- On this episode of "Counting Cars"...
I love this car.
Driving this car makes me happy.
And it's going to be awesome.
This thing just rocks.
This car was a car that belonged to my dad.
It's time to complete it the way that he wanted it.
- This is going to be a good one.
It's going to be good for the soul.
- All right, Mike. Here you go, bam.
- Holy... wow!
- That is purple with a little spice in it,
I see. - Uh-huh.
- Bring out that beautiful
Mercedes-Benz, please.
♪ ♪
Oh, my gosh.
- This is "Counting Cars."
- Whatcha doing?
- What's up, man? I'm thinking.
- You're thinking. - Thinking.
How you doing, brother? - You're standing in front of
the Mercedes that you just started driving again.
- Yes.
- And you're thinking. - Thinking about a lot.
I don't know how much you know about this car,
but this is one of those very sentimental things to me.
This car was a car that belonged to my dad.
It really means something to me.
I've stashed it for years because I haven't been able
to approach it, if that makes any sense.
- I--dude, I know when it comes to Pop's stuff
and you and, man, do I ever understand that.
I get it. - Just talking about it's hard.
- I know, I know.
It's bringing up my memories too,
and this is going to be a good one.
This is going to be a good one.
This is going to be good for the soul.
- And it's time.
It's time to complete it the way that he wanted it.
I know you know Dad was a Mercedes guy.
This is an '82 SEC.
- Yeah, this is considered the big body coupe.
- Right. Back in the day, this was what I would consider
the high-end gentlemen's performance hot rod Mercede.
After the oil crisis of the late '70s,
luxury car maker Mercedes-Benz
set out to create a new top-of-the-line coupe
that combined great fuel economy
with groundbreaking good looks.
Originally introduced in 1979,
the 500 SEC was only available in Europe
until its official stateside in 1984,
which meant if you wanted one like this '82,
you had to find it from an international car broker
on the gray import market,
making it a rare treasure today.
Stacked with revolutionary early '80s options
like heated driver and passenger seats,
driver-side airbag and an automated seat belt presenter,
the 500 SEC was the height of automotive opulence
and set the standard for luxury car design
for decades to come.
- This was Pop's car. I know all the family cars.
I know the whole collection. Where's this one been?
- It's been hidden, man.
You know, he kept this in South Florida for years.
He had the condo down there.
Whenever I would go down there and visit,
this car would be there,
and I remember driving this car,
and it was back in the day, you know,
and you roll up in places,
and it's like a scene out of "Miami Vice"
when you roll up in a car like this.
- This was status back then-- - Big time.
- I mean, full on status. - Big time.
Dad had intentions for this car.
He had a vision on this. I dug it out of storage.
I've been going through it on a mechanical level.
She's very happy mechanically now,
so now it's time to get into the cosmetics.
He had been collecting parts for this car for years
including the old-school deep dish AMG Penta wheels,
all this type of stuff, all of it,
and it's all brand-new.
I mean, he'd been collecting this stuff since the '80s, man.
- The hood stays the same, right?
- Hood stays the same. Trunk deck stays the same.
There will be a new chin spoiler.
It looks just like this.
- Right. - Dad's got the one
that matches the flares because--
- They go right into it. - It wraps around--
Exactly.
So it's time. I've got to finish this car.
It's one of those things where I'm going to start--
I'm going to start checking things off my lit
that speak to my soul.
This one really speaks to my soul for many, many reasons.
Number one, I love the car, but number two,
this was Dad's, and he had a vision,
and I want to finish it.
So yeah, man, you know, you've been with me
since the beginning, and you knew Dad,
and you know what this means to me.
- Yes, sir. I'm gonna need some help
getting through this.
- So I know exactly what you need.
You just tell me when you want to pull the trigger on it.
- I appreciate that. Thank you, brother, thank you.
- I understand. - I appreciate it.
Man, it's obvious to anyone who knows me that I love cars,
and it's more than that.
They're not just metal machines, man,
they're memories, and they're expressions,
expressions to the people who love them.
This Mercedes was my dad's, and I'm going to do it
the way he dreamt of it. I'm going to finish his vision.
Appreciate it. - I'll push it through.
- Thank you, my man. - Thank you.
- Thank you, Ryan.
[mellow rock music]
♪ ♪
- Whoo hoo.
- So Bob has been working with a client that's got
a late model Challenger with some crazy twist to it.
Sounds like it's right up his alley,
but to say the least,
I'm intrigued to find out about this thing.
[engine revving]
That is not a stock motor. - No.
- The 2010 Dodge Challenger is a throwback
to Mopar's glory years of the late 1960s and '70s
when muscle cars ruled the road.
Initially in production from 1969 to 1984,
the Challenger relaunched in 2006,
and muscle car junkies lost their collective minds.
The updated design paid tribute to the original
while offering a serious upgrade
in the power department.
The 6.1-liter Hemi V-8
in the top-of-the-line model kicked out 425 horses,
launching the Challenger from 0 to 60 in under 5 seconds.
The 2010 model also marked the long-awaited return
to Daytona International Speedway,
marking the first time in nearly 30 years
that a Challenger hit the asphalt
at the world-famous track.
- So I've been talking to this dude for a while now,
and he's a crazy guy.
- You're all excited about the motor.
- This is a crazy guy like me but I think a little crazie.
- You're talking to crazy people, huh?
- Yeah, well, that's what I do.
- That doesn't surprise me at all.
- I want you to see this.
- You don't get impressed by motors--I want to see this.
- It's not even, you know, it's Dodge,
I don't really care, but look at that, Ryan.
- That's not at all what I expected.
- No. This is like
a crazy new-school Hemi with a big supercharger.
- Yeah, it's got a Kenne Bell on there.
- Yeah. - What year is this thing?
- This is a 2010. This guy has been building--
- 2010?
- He's been building a demon before there was a demon.
- Wow.
- This is close to 900 horsepower.
- Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo.
That's way too much motor for this car.
- Exactly. - That is cool.
So you've only this driven in the parking lot, huh?
- Yes, I didn't go real far.
- Good, 'cause I'm not getting in it.
- Yeah, to be honest with you, Ryan, it's a little scary.
- It's spooky. So what are we doing with it?
- Let's just it apart, paint it, no interior,
no suspension, no motor work 'cause it's done.
It's just a paint job.
- Straight paint job. - Straight paint.
Well, he wants some crazy colors.
I think it's like a purple candy,
so not our black cherry but like a purple cherry.
- I'm smiling already. - See?
- Man, I'm happy about that.
I love black cherry, but, man, I'm good for something else.
That's a nice color though.
- He's got his own ideas.
I mean, you see what motor he's done.
- So he wants a crazy paint job
to match the crazy motor that's in this thing.
- Correct.
- All right. We got some damage down there.
- Yeah, but on the way here, he ran over something.
- Legit, like, on the way here?
- Legit, physically here.
- Okay. I need to send some samples to him.
- Yes. - You got a number and a--
- E-mail, he's an e-mail-only type of guy.
- Does he live on a boat or something?
- He might live in a space shuttle for all I know.
- Only e-mail. All right.
I'll e-mail the client, get some colors nailed down.
Meantime, you start taking it apart,
and I'll get the guys started sanding on it.
- I'll strip it and then start bringing you parts.
- So when it came in,
I noticed something on that quarter panel.
- Where?
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah.
- This little woo-hoo, little woo-hoo right here.
- You got to remember, it's a 13-year-old car...
- I got it. I got it.
- That he's been driving, but other than that,
it's clean. It's beautiful.
- I'll go make room now then. - Yeah.
So go make room. - All right.
- I'm going to strip it here, and then I'm going to move
some stuff, and we'll get it in.
- Cool.
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- Ryan, where you at? - In the booth.
- Hey, so they didn't have your high temp reducer.
- Seriously? - I dunno what to tell ya.
- I'm getting started on this paint job for a motorcycle
that a dad left to his son after he passed away.
- So we're going to paint it
back to the original? - Right.
- The son remembers a particular paint job
that the bike had at one point in its life.
He said it was marbleized,
but that's Texas bowling ball.
This is black on top of silver, so that's bowling ball.
Back in Texas, we did this with black.
So it looks like I'm going to be working from memory,
the client's memory, so I'm going to grab Horny Mike
and see if we can't figure this out
and get this paint job exactly the way the customer wants.
- All right. So you're doing the marbleizing.
- Right. I don't know from the pictures
he sent me if the base for the bowling balling
was over black with silver or over silver with black.
- So are we doing bowling ball or marbleizing?
- Bowling ball.
I'm not marbleizing. I'm only bowling balling.
- Well, I got to see the difference because--
- Okay. - Because I know
what bowling ball is.
Oof!
Let's see it.
♪ ♪
Is that silver?
- Uh-huh.
♪ ♪
- I want some more beans in there.
♪ ♪
Eh...
So something I like
about marbleizing is you can come back.
- Yeah. This is the smoother.
This is what I don't want because that's still so light,
and this was super high contrast.
I mean, the black on this bike and the silver on this bie
completely separated. There was no in between.
I like it, but I really think...
I think the black on the silver is going to be
the higher contrast.
You want to tape that off? Just give me a little bit
of the black left over just as a test.
- You're really explaining some...
very common things to me these days.
- Right now, I've got silver base on top of black,
and it's just really not giving me
those deep striation lines that old-school marbleizer had,
so what I'm going to do is do silver
with the black marbleizer on top of that,
and hopefully that gives me that real deep
contrasting old-school marbleizing paint job
that this thing needs to have.
♪ ♪
- All right. So you've got that really thin.
- Yep.
♪ ♪
That's it. That's it, much better.
- I do...
That's definitely got that more,
that true bowling-ball feeling.
- That's it.
That is it.
Big, big difference. All right.
- And that's what you were talking about
as far as the differences. I mean, this one's hard.
- Super contrasted, crystal-y, and this is nice and smooth.
The original paint job was silver base,
black bowling ball.
- Well, at least I got something cleared up
for me today--
Bowling ball, marbleizing.
- There you go, see?
- I learn something from you every day, Rob.
- Well, I'm not sure if Horny Mike learned
a damn thing from our little experiment,
but I've got the confidence and figured out the colors
that this thing is going to be
exactly the way the client remembers his dad riding it.
I'm genuinely excited. This is exactly how I remember
these bowling ball paint jobs back in the day.
- You're the man, Rob. - But that's it.
- No one is greater than you.
You're like an encyclopedia of badass--
- I don't want to--
No, no, now see, you overdid it.
I don't want to talk to you anymore.
♪ ♪
- I love this car.
Driving this car makes me happy.
This car is dangerous for me, man.
- I can see that. - I like to go fast.
This was one of Dad's. - Yeah, I remember.
- I'm blessed to have it.
- My dad's '82 Mercedes SEC,
it's really been on my mind, man.
And on one hand, I want to make sure
that we do it like he was planning,
but on the other hand, I want to build it
as if he was here building it with me today.
I think I pretty much have got it all figured out,
so I'm going to get with my man Bob
and give him the 411 on this ride.
- You know, back in the old-school days,
all the big ballers had these cars.
- Right, had some Phil Collins cranked up on the radio,
"In the Air Tonight," you know,
the whole "Miami Vice" thing going in this car.
- I got you.
- This is my final drive the way she looks right now.
- I got you.
- So here's what we're going to do.
Yes, we're going to do the whole wide-body package,
the wheel and tire package... - Okay.
- The whole bit on the outside.
I want to keep the color.
I love the anthracite gray on this car.
- Okay, so same color, just the wide-body kit, the big wheels.
- But all the bright work, the chrome on the bumpers,
the trim, everything else like that
we're going to do in satin black.
- It's beautiful chrome though.
- I know, it is pretty,
but it'll just have such an attitude--
- I got it. I got it. - In satin black.
And then the wheels we're going to get satin black.
Basically I'm looking to re-cover the seats, factory,
and then the headliner needs some love.
There's some places in the headliner
where it's coming undone,
but, you know, I like how it's black in the front
and black in the back,
so it's really just kind of the center sectio.
- So maybe a little something--
- Funky. - You know...
- You know, exotic. Yes.
- It's going to be cool. - That's what I want.
It's going to be awesome. Yeah!
- Absolutely, man. - [giggling]
[rock music]
♪ ♪
- Gentlemen. - Yes, sir.
- It's time to talk Mercedes
SEC AMG stage three--bam!
- That's a lot of letters, man.
- Lot of letters. - That is. That is. It is.
- Tons of letters. - It's time.
Man, I am pumped. We have got all of the AMG parts
for my Mercedes SEC, and the day is finally here.
I cannot wait to let the guys loose on this project.
I love AMG stuff, man,
especially the original real deal
because AMG was founded back in 1967.
Two German engineers, they started the company.
It was an independent motorsports firm,
and they were building high-performance engines.
AMG got worldwide attention
at the 24 Hour Spa Endurance race back in 1971
with their modified Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL.
Soon after that, AMG expanded their offerings
to way cool engine packages
and body accessory kits which included custom bumpers,
custom side skirts, and custom spoilers.
AMG kits are still wildly popular with Mercedes owners,
man, who want to up the ante
on their already high- performance Mercedes-Benzes.
I cannot wait to get mine done.
So everything that you see in the lighter color
gel coating here-- That's the old-school stuff.
This is stuff that's from the '80s.
- That's legit.
- Yeah, he got this stuff... - Real stuff.
- Back in the day and including the wheels, man.
Those are an original set-- - Those are real AMG wheels.
- Of the wide-body AMG wheels from back in the day,
and they've never been mounted. They're brand-new.
I was missing a couple of pieces,
so I ordered an entire kit,
and that's all the dark stuff over there.
So I want to use the real stuff on the car,
and I think we only have to supplement
the wraparound rear bumper from the other kit.
So check this out on the car.
I'll show you what I'm talking about.
So... all of this lower panels here,
it's these panels right here that are ribbed.
On the stage III widebody AMG cars,
the panels are there, but they're smooth.
They're not ribbed, and you can't get them.
I can't find them anywhere.
- But I can make a mold... - Yes.
- Of the new body kit... - Yes.
- Put it together, make it longer,
make a new piece for it, and then we're done.
Make a new one. - These panels, but smooth.
- Right. - If you're not concerned
about that, it's time to start,
you know, fitting pieces and making pieces.
- Yep.
- So anyways, gentlemen, I'm out. I'm out.
Love you, guys. Thank you, guys.
♪ ♪
We get to paint this absolutely insane Challenger
for a client that I really would love to have met,
but he's presently out of the country.
I just want to show the car to somebody,
so my buddy Mike Nicholl, that's the man for the job,
and you know he's always got some cool toys to check out
whenever I stop by his place.
- Challenger feels good? - Yeah.
- I appreciate you getting me out of the shop,
because now we get to see what Mike's hiding.
♪ ♪
- Is that what I think that is? Oh, dude.
- That's why I always love to come here
'cause you never know what Mike's got.
This has my undivided attention right now.
- They're neat little cars. - No, dude, just fun--
- Ryan!
- What a fun thing to run around.
- What's up, Mike? - There he is, Mike.
What is happening, my brother? Good to see you, man.
- Good to see you. How are you doing?
- I'm all right. - Lookin' good.
- Thank you, my man. Thank you, my man.
- What trouble you guys getting into today?
- Well, Ryan just got through doing a full custom paint jb
on a customer's car.
- Okay. - It's cool.
I want you to see it before we leave.
- Oh, yeah, yeah.
- Dude, obviously I can't take my eyes off of this.
It's got to be a replica. - Oh, yeah.
- What, a replica of what, a '57?
- '57. - This is awesome.
Originally produced in 1948, the 356 Speedster
was Porsche's first true production car
and the forerunner to the legendary 911.
The '57 Speedster featured a four-cylinder air-coold
rear-mounted engine
that could push this little land rocket
to 125 miles an hour.
The 356 tore up the racetracks in Europe.
However, it was the European importer
and Porsche dealer Max Hoffman
that would play an instrumental role
in Porsche becoming a household name
here in the United States.
Seeing a growing American appetite
for low slung Sportsters,
Hoffman had Porsche produce a less expensive,
stripped-down version for the Western market,
and the American buyers went bananas.
With less with 2,057 S's produced,
they sell for six figures today
if you can find one.
Even a replica like this is a treasure of its own.
Would it be out of line if I sat in it?
I just kind of-- - Have a seat.
- I just want to see if I fit.
♪ ♪
Oh, see, this is--
Yeah, man, you know, I got Porsches.
I got old Porsches.
It's beautiful. - Yeah.
- So, Mike, let me ask you a question, brother.
What's the asking price on this ride?
- This being a replica-- - Yeah.
- 27.5. - Okay.
Well, I gotta tell you, that is, in my opinion,
that price is not out of line for this car.
This is a great, neat, really cool car.
An original '57
Speedster...
I mean, what are they worth, Mike?
- Quarter million or more, yeah.
Well, quit looking at this one--
- Okay. - 'Cause while you're her,
we gotta get back to the great American land yachts...
- Oh, you know.
- That I know you have a weakness for.
- I do.
- It's a little different, '77--
- Great year.
- Mercury... - Ooh, that's off the charts.
- Marquis...
- That's a huge car. - But 2,382 original miles.
- It's like a test-drive car. - It's a new car.
- It's a brand-new car. So come here.
Let's take a look. - I gotta see this. Ha.
- All right. How about this?
- Oh, ha ha ha!
Man... - I love that color.
- It's the '70s in here.
- It's all brand-new.
- It's too perfect, 2,300 miles,
original owner from 1977. Where did you find this?
- Old guy had this in his garage,
brought it brand-spanking-new, so I asked him.
I said, "Well, why did you buy a car brand-new..."
- Yeah.
- "And then just let it sit in your garage?"
- Right.
- He said, "Well, I bought it because when I retired,
"I wanted to have an old car that was a new car
that I could take to car shows."
- Oh, so he's a car guy from the get-go.
- He's a car guy, yeah. - That's really cool.
Look at the inside of this thing.
- Here, open it up. [clicking]
- Click! Handling it so careful.
I don't want to mess any-- Oh, my gosh.
- Look at the silk.
- It is like a time capsule. It's like a museum piece, man.
The dash is like new money.
It's gorgeous.
What does something like this go for?
- We put 16.5 on this car.
- Mike, before I do something crazy--
Either one of us, right-- We're supposed to be working,
but I really love it. If you've got a couple minutes,
I want you to lay eyes on this guy's crazy work.
- Enough of my stuff. Let's go look at your stuff.
- Check this out. - Lead the way.
- You'll dig this.
Oh, my gosh. I appreciate you taking time.
You've always got a good eye for stuff.
- Man, we are in car guy heaven.
It's my buddy Mike Nicholl's place,
and he's already shown us
a way cool '57 Speedster replica
and a '77 Merc with only 2,000 miles on it.
But I got to tell you,
I need to remember why we're actually here, ma.
We just finished a 2010 Challenger,
and I want my man Mike to check it out
and let me know what he thinks.
- Check it out, brother. Bam!
- Holy smokes! [both laughing]
That is purple with a little spice in it, I see.
- Uh-huh. - Almost looks black
at certain angles, and then
it's in-your-face purple. Yeah.
- Man, this 2010 Challenger is a straight-up beast.
Now, mechanically speaking, she was done when we got her,
so it was time to make her pretty.
The client wanted a dark vibrant plum,
almost black paint job,
so Ryan sprayed it with four different color pearls,
so now it flip-flops
from black to plum in the sunlight.
Then we topped it off with a real light smoke job
coming off the fenders that is subtle and awesome.
This thing came out so good,
it's as badass on the outside as she is under the hood.
- I see some blue.
I see some silver, the purple, I mean,
how many colors you got in this?
- It's got four different colors of pearls,
and then it's got two different kinds of pearls.
The customer wanted on the CAS, like, down here,
it has no metallic, and it almost looks black.
It's a very deep plum.
- Yeah. - And then in the sun,
that's when that purple,
that rich color just knocks your head off.
- So it's the same paint all the way around.
- All the way around, it looks two-tone right now.
- It does. - But it's not.
Even in the front,
he wanted the smoke on the top of the body line.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - But even in the front,
it's all exactly the same color.
- God, it's like glass down the side.
Well, you know, I like, it's the subtlety of it.
I mean, it's really that less-is-more type look.
- If it was yours-- - How could you not love it?
- All right. - How could you not love it?
- All right. - That is very cool.
- So if you're digging it, I feel good.
- No, one of your best. - You're a lucky charm.
[laughter]
- Ryan killed this unique and subtle paint job, man.
If Mike digs it,
I know our client's going to dig it too,
but now I got to get out of here before I make an offer
on that '77 Marquis, man. Somebody get me out of here.
- Great seeing you. - Sincerely always, always
a pleasure, Mike. You rock.
- See you, man. - Thank you, sir.
- Beautiful job on that. - Thank you. Thank you.
- That is artwork right there. - I agree.
- All right, gentlemen. Thank you very much. Be safe.
- We're going to creep it back home.
See you later, brother. Thanks, Mike.
Keep reminding myself this is not my car.
Drive it nice and easy. - Yeah.
Please.
[mellow rock music]
♪ ♪
- Let's go back to the shop.
I want to see what's going on with the SEC Mercedes, ma.
- Oh, yeah. - That car is so special to me.
I mean, you know, it was Dad's,
and I'm finally finishing it the way he wanted it finished.
There she is. There she--
Uh-oh, and there's Ryan in the upholstery shop.
Why are you in the upholstery shop?
- Trying to see what kind of a mess
I'm getting set up for here.
I've got good news, and I've got horrible new.
- [sighs, laughs]
Why, why couldn't it just end at good news?
Give me the horrible news. - Horrible news.
- Give me the horrible. I want the horrible.
- All right. - Let's get that over with.
- Brace yourself. - [laughs]
- So the car has been hit in the front.
- Not enough to bend anything. - I don't know.
What I see is
we've got some crinkles in here that are rusted.
- Okay. - We've got some weird drips,
almost like someone had chemical stripped it
once before. We've got that on both sides.
- Okay. - Also, the reason why
we're not looking at the hood is your aluminum hood
is covered in Bondo that doesn't belong there.
- Really?
- And at least five paint jobs.
- You're kidding me!
- So I'm assuming the hood
became problematic for somebody.
- Right, right.
- I don't know if part of it
was from the front-end collision.
- Okay. - I also think
there may have been a failure in the hinges.
Now, that's that incident with the hood.
- Okay.
- Another one pertains to the front-end collision
'cause the grille has been completely cut out
and replaced at one time.
We've got a mild crack starting on this side
in an aluminum hood.
- Ugh. - Now I don't know--
The hood's being stripped as we speak--
- Okay. - To get it to the fab shop
as quickly as possible,
just to get this off our plate.
- Right. - But the fab guys told me
if there's a micron of seam sealer or paint,
as soon as they strike an arc on that with the TIG,
it's going to blow a big hole.
- Got it. - So the horrible news being
we may need to track down another hood.
- Yeah, and the right one. - Yeah.
- What worries me is if you can find one--
- Right.
- Because what I'm thinking is the reason
there was so much work is they couldn't find one.
- This is a gray market Euro early version,
so I'm just praying.
I'm just praying that we can fix that hood.
All right.
Well, I trust our fab team, so let's just see what happens.
- What's the good news? - Thank you.
I could use some good news on this right now.
- The good news is, Danny, you were right about the paint.
There is one complete paint job on this entire car
less the factory,
so there's only two paint jobs on this whole car.
- Fabulous.
The rest of her's in really great shape.
- Yeah. The blistering on the roof--
- Yeah. - Where all the rust
is around it, dude, that's surface rust.
- Surface, nothing.
- Sand it right out, nothing. - Amen!
- Yeah, so the hood is going to be our unicorn piece.
- Well, this is certainly not good.
Hopefully the fab department, they can work their magic, man,
because finding a hood for a Euro-only Benz from the '80s
might not be an easy thing to do, man,
so I got my fingers crossed. Let's wait and see.
Ryan, thank you. - Sorry, and you're welcome.
- I appreciate-- Oh, no, dude, I got faith.
Thank you, brother.
That car is going to be amazing.
[upbeat rock music]
♪ ♪
- Hey, Bobby. - Yeah.
- Where you at?
- On the other side.
- Oh-ho-ho, the hood.
So apparently the car gods were smiling down on Danny,
'cause I just got word from the fab shop.
They were able to salvage that irreplaceable
40-year-old European aluminum hood,
something I thought was just completely shot,
so I got to go check this out.
- Actually fits pretty good. - Look at that.
- You know.
- Lift the fender up, lined the fender up right.
- That's it.
- I was worried about it fitting this fender,
but compared to what we took off the hood,
this hood, it was a disaster.
They had this completely Bondoed up.
There was a crack in that corner,
and I was afraid we were going to have to replace it
because, you know, strike an arc
on something that's not fully clean,
and there's seam sealer on there,
it woulda blew a hole right through it.
So I was really worried we were going to try
and replace this hood that is irreplaceable.
- You can't find them.
- It's a Euro-only aluminum hood.
- I mean, you can't find them period--you can't find nothing.
- So... - I haven't been able
to find glass for this car.
- Can't do glass, can't do glass rubbers.
- Nothing. - Can't do door rubbers.
- Nothing. - Can't find a screw
for this car. - No.
Just step back and look at it.
- I need to soak it up, man. - Soak it in.
- I need to soak it up. This has been 20 years,
20 plus years just to get to this part.
Danny and his dad bought this car to do this to it.
- Well, we're at this part now. I've got it mapped out,
and I'm making pieces and making it fit.
- It looks good, though. - So I had to cut all this up.
I made a new quick mold to the side of the car.
So I got 2 inches of this off so that we can bond this piece
that was the old part of the kit
to the new piece that I made, and we can do bodywork in her,
and then underneath this piece,
I reglassed the whole side around the taillight
and down the door edge.
- So we glass the kit part to the body part.
Instead of bodyworking
this entire quarter panel top to bottom...
- Correct.
- It's bodyworking that much of it.
- That much. - Look at you go, man.
That's sharp. - That's why I'm quick
with this stuff. - Whoa.
You cut the wheel well too? - Yeah, but I gotta
cut some more, just a temporary cut.
- Oh, wow, we're in it now.
- But this is just the beginning.
I still got I don't know how many hours to go.
- We're already winning, dude-- No crack in the hood.
Hood fits the fenders.
You're going to have to hide this from Danny
'cause you know when he sees this,
he's going to turn the burners on.
- Well, that's what I'm worried about.
I'm trying to hide him and keep him away for a little bit
because if he sees it,
he's going to be ready to drive.
♪ ♪
- A client of ours wanted us to re-create a paint job
on an old Harley his dad left him when he passed away.
Now the paint job was from the '80s era,
and he had absolutely no pictures of it.
All the paint techniques and tricks from that era
I've done a thousand times over back in the day.
- That's it.
Super contrasted, crystal-y, and this is nice and smooth.
The original paint job was silver base,
black bowling ball.
I think it's perfect. I just need to get the boss
to come down and see what he thinks.
- What are you working on? What is it?
- We've got a client who sent in some Harley tins.
- Oh, okay, no bike, just the tins?
- No, just the tins-- - Okay.
- And the client's name is Anthony.
- Okay. - I'm anxious for you
to see this paint job first of all
because you can appreciate it.
- Okay. - You know the era.
You know how it's supposed to look,
and you know those paint jobs.
- Is it like a '70s thing? - Not so much '70s.
More late '80s, early '90s.
This was the Harley heyday reborn again,
but the paint job was everything.
- Yeah. - The client Anthony--
- Okay. - It was his dad's bike.
His dad passed away, left the bike to Anthony.
- I'm sorry to hear that.
- Over the years, the dad got the paint job redone.
It was the same paint job, slightly different versions.
The last time he had the same guy paint it--
- Yeah. - Missed his mark.
- Okay. - Beautiful paint job.
When it came here, it was a beautiful paint job--
Just kind of missed the heyday of this bike.
- Okay. - So I want you to see this.
I don't have the bike, but-- - Oh, yeah.
- I think you can envision it.
[both laugh]
- I haven't even looked at the rest of it.
I'm just looking at the front fender,
and I so see the era that you're talking about.
- Yeah. - Oh, and the colors!
This is... okay.
- You get it now?
- I so, so get it.
Man, there's fades, but they change.
- Well, that was the calling card of this bike.
It was bowling ball.
It had the red to the purple to the blue to the teal fade.
- Right.
- And it had this heartbeat of America on it.
- Right. Oh, my gosh.
I know the heartbeat thing is--
Oh, my gosh, that's wicked cool, wicked cool, the colors.
It's gorgeous. Look at the Fat Bobs.
- Right. - Good lord.
- It's all the same '80s and '90s tricks that we did.
You know, you blended the paint, faded black into it--
- Right.
- Because that drives it into the frame.
- Right. Oh, my gosh, the rear fenders,
the Fat Bob, well, those are Fat Bobs.
- Mm-hmm. - But the Bob fender
is gorgeous, short, tucked up, Bob rear fende.
These colors are just unbelievable, bro.
Bro, this is gorgeous. This is gorgeous.
This to me completely captures what you were talking about,
that... that late '80s, early '90s vibe,
and you captured a very modern version of a very retro layout.
This is cool. - Yep.
- I got to tell you, things are crazy around here.
I didn't even see Ryan working on those Harley tins,
but I got to tell you, man, those things came out right.
The colors on those things are absolutely beautiful,
and the design, it's perfect for the era
that the client was going for.
He's going to be thrilled when he sees these tins,
and I know they're going to bring back
all those great memories of his dad
riding that Harley that's now his.
- Ryan, once again, you killed it.
- Thanks, man. - Phew, it's beautiful.
Man, you... [fades]
- You know, after waiting almost three decades,
I decided it was finally time to restore
and customize my father's '82 Mercedes-Benz SEC
with all of the cool-guy stuf
that he'd been collecting since the '80s for this ca.
So when I brought all my guys in with the game plan on thi,
everybody got busy,
and they all went above and beyond
for myself and for my father
to put this gorgeous Mercedes together.
My father loved this car,
and after the 30-year journey of the restoration,
there is no doubt in my mind
that he would have been thrilled
to be able to see this thing the way it sits today.
- What up, gentlemen? - What's happening, boss?
- Oh, man, just got back from SEMA.
- We're just getting ready to go.
- It's a fantastic show.
You guys are going to have a great time, but...
- But what? - Before I left,
I asked you guys, I know we're working on the Benz.
Can you guys button up those last couple of things?
And I hustled back here 'cause I wanted to see it, man.
- Yeah, we got the customer's car.
- We got the customer's car all ready to go.
- "The customer's car."
Is that--is that the-- - It's the customer.
It's the most important customer we could ever have.
- I have to agree.
I know what car we're talking about--Mercedes SEC.
Yes, I do own the car. But that's Dad's car.
- That's right. - 30 years in the making,
he scored this SEC AMG Mercedes from a dear brother,
Johnny Temerian, in South Florida,
and then shortly after, he said,
"Listen, I have got the AMG widebody package
to build the car and finish the car,"
and then business happened. Life happened. You know,
and sometimes the good Lord has got different plans.
- Right. - So, you know,
he called Dad home, and, uh,
we finished the car.
- Yep. - So can I see it?
- We're at that point. - You want to handle it?
- So why don't you stay here,
and I'll go get the car, and I'll bring it out.
- You're going to go get the car.
- You gotta have the full experience, right?
- I have not seen it outside.
I've only seen it in the buildings.
- I haven't either. - I'm ready.
I get it--this is where customers
start losing their mind, like, would you just do I?
- Ready to do this? I-I got this, I got this.
Hey, Bobby,
bring out that beautiful Mercedes-Benz, please!
Oh... - This is so fun.
♪ ♪
Oh, dear lord, look at how wicked this is.
- Look at the--all sick. - That looks like a magazine.
[laughing]
Oh, my gosh!
Dude... dude!
Dude, dude.
- Bob, you know Mr. Koker.
- Yes, Mr. Koker. - [laughing]
Man, this '82 Benz is such an important part of my life,
and it's absolutely stunning.
We did uncover some old mild front-end collision damage
that was hiding under a couple coats of paint,
so the fab team got busy, did their thing,
and now she's straight as an arrow.
Next, my main man Ghetto Bob got to work
adding the AMG widebody parts
that my father saved over the years
to turn her into a true dream machine.
Next, Ryan laid down a gorgeous coat
of anthracite metallic gray satin
which just rounds out that whole '80s baller vibe.
Finally, we added a set of never-mounted, all original,
new old stock widebody AMG Penta rims
from the '80s.
Man, I can't wait to get in this baby,
hit the road, and cruise the streets with my dad.
Man, to see it outside in the light,
whew, I actually feel like one of our customers
where I can't find the words.
This is the coolest Mercedes
I think I've ever seen in my life.
You know, I know we were paying respect
to the AMG widebody SEC,
but then of course we did it our way.
- Uh-huh.
- And the connection between this car and Dad
and myself and us--
It's heavy. - Goes deep.
- It's heavy. It goes deep.
Speaking of heavy, the car is not.
This is a Euro car, gray market,
brought in from Europe, lightweight,
short bumpers, aluminum hood, aluminum deck lid.
- This is just a tasteful,
tasteful example of a widebody import car.
- On the finish, I mean, we took all the bright work
and went either satin black
or gloss black,
depending on what we wanted to highlight,
so there's no bright work on the car.
The wheels, satin black, phenomenal.
The car was factory anthracite gray.
- Yep.
- We went back to anthracite gray
but just decided to do it satin.
Bro, it shows off every body line on the car.
It adds a little more attitude.
- Not a little more, a lot, lot more.
- A lot, a lot. I got to walk around this.
Man, these wheels are disgusting.
- They really are. - They are so cool.
- The wheels were brand-new. - Right.
- They'd never even been mounted.
- Never, you know.
- And I had them stripped and powder coated them,
and they were brand-new.
- Look at this.
Oh, my gosh. Look at the angle on this.
Man, and the spoiler now, okay, the spoiler,
that's a Zender spoiler.
That spoiler is so rare it's unbelievable,
and to me that spoiler only works if you widebody it.
Bro, and, you know, okay, so the inside of this car,
most of this is still original.
- Yes, it's all.
- The dash has not been touched.
And then you know what's in there special.
- Bro.
- But this one is so subtle and so cool.
- The headliner is proper.
See, that's the Count's Kustoms vibe that I'm talking about.
This car,
this car is absolutely driving me insane.
1982. - Yep.
- So I've got one question for you, Danny.
- I gotta go see Kevin and pay my bill?
- Stamp of approval? - You guys are killing me
with this--this is funny.
You guys are doing my act.
- That's what we're supposed to do.
- You know, I've got a patent on that.
All right. I'm going to tell you guys
something from the heart straight up.
I will speak for myself, and I believe that I will
try to speak for my father when I say thank you.
To me, this is the baddest Mercedes I have ever seen,
so my stamp of approval from the heart,
it's more than I can say.
So yes, stamp of approval.
- Brother. - It's done.
- Love you guys. - Ryan, put it up,
and I'll take Danny to do some paperwork.
- Ryan ain't putting it up. - No, no, no, no.
- I'm taking it home.
- You're dealing with Kevin on that, right?
- 30 years! Oh, dude, yeah, man, yeah.
I got that. I got that.
- What are we going to do, Ryan?
- 30 years in the making.
[revving engine]
This Mercedes, it's been a dream of mine for 30 year.
I'm not kidding you when I say a dream.
I've been dreaming about this car that long.
Today, all those dreams came true,
and frankly it's better than I could have ever hoped for.
I'm proud, man. My guys seriously stepped up,
and they built something gorgeous.
This one was for my dad,
and I'm thrilled how it turned out,
and I really know in my heart that he would be too.
I'll see you cats later.
♪ ♪
Man.