Wheeler dealer programs,and the like.

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I guess as it is only done for general punters as a TV show one shouldn't really expect better, but does anyone get a bit annoyed at the way the presenters of these show deal with the cars, they are `supposedly' saving from the scrap heap?
When they did the E-Type they did a bit of tarting up externally, and some necessary repairs to the diff, but when putting the seats back in you could see that the floor pan was in a state of flaking rust through the seat mounting holes in the carpet.
The same applied to many other cars where they `could' have done a proper job on them, but did not.
Nothing like the American versions such as overhaulin or American Hot Rod where the quality of the workmanship is always outstanding.
The worst program of this type is the one with the continuously whining bald bloke in it, where the cars seem to be turned out as polyfiller deathtraps which would fall apart in an accident.
I like the contrast in this with the program called Le salvager with the / biker bloke with his handlebar mustache, who takes sh*t and turns it into something good. to these charlatans who get something that `could' be good, but turn it into tarted up sh*t

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VladD said:

B'stard Child said:

I do however remember lots of threads about that nice man Mike Brewer

A guy at work bumped into Mike last weekend. They had a nice chat about cars and he seemed very approachable.

Whats this got to do with the standard of the cars they turn out? the only one which was near acceptable in terms of overall workmanship was the frogeye sprite,and perhaps the Porsche 928, everything else was just bodged crap. But as has been pointed out it is not a serious car program, just a bit of light entertainment.

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530dTPhil said:

What annoys me about Wheeler Dealers is the way that Mike Brewer tells potential buyers that it's been 'fully restored' or has a 'new ...' when in fact it's had one component replaced and the rest wiped over with a dirty rag.

It makes me cringe each time Ed China starts an engine from cold and then proceeds to rev the b*lls off it to show good it sounds now he's fixed the problem. For a skilled mechanic, he sometimes doesn't display much mechanical sympathy.

I just hope the programs I referred to are NOT shown in the US!
The difference in the quality of workmanship, between the Wheeler dealer variety, and the US `Overhaulin' or American Hot Rod, can only be described as embarrassing, and to think The UK was once regarded as one of the homes of high quality low volume automotive workmanship.
If they cant do these jobs properly on a program paid for by TV, just leave the things alone.
Either do the job right, or don't do it at all. These programs would seem to have us shown as a nation of low rent cheapkate bodgers!

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PugwasHDJ80 said:

Pan Pan said:

530dTPhil said:

What annoys me about Wheeler Dealers is the way that Mike Brewer tells potential buyers that it's been 'fully restored' or has a 'new ...' when in fact it's had one component replaced and the rest wiped over with a dirty rag.

It makes me cringe each time Ed China starts an engine from cold and then proceeds to rev the b*lls off it to show good it sounds now he's fixed the problem. For a skilled mechanic, he sometimes doesn't display much mechanical sympathy.

I just hope the programs I referred to are NOT shown in the US!
The difference in the quality of workmanship, between the Wheeler dealer variety, and the US `Overhaulin' or American Hot Rod, can only be described as embarrassing, and to think The UK was once regarded as one of the homes of high quality low volume automotive workmanship.
If they cant do these jobs properly on a program paid for by TV, just leave the things alone.
Either do the job right, or don't do it at all. These programs would seem to have us shown as a nation of low rent cheapkate bodgers!

Agree with that general thrust of argument- Overhaulin is amazing.

However remember the general thrust of the programs is very different- Wheeler Dealers is all about taking run down cars, and spending the minimum to get them back into a good saleable condition- they don't seek perfection.

Overhaulin is nothing to do with cost- you spend as much as necessary to get the vewry very finest vehicle.

Strong work whoever mentioned edd chinas "revving the nuts from cold" thing- it irritates the HELL out of me. Seriously act like a mechanic not a car presenter

Take your point about costs, but if costs are indeed the issue, Such programs as wheeler dealer, and the one with whining bald blokes still shows the UK up as being low rent, low budget, cheapskate bodgers.
My view is if they cannot do the `program' properly then don't do it at all.

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Steve126 said:

I've been watching Overhaulin' on Quest and they have had a few lash ups on that show recently.

On one show they removed the body from the chassis, had the body blasted, chopped out the rot and welded in fresh metal and gave it a full respray. Lovely so far, but then they tried putting the body on a new chassis and found it wouldn't fit over the rear suspension, so out came a big hammer and they battered the crap out of the underside of the body to try to make it fit. When that didn't work they crudely cut the floor and bent the metal up so it would clear the suspension.

On another episode they made a beautiful job of a Mustang body, but then found the bonnet wouldn't fit over the engine so Chip cut a bloody big hole right in the middle of the freshly painted bonnet and the tt doing the voiceover told us this showed Chip was the master at the very top of his game. I couldn't help thinking that if he really was the master he would have checked the bonnet fitted before sending the car for paint. They were shown repeating the same mistake in another show that was broadcast a few days later.

The standard of the cars on American shows is still better than we manage in the UK though.

As the shows here, like those in the US, are paid for for by the tv companies, money should not really be the issue. But it seems the wheeler dealer, and whining bald bloke car programs just show the world that the UK isn't interested in craftsmanship anymore, but only in producing dodgy, back street, sprayover cheapskate bodge vehicles. I would hate to be in a `car?' produced by the whining bald bloke if it was involved in accident, it would likely collapse in heap of rust, and polyfiller.

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ally_f said:

heyhomes said:

I tried watching 'overhaulin' last night after seeing the praise it has recieved on here. I couldn't stand it for more the five minutes at a time despite being into american cars. It seemed to be just a typical over the top american car show that didn't show anything in particular detail and blared out a non stop stream heavy metal/rock music over the top of everything for the whole programme!

I quite like wheeler dealers espially the early ones. I've found the little jobs that Ed China demonstrates to be very useful and are usually the sort of thing that the average bloke in his garage can have a go at and possibly afford. The type of work they do on overhaulin etc must cost so much that it's not even worth dreaming about.

Couldn't agree more. Wheeler Dealers is easy to watch, the missus will tolerate it (just!) and it inspires me to get off my bum and spend a Sunday tinkering in the garage. Watching someone throw money at some unobtainable classic I dream of owning one day is something totally different entirely. Let's face it, the average car nerds' 'project' is likely to be a slightly tatty hatchback, not a rust-encrusted E-Type.

The beetle SOS programs were quite good because although the people shown there were not professionals, they clearly cared about workmanship and finished standards, and did excellent work on the vehicles shown there. Wheeler dealers just seems to be about back street bodgers, of the type best avoided by buying punters.