Hollywood or BUST!

A pretty amazing thing happened to us recently, and we couldn't be more excited! In mid-June we received a phone call from Duane Mayer, the crew chief for Boyd Coddington in L.A. They were in the process of resto-rodding a 59 Vette for the show American Hotrod on TLC...and they needed a hardtop, PRONTO. We explained that there was NO way we could could custom build a '59 top in 3 weeks...unless they would be willing to get us on TV, mounting the roof on the 'rod!

DONE DEAL.

So, we flew out to the left coast, did the 4th of July at Disneyland, and reported to the shop the next morning. As we arrived, we saw the car: A gorgeous '59 with a paint job called 'Red Wine'...stunning. Also of interest was the three TLC camera crews prowling the shop floor (which is the size of an aircraft hangar) and filming everyone there while they worked.

Duane came over and introduced himself, and immediately informed us of a BIG problem. The top had arrived safely, and it looked great, but the car had no WINDSHIELD. It can be kind of difficult to mount a roof on a car with no windshield! We asked Duane where the 'shield was, and he said "It's all over here, in pieces." They indeed had all the required parts of the assembly, chrome, stainless, and the glass...but couldn't get the pieces to fit.

About this time, we informed Duane that not only are we familiar with C1 windshield assemblies, we restore them regularly! "Seriously?? You guys know what you're looking at?" he asked. We told him it would take some special tools and a few hours, but YES we can assemble this shield, install it on the car, and then mount the roof. I think he wanted to do cartwheels!

And so, after some on-the-fly tool fabrication and a trip to Home Depot for some odds and ends, Matt and Larry got to work on the windshield assembly. At one point, the crew that was filming us stopped and said "We spent three hours yesterday filming the shop crew while they tried to install that retainer, and they couldn't. You guys just did it in 3 minutes." We loved hearing that! Old Vette windshields are unique and TRICKY, so it's no surprise that Boyd's guys weren't able to assemble it. MOST people couldn't. That's OUR turf!

Some 7 hours later, the windshield was finished and mounted. We then happily crowned the car with its new roof...and it looked FANTASTIC. Everyone there was pleased with it, right down to the camera crews. Coddington's crew was so happy, in fact, that they took us out for dinner and drinks! And when we left our hotel for the airport, it was in a limo, sent over by a thankful Duane.

The 1959 Corvette is a three-part episode on TLC, beginning August 23rd at 9pm. The second episode is a week later, and the third episode (the one we're in) airs Sept. 6th at 9.

Here's to the gang at Boyd Coddington's (they were all great guys, to a man!) and the crews from TLC for giving us a chance to go in front of the camera. Whether we make it on air for 15 seconds or 15 minutes, it's a great opportunity to showcase our work on a national broadcast!

Tune in and watch us go!

-Joe