Ian Roussel

Who here would agree that Ian Roussel is today’s Gene Winfield? The guy is sure talented.

One of the few car shows I watch. The guy has talent and seems really down to earth

I like his dry humor, as well as some of his his low-buck solutions.
I find some of his stuff cringe-worthy from an aesthetic viewpoint, but other stuff is really cool.
I also like that he tackles stuff fearlessly, and doesn't build the same thing over & over like, say, Overhaulin'...

I kinda think it might have something to do with how much time he spends hanging out with Gene Winfield.

His approach kinda reminds me of a previous girl and her skills in the kitchen. She was a great cook but her position on trying something new was "we can always throw it out and order a pizza". He seems to go in to most stuff with an attitude of it might not work out, I might not know what exactly it is that I'm doing but I can always cut it up again or sand it down until it turns in to something.

Yes, refreshing on the down to earth part.

Exactly No stupid unrealistic deadlines or drama with customers, no idiot shop personal playing grabass in the shop, and he doesn't take himself too seriously. This show is a refreshing departure from the other nonsense going on in the car building show world. I know a few guys that have worked on the other shows and half of the time the car can barely be driven down the road when they are done "restoring" them.
Ian Roussel is a true old school craftsman

Gus

Who is he? I know and have met Gene Windfield. Gene is one of the original SO CA custom car makers

His show is on MotorTrend On Demand too.

The guy is a seriously talented metal worker.

If ya dig around a bit ya should be able to find a video or two of him from like 15 years ago. Single hour long episode with an indy production company feel. Kinda like the one that launched Jessie James when West Coast Choppers was still a struggling to break even shop. Same guy, just younger. Gene seems to show up at least once per season on the current show and apparently they go way back.

I really enjoy "Full Custom Garage". Ian's talent in metal work is so amazing.

Talented guy, fascinating show to watch.

Gene Winfield is usually here during auction weekend hitting all the car events. He still has a spring in his step.

Ian seems to be an interesting guy and very talented.

His fabrication skills are extraordinary.

ian has a very vivid imagination and doesn't hesitate to jump into any project.

Full Custom Garage is a great show and I love watching him work. He makes it look so easy. One thing I question though is how he chops tops. He just takes a piece of sheet metal, puts some bends in it and welds it right on top of the existing metal. No, flanges or but welds...just lays the new panel right over the existing metal. Is that really how the old guys did it? You probably don't have to worry too much about rust forming between the two panels in California but...just seems wrong. Maybe that's what they did back in the day and just covered the whole thing with lots of lead.

even the factory did that way back.
the factory joint where the A pillar meets the roof on my humpback [long term] project was just a crude weld covered with about 1/2" or more of lead.
you can see that if you can zoom into that area in the pic.
[don't be scared by the bozo behind the wheel. i can't run, and i don't bite..... ]

I haven't seen any new episodes of Full Custom Garage in quite a while. Anyone know the status of the show? On one episode he made a comment about the show not being renewed but it wasn't clear what network he was referring to. Motor Trend needs to get in gear.

It’s all on line

Show probably won't get renewed because he doesn't wear a baseball cap sideways, over top of his ears, and with the bill flat, have a nasty beard, and talk like he's been in the paint booth without a mask.

There are three seasons, I think a total of thirty-two episodes on MotorTrendOnDemand.com.

However there are no dates on them so I cannot tell if any are new. However Season Three has only nine episodes which implies there could be more coming.

If you are not a member and wish to subscribe you might have to wait a few days as they are in the middle of some system upgrades that keep new customers from signing up.

I don't know if the deal is still on but for a while they had a pandemic special a year for only $12!

Watching him work, inspired me to take on the roof repair on my 70 Charger R / T. He said that if you are planning welding on a roof, plan on it taking the whole day. He said that you cannot rush welding or grinding on a roof,or you will distort it and cause extensive body work to get it to be straight. I was going to change the whole roof skin for a 20 inch by 2 inch area of rust,and window channel reconstruction. After watching him fabricate pieces from scratch and install them, I said to myself, I can fix that roof verses changing the whole thing for a small area,or cutting up a new roofskin for a small area that I needed to replace. It came out great. The pictures didn't load in order,the second photo is the finished product.

I also fabbed up this custom hood for my Daytona stock car using his same principles. It took 6 hours to do the welding on the hood. He recommended that you leave about a blade width from a cutoff wheel gap between the metal when you are welding on a hood or roof panel. I grafted together a 70 Charger hood, with a damaged 71 Charger R / T hood to produce a one off hood for the stock car. He also stresses that when you are grinding down the welds,grind only the weld,don't grind the panels themselves or you will distort them. He said that you can do the same damage with the grinder,that you can do by welding it too fast and overheating the metal.

https://www.facebook.com/Ian-Roussel-114936143241276/

His FB page, new season starts Nov 7th on MavTV

Doesn't have meltdowns when stuff goes sideways. Doesn't do fancy renderings. Doesn't keep building the same thing. Doesn't push the shop logo swag. Doesn't have a big fancy shop. Doesn't waste air time on the personalities in the shop. Doesn't talk about the dollars. Doesn't have an ego [that barely fits in the shop].

It's hard to actually buy in to anything that's made for TV being anywhere close to what really goes on buy I dig his striped down style. Give the guy a welder, a grinder, a bag of hammers, a pile of junk and some floor space and he's good to go.

Yeah he has talent. It would be really cool to know if he is really as laid back as on TV and as humble. Wish I had 1/10th of his talent or even 1/100th.

He's got a good eye for proportion and seems to work very quickly.

Some of the vehicles are a little too out there for me, but I do like watching the process.


I used to watch the biker build off shows way back when they first came out and I have no interest in owning a chopper. I just liked watching metal being turned into art.

, He has the vision to see what he wants to build then has the talent to build it, unlike a lot of these guys who can draw it but rely on others to build it. I really enjoy watching this guy work, it would be cool to sit down with a cool beverage and shoot the breeze with him.

I can imagine some of the famous designers using something similar to his "envisioning tool" when they made their classic designs.

On a side note, I wish MAVTV had more subscription options. I'm not willing to bring my $130/month satellite service back just to watch one show. FuboTV is the only streaming option and it isn't much different than cable. It is full of networks that I will never watch.

It's available on Samsung TV Plus, which is a free service provided by Samsung for Samsung TV's. So if you have a Samsung TV, or are thinking about getting a new TV, it's there.

how does that work ?
my tv is a samsung, but i don't know how "smart" it is. [anything these days is smarter than i am. ]

He seems to be. From what I've seen posted by him on his instagram account, he's basically 'neighbors' with Gene Winfield having bought a place out in the desert not too far from him. It looks like some of the show has been filmed at his desert garage too.

I have a roku hooked up to my TV and access my MT On Demand channel thru that. Episodes may be a little behind but it beats having a $120+ a month cable bill just to be 'current'.

It's for 2016 and newer Samsung TV's, there should be a port in the back of the TV to connect an internet connection, which you will need or you can set it up wirelessly. In my case wired is a much better setup. You will probably need to go to settings as well and setup your network.

When your TV is on hit the home button (looks like a house) and you should see "TV PLUS" at the bottom, you may need to arrow left to see it.

the tv was bought last fall, so it should be ok.
i'll have to try that and see what happens. THANKS !

He’s right down the road from Gene. I’m sure his move had to do with getting out of the LA basin. I’m sure the city and state people were always on him. He’s on TV s he’s pretty much on the radar screen.

Yep, ask the Diesel Brothers about that.

Those guys are batshit crazy.

Why, the tax man after them? Aren’t they out of Utah?

Emission violations...................

Lawsuit Linky

Yes, incredible eye for proportion. I manage to cut a little, cut a little, cut a tiny bit more, and suddenly I've cut too much lol.

Some of his stuff is a little to out there for me too, but I find myself unable to change the channel.

Oops!!!!

My favorite show on MotorTrend. Sadly, that's all I can see...no MavTV.