12x07 - Richard's Guide to the Galaxies

[bunniefuu]

[ Horn honks ]

Look at that.
I didn't even run over the curb.

That's impressive.[ Laughing ] yeah.

What's on the honey-do list
today from good old richard?

You know what?

Shut up with your honey-do
because...

[ Phone rings ]oh, that's -- oh.

That's really loud.wait. It's mike coy.

What's up, mike coy?mike: how y'all doing?

We're headed back
to the shop.

Have y'all eaten?no.

Y'all want to come get
some tacos?

I like tacos. Cool.
We're on our way.

Bye.
See y'all in a minute.

Tacos, this day
just gets better and better.

All right.
Boy, my boy tony has got you.

-That's overconfidence.
-No, I've seen tony eat.

Look at this plastic nonsense.

Only the best places for lunch.

Taco-eating contest, man.

Who's having
a taco-eating contest?

-Keenan and tony.
-The two skinny guys?

-That's a great idea.
-Yes.

Okay, well,
I got 100 bucks on it.

-A hundred bucks for what?
-Who can eat the most tacos.

-I'm following.
-We need to get in on this.

I'm in on this.yeah.

When you finish a taco,
taco.

Wow.but maybe not so hard.

So you ready?
All right.

Go. Oh, my god.[ Russell slaps table ]

Russell stuck a whole taco
in his mouth.

How big is your mouth?

-Taco.
-You got to yell out taco.

Taco!

He's at six.
Russell is at six.

-Taco.
-Russell is at seven.

-[ Mouthful speech ] four.
-Mike's got four.

Keke got seven.
Oh, my god.

You just drank the flower water.
-I'm waving the flag.

Christie: I think keke's going
to throw up.

-That's it.
-And russell has 11.

Make that 12.

Russell hands down wins.

You are the proud recipient
of richard's money.

For the first time ever.

-Ever.
-Good for you, russell.

-Congratulations, russell.
-Awesome job. Awesome.

All the monkeys
for a really good lunch.

-Oh.
-And you settle up?

Man: thanks, russell.

They didn't pay.
I'm stuck with the bill?

Oh, my god.
Ring me up.

Thanks, guys.

[ Whoosh ][ tires squeal ]

[ Laughs ]whoo!

-Right now, on "fast n' loud"...
-Boom!

Narrator: ...hot rod hunter
richard rawlings

And the gas monkey crew...

I don't give a [bleep]
about style.

That's a great answer.
We'll stick with that.

Narrator:
...are making a splash.

Hate to even think
what richard's done on this.

But transforming richard's
mustang from roadkill...

I'm the one that looks like
it's on fire.

...to the star of a
mega-million-dollar shelby show.

Four hundred fifteen
horsepower?

Yes, sir. When there's a traffic
jam, I'm like, "suckers."

And then...this is freaking sick.

That's my [bleep] man.

...richard finds a mopar
monument to '70s glam...

Twenty-five g's, bro.

...that might leave him
in the red.

Man: so what are you looking
to get for it?

About $20,000.i was thinking $7,500.

Whoa.

--Captions by vitac--
www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

Richard: at gas monkey, we've
built dozens of iconic cars.

It all started
with a little garage

Where we built the model a.

There's so many cars
that I hated to see go:

The hot wheels corvette...

Oh, the midas monkey.

[ Engine revs ]

The ferrari f-40 we resurrected
and painted black,

[ Engine revs ]

And the '49 chevy pickup we took
the lone star throw down.

Awesome builds that have made
the gas monkey brand what it is.

But my '68 mustang
came before them all.

She's my first love,
and I'm never letting her go.

In fact, in a few weeks,
I'm taking it to one

Of the longest-running
mustang car shows.

It's a big deal, the mid america
shelby meet in tulsa.

It's high-profile
in the ford world

And a perfect place
to show off this car

And the gas monkey brand.

[ Hissing ]

[ Cell phone rings ]

Oh.
Hey, what's going on?

You know when I take my mustang
out for a perfect day

And it all goes to [bleep]?

That's today.

I'm on the side of the road.
About 3 miles from the shop.

You can't miss me.

I'm the one that looks like
it's on fire.

Well, it's a great day
in the neighborhood.

See you in a minute.
[ Bleep ].

All right.
Let's see how bad it is.

It looked like he
lost something.

-Yeah.
-What'd I lose over there?

-A bunch of green fluid.
-Have to cool it.

I'm pretty sure the heater core
is blown because

The floor is wet, but...
-Oh, okay.

...i'm pretty sure the motor
is shot too, so...

The good news is,
it's a small block four.

The car needs
to be gone through.

Let's just get it to the shop
and see what we're looking at.

Let's just load it up.

-All right.
-Get it back to the shop.

Y'all pull the ramps.
I'll drive it up there.

It's not like
I'm going to hurt it.

[ Clanking ]

Whoa.
That sounds like [bleep], guys.

The good news is, we don't have
to push it up on the trailer.

He's in a pretty good mood for
a guy who just blew up his car.

[ Tires squeal ]

We're not immune to auto failure
at gas monkey garage.

My favorite mustang,
the motor got a little hot,

And I think that blew
the heater core.

I'm actually happy it happened,
so now we've got some time

To give it the love it deserves
before it represents

Gas monkey at the big
shelby meet in tulsa.

It's time to go through it
front to back.

I don't think we should
let him drive.

Going to chauffeur you
around now.

Oh, right on.
I'm down.

Why does it smell like bengay
and old fast food in here?

Ask mater.

Y'all know this mustang is one
of my favorite cars.

It's a replica of the one
they used in the 1999 version

Of "the thomas crown affair."

It wasn't a real shelby,
but they made it look like one,

And that's hollywood for you.

It was in the movie
for less than 2 minutes

But left a lasting impression
on mustang lovers

With its mix of muscle
and off-road style.

Jay riecke paid me $85,000
to take a stock mustang

And make it look
just like the one in the show,

And that was about


But I ended up getting it back
from him, and I'm glad I did.

It's my sentimental favorite.

Looks like a small block ford.

I know it was blowing a lot
of steam out of the ac vents,

But I don't think
it's just a heater core.

It's a movie car, so it's got
its own following.

-It is unique...
-Yeah.

...if nothing else.
Yep.

And it's known worldwide, so,
you know,

It does represent
the gas monkey brand.

What's it looking like so far?

It's looking like
a blown small block ford to me.

-How'd the water look?
-Kind of green, kind of brown.

We decided you got your money's
worth out of this one.

-Yeah.
-All right.

Just yank it.
Snap in, snap out, man.

My guys at the racetrack do this
in like 45 minutes.

Yeah. This isn't quite
the same thing.

I'm pretty sure
it's pretty different.

Richard: with the mid american
shelby meet coming up,

The time is right
to make my favorite car

Better than it's ever been,

And besides, it hasn't run
the same since george foreman

Took it out for a joyride.

Suckers!

[ Tires squeal, engine revs ]

[ Laughter ]

Now is the perfect time
to make the car a star again.

I can get a big marketing boost

Showing it at the shelby meet,
and I've got jason.

He's an honest-to-god
mustang resto expert.

Hell, he's even going to be
judging the restorations

Up at the show in tulsa.

So that's a win-win.
The car gets fixed,

Gas monkey gets
a big brand boost,

And I get to drink some beer and
look at some other cool cars.

The car's relatively solid,
but everything inside here

And underneath needs
to be redone.

Jason: so new motor,
transmission.

The engine bay needs to be
clean, all new hardware.

We need to get rid
of all this crap

And make it look
traditional under the hood.

We've got it torn open,
let's fix everything

We need to fix.that's right.

If we're going to do it,
let's just do it now.

Now is the time to return
by thomas crown

Mustang to stardom.

We're going to replace the blown
engine with a 347 stroker

With a monster
overdrive transmission.

Then we'll add a ron davis
radiator

To take care
of my overheating problems

That got all this started
in the first place.

The guys will go through
the drivetrain,

Put in wilwood brakes and make
sure it's blowing cold air

With a unit from vintage ac
because it's texas.

I don't want to be hot.

The mustang meet
is in just 2 weeks,

But they've already announced
I'm bringing the car,

So there's no pushing
the deadline.

As long as the guys
stick to the $15,000 budget,

It'll be worth every penny
to show off the car at the meet.

It's my car, so do it right.

-We won't get crazy.
-All right.

That's 2 weeks and a few days

Because you got to be up
there early, so I need it done.

I'm going to see another piece
of history up in chicago.

Y'all take care of my baby.

♪♪

It's a miserable day in chicago
with snow on the ground,

But it's not as bad
as minnesota, so I'll take that.

[ Dog barks ]

A while back, my buddy
dennis bought a rare

Mustang from a dude
who lived near chicago

In the town of naperville.

Dennis tipped me off to the fact
that this guy had

A one-of-a-kind van
that had pretty amazing history.

Now, dennis knows one-of-a-kind,

And I dig automotive history,
so I'm here to check it out.

[ Doorbell rings ]

What's going on, sir?

What's up, dude?richard rawlings.

Tom burke.
How are you?

My name is thomas burke.

I currently live in naperville.
I'm from downers grove.

Is it in here?it is.

Let's check it out.let me go open the door and...

Richard:
tom is a mopar fanatic,

And he actually has
mr. Norm's ramcharger van.

Now, mr. Norm here
in the chicago area

Was literally mr. Mopar.

Mr. Norm had a dodge dealership
in chicago

Back in the '60s and '70s
and became a huge success

Selling high-performance parts
and cars.

He was a customizer of sorts,
a tuner of sorts.

He was way before his time.

And so to get a piece
of history

That's directly related to him
would be pretty cool

And potentially very lucrative.

Super rad.

Here's a piece
of freaking history.

It's a van.

It's called a maxi van,

So it's got the extra piece
on the back with the window.

The paint job is just supercool.

I mean, to know that they did
that back when this was built,

That was an actual race car,
and they stretched it

To make it look like
it was going down the road.

I mean, the '70s
were crazy, man.

I had my eye on it
for years.

My neighbor owned it, and it
took me like 12 years to get it.

This is freaking sick.

So we're talking about it,
and, you know,

There was a lady
that painted the mural.

It was an actual car
that was racing at the time.

In 1977, mr. Norm had this
built to commemorate the car.

It's got a 440 and a dana.
Yeah.

So he ordered it
a little bit special.

You bet.yeah.

Richard:
the 440 engine was unique

For its web-shaped
combustion chambers.

The dana 60 axle was also used
on the challenger and the cuda,

So combined up,
it's a classic muscle-car setup.

There's mr. Norm.

He signed it right here.no kidding.

When I brought it
to the belvidere car show


And he started going like this.

He started shaking,
and he's goes,

"That's my [bleep] van.

Where the [bleep]
did you find it?"

It's pretty dagum nice interior
and everything.

It's in good shape.

I was really expecting to find
a lot of rust on the van,

And it's not rusty.

For being up here, this is
considered, like, perfect.

So we're going to take it
for a ride,

But I need to know
where our starting point is.

What do you want for it?twenty-five gs, bro.

Whoo.yeah.

Okay, let's...
Yeah, I'm not committing

To that,
but let's take it for a ride

Because it is a cool
piece of history.

Steering feels good.
Brakes feel good.

I mean, I think you could drive
this thing back to dallas.

You probably could.

Norm wanted to take it
to canada.

This thing is rad, man.

I mean, it does everything
it's supposed to do.

I'm very impressed.

It runs, drives, starts,
stops pretty much

Impeccably,
like it's brand-new.

I really believe that I could
drive it back to dallas.

All right, dude.

It actually runs and drive
pretty dagum nice.

It does, doesn't it?

I just...man.

I can't do 25,000 grand.

I mean, what...
That's a little high.

Why is it...
Why you got it priced so high?

Even with the history,
it's a little high.

I think it's worth
more like $10,000.

[ Scoffs ] yeah.

I mean, because if it was just
a regular tradesman,

It would be worth
$2,000.

Look at what it's got, a 440,
a dana,

Just synonymous with mopar.

You're going to definitely
have to come up

If you're going to take
this thing home to texas.

We're going to have to work
on that 10 number, dude.

How about $15,000?

I'm thinking more like
$20,000, dude.

How about 16?

As long as you got the money
with you...

[Bleep] yeah....we'll do $16,000, man.

Let's do it.
Cool, man.

I think I might have just set
the world record

For a tradesman 200.

Besides the performance package,

Custom interior,
and that crazy mural,

What's really special about
this van is, it was mr. Norm's,

And I can take that
and sell it for a profit.

Let's go in, do some paperwork
and then...

-Cool.
-...i got to figure out

How to get this thing
shipped down there.

It's awful big.yeah.

[ Whoosh ][ tires squeal ]

-Whoo!
-Coming up on "fast n' loud"...

What are y'all doing to my baby?

-...the pressure is on...
-This might be real bad.

Narrator:
...to rebuild richard's crown
jewel and...

Russell!
How was my russell impression?

...rustling up a buyer
for the mr. Norm van.

Somehow I got to
keep you employed.

This should all look
like a shelby.

You know, it's not...
-I agree.

-Right now it really doesn't.
-Yeah.

Any fabrication
for this thing or no?

There's a little bit.

We're going to have to refit
a new grille.

I think that's the idea,
is everything needs

To look like a shelby.

Even though it's not
a real shelby,

We want it to look like one.

The moviemakers weren't about
to tear up

An actual shelby for the film.

That would have been
a waste of money,

And in true hollywood style,

Richard started
with a stand-in too.

His is a '68 gta convertible.

Richard's got
a mixed tape.

-Oh, boy.
-Oh, yeah?

-Let me grab that.
-What's on it?

Barry white.

The car really is
a gas monkey icon,

And working on it means
uncovering relics

From richard's
colorful past.

It's really gross.

Hate to even think
what richard's done on this.

It's a dirty pony.

This might be real bad.

Normally we'd just tear
everything out of the car,

But we had to be careful

Because we're not changing
everything on this car.

So what's with these stripes
on the driveshaft?

Is that, like, striped socks,
like a team thing?

Back in the day before robots,

They painted stripes
on the driveshaft

To indicate which options
were going on the car...

Oh, yay.

...like which transmission
or if it had air conditioning,

So workers could tell
at a glance what to install.

Man: you got it.

Wait a minute.
Ta-da.

Whoa.
That goes really fast.

The 9-inch rear end
is one of ford's

Most popular,
so we're keeping that.

I was wondering
why it came on it.

Brian:
and hot rodders, they love
the aluminum c4 transmission

Because it's 40 pounds lighter

Than the older cast-iron ones,
but it can't handle

The 400-horsepower
from this new engine,

So this whole trans
has got to go.

C4s aren't bad.
Mnh!

Got your finger?yep.

All right.
Ready to go down, guys?

Yep.

Brian: next, it's time
to pull the motor.

This could get messy.

Yeah, it's leaking a little bit.
[ Laughs ]

Getting a river
of antifreeze.

-You're k*lling me.
-A river of coolant.

-Look at that.
-Pretty gross.

This is not the first time
it's saturated.

That thing has been saturated
so many times.

What are y'all doing
to my baby?

We're making it much nicer.

Holy cow, man.

It's like mice on cheese.

-Yep.
-All right.

Mustang, this is going to
hurt me more than it hurts you,

But if we're going to take you
to the mid america shelby

Meet up in oklahoma, then we got
to get you in tip-top shape.

I love this car,
and there's going to be

A lot of eyeballs on it.

It's never really been shown.

This needs to be my statement
piece for another 10, 12 years

Like it has been.

When she's put back together,
this car

Will have
a lot of the similar bells

And whistles
of an original shelby,

But you won't be afraid
to drive it like you stole it.

A real restored shelby like this
would go for upwards of 500k.

This will have the look
and feel of one

But at a tenth of the cost.

Who wouldn't want that?

I almost have a tear in my eye
seeing this car torn apart.

Look away.
Hey. Look away.

I'm going to get back
to my office.

Two weeks you'll be
the happiest guy.

Yeah, I promise.

They'll be happy tears
in 2 weeks.

Better be overjoyed,
and it's less than 2 weeks now.

♪♪

Not in there.

♪♪

I need a black pen.

Oh, thanks.

♪♪

♪♪

Check this out. I'm going to do
my best russell impression.

[ Imitating russell ]
russell!

Why are you yelling?

How was my
russell impression?

Come here.
I got something for you.

I got this kick-a*s van.
It was mr. Norm's.

You ever heard of mr. Norm's
out of the chicago area?

No. There's a guy who
owns a donut shop in
new york named mr. Norm.

No. No. No.

This guy was well-known
in the early '70s

For everything mopar,
super popular dude.

Somewhere along the way,
he decided to build his own van.

It's all tricked out with
a drag car on the side of it,

Shag carpets, swivel seats.

Perfect.
You name it.

Well, I need to sell it.

Search the net,
and find me a mr. Norm

Fan that wants
to buy this thing.

You think that'll go?
It's a van.

Vans are cool, man.

Richard:
I paid $16,000 for this
mr. Norm's van.

All I need to do is make
a little bit of profit,

So I've got russell, and he
is going to try to turn up

One of the many hordes
of mr. Norm's fans,

And hopefully they got $20,000
or $30,000 in their pocket.

Alright. See if there's any
action on the web.

Somehow I got to
keep you employed.

There's a whole building
and a kitchen

And all these projects.

Can I use the van
as a work van?

Oh, absolutely not.
We're selling it for profit.

Damn it.

-What do you got there?
-Hitch a ride here.

Got y'all an engine.

So our '68
mustang needs a new motor.

This thing overheats every time
richard drives it,

So I need to get the new one
out of the box,

See what needs to be painted
and make sure it all matches up.

Open this thing up.i got y'all a 347 stroker motor.

Really?
So he just had a 302 before.

Jason: I think we got
a major upgrade here.

Figured
he'd want better power.

As if he didn't already burn
the tires off of it enough.

Yeah,
we got it from summit,

So we were able to get it,
like, today.

I like everything except
that ugly distributor.

Yeah. Exactly.

Brian: this motor is just
what the mustang needs.

It's a stroker, which means
the piston stroke is longer,

Which allows
for more combustion,

And that means more power.

This motor pushes about


It's almost going to
double the power.

Guys like richard buy a lot
of motors, and we know why.

Let's get it on the stand
and ready for paint.

Is that your new boba fett
outfit?

What? What?

No, dude, you know how hot
it's been in there.

This hood, ac respirator.aren't you lucky?

So you plug it in, and it blows,
like, cold air.

Could you get me one, too?

Are you jealous?

Well, you know,
there's two of us, right?

Well, you can...
I'll share with you.

I'm not sharing your hood.

I'm not licking it.

Just go paint something.

Jealous.stingy.

I hope that [bleep] breaks.

To pretty this ugly beast
up some,

Mike: I'll sh**t the underside
an engine compartment

While we've got
the motor torn out.

It's just a time crunch
on this one.

If I was painting this car to be
judged like a restored shelby,

We'd take it down
to metal, prime it

And then paint it like
carroll shelby would,

But we're building
it to be driven, not judged.

The goal is to make it
presentable,

So the undercarriage and engine
bay get a fresh satin black,

And then jason and them
can start stabbing

The new motor
and transmission and all that.

♪♪

Richard:
we hit a critical point
in the riviera build.

I'm investing $300,000
to turn this


To show it off at sema.

All right.

The plan is to make this riviera
look more like a zr1 corvette.

Slam it on a new chassis
and suspension,

And give it bronze wheels
and big tires.

The top gets chopped
for a more aggressive look,

And power, well,
that's a supercharged lt ford

Delivering about 1,000 horses.

-Whoa.
-There we go.

The guys have less than 5 months
now to get it all done.

We're just talking about things
that are really time-consuming,

And we're really already
under the g*n.

Richard:
now, while mike coy has got
the mustang in paint,

The guys can make progress
assembling the custom frame

That we got from
chris dawson's chassis works.

Man:
you realize the scale of the car

When you have the chassis
laid out like this.

All this stuff is a little bit
oversized right now too,

Just to make sure we had
enough material to cut it in.

Oh, so you'll be able to adjust,
fine-tune everything.

Yes.

How long until the frame
is put together?

Tomorrow.
No. I'm just kidding.

Yeah. That's a great answer.
We'll stick with that.

Let's knock it out.

Josh: the parts are made
to our specifications,

But we have to weld it
all together

And dial it in perfectly
straight and level.

Hit it.
Hit it.

For this super build,
jeremy and I are team fabricate.

The frame,
it's super universal.

Yeah, we have
a front crossmember.

We have the rear independent
all set up.

All the control arms
are figured out.

We just have to kind of put the
pieces together for our needs.

I mean, the car is wider
than most cars.

The car is longer
than most cars,

So chassis works does a great
job about leaving

Extra in every direction.

They totally provided us
with what we needed.

It was awesome.yeah.

Jeremy: we're really excited
to be building this car,

But with less than 5 months
until sema, for once,

Richard may have bit off
more than we can chew.

Everything is a little longer
than it should be,

So we can cut it to size.

I'm just going to chop
the extra off.

I'll add the little brace in.

Set the body on.

Make it to the next step.

Oh, man.

I got to cut the stupid bar
back off.

Geez.

[ Whoosh ][ tires squeal ]

-Whoo!
-Coming up on "fast n' loud"...

Driveshaft,
are you ready for it?

Narrator: ...the shelby build
gets shafted.

It won't quite go
in the yolk.

♪ Yeah ♪
and cash cow or white elephant?

Any of the mopar cars, those
things are asking tons of money.

Your van, not so much.

-Chadwick, get the door.
-Door me.

Okay.

Brian: it's a big day
for richard's '68 mustang.

The plan is to get the motor,
transmission and exhaust

All buttoned up
and have the car on the ground

By the end of the day.

Oh, you b*stard.

Tony's going to give me a hand
with the brake lines

While the guys stab
the motor.

Mike: it's a small detail,
but choosing the correct

Engine paint is vital to keeping
an authentic shelby look.

After 1965, ford committed
to corporate blue engine paint,

So that's what
we're going with.

Wait a minute.
I'm over mine.

Are you over yours?
-Yeah.

Man: yep.

Jeremy: those cobra-branded
valve covers,

That's one of those
visual cues

Making this mustang
look shelby authentic.

I need to go under to get
the mounting bolts.

All right.

-Perfect.
-Go, team. We did it.

Go fords!

Okay.
Transmission time.

We relied on ford parts
to keep the car looking

Cobra authentic,
bonus points if they fit right,

But the monster transmission
is after market,

And, well, that might be like
jamming the wrong

Piece into a puzzle.

Ready?

Why'd you give me
the heavy side?

Why did we get the two smallest,
shortest guys here to do this?

You ready?i can't get it up over my head.

See, told you I could
lift that thing.

Sum b*tch.

I'm going to have to remake
a transmission

Crossmember completely.

You think?

It won't fit around
the transmission unit.

Josh:
with the new transmission,
this factory crossmember

Just doesn't fit.

We don't have the time, but I'm
going to have to make a new one.

Yep.

The car's not going to be on the
ground today, and this sucks.

♪♪

My god.

This mr. Norm's the real deal.

So he did know what he was
talking about, for a change.

Russell: richard handed me this
job of finding a buyer

For his mr. Norm van.

It's like a one-of-a-kind
shaggin' wagon, if you ask me.

Now, mr. Norm has
a big following,

But is anybody
going to really fork

Over a load of cash
for his maxi van?

I thought I'd be getting
more hits.

Mr. Norm cars are going
like hotcakes,

But I don't think
anybody wants a van.

Let me go tell r.

He'll be happy
about that one.

Richard! Richard!

Richard: okay, so you might not
have known this,

But I built what I call
the monkey yard,

And visitors now
have a cool spot

To hang over
by the merch shop.

-Richard!
-And I was helping steve mabry

Who's been doing
the interior design for me

When russell butts in making a
bunch of noise about something.

Tell me something good,
russell.

Your mr. Norm van
does not have as much traction

As you would like to think.

There's not a lot of people
who want this thing.

Mr. Norm
has a huge following.

For cars,
any of the mopar cars,

Those things are asking
tons of money.

Your van, not so much.

But I did check all the message
boards on mopar

To find out more information,

And there's this guy
who's looking for this van.

He wanted to know who bought it,
where it was.

All right.
Chase him down.

All right.maybe we can make some money.

He's asking.

We got to get rid of it
before he tries to move into it.

I thought he was
living in it.

Seriously.

♪♪

And just go wider
with the crossmember.

Josh: you're almost there.
Yeah, it's a little narrow.

Brian: now, we're falling behind
because the okamura trans

Is not playing nice
with the factory exhaust.

There's no time to make our own,
but josh figures

By adding 2 inches
he can make the exhaust fit.

Josh: to make the deadline,
we're tag-teaming this thing.

Jeremy and i, we're doing
the trans and exhaust.

Jason and brian,
they're tackling the rear end.

You're thinking we can feed
the rear end on top of it?

We'll feed it on that side.

Hot rodders and mustang experts
love the ford 9-inch rear end

Because it's such a workhorse.

First introduced in 1957,

It stayed in production
for years

Until it was
phased out in 1986.

Okay.
It's in.

I feel like this has been quite
the team-building process here.

That's what it's all about.

With the rear end
buttoned up...

So here we go.

...josh is putting in
the new crossmember,

And jason is getting
a jump on the wiring.

It looks like we're out
of the woods on this one.

Driveshaft,
are you ready for it?

It won't be in my way.
Feed it to me.

Oh, yeah. I love feeding my
shaft to you, brian.

That's as far as it'll go.

I hope that's not
all the way in.

We're there,
but we're not there.

Didn't we measure
the transmission,

And it was the same length?

It won't quite go
in the yolk.

Golly.

We're not totally sure why,

But the driveshaft is


And that problem probably goes
back to that new transmission.

We just got to get a new...okay. Take it out.

Another part that will
burn time being modified,

And we're already
running out of time.

The shelby show
is just days away.

One more problem, and we could
miss that deadline entirely.

All right.
What the [bleep], guys?

We're 3 days away.
-Trust me. We know.

It's pretty bad. I mean, I'm
having to wire your stereo.

It's been one thing
after another.

We're trying to make this look
like an original '68

Mustang shelby,
but there's so many parts

That are not original
to this car,

Making them look right
and fitting it all together,

It's really just one thing
stacking up after another.

Well, you jumped into it

Because you wanted
your mustang guy, so...

You said you wanted
to take it to that show.

I said, "okay, we'll
get it done."

We've done everything
to this car.

All right.
What about the top?

That's not even
out yet.

You know what?

At this point, I don't give
a [bleep] about the top.

We still got parts
coming in, too.

It's not exactly the news
I wanted to hear.

I've already committed the car
to the show,

And that's where
it needs to go,

So if the monkeys
can't get it done,

It's definitely not going to be
the kind of promotion

I was looking for.

And you added overdrive,
and that made...

-Yeah.
-...an extra day with the fab.

That whole transmission idea,
bad idea.

Don't blame that on me.

Complaints, complaints,
complaints.

Jason: we worked all night and
made a lot of progress

Breathing new life
into richard's favorite car.

Richard: I thought I saw some
blinkers from my office.

Dude, this is rad.
Yeah.

Oh, y'all redid
the front end too

Because it wasn't quite right,
was it?

It's all fresh now,
new headlight rings,

New grille,
new cobra emblem.

Was the cobra emblem
in the center,

Or was it off to the side?

It was in the center
in the movie. Yep.

That's rad.

I'm trying to be happy
and everything,

But you know we
only got 24 hours.

Yeah.

Now, we still haven't
started the car.

Everything is brand-new.

I don't know how we could
[bleep] that up.

-Have you not watched our show?
-Is he new?

Richard:
actually, it'd be a miracle
if it didn't get [bleep] up.

What do you think
we should do here?

I think it's under the...

The big one.

We're down to the last
couple things:

Transmission fluid,
power-steering fluid.

The systems are dry.

We don't want to start the car,
obviously, with that.

We fully anticipate the car
will start and run.

Mike: do a long pour.

That smells like old socks.

Yeah.

Ready for this?

Jeremy: everybody clear.

Here we go.

[ Engine sputters ]

Trying.

We're going again.

[ Engine sputters ]

-No, we're not getting spark.
-There's no spark.

We're not getting power
to the coil right now, so...

When we replaced the blown
engine with the stroker,

We used a wiring harness.

It would have been in line with
what a shelby would have had.

It should work perfectly,
so I can't understand

Why there's not power
to the coil.

It's weird.

Turn the key forward
to accessory.

No, we're not seeing power
once we hook up to that coil.

If we can just
change the coil,

And everything works,
we'll be good.

If not, it's going to make it
really hard for us

To get to the car show.

Coils can go bad, so we'll
change it out,

And problem solved.

-You got your coil.
-Mm-hmm.

Brian:
I'm going to make it fit.

-Let's go.
-I hope this is it.

[ Engine sputters ]

-It's doing the same thing.
-Try again.

[ Engine sputters ]

-Nope. Nothing.
-Holy [bleep].

[ Whoosh ][ tires squeal ]

-Whoo!
-Coming up on "fast n' loud,"

Will a mopar king's van
go for chump change?

Final offer then, $12,500.♪ Yeah ♪

Narrator:
and the mustang stumbles
in the home stretch.

We've got something going on
in there that's not copacetic.

[ Engine sputters ]

Nope.

Try again.[ Engine sputters ]

-No. Nothing.
-Nope.

The issue we're having still
is that we're not getting

A full 12 volts from our battery
to this post right here.

This post on the coil
needs to have 12 volts

For the ignition to run,

But right now we're only getting


So we've got something going on
in there that's not copacetic.

Now we need to start
checking system by system,

Which is a huge issue

Because this car needs to be on
a trailer in the next few hours.

Jason has to leave for the show,

And we can't even
get the car started.

It's looking like
a long night ahead.

Once we hook it back
to this coil, man, it kills it.

It doesn't like us.

Brian: turn it over.

[ Engine sputters ]

Nope.

We're running out of options
and time.

The interior,
still not in the car,

We need to buff it
and put the wheels and tires on.

It's a long list.

You sure you don't have
the black and red backward?

On the instructions,
it had positive and negative.

This says battery
and distributor,

So maybe they are backwards.

That's possible.
Jason, grab the schematics.

We need to double check
our wiring.

Jeremy:
watch your gauges.

Got you.

Anything move?

Yes. There's oil pressure.

Okay. So that's definitely oil
pressure gauge...

That's oil pressure?

...that we had
going to the coil.

-[Bleep].
Ready? Watching?

-Yep.
-Oh, [bleep].

-Yep. There's your wire.
-That's it.

So the engine harness,
we had two wires swapped.

That's it.

It's this one here
that's shielded.

We figured went down by the
header and went to the oil.

Apparently, it didn't.
It goes up here.

It can be something
so simple it just

Makes you tear your [bleep].

Well, okay, let's get
the coil back on it.

Let's get the wires
changed around and see

If this thing'll start.

It's late.
We're tired.

This better work.

[ Engine sputters ]

What's going on now?[ Engine sputters ]

-Oh, there we go.
-There we go.

-That's it.
-Whoo!

[ Engine sputters, starts ]

-Yeah. Start up, baby.
-At least we know we're running.

-You good?
-Yeah.

Let's just wrap it up, and let's
get the hell out of here.

All right.

Jason will totally get it
tomorrow.

♪♪

Richard:
when I saw this '77 ramcharger,
man, outside chicago,

I had to buy it
because I love

That it's a one-of-a-kind piece
of automotive history.

Supercool, man, super rad.

It was originally built
by mopar legend mr. Norm.

I paid $16,000 for it.

The mural, the 440 engine
and the dana read end

Made it totally unique,
but the idea of a single dealer

Creating his own cars
was remarkable

Then and unheard of today.

Russell dug around to try
to find a potential buyer,

But today, well, I loaned him
out on a garage rehab job,

So if I get it sold,
he won't get to bask

In the mr. Norm glory.

Well, you guys are serious.

You drove down with a trailer
and everything.

Eric: yeah, we're not going
to mess around.

All right.

Now, I have a soft spot
for history, but I'm
also a businessman.

I know the only way I'm going
to get my money out of this van

Is to find a guy
with a softer spot than myself.

Kind of got into mr. Norm's
stuff when I was 16.

Mm-hmm.

Just snowballed from there,
you know how it goes?

I'm eric walker,
and this is my wife michelle.

We're from
kingston, illinois.

Check it out.
See what you think.

It's a very historical piece
to me and a few select

Mr. Norm's fans out there...

-Both of them.
-Yeah, both of us.

So what are you looking
to get for it?

Well, I was hoping
to get about $20,000.

That's too much.

We thought that was
a little bit ridiculous.

Well, you can hope.

You can hope in one hand
and [bleep] in the other, right?

I wasn't going to
say that yet.

Let's fire it up.
There we go.

-Yep.
-You guys want to go for a ride?

Sure.
Why not?

Yeah.
The horn doesn't work.

I was going to say,
the horn does not work.

What do you think,
miss michelle?

-It's kind of cool.
-This is full-on your style.

Drive the kids around.

You can put a lot of kids
in here.

The van drives really well.

You know, it needs a little bit
of work, as expected.

Haven't been in the back yet.

How was that?
-It was awesome.

I can't wait to spend
more time there.

Sorry, mom.so there you go.

You know my number.

Yeah.

Let's just call it a deal there.
We'll be good.

I was thinking like $7,500.whoa.

So I paid $16,000 for this van,
plus shipping it down to dallas,

And there's not a lot of
mr. Norm collectors out there,

But I can't cut
my throat like that.

No, I can't go $7,500.

I mean, I can probably
come down to [sighs] $17,500.

How about $10,000?
No.

I'd be losing a lot there.

I don't mind losing
a little bit.

It doesn't bother me at all
if you lose.

I know. I don't want to
lose a lot, though.

I think we're still a ways
apart,

But I can tell by the look
in his eye

He really doesn't want that van
sitting around here on the lot.

Final offer, then,
$12,500.

I knew you were going
to say that.

Man, I'm losing there.

Twelve five,
we'll take it home.

If anyone is going to pay
top dollar for mr. Norm's van,

It's going to be
a mr. Norm's fanatic,

And I'm not going to find a more
motivated buyer than eric,

So it's time
to cut my losses.

All right. Done.
Let's do it.

All right.appreciate it.

Sounds good.
Thank you, sir.

[ Sighs ]
I just lost money.

I'm really happy
with $12,500.

I had $50,000 in my pocket.

I hate it when I lose money.
Let's go do some paperwork.

The van, to me,
is priceless.

I was going to take it home
no matter what.

Priceless.

Richard: golly, you win some.

You lose some.

Josh: it's scary how much stuff
is left to do

Because the way it looks.

It has to be there tomorrow,
but I think we got this.

We can do this.

I like how confident
you are right now.

Jason already had to leave
and go to the show,

And the car is torn back apart,
which sucks.

We still don't have
any interior.

The gauges are right here.

We haven't even bled
the brakes yet.

Today's the day.
It's all hands on deck.

-Mike coy.
-Hey, we got a issue, dude.

We had a huge fire
under the dash.

-For real?
-No, I'm kidding.

Hey.
-You son of a b*tch.

This thing weighs like


We've got, like,
just a few hours for the rest

To be loaded to go to tulsa,
and we're all exhausted.

Ain't got no where
to sit back here.

-Hello.
-Mine's red.

-Yours?
-Ah, yeah.

Lit up
like a christmas tree.

See if it'll start.

Brian: even with the setbacks,
I've got to hand it

To the guys for slogging through
and getting it done.

-Let us in.
-Nope.

Brian: the car looks great.
I can't wait to show richard.

I just buffed that.

Josh:
I didn't touch it.

We'll do a quick test-drive,
mount the hood

And put it on a trailer

Then hope that it gets
to the show on time.

[ Whoosh ][ tires squeal ]

-Whoo!
-Coming up on "fast n' loud"...

The mustang steals the show.

-It's 415 horsepower.
-Yeah.

It's a little bit custom.♪ Yeah ♪

Narrator: and richard digs up
his dream car.

I'll give you 200 for this car
right now.

But the owner digs in.

[ Laughter ]

Brian:
oh, there's a carroll shelby
tool kit in here.

Mike: oh, wow.
That's pretty special.

Is this richard's?
-Yeah.

-What tool kit?
-It's not yours.

-It's richard's.
-I don't see a tool kit.

I didn't see anything.
-I did.

That's what you always tell us
when we try to steal stuff.

Jason: for $100,
you didn't see anything.

No, just next time

I want to take something,
you didn't see anything.

Got you.

What does that saying go?

Honor among thieves.

If you're stealing some [bleep],
I'm going to steal some [bleep].

Sounds a lot worse
when he says it.

I think I'll give it back, now
you've made me feel guilty.

Hey, richard.

You're not getting very far
without your keys.

Richard:
when I started gas monkey
garage, my goal was to build it

Into the coolest hot-rod shop
in the world and a global brand.

This '68 mustang, it's been
with me the entire journey.

[ Engine starts ]

[ "Lake street shuffle" by


♪♪

♪♪

My buddy jay riecke commissioned
me to build this '68 mustang

About 12 years ago,
and when "fast n' loud"

Got good
to go on the air,

I really wanted the car,
and he gave it back to me,

And that was the beginning
of this car

And I's journey from a small
shop behind fitz's garage

To a global brand.

♪♪

A lot of things fell
by the wayside

While I was building the brand,
including this car.

Seeing smoke come out of her
broke my heart.

I knew it was time to turn this

Mustang into a badass
daily driver again.

The first step in doing that was
to give her a heart transplant.

We pulled the stock 302 motor

And replaced it with a
high-performance 347 stroker

Pushing 400 horsepower,

And that's about 200 horsepower
more than it had.

To make sure that power
gets down the road,

We installed an automatic
overdrive monster transmission.

[ Engine revs ]

With a lot of power
and high performance,

You got to be able to stop,
so we went with

Wilwood disc brakes,
four pistons front and back.

One of the biggest problems
I had with this car

Was keeping it cool
in the scorching texas heat.

To make that happen,
ron davis radiator.

Now, the only smoke
coming out of this car

Will be from the tires.

[ Engine revs ]

As cool as gas monkey
is already,

Now fighting off the texas heat
is a breeze

Thanks to vintage air
and one of their top ac units.

This car has been with me
through the years,

The good times and the bad,

And I'm glad we finally gave it
the love it deserves.

We set out to give my
mustang new life,

And as you can see,
we nailed it.

♪♪

See, this is more my speed,
boss 302.

Richard: it's blue.

-Look how nice it is.
-No, it is nice.

I'd drive that every day
to work.

Richard:
I've always wanted to go
to the mid america ford

And shelby nationals.

It's the biggest meetup
in all of north america

For ford and shelby enthusiasts,

And that's a market that I need
to introduce to gas monkey.

Richard: I figured if I can k*ll
two birds with one stone

And get my shelby fixed

And get it out
to the meet, awesome.

Forty-four years ago,
I had a picnic.

I had 16 cars and 30 people.

From there, I guess I've
just found a lot of friends.

Jason:
today, the show here in tulsa
draws more than 700 mustangs

And fords, all in celebration
of ford legend carroll shelby.

I wouldn't miss it.

The mid america shelby meet
is one of the places

You can find some
of the finest classic mustangs,

Newer mustangs,
boss 429s, all the gts.

Anything in the ford world
you like, it's here.

Richard:
for the size of that crowd,
it looks like

My "thomas crown affair" car
is stealing the show.

So if we want the top to go up,
we just spin this out.

-Oh, that's cool.
-As he drops it.

Kid: that's cool.

Richard, is this the crank
that cranks the windows up?

-Yes, sir.
-Wow.

-Yeah.
-Yeah. That's classy.

Well, it's
a little bit custom.

What has been done to this motor
and everything?

I'll tell you what,
we basically built the car

From the engine compartment
to the bottom.

How many horses are you
getting out of it?

-It's 415 horsepower.
-Yeah. Yeah, it is.

It's double almost
to what he had in it.

When there's a traffic jam,
I'm like, "yeah, suckers!" Whoo!

[ Laughter ]

Man: I think they put that out
on the market

That they were going to do 10.
-Yeah.

They all sold
within 24 hours.

No kidding.

Richard:
this is like being a big kid
in a shelby candy shop.

I mean,
just look at these cars.

-Not stock.
-Is that really 8.7 liters?

Brian: so that's like a


Now, in the mach 1s
that were this color,

They had
the reflective stripe, right?

Man: yes, on the mach 1s,
yes. Yeah.

Richard: yeah. All right.
Where we going?

-All right.
-Where are the real cars?

Richard, well, if you
can ever get him to...

He just...
He veers off.

Is it an r, or is...

What did you start with,
just a basic shelby?

-The gt.
-I wouldn't mind building one.

Jason:
if we build a car like this,
just for example,

That battery cable setup
is 3gs by itself.

So how much is this
$3,500 mustang?

You got '69 and '70
mach 1s.

You've got
early model gt cars.

You've got brand-new
ford gts.

-Yeah.
-Golly, this car is just k*ller.

You know what it needs?
A big, giant r right there.

This guy had one in gulf livery,
and I really wanted the car.

Jason:
he's got one of each gt40 in all
three different iterations.

Man:
yep, '68, 2006 and the '18.

All gulf blue livery,
that's awesome.

So what do you want for it?

It would start
probably about 2 million.

Man, I was really strong
at 1.

If I gave you


I'd just keep smiling,
and you wouldn't get to have it.

That guy is living right
if he can turn down


-Yeah, you're right.

If you want to sell it
for 2 million, you call me.

I'm your buyer.
-Okay.

I can wire it
within 45 minutes.

Just between us,
I didn't have the 2 million.

I'll say, daphne
is going to be...

Richard: come on.

There's something I want
to check out over here.

This is a car I've always
wanted, kr500 four-speed.

Please tell me
it's a four-speed.

-Automatic.
-Damn it.

-I'd still do it.
-Still close.

Man, look how original
the car is.

Richard:
so I saw my favorite car,

I mean, the car I've been
looking for all my life.

-Lime gold.
-Lime gold

-Lime gold.
-Five hundred kr, convertible.

I bet it's original
all the way around.

Fe motor, 428 cobra jet,
front [indistinct].

It's original everything, huh?
Are you the owner?

Yes, I am.richard rawlings, how you doing?

Dennis snow,
nice to meet you.

And this is your car,
one owner?

This is my car,
one owner for 50 years.

-God, it's gorgeous.
-Wow.

Freaking supercool.
All right.

Richard:
you know I'm going to ask,
dennis, how much?

-How much what?
-For this car?

[ Laughs ]

Come on.
You've owned it for 50 years.

Yeah.

It's time to let somebody else
have the privilege.

I figure this car,
at a good auction,

Would bring $130,000-$150,000
in today's market,

But I'll give you $200,000
for this car right now.

-Wow.
-Wow.

I offered him $200,000,
which is $50,000 over...

-Yeah.
-Yeah.
-...what it's worth.

-Not now.
-That's the love, right?

Should I go get the beer
and come back in a minute?

[ Laughter ]

Might get him a beer too
while you're at it.

Then I offered him
$201,000.

And he just starts
laughing at you.

Maybe in a few years,
but not right now.

-Dennis, thank you, man.
-Thank you.

-Supercool car.
-Appreciate it.

Best car out here, I don't
care about even the new ones.

-This is rad.
-Thank you.
-Thank you very much.

-Thank you.
-Thank you.

Richard: I think we knocked it
out of the park.

This was a big win, and if I'm
right, which I usually am,

This opened up
a whole new market for us.

We're just going to stick it on
the trailer, get it back home,

And then now I can actually
start driving it again.

I been a very bad car owner
for, like, 5 years.

Yes.

Please take care of this one
a little better, please.

-Yes. Enjoy it.
-Oh, no.

As long as I got y'all, I can
do anything I want to to it.

Well, if he doesn't drive
it, you and I are going to
take it out and drive it.

Hey. I'm down with that.

Let's do it.
-It's a nice car.