09x04 - The Pickup Artist

[bunniefuu]

Narrator:
right now on "fast n' loud"...

Like when you got sand
in your butt crack

And you been
joggin' all day.

Hot-rod hunter richard rawlings

And master mechanic
aaron kaufman

Are looking to settle a score.
-It's a bet!

Last week, aaron bragged
the monkeys could deliver

A beefed-up '80 el camino 1 week
ahead of richard's deadline.

You shouldn't be talkin'.
You should be workin'.

But minor problems...
-Agh! [Bleep] me.

Continue to turn into
major setbacks.

Ruh! [Bleep]

And the crew struggles
to stay in the game.

-Man, that's aggravating.
-That's a dome!

Narrator:
meanwhile, richard enters
a brave, new world

-Holy cow.
-In hopes of digging up

A rare '68 corvette.

And it revs up
for a smoking new venture.

-[Bleep]
-now I gotta buy a set of tires.

Narrator:
with pride on the line,
it's time to go all in.

-Damn it.
-Will the monkeys double down

And take the day?
-[Laughs]

Or will richard
have the last laugh?

I wanna rock!

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

[Strained] yeah.

Agh! Sorry.

-Dude. Come on.
-Agh!

I had a lot to eat.
Sorry.

Hey, is that heavy?

-Push it on in, boys.
-All right.

Don't get up.
Don't hurt yourself.

Is it a car
or a truck?

-It's black.
-It's black.

This is a story of the little


Well, so far, it couldn't.

Oh, man.
* El camino *

We picked it up in arizona
on what had to be

The hottest day
of the century.

Ow! Ow! Ow!

Since it's not really a car,
or man enough to be a truck,

I gave aaron a generous
deadline of 4 weeks

To kind of give it
some huevos.

-Oh, yeah.
-But since there are so many

Aftermarket parts available
for this g-body,

Aaron actually manned up
and bet me one even better.

He said he could get it done
in 3 weeks.

What could go wrong?

-Whoa!
-Ah!

-Good lord!
-Well, first off,

Aaron thought
he had so much time

That he wasted 3 days
reshaping the bumpers.

-Got a delivery for you.
-When he finally rushed it

Into paint,
he got some bad news.

-Don't have no power, dude.
-We don't have a paint booth.

Fixing that gobbled up


And, if he's still
gonna win his bet,

Well, he's gonna have
to step it up.

I mean, how'd that quote go?

"The best laid plans of mice
and bearded men."

Jason:
the paint looks great, mike.

Man, dude,
you guys k*lled it.

Thank you for
pushin' as much as you did

To get it done
as quickly as you did.

Now we know what we gotta do.
Jeremys, we got a lot of work.

We got less than a week
to get this thing together

And start runnin' it.
Oh.

And aaron's runnin'
a little bit late.

He's tryin' to catch up
on one of his own projects

He's building at home, so.

Hey, can you not lean on that?
It's fresh paint.

I just wanted to be that guy.

People are always doin' it
to me, so I wanted --

You shouldn't be talkin'.
You should be workin'.

Ooh! Ooh!
-Hey, so we need

To get this thing in the air,
finish the bottom of the car.

-Bye, suckas.
-We can get a long way today,

So let's get after it.

I know aaron didn't mean it,

But he pretty much put our backs
to the wall on this one.

I mean, we basically
have a week to pretty much

Build a whole car.

Get it on the train.
We deserve a push.

How do you steer
this thing?

At least we did
a bunch of the prep work

For this phase of the build
while we were in paint.

Harnessto.

The plan is to go
just full-throttle,

Do everything as fast
as we can do it,

And just hope nothing else
gets in our way.

Looky there.

**

* Ahhhhhhh! *

Today, the real fun begins.

We finally get to mock up
this badass ls3

From mast motorsports.

It's gonna give our car
over 600 horsepower.

That oughta move
our little el camino

Down the road pretty good.

Chop that wood!

All right. Ready to come
down with it a little?

-Let's do that.
-By the way, aaron called in

And said he'd be in soon.

He's still tryin' to get his
falcon ready for the next race.

Yeah.
And with the long hours

We keep workin'
to meet these deadlines,

I'm surprised he ever
gets a chance to work

On his personal stuff.

Like a glove.

Good fit.
-[Speaks indistinctly]

[Claps] yay!

Golf clap.
-Man.

So we got the motor placed in.

Had a v-8 in there before,
another v-8 in it, no problem.

But the transmission's
gonna be another story.

Our biggest problem's
gonna be stabbin'.

I mean, if anything,
it'd hit that pinch weld.

Aaron opted to switch out
the automatic for a manual.

And I get it.

Cheatham:
we're doin' a lot of horsepower,
a lot of suspension.

So it's real important that it
doesn't just drive itself.

We want some driver input.

But the manual transmission
is a little longer.

Aarrgghh!

And it is gonna sit
in a little different way

Than the automatic.

-Hold it.
-Okay.

-Are you down in?
-Yep.

You can reach
all the way up there.

It's kind of a good sign.
-All right.

Let me go run the jack.

Pin?
-That's it.

There's not
much more room.

I think we've found a good
stopping point until aaron

Gives us his thoughts on this.

Christie, bring those invoices
you wanted me to sign out here,

And hurry up,
'cause I got somethin'

You won't wanna miss!

-Goddang!
-I said, hurry up!

[ Engine revs ]

Oh, god. Oh, god.
Oh, god.

Christie, get in!

So, as you know,
I've been makin' a lot

Of sponsorship deals lately.

Basically, if you see
somethin' cool goin' down,

Well, I want you to see
"gas monkey".

Well, there's no cooler thing

You can do in a car
than driftin',

So why not sponsor a team?

What the hell? Gas monkey
has a drift car now?

Yeah!
Now if you think

Drifting is slidin' off
into someone else's lane,

Well, you need to watch
one of our old shows.

This drifting is when you
purposely oversteer the car,

Losing traction
on the back wheels,

Whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!
But still getting the car

To go in the direction
that you want it to go.

In a professional competition,
you get points for things

Like speed and style

And one thing that we know
a lot about here at gas monkey:

Burnin' rubber.

Watch this!

[Engine revs]
whoo!

Get you some of this.

Now, he can't breathe,
either.

Oh, god.

I think there's a bigger-wiener
competition goin' on here.

-[Laughs]
-[bleep]

Okay. You win!

Now I gotta buy a set of tires.
[Laughs]

When I heard that our driver,
dean "karnage" kearney,

Was gonna be in town
for a drifting competition...

Whoo!

I told him to come on by
and show us what it's all about.

You win on that one, man.
-Yeah, that was pretty sick.

What's goin' on, dude?
You ready for the

Big event
this weekend?

Yeah, I'm all ready
for it.

-k*ller car, man.
-It's pretty sick.


Or somethin' like that?

-Just over 1,100, yeah, 1,150.
-Dude, this thing is sick!

Rad!
-It's pretty badass.

'Cause it's got a monkey on it.
-Yeah. Well, let's do

A couple of rides
in the parking lot, then.

I'll go for a ride.

Let me get my hellcat
out of the way.

[ Rock music plays ]

Hey, don't hit my building.

[ Tires screech ]

Dean:
drifting is an extreme sport.

It's dangerous,
but not crazy-dangerous.

It's about big impact
and bein' in your face,

Makin' loads of smoke
and bein' superaggressive.

It's absolutely badass.

That's insane.
-Yeah!

-Okay. That was pretty damn fun.
-[Laughs]

-Whoo!
-It was fun. Yes.

-That was rad, dude.
-That was pretty cool.

You didn't hurt your
paint-g*n finger, did you?

Yeah. I might.
That's worker's comp.

No worker's comp on that.

Well, dude, man, good luck.
-Thank you very much.

I know you gotta get out
to the track.

Thanks for takin'
everybody for a ride.

So there you go,
another badass motorsport

With the gas monkey stamp on it.
The only problem?

They may not see the logo
with all the smoke.

I really didn't think
this through.

Christie:
I think I have tires in my eyes.

[ Outro plays ]

Okay. So we didn't
have the mount on this side.

So I've got a jack
stand holdin' it.

There's plenty of room up here.

It's just right here,
this is taperin' downhill

And our transmission
is straight.

But other than that,
though, it looks

Far more happy
than I expected.

Yeah. So oh, look at --

Look from up there
at the clearance comin'

Down the firewall.
It's beautiful.

Charles is checkin'
the headers right now,

Make sure all that's gravy.
-Grab this other one real quick.

When I decided to install
a manual transmission

With a modern engine,

I knew there would be
some adjustments to make.

And so far, it looks like
we're not gonna have

To make a new
transmission tunnel,

Which we were prepared to do.

All right, man!

You know, sometimes you think
everything's gonna work out

And it doesn't.
-No, don't say that!

But that was kinda the idea.

You know,
known quantity, you know?

This cute little header.

That's you know, I'm pretty
happy with everything.

Yeah, you can't be mad
at where we're at so far.

No kiddin'.
And, you know,

It's got the clearance
is absolutely great on it.

So that's exciting that
everything's just working.

-Yeah.
-Ready for the a/c?

Let's get that in there.
-Wanna get on the inside?

I'll feed it to ya.

Aaron:
the original a/c in this car
is pretty intrusive

To the engine bay,
by today's standards,

But it's still
in pretty good shape.

So we hope to not
have to replace it.

It would not only save us time.
It'll save us a lot of money.

We can just do some repairs
to it, put it in, and go.

I'm gonna let you steer
and I'm just gonna hold.

Hold on. We're catchin'
somethin' here at the top.

Charles:
nah, it's hittin' the bottom.

It's hittin' here,
so can't get that turned in.

This is gonna be
a little tricky, though.

Basically, this car
has the smallest dash,

So all of the heating
and a/c unit

Is actually outside,
in the engine bay

And our new performance engine
is eating a lot of that space.

How far back has that
side gotta go?

It might help you clear.
-It's tight.

It's gonna get worse.

The further it goes that way,
it's gonna go.

So that doesn't fit.

-None of it's happy.
-That bein' the case,

We're gonna need to cut
and modify the box, then.

**

Boop.

Ready?

Got that.

To and fro.
It's still so tight.

Even if we get it in,
we're not gonna be able

To service
anything very easily.

Yeah. I don't think
this is gonna work.

I think it's a dead end.

Aaron kaufman.
-Yeah!

-Well, it does appear to be in.
-It don't like nada.

It don't like it.
So you wouldn't be able

To service the valve cover
to check the valves

And it's planted
against this,

So there's
not gonna be room

To put your fiberglass
back in.

Son of a b*tch.
All right.

So we know
this isn't gonna work.

Let's ditch this
and let's build a box.

We're gonna run into too many
issues, yeah, headaches,

So at this point,
it's just a better option

To throw away the a/c
that was in it,

That's all big and outside,
and go with an aftermarket one

And build the firewall out
just enough to fit it.

Let's go ahead and make
a template for the ring

And then, um,

Let's get an a/c
unit out of a box.

All right.
Aftermarket we go.

With the aftermarket a/c,

I'm gonna have to actually build
a new sheet metal firewall

To come out and encase it all
and still clear the motor.

So it's a lot of work.

And it's definitely putting
a lot more on my plate.

Time is time,

Especially when we're gettin'
down to the wire, here.

So unfortunately,
that's kind of a setback.

[ Outro plays ]

[ g*nsh*t ]

Are you kidding me?
That's a dome!

Narrator:
richard goes back to the future
to dig out buried treasure.

I don't even know how
to start.

And the el camino
piles on the problems.

Dents.
This car's cursed.

[ Harmonica plays
melancholy tune ]

[ Heavy sigh ]

You've been starin' at that
for a while, aaron.

You see somethin'
you don't like there?

It's hard to hard to put

A clutch
master cylinder there.

That's a bit of a problem.
-Yeah.

It's gettin' busy
real quick over here.

That's kinda --

I got some other business
goin' down.

Ah, we'll figure it out.

So it's taking a little
longer than planned

To get our new
mast black label ls3 engine

Mocked up
in our '80 el camino.

Since our el camino was
originally an automatic car

And we're making it a manual,
I'm having webster cut

Into the existing trans tunnel
to make room for the shifter.

And since there's
no provision for mounting

The clutch master cylinder
on the firewall,

The next job for me
is to fabricate a bracket

That will do just that.

I think this one
will fit really well.

Cheatham:
on top of that, our bigger motor
crowded out the original a/c,

So we're gonna have to go
with a smaller, newer unit.

-Yeah.
-Dude, you're there.

That means we can't
finish mockin' up

Until I fabricate a box to mount
the a/c to the firewall.

**

We were hopin' to have this
motor mocked up 2 days ago.

Sound familiar?
Yeah.

Been there, done that.

[ Outro plays ]

Aaron:
all right. It looks like
we're makin' some progress.

What about the a/c?
How do you feel about all this?

Cheatham:
I got one more line
I'm tryin' to figure out.

We need a few more fittings.
Beyond that,

Everything is sittin'
where it needs to sit.

Yeah. Considering
the growing problems

When we first dropped it
all in here,

I think we've got 'em
all handled pretty good,

If we can just
keep that rhythm up.

Let's pull everything
and get it over to mike.

Right on, right on, right on.

**

Right now, the motor and tr*nny
are takin' a little side trip

Over to the paint booth
to get a little makeover.

All right.
Here we go.

Watch your toes.
-Stop!

Oh! My god.
-After I get 'em primed,

I'm gonna finish 'em out
with a matte charcoal

And that will really complement
that black, metallic exterior.

This is back when
they made cars

Out of real metal, huh?
-It is: 1980.

Were you even born then?
-Not '80.

Aaron:
at least mike's already
got the bumpers painted

And I'm loving the smoother,
tucked look,

But there's no time to stop
and admire our work.

Even though it may
seem like it on tv,

A finished car doesn't
just magically appear.

There's a thousand details
that need to get done.

They're not all interesting,
but every one is vital.

Let's see how magic works.

**

Watch your head.
It's comin' down.

You ever get that
shrinking feeling?

What's goin' on here?

**

[ Lowing ]

La porte, texas.
Are we there yet?

Almost.

You've been sayin' almost
for 3 hours, man.

I thought this was gonna be
an easy trip.

I thought we'd jump in
the sprinter van, stretch out.

Can't drink any beer
'cause I gotta make sure

I'm makin' smart decisions.
-[Laughs]

This is rough.

Well, probably about


So, today, I had
to head way down south

To houston to check out a car

And, since it's
such a long haul,

I grabbed my buddy dennis
and said,

"Hey, let's go in comfort."

Unfortunately, comfort
doesn't go that fast.

Are we there yet?
-About 5 more minutes.

I'm bored out of my mind
back here.

[ Outro plays ]

So what are we
goin' to look at?

This is a 1968 big-block,
four-speed roadster corvette

That, this gentleman
was in the service,

Came back from vietnam, I guess,
and he bought it brand-new.

-Wow!
-It's sittin' in his garage,

Where it's been its whole life.

And I'm like "it's got to be
in great condition, right?"

I mean, this has the potential
to be a great find.

We seem to be
slowin' down, mater.

Are we there yet?
-We're pretty close.

Is that his house?

-That one right there.
-Oh, my gosh.

Are you kidding me?
That's a dome!

This is it.

[ Laughs ]

Who lives in a dome house?

That's rad!

So when we pulled up, there's --
well, it's an igloo.

There's a freakin'
igloo in la porte, texas.

What's goin' on?

Doin' good, sir,
richard rawlings.

I spoke to one of you
on the phone, I guess.

-Yeah. Dane mccormick.
-Dane, how you doing?

-Scott. I'm his brother.
-Right on.

How's things?
-I live next door with my wife

And a couple b*tches.
-Right on.

-[Laughs]
-so this is a dome.

Yeah, it's a dome.

Did you make it
or order it or...?

I ordered it out of one
of those magazines.

And you keep a big-block
corvette in here?

Yeah, 427.

Holy cow.

Oh, my god!

They say you can't judge
a book by its cover.

Well, apparently, that goes
double for an igloo man-cave.

I mean, this place is a mess.
It's hard to imagine

There might be a car
underneath all that [bleep]

Is it okay if I lift some
of this stuff off of it?

Throw it off. [Chuckle]
throw it anywhere.

Holy cow. I don't even
know how to start.

Throw it anywhere, huh?
-Yeah.

So we do a little digging.
And sure enough,

We can see there's definitely
a corvette in there.

So is this a single?
A single four-barrel car.

You bought this brand-new?
You're the original owner?

-Brand-new, right.
-Wow. That is cool.

Do you have any of
the original paperwork?

There you go.

That's owner
and protecto plate.

-That's what I was askin' about.
-Bam.

Outstanding.

Look at that shizzle.

There are so many fake
big-block corvettes

Out there,
it is unbelievable.

That's huge
to corvette guys.

They wanna see paperwork.

Here's the other
corvette manual, dennis.

That's great, yep.
It matches.

This car's got
some cool provenance

In that he's the only owner

And, I mean, it basically
never went anywhere.

It hung around here and,
you know, parked in the igloo.

We're golden.
And I want it.

Gol-ly!

But it's also got rust.
It doesn't run.

So, you know, what's it worth?

Well, hopefully,
it's worth as little

As I have to pay for it.

So you were
tellin' me on the phone

That you were thinkin'
around 10 or 12 grand

-Yeah.
-And I can't pay you that.

-Oh, come on.
-There's no way.

-[Laughs]
-i mean, it does have

Some rust problems.

Yeah, it's got
a lot of problems.

How about 5 grand?

Oh, come on. You can do
better than that.

-Ehhh.
-What about $9,000?

[ Heavy sigh ]

How 'bout $7,000?

$7,000? Unhhh...

How 'bout $8,000?
[Laughs]

Man, it's gonna be a chore
just to get it outta here.

Well, if you can get it
out, how 'bout $7,500?

[ Suspenseful music plays ]

Shake his hand, dennis.
We got a deal.

Deal.

**

So we settled at 7,500 bucks.
He got a fair deal

And we had to do all the work,
so, you know.

-Actually, we didn't.
-Well, mater and me.

Those two guys and mater
did most of the work.

Yeah, they did.
Thank y'all very much.

-Yep.
-Greatly appreciate it.

Look at all that room
you got in the garage.

-Thanks for the deal, sir.
-All right.

Appreciate it.
-Y'all have a great day.

Dennis:
numbers matchin', high-option,

Big-block four-speed
with great paperwork.

Now I'm kinda wishin'
I'd picked this car up myself.

You want it for $12,500?

No. But I'll take it
for $8,500.

Nah, I can't do that.

Come on, man, $8,500?

I'll even pay for the gas
to get it home.

Dennis, your lips are movin',
but I can't hear ya.

Mater, are we there yet?

[ Outro plays ]

**

[Rattling]
whoo!

Just put it right here.

Kinda back where it was.
-Okay.

I think it came out
pretty good.

-Yeah.
-I really like it.

Yeah, me too.

-Sick.
-Oh, yeah.

Up against that black fender
wells and stuff.

Once I get the hood
over here, I'm almost done.

Shh!
Don't jinx us, mike.

Bye-bye, now.

**

So we're down to 3 days
on the el camino

And today it's very important
that we get many,

Many things done.
-All right. Let her down.

Keep goin', keep goin',
keep goin', keep goin'.

Look at that.
-First, charles has got to get

The motor and transmission
back in the car.

[ Motor whines ]

Urgh!

-You've been workin' out.
-Huh?

I said, "you must
be workin' out."

You wanna get in shape?
You gotta come over to our side.

Every day's a workout, man.

At least it's in there
for good this time.

We don't have time
to pull it out again.

Oh, yeah.

Once we get everything locked
down and bolted into place,

We have to complete
the fuel, brake lines,

All the hookups for
our power steering lines.

We gotta do all the plumbing,
get it all done.

Charles, since this car's up,

I'm gonna go ahead
and get started on the exhaust.

It's a kit, so it should
start boltin' on.

Ooh, yeah.
Got that premade x-pipe.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

That's what I'm talkin' about.

We need at least 2 full days
to run the car;

Go through the cycles;
get the wheels and tires here,

Which we still don't have;
get the radiator back in,

Coolant, check for leaks.
Okay.

That's the one we'll use
right there, guys, okay?

Got that?
We still have a long way to go.

We are behind the 8-ball,
tryin' to get it done.

We're running out of time.
It's still possible,

But if we stumble today,

It could cost us the project
bein' done on time.

Hood's done.

Whoo-hoo!

Looks nice and wet.

Think we've got
an issue, though.

-Yeah?
-Yeah.

Dents, we've got
two of 'em.

[Bleep]
[bleep] me.

-Yeah.
-I see 'em.

They're supersmall,
but they're there.

So the hood was always
in pretty good shape.

It's hard to tell in primer,
sometimes,

On exactly how straight it is
or if you're missin' somethin'.

And we move at such a fast speed
that it's even harder.

So I sprayed the hood
yesterday, roll it out.

Sure enough, it's got
a couple problems on it.

Are you thinkin'
what I'm thinkin'?

Yeah.

We blocked and blocked
and blocked this thing.

It's that glue.
-Dude, it just sucks.

Yeah, it's the glue
that holds the structures.

Don't put no more
dents in it.

This isn't gonna
put dents in it.

Hey, man,
that looks really good.

Except for we've got
a couple --

So you know,
when they glue the --

On the newer ones,
how they glue

The inner structure
to the outer structure?

Well, when you sand it,
it presses down

And that glue doesn't move.

So it's kinda sands
over it, right?

And then, when you
let pressure off,

It makes it look like a dent.

Shouldn't do
that next time, though.

What do you mean?
This was --

We meant to do that.
This is a test panel.

-Yeah.
-It was a test spray

On the test hood.

We were using
a pretty heavy block.

So what caused the problem
was our error, really.

It's not really a dent.
Nothing landed on it.

Nothing hit it.

It's just we just screwed up.

I don't think this thing
wants to be finished.

This car's cursed.
-Yeah.

It's got a voodoo hex on it.
-It does.

We're gonna have
to call a preacher.

[ Laughs ]

It sucks, but what are we
gonna do, you know?

We gotta fix 'em.

Our only option
is to strip it down

And pretty much start
from scratch again.

Luckily, they're not
quite ready for the hood,

So we still have
a little bit of time

To make up for our mistakes.

But we got a ton
of interior pieces

That also have to
be painted, too.

-Ughhh.
-So we're really gonna have

To hustle to get it
all done in time.

That's the boat we're in.
Just roll it over there.

Agh!

Get this demon
truck out of my life.

[ g*nsh*t ]

I need this car.

Narrator:
richard plays hardball
with dennis.

-No.
-Oh, come on.

While the el camino build
still can't catch a break.

**

**

So.

I don't know why you're
buggin' me about this thing.

I told you I'd get to it
when I get to it.

Well, you still haven't
sold it. You haven't done

Anything to it yet.
You haven't even washed it!

I don't know why you're
bustin' my ba*ls on it.

I'll get to it eventually.

Dennis:
so the moment richard
closed the deal

On the '68 numbers-matchin'


I knew I wanted it.

I tried to buy it
from him that day.

But he just wouldn't
do the deal.

I offered you a 50%
profit that day.

You could've
already sold it.

You did not offer me
$14,000-somethin' for it.

I paid $7,500.
You offered me $10,500.

I said 50% profit.

Oh, okay.
Well, there you go.

Well, I still want it.
That's why I'm here.

I'm gonna push him to sell it.
I need this car.

You're gonna have to
up your bid, man.

-Dude, it's rougher than --
-how about 15 grand?

[ Scoff ]

It's rougher than
a stucco bathtub.

Look at it.

You liked it when
we went and got it.

I still like it.
I love it at $10,500.

I don't like it there.
I'll let that thing sit here.

$11,000.

Oh, come on.

-No.
-Okay. Think about this.

In the last 4 years,
I have bought every corvette

That you've bought,
except for two.

So you're
my go-to corvette guy.

How 'bout $12,500?

No!

[ Laughter ]

You know how much
it's gonna take,

Just to make this run
and drive?

So he's arguin' about how it
doesn't run or drive

Or anything else like that.
I said, "dude, this thing moves

Like smooth sailin', brother."

You wanna take it for a spin?
-So you have worked on it.

I'm not tellin' you anything.
You wanna go for a ride or not?

I'll go for a ride.
It's kind of dirty,

But I'm in.
-Let me go get the keys.

There's no way
that drives.

I'm gonna close this deal
like I do every other one:

"Get in.
I'll take you for a ride."

**

Check it out, dude.

Smooth. Can't even hardly
feel the engine runnin'.

[Laughs]
it is pretty quiet.

That is for sure.
-Rad!

I mean, it's a little bit breezy
with no windshield,

But we can fix that.
-I think it's fine.

I think it's great.
-Like I said,

The corvette's smooth.
Can't even hear it runnin'.

Yes, sir.

So what are you
gonna up your bid to?

I need more money, dude.

Oh. I'm already in
at 11 grand.

I don't know how much
more I could pay.

Bein' that it's
such a good car,

I'm gonna take that.
$11,500.

-Really? Outstanding.
-Bam.

It's yours.
I probably could've made

A little bit more money
on this 'vette.

I could've spent
another couple of weeks on it

And maybe made $6,000.

I mean, it would've cost me
$2,000 to make that, so,

I'm probably doin' good.

Hey, go ahead
and take us home now.

I got his money.

[ Prolonged exhale ]

So that's what it's like
to have money.

**

You know,
the alignment's all good.

I am 100% happy.

-Cool.
-So.

Yep. As a matter of fact,
I couldn't be happier.

That'll do it.

Good deal.

So we can actually
almost see the finish line

On our el camino build.
I've managed to squeeze all

Of the clutch components
onto the firewall

And locate the clutch-pedal
assembly in a viable location.

As soon as charles finishes
assembling the driveline,

We can test-power the engine.
And we should be home free.

Just like I said
from the beginning, easy peasy.

[ Outro plays ]

Charles:
right now, I've gotta get
the harmonic balancer

Attached to the crankshaft.
It's a little tricky

Because there's not a lot
of room to work down there.

The crankshaft turns a piston
inside the engine.

But it's metal on metal,

Which could create a lot
of unwanted vibration,

Which could damage
or destroy the crankshaft.

So you put a vibration dampener,
or harmonic balancer,

On the end of it
to absorb the vibration.

The thing is it takes
a little muscle

To actually get it tight
enough to stay on there.

**

That's why I always like
to get a couple of reps in

Before I start.

Rrragh!

**

So close.
If we keep up this pace,

We should be able
to finish in like 2 days

And that's gonna
make good on the bet

That aaron made with richard,

That we could finish this car
in a blistering 3 weeks.

And if aaron wins,
the rest of us monkeys win, too.

So we're just as anxious
to pull this off as he is.

[ Clatter ]

[Bleep]

There went that.

[ Clatter nearby ]

Now, hopefully,
I can get that outta there.

What was that,
charles?

The rod I was using to tighten
the bolt snapped off inside.

Please don't be
stuck in there.

Hell, no. It's gone.

That sucker's gone!

[ Guitar strums ]

[ Clatter nearby ]

Ahem. I did it.

I jinxed it.

I shouldn't have
said anything.

I shouldn't
have said anything.

The other end
of it's in the crank.

-Damn it. Ugh.
-Yeah.

**

[ Clucking ]

This may seem like
a little annoyance,

But it's not.
We have to find a way

To get that little piece out
of the end of the crankshaft

Without taking the motor apart

Because that could set us
back as much as 2 days.

Bet or no bet,
that would piss me off.

So a little jb weld
on the end of this

And stick it on there
and hold it and then

Back it back out?
-No.

The chance of gettin' jb weld
on somethin' else

Is too high
on the inside of it.

An easy way to fix this would
be stick something in there

With a bonding agent
on the end of it

And then try and back
it out that way.

But if the bonding agent
got on the crankshaft,

It could cause further trouble.

Like how it busted off.

The other end
of it's in the crank.

I was thinkin' that
I could have that catch it,

Just spin it back.

Ooh! Maybe.
Because the way it broke

Right there, you might
catch that one edge, yeah.

Charles is gonna try and line up
the two broken pieces

And see if he can
drill it out.

**

Nope, nothing.
It's just not catching.

Man, that's aggravating.
All right.

Wait a second.
I think I have an idea.

Machine down a piece
of aluminum

That just barely
fits in there, right?

And then let's put a dome
on the back of it.

Charles:
so we decided to try utilizing
a bonding agent, after all.

Aaron had the idea
to get a piece of aluminum,

Dome out the inside of it.

We're gonna put
some like jb weld

Or some sort of
bonding agent in there.

If we can keep the bonding
agent inside the cavity,

Then we won't gunk up
the threads.

Bonk! Stick it on there,
let it cure,

And then just spin it back out.

**

This better work.

How long do you think
I should let it dry?

I'd give it
at least 4 minutes.

Ahem!

Hmm, hmm, hmm.

Let's see what happens.

[ Chord strikes ]

All right. It's time.
Here goes nothin'.

Come on. Come on.
You can do this. You can do it.

Come on.

Whoa!

[ Laughs ]

[Clanging]
mic drop.

Man, I'm gonna hug -- I wanna
go hug uncle aaron right now.

-What's that tell ya?
-Look at that.

He's obviously
been there before.

Just that little bit
of pooky, man.

Back to square.

Awesome.

I can't tell you
how relieved I am.

I mean, we went
from a defcon level 1

Down to a defcon level 5.

Uncle aaron
is gonna be so happy.

In fact, I am gonna find him
and give him a hug.

[ g*nsh*t ]

Narrator:
the el camino keeps
fighting the monkeys.

[ Sputtering ]

We are sorely
out of time.

Which hit movie's main character
drove a 1982 el camino?

As it a. "John wick,"

B. "k*ll bill,"

C. "The bodyguard,"

Or d. "Beverly hills cop"?

The answer, when we return.

Narrator:
which hit movie's main character

Drove a 1982 el camino?

The answer is c.

Kevin costner drove a 1982
el camino in "the bodyguard,"

In which he played
an ex-secret-service agent

Hired to protect
whitney houston.

[ Guitar strums ]

You ready?
Let's get this show on the road.

I love this motor
in here.

Snazzy, nazzy.

But there's a lot left to do.

We are sorely out of time.

Like when you got sand
in your butt crack

And you been joggin'
all day.

-Yeah.
-That kind of sore.

Let's just go ahead
and put oil in.

Okay.

Just days left
to my deadline.

We're almost ready to fire up
our new mast motor

In our el camino.

[Sighing] ohh.

What should've been
a quick build

Has just limped along
with nothing but bad luck.

But that's all about to change
because, once it's running,

We can sprint this thing
across the finish line

And collect on my bet
with old ricardo.

Are you ready
to fire this thing?

-Yeah.
-Yeah. Okay.

[ Sputtering ]

You broke it.

[ Sputtering ]

Uh, is that sensor
plugged in?

Everything looks --
everything appears that way.

[ Sputtering ]

I got a little backfire
on the intake.

That's cool.

That first time
we tried to fire it,

You could actually feel
the heat in the intake,

Which means it's backfirin'.

[ Sputtering ]

Ber-klump, blup-blup.

It's firing
the cylinders wrong,

Which means the valves
are open at the wrong time.

It's firing --

Instead of in the combustion
chamber in the engine,

It's firing in the intake.

And that's bad 'cause that's
what blows the intake up.

Aaron:
crack the throttle when
you try to fire it this time.

If it acts worse, then we'll
start huntin' bigger problems.

[ Sputtering, clunking ]

Yep, bigger problem.

Charles:
makin' this deadline
is kinda not lookin' good,

Which is gonna suck.

Nobody likes to fail here.

-Um...
-I think it's coil-related.

It very well could be.

It sounds like
an ignition problem.

-Here.
-We tried double-

And triple-checking everything.

-These are --
-oh, there it is.

I couldn't see that plug
for a second.

The firing sequence looks right.

But bad luck or not,
it seems like there's always

A little electric voodoo
splicing a new harness

Into an old car
like this el camino.

The systems are so much
more complex now.

Red, green, blue, purple.

[ Sputtering ]

Try and coax it along.

[ Rumbling ]

Pbbt!

[ Grumbles ]

I mean, it sounds
ignition-related.

But it doesn't mean it's not.

Charles:
did I screw up
something in the wiring?

I don't know.
No one's pointing fingers.

But the heat
is all on me right now.

Just tryin' to figure out

The wiring, make sure
we got it right

Before I go
and try to start it again.

Jason:
we're pullin' our hair
out a little bit.

This car just seems to
have something else come out.

Every time we get
two things fixed,

Three more break, it seems like.

It's just that kind of vehicle.

But it's very frustrating when
you're trying to wrap up a car

And you keep bumpin' your head
against things like this.

We keep running into problems

That are unforeseen
and shouldn't be there.

Can't get frustrated
at this point.

You can't lose your mind.

You gotta focus, search your
problem out, get it done,

Because if we panic
at this point,

We go back 2 or 3 more days
that we don't have.

Just make sure all my pluggy
pluggies are plugged in.

You got like
a whole internet highway

Of wiring goin' on
back there.

**

Hang on.
I think I've got it.

It was definitely off.
The firing order was off.

One more time.
[Buzz]

If it doesn't fire
this time, I quit.

[ Beep, engine starts ]

-Hey-ey!
-Whoo!

-Whoo-oo-oo!
-Whoo-oo!

-Hee-hah!
-It's alive!

Sounds good.

**

You can k*ll it.

Go, me.
-Yay.

It was all my fault, though.

-What happened?
-America,

I just want you all to know

That I take full
responsibility.

The coil packs
were wired backwards,

But, hey.

Ahhhh!
-Hey, hey, a huge relief.

But we're not out
of the woods yet.

The car's running.

Basically, what
we've got left to do

Is we've gotta
put the interior in,

We've got some last-minute,
you know, buttoning up of,

You know, fluids and things
of that nature.

Then we're gonna get
the hood put back on it.

All the things that are
gonna put it on the road

Are the things
that we need to do.

[ Outro plays ]

[ g*nsh*t ]

Narrator:
the el camino rocks
its grand debut.

[High-pitched]
* strawberry jam *

Let's make some money.

And meets its adoring fans.

It's freakin' rad.

**

Tony.

Charles can clear this.

**

[ Laughter ]

Yeah, why does this
feel so sketchy?

Is this tony hawk
or tony talk?

-There it goes.
-There he goes.

-It's the trick.
-There's a box!

[ Laughter ]

[ Laughter ]

[Clanging]
[laughter]

Ah!

**

[ Laughter ]

**

Mic check one.
Mic check two.

How now, brown cow?

[ Rock music plays ]

So do you guys know
where richard

And aaron are?
They're always late.

I have no idea where they're
at, but I am ready to

[High-pitched]
* strawberry jam *

All right.

**

[ Honking ]

Let's go, ricky!

[ Honking ]

Come on, ricky!

I'm comin'.
I'm comin'.

**

[ Honking ]

Come on, ricky!

**

**

Get you some of that.
-Dude, we're late.

The boys are
gonna be pissed.

I had to get my hair
right, man.

And it is right.
-Yes.

[ Engine revs ]

[ Tires screech ]

**

Ow!

All right.
You guys ready to rehearse?

-We're outta here.
-What are you leavin' for?

I had to do my hair.

**

See? He gets it. He knows.

[ Outro plays ]

Well, guys and gals
out there in tv land,

If you haven't guessed yet,

We build cars
at gas monkey garage.

And sometimes,
we build trucks.

This time,
we built a car-truck.

It's called an el camino.

When we first decided that we
were gonna build an el camino,

We were hellbent
on finding a good one

And snapped up
a 1980 square body

We found bakin' in the sun.

Aaron:
I didn't wanna
change it too much.

G-bodies are popular
and that's really what this is,

Just less seats
and more room for plywood.

But the appearance
definitely needed some help.

First, I thought the trim was
a little funky, a little weird.

So I decided to ditch
a lot of it,

Including the stuff around
the outside of the bed.

The next thing was the bumpers
were atrocious.

They were trimmed out
in ugly black rubber.

They poked out a bunch.

So one of the exterior
modifications

I wanted to make was actually
narrowing and tucking them in.

I ordered a replacement.
But in the meantime,

To make sure that
everything was gonna work,

I had the guys take
the factory-original bumpers

And actually narrow
those up to make sure

That we knew exactly
what we were gonna do.

When the new ones got in,
they sucked so bad,

They went straight
to the garbage,

But the cool thing
was the original attempt

Worked out flawlessly.

It was already
better to look at.

Next, we just had
to make it fun to drive.

When we bought the car,
it had a v-8 in it.

But it was anemic.
I mean, richard and charles

Couldn't even got a solid
burnout in phoenix.

Come on! Come on!

So we had to fix that.

Oh, man.
Look at that.

We figured the mast
black label 416 motor

Would get the job done,
especially when we switched

From an automatic
to a manual transmission

And hooked it up to a tremec t56
from american powertrain.

And with all that power,

We needed to not break
the stock rear end.

So we went and put
a currie 9-inch rear end

But tabbed all
for a g-body suspension

So that we could install
our ridetech suspension

Front and rear tube upper
and lower control arms,

Drop spindles,
big disc brakes by wilwood.

To complete the package,
I went with budnik wheels.

It's a lot of tire
for this body style

And they absolutely rock.

Now when it came to color,
we wanted to stay blackish,

But I also wanted to brush
all the aluminum trim

That we were keeping on the car,
which is a massive undertaking,

And then matte-clear everything,
along with the wheels

And a couple of other
components on the engine.

So the car was
incredibly cohesive.

So I needed something
metallic and something sharp.

It would work with that.

I was exceptionally happy

When I finally
saw everything painted.

I love this color.

The trim on the car,
the wheels on the car,

It finally started
to make sense.

Inside, we gave
the dash a fresh look

And we basically took
the stock seats

And rebolstered them,
changed the pattern on the seats

The way the inserts were done,

Reworked the door panels
completely.

And this thing
was ready to rumble.

So initially, I gave the guys


And aaron was so confident

That he said he could
do it in three.

-Whoa!
-Ah!

Things looked pretty grim

When the hand of god reached out
and destroyed our ability

To run the paint booth
via lightning strike.

We ain't got nothin'.

And later, when we had
everything done

[Bleep]
and it didn't start.

But the guys busted their a*s
and they got it done.

And you know what that means?
[Drumroll]

Aaron won.

And you know
what that means.

-I have no clue.
-Me either.

I was drinkin' during the bet.
What did we bet?

I'm not sure. I think
I was drunk, too.

Whatever.
No matter what,

I still win
because I tricked aaron

Into gettin' the car
built that much faster.

**

Aaron:
all in all,
I think this thing,

From license plate
to license plate,

Has come together perfectly.

The thing sits right.
It looks right.

It makes the right noise.

Thing's built to move you.

And haul your friend, too.

Richard:
and, since I couldn't
do a burnout in arizona,

You know what I wanna do, aaron?

Tell me what
you wanna do, rich.

I wanna rock!
Pff!

[ Tires screech ]

[ Engine revs ]

[ Tires screech ]

Whoo!

[ Laughter ]

[ Tires screech ]

[Outro plays]
[laughter]

**

-Let's make some money.
-I'm in.

The big car of the day's
gonna be

The el camino, right?

[Bleep] yeah.
There we are,

Right there on the front row,
man, on the front row.

That's a rad-dude car.

It's a rad dude.

So we're at the 2016
leake auction sale.

It's just a local
car-guy auction.

Anybody can buy anything here,
so I brought the '80 el camino.

Let's see what happens.

Six-speed, cold a/c,
deleted all the trim.

How's it drive?

It's freakin' rad.
I bought the car for 8 grand

And to get it
to what it is today,

It took about another 30 more.

Toss in the lightning strike
that took down the paint booth,

I'm in for 42 grand.

What do you expect
to get out of this?

What do you hope?

Between 50 and 75 grand.
We'll know in about an hour.

Let's go watch.

Auctioneer: all right,
ladies and gentlemen,

Comin' at you next,
a 1980 chevrolet el camino.

What do you say, 25,000?

$25,000.

Now $50,000.
$25,000. $50,000.

$25,000'S in,
gonna be $50,000 here,

$25,000. $50,000.
Now $75,000.

Richard:
so the bidding starts
an,d right away,

I notice a pretty
familiar face on the floor.

My name's jim west,
from hope, arkansas.

Couple of years ago, my wife
and I bought the rolls-royce

That richard and the crew built,
the troll's choice.

And then we also picked up
the '69 riviera,

Both great cars.

So I had to come and look
at another gas monkey creation.

Are you on it at $50,000?

You need to own it.

Bid $52,500.
-Here we go. $50,000.

Oh, damn it!

[ Laughter ]

Needs to go a little higher.
-No, it don't.

Yes, it does.

I'd already had my bid in

And he was tryin'
to get me to go up.

I think he was wantin' me
to pull a richard

And drink too much and then
overspend for the car.

$51,000 Here before we go.

-Son of a b*tch.
-$50,000. Last call.

-Let him have it.
-Gonna be $51,000 right here.

Sold!
[Bell dings]

[ Laughter ]

Right on, man.

You're gonna like
that thing, yeah.

You got the trifecta.
Outstanding, sir.

He ended up with this car
for 50 grand,

Which I think was
absolutely stealing it.

You got a good deal.
It's a bad dude.

If you ever want
to sell it, call me.

You k*lled it.
Excellent!

Well, we're [bleep] done.