a shower.

[sniffs] aw.

Solid.

We're tackling
a great project, a 1971 nova.

And so far, we've brought
the rear bumpers in.

We took the old engine out,

and before we put
the new sb4 in it,

we have to do a little work
on this firewall to make room.

The original opening
on the firewall was visible
behind the motor,

so what we're doing
is we're gonna shrink
that opening down

so it's tucked
behind the motor
and you can't see it.

[dave] we have to
make some modifications
to the firewall

just simply because
the cylinder heads
are so much bigger

because it's a four-cam setup.

So we gotta make
a lot more room

for these massive
cylinder heads.

[saw whirring]

[will lockwood] so dave's
chomping at the bit
to get this firewall done.

Super simple little task.

So I'm gonna let him at it.

[will] in dave's excitement
to tear into this car,

he's left out
one crucial step.

[saw whirring]

dave, stop!

Yeah.

Original opening
on the firewall,

it was visible
behind the motor.

So what we're doing
is we're gonna shrink
that opening down

so it's tucked
behind the motor
and you can't see it.

[will] we're building
a new firewall

to accommodate the engine
that sits lower in this car.

Dave's gonna handle
this project no problem,

but he has
overlooked something.

[saw whirring]

[will] dave, stop!

Where are your safety glasses?

If you can't see,

or you gotta go
to the hospital.

And if you got a stupid
little something in your eye.

Happens all the time too.

I'm not gonna be like
the nagging mom around here,

but if you're not safe,

I'm gonna come down on you
like nagging mom.

[chuckles sarcastically]

safety patrol.

Work hard, work fast.

But please, be safe.

-Um...
-How are you recessing this?

[givens] this right here.

The motor is a little
bit shorter,

and we had to move it
down a little bit,

so we're basically
dropping down about
three, four inches.

But the height,

-actual firewall
placement's the same?
-Yeah, we're good, yeah.

That motor sits about,

a little over a quarter
of an inch off the firewall.

The changes we're making
are really just for looks.

It had a firewall.

We're just closing up the hole
a little bit more

so you're not looking
at the transmission
basically through there.

I'm gonna rebuild this piece
so it comes over to here.

-So I'm just gonna
rebuild this lower section.
-[will] oh.

-Just come out about...
-[will] the airbox.

-Yeah.
-Okay.

That makes good sense.

[dave] this firewall
reconstruction will be
really important

to set around
this motor properly.

So, this new cove
that we're building in there

needs to be tight
to the engine,

but still give us enough room
to make it look right.

Engine compartments,
of course, are everything
at kindig it design.

So, I got
the firewall finished.

Now we're gonna mount
this motor back in

and start fitting
all the panels

and getting this front end
put together.

[dave] now that
the firewall's done,

it's time to install
this pissed off four-cam sb4.

Hopefully, this is only
the first of many

sb4 mercury racing engines
we're gonna use.

This is such a cool
looking engine.

It revs to 8,000 rpms,


with a ton of torque.

It's sweet!

All right, you're gonna
have to lift up
from the back now.

[dave] in fact, it's so cool.

The client found out
how cool it was,

got on a plane, and he's
on his way here to salt lake.

Well, I'm really glad
you was able to make it
into town

-today, buddy.
-[eric] thank you, dave. Oh!

-Holy [bleep]!
-[dave] right?

-You gotta see under the hood.
-I am ready.

-Yeah, come on up,
take a look at it.
-Right on. Right on.

[dave] so, come on up here
and I'll show you.

-[eric] oh! [bleep]
-thanks, fellows.

[laughing]

-[eric] damn!
-[dave] uh-huh.

This is the new
mercury racing sb4.

-Oh!
-It's a seven-liter, four-cam,
twin-throttle body bad boy.

-[chuckles] this is... Dave.
-[dave] yeah.

-[eric] nice.
-[dave] it's awesome.

This is the first one
that we've ever done...

-Wow.
-...And, uh, we cannot wait
to get it on the rollers.

-[eric] yeah.
-These things are animals.

We've also done lots
of little things that can't
go unnoticed.

-Damn.
-[dave] a couple of small
modifications that we did.

-[eric] okay.
-[dave] uh, we did
our electric power brakes,

and we have plenty of room,

so we were able
to graft those in.

We did make a couple
of changes to the firewall

because we needed to change
the shape of just the opening.

-Uh, transmission
fits perfectly in there.
-Excellent.

[dave] uh, so there's
no issues there.

We got this thing sitting
straight down on the chassis.

Uh, we're ready to start
doing systems on this car,
pretty close.

Beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful.

[dave] eric's visit here
is not just about to show off
the car,

but we actually have
some business to take care of.

-Couple of things I wanted
to talk to you about.
-[eric] oh, wow.

I think we can do
the one-piece glass,

and I think that we
can do no b pillar,

-which is gonna be
really trick.
-[eric] perfect.

[dave] this will be
the only one like that.

-I've never seen
another one done.
-Perfect.

-Badass.
-Going to that hardtop look,

I think is just gonna
look really k*ller.

-[dave laughing]
-absolutely.

-Bitchin' rides. Perfect.
-Yeah, there you go.

You know what they say,
happy wife, happy life.

And I say in this business,
"happy client, happy me."

yeah, the roll pan here
is just gonna look
really nice,

and I love to be able
to encase the chrome details
of the grille.

The sides of the grille
looks really beautiful
coming around the corner.

I've always loved that
about these cars.

He is liking it.
I'm, definitely liking it.

Enough talk.
Let's get to cuttin'.

-Yep, good to go.
-Great job.

So, I'm using, uh,
this piece of pressboard
to keep a level on the car.

[dave] eric's now back home
and has loved every bit
of the progress

that we've made on this nova.

We still have
a long ways to go
on this custom nova build,

and now it's time
for the front fascia.

And I can build the bottom
of the piece to that,

so I'm not doing this
around the bottom.

[laughing]

[dave] really what I wanna
try and capture
on this front end

is getting rid of that big,
ugly chrome bumper

that hangs sloppily
off the outsides,

and basically bring it
back in towards the center.

We're gonna try and emulate
some of that same shape,

but we're gonna make it
now a body color

and incorporate a new grille
in the lower opening.

The lower balance
is certainly the first big key
that we need to do.

We're gonna make sure
we keep the same shape
as the grille,

that way when we
go to open it up

and put the grille
insert in, it'll look perfect.

Got my lower lip
all into one piece.

Got it to the shape
I wanted it.

[dave] this is gonna be
a pretty intricate piece.

He's done it before.

He's gonna make a lot
of small pieces

and then weld them
all together.

The fun part. There's a lot
of cutting, a lot of fitting.

[dave] sometimes doing
a bigger piece

and then going back
and making small pieces
so you can add extra contours,

will make it so much
more detailed.

The reason why
I'm using the sand bag

is I'm trying to get a curve
into the, uh, bend.

If I just do it on the roller,
it'd be a perfectly
straight edge,

and that's not
what I want, so...

[dave] these bumpers
on the '70s cars are massive,

but there is 20%
that I'm gonna use.

By taking a small sliver
of the original big-a*s bumper

and making it pretty
and tightening it to the car,

this is gonna give us
a nice chrome detail,

but also is gonna give
a lot of style to this car.

Holy cow. All right.
You're not wasting
any time at all.

-Trying not to.
-So, dave, I... [grunts]

dave's doing really
good so far,

but seeing the balance
coming together,

I think there's a couple
of changes I wanna make.

The way I drew it,
I have it pretty square
at that bottom.

-Mmm-hmm.
-But now that I'm kind of
looking at it, I think,

what if we was
to kind of taper it
just a little bit more.

I know that you're kind of
trying to follow the line

which is kind of what I was
intending on the grille.

So, you want it more
of an angle than the grille?

All of the corners
on the car are soft
expect for that corner.

There's a lot of lines
coming from all sorts
of directions

and a lot of different shapes.

We wanna make sure
that when it all
comes together,

it looks like it would have
been that way factory.

Okay. So you have your bumper
coming around this way...

-Mmm-hmm.
-...And see how it
kind of changes direction.

Why don't we catch
that same direction,

let's roll that out,

almost reminiscent of this.

Put that hard peak
at the front.

-Mmm-hmm.
-I think that might
look better,

roll it down like that.

Yeah, see? [clears throat]

-that gives us that depth
of the front end that we need.
-Mmm-hmm.

That reveal line right there,

I think might be
kind of important also,

kind of incorporate it
in there,

so it ties that into the car.

We want it to look like
that might have been
an option.

-[dave] okay.
-What do you think?

I think that'll look better.

-I do too.
-More work.

-Yeah, but remember
what they say...
-[dave laughs]

...If it was easy,
everybody would do it and...

-That's true.
-...Then it wouldn't be cool.

This front balance
is starting to look
a little too square,

so what I want him to do
is start over
and bring it back in,

basically giving it a little
bit more angle downward,

and then also add a little bit
of chin roll at the bottom.

Normally, the front
fenders of these,

certainly in front
of the wheel weld,

would have a fender dogleg
as we would call it,

which was basically
just vertical.

What we're gonna do
is we're gonna make
a horizontal cut,

and then we're gonna
add to the fender

so that we have a nice shape,

and all of that
will be painted.

And then we're gonna add
structure behind the bumper

so that we can bolt
this balance back up,

just like it was factory.

The front fascia
on this nova's
coming out beautifully,

and dave's done a great job.

Now it's time to put
an opening in there,

much like a lot
of our other builds.

And the right guy for this job
is gonna be howard.

-How's it going, dave?
-Good, man.

Portions of this front balance
is really important

to make sure
that they look proper.

Therefore, we're gonna take
another grille that we have,

make the opening proportionate
to the upper grille

and make it look beautiful.

Let's talk about the opening.

So, here's what I'm
kind of envisioning.

Based on the rendering,
I think I had it drawn
a little bit wider.

I don't think we need
to go that wide.

-Okay.
-I wanna try and keep
this simple

to where things match.

I'd like to get
another grille,

and I think we've got one.

-Let's just use that
as the lower as well.
-Mmm-hmm.

[dave] we'll give it
a little bit of depth
so we have an approach.

And we'll just kind of
sink that sucker in there

so that we've got, uh,
same grille, top and bottom.

-Okay. Sounds good.
-Simple, right?

As you can tell,
howard is a man of many words.

You're gonna ask me
how wide you want it.

How wide do you want it...

Mmm, that's a good
question, howard.

-I, uh...
-...As in height wise?

He's always asking me
about the important details

and getting to the heart
of the matter.

So, I'm kind of thinking,

we'll just start out
with another one
of these grilles.

This same angle right here,

-you know, whatever that is.
-[howard] right.

[dave] let's go
that same this way.

-[howard] okay.
-[dave] that way
it's not too much.

Right. So we want
it tapered in?

-[dave] just a little bit
of angle to it.
-[howard] okay.

I'd like to see
maybe about an inch,

-maybe just over
an inch of paint...
-[howard] okay.

-...Between the chrome
and the grille opening.
-Okay.

I'd like to see
a little bit of paint

-at the bottom
of the grille too.
-[howard] right.

More so at the bottom
than on the top.

Exactly. So it just has
a little bit more bulk
at the bottom

and it just makes it look
a little meatier.

The opening is gonna be
proportionate to the upper,

and then the bottom,
I wanted to give
some bulk to it

so it doesn't look
thin or cheap.

-All right, buddy.
-[howard] good deal.

-[dave] okay, thanks.
-Yep.

That's how magic's made.

[dave] this is how magic
works around here.

I give my vision,

I walk away,

I come back, [smacks lips]

it's done.

Looks good.

Yeah, I'm happy with it.

[dave] actually,
I was just kidding.

This'll take a lot of time
and it'll be perfect when
howard's done with it.

Ha.

I think it looks good.

Looks bitchin'. Right?

[dave] the hole in the valance
is the perfect size,

and now for the rest
of the panels.

This is going to be
the bottom opening

of the insert that's gonna
go in here, we'll bolt
to the face of this.

I want the grille set in there
just enough to where
it looks aggressive,

but again,
looks kinda factory.

[dave] so for this nova
and for the lower valance
to match the grille mesh,

basically, we had a grille,
we used it.

We bought a new one
for the top.

Stuff like this, it's just...

It's amazing to me how
it can, you know,
start out flat

and then go to this,
and then go to this

and then eventually, it's like
it wasn't even there.

I mean, it looks like
it's just one piece.

That still just excites me.

This side needs to come
down some.

[dave] here at kindig it
design, we're always trying
to push the envelope

and do the latest,
greatest and the newest.

And that's what makes
us stand out.

So this ends up
making up the opening.

And it's pretty much
the same process,

I'll probably do the top next.

Again, it'll be the back piece

and then the forward piece
just like this.

And then, I'll do a piece
for each corner.

[dave] the front valance
apparently is wrapping up,
I'm gonna go check it out.

Now I know there's been
a bit of time in it,
but it should be perfect.

Holy smokes.

[howard] so this...

...Ends up making up
the opening.

I'm really excited to see
how this front valance
looks in its completed stage.

Holy smokes, you got it.

-What's up, dave?
-Hey, that looks pretty good.

Thanks.

-You just boxing in
the corner?
-Yup.

-Oh, it looks so good.
-Yup.

[dave] that's exactly
what I was after, man.

-Good job.
-Good deal.

That pretty much wraps you up.

And uh, I'm happy.
That looks great.

[dave] it looks beautiful.

I cannot wait to see the rest
of the car put together
with the same quality.

Once you're done with this,
we're gonna move into hardtop.

-Far as I know.
-I think that's
about it, right?

I'm glad we had this talk.

-Me too.
-Good.

We should talk more often.

Howard's a man of many words.

And so many different angles
to the same thing.

And he never stops talking.

Did I tell you my,
uh, construction joke?

Construction joke? Yeah.

I'll get back to you,
I'm still working on it.

-[rimshot]
-[dave laughing]

[snorts, laughing]

[dave] I'm still working
on it, get it?

Hey-o!

[dave] hey! I'll be here
all week. Try the lobster!

The time has come.

[dave] and now,
one of the biggest challenges
of this entire build.

Changing the body shape
from a sedan to a hardtop.

We're gonna make this
nova coupe

into a nova hardtop.

Enter the exuberant
mr. Slick willy.

Why are we doing that,
you might ask.

Well, because dave kindig
said it would be cool.

And he's usually right. So,

we're gonna remove
this upper structure.

We're gonna remove
this b pillar.

We're gonna make
a single slice right through
the center here.

Then we're gonna watch this.

Does it open up?

Does it go to one side
or the other?

I mean, where is the roof
gonna move to?

What we wanna see
is little to no movement.

So, here we go.

Do you hear it?

Popped open, then we've got
a little bit of this.

Little bit of tension here.

Now, the other side.

Let's go see how it acts.

As we cut these b pillars,
we're looking for the shift.

The reason why we don't
want those to move

is because that would mean
the whole car's gonna change

from when it had b pillars,
to when there's not.

We want this car to live
just fine without them.

We don't wanna see any big
changes as we take them out.

This side,
little to no movement.

Okay, so honestly,
judging by that,

I'm not really concerned.

And that side barely moved.

This side actually separated
a little more than that side.

So that's a win.

Okay, now we're just gonna
clean all this off,

and, uh, get basically
the look we want.

Then we have to really do
all the hard work after that.

[dave] with all of the changes
that this nova's taken on,

including the bigger tubs.

We're gonna have to change
the rigmarole, if you will,
of the rear-quarter glass.

On the original nova,
the windows in
the rear quarters

basically just go
straight down.

What we need to do
is have them tilt
as they come down.

We're gonna try using a 1969
camaro rear-quarter glass
mechanism.

And if that doesn't work,

I guess we'll just
have to build our own.

It's not like we haven't
done that before.

That's cool, right?
I mean, the look.

It's definitely wild.

Almost looks chopped.

I mean it has changed
a lot of stuff

just with that simple
little chop it out.

Demo day is a fun
and exciting part,

but it's now leading up
to where I have to put it all
back together.

We'll just see who
we can get to finish it.

While howard's not really
paying attention.

We're just gonna go ahead
and go write it on the board

that he's gonna
finish this up.

[laughing]

nice try, will.

It's all on you.

This car came to us as a kit,

so we have all those parts.

Then, with this change
we have brought in new stuff.

[dave] right now,
there's a table

that looks like it has
everything we've ever saved,

from any kind of quarter
glass, laid out on it.

And I think those pieces
might go together
and make something.

This sounds like a job
for will, all day long.

We have an entire collection.

New and old.

Long one piece, front windows.

We have some old
window motors.

Chevelle kit, original
nova windows.

Chevelle window divider.

Window track,
electric windows.

This is the chevelle.

So first things first,

we're gonna put the front
window mechanism in.

This little guy.

Should go right in. Hoping.

Okay, kids. Don't
do this at home. [laughs]

now there's a control track.

Then it looks like it takes
just the flat

track on the window.

So we have those.

[dave] will needs to get
in there and make sure
everything fits,

and make sure also,
that it's supported.

[will] cool,
now let's try the glass.

I just wanna go through
just enough...

...To get this track on.

There we go.

So, herein lies the problem

with getting rid of the whole
upper window frame.

We have no control.

How in the world are we gonna
grab a hold of this glass?

Oh.

Herein lies the problem

with getting rid of the whole
upper window frame.

We have no control.

We're building a brand-new
quarter glass mechanism
for the roll-down windows

on this nova and right now,

things are little bit wobbly.

[chuckles nervously] that...

...Becomes my task.

How in the world are we gonna
grab a hold of this glass?

The good news is here,
is there's a little bit
more room

than we thought
we had to work with.

That can be as easy as...

...Adding a track up here,

so that it relies upon
this front track.

We do have a rear track
that's lower down here.

The one thing we do
wanna see, though.

How well does this original
glass fill up this space?

Oh, nice.

[dave] now that
the glass is functioning
and in place,

it's now time to give it
somewhere to land.

This is gonna require
will to build a brand
new roof rail structure.

It's fitting great.

But I am not making it
perfect just yet,

because I have a lot
of welding I need to do.

I need to add a piece here.

So, cool.

I'm gonna take this out.

Take it to the bench.

Clean it, prep it.

I'm gonna be here
for days just welding
this aluminum.

Or at least today.

[dave] with everything
trimmed out now,

will's gonna make sure
that everything fits well.

Getting there.

This little piece
will act as the trim.

You'll see this nice,
shiny spot.

-Dave kindig.
-Hey.

It's okay, yeah?

-It looks marvelous.
-Oh, awesome.

[dave] just finish
the rest of it.

-And then do another one
beside it but the opposite.
-[will groans]

[distantly] looks great.

Don't get me wrong,
there's a lot of really
cool stuff I'm looking at,

but there's a long way
to go still.

We're gonna build some very
rudimentary templates.

[dave] will has saved
the smallest part of this
modification,

but yet the most
difficult part.

And that is to make that
rear quarter glass rigmarole
around that big tub.

[will] this is our window line

and we take a little off here
so I'm kind of parallel.

So there's a lot of stuff
that has to move
in the right direction.

And one thing that we need
to have which we don't,

is a brand new
shape of the windows.

So we're just gonna go ahead
and make a template,

so that you can roll that
up and down and perfect
the fitment.

[will] and it looks like,
without too many miracles,

it will fit.

We're wanting this flat
part of this window

to rotate enough
that it will lay there.

Tuck the top of this
down far enough.

You can see it's doing it,
it's starting that direction.

We're gonna need
to turn it more,

'cause this back corner
is almost touching.

So I do have three to four
inches right here,

that this can rotate down

and bring this top down
under that quarter line.

It looks like the '69 camaro
rear-quarter glass tracks

might be the best solution
for this problem.

And it looks like,
with just a few modifications,

it's gonna fit.

[will] so, I'm gonna
get this outlined.

Then I'm gonna start
adjusting these lines.

I've got the little triangle
layout of the rollers.

I'm gonna get it
in an assembly,

and then I'm gonna measure
how much angle

is happening at said points.

[dave] so right now the only
thing that really matters,

is to make sure that
this mechanism fits

inside the quarter panel.

[will] I'm kind of past
the stage of the cardboard
templates.

And uh, the metal,
basically allows you
to put some shape.

Just as the glass would have
in the piece.

And I'm pretty happy with
the way it's functioning.

My biggest thing right now
is that the track,

you know, does what
we're hoping it to do.

And then, I have to start
figuring out,

how do I apply the pressure
to this with the motor,

so that it works with all
this monkey motion.

Will's got a pretty big
motor in this quarter panel

and a really long arm.

So, it looks like
it might fit.

But boy,
this is a tight cavity.

I'm super curious about the...

...Power motor.

There's the pivot
for this long arm.

That pivot for the long arm
swings through this big arc.

How well will that arc
transfer its motion

to the window, pushing it
as it's trying to do this...

...Big s motion.

I'm gonna get this in here.

Let's just see.

So you can see,

this is intended for this car,

in its original state.

What we're trying
to adapt it to,

basically, is a '68 camaro.

That's where it's gonna be,
as we run up the travel here.

And especially here,
where it changes directions.

Where our track is here,
this is way out here.

We got nothing.

[will] dave dreams up these...

...Wild ideas.

And not always
does it seem practical.

Seems to be stuck.

[will] so,
I'm starting to realize

why chevrolet did not
make hardtop novas.

Looks like it's time
for a commercial break.

I think this is gonna
take a bit.