- [Schwag] It's game on Monster players.
Jesse's reliving his gridiron glory days.
[boxes clanging]
What do the fans think?
- Monster Garage lift baby. Yeah!
It's time to cheer, leave,
[pans clanging]
or get out of the way.
Monster Garage is about to kick off.
- [Thom] Join us now as Jesse
and his g*ng of maverick mechanics rip, grind
and burn, transforming ordinary street vehicles
into monster machines in "The Monster Garage".
[upbeat music]
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Thom] This week's challenge.
Take a brand new Cadillac Escalade ESV
and turn it into the ultimate tailgating party machine.
The rules.
When built, the Monster machine
must appear to be stock.
The team has $5,000 to spend on parts,
and for this build unlimited freebies.
Jesse and his team have seven days and nights.
On the first day they design, for the next five they build,
and on the seventh day they tailgate.
If successful, each team member will take home
a $3,400 set of Mac Tools.
And the clock starts now.
[intense music]
Jesse drives the upscale Escalade
into its new down and dirty digs.
For the next five days,
the Monster Garage is going "Caddyshack".
The design team makes its way up the stairs
to meet the franchise player, Jesse James.
Hello, Kenneth.
- Todd. - Yeah man.
- So what we're gonna make is the ultimate tailgate vehicle.
You know, this is gonna be the most custom one we do,
you know, big wheels, lots of chrome, cool paint.
It's got to have a barbecue.
- What kind of grill are we looking at?
- I want flames.
Hell is like waiting for that stuff to start.
I just wanna throw a match at it, whoo!
It's ready to go.
- [Thom] It's no secret
nothing lights Jesse's fire, like fire.
[flames whooshing]
All that heat works op a thirst.
- Maybe we should put like a little keg cooler in there,
to have our own little tapper coming out the side.
- [Thom] Burgers, check.
Beer, check. What's next?
- We definitely need to put a big system in it.
Sounds, that's your department.
- We'll get it loud.
- [Thom] Kevin Kuenzie is a supervisor at M.A. Audio.
He's pumped up the volume on Monster machines in the past,
now he moves up to the starting team.
- This is really neat for me to get back into a shop,
get dirty again, make it loud, make it cool,
come up with new ideas.
You know, it's not even the electronics that charge me up,
it's just doing something custom, period.
- What about those side windows?
What about hinging those or something like that?
So they open up in like speakers,
like subwoofers underneath them.
- You mean make them like maybe roll out
like wings almost with good speakers in them.
- Yeah. - No problem. That's easy.
- [Thom] Jesse's going the whole nine yards
for his big daddy caddy.
- Should have like a big screen, plasma that comes out
of the roof like a 42-inch, choo!
Those TVs are heavy. - Yes.
- I have them in my house,
those thing's way a ton. - Yep.
The more we can counterbalance
whatever we have to move,
the better the hydraulics will work.
- Todd Blandford of Freedom Motors
spends his days perfecting high tech hydraulics.
- I don't think people give hydraulics
the credit they really deserve.
If they're done right and reliable,
you can do a lot of stuff with it.
- So I think there should be TV coming out the back,
barbecue coming out of one side,
and the other side will be like beer.
We got to put them all to shame with this.
The biggest rims, the biggest TVs, the biggest sound system.
- [Thom] Here's how a swaggy Escalade
will turn tailgate.
Suicide passenger doors will open up
for a flame-spewing, big sizzling barbecue.
A mega monster sound system
will have everyone hearing footsteps.
A 42-inch flat panel plasma screen
will swing off the back door,
and they'll top it off with a DVD player,
video game console and satellite tuner.
- All right, that's it, we got it.
All that's left is everything.
[intense music]
[tires screeching]
- [Thom] Day two is brought to you
in living ketchup courtesy of the Monster Garage blimp.
[upbeat music]
Into the Monster Garage comes an all-pro team
to kick some serious tailgate.
From Ann Arbor, Michigan, Larry Webster.
He writes for "Car and Driver"
and welds for himself.
Ed Federkeil from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He's a fireman and a custom truck fabricator.
Danny Webb, hot rod builder
and all around garage dude from Palm Springs, California.
Staying on for the build, Todd Blandford,
hydraulic guru from Battle Creek, Michigan.
And Kevin Kuenzie, audio wizard
from Anaheim Hills, California.
[dramatic music]
- Jesse.
- [Thom] First, Jesse introduces himself to the team,
then he introduces the team to the task.
- So we're making the ultimate tailgate truck.
This one has got to appear to be stock,
that I think everything should fold up,
that way you could pull right in,
everybody will think it's just an Escalade and then bam!
Everything that you would have to,
you know, throw in the back,
we're gonna make like flip out automatic.
And he's got the coolest hydraulic stuff
and it opens smooth and fast.
You know, we've been using actuators
for so long and they're so slow.
He's got them [imitates whooshing],
stuff opens really nice.
- I can pop all the doors.
The only thing I probably can't do is if you want the grill
to come out and then down.
I don't think I can do that.
- I think coming straight out, you know, like a big drawer,
you know we can hydraulic [imitates whooshing],
you know that door opens up
and then it comes out
and they even have actuators
for the door latch, right? - Yep.
- [Thom] When the build is done,
Jesse doesn't want to lift more than a finger
to operate the tailgater.
It will turn on, tune in and pop out via remote control.
But right now it's time for the tear out,
and that means hands on.
[intense music]
[parts crashing]
[components thudding]
[seats thudding] [Kevin groans]
- [Kevin] This thing's heavy,
you don't need them anymore.
- [Jesse] Problem with that it's old.
[parts clanging]
[intense music]
Keep going.
[team chattering faintly]
- And this is "Monster Garage" isn't it?
[dramatic music]
- [Thom] With the tear out done,
Jesse and Todd discussed the best way
to plasmafy the Escalade.
- So the TV would be basically dangling.
So the TV would be like that?
- Here's your door, here's your TV, as the door closes,
it'll just kind of fold up inside like that.
- Okay, cool.
- [Thom] Around the side, ED and Larry
start trying to figure out
how to make the doors open suicide style.
- So if we cut this B-post out,
zip it, zip it- - Weld it it to the door.
- [Larry] Weld it to the door.
- [Thom] But Larry's not sure
that's the best game plan.
- Really need this opening.
So does that mean we still suicide that door
or do we use the stock hinges?
Which would be a, it would look maybe
a little bit cleaner when the whole thing's done
if you use a lot of the stock pieces.
If it didn't, the doors don't fly open.
You know, 'cause he talked about wanting the thing
to be on actuators and fly open, you know.
So I think that's what we got to do.
I mean whatever, you know, see what he says.
- You could probably just hinge it like this,
but take that limiter off it so it opens to 90.
- [Jesse] You just wanna open this to 90 and not suicide it?
- I don't think we need to. - Okay.
- If it's suicide,
it's gonna be hard to do the latch and all that stuff.
- [Thom] Only partway through the first day
of the build, Jesse's sized up the team
and he's confident he can turn them loose.
- [Jesse] These guys are good.
I can tell in the first 30 seconds,
just by the questions they ask and stuff
they're good guys.
- [Thom] Todd wheels in the first batch
of critical components.
[dramatic music]
- We got solenoids to open the back door.
Hydraulic cylinders to open the back door.
This is the heart of the system right here,
this is the pumps that we're gonna use
to power all the doors.
- [Thom] Meanwhile, Kevin heads out
for an audio-video shopping spree.
- We're gonna get some 10-inch subwoofers.
We're gonna grab some of the hardcore amplifiers.
[dramatic whooshing]
Video controller.
Seven-inch screen out of the dash.
[dramatic whooshing]
You got to have DVD player.
Of course a TV tuner.
Looks like we got everything.
Time to rock and roll.
[dramatic music]
I am ready to get to work now.
- [Thom] To create the speaker wings,
the rear windows need to be removed.
They put a call out for an auto glass special teams member.
- [ED] Hey dude, what's happening man?
- I'm Brian. - Brian, I'm Ed.
What's going on? - Get this.
[intense music]
- We beat the guy up for 75 bucks and he's over there dying.
I kind of feel bad. Not.
[intense music]
- We are gonna build a speaker cabinet
that's the shape of the window
with the speakers firing out.
Through that'll be some type of hydraulic arm
that'll push the window open to show where the speakers are.
[dramatic music]
[solder sizzling]
- I think we're in pretty good shape right now,
we've got the interior gutted, we got some parts ordered.
Danny's working on skin in that door,
which is gonna be the door, the access door for the grill.
- [Thom] Ed and Todd talk over the sliding tracks,
they're critical to keeping the tailgate goodies
inside the Escalade until Jesse's ready to reveal.
- I would need to know exactly how big you want that track.
- [Todd] I know, just chill out.
- [Thom] Ed is having a hard time
understanding what Todd wants.
- How far do you want it to come this way?
- 48 inches.
- [Thom] As usual it's a matter of inches.
- [Ed] 48 inches from up here?
- Yeah.
We need to get the whole- - You want 48 inches?
- Yeah.
- How much do you want sticking out of that door over there?
- All of it.
- You want all 40 inches hanging out at the end of there?
- Oh hell yeah. I want it out eight inches from the vehicle.
- Okay, I'm gonna take this with me when I call the guy.
[Todd Laughing]
- [Thom] Kevin scores an extra alternator.
♪ Freebie
♪ Zero
♪ Nada
- That is what you call a big bad mamma jamma,
gonna give us all the juice we need to run our TVs,
our stereo, our hydraulics.
- [Thom] Because this super tailgate beast
will be full of electronics,
the team needs an alternator on steroids.
- We're going to put dual alternators in this
because we need more current,
we need more amperage, we need more voltage.
- [Thom] Larry tackles the intricate task
of installing the new alternator.
[upbeat music]
- Well we got a problem.
- [Thom] Check it out Monster fans,
"Car and Driver" Magazine is in the house
and Larry Webster is not only a wordsmith,
he's also the magazine's on air test driving talent.
- I have the best job in the world in my opinion.
[car engine revving]
I'm paid to drive these cars as fast as they'll go.
except to say whoa!
Shows on here that the belt nicely goes
right by this little bolt that holds on the alternator.
You see that the belt's gonna rub on there,
and what that'll do is, that's gonna,
that'll shred the belt in two turns.
Of course you only got one belt.
I think probably what I'll end up doing
is grinding that bolt down.
- [Thom] Before the grinding,
Larry goes back to the playbook
and figures out his alternator error.
[upbeat music]
- Well, if you mount the bracket right, it works just fine.
I had accidentally flipped it over,
so when I tried to move it, it was binding up
and then that made me think that the belt was too short,
but in fact the belt was the right length.
So it was a installation error. [laughs]
I've never done that before, I don't know what happened.
[equipment grinding] It's the first day, you know,
you're allowed to make a few.
- [Thom] The team is still learning how to gel,
but they've made good progress
on the way to tailgating heaven.
Monster Garage factoid.
Joe Cahn is the self-appointed
commissioner of tailgating.
In the last eight years, he has traveled
to all 32 NFL stadiums, over 60 college stadiums,
and seven NASCAR tracks,
tailgated with hundreds of thousands
of people and served more than 137 pots of jambalaya.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Thom] Day three.
[lively music]
The builders begin with the pre-game strategy session.
- What we need to do first is come up with a game plan
where we want to be by
the end of the day. - Yes, absolutely.
- Dan, the man here is gonna go ahead
and heliarc us up a nice stainless steel fire box
for the grill.
- So you and I'll do the back door?
- I'm gonna try and get both those side doors
taken care of today.
- [Jesse] Go team!
- [All] Great.
- Hey guys, I got got the beverage stuff here
for you that you're looking for.
- Let's see what you got.
- [Thom] Just the thing to start the day: cold beer.
- Because as it comes through here,
it's gonna chill the beer.
- How much volume does this coil hold?
- [Beer man] It's 50 feet of coil,
so that's roughly about two-and-a-half 14 ounce glasses.
- Two 14 ounce beers for a Monster tailgate party
ain't gonna go very far. - No.
[dramatic digital whooshing]
- [Thom] Ed Federkeil is president
of California Custom Sport Trucks
in Fort Lauderdale, Florida,
and a high ranking lieutenant
on the Broward County Fire Department's Hazmat Team.
- We respond to all the hazardous materials incidents
which entail chemical emergencies, gas leaks,
suspicious threats of weapons of mass destruction,
and things of that nature.
- So we might need to do something bigger,
we could put like 150-foot coil on here,
and that handles five.
You can open the faucet all day.
- That might be what's appropriate-
- [Beer man] If he puts 150 in there, yeah.
- [Thom] They send the beer man
back to the drawing board
to monsterize the kegerator.
And Jesse cruises in with a cool Monster freebie
fit to make a sports fan freak.
♪ Freebie
♪ Zero
♪ Nada
- [Thom] Kevin gets a gift too,
a 17-inch monitor to go with his Xbox.
- [Kevin] Put it away before I break it.
- [Thom] To make their side door swing,
they'll use hydraulic shocks.
Todd is laboring over their placement.
- Anytime you open up something past like a 90 degrees
you kind of run into problems,
you need to make sure your cylinders are optimally placed.
It can be a little tricky,
but hopefully this will be a [clicks tongue]
bang, bang, bang and get it done.
- [Thom] To glide the bar
and barbecue from their ride,
the builders bring in bed slides.
[thoughtful music]
- Sliders. - This is it.
- [Thom] To make sure they got them in time,
the boys from Bedslide drove all night.
- Just drop it in there.
[intense music]
- [Ed] Little twist to the wrist.
[slider scraping]
This is a feat in itself
for you to knock this out
and drive it here from Medford, Oregon overnight.
- Well we're happy to do it.
Big fan club up there.
[fans cheering]
- Thanks. - Right buddy, take care.
- We're gonna make some little tabs,
get that thing bolted in and get it leveled out
and we'll be good to go.
- [Thom] The rack is in the back,
there's some glide for the side,
and Kevin sinks his teeth into the dashboard electronics.
- [Kevin] This is awesome.
TV time.
- [Thom] Danny and Todd size up the Monster grill.
We could lay this out in one piece.
Hold it.
[thoughtful music]
Basically the grill's gonna look something like this.
- [Thom] 20-year-old Danny Webb
is a hot rod child prodigy.
In his short career he's become a major player
in the industry.
- Basically we'll start from the frame up
and just go from there until the car's finished.
We try to stay for the older stuff,
we don't really like the newer stuff.
[door scrapping]
- [Thom] 310 shows up
and the Monster team checks out the competition.
- 20, 22-inch Lowenhart LD1 with the custom Cadillac caps.
- [Thom] They've brought one with top sound styling.
- Put the three twelves across the back here.
You know this the kind of car
you'd be heard three, four blocks away.
- [Thom] An Escalade for the geek supreme.
- What I've done here is actually put a computer in the car.
What we've done is put the hard drive in,
we put the wireless keyboard in,
we put the flip down monitor
so I can pull up DVD video, Photoshop, pretty much anything.
- [Thom] And the ultra plush version to roll in style.
- And what we did here, completely painted it red,
we put the 24-inch.
We also have a wheel that spins on it.
This interior modifications where we did the red
and suede insert seats.
We did a quilted headliner.
Jazz it up as best as possible.
Come on in, check ours out.
- Our sound system's coming out the side,
so we get to be heard. - Wow!
- 42-inch plasma gonna roll out the back.
- That's real nice. - Got to have the mini bar.
We're gonna throw some barbecue up on the side.
Get some hot links and pigs, whatever.
- [laughing] Oh yeah, I can't steal too many ideas,
but I definitely appreciate the visit,
and I'll see you guys soon, okay,
- [Thom] The bed slide for the side-mounted grille
is welded into position.
- So now we're cooking.
- [Thom] Next on their to-do list,
the side door hydraulic cylinder.
- The cylinders generate
about 13 to 1,400 pounds of force at this point.
[welder sizzling]
- [Thom] The hydraulics are mounted and ready to test.
[grinder grinding]
- [Jesse] Whoa! Don't you love those hydraulics?
- [Todd] That's sweet.
- Don't you like the action on those?
[upbeat music]
- I say let's go dude. - All right.
- I say that's a go.
- [Thom] Jesse rewards his team with a brand new set
of Jesse James 26-inch rims
and some slick run flats.
- [Jesse] You don't think them are too big, do you?
♪ Freebie
♪ Zero
♪ Nada
- The rims are the most important thing
on any kind of vehicle.
That's gonna be pretty cool.
It's definitely gonna turn some heads.
- [Thom] A set of Big Brakes roll in
to give the tailgater heavyweight stopping power.
[intense music]
The added weight of the tricked out rims
requires heavy duty brakes from BT.
- Stick these bigger ones on there
and that'll help the mechanic, you know,
'cause those wheels, that rotating weight
is the hardest thing to stop and, you know,
puts those stock rotors at a mechanical disadvantage, so.
- [Thom] There's only one thing Jesse can say
about a guy who uses stock breaks.
Anytime you see some dude rolling on 24s or 26s
with stock brakes, he's a dummy.
- [Thom] For the 80-pound plasma screen
to take its place in the lineup,
they'll need a plan and some steel.
- Right there.
- You wanna leave it hanging straight down?
- I think so.
And all we need now is the brackets.
- He's happy with it, I'm happy with it.
- [Thom] They'll use square tubing to suspend
their tailgating TV.
[welder sizzling] [intense music]
Team tailgate gained some ground today,
it's time to head for the showers,
but tomorrow they'll need to hit the field running.
[upbeat music]
The coach kicks off day four, studying the playbook
for his Monster's brand new big breaks.
- Always read the instructions.
- [Thom] Then he gets to work installing them.
- This is just like a big motorcycle.
The stock one isn't even a four-piston caliper,
it's just a two piston, so it just pushes on the rotor
from this one side.
This is like a full, big, big bore four-piston.
So should be a million percent better.
[light music]
- [Thom] Jesse's Big Breaks are ready to stop on a dime.
[instrument rattles]
A box of goodies arrive from Todd's shop,
parts they'll need to get
the tailgater's backfield in motion
and automate the slide out bar.
- We got stuff dude. - All right.
♪ Freebie
♪ Zero
♪ Nada
- Basically they're nothing more
than power window motors, but they should work.
[metal clanging]
We're gonna drive this grill out
using this gear rack and a power motor,
and we're gonna mount the motor to the grill
part of the carriage.
So as the motor spins it'll just basically
bring this right on out.
Simple in theory. - Yeah.
- [Thom] Danny drags in the parts
they're going to need to custom build
the propane gas party grill.
- Barbecue parts.
Fly hose with the regulator
for the propane bottle.
Burner tubes.
The supply lines, the hard lines.
- It's all different lengths
to go do whatever we want to go to.
- [Thom] To make the wooden speaker boxes
for the side windows,
Kevin starts with cardboard.
- I'm making templates for the side windows
where the subwoofer enclosures are gonna be.
A 10-inch subwoofer here, 10-inch subwoofer here.
Six-and-a-half-inch coax speaker
and then a four-inch coax speaker.
[tool whirring]
[upbeat music]
It's 11:20 and I probably got about
Boom, boom, boom, boom.
Everything I make hurts your ears.
[machine grinding]
Ta-da.
- Ed.
Guys, I got your jumbo pack here.
- [Thom] The beer guy brings back a supersized system
for the party bar. - Yeah.
[intense music]
- Oh yeah! - Okay.
- Good luck dude. - Thanks man.
Really appreciate it.
Ready to install the 120-foot beer cooler coil
and I'm hoping to be pouring some
cold ones here very shortly.
- [Thom] While Ed finishes up the beer cooler,
Jesse demonstrates the value of a higher education.
- Two years of college, and this is all I learned. [laughs]
- [Thom] More suds than Todd was planning for.
- A lot of weight for that little motor I got to pull that.
- We need a bigger motor then,
this is Monster Garage,
not enough beer for three people garage.
- I ordered extra motors anyway
'cause I knew they'd do something like this.
So I'm gonna see if I can't hook
like two or three motors to that
to drag this behemoth beer cart out of the back of that van.
[tool whining]
- [Thom] Meanwhile, Chris works on the grill.
- This is gonna sit in here like this.
I'm gonna trim it all up, I'm gonna tig weld it.
This is gonna be our stainless barbecue.
[upbeat music]
- [Thom] They're marching steadily downfield,
but the team is starting to feel
the wear and tear of playing on the road
in Monster Stadium.
- Tired and kind of frustrated,
I was expecting this would be a lot easier.
It's just been really, really, really tough.
- And here where everything is custom,
nothing's bolt-on.
I mean you don't know what you're gonna run into.
So making predictions, never a good idea.
I hope we're done by midnight on day five.
- I don't care if we are here all night long
the next three nights, it's gonna get done.
- [Thom] The builders may be down,
but they're a long way from out.
Day four ends on a high note,
Kevin's speaker cabinets are done.
- Little itty-bitty remote controls.
- [Thom] Todd has the remotes working on the side doors.
- They latched too, didn't they?
- [Kevin] Yeah.
- Danny's grill is ready for the big game.
- [Danny] Hot barbecue.
- [Thom] And Ed is just about ready to pour a cold one.
[upbeat music]
- Yeah, that's what it looks like.
- [Thom] While the team continues to make progress,
they know there's a long way to go
to achieve their tailgating triumph.
[upbeat music]
Monster Garage factoid.
The Florida Georgia College football game boasts
the number one tailgate party in the United States.
Known as the World's Largest c*ck Party,
it starts on Wednesday and finishes on Sunday night.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
[intense music]
It's day five on the Monster gridiron.
The Escalade is waiting,
and the coach has his game face on.
- Let's get together and discuss
what we're gonna do to get this finished.
- The first order of business
is to talk second-half strategy.
The builders huddle up.
- We got a lot of unfinished projects.
We got everything about 50% done.
Danny, continue to work on the grill.
Todd?
- First thing I'm gonna do is work on the trolley,
get that wired up and moving.
- We're gonna take time, we're gonna put them
right on the motorization, bang!
- Kevin can build our cabinet for our beer tap.
- The cabinet, bang!
- Today's crunch day.
- If anything gets messed up,
then we'll we'll take it around
and we'll hook back him up, and he'll back him up.
- We don't wanna make tomorrow crunch day,
today is the day to rock and roll
and make this thing really, really happen.
- Ready to work? - Fine job. Yes.
- Great. Let's do it.
- [Thom] The day five game plan is set.
- Hey guys, it's fun time. We got video
- [Thom] And a new high tech toy arrives
in time for the big game.
A new toy makes Kevin a happy boy.
[upbeat music]
- She loads up. We got video.
- [Jesse] Awesome.
- [Thom] Kevin's on his game for day five,
but before he can make any more forward progress,
he needs his teammates to clear a path downfield.
- I've got my cabinet done.
I've got my faces to my speakers done.
I've got my DVD players wired, I got all that,
but I can't finish my speaker boxes
until Ed has his drink machine mounted and done.
And I can't put the front-end together
until Todd's ready to finish wiring.
- [Thom] Todd's backfield is in motion,
now that the right part has arrived.
- I've got the parts needed for the back door.
Look at those bad boys.
[intense music]
- That's what we need? - Hell, yes!
- [Thom] Ed and Denny lay out a plan for plumbing
the gas lines to the grill.
- [Danny] So we'll just run all the lines right here.
- Well one's got to come to here.
- [Thom] To beef up their barbecue,
they'll custom build their own burners.
- We're gonna make these into the burners.
We're gonna plug all these up
and drill a bunch of little tiny holes for the fire,
'cause you can go to Home Depot
and buy about 100 of these on any given day,
but none of them meet our requirements for Monster Garage.
So we got to make something that's gonna be bigger, badder,
and better than what you can buy.
[welder sizzling]
[upbeat music]
- [Thom] Larry hits the road with the rear windows.
They need to be etched so the hinges
can be anchored to the glass with epoxy.
- Well we've got to sand blast it.
'cause you need to take a, have like a little bit
of a rough finish so that the epoxy
has something to hold onto.
- [Thom] The etching process is fairly simple:
load the window into the chamber and sandblast it.
The only real rule is to keep the sand stream moving
because if it stays in one place too long,
the temperature of the glass rises,
[glass shattering]
and it can shatter.
- Oh, that sucks.
Great.
Oh, they're gonna k*ll me when I get back.
[ominous music]
[glass shattering]
Well, I broke one.
- You did? - Yeah.
- How the [beeps] did you do that?
- Well, we were sandblasting it and I don't know
it must've got too hot.
It's just, bang!
- [Jesse] You're not serious, you actually broke one.
- Yeah.
- [Ed] You were blasting it too hard.
You needed to turn the thing way down and etch it.
Glass is etched all the time.
- Well, you don't send somebody that's never done it though.
I mean, you got one. - You put it in--
- [Thom] They make the
only decision possible. - Etch it
that's all you have- - Pass on the glass.
- It's different here.
- I can make the rear windows out of plexiglass or-
- [Jesse] Then let get a sheet.
Get a sheet of it. - They're gonna look like,
[glass shatters] though.
- Why? - Get a sheet of it.
I trust your abilities.
- [Kevin] Oh, I know that I can cut it.
It just Lexan looks like [bell chimes].
- Not when we painted black.
- I don't feel that bad.
- Well, you know those things happen.
- Are you guys good? - Yeah.
- Good to go. - Yeah.
- All except for the broken glass.
People who don't follow directions.
[baby crying]
- [Larry] What the hell is that? [instrument sizzling]
- [Thom] Team Monster can use some cheering up.
The producers have just the thing.
- [Larry] Oh yeah.
[intense music] [intense music]
- Trojan. - Whoa!
♪ We're the SC Song Girls
♪ We're here to start your day
♪ And speaking of actuators
♪ We brought some from L.A.
♪ Be here for the tailgate
♪ To prop up the team no doubt
♪ And those 357 rims really make us shout ♪
♪ We don't have the welders or dollar sign tattoos, Jesse ♪
♪ But we can spice up your garage with our dancing shoes ♪
♪ Whoo
[team cheering]
[cheerleaders cheering]
[etching tool whizzing] ♪ Don't break the window
♪ Don't break the window
- [Thom] Larry takes the cheering in stride.
♪ Don't break the window
- Thank you.
♪ Don't break the window
♪ Hydraulics
♪ Hydraulics
♪ Hydraulics
♪ Bye hydraulics
- [Larry] Nice cheer ladies.
- [Kevin] Can they help me wire up speakers?
- [Jesse] They might.
♪ Here we go, Kevin, here we go ♪
♪ Here we go, Kevin, here we go ♪
♪ Here we go, Kevin, here we go ♪
♪ Here we go, Kevin, here we go ♪
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Cheerleaders] Alright, Monster Garage.
- [Thom] A little cheer goes a long way
in the Monster Garage.
The girls pack up their pompoms and head out,
while the team gets back to the grind.
Danny and Ed double team the side-mounted gas grill.
[upbeat music]
Todd goes one-on-one prepping the back-end
to take on a game-winning big screen.
He makes a bold prediction.
- This TV will be moving by the end of the day.
By the end of today.
- [Thom] Larry lends some backup
and techs in the tailgates actuator.
The first line of defense
for hanging the heavyweight plasma screen.
Before they can mount the TV, they need to be sure
that the gas shocks will support the 80-pound video beast.
Todd and Larry rig a row of metal rings to test their frame.
[upbeat music]
- Oh yeah.
Nice.
- [Thom] Once they're happy
that the frame will hold the line.
- [Danny] Oh yeah!
- [Thom] The team heads outside
to toss some dogs on the grill.
- Ready? - Hi I'm, Todd Lyght.
- [Thom] They get some pigskin pointers
from ex St. Louis Ram, Todd Lyght,
sporting his Super Bowl ring.
- That's a great name.
- Football's like chess, you know, but all the pieces move
so it's like it's a big chess match out there, you know.
And if you're not matching up properly,
you don't got the proper scheme, you don't stand a chance.
- [Thom] The team is eager to show the pro
they know how to throw.
Ed's much better at tossing tantrums than footballs.
[upbeat music]
- [Larry] There you go.
- [Jesse] There it is.
There it is. - All right.
- [Thom] Kevin caps it off with a bullseye
and the team gets back to work.
[welder sizzling]
- So once I get the other burner in,
then we'll mount this up,
then we mount the tank and we're ready for fire.
[equipment clanging]
- [Thom] The gas grill is welded up,
plumbed and motorized.
- [Kevin] All right, hey, I'm gonna light this thing.
Is that cool?
- [Thom] Ed, the self-appointed team captain
grabs a propane tank to hook up the grill.
- We'll see what it does.
[intense music]
[flame whooshes]
- [Thom] It is flame on
and their tailgater is ready to toss
a side of beef on the barbie.
- Hot barbecue.
[metal clanging] [intense music]
- I'm getting the brackets ready for the TV
so we can get the TV set in there
and get the brackets marked so we can hang that puppy.
You think we're gonna hang this thing tonight?
- [Kevin] Yes.
- Are we gonna have the TV hanging tonight?
- Said I would. - Okay.
- [Thom] To get the tailgater ready for the gridiron,
Danny starts welding up the tube iron for the TV support.
- Keep one thing in mind, Danny.
$3,000 TV depending on your welds.
- [Thom] This team is almost ready for prime time.
[door squeaking]
- [Todd] Easy.
[door clicks]
Okay.
- [Kevin] Oh dude, this is gonna be perfect.
[upbeat music]
- [Kevin] Okay. Dar, daram, daram, daram, daram-da.
- [Danny] Yeah.
- That's a big screen.
- [Thom] Todd's bracketry is tough enough
to hold the lot and keep the 80-pound TV in place,
but it's a short-lived victory.
[hinges whirring]
- [Todd] What the hell is that hitting?
- Did this band- - The rear door won't close
because the gas shocks holding it up
are actually too strong.
With the game clock running out on day four,
the team heads for the door knowing they have a big problem
to tackle first thing on their final day.
- [Schwag] Jesse's going for the Hail Mary on this one.
Will he score or fumble?
Stick around.
[upbeat music]
- Please God, make this build be over.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Thom] Day six, squirts out like mustard on a big dog.
It's do or die time for this team of escalators
because there's no sudden death in the Monster Garage,
just the agony of defeat.
♪ Hi Monster Garage
- [Tod] Get outta there.
- [Thom] One final connection,
and Todd should have the rear hatch ready to drop
like Pittsburgh Steel Curtain defense in '74.
It's not closing completely.
With a little help, it's better, but there's still a gap.
It's 13 inches.
Todd drops back, hits the remote
and he's still one inch short of a score.
- I need to do a little final adjustment on these gas props
and I think we'll be in good shape.
- [Thom] A top-notch tailgater
needs a top of the line stereo system.
Kevin shows he knows what's up.
These are very high tech amplifiers,
this is what's gonna make all the noise happen.
We're gonna run about 3,000 watts through both these pieces.
- [Thom] A few minor adjustments,
Kevin's favorite kind of music, Loud, comes blasting out.
[upbeat music]
- When the thing is totally put back together,
we'll be the loudest son of a [dog barks] in the stadium.
- Your stuff's working, everything's done?
- Stereo works. Rear TV works. Everything works.
- [Thom] Using nothing more than a few powerful magnets
and a metallic disc, Jesse devises a way for the new Monster
to communicate with outer space, space, space.
- I'm just gonna go on the roof with magnets.
These are like 85-pound pull magnets.
Otherwise we got to like jockey the car all around
to try to find the satellite signal.
[tool grinding] [upbeat music]
The hardest thing about making that was looking up
the magnets in the catalog.
- [Thom] Back on Earth,
Ed's planning a gas attack.
- It's a Monster Garage grill.
All these burners are custom made to flow a maximum amount
of liquified petroleum gas.
On the side here we have our own combination weenie roaster,
marshmallow toaster that comes right off the side.
- [Thom] This rocket will run on
both solid and liquid fuel.
- Your beer tap, your beer keg,
all your soft drinks will be built into this
and it'll slide out of the back,
it'll be motorized. - Oh, nice-
- So we got 400 pounds on here, gentlemen.
- [Kevin] Here for three days.
- Wake up. - Whoopee!
- [Thom] Ed does his best impersonation
of a beer keg, while Larry plays the soda jerk.
- That's it. Come on.
Test over. - All right.
- [Thom] This build has come down
to cramming a 10-ton party into a two-ton box.
So far it's working.
[upbeat music]
- Yeah. See we were,
you were holding that thing further down
just off the deck. - That's the top-
- [Thom] The tap is too tall
for the rear hatch door to close.
- [Ed] In there and then do that.
- Let me think about this
just a second- - You trust me Ed.
- We've made some wrong measurements, not me,
we as a team, me and Ed.
- You wanna cut the bottom off of it?
That might solve our problem.
- I'm gonna have to now cut the whole bar down
that I built.
How about there?
- [Thom] The solution is simple.
Before they can raise the roof,
they'll need to lower the bar.
- [Kevin] Is that enough?
- [Thom] The team takes a time out
for a quick update on their Monster.
- We've got a rendering over there.
That was our goal.
And our truck is really looking a lot like that rendering.
- You see, you find the guy that thinks
he's the baddest tailgater and pull up behind him
and make him close his tailgate,
and then we start partying right in front of him.
- [Thom] Back at it,
and the retractable party platform
goes into place without a hitch.
But when Danny puts juice to the motor,
the bed slide won't glide.
- [Todd] We should only have about half that gear engaged.
- [Ed] Let's move it.
The motor's moved
and we need to adjust it in order for it
to engage in the gear track.
We're gonna put it where it needs to be
and weld it in place.
- Straight. - Now do it.
[welder sizzling]
- Hold tight little kitties.
- Come on. - Feels good now.
- [Thom] The reworked bed slide glides with 600 pounds
of build crew on its back.
The team reloads to take another shot.
[Kevin squawks]
- A couple inches. - Yeah, there we go.
- [Ed] There you go.
- [Thom] This time the bed slide rolls out
smooth as silk.
With just three-and-a-half hours left in the build,
it's crunch time.
- I never thought it'd be such a panic,
but it's turning out, we're in trouble.
- [Jesse] What time is it?
- [Kevin] About seven minutes to nine o'clock,
which gives us three hours
three minutes - Three hours.
- [Kevin] Yeah.
- When it hits 11:30 and the stuff isn't working,
that's when we're all gonna start freaking out.
- [Thom] The builders have made a costly mistake,
they've underestimated their Monster.
Jesse offers up a rare but heartfelt prayer.
- Please God, make this build be over. Please!
I'll never play with fire again, today.
[intense music]
[flame sizzling]
You ever see some styrofoam burn?
[torch whooshing]
[team laughing]
- [Thom] The tailgaters are down to the wire.
Todd goes to work on the wiring
while the rest of the team sweats the details.
♪ Sitting down the test tube
["Test Tube"]
- [Thom] With a little more than an hour to go,
Todd's tired but fully wired.
It's time to test the tailgate's tail one more time.
- [Thom] Todd scores late in the game
and checks off the last item on the builder's playbook.
They're ready to take their new Monster
out to the ball game.
- [Todd] Yeah.
- [Thom] The party Monster begins its transformation.
The hatch is up,
the bar is open.
- [Jesse] Voila!
- [Thom] And the barbecue is good to grill.
- Just light it.
Grab that torch.
[torch whooshing] [intense music]
Cool.
Feed the barbecutioner.
[upbeat music]
All right, let's get the hell out of here.
- [Thom] Jesse celebrates the victory
by going deep with a perfect spiral.
- That's football.
- [Thom] It's tool time.
[boxes clanging]
[Jesse grunts]
- Hey, good job guys. - Thanks man.
- And you get Mac Tools, Monster Garage CDs.
Good job guys.
[intense music]
- [Thom] Monster Garage Factoid.
One of the most famous Cadillacs ever customized
is the Elvis Dream Caddie designed by the King himself,
along with the King of the Customizers, George Barris.
Sadly, Elvis died before he could drive it.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Thom] Welcome again folks
to another Monster Garage challenge.
The Big Schwag here, and Frankie, that big bridge down there
should tell you where we are.
- [Frankie] The Golden Gated City by the sea,
Schwag, San Francisco.
- [Schwag] That's right.
We're at the home of the NFL San Francisco 49ers
to participate in that unique sports ritual
known as tailgating.
[team burping]
- Tailgating is this.
[participant cheering]
Getting in my car, bringing my food,
picking up my friends, coming to the park, start cooking,
eating, cussing, and all the good stuff to go with life.
- People you don't even know get together.
- You can't come to this tailgate and bring grapes
and crackers and brie like that, that's not allowed here.
- [Participant] Call this the festival of ribs.
- Oh, and big crab too.
- [Participant] Homemade tamales.
- Jesse James, wants a freebie?
♪ Freebie
- [Frankie] What's Jesse got on tap for us?
- [Schwag] Just the little something he likes
to call the ultimate tailgater.
Check it out.
You got to be kidding me.
A 2003 Escalade, the Caddyshack of SUVs decked out
with big ball and 26-inch wheels
and an all pro paint shop from Mike Lavallee,
the All Star airbrush man from Snohomish, Washington.
The ultimate tailgater.
It's the big dog no matter what kennel you park it in.
The monster size barbecue, the 42-inch plasma screen,
beer and soda on tap.
The entertainment center complete with k*ller sound system,
DVD player, 17-inch flat screen, and the gamer's delight.
The cherry on top of this super size Sunday you ask?
A direct TV satellite dish serving up enough smash-mouth
to satisfy any sportsaholic.
This Monster's packed, stacked,
and totally whacked.
- [Frankie] Schwag, does the master fabricator
know his way around a grill?
- [Schwag] Oh yeah.
Nobody can dish it out like Jesse James.
- I'm a barbecutioner.
- [Schwag] Mm, this show am good.
- [Jesse] That look good?
- [Frankie] Now that they've seen it,
what do the fans think about the Ultimate Tailgater?
- Awesome. Doesn't get better than this.
- Man, that's a nice piece of machinery, right there, man.
- With a 26-inch rims,
You can't get no better.
- [Frankie] What now, Schwag?
- [Schwag] It's game time.
The 49ers are taking on the Superbowl champs,
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
This is the ragdoll,
this is how we do it 9ers.
♪ Here we go 9ers, here we go, hoo, hoo ♪
♪ Here we go 9ers
- [Frankie] Did San Francisco win this one?
- [Schwag] Let's ask this dude.
- Win? Win ain't even a word.
I wish Warren Sapp would come through our huddle.
We'll put his a*s in quicksand.
[upbeat music]
- [Schwag] Frankie, we got a special treat
for our fans, the 49ers put the big hurt on Tampa Bay
and now the players wanna take on
Jesse's Ultimate Tailgater.
- Has nice tires. - Nice as hell, man.
- [Schwag] Here's linebacker, Jamie Winborn.
He's a total car dude.
He is the ultimate test for the Ultimate Tailgater.
- I did have a Cadillac Escalade too,
but it didn't look like this.
They got a beer tap in this thing. A beer tap.
Oh, y'all got direct TV in here?
- [Jesse] Yep.
- Man, my cable out at my house too, man.
With 26s is on that thing.
Hey Shaq, they do,
somebody else got 26s too Shaq.
See, look here, this is when you know
they got something extra on your car.
You see this red right here between the wheel?
They let you know they doing something extra.
If we were like putting this in production,
would you put an order in one?
Well, hey, I need me one right now.
Call Jesse James up
and tell him Winborn wanna ride his car.
Man, you see that fire over there?
Look at that, look at that fire,
look at that fire, look at that fire, look at that.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Man, I need to talk to my financial advisor.
I need one of these.
That's the ultimate, ultimate tailgate machine.
I'm out, Winborn 55 speed limit,
slow down through my zone, I'm out.
- [Schwag] Nothing left to say, but this.
Jesse's got no time for burned brats,
empty lots and fans that can't do this.
- Monster Garage rocks.
[everyone laughing]
- [Schwag] He's got metal to burn,
sparks the fly,
the next Monster Garage challenge
is just around the bend.
[supporter burping]
♪ Monster, Monster Garage, yeah ♪
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage, yeah ♪
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage, yeah ♪
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage, yeah ♪
♪ Monster, Monster
[light digital music]
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03x11 - Tailgate Car
Watch/Buy Amazon
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."