LOS ANGELES – When anyone walks into Rick Dale’s Las Vegas antique restoration store “Rick’s Restoration,” his perfectionist trait comes out, but when the customer is a prominent celebrity, the intensity of the extra attention takes its toll.
“Jason Mraz’s father is a fan of the show, that’s how he heard about it. He wanted (his grandfather’s) sign restored to put in the studio. But the sign they brought in was just a pile of trash,” Dale, whose escapades are captured on the popular History Channel reality show “American Restoration,” told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “Signs are basically like paper, you can’t fix them very well. This is my hardest project of all time because I don’t want to say no, it’s about Jason’s grandfather and his dad. But I am pulling my hair out. I can’t sleep over it, and it is still not done yet. This is the hardest project that has ever been done, I just pray to God I can finish.”
The encounter with Mraz, who Dale described as “really down-to-earth" and his sentimental sign is slated to air on June 18. But prior to that, audiences will be treated to another big guest appearance.
“Billy Joel is actually a fan of the show, or he’s a fan of the work more than the show. He loves old stuff like I do so he got this old bike and wanted it restored. It was quite an honor and pressure,” Dale continued. “I listened to him as a kid and went to his concerts. I was nervous when he got there but within five minutes that was gone. He’s just a great guy, a guy’s guy. Rides his bike, different ones, every day.”
Although tasked with restoring Joel’s British Royal Star motorcycle during the one-hour special on May 28, it’s not all work and no play.
“I asked Billy to play an old piano in the back and he actually made it sound good,” Dale enthused.
And for the music mogul, it was the least he could do to get the beloved bike back in his life.
“It was the first bike I ever rode, and that particular model,” he says in the episode. “It will be like going right back to the beginning of where it all came from.”
However, when it comes to Hollywood infiltrating Dale’s family-owned and operated shop, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
“The last end of the season has a lot of celebrities. I am doing another motorcycle, I am doing a car couch for Rick Harrison (‘Pawn Stars’ star) which he gave his son as a birthday present, and I’m building another Rumerator for Sammy Hagar but with a Kegerator this time – basically a gas pump with a keg in it,” he added. “We are also doing a 1960’s hot dog cart from a Dodger stadium, they are letting me do whatever I want on that and I am going crazy, it’s going to be good… And there is a lot of family stuff, battling stuff, but not fights ... yet.”
“American Restoration” airs Tuesdays on The History Channel at 10/9C
Trending
Who's making headlines in television, music, movies and more from Hollywood to the Heartland.