Aaron Kaufman & C10 Talk - PART 6 SHOP TOUR

[Music] so so this is it so this is the the new Arclight shop we've been working feverishly we've done all this and three weeks now and so we've got kind of a short-term baby wheel and tire machine so this is you know no cooling motors here but ball joints control arm pull gas tank that kind of thing we haven't really obviously said we're still moving in so we don't really have shipping receiving completely worked out exactly but you can see where that kind of goes down and then also this is one of the is such an epic deal trying to get into a shop what's the square footage so we're twenty thousand I'm not sure what the office eats up out of it and but this is we got this last second we had another building worked out they were paid for had insurance on it wouldn't give us keys we couldn't get in there we had equipment on a semi we could they wouldn't let us dump it and so finally we just kind of sticks in the air and stop payment on cheque called or another real estate number one yeah yeah colder we call the real estate company and say hey I didn't see what you got to be able to write this why why they didn't say why you all they said they didn't have to they didn't have to move they would move when they got done whenever they felt like it but we know we had all this other stuff done and so I guess a big mess ultimately we found this place in the day and a half we got it paid insurance locked up keys in hand and a day and a half and it's and it was while it was a pretty rough looking place when we first got here it's hands down the best shop so it's got breeze so the doors on both ends on it and then we've got a grade level we've got a dock door and a ramp and so this really worked out the best it couldn't have worked out better doing some remodeling up front we had to do a lot of drywall work do some of the yard was all like a wrecking yard it was all dirt everywhere and we're all washed out the street fence was an asphalt guys did all their magic so so we poured a gray so it did even have a parking lot so we put a parking lot in pay that we lost dirt yep banner and Ben yeah dirt and rocks and boulders and stuff and so we've got everything fixed out there got a parking lot poured and it's looking better than had in fact had the UPS man coming I've got on this drought seventeen years that's the best this building's ever looked I don't think it'd bring my early early first on the route so how many lifts so we're only running three so we run three and it's like we had it we sit back a four four plus Drive on but then so I was really excited we're gonna get it and then I realized we really needed the floor space more me and not to mention or like over fast not but eighty one cars and not one was on a four-post and it's like that this is this is what works for us and so so run bin pack ten thousand pound lifts and we run low-profile arms and this is this is how we get work done and speaking of so this is our first long-term a builds bait so we can pull engines here obviously build the whole car we wanted to keep them tight this is more than a TV studio what this is is a manufacturing facility and then on build some cars so we run you can see the you know doors out of this current project or blown apart trying to figure out what was trash and apparently it was all of it and so as we work down the line here so these right here were the forklift in the other truck are links that we're still moving in so we've got a big workstation that's gonna go in here beneath the first two windows which we're really happy to find a warehouse that natural light and windows ceiling could stand to be a little higher but it definitely works for us and so we have two floor spots so if we're building building on jack stands or doing final assembly and we don't want to be around the lift and so we've got to build spots here and then downward Jason's trucks over forklift yeah and so I'm super so one of one of my one of my favorite pieces of equipment is because it moves around and does a whole bunch of big nasty heavy work and so kind of that's gonna get me use more than anything hands out they say them like probably the most used item in the entire shop bar none is the forklift and now let's all put yourself with the forklift that you could probably just do by hand but you got forklifts to use okay you guys are gonna have a rodeo you guys are gonna have burnout oh absolutely horrid work lift yeah so we'll work out so this is basically so I kind of laid the shop out based on how the work flow happens so we figure we bring in a truck flatbed it's got our equipment you know it's got a steel on it whether it's tubing whether it's sheet in still the way it works and so we're putting up a cantilever rack underneath the last three windows here and so they'll hold all of our tubing on that even a special tubing for frames and then all of our build tubing and then sheet and plate on the end of it so a pull sheet and we'll go on the car and we can roll over here to sheet metal all the shear so we'll cut it on the shear and then from there it can move on into the the sheet metal station where we've got we've got a power hammer English wheel planishing hammer and a really wonderful bead roller the biggest thing with the beetle that we're using is that has a big window in it so a lot of times if you've already flanged a part and forgot to put the drop panel or something you can run it no problem you can even run a portion of a Fender a complete Fender that was just something you deaf with a standard bead roller so when you lay this out I mean all was that challenging to me that how to figure it out how many times did you draw it out it's all am I gonna make this flow it took me moving all this equipment all day long for three days non-stop before I finally figured out the configuration and then and even then there was some moving some stuff some playing and figure and then when it comes to wiring it where the electricity went how would you drops and stuff and it took a little bit so things were different they were arranged differently and basically pick it up on a non-skid moving around pick it up put it down pick it up put it on and really kind of what I kept going through is I've got I take I go through the whole motions in my head so I'm a piece of sheet metal pull it off the racks on the car I'm gonna share what am I gonna do next imma go to the table I'm gonna lay out what I'm gonna do I'm gonna come over I'm gonna cut it we're gonna start forming it on each ones tools and then I'm like what am I gonna do with when I'm done forming it where's the workstation at and so I laid it all like that so manufacturing and fabrication happens on one whole side of the shop and then all the cars happen on the other side with the exception of the cut station over here so I really wanted the whole process to be incorrect it's really linear so material comes in gets rat pulled off gets cut it goes from home station to the first station where it gets shortened and then from there I like so now that we've cut it and it's a piece of tubing we've got all of our bending stations and notching stations over here so we have a 2 by 4 120 wall mandrel bender so it's back to this you're gonna make your cuts here so you put your cutter there you're gonna move over and so that's why you lay them all so we so come over here we'll pull material and we'll make a cut and then we take the material over here and so if we already if we've already made our cut list we'll we'll our card over here and say we're gonna bend up a 6166 frame and so we know already preload and into the into the interface here so it'll already know what's a what's the job gonna be is a 61 to 66 it already has the bends in it we're responsible for loading the depth on it and setting 0 so then once we get the material in we'll hit go and it knows what to bend it'll reset we'll pull the next step Center for the next bend go again and then that and we'll stack it up and then from there to go to a fixture table this is it together this is probably one of the biggest benders I've ever seen is it that it takes it takes a tremendous amount of power to bend étoile rectangle tubing and so we're 2 by 4 been hard way and easy way on this machine and it was super fast to learn it's super intuitive all the parts were are super heavy though so when it comes to making dye changes it's a you a forklift in another dude kind of operation but this this really as far as Arclight this is definitely one key feature because I was subbing out the bending on the the frame rails to another guy has this exact same machine we were lucky enough to get ourself in a position where we can have one in-house now and you know and thankfully you know to a relationship with Bailey we were able to do so much more in-house now which has really changed our sub assemblies which has been a Bailey obviously got in line they're on board with you and I mean we're gonna check it all out but you've got a lot of high-tech equipment here oh absolutely definitely more so than what we've had in the past some of the equipment stuff that you've seen before some of it stuff that you haven't this is all stuff that is make the difference in the products that we build um you know it's like you'd only get so creative with a hammer and a table you know and so so basically there will be our state a station here we're all the pre cuts for all the frame rails so if we get into someone calls in we make an order we already have everything pre-cut for it and it'll be you know someone's job to keep loaded all the pre cuts for all the frames and then down here this empty space so we've got us a small 2x2 that's getting us by right now on the plasma cutter we have a five by ten on order so that we can hail some of the big job stuff and so this right here basically where a plasma table goes and we're gonna have a deep burning station down here and we'll rack a lot of our builder parts because not only just offering full frames for a you know fifty seven seventy nine but in building you know all these cars in the past I've found some things that I build that I don't see out there available and I think will speed up other builders so that's one thing that we're also banking on is not just specific Ford parts but builder parts and also when it comes to doing the mandrel bent frame rails we're also taking customer orders and I'm bidding up one day a week and so we can deliver full back halves for links and whatever it is people want we can put those together so we don't do customer trucks but if you design something out send it to us we'll send you back me engineer drawing sign-off say that's what I want we can put together put on pallet ship it out so there's sembly guys that are gonna be more so Arclight fabulet initially i mean they they got more work than they can handle depending right because you're gonna do all phases of the Ford era to start and then custom orders they need and then the facilitating for the guys doing what they're doing well building a building on the TV it's like it has its issues but they're not the same as manufacturing and keeping up with that but we didn't want to say obviously we're very focused on the f-100 but at the same time though it's like if you have a c10 and you wanted a back half on it there's only a couple places to go and we're now one of them yeah you know if we there's a couple things we'll try and steer you in the direction that we think you ought to go but if you're dead set on having something and we're capable of doing it we don't mind providing it we're just not gonna handle install for guys well I'm with all this equipment and the tech that you're gonna have when will those guys start you already have them nope so that's so right now so right now being what is this September so I'm not sure that we're gonna there have that at full capacity until it maybe after SEMA before we have that at full capacity and so and then through the rest of the fall into the winter and then you know well work on the show and then work on this that's and that's exactly I guess it because the show we kind of slowed up on on the development a little bit but we're ready to get back in the game right now with like Jason and Josh especially having their kind of their specialties well they have home bays you know because I could see like with Josh and his fabrication skills so this is more Jason in his mechanical skills yeah whose it is a little different like I said because we have a build team these guys are reversed in building hold vehicles and then when it comes to guys that are similar welders or machinist what they will be doing is they'll have a special a special job and they'll do that job so when it comes to my build crew these guys build cars I'm gonna have guys that build parts over here yeah and so my car builders they're gonna continue to build cars and we'll put them together a for turnkey project so like I said we don't do customer order we mean we don't do customer cars except if someone says I want an f100 I want our Clyde f100 we'll provide that turnkey and that's it in the four generations so so if you want that and you want what we build we'll provide that pick the wheels maybe pick the color you know then we're will we're willing to do that but on that though we're here to go part well I could see there being a demand for that somebody wanting an arc like f100 yeah and so and they said we're happy to do that but otherwise we just want to provide the parts for everybody and I said we are willing to do some custom stuff but in general it's basically if it doesn't fall in our catalog then may have to find reform so one thing that obviously probably doesn't fall in your catalog that was at the old shop that is not here there's a paint booth yeah that's absolutely true so right now so we are exploring a couple different options on paint and it is there gonna be one hurdle that we're gonna have to cross is obviously I'm heavy into building and manufacturing and fabrication and not a painter myself or a body guy if I do next year it's possible we could extend the building and we could include a paint facility but for the remainder of this year and probably these first four builds we will be subbing that out yeah and I know you know a couple really kick-ass painters we do so I'm sure they'd be more than happy to kind of get involved I wonder just for the forty nine being there it was it was pretty it was pretty cool to see Mike shoot it and then you guys work together I wonder if that makes challenges for the builds when you don't have no a in house and this is what I saw like he would paint the fender you'd bring it out and that's got to make things even more so it's like sometimes you know the painters don't you know whoever's running Bosh up doesn't exactly see the things the way like I see a no or X or no what I expect and and so so it makes it having it in house is so much easier to get all those things done and not to mention like she's doing out a house we have a tremendous amount of faith and then there'll be a terminus amount of driving to keep up on the project but we've talked to a couple painters and you know quite frankly everybody that I trust and is good is really busy and so that's and we ask a lot of them to a drop their other work and move really really fast for us and so it is a challenging well if they're good they're gonna be busy right now that's that's actually you're hoping you don't like I'm ready to go yeah doesn't doesn't happen often so that that is a that's definitely a difficult area but we're gonna get through it well I think we think we've worked out something really nice this area here will basically end up being our prototype prototype Table four we resigning new Chafee's or new large parts and then we also you know we're running a new fixture tables is this is kind of a dream come true I've always wanted one of these you know what is this so it's kind of it's a modular fixture table a table system so this really helps us with you can do production work on it but one of the biggest benefits is like when we're doing we're building something brand-new it allows us to make it so much more precise right off the back and get to those precise numbers really quickly not to mention its infinitely expandable and so this right here for getting things put together right the first time and then from there we can build a jig off of that and then we can copy it so this really accelerates the one-of-one work whenever we want to get it accurate get it right the first time and also it's so many times this can be your third fourth fifth sixth hand whenever you're trying to put something together yeah so this is really exciting and then a couple things one thing we've never had before is a press break and so you know the fewer seams we can put in something the less welding we can do the stronger it's going to be and so we're really excited to have added a press brake to the facility and then the hose machine and 18 we're gonna start cutting wheels for our trucks offering them and mix-match bolt patterns and offsets four guys are doing crown vic swaps don't want to change their 9 and then we'll see it we'll see how that into things goes one disappointing thing for me is while I run the machine and I draw there's a lot of guys that are much faster and much better at it so having to tell some what I want and then you have a design to work with and then have a machinist come in but ultimately that's that's how we're gonna be successful is have people that are really specialists and really good at what they do and so like I said obviously our machine shop snapset not separate from the fabrication shop and so obviously there's room to grow but we have a facility that we can change up and so cars over there machine shop fabrication over here paperwork happens up there frame assembly yes yeah because like you said is there really enough errand to go around I mean like you know it's so specialized yep and and so that's that's definitely you know having to having a build the right team and trust the guys to you know to explain what I want have them understand it and want the same things too and so that's definitely a big challenge but putting together the right team is of is a necessary part of being successful because there are enough hours there's not enough hands to get this thing it's done and so to accomplish big dreams it takes a big team so yeah this is I mean the amount of tools now I would almost think that like some of these guys are they do you feel like they're proficient in all this because this stuff but it's so many awesome tools it's that does get to that level that's right if you don't have experience with them then you can't you walk in and you're not you know you're not you know you're not hitting home runs right out of the box if you haven't used the machines before the cool thing is that when you're experienced in this environment and doing this work a lot of this stuff comes super easy you understand what it's supposed to do and you're already you're geared that way to be able to do that it's basically it's a couple instructions start chef on a couple easy project two weeks into it you're screaming along well somebody's already somebody's going to town yeah absolutely so we had so that so that right there was a Chevy hubcap so this is this is a that's a that's a fellow that wasn't a sheetmetal guy yesterday so don't think him okay I think he's ready I think yeah I think he's ready so that was uh so that was a little Kauffman education course in about two hours for a non sheetmetal guy yeah well he did a good job I think so yeah I think watching your guys learn and like you said you know just growing on all this stuff now this table I've seen before so this stupid thing this table has been with me since I was 19 so so so Scot McMillan was on me and have been friends a very long time through high school and stuff and his family built it built all kinds of stuff oil filled and he was on season one right well yeah he wasn't on season one he's gone on he has Scott rod shop and and then they're hotrod shop do all kinds of work but so this belonged to his uncle and they originally they built a nemesis shifter cars which is where I first learned so well rip turret nemesis you know everyone small his cousin Robert which is an incredible driver and a fabricator and he would guy here's a cut list and so he cut material and then he would go do the thing with and I got to see this stuff happen and his first place ever used in middle first place ever use a TIG machine first place ever use a lathe and we've seen some things ago I've seen some things go wrong but this was the set up table in the machine shop where they would do the shifter carts and then and so it did a lot of learning on this table did a lot of work on this table and then and then obviously you know early in my career me and the table weren't working hand in hand but when I moved into my first big shop I made a call in Scotts uncle and he paid me a great deal in table had a path about the thickness of the table is that about that thick and rust on top took me about two days to grind it all off and so so I have worked on this table almost every day since 2000 into 2009 or so and the tables been kind of with me you know been in my circle shops I've used and work ever since I was 19 so meaning this big heavy bass have been around yeah I mean I'm thinking you need a cruel you know not only the forklift but yeah okay there's a triple axle trailer demon it's given my trailer a workout of more than once so yeah this thing is rad welders you've got everything I mean obviously you're with Lincoln on this video so you've got Lincoln behind you you got Bailey behind you you have more tools which it which isn't is an unbelieving unbelievable and overwhelming you know blessing that these people you know that we're able to obviously because the the TV show and then they also believe in the work that we're doing at the BART we that we're about to do and so we've got we've got such good backers we've got such good help with this and then it's like the right people are playing the right tools are here the right people are here it's like I've got to be a to screw this up best of the best that's yeah if you're gonna do it do all right yeah now what's gonna happen up front so up front in the retail area so rather than just slinging Arclight t-shirts and hats and dog leashes and stuff like that it's got our logo on it it's like I'm such a big fan of the the one half dog leashes yeah I'm sorry I man I love my pitchfork arrows yeah we might have some pitchfork arrows I got to develop the mechanism to shoot a pitchfork arrow so that'll be that's a develop your eye oh oh you shoot you and all your friends eyes out so but you know so upfront retail area we're kind of a lot of the things that I like so there's like fellow that makes some shirts out of Mississippi and incredible hand-built clothing where I'm going to sell that as well local leather uh you know goods builders and knife builders it's like that so it'll be a little bit of this whole this whole world the things that we think are cool whether it's from shoes to other clothing brands so the accessories and stuff so people that come here want to see the shop when I get some art like Arclight swag we kind of want to encourage them to see other artists other builders what they do when you showcase them specifically yep yes your well you know we don't have enough of them to have a rotator right now but if we end up having enough enough builders it's like just because we build cars and someone builds builts or wallets or leather goods or bags doesn't mean they don't put the same pride in their work that we put in ours and say and we can appreciate craftsmanship across the spectrum and so what's one thing is like if I think it's cool if I'm impressed by it then I want to sell it for an one for two people that come here to see us to see what we're into I kind of want to I'd like to expose them to something maybe they otherwise wouldn't see and then we also were gonna have a pro desk in the Pro desk because something is really kind of John's baby John's gonna run he's gonna sell all of our Builder parts and then all the companies that we deal with will also deal their product once again we're not we're not interested in doing installs but we absolutely into providing people the right products and the right know-how yeah I think just going back to your you know it's like you're supporting the people that are we talked about earlier whether it's a hobby or a craft some guys working on belts knives whatever it is there's so much talent out there and to bring that and showcase it they may never have the platform that they could have here and the exposure that you're gonna provide them and then and and that and that's it it's like there's so many things I'm impressed with NSA and we expect to have quite a few people through the door here we sawed off the other shelf and if we experienced half of that that would be an overwhelming success for us and I just wanted to offer them more than a gift shop experience and so you know they're here maybe they came to see us they want to pick up on our class sure but I'd like to expose them to a couple things that I think that that if they like the things that I like they're gonna like this now there was one room that that that's up front yeah now I probably won't need it as much you know I don't think you wanna I think that's probably one of the raddest ideas so it's like we're a bunch of a you know scruffy mutt looking people whenever they're for a proper professionals aren't around and so we're planning on putting a barber shop up front so dapper dan he's been cutting my hair for several years now and I I've never I've always looked like a homeless bum you know and so he's really done a good job straightening me out and so we're gonna put in a barber shop up front and I think it really completes the experience and it's like a guy that appreciates a nice sharp truck definitely can appreciate you know a good hairdo at a good haircut and I'll tell you ZZ Top's at best you know as a sharp-dressed man and women love ya now will that be something that he's here once a week you know so we're planning on a full time deal if our doors are open so is the barbershop and DAPA probably here two days a week and rotate some of the other barbers in and it's a real-deal barber shop all the way so even though you know we're here to build cars we don't offer a service Tampa definitely is here offering a service and you know an artist in his own right and so are his guys and once again we talk about a trade I mean that's definitely oh yeah without a doubt and I think you know your guys are the guys you do have you they are pretty well groomed young men they got some good facial hair going and yeah I could see where they could use it obviously Freeman is he's easy on the eyes so oh yeah pretty boy I'm as straight as they go I think but he was pretty good-looking man yeah and definitely you know it's he's really wrecking the place right here he's also about three feet taller than everybody else so we've got air hoses up high and we've got you know electrical outlets hanging from the ceiling now I clear him just fine jason jeremy everybody else goes in front but uh you know Freeman Freeman's gonna need a shot yeah bump bump hey there you go right there so we get Brooks in there we can trim him up a little bit we can you know god I hope so is it look like Samson in the back room yeah so he's a Brooks Oh runs our digital media so on you know on Instagram and Facebook stuff that's his domain he handles that stuff so I mean I talked to him I saw him quite a bit everyday to him what we want to do where we want to go and he knocks it out for us not to mention I'm somewhat technologically it uh you know a disaster and so he helps me sort that out quite a bit and so so that's that's really awesome we're trying to film some other stuff we've got a lot of stuff in the media page where that we're holding on to we haven't released yet and so we've got two videos Brooks and I started a little video series which is for builders about builders and about this experience and it's always interesting having everyone tell their story because they all tell it a different way but you know you hear your a lot here a lot of things that resonate through every every different builder and so we're working on that series and so we've got our hands and just about everything here and like I said one of the biggest things for me is basically just exposing people to the things that I absolutely love because I don't kind of like it this is what I lifted well you're taking essentially your stardom if you will and your to me at what I think school is you're showcasing on what you like and you're giving like you said these builders with this video that you're working with Brooks or a skill set or a craftsman from a knife that they make it's like hey I probably didn't have that opportunity but how can Aaron Kaufman and Arclight give back well the best way to give back is the showcase those beautiful and now they're going to be able to to grow honestly just you're allowing me to come in here and it is it's a cool way that you're giving back to people who probably wouldn't have that opportunity based upon who you are who you've built yourself up to because you have that same opportunity and then you know what a hundred percent it couldn't be more eyes it couldn't be more true but at the same time though I appreciate so when we talk about early about advance in my career you know 25 years 20-plus years so it's not just in the experience by having to build really quickly but what it is is the the the people I've met the people the phone numbers I have because when I said before the only thing we're really good at is getting solutions finding answers and a lot of times those answers come from other people's knowledge because I in a lifetime of building cars I couldn't imagine and so the biggest deal the biggest deal for me is a shared experience because this is such a big ride there's a lot of people that can help there's a lot of people that would enjoy there's a lot of people I enjoy taking the ride with there you go if you guys want to get your hair cut you want to get f-100 built a frame you want to watch a cool show Aaron Kaufman Arclight this coming spring oh yeah in February the show be on you can get gear as soon as this fall after cinema absolute absolutely so a products coming up pretty quick and LST obviously we're gonna be stacked at LST and as far as having the retail area open and everything blowing up there a man so I'm hoping I'm hoping before SEMA I'm a believer and good things happen to good people great things happen to great people I'm thinking this is going to be the shops gonna be full and I just see really cool things so I want to thank you for letting us come in to the shop again you're giving back by allowing us to be here and I think it's it's really a way for you to pay for it and I hope to do the same thing for somebody you know soon just the same that you're doing for us the c10 nation f100 nation f10 talk yeah the ArcLight talk yeah and I think this is going to be fun to watch this growing and I'm I'm really excited for you in the future I really appreciate it I appreciate you all coming out here and spooning you know spend a little bit of time I know you don't have a lot of it but to come out here and spend it with us in an extremely hot shop you know I'm honored that y'all come out and want to see it all we put a lot of heart a lot of soul a lot of blood to it and we're very proud of it and I'm very proud of my team and I couldn't be more happy about the future thanks for coming out thanks buddy yeah it's awesome see Ted talk out you

Channel: Truck Talk Media

Views: 1,367,026

Keywords: aaron kaufman, ronnie wetch, gas monnkey garage, fast & loud, arc light fab, c10 talk, c10 nation, c10 trucks, chevy, chevy only, c10 era, c10, race cars, the bearded wonder

Id: ptA4Hgght44

Length: 26min 49sec (1609 seconds)

Published: Wed Nov 08 2017