Bullitt Classics

4 Responses

1. Review by Speargun for The Collector Car Restoration Home Video Library
   Rating:
   I read the two previous reviews and bought the DVD set. Boy where they wrong.

   While there are some good tips on the dvd's, there is nowhere near $80 worth. The first section starts with some basic pointers. Take lots of pictures and keep your project organized. One guy walks around the car for 10 minutes snapping pictures with a 35mm camera with a strobe. Only once did he remember to wind the camera before pushing the button which tells me that he hasn't taken all that many pictures like he is advising. He snaps 50 - 60 pics yet he never has to change the roll of film.
   
   The other guy picks up an old camcorder and acts like he is filming the car. After several boring minutes of watching him film, he sets the camcorder down. The lens cap was on the entire time!

   The entire series is just one long, drawn out, section after another. It looks like they filmed each section in one take and did no editing. The entire "8 hour" series could have been compressed into a single 30 minute to 1 hour show and still gave you the same amount of information. I watched about 90% of the dvd's on 8x fast forward because you can only watch someone cut sheet metal or hammer on something for just so long. Whoever filmed this must have felt that "more is better" because it doesn't look like they cut anything out. There is definately a sense of "quantity over quality" throughout the series.

   If you are an absolute beginner, you might get a little more out of this series, but if you don't know how to do some of the basic things that these guys describe in great detail, you really shouldn't be doing an in depth body project until you get the basics of how to use the tools you will need.

   I got a lot more out of the book "Pro Paint & Body", by Jim Richardson with Tom Horvath, after just a quick scan through it, than I did with this dvd set. The best part was that the book only cost $12.89.

   I was expecting a series with a lot more substance like how to replace sheet metal and the different methods or how to prep a body for paint, etc...

   There was very little in this set that I hadn't already picked up from just watching tv.

   This video needs to be edited to about 1 hour and should be sold for no more than $10.

2. Review by Eclectic Reader for The Collector Car Restoration Home Video Library
   Rating:
   I basically agree with the viewer who rated this DVD as a "1", but think it does have a wee bit more value to a newbie than a 1. I would have rated it a 2.5 if there had been a 2.5 (it was not a 3). If you have never seen or done anything like this before, I think it is worth purchasing. But, if you worked in the business at all (for example, I worked as a professional mechanic at one point in time), or are a seasoned home mechanic, there is too little additional content over what you most likely already know for me to recommend it for the price.

   I was particularly taken aback by the "homey" crude tools and fixtures they espoused, all the while claiming they had run a professional auto restoration shop for decades. As far as I can see, there can only be a few answers to this apparent dichotomy. One, they never really had a professional shop; or, two, they dumbed-down the video. Since I often felt they were talking down to me as the "dumb home amateur" during the video, I concluded they dumbed it down. They also assume a level of limited funds to the point that it was painful; I can't see how a person could complete a restoration, which is an expensive hobby [$15K for the cheapest resto I can think of, and can easily run $25K-$50K or more] no matter how much you do yourself, if you have to save $30 by spending a lot time making a make-shift tool. In that sense, this video is less than helpful. I'd rather they would not talk down to the viewer, and as part of not talking down to us they would have presented the viewer with professional level tools or equipment, then show how to use or make less expensive alternatives and illustrate the resulting trade-offs (including cost trade-offs if you subbed out that part of the work). Instead, I'm left not knowing how it could be done if I chose to spend more resources (or had a group of guys that shared some of the expensive equipment, or had other arrangements). Further, they subbed out stuff I wouldn't have.

   To summarize: if you are new to this hobby, want to see what it entails from an inexperienced viewpoint, or have been out of car work for decades, I think it is worth buying (be prepared for boring sequences). For those with some experience, look elsewhere.

3. Review by Remko Smaak for The Collector Car Restoration Home Video Library
   Rating:
   It is the best investment I've made in the past few years!! I am so happy I waited to start with my restoration project. The 2 DVDs are jam packed with the best tips one can imagine. What I appreciate most are the little secrets you give away, that normally only the experienced professional knows about.
   

4. Review by Richard Hughes for The Collector Car Restoration Home Video Library
   Rating:
   I've had this set since it first came out on DVD. It is excellent. You can't beat the price, you get 8 hours of instruction at a very reasonable price. I hope the guys who make this program will come out with more. The DVD is also very well setup.