My name is Mike Hall and, over the last 40 years,
against better judgment, I've managed to amass over 400 classic cars.
These cars are my legacy, but I'm running out of time to restore them all.
So I opened up a restoration shop with my son, Connor,
and my best friend, Avery, to try and turn my passion into profit,
restoring cars that the average person can afford.
But it's tough making a buck,
so I'm going to have to get the whole car-crazed town behind me,
to help get the job done.
[engine revs]
But that's how things roll here in Rust Valley.
[engine revs]
[tires screech]
[guitar rock music playing]
[phone rings]
- [Avery] Yes, Michael? - You're late.
I know I am.
[narrator] It's Monday morning at Rust Bros...
Shop manager is supposed to be here before the employees.
When are you going to grace us with your presence?
I'm about three minutes away from you.
- Goodbye. - Bye.
...Mike's new shop manager is late for work.
If you want to be a manager or a foreman, in my books, you gotta lead by example.
Avery's an employee as well. He's just an employee with a title.
Avery, you're late.
For what?
You're supposed to set an example.
You're getting paid. Show up on **** time.
Who am I setting an example to? You? There's nobody else here.
- [Mike] Tony's here. - Tony's always here.
- Tony lives here. - Tony lives here!
[Mike] What we're gonna do, Ave.
The client's on his way in to check this out.
Today, Mike has to deliver some bad news
to an important client...
Up, up, and away!
...the owner of a problematic 1966 Pontiac Parisienne.
He's going to take a gander at his repaired frame?
[Mike] He said it was good, but I bet he didn't look under it. He was like us.
I took his word, he took their word.
- Here she is. - [Mike] You told me it was in good shape.
- [man] It is! - [Mike] Half is gone.
Two weeks ago, Mike took on the challenge
of restoring the Parisienne...
[man] My band is about to release our second record,
and I need this car done in time for the album release.
...despite a tight deadline.
- Frame's good? - Yeah, frame's good.
It's had a repair in the left rear, where they always go.
Yeah.
Somebody's idea of fixed and his idea of fixed are two different things.
But the car's frame is more rust than metal,
and they don't have time to fix it.
[Mike] It's a cool car, but there is a shitload of work
to bring it back to what Clint wants.
But on the positive note,
I think we've got a good frame down out of one of my '65 Impalas.
- Mike. - What?
You can't be giving shit away, Mike.
Well, the guy's spending a lot of money, I don't have to gouge him.
You've got to stop absorbing everybody's problems.
- I'm not gonna absorb it. - Who's gonna pay for this?
We'll have to go out there, we'll have to disassemble.
- I know. - We'll have to...
Okay, I will discuss this with Clint.
The cost has to be passed on.
I am the shop manager. I take it seriously.
Mike has a perfectly viable business here.
But he just won't listen to anybody how to run it.
What the hell is going on with my car?
Clint. There's your frame.
There's your repair area, covered with a quarter-inch of mud.
I always thought they went back here, in the rear wheel well area.
They go from here to here.
It's done. It and a piece of aluminum foil have a lot in common.
- [Clint] I don't think that was my guy. - [Mike] I wouldn't trust any of it.
Okay.
Somebody's done some really poor work.
[Clint] I didn't realize it was as bad as it was.
[Mike] We do have a solution.
I have two '65 Impalas, just the same frame as this.
- Yeah. - We think they're solid.
- Okay. - [Mike] Clint's a cool guy.
We're both long-haired freaks, and we both like cars. We've gotta meet this deadline.
Look at all this wonderful stuff, you think you're back at home.
[Mike] There's one. They're having a nap up there.
- There's a whole family of 'em. - Where?
- [Clint] What's this right here? - [Mike] On top of that car. Get off!
[Mike] Okay, let's find a frame.
Here we go, '65 big block SS.
What Pontiac in Canada did, their full-size cars,
they were built on American Chevrolet frames.
So the frames are the same for Parisiennes as they are for the Impalas.
[Mike] Let me just take a good look. The rails look mint.
[Clint] I would beg to differ on this left rear section.
Looks a little tow-truck damage
- or something... - [Mike] Yeah, it's just bent, though.
What do you figure that frame's worth to you?
By the time we drag it up, I pay my guys to do it,
we look at it, we check it out. I'm thinking a grand.
[Clint] I just don't have the finances right now.
- You got a lot of projects on the go. - Yeah.
If you get anything that needs a small, reliable V8, I'll trade you for it.
Low-mileage one.
- [Clint] Slow down a little bit! - That just might cover
a little bit of the sandblasting and painting the chassis and shit.
- [Clint] Sure. - We need money, not a bunch of more junk.
Something like that?
We can have a train full of parts coming up here...
- Avery, shake the man's hand. Okay. - Deal.
I told him I'd buck up a frame, and he's gonna trade me a small-block motor.
I think it's a pretty fair swap.
[man] We're gonna take the body off of this, get the frame.
The crew gets to work pulling the Impala's frame,
but the swap will put the build behind schedule.
[man] Take it down. There.
[Mike] He's gonna have a really good,
proper frame for his build.
Hopefully, it doesn't cost me too much, or take too much time.
We've got a month to try and get it done for his album debut.
[guitar rock music playing]
The next morning...
- Sarah. - Yes?
[Avery] Where's Boyd at?
Where is Cassidy at?
...Avery has a plan to help get Mike's costs under control.
- Come over here for a second, please. - I'm busy.
[Avery] Think of it as a paid break.
We're trying to get a little bit more efficient this year. Okay?
It's not just you getting singled out. I'm having a talk with everybody
- cuz we're all bad at it. - Yeah.
You know what? There's absolutely no structure in this shop.
Everybody's been left to do their own thing for so long,
that they just got bad work habits, some of 'em.
It ends today.
You know, five minutes here, five minutes there.
At the end of the day, ten minutes, it adds up to an hour a day.
- Your work is incredibly good. - Uh-huh.
Your focus is... out there.
I think everybody had a pretty good reaction to what I had to say.
I try not to talk to him on a daily basis. It's not really the problem.
Again, that's not the point.
There was one exception. Cassidy.
What I'm saying, I guess, is keep yourself busy, okay?
Okay.
I get it. I've been a teenager before.
The other problem is, being punctual and on time. Okay?
And if this is the nice talk the first go around, the next time...
I won't be as nice.
I would like to see Cassidy step up to the plate. She's got it in her to do it.
- All right. - Keep yourself busy.
What I was doing.
Avery isn't finished yet.
He has other ideas
for improving things around the shop.
[Avery] There's a pile of gravel here.
It's been there for a week. I'm gonna spread it.
I'm gonna level everything off in the front.
Gonna have a nice ramp going into the shop.
[Mike] What the ****? This isn't what that gravel was for.
- Why didn't you ask? - Get some more gravel, Mike.
No, we had a full load.
[Mike] Avery's the shop manager. He shouldn't be out spreading my gravel
where I don't want it spread, but Avery would rather play
than work sometimes.
Next time, before you spread my 400 bucks' worth of gravel,
ask me where I want it.
Holy ****.
[Avery] I don't know what he's getting pissed off about.
Every time we go to put a car in here, we gotta put five boards on it.
So, order more gravel.
****!
[groans]
I scuffed the building.
I knew I shouldn't have got this close.
These controls, I do not like in this machine.
Mike!
- [Mike] What? - Come here.
- No, I'm busy. - I got some good news and some bad news.
- What? Holy ****! - [Avery] I think I can straighten it out.
I'm pretty sure I hit it, I'm not sure...
No, somebody else hit it down here
- with a ****! - I take responsibility for it.
I hit it but I'll straighten the **** thing back out.
- You can buy a whole new piece. - Along with that dent there
- and the other dent. - You probably did 'em all.
[Avery laughs]
[Mike] Hey, Avery, hide that ass!
At least camouflage that thing, Avery.
[Avery] I bought a belt.
Everybody around here's gonna be suing us for trauma
and post-traumatic stress disorder.
[Avery] You're a smart-ass.
A few hours later...
Up at the back. Hang on.
Okay, wait a sec.
...Avery and Mike are removing the rusty front cowl on the '66 Parisienne.
There's a bracket there that's spot-welded on.
Take the grinder and get in there.
You know what, Mike, I like about you so much?
It's how safety-oriented you are.
****, that didn't help nothing.
- [Avery] It did. Give me that grinder. - No.
It's a very little cut that has to be done. I see where it is.
Give me that grinder.
- There. - Look at it.
- Ready? - Okay.
[Avery] That piece almost should be taken out of the other car.
[Mike] That's what I was thinking.
We found some rust issues with Clint's car.
There was rust coming through in some weird places.
I'd like to go and look at the other cars and then just, boom, pull it out.
[Mike] Okay. Let's get this thing unrolled.
That'll work. Going back.
To help with the rust repair,
Mike's hauled up one of his own Parisiennes.
[Mike] We went down in my field and we found a car to cut parts out of,
to weld into Clint's.
[Mike] Let's get at it. Let's get this thing cleaned out and gutted,
then we'll see what we got.
Just what I need, an iron.
- Here, a car you could afford. - [Tony and Mike laugh]
There we go, there was something valuable in there, Tony.
[Tony] Paying for itself already.
[Mike] This is disgusting.
Finish stripping out the carpet, and let's look at everything.
I dunno. It's looking not too bad.
That's way solider than the other one.
Basically, all we'd have to patch, Tony, so far is this.
This, we can just sandblast, weld up a couple of pinholes.
I'm thinking. This is just a way more solid shell, and the client's gonna end up
- with a better product. - That's true.
[Mike] This parts car is way better than Clint's car.
We could take the parts car and make it his car.
If it's only these back panels here that are rusty,
then all we gotta do is change the trunk pan.
- Is that not way less work? - Yeah.
Mike wants to start over from scratch,
and restore this Parisienne for Clint instead.
His kid drove that car to grad. That car has sentimental value.
- [man] Hello. - Clint.
- Hey, what's going on? - We drug the parts car out of the field.
- Uh-huh. - It's in better shape than your car.
- Okay. - That's the moral dilemma.
I mean, if you... If your...
Does it have to be that shell, or can we take all your parts
and put it on a better shell?
My body guy figures we'd save a week.
Uh-huh.
- Do it. - Okay.
It'll still have the heart and soul of my car. Perfect.
- Okay, thanks, Clint. - All right, man. Do it.
- Okay, ciao. - Thanks a lot.
No, thank you. Bye-bye.
Okay. There we go. Tony!
It's a go.
You know what they say, don't switch horses in midstream. Well...
the horse we were riding was losing steam. We're way behind.
Let's get all the rust cut out of it before we make a mess inside.
[Connor] Dad!
- Connor. - What the hell is this?
- What does it look like? - Looks like another Parisienne.
- Yeah. - Why?
Because we drug this one up to cut parts out of it,
and it's better than the one we're working on.
Just like thatKeanu Reeves movie, The Replacements,
we're replacing his car with this one.
- We're gonna build this one for him? - Yes.
So, are you selling him this car?
I'm giving him a good deal on it, yeah.
Good deal, or giving him?
- And we don't have to change these. - Good deal, or giving him?
We'll work it out in the end. I think Clint's a pretty fair guy.
So, you're saying, he brought us a car to build, on a frame,
and we're literally using nothing?
- One door. - One door?
[guitar rock music playing]
[engine revs]
[Avery] Need to come up a little higher, probably.
This one? That's pretty high.
- [Avery] Let's bring it up... - I know, it's going to...
[Mike] You could always google it.
You just compress 'em, yeah. As long as these are opposite, you can't **** up.
Avery's getting some help from part-time mechanic, Craig,
with a dangerous job...
- [Mike] Isn't that scary? - It's nothing to **** with.
...installing high-tension springs on the Parisienne's suspension.
[Avery] These springs gotta be compressed
up to three to four inches. There's a lot of spring pressure on there.
Get the jack out.
It's like a bomb.
If this thing goes off, it will do some damage.
One needs to take extreme caution.
[Craig] Bend it down a little bit.
Little more.
You gotta push it.
Little more.
There.
Lift it up.
We need some weight.
Stand on that **** and see if it comes down.
I don't...
Avery needs to compress the spring an inch more to get it to fit.
Look at that. Hang on.
Why is it not going anywhere?
- [Avery] Mike! - What?
Come here for a minute. Stand right on the end.
A bit more weight on the end.
- Just be careful. - [Mike] Hang on.
"Just be careful"! I see disaster happening.
If the spring comes out, it can kill you, that's why coil springs are dangerous.
What could possibly go wrong?
- [Craig] It's Avery's face, not ours. - I know.
It's not that big a deal. I know what I'm doing.
Push on it some more.
- [Avery] ****! - Jesus Christ, Ave.
Mike's scared because he's never done one before.
- [Avery] Okay. - [Mike] Tighten it right up.
*****.
- I don't follow... - Jesus ****, Ave.
What? You take a deep breath.
What are you guys doing?
- [Craig and Mike] Hanging out. - [Cassidy] I saw your big bro moment.
- We're bonding. - Get off there.
- You see Craig whining? - Yes! [Mike laughs]
He doesn't want to die either.
You know what they say, eh, Ave? He who runs away,
lives to run away another day.
[Avery laughs]
[upbeat instrumental rock music playing]
- [Mike] Clint! - Hey, guys, how's it going?
A few hours later, Mike has a surprise visitor.
- [Mike] What's in the trailer? - A beautiful car that needs finished.
El Pontiac.
- Is that a GTO? - [Clint] '67.
[Mike] A GTO is iconic. They're simple, they're basic, they were meant to go.
[engine revs]
"The Great One," the one that started it all.
The Gran Turismo Omologato.
It was developed in secret by the Pontiac division
at a time when GM banned performance motors.
The result was a mid-sized car with a giant 389 V8 engine
for under $3,000.
It became one of GM's greatest success stories,
and officially sparked the great muscle car era.
[Clint] I'd like to have it ready for my daughter's graduation,
which is in about five or six weeks, I think it is.
She loves cars. She only gets to graduate once,
and I want it to be something that both of us will never forget.
What do you wanna do,
- have us give you a ballpark figure? - Give me a ballpark,
- and we'll... - There's no motor in it?
- No motor. - We can push it out. Okay, let's move.
- [Avery] Unwind her. - [Clint] We'll go out straight.
[Mike] Yeah. It's gonna be close.
[Clint] No dents, no scratches.
Okay, crank her hard, Ave.
Crank her hard, crank her hard, crank her hard.
- That's it, it should roll off. - We are... Whoa! ****!
[Mike] Little more. That's good.
That's good, Ave. Okay, we're clear and we're free.
Okay, Ave, go right around and push her in backwards.
Yeah, crank, crank, crank, crank.
There we go. That wasn't that bad.
Okay, let's take a good look at this thing now.
The mud work's been done, and there's just one coat on it, or what?
- [Clint] Yeah. - I'm assuming this was just loosened off,
that's why this gap is so bad. You got the hood with the little scoops?
- Of course, yeah. - Of course you do.
Are you going carburetor or fuel injection?
I'm on the fence about that.
I think I'd like to switch it to fuel injection.
[Mike] He wants the upgrade, brand-new fuel injection. But I like old stuff.
Old stuff, people built to last.
I prefer a carb. They sure sound good...
[imitates motor]
New stuff is just junk. Planned obsolescence.
I don't know. I think that's the way to go now, get rid of the carbs.
[Mike] He's coming at it from a different angle than me.
- What do you think? - I think it's a great car.
I think it's a great car, and if you got all the parts,
I can't see spending much more than 30K finishing this.
Yeah.
But Rust Bros isn't the end of the road for the GTO.
Clint's off to get a second quote from Mike's friend and competitor.
[man] Clint, what are you up to today?
I came to show you my beautiful car that needs to be finished.
- [Clint laughs] - Come on.
In Rust Valley, JF Launier is the high priest of the high end.
His restorations have won him
- top honors across the continent. - Oh, wow!
[Mike] Look at that.
Last summer, JF came to Mike's rescue when his restoration
of a '68 Chevelle went sideways.
Today, he's giving a competing quote on the GTO.
Me and Mike went over it, and I mean, we came to a price where...
I'm comfortable with.
Mike, bless his soul, but he's a bit rough around the edges.
[JF] Clint is a little too fussy for them. We're gonna kick some ass.
- I know you're more expensive than that. - They're doing cars
- for the average guy to afford. - That's right.
We'll do the best we can to make it really pretty,
- and get it done on time. - That's important to me and my daughter.
- That's why it's here. - Okay.
JF's won the job, at a much higher price than Mike's.
[Clint] JF's given me a number of between 40 and 50 to finish the car.
It's a lot of money, but I know that's what it costs to do a project like this.
[JF] Wait a sec. Mike didn't get his greasy paws all over this, did he?
- [Clint] You know he did. - Oh, no!
[men laugh]
[funky guitar music playing]
Back at Rust Bros, the other Clint is stopping by
with a special delivery.
[Mike] What'd you bring us, Clint?
- Christmas presents. - Look at that, an artifact.
You know the good thing about this artifact, Mike?
- It's not an ancient one. - [Mike] No.
A modern 6.2 liter LS motor.
- This actually ran. - Okay.
We did leave it as complete as we could.
- It looks like it's all there. - I like 'em.
If there's anything Clint is doing right, it is putting this LS in this car.
You know what? He'll be into the 21st century, unlike Mike.
He's still trying to carve wheels out of stone for **** sakes.
[Clint] Merry Christmas to the project.
[Mike] What else we got in here? I see shiny things.
Look, it's even in a Tremec box.
[Clint] Let's all gather around and pray to the god of the six-speed.
[Mike] That's the stuff that Clint deals with, modern engines.
I've never played with anything past about 1972.
[Clint] The only thing that's needed is somebody to put it all together.
Just looking at this LS is giving me the heebs.
- Okay, let's get that engine out. - [Connor] Yeah, I can do that.
[engine revs]
[guitar rock music playing]
If it doesn't work, I'll just go in and pay it.
[woman] That one worked. Thank you.
- [woman] Mike. - Yes?
I found a bunch of instruction manuals for that T-56.
Mike and Avery are about to tackle the install
of Clint's brand-new six-speed transmission in the Parisienne.
I've never done one of these. We just want to make sure when we put it in,
we do it right the first time.
[woman] I've got another one here that's 20 pages long,
- so I haven't printed it yet. - What's it for?
- Oh, look. - It's for the hydraulic.
"Before installing transmission in car, you must check
the hydraulic bearing cushion measurement.
Damage will occur if measurement is incorrect,"
- in giant, big black letters. - Yeah.
- I wonder if that's important, that part. - The three exclamation marks give it away.
[Mike] Maybe we should print that one off, too.
How simple is this tranny, if there's the instructions to put it in?
Like, unbelievable.
Avery. There's all the instructions for installing the tranny and the clutch.
- [Avery] I don't want to read it. - [Mike] Well...
Just give it to me, there's only certain parts you need to worry about.
The part where it says, "Damage will occur if measurement is incorrect"?
[Mike] Have you ever done this transmission?
- It's a transmission. - That's a no.
- It doesn't really matter. - It does matter, it's 6,000 bucks,
7,000 bucks.
- This isn't my money. - It's really not a big deal.
It's all a big deal if it's done wrong.
It's critical how you comb your hair, that you don't shove the comb in your eye.
That's very critical.
I didn't spend the six grand on the tranny.
The client did, and I don't want to be the one that screws it up.
- You're not touching it, go away. - Whatever, I could care less.
I know you can.
If I'm not sure, I will ask someone that knows better than me.
Brendt, when... We'd like to trial fit the transmission.
[Avery] Is it lunchtime yet?
[upbeat guitar rock playing]
Down the valley...
That's nice.
...JF's working on the GTO job he scooped from Mike.
This car is super important to Clint cuz it's for his baby girl.
[JF] He can't even afford to lose a day.
Look at all these nice shiny goodies, eh.
- What are you doing now there, chief? - Following the instructions.
[JF] Eh? How about that trick?
- That's a good one. - [man] Starts with four studs.
They're installing after-market chrome
on the GTO's big block Chevy engine.
When you open that hood, it's gonna make it pop.
[man] You got a wrench? All right?
- All right! That... - That is...
- [Clint] Beautiful. - [JF] Awesome.
[JF] Think you could've found a bigger motor to put in?
- [Avery] How you doing, man? - [man] Hey.
- [Mike] Why don't we drag this one out? - [Avery] Yeah.
[Mike] This is the first time we've ever seen one of these.
I got Toploaders and 833s and Muncies up my yin-yang...
You may never have seen one, Mike, but I've dealt with a few transmissions.
- I'm talking the Tremec. - Who cares? It's a **** transmission.
Back at Rust Bros...
See what I mean?
- That's why you're here, Brendt. - It's not a big **** deal.
Nothing's a big deal to Avery until we **** up.
Mike has never fixed nothing in his life so he's a little sketchy about it.
...Mike's called in Brendt for backup,
with the Parisienne's new six-speed transmission.
- How do you usually set it up? - Your hand's touching my hand.
- I know, don't get excited. - You realize that?
[Avery] Mike thinks I'm an idiot. He needs to pay attention.
I do know what I'm talking about sometimes. I'll prove him wrong.
Look at that.
[Mike] Do we know what the torque spec is? Do we need a wrench?
- [Brendt] We might have to look. Not sure. - Torque them or not.
That's why they have torque specs, Avery.
Mike's creating a mountain out of a molehill.
Mike, if you tighten enough nuts and bolts up, you can tell when the **** is tight
- and when it's to yield. - I don't like to guess,
but Avery's a by-guess-or-by-golly kind of guy.
He knows nothing about what we're doing. He just wants a confrontation.
If I ever become a counselor or something, you guys are gonna be clients of mine.
[Brendt] Lots of work there.
With the clutch and bell housing in place,
they're now ready to mount the transmission.
One, we want it to work. Two, we don't want it wearing out prematurely,
so these instructions are critical.
[Mike] Brendt, what's your input on this situation?
This is where you don't look at the instructions anymore.
[Avery laughs]
This is the most critical part, is this measurement.
We want 150-200 thou clearance on this bearing.
[Mike] I see what we're doing. Okay, I get it now. The light just went on.
Basically, if you take this distance, subtract it from that distance,
cuz this is gonna bolt up flush.
4.263.
3.235.
- [Mike] Okay, yeah. Eighty-five thou. - [Avery] Okay, four shims.
- [Brendt] Four shims. - [Avery] You're happy?
I'm happy, let's put the thing together.
Can you grab one side?
- We go down my side. - [Avery] Hang on.
There we go.
There we go, guys!
- [Mike] Is it done? - Done like dinner.
Thanks, Brendt.
- Thank you, sir. - Now that we've done one, I get it.
It isn't that complicated once you've seen it done.
But what do I know? I own the body shop. Avery's the expert.
You guys have any questions, call me anytime.
I got a couple questions. Why is the sky blue?
- [laughs] Can't help you... - What comes first, the egg or chicken?
[instrumental rock music playing]
The next morning...
- [Avery] Hey, Cassidy. Where is she? - [man] I've no idea, haven't seen her.
...Cassidy is late...
I spent at least five minutes
telling her how I like to mask. I said, it's gotta be tight.
...and Boyd isn't happy with her work.
She masked the windows, and I had to just redo them.
She won't listen to anybody, that's the problem.
When I have a talk with her, try to be nice to her,
- she just brushes me off, like that. - You have to tone it down a little.
- I don't have a problem with that. - Good.
[Mike] Cassidy, it's 8:08. How come you're putting your boots on now?
[Avery] It's important to have people working at their best.
Everybody has it in them. The problem is, how to get it out of them.
- Hey, Cassidy. - What? I'm busy working.
Come here, please. Can I have a talk with you? Try to clear the air a little.
She's an employee. She's here to work.
If you don't work, you're gonna get some criticism.
It seems like I'm coming down on you a little bit.
It may come across I'm being a bit of a dickhead. Which I probably am.
You need to get some good work habits.
Really? The last job I just came from, they begged me to stay
cuz they loved my **** work.
- You want to sit here and bitch at me? - I do, Cassidy.
I want you to keep busy, Cassidy.
- You need... - This is your personal **** problem.
It is my personal **** problem.
Cassidy, the attitude that you're pulling right now is the problem.
- Keep yourself. All's I ask... - You know what...
...one real simple thing.
Keep yourself busy and follow the rules.
Everybody needs to follow 'em. I had the same conversation with everybody, Cassidy.
It's just not you singled out.
I grew up a little bit different.
When we weren't working, we got a cuff on the back of the head.
- Keep yourself busy. - That's what I'm doing,
- and you're stopping me from my work... - Cassidy.
I really don't know how to deal with her.
- You're arguing with me? - If you were talking to me nice,
- I would talk to you nice. - I'm not worried about...
- You come in a raging ****. - I am talking to you nice.
When I start talking to you brutally, you'll know. Okay?
[instrumental rock music playing]
Ave, you hungry?
No, I just like food, Mike.
Where you been for the last two hours?
Getting something to soothe the savage beast.
At Rust Bros, Mike and Avery are sitting down to an executive lunch.
[Mike] Wasabi!
Is that a little hot, Mike?
Bringing a tear to my eye.
[Mike laughs]
Wasabi!
Mike, we need to get a few more guys working, to try to increase efficiency.
Our temperaments are rising because we're so far behind, and happiness is leaving.
- Yes. - It's not happy anymore.
The happiness, it's no good.
- I know. - Arguing and fighting is no good either.
If Avery's tired of yelling at people,
it's because we have more work than bodies to do it.
We're gonna go out and hire some more quality personnel.
We can get two more body men here for a month or two,
that should catch us up.
We've got enough work lined up, we'll keep 'em going.
Avery's not polite. He's gonna have to coexist a little more.
Just cuz he's shop manager doesn't mean he's God. There's a difference.
Tasty.
[Avery coughs]
- [Avery] You didn't buy nothing to drink? - [Mike] No.
A few days later...
Come on.
...Mike's still struggling with the bodywork
on the replacement '66 Parisienne.
[Mike] Got the one stripped down, and we figured out which parts
we can use off the original one.
But we've got to get more people working,
we've got some major deadlines approaching.
John, what's shakin', bud? Said you'd make it, I didn't believe you.
John's been doing bodywork for 25 years, he's done a lot of work at JF's shop.
If you are interested in coming onboard, this is the first project.
You know I love paint, but metalwork is my specialty.
Well, there's lots of everything here. I don't care what you like,
we got lots of it to do.
I would be more than happy to have someone as skilled as him here.
The higher quality of the talent, the higher quality of the cars.
If you're interested, grab your coveralls and I'll put you to work.
It's old and cool, so it's what I love. Let's get at it.
Okay, right on.
You know what they say, you throw enough money and labor at a problem,
and it goes away.
Okay. Thanks, John.
Up, up, and away.
Out in the yard...
Hey, Cassidy.
- Are you too busy to talk? - I am never too busy. We can have a chat.
I'm not sure what she wants.
Maybe she's saying, "You know what? I'm gonna quit, and it's your fault."
I hope that's not what it is.
I just wanted to, like, apologize for how I acted.
Same for me, if I've done something to aggravate your life.
Cuz it's easier for everybody to get along.
Yeah.
I have a little bit of, like, an attitude problem, and I know that.
It's really hard for me to take a step back and take whatever criticism he has,
but the shop's not gonna work if everybody in there's fighting.
I've been in your position a couple times when I was younger.
You get three bosses pulling you in three different directions, I appreciate that.
And sometimes I can be a little bit harsh myself.
I'm trying to be nice.
It's pretty hard to come up to somebody that you had a bit of a problem with,
bury your pride a little bit and go, "You know what? I was in the wrong."
I respect that.
- All right. Sounds good. - Okay?
[Avery] Friction is not a good thing at work. It's all bad.
Somebody happy works a lot better than somebody unhappy.
Hey, Lincoln.
- [Cassidy] He's gotten so fat. - [Avery] That dog can't even run.
Seriously. They let him out of the truck. He died... From here to there,
- just flat on his head, just done. - Lincoln needs a diet, like Mike.
Across the valley,
Mike's new hire may have created some tension.
- [Mike] Jean-François, comment ça va? - Ça va bien.
- What's going on? - There's lots to be said.
Somebody not giving me a courtesy phone call to say,
"How come your guy applied for a job here?"
If one of your guys applies here,
my first phone call would be to you.
It'll be like, "What's going on?"
If you're gonna hire one of my guys,
- just give me the courtesy. - Okay. I didn't call him, JF.
I just put an ad in, he responded.
I'm not trying to poach your guys.
No, I get that, and that's the quick conversation
we could've had about five days ago.
I'm not competing with JF. It's not like it's a competition.
I did not overtly try to hire John away from him.
I don't need no bad blood between you and me, JF.
You know how it is, it goes both ways, right?
I don't want some dumb shit like this to start some feud
- you and I don't need, right? - Yeah.
We having fun yet?
[guitar music playing]
Hey, JF.
Oh, if it isn't the brothers!
What brings the brothers to town?
Didn't want you to have any hard feelings about John.
Uh, you know what?
That kind of stuff just happens, and I'm not heartbroken, I'll tell you that.
- Okay, it's all good. - There you go. Other than that,
it's trying to get caught up on all these projects.
This one's due in a couple days,
- and I'm struggling. - So this is for the GTO?
- The GTO. - Yes.
- The one you got your greasy fingers on. - Sorry, yeah!
I washed 'em under my pits
- before I came here. - [Avery] God!
- Okay, what do you need done? - As a gesture of peace,
Mike and Avery offer to give JF a hand on the GTO.
I thought we were going for lunch?
- Supper after. - I'll buy the pizza.
[Mike] Let me buy the pizza.
Come on, I'll show you the car.
Oh!
- Back in black. - Yeah.
[Mike] I'd like to get along with everybody.
You get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.
Clint, I can guarantee if you'd brought this to our shop,
JF would be up helping us!
Yeah.
We got about two weeks' worth of work to do in...
- two days. - Twelve hours. Okay, let's get going.
Get that jack stand in there. Let's go.
Okay, that's good, Clint.
[Avery] You know what they say, don't let fear and common sense **** slow you down.
I'm having a brain fart. Six-sided wrench, the...
- [JF] Allen key. - ...Allen key! **** me. Okay.
Oh, there we go.
What makes us human is our ability to laugh at other people's suffering.
[JF] How about a chocolate chip cookie? I stole 'em from Ted.
[men laugh]
It's also our ability to help people.
It's a good feeling.
She's come a long way, baby.
[Mike] It looks sick.
[Mike] Come on, guys.
Clint's daughter's graduation day has arrived.
I'm very excited to see the car.
I haven't seen it since he first bought it.
I'm excited to see what it looks like.
[Mike] Here she is.
[Clint] Wow!
Oh, yeah.
Wow!
The car does look fantastic. The color pops, the chrome.
[Mike] Front end is super cool.
It looks like a GTO on steroids.
[JF] It's the black bumpers, right?
To bring it into the next generation of GTO.
Hello, beautiful engine.
Oh.
- What do you think of it? - [Clint] Amazing.
[Mike] It's got that fuel injection, new tires and rims.
Interior looks excellent. It's everything a muscle car should be.
All in all, it's a pretty amazing build, and I'm glad we had a part in it.
[Clint] I never thought it'd bring a tear to my eye, but it sure did.
[JF] Happy graduation.
Thank you.
[Christine] My dad's my best friend in the world.
I don't know anybody else
that has a friend as their father that builds them the best classic car.
Wow.
I'm a pretty lucky kid.
[engine revs]
I have big plans. I want to go on a road trip, show it off.
Maybe smoke the tires a little bit.
Do all that fun stuff, see what kind of trouble I can get into.
Best thing about building old cars is seeing the taillights.
That's right. And they're working!
[Mike] Okay, we've got lots of work to do. Let's get on it.
Back at Rust Bros...
[Mike] Clint's a musician. His second album is coming out.
The title of the album is Purple Pontiac.
Ergo, we are building a purple Pontiac.
We're going over budget, but it doesn't matter.
His vision, I'm sure, is the same as my vision.
He's the same as me.
Music, old cars, junk. We're like brothers from another mother.
[Mike] Come on, we got shit to do.
We've got to meet this deadline.
Go. Let it rip.
We've gotta make it.
[fast-paced rock music playing]
- [Avery] It's gotta go straight, Mike. - [Mike] Making it?
- Yeah. - Mike and Avery
are at Clint's wrecking yard in Chilliwack, BC...
[Mike] Let me hook up the winch.
...to unveil his '66 Parisienne.
Ave, actually, grab one of these, just in case.
Looks like a piece of cheese. I'm **** hungry enough to eat it.
- Get some slack there, Mike. - Okay.
- [Avery] That's good. - [Mike] Rock it forward.
- [Avery] Come on back. - This time, Ave.
Okay, go.
Whoa, Ave!
[Mike] The hooks fell off. Good thing I gave you the block, eh, Ave!
Yeah.
[Mike] Okay, put the cover on.
There was more rust in that car than just about any vehicle that we have ever done.
It didn't make a lot of money, but, to me, it's more about the cars than the money.
Come on in, guys.
We'll get everybody standing back here,
then we'll bring Clint in and lay the boots to him.
He does have some friends. He told me he did, I thought he was lying.
[Mike laughs]
Clint's invited family and friends to see his new toy.
Hi, what's your name, kid?
- Henry. - Don't talk to strangers.
- Okay... How's it going, guys? - How you doing?
Are we ready?
Holy jeez! Look at the size of that thing.
Hopefully it's purple enough for you, buddy.
[Clint] Holy!
Is that what you were envisioning?
Yeah!
Yes!
Yes, this is exactly what I was envisioning.
Yeah, it's like Christmas.
The most beautiful thing I've ever seen.
- This is gonna turn heads. - [Mike] Oh, I think so.
I tell you what. You've got a timeless piece now that'll make gobs of power.
[Mike] Check out your upholstery.
[Clint] This custom upholstery is so frickin' wicked.
I don't know what to say, except for, let's see under the hood.
[Mike] Okay.
My goodness!
That LS motor looks so good in there.
[Mike] Want to hear it run?
Let this puppy roll.
[engine starts and revs]
My goodness. Let's go for a drive.
- She'll lay a little rubber, Clint. - Okay, hang on.
A little, just a little.
[men laughing]
[Clint] What a sound. I told these guys at the beginning,
you couldn't make this car too loud for me.
I got what I wanted. It sounds so good.
This is my soul car. Big, aggressive, mean.
I tell you what, it was one hell of a build for us.
[Mike] Definitely our most technical. Our first LS swap.
Lot of things have been changed, but I think it maintains the same spirit,
- the same feel. - But just way better.
[Mike laughs]
There's a lot to be said for the newer technology. Pretty amazing motor.
I'm not going to charge you guys
- any extra for the learning experience. - Thanks, bud!
[men laugh]
- Oh, yeah. - She's coming alive.
- Starting to work there, eh, Clint? - Oh, yeah.
[Mike] Almost enough to make an LS believer out of me.
[Clint] My dream was to have an ultimate cruise machine,
and now I have it. It's come true.
This is what I was picturing, absolutely.
This is the purple Pontiac that I dreamed of.
My band, Fusionstein, is here,
and we are using this as our album cover.
I used to have to take a little blue pill to get excited, but now
I got this big purple pill.
[people clapping and cheering]
[instrumental rock music playing]