Original subtitles

This time... Hello? Yes, I want to buy parts of my Rolls Royce.

Cheap parts.

It's a rollercoaster of a renovation.

Oh, listen to it.

As we attempt to live the champagne lifestyle... Do I want to go to five grand?

That's definitely a no.

...on lemonade money.

I'm not painting a roller with a roller, if that's what you're thinking.

But motors this big come with big problems.

What on earth is that?

You are joking.

What a ridiculous piece of over-engineering.

So can Elvis take this car from economy class... And James.

...to first class.

See, didn't I tell you?

Owning a Rolls Royce opens up all kinds of doors for you.

Oh, yes!

I'm Mike Brewer, and I've been buying and selling cars for nearly 40 years.

It's rattly, smelly, and it's blooming brilliant.

Now I've set up shop in Britain's motoring heritage, Heartland.

Yet again, I'm bringing a car back to the workshop that's on a trailer.

Along with ex-Formula One mechanic, Mark Elvis Priestley.

Yes, I did.

So that engine management light never put you off, then?

Together, we're going to buy... I think you're the right man for it.

...and fix up a little bit more.

Are you actually pushing?

Of course I'm pushing.

The most iconic and exciting cars on the market.

This is going to be epic.

Bolt a supercharger to it, and you end up with a car that does this.

With Elvis' engineering skill... It's like trying to wake sleeping beauty, isn't it?

Apart from the beauty bit.

...and my car-dealing clout.

It's a fair price, yeah.

I've got myself a deal.

We should be able to make ourselves a tidy profit.

Because this is my job, and I blooming love it.

It's great.

Hey, Elvis.

Can I borrow you?

Yeah, mate.

I've been looking up some cars that would have cost

the hundreds of thousands of pounds when they were new,

that have now plummeted in price.

You'd be amazed what's out there.

You can get Aston Martins, Bentleys, Rolls Royces for not a lot of money.

Amazing cars, but if they are cheap, there's a good reason.

You know, there's going to be stuff wrong with them.

They're going to be expensive to fix.

The parts, they're going to cost a fortune as well.

But I've stumbled upon a car that looks, well, almost exactly like this.

A 1980s Rolls Royce Spirit.

But get this.

This car's only done 26,000 miles.

Has it?

Wow, that is low, isn't it?

How much?

Like full Fiesta money.

Yeah.

Me and you, we could be dining at the top table.

Yeah, I mean, I like it.

I can deal with the colour.

I'm more interested in how it runs.

It's going to have things wrong with it.

You do know that, don't you?

But it is low mileage, so that's good.

I mean, listen, I'm on board.

And if we can do this, right, if we can turn out a proper fancy

car at that price, you can also, at the end of this project,

take me out for a nice fancy meal in our nice fancy car.

That would be lovely.

Bring a hat, because I'll sit in the back.

You can show for me.

The Silver Spirit was the quintessential 1980s status symbol.

that would have set you back a whopping £140,000 in today's money.

Every element, from its six and three-quarter litre engine

to the retractable Spirit of Ecstasy bonnet ornament

is the ultimate in luxury automotive engineering.

Owning one isn't cheap.

Spare parts are pricey,

and filling the 107 litre fuel tank is going to hurt.

But if we're smart about how we go about things,

we might not only get a taste about the other half-live,

but also make a cheeky profit on the side.

So the guy that's got it for sale is saying that he just wants it gone,

and he wants it gone quickly and cheaply.

He was asking six and a half grand,

but over the phone he'd come down to six grand,

and then he said, turn up and make me a bid.

Now, his name's Ian, and I'm thinking,

if I can get this car off of Ian,

then possibly what we could do is turn it around on the cheap.

That way, we could end up with a really cheap Rolls-Royce

to go and dine at that high table.

But I won't know if any of this is going to

work until I can stand in front of the car.

So, Ian, I'm on my way.

Pete there at the Rolls-Royce, the car that I've come to see.

Look at that. How good is that?

Looks right, doesn't it?

It's that grill, very famous.

Ian.

Mike, how are you doing?

Nice to see you.

Nice to see this Rolls-Royce sitting on the driveway.

How did you come by it?

When I retired, I decided to spend some of my retirement money

on Rolls-Royces, but it needs a few more bits of work than I can do.

Apparently, it was held in an underground garage.

It was the judge that owned it.

Was it?

Yeah, OK.

And look at the spirit of ecstasy.

Oh, no, she's a bit wobbly.

But a straight car, I mean, it does look remarkably straight.

Oh, look at the carpets.

I'm wondering whether, because it's been stored, it's really rotted.

It's got split seats, door cards are nasty.

But I have got a period interior for it, new carpets,

new door cards that I was going to replace the whole lot.

Really?

Yeah, and you can have that as well, to go with it.

OK, lovely. Does it run?

It runs, yeah, yeah, it runs.

I'll fire it up.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's the most UN-Rolls-Royce noise I think I've ever heard.

Drives really nice.

Oh, listen to it.

Can hear the manifold is blowing.

But the engine itself, there's no knocks or

bangs coming from the engine, that seems good.

Oh, that sounds like an American V8.

Let's go and have a look at the boot, turn it off.

What a mess.

The lights are good down the rear.

The light suit's very good at the back, aren't they?

And the bumper's good as well.

Any chance I can take it for a drive?

Yeah, please, take it out for a good drive, yeah.

Enjoy it.

Well, it won't be too long.

I'll see you in a bit.

OK, see you later.

You know, every time you step into a Rolls-Royce,

it's courtesy to wipe your feet to dust them off.

I think I'll be wiping my feet and dusting

them off when I get out of this Rolls-Royce.

I've never been in such a thing that is so, um, well, luxurious.

I mean, it's horrible inside here.

It really is.

The interior is shot.

The engine, listen to it.

That is just hideous, isn't it?

It's making all kinds of noises from that manifold.

It really is kind of hilarious.

And I have to be serious for a minute,

because this is a vehicle that needs a lot, a lot of attention.

Everywhere you look, the paintwork is rough and

ready in the edges, and when I do turn it into left,

there is a notch coming from the steering rack.

It's going to need a lot of work.

The air conditioning is working fine, by the way.

That's quite nice.

And the dashboard looks good.

Even cheekily, look, the electric windows still

working and the electric mirrors still working, so there's some good stuff.

It's just the bad stuff that's going to need a lot of attention.

Now, my target price for this car would be more like

four grand, and I know that's a big hit for Ian,

but, you know, Ian doesn't have to sell this

car to me, but if he wants to get rid of it,

I feel that it's a gamble that me and Elvis can take on.

But if we could find ways to do all of this stuff on the cheap

and really do it on the cheap, we could end up with

quite a good Rolls-Royce for not a lot of money.

Yeah.

Ian, you about?

Yeah, I thought I could... You need to come back.

Yes, I made it back in sort of one piece.

It drives noisily, and it's not getting quieter.

It's unlike a Rolls-Royce.

And you wanted how much for it?

I've got it up for six and a half.

And that's for the interior and everything?

That's the interior thrown in, yeah, as well.

OK.

You don't have to sell this car to me,

but I'm going to make a very brave bid of four grand.

Yeah.

You don't think you'd go to five?

Do I want to go to five grand?

No.

That's definitely a no.

No.

I think four grand's all it's at, but as I say, it's entirely up to you.

Don't feel pressured to sell it.

No, it'd be nice to see it back on the road.

Four's fair.

Yeah?

It's a fair price, yeah.

Lovely. Well done, Ian.

No problem.

I've just bought myself a beaten-up old Rolls-Royce.

Elvis better get the posh tools ready.

He's going to be over the moon, isn't he?

Hello?

Yes, I want to buy parts of my Rolls-Royce.

Cheap parts.

Second-hand parts.

Have them delivered.

Brilliant.

Right, back round the corner.

Ooh, there's that lock on the steering.

Right, back round the corner from the workshop.

Just about to drop this big brown Rolls-Royce on Elvis's toes.

If Elvis jumps on ball dough with what we can do with it

and he doesn't get too frightened about the amount of work in front of him,

I think we're going to have an amazing vehicle.

So it'll still be the cheapest Rolls-Royce for sale in the country,

but it'll be a great Rolls-Royce.

It's a hoot of work.

Yes.

He's going to rear it out, all right, isn't he?

The smoothness of a gentle Rolls-Royce.

I know you said you were going to see

one of the cheapest Rolls-Royces in the country,

but now I see why it's so cheap.

Look at the state of it.

It's a Rolls-Royce spirit.

What's up with you?

Yeah, I'm sure it was lovely back in the day, but look at the paintwork, man.

Look, there's bits hanging off everywhere.

Look at it. It's got a spirit of ecstasy and everything.

It's a brilliant engineering.

Look at that.

She twerks at you as you're driving down the road.

She's like that as you're driving down the road.

It is quite funny, and you're right about the paintwork,

but look underneath the swage line.

It's perfect.

It's only got to be painted above the swage line.

And do you know how many layers of paint are on a roller?

Seven.

Seven layers of paint.

Seven.

Expensive paint as well.

Well, let's not do seven layers of expensive paint.

Let's do one layer of thick, cheaper paint.

I'm not painting a roller with a roller,

if that's what you're thinking.

It might end up being like that.

If you think it's a little bit tatty on the outside,

take a breath and suck in the Rolls-Royce interior.

Oh, wow.

Mate, that stinks in there.

I'm glad I took a deep breath before I opened the door.

Have you seen that carpet?

Mate, that's horrible.

Look, the seats are split as well.

It's just tatty, isn't it?

It's not Rolls-Royce.

Not only did I manage to negotiate the purchase of said Rolls-Royce,

I also managed to negotiate the purchase of a complete interior.

Mate, that is amazing, yeah.

Well done.

Right, engine.

Oh, yeah, how's it drive?

Well, you heard me when I pulled up, didn't you?

Well, yeah, it was a rhetorical question, really.

I did hear it come in a mile off.

So the gasket on the manifold has not only just come loose, it's actually blown out.

So there is no gasket there.

I mean, there's two of them, obviously, but they're buried right down here.

I mean, very difficult to get to.

I mean, we'll find a way, obviously, but they are tucked away.

All right, well, while you're there,

you might have to remove the steering rack to get

to it, because when you go round a corner in this,

it's got a real flat spot or a notch in the steering.

I think needs a bit of a rebuild.

Okay, well, somewhere down there is a steering rack.

Again, totally inaccessible, but we'll find it, mate.

Yeah, that's not the end of the world.

When you find out the ridiculous price that we paid for this car.

Go on, then, what is it?

Well, he advertised it for 6,500.

That's all right, yeah.

And I gave him four grand for it.

What, really?

Yeah.

I mean, that is incredible, yeah.

I mean, okay, that probably is one of the cheapest rolls in the country,

but it's still going to cost us a fortune to fix it up, isn't it?

The paint itself could be four or five grand.

No, it's just labour.

All the bits and pieces, the parts that we acquire.

Yeah, but nothing's cheap.

We're going to spend the appropriate word for this car in front of us,

a grand.

Have you lost your mind?

The aim of this is, at the end, we're going to be dining at

that top table, living a lifestyle that we don't deserve,

and we've done it all for five grand.

Now, that part I really like.

But, yeah, look, why not?

I love a challenge, mate, so why not? Let's do it.

It's the biggest challenge yet, and it's one of the biggest cars we've had.

Will it actually fit on the run?

Listen, you've got to get your hands dirty

with this one if you're doing it for a grand.

I mean, I could hear this car coming long before

Mike even tooted the horn outside the workshop,

and a Rolls Royce shouldn't sound like that.

It shouldn't sound like a tractor.

It should be quiet.

It should be smooth, refined.

So my first job is going to be to replace these blowing exhaust gaskets.

These gaskets create a seal between the cylinder head and the exhaust manifold,

and over time, due to constant heating and cooling of the engine,

they can deform, meaning the exhaust gasses can escape,

which should be why our car currently sounds more Massey Ferguson than Rolls Royce.

They're so corroded.

They've been in there for years, probably never been undone.

I just can't get any purchase on the head of the bolt now.

It's so rounded.

It's got no corners left, and there's nothing now to grip on.

I've got no tools left that I can get in there.

that will give me any hope of getting that undone.

I mean, I can't bear it, but...

I think the only thing I can do is think about taking this engine out.

That's an enormous, enormous amount of work.

We're trying to transform this 1980 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit

into something fit for high society for the measly sum of £1,000,

whilst also turning a profit,

which is a challenge about as big as this car.

Now, I've been worrying about the amount of work it's going to take

to remove this massive engine, but the good news is

I don't think it's going to be quite as tough as I first thought.

I think I've had a right result here,

because in the great British engineering brilliance of Rolls Royce,

what they did when they designed this car was mount the engine

on a separate standalone subframe at the front of the car

that's not attached to the rest of the body.

It's just mounted on these four main mounting points under here,

and by disconnecting those, plus a number of ancillary parts,

I should in theory be able to raise the body of the car

up in the air on the ramp, leaving behind the

engine and giving me that all-important access

to those really difficult-to-reach exhaust manifold bolts.

Before I start on that,

I'm going to take off this steering rack.

As Mike says, it has a problem. He's also offered to fix it,

so I'm going to give it to him while I crack on with the rest of the car.

First, I'm disconnecting the high-pressure hydraulic line.

and draining the power steering fluid,

before unbolting the rack from the chassis.

Here it comes.

Right, mate, I have got that steering rack off the Rolls-Royce,

and to save your precious little hands getting dirty,

I've wrapped it up and stuck it in the back of the car for you.

Oh, that's very, very kind of you.

I do know a company that years ago, I actually went

there to buy a Rolls-Royce, ended up buying a Bentley,

and they are specialists in refurbishing old Rolls-Royce parts.

So if it's in the truck, I can take it now.

Well, that could save us a few quid, so, yeah, all right, do that, mate.

Nice one.

Cheers, pal.

Good, well, with Mike taking care of the steering rack,

I can start thinking about getting the body off this thing.

That should be fun.

First off, I need to disconnect the major components from the engine

that connect between it and the body, in the hope that when

I've done that, I can eventually lift one off the other.

Okay, we are almost there.

The only thing holding this enormous engine and gearbox in,

together with all the suspension and everything else

that's mounted to that subframe, are these four big bolts.

I can't undo them now because the whole thing would literally fall on my head,

but when I lower the car, I'm going to be lying on

the floor, scrabbling around on my back to undo them.

So what I am going to do now is just crack

them off to make that job a little bit easier.

All right, now comes the interesting bit because now I've got to lower the car

and support that enormous subframe on axle stands.

Right, there we go. That's everything.

Well, at least I hope it is.

This is where we find out if anything is left connected.

I need to do this incredibly gradually and keep checking around the car

to make sure I've not missed disconnecting anything.

Thankfully, it all looks good

and just look at what's left behind.

Wow, what an enormous lump.

That might have been a really daunting prospect,

but it was so well engineered that actually it was nowhere near as bad as I thought.

And importantly, I can now get access

to those really hard to reach exhaust manifold bolts and change the gasket,

particularly that annoying one around that side that I rounded off.

So I'm on my way to go and see a company that I once visited almost two decades ago.

They're called Flying Spares.

They want £424 just to rebuild a steering rack.

And that means I'm going to eat away almost half of the £1000 budget

that I've given Elvis to get this car back on the road.

Now, I don't want to pay that,

so I'm hoping that because I know these guys,

I can strike a deal and bring the cost down a bit.

Brad.

Hello, Mike.

How you doing, bud?

I'm all good, mate.

Great to see you.

Shall I whip round and come and join you?

Yeah, come round, mate.

Right, here we go.

This is the rack that I spoke to you about.

So rather than replace it, I'd like to repair it and keep the original rack.

So what's the process of doing that, then?

Well, we'll have a quick look at it.

We'll strip it down, make sure everything's okay,

rebuild it with a brand new kit,

and don't forget you're on your own.

If I were to get involved when you strip it down,

do some of the cleaning,

maybe do a little bit of the spannering work,

can we bring the cost down a little bit?

For me?

We can?

Lovely.

Top man.

Should we get stuck in there?

First off, we need to sort out that notch I felt

when I turned the car to the left on the test drive.

What we're going to do now is check for some play.

Oh, that doesn't look good, does it?

So you're meant to have a little bit of play

there, but that's a little bit excessive,

so we can adjust the play by taking some shims out or adding some shims.

Oh, right, okay.

What's happened is that all the gears inside the pinion have worn away.

Players develop, which creates that knotty feeling when you steer to the left.

The shims work as spacers between the parts,

so to remedy it, we need to remove one or two and tighten it back up.

Right, okay, and there's more shims behind there,

which means that Rolls-Royce must have known that this would be a wearable part.

I don't think I've ever seen that before,

that sort of engineering and protecting the future, isn't it?

That's why you pay Rolls-Royce tax, isn't it?

I'm just going to take one of them shims off, fit the pinion back in,

and we've eliminated that play.

That's much different.

Yeah, I mean, before it was boop, boop, boop, boop.

You could feel it.

Now that's really closed it up a bit.

Next, we'll be stripping the rack down, because when we come to rebuild it later,

we'll be using a lot of brand new parts.

Ready?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, here we go.

Right, okay, so what's next?

So we're going to take it out of the vise, go and put it in the parts cleaner.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Remember, I said I want to reduce the cost by doing some of this work myself.

So the parts cleaner around the corner?

Yeah, just around the corner.

Yeah, I'll clean that up.

You get the rest of the bits.

Right.

That is all done, nice and clean.

Right, ready to rebuild it then?

Yep.

We're using a steering rack reconditioning kit.

That contains new seals, bearings and bushes.

Once that's fitted,

it will hopefully make our car feel like a Rolls Royce should.

With everything back together,

we need to make sure it's working.

So Brad's connecting it up to a test rig,

and using the handle to simulate the steering input.

If it moves smoothly as we turn it here,

it should do the same on the road.

I'm really happy with that.

Yeah?

And that's it.

Can I have a little test?

Yeah, have a test.

Oh, it's like a Rolls Royce.

Oh, that's lovely, and there's no knotty feeling at all.

Mate, that is fantastic.

So what do we do next with it then?

I'm going to give it a paint job for you, and then you can take it away.

Top man.

And do you want to know the best bit?

Thanks to all my hard work,

Brad's only charging me 296 quid.

I reckon there might be a profit in this old roller yet.

Right, let's get this back to the workshop, but before I do,

I want to swing past Ian and pick up that interior on the way.

There's lots of stuff for Elvis to do.

Now I've got the engine and gearbox clear of the body,

I can access and replace the blown exhaust gaskets.

That is assuming I can get the bolts off.

But my next level up here is to use a 12-pointed

socket that's crucially a little bit smaller.

But if you look at the head of the bolt, that only has six sides,

so these little 12 grooves are effectively

going to cut 12 slots into the top of that bolt head

and hopefully give us 12 points of contact to transmit the torque from the ratchet

to give us a better chance of getting it undone.

It's just starting to turn, but I can't work out

if it's about to completely round it off or undo it.

Oh yes, I think so.

Yes, success.

It's coming undone.

Wow.

What an enormous amount of work.

Just to get that manifold off.

And now, in fact, there you go,

I can very clearly see where that gasket's been blowing.

Let's have a look.

Yeah, there it is.

All because of that, that tiny little gasket.

has blown through, allowing the exhaust gasses to escape.

So once I've cleaned up these surfaces and replaced the gaskets,

it should purr the way a Rolls Royce should.

Of course, I've still got to do the other side,

and I'm going to give the engine a good cleanup

and service while it's out of the car, but then I can pop it back in

and bring the whole thing back together.

We've bought a dirt-cheap and dirt-coloured.

1980 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit to see if we can

blag our way into high society on Ford Fiesta money.

And having already spent roughly half the £1,000 renovation budget Mike's given me,

it's time to think outside the box,

or in this case, the booth.

Because whilst I wait for Mike to turn up with my paint and spray gun,

I've started to put together a homemade paint booth

from plastic sheeting that's both cheap and practical.

Mate, you look like you've been busy.

Look at this lot.

Oh, I've been working very hard for us.

Yep, look at that.

That's a whole boot of Rolls Royce for us.

Yeah, nice.

How'd you get them in the steering rack?

It's all done.

Yeah, it's in there, like brand new in a box.

I spent a lot of time doing it myself

to bring the price down.

Remember, we're on a budget.

That is brilliant.

Is this my spray gun?

Yes, if you give it a little shake, you'll find that that's 12 little spray guns.

That's not a spray gun.

No.

Oh, come on, what did we talk about?

That's rattle cans, isn't it?

It is rattle cans, yeah.

You can't paint a Rolls Royce with rattle cans.

Who says you can't?

These aren't your normal paints that you go and get in a corner shop.

This is a special paint.

It lays down really thickly.

So, I mean, how do you go about matching the colour?

You haven't been in here.

I didn't match the colour.

What do you mean?

What colour's that then?

Gold.

What?

Gold, yeah.

The colour's brown.

I know it is, but think about it.

The colour's brown.

We established the bottom half of the car is really

in good shape, so we don't need to paint that.

Only the top half above that swage line.

So we're going to go full out 1980s two-tone.

We're going to paint the top half gold with rattle cans.

You've lost your mind,

but it is going to save us a bit of cash.

Yeah, you'll get a nice coating with these cans now once you get in that paint booth.

Yeah, all right.

Well, I'm nearly there.

A few more bits to sort out, but we're on the way, mate.

All right, I'll get this interior cleaned up and into you.

Sweet.

Now, this homemade paint booth might look a bit amateur,

but when I'm done,

it's going to work just as well as the real thing.

I've still got high standards,

even if we're doing things on the cheap.

Now, if I'm painting a car the size of a Rolls-Royce in there,

there's going to be a lot of paint flying

around, and I need to protect myself with PPE,

but I also want to keep the air circulating

and keep the environment as clean as possible,

and so this is my solution.

I've knocked up this box out of sheets of plywood,

just tie wrapped together in the corners.

I've got an old industrial fan that I had lying

around out the back that's going to go at one end,

and then this piece of filtration material at the other.

This cost me just about £10,

so as the air is pumped through using the fan,

most of the harmful particulates from the paint

are going to get trapped in this material here.

Now I've got it assembled as best I can,

it's time to stick it to the plastic wall, creating a nice tight seal.

And then my last bit of booth prep is to shoot outside and stick the fan in place,

tape it up, and we should be good to go.

And whilst you do that buddy boy,

I'm going to save us some money by revitalising

that reclaimed interior I picked up from Ian.

And although it might be a different colour

from the original, it's in way better condition,

and I reckon it's going to match perfectly with the two-tone paint job.

Now these are made of some of the finest quality leather.

So what I've gathered together from my local

farrier shop, you're going to like this.

What's the saddle made out of, on a horse?

It's made out of leather.

So this is called saddle soap,

and it really is a good cleaner

to get into the leather and to bring out all that dirt.

And the best news is,

all this stuff hasn't cost me a pony either.

Everything I'm using has set us back just 30 quid.

Look, you sit on that.

People sit on that and you don't know it's there.

That's what I mean.

God, it's disgusting.

Saddle soap, see, it's genius.

The paint work on our Rolls Royce really lets it down.

Apparently it was set under a tarpaulin for ages,

which is why just the top half.

has deteriorated in the way that it has.

It does, though, mean that the decision to just

paint the top half was a good one for two reasons.

First of all, it'll save us a load of cash,

and secondly, it should add a ton of value to the car.

So my job is just to key that surface area to allow the new paint to stick.

I'm using a fairly abrasive pad

to remove the top layer of clear coat and to rough up the paint work underneath.

This is gonna create a little bit of texture

that'll help the new paint adhere to the surface.

Outside, it's going like a dream.

So now it's time to move on to the next stage of this beauty regime.

You wouldn't think with a leather seat, if it's got

any rough edges, you should tackle it with anything

other than moisturizer and try and flatten it down.

But actually, you can use the scourer part of a little sponge and just scratch off.

some of those braids bit.

Look, it's taking the edge off.

Now I can move on to the sponge side

and add a bit of moisturizer.

Be generous with the amount of moisturizer you use here.

Don't worry about getting the seat wet because just like your skin, it will soak in.

And if you wanna take things a step further,

you can always give it the full service.

I like the proper method of hands.

Just rub it in.

Not even Mrs. Brewer gets treatment as good as this.

I feel like I should have lit some candles and stuck some whale music on.

And trust me, this seat is loving this right now.

It really is.

It's having a massage.

Now I need to get the seat

to swallow that moisturizer.

So what I'm gonna do is wrap the seat in polythene.

a little bit like a greenhouse.

And I'm hoping even on this overcast but warm day, the sun will pop out.

And what it should do,

it will create a greenhouse effect on this seat

and then that will heat the seat up and all that moisturizer gets sucked in.

And the seat, well, they should feel like brand new.

Whilst Mike and that seat continue their special moment,

I've finished keying the bodywork and I've pushed

the car into the paint booth ready to start spraying.

The paint on the top half was in a bit worse condition than I first thought.

I've ended up rubbing back quite a few areas all the way back to bare metal.

I've now treated that with a coat of primer.

and I'm just about to go over the whole thing with a tack wipe.

before I apply our new polyurethane paint.

This removes any traces of dirt or dust from the bodywork

so that we have a perfectly clean surface for the paint to go on to.

All right, it's moment of truth time.

We finally get to see the new color going on to our Rolls Royce.

I'm using JC12 polyurethane aerosol paint,

which is specifically formulated to be hard-wearing

but also forgiving when it goes on.

And for only seven pounds a can, it's worth a try.

I'm starting off by applying a very light mist coat.

Using slow, gentle motions, I want to make the application as even as possible,

something that's relatively tricky

when the paint dries as quick as this stuff

and you need to change can every 10 minutes.

All right, that's the mist coat now done.

But it's almost dry,

so I can already start building up the layers.

In total, I'll need to apply three coats to the car

to get a paint job thick enough to deal with the

weathering it's going to experience out on the road.

Whilst budget Banksy cracks on with that,

it's been a few hours since I moisturized the seats.

So now it's time to check the results.

That is one happy face.

Look at that.

Do you remember what this seat looked like.

a few hours ago?

It looked like it was, well, rubbish.

Now it's all been ingested in.

Let's give it a little buff.

That's the Rolls Royce quality shining through.

Let's just hope Elvis's exterior is coming together as nicely as my interior.

Well, there we go.

It's done.

The top half of our Rolls Royce is gold.

I mean, the finish might not quite be as good

as a two-pack paint, but I mean, come on.

It's come out of a rattle can.

I think it's pretty good.

Of course, the big test is going to be when we unveil the bottom half.

That's when we find out if Mike got his color choice right or horribly wrong.

And I can't do that

until this is cured for another 48 hours.

It's been a huge undertaking getting this massive car back in shape.

And I'm starting to feel like we might actually

pull this thousand-pound renovation off

because I've only got a couple more jobs left to do.

This is called the spirit of ecstasy, the Siddle Lady.

Now, it should have some flex in it to absorb some energy in the event of an impact,

but it definitely shouldn't be that loose and wobbly.

It should disappear down inside the grill itself,

keeping it safe.

But as you can see,

whilst ours is going some way down,

it's definitely not disappearing.

So the only thing I can think to do

is to take it apart and have a look and try and fix it.

I'm hoping that a little bit of tightening up

and some lubrication might do the job here.

And whilst that soaks in,

I can get to work putting Mike's revamped interior back into the car.

And I've got to say,

he's done us proud with this makeover.

Home, James.

But we can't go anywhere without our radiator grill.

So let's see if a little lubrication has done the job.

Let's give it a go then.

Nearly.

It's definitely better.

It's smoother than it was, but it's not going down all the way.

It should disappear completely inside the radiator grill.

That means we're going to need some more investigation.

And this was supposed to be the easy job on the car.

You are joking.

They've actually put a little,

what looks like an oil-filled damper to control the smooth operation.

What a ridiculous piece of over-engineering.

Oh, look at that.

I think we might have just found the problem.

As you push the ornament down,

this damper passes oil from one cylinder to another and it's absolutely full of air.

You can see it in this tiny little clear tube.

Those air bubbles.

could well be the thing that's stopping it

having its full retraction into the radiator grill.

So what I'm going to need to do, and thankfully this is a cheap fix,

is remove the damper from the grill.

Then with it secured in the vice, I can drain out the old oil

and replace it with some new stuff that I've already got in the workshop.

So much better now.

It's a silky smooth operation, which is exactly how it should be.

Now all I've got left to do is put it all back together

and we'll be ready to roll into high society

and hopefully sell this beauty for a tidy profit.

No way.

Call Elton.

He's car's ready.

Isn't it amazing?

That's out of a rattle can.

I know.

I mean, I'm surprised too.

When I started this job, I wasn't 100% sure how

it was going to turn out, but that's incredible.

And the two-tone effect, mate, that was a great idea because it really suits the car.

So what about the rest of it?

Oh, it's all fixed, mate.

Yeah, remember I had the wobbly lady?

She was broken, yeah.

It's all done.

Give her a little wobble.

Look at that.

Nice one.

So not only does she not wobble anymore,

but she now retracts nicely inside this grill.

You wouldn't believe the technology that's tucked away in there.

It's brilliant.

And that lovely new steering rack,

boy, it's silky smooth again, mate.

And the interior.

Look at that.

I mean, I cleaned it up, but I didn't realize it looked that good inside the car,

and you've mixed and matched it with the original interior.

Yeah, I wasn't sure, but it actually has turned out nice, hasn't it?

This car has turned out so well that I'm a

little bit worried because back in the day,

you'd have to Rob a bank to own a car like this,

and no doubt, you busted my bank by restoring it

because I gave you a budget of a thousand pounds

so we could end up with a five-gram roller,

and there's no way you can do this to a Rolls-Royce in a grand.

So clearly, you've blown that, haven't you?

Well, listen, it was a tall order, wasn't it?

I mean, it's a big arse trying to do all of that for a grand.

Yeah.

I smashed it the other way.

£660, one pound.

You're kidding.

No.

You spent £661 on that order.

Is that it?

Yeah.

Where did the one pound come from?

Oh, well, you smelt what it was like inside.

I had to buy an air freshener.

It was rancid.

Yeah, it was nasty.

You know Ian, the guy that I got the car from?

Oh, yeah.

Well, he never got to do any of this work, and he

really wanted to do it, but now we've done all the work,

I think he'd like to buy this car back.

He won't even recognise it now.

He won't, no, but before we present it to him,

we need to see if this roller is going to turn us two into high rollers.

Shall I set the sat nav to Windsor Castle then?

Not quite, but I have got something lined up for us.

You all need to change out your work clothes, put a shirt and a jacket on.

I'll go and do the same.

Let's see what I can do.

This has been a renovation of Epic Proportions.

We're going to spend the appropriate word for this car in front of us, a grand.

Have you lost your mind?

We've transformed one of the cheapest Rolls Royces in the country.

Wow, what an enormous amount of work just to get that manifold off.

From something you'd be embarrassed to pull up at a scrapyard in.

People sit on that and you don't know it's there.

To an automobile fit for high society.

Well, there we go, it's done.

The top half of our Rolls Royce is gold.

And we've even got change from a £1,000 budget.

But how did we pull it off?

I originally bought the car, bonus interior,

carpets and headliner from Ian for £4,000.

The parts for the exhaust manifold repair set us back £56.

My hard work on the steering rack repair saved us a bit,

so it was just £296.

Painter materials for the respray was £278.

The cleaning products to bright up the interior were a meagre £30.

Oh, and don't forget the air freshener, a pound.

That gives us a total spend of £4,661.

Which is an absolute result.

And just look at it.

Talk about rags to riches story.

And now we're all togged up and looking sharp as our Rolls Royce.

We're doing like Rolls Royce owners do

and have popped out for a drive around the country estate.

Here we go.

Not I told you, we're going to get special treatment.

We're being waved onto the castle's main drive.

How good was that?

See? Didn't I tell you?

Owning a Rolls Royce opens up all kinds of doors for you.

Or in this case, a gate.

We're driving up the main driveway to Belvoir Castle.

The home of the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.

Where we're going for high tea.

That is amazing. I can't wait to meet them.

OK.

At three o'clock, every day in a workshop, what do we do?

Yeah, stop for a cup of tea.

Well, it was invented here.

This is where Afternoon Tea was invented.

It's amazing. What a place, eh?

It is fantastic.

And look what we're arriving in.

We are arriving in style.

And remember what it started out like.

It was like an old tractor when I pulled into the workshop.

It was noisy.

It actually stunk this car, didn't it?

Mate, I heard you coming and smelt you coming before you actually arrived.

The carpets were threadbare.

The interior was nasty.

But now look at us. Look.

I can't believe what this car, and it is just a car, what it can do for us.

And it's only really down to hard work,

because we haven't spent an awful lot of money here, have we?

No.

There's somebody out there right now buying a five, six-year-old Ford Fiesta, right?

Which is not going to open a door to anywhere for them,

where they could have gone and got a car like this.

And I've got to say, even just sat behind the wheel,

as you experienced quite often, you're in the back of one of these.

If you own a Rolls-Royce, you're probably not driving it.

You're probably sat in the back.

Hold on a minute. You just said if you own a

Rolls-Royce, you're usually not driving it.

So I think you'll find a Rolls-Royce owner that always has a man driving around,

and that's why I've got you driving me around today.

Well, it's good to see you're a man of the people

and come up front with me today. Yeah, nice one.

I'm sitting in the stalls today.

Yeah, but I'll tell you what a lovely experience it is.

So for all those people who have a job to drive the wealthy owner around,

it's a pretty good experience.

I'll tell you, it's smooth.

Do you know what? Up there, just there, in fact,

a 6.75-litre roaring V8.

You can't even hear it, can you?

You can't. No, it's cathedral quiet in here.

Right, shall we go and meet the Duke and Duchess?

Yes, you just drive up towards the castle.

Now, I should probably have told Elvis the truth by now.

Our budget rolls may have swung access to the driveway,

but it was never going to get us in to actually take tea

with the Duke and Duchess in their splendid home.

Look at that castle. Oh, wow, look at that.

That is amazing, isn't it?

Tea on the Cafe Veranda will have to do,

although the weather has just taken a turn for the worst.

Did you really think I had the range for us to see the Duke and Duchess of Rutland?

Yes.

Mate, I'm good, but I'm not that good.

I don't even know the Duke and Duchess of Rutland.

No, I just know where they live.

Mate, you're just going to have to accept

that you are dining at the top table with me.

Whoa.

We're literally losing food here.

I know you're wearing food. That's what you're doing.

An expensive suit. Cheers. Blimey.

I'll say, this is my top table, mate.

Lovely.

All the tea's gone cold.

That better not stain my suit.

It will stain your suit.

A few days after our taste of a high life,

and we're back where we belong.

And guess what?

There's a familiar-looking face in the workshop,

and he's come for a look at our roller.

So, in the end... Hello, Mike.

I mean, what are you going to say about it?

But you don't recognise it, do you?

Absolutely stunning.

I mean, you've done a really, really good...

It's really shocked me when I saw it.

It's absolutely really good.

I mean, the interior, it's just made it look like new.

That's that old scrappy interior I got from you.

I bought all the seats back here, cleaned them all up,

and then did a mix and match with the old interior,

and it offsets against this two-tane paint job.

Lovely, doesn't it?

It's like a custom job, isn't it?

If somebody's ordered that as a custom interior.

Yeah, it is just like that.

So, you always intended to do this kind of work to the car yourself.

Yeah.

I'm giving you the first right of refusal on the car.

When I bought it from you, it was a cheap car,

but it's still a cheap car, so I need £6,000 for it.

Could you do five-five?

No. No.

Well, look, you've got to put some fuel in it.

Yeah.

Because you've got to drive it home, I'll give you £100 off,

so I'll let you have it for £5,900.

Brilliant. That's an absolute bargain. Cheers.

Top man. Cheers, Mike.

Thank you for that.

Put your roller back. Thank you.

Well done, Eleanor Velasco Thornton,

otherwise known as the spirit of ecstasy.

We did it, didn't we?

We proved that you can be a high roller,

but you don't have to Rob the bank to do it.

Now, if you want to see more iconic cars like

this being turned around by me and Elvis,

then join us again soon on Wheel of Dealers.

Salut.