Hands-On With DJ Envy – Episode 1

Episode 1: DJ Envy takes you to Lincoln Tech’s Mahwah, NJ campus, where he has brought his ‘67 Pontiac GTO to be restored to working condition by the automotive students and instructors. See the progress being made on this project car, while learning what automotive training at a trade school is really like and the opportunities for growth in this field. Guest: Lincoln Tech ( Mahwah, NJ) Automotive Supervisor, Robert Matarazzo.

Robert: Getting people to work is like...Are you kidding? You don't have to tell me.

DJ Envy: Nobody wants to work anymore.

Robert: Nobody wants to work anymore.

DJ Envy: Everybody wants to get paid. Nobody wants to work. Yeah.

Hey, welcome, everybody, to "Hands On with DJ Envy." Today we're at Lincoln Tech to talk about a couple of different things. And the first thing that we're gonna discuss is a project that I actually purchased and acquired about a year ago. I was actually on vacation and a guy hit me on Instagram and said, "Hey, Envy, I bought this house and there's cars in the garage and I don't know what to do with them." He sent me pictures of the cars, I sent it to my friends at Lincoln Tech, and Lincoln Tech said, "Grab them now." And that's what I did.

One was a Pontiac GTO, the other was a Corvette, and a Honda motorcycle. And I got all three of them. Didn't know what I acquired, didn't know what they were worth. And when they got here, they told me that these cars were actually great deals and great cars. So, you know, Lincoln Tech said, "Let's put them together. Let's get the students to help and let's make these cars amazing." And we've been going through the process for actually learning how to do these cars. So, every week or every two weeks they give me updates, they show me what they do. And today is no different. Thank you for joining me today.

Robert: Thank you for having me.

DJ Envy: How is everything, by the way? Nobody asked how you're doing. So, I would like to ask, how are you doing today?

Robert: We're doing good. We're doing real good today. We're here with you. We're working on your car. So, we're doing good.

DJ Envy: So, let's break it down. Let's start with the Pontiac GTO. So, when you first seen this Pontiac GTO, what were your thoughts?

Robert: Amazing. Amazing that that car was in the condition that it was in. The top is original and it's like new. For a car of that age and being garaged for so long, it had to have been in the dark. So, I was amazed that that car...Now, the Corvette, the Corvette's a little different. The Corvette was a little bit rougher. It's still in great shape. To do the restoration on that one is gonna be a little bit more intense. But the GTO is gonna be a fabulous car once it's done.

DJ Envy: Well, let's talk about the GTO. Well, since it's been here for about a year, well, not necessarily a year, I got about four offers on that car. Four people have offered to buy the car as is, the condition it is, just to have this car. So, what's the first step, what's the first process of getting the GTO working?

Robert: Okay. So, the first process is, obviously, the engine. The car has to run. The engine has to turn. So, getting this in, and we saw it....And by the way, I had some offers on it while it was here. I couldn't...Everybody who comes in here makes an offer on that car, and I said, "Well, I wish I was the owner of that car, but I can't do that." But no, the first thing was the engine. And at first, the engine turned, but there were some issues and we didn't want to stay with that. So, we wanna start fresh, which meant we had to remove the engine and tear it all down, get it cleaned up, get it checked, get the engine itself checked, which we sent it out because we couldn't do that part, that process here, boiled, cleaned. And now we're actually in the process of reassembling the engine.

DJ Envy: Got you. So, now when it comes to it, it's not just the professors and teachers. It's also the students.

Robert: Correct.

DJ Envy: The students are actually involved in doing this. And how are they loving the Pontiac GTO?

Robert: Oh, they're just amazed. And, you know, today's technology is way beyond that, but they have to start old school. You have to have a starting point. And that makes a great starting point. And they love to get involved with their hands. They love doing it. I mean, our students are here not because they wanna sit in a seat and push a pen. They're here because they're hands-on students.

DJ Envy: And that's the coolest thing with Lincoln Tech is the students actually get a chance to be involved with not just some of the commercial brands that they have here, but also some cars that they would wanna drive, that they would love, that they're actually gonna see on the street and work on, which is some of the coolest things. So, now you got the engine out, you're working on the engine and putting that back together. Now, we've seen the students working on, I guess, the brakes...

Robert: The brakes.

DJ Envy: ...and all that. So, what's going on with that?

Robert: Okay. So, naturally, you have to have brakes.

DJ Envy: Of course.

Robert: Otherwise, you know, something will stop you eventually. But you need brakes. So, what we're doing is we've disassembled all the brake system. Okay. We got the mechanical end of it done, all the hardware is new, the brake shoes, which stop the car. The next process is replacing all the hydraulic lines, which when you step your foot on the pedal, it applies pressure to the lines, which applies pressure to the shoes and stops the car. So, we're not taking any chances. We're replacing everything. We are getting form-fitted lines right from California, actually. There's a manufacturer out there that makes specific lines for specific cars, all pre-formed. So, that's the process in the brake system.

DJ Envy: Now, I have to ask. This is a question that doesn't have to do with the cars. What got you into loving cars the way that it is? I can come in, we'll talk for hours about cars, and just the passion that you have, and all the professors here, what they have for cars, you can tell it's more than a job. You can tell, I won't tell anybody, but if they made you work here for free, you would do it because you love it so much. So, what gave you that passion of cars?

Robert: In my life, I started out in my early years. Okay? And I loved taking things apart, no matter what it was. I remember as a child, my dad, we got a bicycle, first thing I did was take it apart, he wanted to kill me.

DJ Envy: I'm sure.

Robert: He wanted to kill me. So, I had that passion. And all through school I always used to love to build things and take things apart, see how they work, right? That was my mental vision. How does this work? I took my grandmother's cuckoo clock apart, she wanted to kill me.

DJ Envy: I'm sure.

Robert: And then when I was a teenager, it got into cars. I mean, in the '70s, that's when I grew up in the '70s, early '70s and '80s. And everything was about cars. Everybody was into it. And it's just something that grows on you. And you just have to love it. And in order to...And my whole career. I mean, I've been in the automotive industry probably every bit of 35, 40 years.

DJ Envy: Got you.

Robert: I was a Lincoln Tech graduate. That's how much I loved it. And this is my alma mater. So, like you said, if they said, "Do it for free," I'd probably do it for free.

DJ Envy: Probably do it for free.

Robert: Without a doubt.

DJ Envy: And I also have to ask, you know, with things changing so much, right, you know, technology changes, electric cars, a lot of these things can tell you what's wrong. Why does a student have to know how to "get their hands dirty," right? I tell everybody all the time as a DJ, yeah, you can know how the computer works in Serato, but if you don't know how a record feels, how to actually scratch, how to actually do it, you'll never really understand what DJing is about. So, why is it so important that students get their hands dirty and understand the real mechanics and not just, you know, plug your car up into a computer and the computer tells you what's wrong?

Robert: Well, I mean, the computer assists you. It doesn't tell you what's wrong. And you have to have a working knowledge of how the cars work. Whether it's an EV car or a standard internal combustion engine car, you have to have basic knowledge of how it works in order to be able to fix it. So, you know, our students, they're hands-on learners, and that's what we cater to here.

DJ Envy: All right. Well, it's Hands On with DJ Envy. We're gonna go actually to another room and see them doing some more work on this vehicle. Hopefully, you guys are as excited as I am as well. It's not just gonna be about the Pontiac GTO, it's about all the cars and all the cool things that we'll learn about the cars. If you don't know...If I get an opportunity, I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna go to Lincoln Tech and I'm gonna graduate because there's things that I want to learn, and not just...no disrespect, not just automotive. The other day my shower wouldn't go off and I couldn't figure out how to get the water off. I had to call a plumber and I was thinking to myself, "If I went to Lincoln Tech, I would know how to get the water off." But we'll be back. Don't go anywhere.

Robert: Cool. We can...

DJ Envy: You should have seen when the car first came in. When the car first came in, I've never seen so many professors help to get this car in. I mean, these guys were pushing this car in. So excited that you would think...I was like, "Wow, I must have something." I mean, they were pushing the car in, telling me what to do. And that's what made me even more excited, the fact that you guys...that was your era. Those are your cars. The '88 M3 E30s, that was my era. But these cars are your era. And the fact that you guys love it so much and so excited gives me so much joy to see this. And I'm super-duper excited to see this car done.

Robert: This is actually where we put your transmission. This is a trainer. Move this out of the way. This is a trainer. We actually bolted your transmission. And flip it on or actually...you can actually see reverse. You can actually see everything, different speeds. Make sure that everything works. That's first, second, third, fourth. You can see the rotation gets faster. We got all the fluid for it. We have all the seals to reseal it all. And it's 100%.

DJ Envy: Well, that was the transmission tester. So, they actually put my transmission on here to make sure it works. And again, that was another edition of "Hands On with DJ Envy." Thank you for your time. And I'm sure I'll see you in a couple of weeks...

Robert: You're very welcome. Yes, you will, sir.

DJ Envy: ...to find out more. And yeah, we'll go from there.