02x11 - Mini Snow Mobile

[bunniefuu]

- [Big Schwag] Okay Monster fans.

The Big Schwag here.

Wait a minute.

We seem to be having a problem with our signal.

Someone's trying to take over our broadcast.

Wait a second.

That looks like Richard Petty!

- Jesse, you and the guys at Monster Garage,

why don't y'all get something together?

Get something together.

Come over in Wyoming and race with me a little bit.

Race with me a little bit. Okay?

- [Big Schwag] The undisputed king of racing, Richard Petty.

He broke right in to call Jesse out.

How's he gonna take it?

- [Jesse] I win. I win. I win.

- [Big Schwag] Will he wig out?

Flame out?

Or just lose it completely?

[Jesse yelling]

Well, temperature's dropping fast.

A monster blizzard is about to hit the garage.

Grab the kids and gather around the fire

and listen to a tail called Monster Garage.

[metal music]

- [Narrator] Join us now as Jesse

and his g*ng of Maverick Mechanics grip, grind and burn.

Transforming ordinary street vehicles into monster machines

in the Monster Garage.

[engines revving]

[metal music]

♪ Monster, monster garage

♪ Monster, monster garage

♪ Monster, monster garage

♪ Monster, monster garage

♪ Monster.

This week's challenge;

take a 2003 Mini Cooper and turn it

into a screaming trail biting monster snowmobile.

The rules:

When built,

the monster machine must appear to be stock.

[cash register chimes]

The team can spend no more than $3,000

in cold cash for parts.

Jesse and his crew have seven days and nights.

On the first day they design,

for the next five they build,

and on the seventh day they race.

If successful,

they walk away with a $3,400 set of Mac Tools.

And the clock starts now.

[glass breaking]

Day one.

[car revving]

Jesse mashes the Mini into the garage.

[brakes squealing]

The design team comes in from the cold.

[thunder booms]

Before the design team gets started,

Jesse has a confession to make.

- I have zero experience on snow.

Never been skiing, snowboarding.

It's cold.

[car roars]

- [Narrator] Their first challenge,

getting a track designed for a 500 pound snowmobile

to push a 2,500 pound car.

- What do you think? I mean, you're the snowmobile guy, so.

- Well, are you limited to one track or two?

- I think we're gonna have to have two

just because the size of it. - Yeah.

How wide is that track?

- [Engineer] This one's 15 inches wide.

So we need 35 inches if we use two of them.

- [Narrator] It'll be tight,

but there's just enough room under

the Mini for two tracks side by side.

Next they'll need to figure out how to get power to them.

- [Engineer] How fast do we need to go?

- Fast. - Fast.

I think the simplest way

to go is use the clutch drive line transmission, everything.

It'll drive just like a car,

but instead of driving front wheels,

we'll switch that to the back to drive the tracks

on each side.

- [Narrator] A drive train will connect the dual tracks

to the Mini's engine.

[engine roaring]

This monster machine also has to drive like a car.

For that, they'll need a way to raise and lower

the snowmobile tracks.

- I've got a couple ideas for that.

We could use a hydraulic system

to push this down to the ground.

Lift the weight of the vehicle up.

- [Narrator] Rick Soles is a paint

and body training manager for many of North America.

- It was a little bit of a surprise to me

that Mini would allow Monster Garage to take this vehicle

and I mean cut it up and morph it into this snowmobile.

- [Narrator] He's also a lifelong car customizer.

- If it had wheels

and I had one,

I wanted to race somebody that had another one.

- [Narrator] Under the front end,

they consider adding skis to both steer the Mini snowmobile

and to keep it from sinking into the snow.

- Oh look, snow!

Why don't we make a ski

that allows the wheel to just hang below it?

- [Narrator] Matt Lube is a product manager

for Polaris Snowmobiles.

[engine roaring]

He's also a two time world champion hill climber.

- [Matt] Think of a downhill slalom skier

going through the gates.

We go up the same mountain through the gates.

- [Narrator] There is a downhill element to hill climbing

and that's when the fun really begins.

[vehicle crashing]

The skis could be mounted to the Mini's front suspension.

- It'd be kind of cool if these things folded up

and actually blended into the running board.

- [Narrator] Rafael Zammit is a senior car designer

for General Motors.

- The Mini is all about customization.

It's all about attitude.

This is a car that's begging for this.

Your steering would be the the Mini steering

because this whole assembly would steer

with the front wheels.

- [Narrator] But will the front's skis be enough

to turn the much heavier Mini?

- How much turning do we get off of the skis?

- Well, I think we're gonna be wise

to try to do it with the track.

We want some helpers in the rear.

- [Narrator] The final design,

two retractable snowmobile tracks will be mounted

to the Mini's underside,

powered by a drivetrain connected

to the mini's front wheel drive engine.

Skis that ride just above the front tires

will be connected to the front suspension arms.

- I like it. Like it. I like it.

- [Narrator] Now all that's left to do is build it.

[metal music]

Day two, the build team enters the garage.

Jack Nickerson is an ace welder and builder

of custom hot rods and speedboats.

Hector Orlandi hails from Puerto Rico via Saginaw, Michigan

where he builds something he calls snow planes.

For Brady Cambern, there's no business like snow business.

He's the head mechanic for Tyson Snowmobiles.

Two design team members are staying on for the build.

Rick Soles from Wallkill, New York

and Matt Lube from Buffalo, Minnesota.

Jesse wastes no time

and rips the wrapping off his new present.

- Are we gonna really destroy this car?

- Yeah. - Yes!

- [Narrator] A 2003 Mini Cooper,

thanks to Mini USA.

This is the first brand new car

to come straight from the the factory into the garage,

but this one's not done yet.

Somewhere inside it's sporty compact frame,

there's a monster snowmobile that needs to come out.

- Alright guys, work time.

So we designed this thing, we kind of came up

with this Rube Goldberg contraption.

- [Narrator] The design calls

for the Mini's peppy 115 horsepower engine

to power both the car wheels and the snowmobile tracks.

But Jesse thinks that might max out his little Mini.

- The more I've thought about it.

You know you brought up a good point

that the Polaris motor makes more power than the Mini motor.

So we should keep it two separate vehicles in one.

- [Narrator] Jesse knows how to make a monster.

Let the Mini keep its motor

and muscle in two macho Polaris snowmobile engines.

One for each track.

When this abominable snowmobile hits the trail,

it will have a snow scorching 300 horsepower

to pulverize the powder.

- First things first. We'll take this thing apart

[tools whirring]

- [Narrator] The team sinks their teeth

into the brand new Mini Cooper.

- [Jesse] Leather upholstery anyone?

- [Narrator] Jesse's design chain

sends our snowmobile expert, Matt, scrambling.

He'll need to scrounge up two complete snowmobile engines

with all the fixings by tomorrow.

[metal clanging]

The twisted pleasure

of tearing into a brand new Mini, inspires Hector to song.

An operatic piece of his own, he calls Ode to Destruction.

[Hector singing in Spanish]

The easy part is done.

The interior is now exterior.

It gets harder when they start cutting

into the Mini's underbelly, especially for Rick,

the rep from Mini headquarters who hates to see anything go.

- Now this cross member,

this is holding the wheels on this vehicle.

Here.

This is a whole new issue here.

That's gonna be a problem.

- I think we should just ditch it.

[metal scraping]

- [Narrator] Rick and his precious Mini

are in for a rough time.

Nothing sacred to Mr. Slash and Burn.

- You gotta get your mindset in the Monster Garage mode.

All that engineering, and I'm just gonna go

around with the torch in it. [flame noises]

[torch scraping]

[metal music]

- [Narrator] The plan is to cut out a section of the floor

to make room for the tracks.

The Mini has a unibody construction,

meaning the structural supports are built

into the body parts.

If Jesse cuts out too much, the entire car could collapse.

Rick starts to worry if his Mini

can handle all this hacking.

- I think he likes to cut, you know?

It's just not necessary.

That cross member holds the a*s into that car together.

I don't have my own television show,

so my way must be a little too conservative, you know?

- [Narrator] For his part, Jesse isn't too concerned.

- [Jesse] You'll be all right.

[Jesse laughing]

- [Narrator] Matt and Brady, the team snowmobile experts,

know two things;

One, how to build snowmobiles,

and two, that the team is counting on them

because no one else has a clue.

Polaris has given them everything they need

to make it happen.

They'll start with the tracks.

- [Announcer] Freebie.

Zip.

Zero.

Nada.

- [Narrator] But these tracks are going to have

to be unlike anything ever seen on a snowmobile.

[mobile roaring]

A stock snowmobile track is 18 inches high.

To fit under the Mini,

they've gotta cut that almost in half.

Matt's plan is to toss out the suspension arms

and attach the drive shaft directly to the rails.

But there's no way the stock aluminum rails can support

five times more weight than they were designed for.

They're going to have to fabricate new rails

on a 3/8 inch steel plate.

Jack cuts out the steel rails.

[flames sparking]

Although Jesse probably won't use them,

the Mini snowmobile needs brakes.

The team needs to come up with some kind of gizmo

that will break each track separately,

allowing the Mini to steer like a tank.

Their monster snow brakes need someone with imagination,

someone who can improvise,

someone who can sing.

[Hector singing]

Hector Orlandi has been into monsters

long before they got their own hit TV series.

He builds snow planes, a simple, fast

and potentially fatal slice of frigid fun.

Take a car, put a plane or jet engine on it and hit the ice.

It gives him and his neighbors something to do

during the long winters in his hometown

of Saginaw, Michigan.

- Good stuff.

- [Narrator] If he can survive snow planes,

Jerry rigging some brakes for a Mini snowmobile

should be no problem.

Matt gets him going with a box of brake parts from Polaris.

- So who's your buddy now?

- You're my buddy.

- Yeah, don't get too nice there, Pally.

- I got parts.

Freebie!

Freebie.

- [Matt] I think you've been watching the show too much.

- [Narrator] The solution he comes up with is a masterpiece

of Monster Garage ingenuity.

- You put it like that and you can break individually

a lever here.

Use your imagination.

[Hector whistling]

- [Narrator] Hector scavenges through the wreckage

to find the extra parts he needs.

He makes a box to hold what will forever be known

as the Hector Stick.

Matt puts the steel rails to the grinder.

[metal grinding]

There's no doubt in his or anyone else's mind,

he's going to nail the tracks.

Matt wishes Jesse would nail down his plan

for raising and lowering the tracks.

- I think firm in his mind.

I think it's a little foggy in everybody else's mind.

- Airbag or hydraulic?

Airbag, probably.

I think we're gonna need to use an actuator.

Airbag.

Hydraulics.

Actuator.

Hydraulics.

I'll either stick with or modify my plan.

- So we're talking about having a link here,

a link here, right?

This is your four link deal?

How this ties in with airbags above here, or whatever,

you got that figured out?

- [Jesse] Sure.

- My disposition.

I'd just soon have a a little more structure,

not necessarily the whipping post,

but a little more clearly assigned tasks.

- [Narrator] At the end of day two,

the team has the track's trekking,

the Mini minimized and ready to fulfill its destiny

as the world's first and only Mini Cooper snowmobile.

- We got Mount Everest in front of us.

We got a hill to climb.

- [Narrator] Monster Garage factoid:

the classic Mini became known as the Mini Cooper in 1961,

after legendary British race car driver John Cooper

gave it a more powerful engine, wider tires

and a color contrasting roof.

♪ Monster. Monster, garage.

- [Narrator] Day three.

The build team has barely cracked the ice

on turning a brand new Mini into a monster snowmobile,

but nobody's worried.

Except for Hector.

The team's golden throated monster mystic

is worried about his Hector stick.

- Last night I have a dream.

- [Narrator] The idea that seemed so ingenious

the day before has one minor flaw;

it can steer the car but it can't stop it.

- The brake system that we have here so far

has been able to brake individually

but not brake the whole car.

So it will brake one or the other,

but anytime you need to brake,

you need to brake both simultaneously.

- [Narrator] While Hector retreats to the drawing board,

the snowmobile team pushes hard to finish the first

of the two tracks.

Eager to lend a hand,

Jack has joined forces with the snowmobilers.

- This drill press,

this is the one Noah used to build the arc.

- [Narrator] Jack Nickerson has been building fast cars

and speedboats since he was a kid.

- I started building cars when I was five.

I've actually done it for an occupation now

for about two years.

- [Narrator] But like Jesse,

he knows bubkis about snowmobiles.

- I hate snow.

It's funny that I'm on this show

because there's nobody that hates snow more than me.

- [Narrator] He also has a large tattoo on his leg

that he claims is his wife.

Sure Jack, whatever you say.

[machinery whizzing]

To finish the first track, they make an extension plate

to add to the front of the rail

so they can adjust the track tension.

With the extension plate welded in place,

they start adding the axles in wheels.

- Hey guys, here's our bearings

- [Narrator] By mid-morning,

a final piece to the puzzle arrives.

Bearings for the front axles.

- A little on the big side, but that'll work.

[register chimes]

[tools clanking]

- [Narrator] By midday,

the first of the two tracks is finally built.

Matt and Brady give it its first tryout in the snow.

- It works. - Oh yeah!

[engine humming]

- [Narrator] Jesse's goal for the day is

to restore a little structural integrity to the gutted Mini.

The man who took so much from the Mini,

decides to give something back.

To keep the car from collapsing in on itself,

he fashions a roll cage out of steel pipe.

[metal clanking]

The cage will also have to be strong enough

to support the snowmobile tracks and engines.

[metal music]

Rick is beginning to see some method to Jesse's madness.

- I'm realizing Jesse's a lot more of a hands-on guy

and truly a fabricator rather than just a a made

for TV kind of guy, you know?

- [Narrator] Hector's method is his madness

and he's conjured up a new and improved version

of the Hector Stick.

- I visualize it in my head.

It's kind of, I can see things moving in my mind.

- [Narrator] A second lever attached

to a centrifugal rotary will stop the tracks

by depressing both brake handles at once.

He's also adding a throttle control

for the two snowmobile engines

- That looks, that's pretty awesome.

I think Hector's too smart for Monster Garage.

- Oh really? - Yeah.

- Peace.

- [Narrator] By late afternoon,

Matt and Brady have assembled the second track.

The two tracks are temporarily linked with tie rods.

- You should make roller blades outta those.

- [Narrator] They prop it under the Mini

to make sure it's gonna fit.

Now that Jesse can see what he has to work with,

his plan for how to raise and lower the track

finally gels.

- We could link those together.

- We may need another link.

- And if we got lines, we can still get our adjustment

and have our ram going straight into here.

- [Narrator] The tracks will be attached

by a four-link to the roll cage.

A single hydraulic ram will raise and lower them.

The snowmobile team starts fabricating a support frame

for the engines.

- Here's our engine cradle.

- [Narrator] Jesse's got a clever idea

for raising the back of the car

so they can install the tracks.

Welded to the lift.

- If we try to tape it up on the lift,

it's gonna fall over.

- [Jesse] Do you have any duct tape?

- [Narrator] By the end of day three,

they get their first hint

of what this monster car is gonna look like.

- It's got that good 72' Nova look.

[metal music]

- [Narrator] Day four starts off

with an avalanche of freebies,

courtesy of our friends at Polaris snowmobiles.

- It says don't cut.

I'm defiant.

See they were wrong.

I'm guessing these are motor mounts?

- [Announcer] Freebie, freebie, freebie.

Zip. Zero. Nada.

- [Narrator] But the parts they need most

are still missing in action; the engines.

After a second rough night's sleep,

Hector has realized that there's yet another problem

with the Hector stick.

With two handles plus a throttle,

it will take three hands to operate.

At first, he considers using the Mini's gas pedal

to control the snowmobile engines,

but right away he hits a snag.

There's no way to attach throttle cables

to an electronic pedal.

- The magic of electronics.

- [Narrator] With time getting tight,

Brady, the swami of snowmobile is chomping at the bit.

- So I need this as soon, ASAP.

- As soon as you stop talking, I'll get it done.

- [Narrator] Brady Camber makes the fastest,

coolest, custom snowmobiles on earth.

- I am the kind of the Jesse James

of the snowmobiling industry.

- [Narrator] His pride and joy is a 420 horsepower

nitrous charge snow rocket.

It flies off hill at a frosty 90 miles per hour.

It also doubles as a jet ski.

[rocket roaring]

- I think everybody looks up to the craftsmanship

that Jesse has and I want to be looked up to,

similar to that.

Just this radical guy that built some really cool stuff.

- [Narrator] Rick welds on mounts

for attaching the four link connector rods.

[tools grinding]

The rods are attached to Jesse's roll cage.

- That one's gonna go in that one, I think.

- [Narrator] Once it's all in place,

they hook up the tracks.

- [Jack] Oh yeah, that's plenty high.

- [Brady] Is it up clearing the tires?

- [Jack] Looks to me like it's at rim height.

Okay, let her swing down nice and easy.

- [Narrator] The trick now will be mounting the two engines

so there's still clearance for both the track

and the hydraulic ram.

More stuff arrives.

So far it's been one nonstop freebie feeding frenzy.

Mini USA got it going

and Polaris is going to give until it hurts.

[mobile roaring]

Into the garage come two thumping hearts

to power the twin snowmobile tracks.

Top of the line Polaris Liberty 800s.

We're talking two-stroke, liquid cooled,



[horse neighing]

A moment later, their giant freebie cake gets some icing.

Matching sets of power boosting exhaust pipes.

Courtesy of Brady's friends at Starting Line products

- [Announcer] Freebie. Zip. Zero. Nada.

- [Narrator] Now the real fun begins.

Each engine is 25 inches wide

and requires a clutch assembly, jackshaft, brakes, gears,

and a drive chain.

The problem is how to mount all this to a 15-inch wide track

and still leave room for the four links and hydraulic ram.

They also need to make sure that all the belts, shafts,

gears and chains line up

and nothing interferes with anything else.

And Jesse found a new toy, a Polaris Predator.

[engine humming]

[punk music]

[engine humming]

♪ He's a monster mechanic.

♪ He's a monster mechanic.

♪ He's a monster mechanic.

♪ Monster head sucker.

- Woo! Stand up wheelies on the Polaris.

I want one.

♪ Monster.

- [Narrator] Back in the garage,

Matt and Brady have come up with a way

to squeeze the two engines into the tiny track.

Set one further back and higher than the other

so they can overlap.

- A lot of work riding on those engines

being properly in place.

If they're out of alignment,

then it's just a big waste of time.

- [Narrator] Jesse adds a crossbar

to hold the hydraulic ram.

With so much attention being paid to the back of the car,

nobody's given much thought to the second major component

to the Mini snowmobile; the front skis.

- What about the ski in the front?

That's another story.

- It's just something that I feel

that we ought to get some sort of a handle on.

Really. I really do.

- [Narrator] Jesse decides it's time

to rectify that situation.

- We're going to the land

of the misfit monster garage parts.

- I've never been there.

- We got some hydraulic stuff left over.

Put 'em right on the front bumper.

The skis.

Are you feeling me on this side of town?

- [Narrator] Jesse's idea is to use hydraulic rams

for raising and lowering the skis.

His initial thought is to connect them to the bumper,

but the always inspired Hector

takes this idea and runs with it.

- Yes. Find a better idea.

This arm is part of a suspension.

We put the throttle into the suspension here

and we can make it turn.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] As the end of the day approaches,

the intricate engine assembly takes shape.

- Godzilla, look at that.

It's not quite wild as Gargantuan.

River Gargantuan.

It was just like the monkey looking long hair dude

that went [yelling loudly].

That's all it did. And like knocked buildings over.

- [Narrator] Under the car,

Rick has started mounting the hydraulics for the front skis.

- We're gonna mount the skis on these hydraulics

so he can control that with that same hydraulic pump

that we're gonna drive the track

and motor assembly down with.

And what Hector and I have realized is

that this is a great spot to mount these in right here.

- He's stealing my idea.

- And it's gonna do a couple of real neat things for us.

One is it's gonna let us tie the back of that ski

into the conventional rack

and pinion steering off the Mini.

So we'll have the power steering

that the Mini has to steer the skis.

- We.

He includes himself in my idea. Okay.

- We'll also be able to use the hydraulics

to drive these skis down.

- My idea. Don't change it.

It's my job. But it's okay.

- Well we'll let Cisco

and Ebert over there work on the front skis.

We'll finish this stuff up tonight

then I'll help Pen and Teller.

They do. They look like a comedy troop. Look at 'em.

- [Narrator] The goal was to get the engines mounted

and in the car by the end of the day.

- I still think we're half a day behind.

- Tomorrow we have to be trying to make those things run

and make the hydraulic system work

or we're dead in the water.

- [Narrator] There's only two days left

and there are monsters still in pieces on the garage floor.

Monster Garage factoid:

in the United States there are 131,000 miles

of groomed snowmobile trails

and only 38,000 miles of interstate highways.

♪ Monster. Monster garage.

- [Narrator] Day five.

Three build days down and two to go.

The snowmen arrive early.

- Great snow.

- Having fun yet?

- [Narrator] But there's no time

for slow dancing in the snow.

This is Monster Garage

and there's a Mini waiting for its twin engine power plant.

The motors are mounted to the tracks

but they're still lying on the garage floor

and nobody started on the skis for the front end.

- It's gonna be another long day.

No smoke and mirrors. This is the real deal.

On TV, you see 47 minutes or whatever it is

and you know we've already been here 39 and a half hours

and we still have two days to go.

- [Announcer] Warning, warning, warning.

Be advised the work portrayed in this show is real.

These guys work hard, really hard.

- It's like more work than you'll ever do in your life.

But I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

- [Narrator] Mr. Freeze blows into the garage

and tries out his chariot.

- No, no handlebars, just a rope. Woo!

- [Narrator] Now all they have to do is squeeze 500 pounds

of motorized snowmobile track into a car

that's just too dam small.

[upbeat music]

- Looking good.

Forward.

- You good? - Yeah.

- [Narrator] Big surprise, it doesn't fit.

This monster is having a tough delivery.

They'll have to cut.

[metal music]

- [Jack] Fire!

- [Narrator] The poor Mini's had enough of the torch

and decides to throw a flaming hissy fit.

The fire's out.

The tracks and engines are in.

But before anybody starts celebrating,

Jack throws some cold water on their monster.

- We have 10 pounds of crap in a five pound bag.

There's two batteries, two hydraulic pumps,

two snowmobile motors,

two snowmobile motor track assemblies.

A hydraulic ram,

hoses, wires,

an extra tachometer and extra speedometer.

- [Narrator] Jesse needs to clear his head.

A little joy ride might do the trick.

- I would be safe to say this is the first snowmobile

that's ever been ridden in Long Beach.

[motor revving]

[mobile roaring]

Oh yeah.

It doesn't steer.

- [Narrator] With the rest of the team focused

on the engines,

Rick has taken on the neglected job

of building the front skis.

- We need a lot of surface area.

We got a lot of weight to hold up up there.

- [Narrator] Rick starts banging

on some 1/8 inch steel plate.

Whatever skis come out of this will not be pretty.

For maximum power,

the two-stroke snowmobile engines need exhaust pipes

with large expansion chambers.

The problem is, that these four massive pipes need

to squeeze into what little room

is left between the engines and the Mini's roof.

To do that, Brady will have to slice and weld,

cutting the pipes to half their original size.

They not only have to fit, they have to work.

- The thing about two stroke engines,

[metal grinding]

the way that they operate

and the way the drive system is,

if it's not near perfect, it won't work.

So the whole week would be a waste of time.

- [Narrator] There's 27 hours left

before their monster hits the snow or the shredder.

- You guys know if it gets midnight and it's not done,

we're not going peacefully like them *#*#.

We're gonna set the car on fire right here in the shop.

[expl*si*n booming]

[people laughing]

- [Narrator] Incredibly,

it's at this point they come up with their first to-do list.

- What about the mounting into the car?

Battery's gotta go.

- I could see this taking us all night.

I'm sure there's a few people that are gonna stick it out.

- [Narrator] The team has so much left to do,

they've decided to work through the night.

Jesse decides to let them.

[engine revs]

[metal music]

[tools clanking]

Rick is still locked in battle with the steel

for the front skis.

Brady has barely gotten started cutting

and pasting the exhaust pipes.

Hector has still got to get the throttle and brakes

connected and working.

Matt will install the cooling system for the radiator.

As the only member of the team who knows hydraulics,

Jack takes on the job of getting Jesse's ram to work.

[cash register chimes]

One hydraulic pump will operate the ram,

lifting and lowering the tracks.

A second pump will do the same for the front skis.

It's now past midnight, officially day six.

The team's last day to get the job done.

This is what the ticking clock called Monster Garage

can do to a competent man of sound, mind and body.

- I'm just using this box section to help me

calculate a little bit about what I'm,

what I don't know that I want to do.

This is just helping me like see if I can

come up with some kind of a freaking idea or direction here.

- [Narrator] It's after 1:00 AM

before the hydraulic ram is ready for its first test.

[tools whizzing]

- [Hector] She's bleeding.

There is a lot of fluid coming out.

- I used a piece of junk hose that we had laying around here

and it has a leak in it.

So, now I'm screwed.

[metal music]

- [Narrator] Jack scrounges up enough spare parts

to fix the leak.

By 2:30 in the morning,

he's ready for a second test of the hydraulic ram.

[car whizzing]

- She's not.

- [Person] You trying to go up?

- No.

- [Narrator] No more leak, but it's still not working.

Jack's hit the wall on the hydraulics.

- [Brady] What's going on?

- I don't know.

- [Narrator] Brady steps in to lend a hand.

- We've had several leaks, had a line blow.

We've got a problem with our valving.

Not really sure what it is.

We need to be working.

- [Narrator] When a team gets this quiet,

you know you're in trouble.

[crickets chirping]

- The car is winning.

- [Narrator] One look at Rick says it all.

We've lost him.

Where there once was purpose to his banging,

now there's just banging.

[tools banging]

Finally after half an hour of head scratching,

Jack comes up with an inspired idea;

see how it was done on one of the other monster cars.

- [Jack] Volkswagen has some hydraulics in it.

Maybe they hooked it up different.

- [Brady] Yeah. Okay.

- [Jack] We'll just probably have to put a hose

where they have that union.

- Okay, I'll do it. I got it.

- [Narrator] Turns out there's another way

to route the lines, the right way.

At 3:30 AM they test the ram again.

[tools whizzing]

- [Jack] It's all the way out. Look at that.

- [Narrator] Finally, it works.

- It may be three in the morning, but *#*#.

[machinery whirring]

Well thank you.

- [Narrator] But their problems aren't over.

They can't connect the ram

because one of the engines is in the way.

- This is the most important thing on this whole car to me.

This is it. This makes us or breaks us.

- [Narrator] It means finding somewhere else

in the cramped Mini to mount the ram.

- That's fine.

- I think this is viable.

I think the front's viable.

- [Narrator] Matt knows it's no time for radical changes.

He tries to salvage what they have.

His idea: fabricate a new mounting bracket

that will hold the ram clear of the engine.

And for good measure, cut off the last remaining thread

of the Mini's original backend.

[metal music]

Jack fabricates a new mounting bracket.

- The Monster Garage cooling tank for your hot metal.

[water whooshing]

- A shower and a toothbrush

would be better than sex right now.

- [Narrator] It's 5:00 AM and the ram is attached

to the new mount.

The dog-tired team gives it one last test.

[metal clanking]

It's not pretty but at least it works.

- Woo hoo!

- [Narrator] The exhausted team calls it a night

while they still can.

The sun will soon be rising and they'll be back at it,

trying to beat life into their monster

before the clock beats them.

Rest easy men.

[metal music]

- [Big Schwag] The garage is heated up.

The pressure's starting to build.

Will the team ice their monster?

- Monster is coming alive!

- [Big Schwag] Or will it be a Mini meltdown?

- [Jesse] I win. I win. I win.

- [Big Schwag] Stay tuned.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage

[metal music]

- [Narrator] It's still day six.

The team drags themselves in, dazed and abused.

- Hour of sleep. Much better.

- This is the longest, hardest, you know,

just ba*ls out the whole time, that I've ever done.

- [Narrator] Turns out Brady worked straight through

and won't stop until his Franken pipes are finished.

- Time's starting to take a toll.

I'm getting overtired but we got a snowmobile to build.

- [Narrator] What's left on their to-Do list?

Too much.

- We need to figure out the skis.

- We gotta hook up the chains. Finish the pipes.

- Install the cable.

- When that's all done, we'll make smoke.

- [Narrator] Rick's made it back from the slopes of insanity

with a pair of crude and misshapen steel skis

for the Mini monsters.

- These skis were kicking my butt.

I'll tell you, you know,

right from the get go.

Everything I seemed to touch went to hell yesterday

and you know, now I'm whining and crying, right?

[baby crying]

- [Narrator] Jesse arrives looking a little more refreshed

than the rest of the team.

The hydraulic ram works and clears the engine assembly

but the headaches aren't over yet.

In the down position,

the snowmobile assembly still shakes like crazy.

- As the ram goes up and down,

the whole track assembly is kind of wandering around,

can't find its way home.

- I mean it flails around and it looks crazy.

- We need to lock it in on these.

- [Narrator] Jesse puts his good night's sleep to work

and quickly comes up with a solution.

He had support braces and a cradle arm

to hold the track steady in the down position.

- I'm just using the old hillbilly method

of if it doesn't work,

just keep adding more metal till it does.

[metal music]

- [Narrator] Hector has been forced to fabricate

a second gas pedal to power the snowmobile engine.

- [Hector] Kind of matches the original design.

[tools whizzing]

- [Narrator] But he's still waiting for one last part

before he can test it out.

A fuel pump.

[rock music]

By mid-Morning, Brady's heroic effort has paid off.

The exhaust pipes are finished.

- Can I hide this? Frankenstein.

Oh *#*# there ain't no weld on that at all.

It's like the united way.

- [Narrator] Now comes the real test.

Will they fit inside the crowded car?

- You recognize either of these?

This one's got a funny downturned tail.

- So that one goes on first.

- Is it this one? This one.

[torch zapping]

- [Narrator] Incredibly,

he gets all four puzzle pieces to fit.

Up front, the Mini's under the torch.

Jack's begging it to make room for the skis.

The Mini's response?

- The harness is on fire.

Please get water quick!

- [Narrator] The Mini's main wiring harness is on fire.

Before it's too late,

someone hands him a Monster Garage fire extinguisher.

- [Jack] Friday the 13th. Friday the 13th!

- [Brady] It went out, Jack? - Yeah.

- It looks like the whole fire was the asphalt tape

that's wrapped around the harness.

Doesn't look like it burned any of the harness.

- [Brady] None of the wires look it.

- You are lucky. I think he's lucky.

- [Narrator] After 24 hours of pounding and welding,

Rick's skis are finally ready to be mounted to the car.

Not much curb appeal, but at least they're done.

- Kind of crude looking.

They're like way crude.

Kind of crude looking would be putting it politely.

But you know something,

today they're doing what they need to be doing.

So it's like it's Monster Garage, you know?

- [Narrator] The team has only six hours left

before their midnight deadline.

- Pipes are done. This is done.

Fuel fills in fittings, brakes to the car is plugged.

That's all the must do *#*#.

- For being such a mini car,

A mini but a pretty big project, so.

- [Narrator] Jesse always has time

for a good luck kiss from Jesse Junior.

- No, I want a real kiss.

- [Narrator] Jesse Junior always wipes it off. Yuck.

A new fuel pump arrives for the motor and engines.

[cash register rings]

They slap it in and prepare for the moment of truth.

[car revvs]

- Monster is coming alive!

[car revvs]

- Right on, huh?

Sounds good. - Right on.

- [Jesse] Let's go!

- [Narrator] Jesse Celebrates by buying the team a round

of Chaco Tacos.

- Thanks dude.

[cash register chimes]

- [Narrator] There's something for the Mini as well.

Wheels from Quantum Tech Alloys and tires from Toyo.

- Dude, you are a hero.

- Really? How come?

- Because I have seen you, my dude.

- Don't take it personally

'cause he just told me that like 12 minutes ago

that I was his hero.

- You are not my hero, yet.

I gotta' see you in that.

- [Narrator] Jesse cuts the Mini off the lift.

It's time to see if their monster will bite snow

or just bite.

Over at West Coast Choppers,

Jesse's arranged a little surprise.

A mini snowstorm.

A 60 foot stretch of fresh powder will either make

or break their monster.

[cash register chimes]

The snow has caused a mysterious outbreak

of kids in a neighborhood without any.

[kids cheering]

Even more amazing.

The tattoo on Jack's leg really is his wife.

The Mini's on the snow but it's not moving.

One of the track engines won't turn over.

- We're not sure if it's not getting fuel or not

and getting sparked.

- [Narrator] It's 11:00 PM, do you know where your kids are?

Down here.

- And only one of those things are working.

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] Please come get them.

Jesse's about to lose his cool

and the team's about to lose their tools.

[motors revving]

- One of the motors are trying to get it running.

It doesn't wanna run that good.

[motors revving]

- [Narrator] Minutes before midnight

they give it one last try.

[motors revving]

Nothing but monster.

[crowd cheering]

Against all odds,

the Mini snowmobile team has pulled it off.

- My brain itches now.

I felt loudness.

- Cool. - Right on.

Alright, cool.

- [Narrator] The Mini snowmobile is turned over

to the fastest paint g*n in the west,

Tom Pruitt of Damon's House of Motorcycles.

Pruitt lays out his plan.

- We're gonna mix some blue blood red.

We're gonna blend in some of the Molly orange.

What we're trying to achieve is the look of an ice cube.

[airbrush hissing]

- [Narrator] He's talking ice cube blue,

but he's seeing red

for the all important Monster Garage flames.

- The technique we're about to do is called marbleizing.

You have no time to mess around with this.

You gotta lay it down

and you have a window of about a minute to go ahead

and get your marbleizing done.

You wait too long and then you have

to start your whole process over again.

- [Narrator] Finally, a quick pass with his airbrush

leaves it looking like an igloo.

It's a stone cold monster.

Monster Garage Factoid:

The new Mini has 2,415 different parts.

Eskimos have 441 different words for snow.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

[metal music]

- [Big Schwag] Hello again, Monster fans.

Big Schwag here

and we are a long way from Long Beach

waiting for the start of another Monster Garage challenge.

Next to me as always,

my good friend Frankie Whiteside.

What up Sled Dog?

- [Frankie] We are, Schwagman.

Up in the mountains, that is.

Way out west in a place called Alpine, Wyoming.

- [Big Schwag] Frankie, I can't stop shaking.

My breath is smoking and my snot's turned into an icicle.

What the hell's going on?

- [Frankie] You're cold, Schwag.

- [Big Schwag] Oh yeah. Right.

Okay folks,

but we didn't come here to blow snow up your tailpipes.

We came here to race.

Today's challenge was laid down by a good buddy

of Monster Garage.

- [Frankie] And a good old boy, Schwag.

The king, Richard Petty.

- Jesse, you and the guys in Monster Garage.

Why don't y'all get something together

and come over in Wyoming and race with me a little bit, ok?

- [Big Schwag] Petty is ready to get it on.

And just outside the Bull Moose Saloon.

It looks like the whole town has turned out

for the showdown in the snow.

[townspeople cheering]

- [Frankie] You gotta be cool to duel.

With the king, that is.

And here comes the iceman, himself.

Jesse James driving up in his Mini Cooper snowmobile.

A nasty little monster called Snowballs.

- [Richard] Figured out all them gauges?

[car humming]

- Yeah, all I need is a throttle.

- Yeah [laughing] don't worry about the brakes, right?

- [Big Schwag] That's right Jesse.

Nothing but throttle.

[mobile whirring]

- [Frankie] Jesse's gonna need a big bottle of throttle

to keep up with King Richard.

- [Big Schwag] Whoa. The Mini's morphing.

It's a double barrel snow sh**ter.

So this is what a monster snowmobile looks like.

- [Frankie] Both racers are at the starting line.

Jesse's all fired up.

[snowmobile revving]

Jesse's revving.

- [Big Schwag] The reverend of rev,

Richard Petty fires back.

[engines roaring]

They're off!

[intense music]

Okay, frosty, how about the rules?

- [Frankie] No problem, Schwagman.

There are no rules.

Up and down the mountain, the fastest man wins.

Hey Schwag, check out the scenery.

Isn't it pretty?

- [Big Schwag] Why don't you take a picture, Frank?

Check out Richard's ride.

A brand spanking new Polaris 700 Pro X2.

Did you know it's got 130 horsepower

and can go over 100 miles per hour?

[engines roaring]

[intense music]

Petty's making a move to the inside and he takes the lead.

- [Frankie] Jesse g*ns it.

Richard might be a living legend,

but Jesse's ready to dethrone the king.

- [Big Schwag] Hey, wait a second.

Richard's overshot the turn.

- [Frankie] He's gone off trail!

- [Big Schwag] Jesse's making a three point turn.

- [Frankie] Richard's in the powder.

[engines revving]

- [Big Schwag] Jesse's back on track and so is Richard.

Oh yeah, the king is running and gunning.

He's back out front. But for how long?

- [Frankie] Jesse pushes his Mini to the max

and reels Richard back in.

Snowball's got game, Schwag.

- [Big Schwag] But it looks like Richard's

done playing, Frankie.

There's the finish line. He smells victory!

And Richard Petty wins the showdown in the snow.

That's the first ever loss

for Jesse in a Monster Garage Challenge.

[crowd cheering]

But who cares?

- Where you been, man?

[men laughing]

- One thing's for sure.

That's a Mini Cooper snowmobile.

- That's for sure.

And that's a snowmobile snowmobile.

- And you're still the king.

- Thank you, buddy.

All right, enjoyed it man.

- All right, man.

- [Big Schwag] But Jesse's got no time for slow goers,

snowblowers, or bad hair days.

- No.

- [Big Schwag] He's got sparks to fly, metal to burn,

because the next Monster Garage challenge

is just around the bend.

[metal music]

- Brady. - Right on.

Rick. - Thanks.

Got some toolboxes for you.

- [Hector] Ah yes. - Cool.

- Monster Garage CDs.

- Monster. Monster Garage.

[metal music]

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.

♪ Monster. Monster Garage.