05x13 - Georgia High School Dragster

[bunniefuu]

- Man, forget California.

We're in Georgia now.

[screaming]

- [Host] 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.

[crashing]

[heavy rock music]

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster Garage

[bell ringing]

- [Host] This week's challenge,

transform a ragtag group of Georgia shop students

into a world-class fabrication team

as they construct their very own junior dragster.

[zooming]

What's a junior dragster?

A drag racer scaled by half for kids,

but with enough grown up dragster power

to reach speeds of 85 miles per hour.

The rules.

When built, the vehicle must appear to be crunk.

[whip cracking]

- That could mean two things.

Cranked up, or.

[whip cracking] - [Student] Crunked up bad.

- [Host] The team has only five grand for parts.

Jesse and his crew have only five days

to complete their monster,

but they'll need to finish their regular school day first.

If successful,

they'll walk away with a 28 volt lithium ion power kit

from Milwaukee Electric Tool

and a Jesse James signature set of Mac Tools

plus a pair of Mac toolboxes for their school.

And the clock's fixin' to start right now.

[glass shattering]

We're in Savannah, Georgia,

a city drenched with history, commerce, and Spanish moss,

and the residents have their own version of horsepower.

Located just miles from the historic district

is the Robert Groves High School Career Academy

where today it's bidness as usual.

As these young scholars get their knowledge on,

they hardly notice the gorilla in their midst.

A vanilla gorilla to be exact,

and he's come to disrupt the southern comfort

of one unsuspecting shop class.

Earlier today, the boys at MX2 hand-delivered

the dragster's frame and body,

along with some finished models

for the students to look at.

With the monsters in place,

Jesse makes his way towards his soon-to-be build team.

- So it speeds up and it burns.

Then what happens to it?

- Mr. Freels.

[students groaning and laughing]

- How you doing, Jesse? - Yeah, that's him,

that's him, that's him.

- What's up? - It is him.

It really is. - How are you doing, Bernard?

Nice to meet you.

So who spilled the beans?

Someone was, someone heard something.

Who was it?

- [Student] Wasn't me.

- [Jesse] What'd you guys hear?

- Heard some rumors, but that's about it, I mean.

- Yeah.

- I didn't know. - Yeah.

- Well, cool.

We're gonna build a junior dragster this week

and one of you guys can race it.

- Wow. - When we're done.

- [Student] I wanna race it.

- [Jesse] Is that cool?

- [Student] I wanna race it!

- [Jesse] All right.

- [Student] That is bad.

- Well, cool.

I mean, I think it shouldn't be too bad.

So I mean, we got the whole MX2 kit.

So you guys wanna come see

and check out what they look like?

- Yeah! - Yeah.

- All right, cool.

Come on, we'll go out there.

- What's up, man?

- [Host] To get the students hungry for the build,

Jesse offers up a sample platter of Southern-fried dragster.

- [Student] Off the chain!

- [Student] Ain't that clean?

Look at the little rims!

[students laughing]

- That's, like, pimp!

I like the last one! - We're supposed

to be over there, I guess.

- Go ahead.

You step over with this foot

and put it right here, then jump in.

Put your other foot in,

and then you just kind of scooch down and put your feet out.

There you go, slide forward a little bit.

- [Student] Oh, that is bad, I like that.

That is bad.

[Jesse chuckling]

I see myself getting to school.

[students laughing]

- They're fast, too,

like, you know, 85 miles an hour in the eighth mile.

These'll beat, like, big cars, so,

so you guys are gonna have to figure out how to do it,

how to make it work.

They run on alcohol and,

I mean, it's all basic motor knowledge,

so, you guys could figure it out, yeah?

- Yeah. - Yeah.

Yeah, we can do it.

[whirring]

- [Host] Taking on this deep south build are



[whirring]



[growling]

[crashing]

[whirring]



[whirring]



[whirring]



[dinging]

[whirring]

transfer student from Miami,



[whirring]

and overseeing the class, instructor Bernard Clark,

collision repair specialist,

and Screaming John Freels, auto service specialist.

[screaming]

[heavy rock music]

The newest members of the Monster Garage family

haul boxes of dragster parts into their garage.

- Yeah, we can set it on the floor.

You guys get everything out of there

or are you just looking at it?

[students laughing]

Pull that stuff out,

let's see what we got.

Some spiderweb rims.

- [Student] Oh.

- Battery head and starter.

- [Host] The frame comes next.

- This one goes kind of behind it.

- [Host] Then the students roll in a fully built dragster

they'll use as a hands on construction manual.

- Get started. - Here we go.

- I'm so ready, baby. - Here we go.

- I'm ready to start getting it together.

- So, first things first,

I think we should start getting the chassis bolted together.

- All right. - And then we can start

adding everything else, you know?

[heavy rock music]

Hit it like you mean it.

[students laughing]

[banging]

[heavy rock music]

- I'm having a good time.

It's real cool.

[banging]

- Too much.

- [Student] No, it's not even down there.

- The coolest thing I've ever done.

- [Student] Yeah, it's not lined up right there.

Nope.

- Are you sure you guys can do this?

Maybe we should have went to that other school.

- [Student] Oh, no!

[students groaning]

- Yeah, we'll see come Thursday,

when you guys all are crying, we can't finish it!

- [Host] Now that the frame is locked in,

Jesse adds his favorite part, the gas pedal.

Kevin and Jarrod attack the dragster's front end.

- This side's hard right now. - Yeah.

- There it goes.

Rack and pinion for your steering.

Just trying to. - Turn it right here

and it turns the wheels.

That right there.

- [Host] Checking in on the kids is MX2's Bob McClure,

with everyone's biggest concern.

- Anything on steering or suspension,

you be doubly certain

that you're safe. - Right.

- That's the number one concern.

- Right. - If it's my son in the car,

or your son in the car, or you in the car,

is you don't get hurt.

Right now, he's assembling the spindles,

it's a billet aluminum spindle that we make,

and he's putting in the kingpin, so to speak.

- Well that's a little

nick right there.

See right there?

Little nicks was catching it right there.

- [Host] Jarrod knows just the trick

for making these spindles work.

- Little niche right there,

it was catching up on the

brass on it, wouldn't go all the way down,

so, had to just do a little bit like this to it,

and it should work, it should.

I'm gonna try it out.

[crashing]

- [Host] When Jarrod's not cruising on his motorcycle,

doing indoor burnouts in his truck,

or heading out to survey the back 40 with his pal Shorty,

he's working with his dad, refurbishing old cars.

- It's just over the years he collected them,

and it's just his hobby,

and it's my hobby, too, you know, 'cause I live with it.

So, this is his car he had when he was my age, so.

It's a good time, you know,

just me and my dad, working on, it's pretty fun.

Everything I know I learned from him.

- [Host] Their newest project?

A '54 Chevy 210 that they dragged out of the woods nearby.

- It had big holes in the floorboard,

he cut it all out and

welded sheet metal all back in there.

See the tree's still in the bumper.

Right here and right here.

Where he just cut it off for me.

You see where the rats was eating the wires up on it.

And, sh**t, man,

we put gas in it and put a battery in it and fired it up.

Crunked right up.

- [Host] Do these fellas really reckon

their stray dog's gonna hunt?

[engine revving]

It hunts!

- No seat yet for it!

[laughing]

[zooming]

All right Kevin, go on and give it a little hit right there.

[tapping]

There we go.

That's it.

- How about that. - Man, we're rednecks.

We piece it together.

- I'm telling you, man. - We'll make it work.

- Allen wrench, we need an Allen wrench.

- [Host] Carlos and Solomon team up on the rear end.

- Put it in the turn axle in the back, the axle.

- We'll just put it up underneath.

Okay.

And then the bolts

go through the hole from the inside.

And just think, by the third car,

you'll have this down where you can do it in your sleep.

- I believe that.

[students chuckling]

[dinging]

- Good.

- I think it's real. - I think it's cool,

I think it's real hot. - I think it's real,

I like it.

- Excited. - I wanna push it.

- You wanna push it? - I wanna max it.

[giggling]

I like speed, I'm a speed demon, I can't help it.

- Obviously.

- I think they're gonna let me drive it.

[laughing]

They're gonna let me drive it.

I think they're gonna let me drive it.

- [Student] It's good, it's good, it's good.

[crashing]

- I like fast, I don't know why.

I just see it in the movies and all that,

so I like to be fast.

I have a Mitsubishi Eclipse.

'97.

I took her to 145.

Really fast.

I messed up the clutch when I was learning

how to drive a stick shift,

so I fixed it with my brother.

My brother has a mechanic shop.

So I fixed it.

- [Host] Carlos applies his love for speed

to other areas of his life.

- Nine, that's all I wear.

That's the best number in soccer

'cause all the famous people use it.

I gotta be fast.

If you're gonna be a striker, you gotta be fast, quick.

- [Man] Go Carlos, go Carlos, go Carlos!

Boom!

[clapping]

[zooming]

- Well, they're gonna let me drive it.

[laughing]

I still think they're gonna let me drive it.

[students chattering]

Okay, all right.

- He really want to drive.

- Keep dreaming, okay. - He's really confident, too.

- Ever since they let him get in, he ain't want to get out.

I told you all, I told you all!

- We're good.

- [Host] With a few turns of the wrench, the brake is on.

- [Carlos] It's working!

- Y'all got it, man?

Yeah, boy, I like that.

- [Carlos] We got it.

- I like that.

- [Host] After bolting the rack and pinion to the spindles,

Kevin and Jarrod are ready for front tires.

[funky music]

- It's like a little tricycle tire.

We're putting the steering in.

- Oh, yeah.

- To go from the steering wheel,

it's like, the steering column.

It's going down from the steering wheel to the wheels.

Hold on.

[heavy rock music]

[banging]

There you go.

We're going in the [indistinct].

[Jarrod laughing]

- Woo, I like that.

That's bad, I like that.

- [Kevin] This probably should be a little.

- [Jarrod] Yeah, well, see it's turning a little bit,

it doesn't look straight right there.

Check that out, yeah, boy, I like that.

- [Student] Oh, go Usher, go Kevin.

- Yeah, oh, yeah, okay.

[student laughing]

- [Solomon] Y'all a trip.

- Yeah, look at that! - Yeah!

- I feel very confident about this whole thing.

We got this down pat.

We don't even have to worry about

if it's gonna be finished by Friday,

we already gonna be finished probably about Thursday.

- [Host] Ah, the arrogance of youth.

This build's less than a day old

and Siang's already jinxed the team.

- We did good, our first day.

I've never done this before.

Mechanic, that's what I used to do with my brother.

So we did good for the first day.

- I think we're good for today,

let's clean up and put the tools away.

- Are you gonna let me drive it?

- Yeah. - I'm good at it.

- As long as your parents say it's okay.

- All right. - All right.

- [Host] With the rear axle, drive train,

and front tires in place,

this class is off to a confident start,

but they've got a lot more work to do

before they can graduate from the School of Monster.

Monster Garage factoid,

the slang term crunk is a combination of crazy and drunk

and was made popular by Georgia hip-hop group

Lil' John and The Eastside Boys.

It's used to describe something cool or fashionable.

Example, that homeboy Jerrod's miniature horse is crunk!

[chickens clucking]

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

It's the second build day and Professor Jesse

has a plan for these pupils.

- I think today we'll

stay on the chassis.

Let's try to get that back end done,

wheels and all that stuff so we can,

we can get it on its wheels.

- [Host] Carlos gets right down to business

and continues on the rear end,

but not everyone is so focused.

- [Solomon] Get that boy in there.

[mimicking engine revving]

- Why everybody making sound effects?

[mimicking engine revving]

- I said it 'cause you think about going fast,

vroom, like that!

- So, why you can't say.

[monotone engine noises]

- You expect me to say, go fast.

[pedal slamming]

Go fast. [pedal slamming]

- Yeah, that works.

- Go fast. [pedal slamming]

[giggling]

- [Host] Mr. Clark notices a plate

that should have been added yesterday,

so Kevin removes the steering rod to make room.

[funky music]

- There we go.

Beautiful.

You must make sure that the rods,

the steering rod is supported.

It must be supported.

This grommet must be supported.

All of this definitely helps to strengthen

the dragster itself, all of that being in place.

- [Host] Jessie and Mr. Freels get busy

working the tires on to the wheel hubs,

but smaller isn't necessarily easier.

- It's slipping, isn't it? - Yep.

Usually, like, a motorcycle one you can easily get

the first one on, 'cause.

- Like you said,

should be easy. - Go ahead.

I'll hold it under.

- [Host] While Jesse continues to wrestle the rubber

onto the rim, Kevin and Jarrod work on the brakes.

- All right, right now I'm trying to hook up

the brakes for it, I just put a master cylinder on,

now we hook up the brake lines.

[slow heavy rock music]

- [Host] Tiffany takes a gander at the fully built machine

and notices a dragster discrepancy.

- On this side.

This is on wrong.

It's gotta go, this part has to go up and over here.

So we just got to flip it over.

[crashing]

- [Host] Like any normal teenager,

Tiffany Madden has her issues.

- I'm an easy person to get angry.

So, you don't want to see me angry.

- [Host] But she's found the perfect way to calm her soul.

♪ Blessed

♪ Assurance

♪ Jesus is

♪ Mine

♪ Oh, what a

- If you're too busy or anything during the day,

you can just stop and just start singing

songs about God and all that, it's cool.

I get relaxed whenever I listen to my gospel music

and when I listen to rock, but that's a different story.

- [Host] Tiffany also seems relaxed

in the presence of the master fabricator, but.

- On the inside I'm jumping up and down and, like,

yes, I'm with Jesse James and all that, so.

I'm his biggest fan, actually.

Now my mom, my cousins, and my grandma are pretty jealous.

I'm just like, yeah, okay, y'all keep being jealous,

I'm gonna keep hanging out with him.

[chuckling]

[zooming]

- Awesome.

Yeah, you kind of want the steering tight.

You don't want to go to turn that thing

and have the steering wheel pop off

or come loose or something like that.

- Right.

- [Host] Now that the tires are finally filled with air,

the crew can screw in the rims.

The MX2 designed splined axles will keep

these tires locked in good and strong.

Carlos installs the aluminum puke tank

that will handle oil overflow.

- [Student] It goes right there.

- Wheel, rims, hubs, is all done and installed.

Hopefully nothing's gonna fly off on the first trip.

- Yeah, hopefully.

[Jarrod chuckling]

- I think we've done an excellent job on it.

[crashing]

- [Host] With 30 years of teaching experience,

John Freels knows how to control class disruptions,

but he approves of the one from Monster Garage.

- There's a big push in the country

to teach everybody off of computers

and computerize this and computerize that.

There's just no substitute for the hands on

type thing that we just did here with Monster Garage.

There is no other substitute,

there's nothing better.

- We had to make, like, a special tool,

so it can go inside, 'cause you got no space.

You can tell right here.

No space, so, we cut it so it can go in.

- They were fired up coming in,

and it's just grown and gotten bigger and better.

And it will last,

it's something that they will remember a lifetime.

It will spark them off to bigger and better things,

I feel sure of it.

- We need an engine.

- Yes, sir, yeah we do.

- We're just gonna keep moving,

ready to get a motor on there.

Of course, I don't know where it's at, but,

we just, I'm ready to keep going.

- We'll have the motor tomorrow, we got a new one.

I think we gotta change the fuel pump on it though,

because it needs a bigger alcohol pump.

- [Student] All right, cool.

- If you guys wanna go in the classroom,

I'll give you guys some homework.

- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.

- [Student] All right, all right.

- I want you guys all to go on the internet

and see if you can find

a picture of a dragster that you like

and tell me about it.

You know, how fast it is,

what mile per hour, what's the E.T.

You guys should probably be able to see some similarities

even between a big full size dragster and this one,

'cause they all work the same,

transmission that's hooked right to the,

coupled to the rear end.

Good job today, guys.

- Thanks. - All right, man.

- [Host] With another day of constructive dragster

duty under their belts,

the students rush home to do their homework.

Monster Garage factoid.

The American Institute of Parapsychology has named Savannah,

Georgia "America's Most Haunted City,"

and after a couple of days here,

Monster Garage thinks it's definitely the crunkest.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

It's day three,

and the builders want to get working

on their dragster directly.

But first, they must face the most

highly decorated teacher on campus.

- Awesome, here's a Camaro.

Look at that!

- Kevin did help me, but. - That's all right!

- [Kevin] I supervised.

[students laughing]

- That's what it's all about, asking for help.

Is that your thing, where's your stuff you wrote?

- Oh.

[students groaning and laughing]

- While we go out and work,

you can stay in here and write.

- I had it, but, I mean.

- [Jesse] You just gotta write it down.

- [Solomon] Okay.

- All right, so, today we should get the motor.

I think it's pretty basic, I mean,

we're lucky we have another one sitting right there,

we can see where everything goes.

And I think we have to change the fuel pump

on the motor to run alcohol

to a little bit bigger pump so it doesn't run lean

and burn the piston, cool?

- [Students] Cool.

- All right, let's go for it.

- [Host] Except for Solomon,

the students get Monster As

and are released to their dragster.

Tiffany stays the course,

wiring the steering wheel she corrected yesterday.

- Today we are installing the electrical components

and we want to hook the fuel switch up,

as well as the on/off switch on the vehicle.

This is definitely a k*ll system,

where we can k*ll the engine should something happen.

Should the dragster get out of control or something,

the driver can turn the engine off.

[crashing]

- [Host] In his spare time,

collision repair tech instructor Bernard Clark

keeps teaching, but from a different book.

- Amen to see each and every one of your face today,

amen here at our weekly Bible study,

and we just thank God for all of you.

I'm an AME preacher,

African Methodist Episcopal preacher.

I preach in a rural church.

♪ Come to the fountain

♪ So rich and sweet

♪ Glory to his name

Even though you change from a school environment

to a church environment,

you're still dealing basically, if you will,

with the same people.

People that have problems, if you will.

People who really need to know that they can make it

no matter what the circumstances or situations are.

So, that is the similarities that we find

in both professions, if you will.

♪ Glory to his name

[applause]

There we go.

Turn this whole thing, okay.

It's a deflector shield,

I'm sure that's a safety issue right here, also.

- Oh, yeah. - Keep the

heat off the engine from getting under the driver.

[drum music]

- [Host] Tiffany adds the second k*ll switch

just as Jesse brings in the part

these builders have been waiting for.

- Here you go.

- [Host] And one builder will have to wait a little longer.

- Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

- I got it,

I got it. - Where's it at?

[laughing]

Cool, good job, man.

- I did it, right, but when I printed it out,

I had forgotten to write it down, I ain't wrote it down.

It was done, though.

I had the pictures in there.

I had a jet dragster or whatever.

And that, mine probably was the fastest one,

so, 300 miles per hour to be exact.

[crashing]

- [Host] Solomon Clontin's got skills with the drill,

but his mad talents with the microphone

are what keep him on beat.

- Coming up in early childhood,

I went through a lot in my life,

and they say the best way to get it off your chest

is to talk about it, so I express it in my lyrics.

Yeah, I ain't rapping, it's not really for the money,

it's for love of the music, you know what I'm saying?

I might have went through troubles and hard times,

but I'm making it, you know what I'm saying, I'm here.

- [Host] To make up for his late homework assignment,

Solomon's written a hip-hop homage

to the west coast fabricator, east coast style.

DJ Orchid provides the phat beats.

♪ I'm chilling on the show hosted by Jesse James ♪

♪ Forget all you haters and forget all you lames ♪

♪ I'm riding on his show

♪ Man, you know I'm on the chain ♪

♪ I'm rapping, see fool

♪ If you try me, bring you pain ♪

♪ He got tattoos from his neck to his arms ♪

♪ And got pay me sucker in the middle of his palm ♪

♪ I wanna see those [indistinct] keep it crunk ♪

♪ I'm a don

♪ No matter what I rap about

♪ My lyrics drop jaws

♪ I'm about to show you how they do it on Monster Garage ♪

[clapping and whistling]

- That was good, man.

[students laughing]

- He liked that one, all about him.

[zooming]

- [Host] The team rips into the Briggs and Stratton

raptor engine, courtesy of Jegs.

- I thought it was actually gonna come in pieces.

I mean, it's easier,

but I was ready for it to come in pieces.

- He was ready. - Ready to get it.

- They wanted to put it together

so they could say they built the engine.

- [Host] The engine has a stock five horsepower,

but can be modified to put out up to 55 horsepower.

- Put our motor in there, boy,

it's going down!

- How we looking, ladies?

- We got, like, two, a couple screws,

like five more screws left,

and then we on our way. - Okay.

- To victory.

[crashing]

- [Host] Though soft spoken in the garage,

Siang Chism is a woman of many moods.

- I can be shy sometimes,

and then when I really want to come out,

I'll let everybody see all my colors.

- [Host] Siang shows her colors as co-captain

of the Groves High Dance Team.

- Anything the band play, I dance to it.

Anything I hear on the radio, I dance to it.

Anything that has a beat or a rhythm, I dance to it.

[drum music]

[giggling]

♪ I bet you won't get crunk

♪ I bet you won't get crunk

♪ I bet you

I got it, y'all!

Now we're waiting for the boy scouts over there

to come on and we'll be.

- Waiting on the boys? - Wiring things up.

- [Host] The boys are on the engine like gravy on biscuits,

but can't seem to find where the throttle cable attaches.

- It might be like a motorcycle.

Up and down, but I doubt that.

- [Host] So they look to the bearded wisdom of John Freels.

- Where's the throttle cable go?

We ain't got the piece.

Yeah, to.

That holds it, you know what I'm saying?

[slow rock music]

This it, yep, that is it.

- [Kevin] That is it, ain't it.

See, I was right.

- You're the motorcycle man.

- I'm the motorcycle man.

- Like a motorcycle.

- Instead of the throttle cable having, like,

the piece where it wraps around and hooks

so you can actually sit here and dial up and rev it up,

you got, it just sticks in the top.

- [Host] Junior dragsters use carburetors

similar to ones found on motorcycles.

Pressing the gas pedal pulls the throttle cable,

which causes a jet needle assembly to rise,

allowing more air and fuel into the engine to increase RPMs.

[heavy rock music]

- Okay, this is gonna go on like that, the spring,

and this is going to hook in here in a way that

I don't understand totally.

- Thread it the old style way, just wrap it around and.

- Yeah, man. - Yeah, there you go.

- That's what I'm saying. - We could just get

some baling wire and hook it together, and.

- Yeah. - Away we go, huh?

- We'll go out on the Chevrolet and just find one

and put it on. - There you go,

that'll work. - Hey, hey, hey.

[Solomon mumbling]

- It's gonna run.

It's gonna run one way or another.

- Remember, we're the south, we don't care.

- Yeah.

As long as we get down the road.

- [Host] While Mr. Freels figures the throttle out,

the rest of the team mounts

the fiberglass seat and safety belts.

- Fire it up.

The only one that hooks to the frame

is the one that goes in between your crotch.

- Oh, yeah?

[laughing]

I got the crotch one.

- [Student] That's the easy one, though.

- Just my luck. - All you gotta do

is bolt it down.

- Right here on top. - Oh, okay.

- There we go.

If it crashes, you want to stay put.

You want to stay inside the greenhouse area.

If the engine don't crank, you want to be safe,

if it runs too much, you still want to be safe.

[zapping]

[metal grinding]

Take your time.

Let it walk, there you go, take your time, good.

[metal grinding]

There we are.

- [Host] Back at the throttle cable,

Mr. Freels is turning up the heat and so is Jesse.

- So, everything's cool as long as everything

bolts together real easy,

but as soon as you guys run into a little bit of a jam,

then it, like. - Oh, he heard us.

- Oh, no. - He heard us right there.

- The team starts to fall apart, oh!

- It's nothing like that now.

[students grumbling]

[Jesse laughing]

- [Host] Mr. Freels sodders a small tip onto the end

of the throttle cable that will catch the needle assembly

and pull it when the gas pedal is pushed.

- [Mr. Freels] Here gentlemen.

- Is it? - What do you think, success?

- Good. - I think so.

- I think so, too.

It may not exactly seem like it right now,

but we're pretty comfortable with this.

Go for it.

Now pull on the end of it and see if we have a throttle.

[clicking]

We got it.

- We finally got it.

- Yeah, now after working on it, my heart's all warm now.

- All got them warm and fuzzies, huh?

- That's it.

- You know you're good, Mr. Freels.

- You got mad skill, he's got mad skill.

[Jarrod laughing]

- [Host] With the throttle cable in full effect,

it's time to mount the engine.

- Now drop that joker on there.

Just drop it on down there, that's right.

- All right? - There you go.

- Man, this ain't a good job for fat hands like this, man.

When you got fat hands, it's not good.

- [Host] It's the end of day three,

and the engine is mounted,

but to some builders' disappointment,

it won't be fired up today.

- We got a little bit behind on the motor.

Had a few little things back us up,

like the throttle cable.

We had to figure how the throttle cable went and everything.

Just little things like that's been backing us up.

We thought we'd be done ahead, you know,

I'm just ready to fire up the motor

but we're running behind now.

It ain't cranked up yet.

- Yeah.

- Now we're just waiting on these little bolts.

- It's just on here, it ain't crunk.

- [Kevin] It ain't crunk.

- You wanna get it crunk, Kevin?

Let's get it crunk.

That could mean two things,

cranked up or crunked up.

- Crunk up the volume.

I'll tell you.

Crunk up.

- Good job today, guys.

- Thanks. - Thank you.

- [Jesse] Yeah, good job on doing your homework, too.

[students laughing]

It's the first class that had it done

on the same day, so that was good.

- [Host] With the engine, seat, and belts in place,

this dragster's looking mighty race worthy.

But until it starts,

they won't know whether it's crunk or junk.

- Well, we really and truly don't know if it's gonna crank.

Really.

It's not a joke.

- Oh, I forgot, you guys are just a bunch of kids.

- [Student] All right now.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

- [Host] It's day four,

and with the build week closing in on this class,

the master educator lays down the law.

- So, you guys need to bust some butt

and get this done today.

Let's finish it up.

Everybody stay working steady, all right?

- Let's go.

- I sure hope this thing runs.

- [Kevin] I hope so.

- [Host] Jesse's favorite teaching tool?

Intimidation.

- You know, we blew up a car last week

just 'cause it was dumb.

- [Student] Oh.

[laughing]

- [Jesse] The crop circle maker, just for the hell of it.

'Cause I didn't like it.

[booming]

- Oh, we got the pressure on today.

But we can handle it.

Tell them can we handle it.

- Yeah, we got this.

[laughing]

- [Mr. Clark] There we go.

- Sure you know what you're doing?

You sure you know how to do that?

[Tiffany humming affirmatively]

Three days on T.V. and she's turning into a diva, already.

- No I'm not, God!

- Pretty soon she's gonna have an agent and stuff like that.

- I wish.

- Gotta make the hoses.

The hoses I'm putting from the engine to right here.

All right, you see?

They gotta go, like, right here.

And we gotta work like a team, all right.

- [Solomon] I'm bringing them just like that.

- I can tell you got them just right.

- Just right?

- That's 'cause you're good, isn't it, hm?

Is that what that is?

- Yeah, I think so.

- We're mounting the clutch on it right now.

Just gonna slide it right on.

The other side is all back together,

so we get the belt on, and the belt is straight.

I think it's fine, I don't feel any rubbing,

I don't feel any kind of resistance.

There you go.

To the best of my knowledge, every guard,

every bolt's tight that should be tight,

we've got Loctite on those things that

could come loose as well as having

the proper lock washers and everything in place.

We should be in good shape.

And if it isn't, I suppose we'd just cry.

[baby crying]

[zooming]

- Let's cut about right here, Tiffany.

- Right here?

- No, no, no, about right here.

- [Host] Mr. Clark helps Tiffany attach

the throttle cable to the gas pedal.

- There we go.

All right, now, we just need a stop right here,

and this is gonna be the stop for our throttle.

Yes.

Good, good, that's it, that's it.

See, now when mash the pedal, we ready for w*r.

Ready for w*r.

We want this to be the fastest one.

- We're the taking the old fuel pump off

and putting this high performance one on.

High performance always means faster, you know?

- Better. - Yeah, better,

faster, not no just plain Jane market stuff.

Yeah, we just gotta hook up these lines to a fuel pump,

run our little computer, put the fluids in it,

and we're ready to crank it up.

[crashing]

- [Host] Kevin Hahn has auto repair in his blood.

- My grandpa lives right next door and he owns a garage,

so just growing up with him, summer jobs helping him out,

doing a little here, a little there,

then you get older and you get deeper into it.

- [Host] Right now, Kevin is deep into restoring

a forgotten classic, the '81 El Camino.

- When I got this car, it just, you know,

everything's stock, looked real old and ran down,

it still does a little bit.

Got it running good,

now it's just the body work I need done.

I love to drive the cars, you know,

get all the attention from having a nice unique car

like my El Camino,

you don't really see too many more unique, so,

a lot of people, you get their attention.

I'm hoping to go, with the El Camino,

do a full restoration on it,

but I guess it will have to be a little bit later.

Money's tight in these times.

[engine revving]

[tires screeching]

Let's hope everything works out good.

- [Solomon] Get it done, B.

Get her done!

- [Kevin] Get her done.

- [Host] The dragster comes with its own computer system

that performs three important tasks.

- Exhaust gas temperature sensor.

- [Mr. Clark] Yeah, yeah.

- [Host] The sensor allows the team

to diagnose engine performance after each race.

[whirring]

- We got it. - Got it, brother.

- [Mr. Clark] We running.

- Mostly all this stuff's just kind of like a tune up.

- Yeah.

- Put some oil in it,

just put all the fluids in it, you know?

- Yeah, then we'll be on the road.

We'll be going.

- Good to go. - Go.

- [Host] With this build good to go,

Savannah's Nickel Bag of Funk gives the builders

their own soulful brand of schooling.

[funky music]

♪ Allow me to reintroduce myself ♪

♪ I'm the butter pecan tan honey ♪

♪ That you fell in love with a long time ago ♪

♪ But here now lately it feels like I've been ♪

♪ In this love thing on my own

♪ Now, what we got is good

♪ But it sure enough could be better ♪

♪ Can we go back to the first day ♪

♪ Or maybe the first love letter ♪

♪ Honey, let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go back to love

- [Host] Besides being a professor of funk,

singer Leslie Gadsen teaches kindergarten

in the same school district as the builders.

- Good, very, very, good.

♪ Oh, let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go back to love

♪ Can we do it

♪ Can we do it, can we do it, can we do it ♪

♪ Please, honey, let's go, let's go ♪

♪ Let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go back to love

♪ Let me love you, babe

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go, let's go

♪ Let's go back to love

♪ Come on and tell me

♪ I'm the one

[funky music]

♪ Let's go back to love, oh

[students cheering and clapping]

- I'm gonna have you come to my birthday party!

- [Host] All of that dancing has worn this team

into a frazzle, so Jesse dismisses class early.

- I don't want too much pressure on you guys, you know.

You're just kids.

- [Mr. Clark] You're gonna hear from Tiffany for that.

- We'll fire it up tomorrow.

If it runs, we'll see.

- [All Students] Hey, hey, hey!

- You got a response on that.

- [Kevin] Why you doubting my work here, Jesse?

[Mr. Clark mumbling]

- That's all right.

I love it when teams are overconfident.

- [Host] With the engine in place,

the builders leave the garage

happier than clams at high tide.

But as they say in the south,

just 'cause a chicken has wings don't mean it can fly.

It's the final build day

and Jesse's got just two words for these builders.

- Hurry up.

All right you guys, quit screwing around,

let's get this done.

You guys have been milking it for, like, four days now.

- [Host] Mr. Clark recruits Jarrod to bleed the brakes.

- [Mr. Clark] Pump it up.

- Oh, yeah.

- Keep going.

We want to get the air out of the line.

Want to remove all of the air out of the brake system.

Any air in the brake system, it won't operate correctly.

Okay, pump it up.

Hold down.

There we go, pump it for me, Usher.

- [Jarrod] All right.

[squeaking]

- There we go. - There we go.

We have pure fluid coming through.

We're gonna close the c*ck now,

close the bleeder valve.

That's good, we got brakes now, don't we?

- [Jarrod] Oh yeah, oh yeah.

- Mash the brake.

Man, that's good, that's good.

That's gonna stop.

Perfect.

- We're getting closer all the time, closer all the time.

Let's see, we gotta put some oil in it.

Let's get some oil in this thing.

- All right.

- [Host] Carlos's thirst for knowledge

reveals a thirst for something else.

[cork popping]

- If the gas is alcohol, why the oil can't be beers?

- I don't know.

You want to put some beer in it, see if it'll run?

- Some Budweiser.

- Just turn it

and it'll flow right in. - A beer bong.

- [Student] Looks like Kool-Aid.

- Like a beer bong. - Looks like syrup.

- It looks good. - Like strawberry syrup.

- You know how they be at the parties,

like, go, go, go, go, go!

- I think Mr. Clark needs to lead us in prayer

that this baby starts up.

Come on, Mr. Clark.

- It's done.

- Nope, come on, Mr. Clark! - It's gonna start,

in the name of Jesus.

- I hope we ain't miss nothing.

Please, please, please, please.

- Last minute inspection never hurt.

- I know, but, this ain't like regular T.V. shows.

They usually crank this up last night, or something,

make sure they be able to crank it.

- What day do you think this is?

It's the last day. - It's the last day,

I know, but we really and truly don't know

if it's gonna crank, really.

It's not a joke.

- [Host] As the team positions the dragster for takeoff,

Mr. Clark shows his confidence in the students' work.

- If it don't run, I'll eat my hat.

I aint got one on, though.

[chuckling]

- [Host] Jesse grabs the high octane fuel

that was too expl*sive to keep in the garage.

- [Student] That's good, that's good!

[student mumbling]

That's good, that's good!

- [Jesse] Crank it 'til we see the fuel going through it.

- [Host] The external starter is a required safety feature

that keeps the kids from racing off

without the adults around.

- Cool? - Okay, go ahead

and hit it now, I got it on here.

[intense whirring]

[engine revving]

[heavy rock music]

- [Host] They've done it!

This motley crew has successfully conquered

the Monster Garage, becoming master dragster makers.

[heavy rock music]

[clapping and whistling]

- Cool. - Yeah, cool!

- Let's go test it.

- Cool.

- That was super loud!

- That's what I'm saying, it gave me cold chills!

It was good. - You're in Georgia now.

This is Georgia.

Savannah, to be exact, but this is Georgia.

Show you how it's done.

California,

eat your heart out.

[Tiffany laughing]

- I think we did a good job, I really do.

It's crunk, I'm happy, I'm satisfied.

It's running.

- [Host] All the dragster needs is a body,

and it's ready to rock the track.

- [Jesse] Come on, quit messing around.

Just put the button in, let's go.

- Turn it on, Carlos.

Turn it on.

- All right. - Georgia style.

- Okay. - Georgia style.

- [Host] As the team heads off to the races,

another southern saying seems appropriate.

Some days you win, some days you lose,

and some days it just rains.

[raindrops pattering]

By the time the crew reaches the Savannah Dragway

the track is slicker than snot on a doorknob,

but these builders are ready to race.

[growling]

- Let's get it!

- We brought tools, but we didn't bring a mop and bucket.

- [Host] Jesse checks out this strange substance

rarely seen in his native Long Beach.

- [Jesse] It's not getting drier.

- Not right now.

- We could go back to the school gym,

do some burnouts in there.

- [Mr. Clark] How about that?

- [Host] The dragster will have to stay in the truck,

but that doesn't stop the team from racing.

[squeaking and squishing]

[yelling]

- The car runs, the track's just not ready for it.

- Yep.

When he takes off,

he's gonna probably spin halfway down that track.

Never catch traction. - Won't get any traction

to get a good run, anyway.

- Lose control, that's the main thing.

You mess it up while playing with it.

- You want a car messed up, I'll run it,

it might end up in the guard rail, you know, but.

[Jarrod laughing]

- It's really not any trouble to get students,

we get new ones every year, but you don't get a new car.

[students laughing]

- You don't get none like this, though.

[Jarrod laughing]

- [Host] A little rain won't keep these builders

from getting their tools.

- Good job, man.

- Thank you.

- I think you guys should thank your teachers

for giving you the skills to.

- [Student] Thank you, Mr. Clark.

[students chattering]

- So, we got two big toolkits for them

for helping you guys out, and a Milwaukee power tool kit,

and then we got one of those West Coast Chopper

toolkits for each of you guys.

- Oh, man! - That's awesome.

- [Host] Build cost tally,

vehicle cost, zip, hard cash, 30 bucks,

freebie value, $9,988.

Total build cost, 10,018 bucks.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

Hold on to your pencils, Monster class!

We're not in Georgia anymore.

No one wants another rain out,

so what better place to take the action

than sunny California and Irwindale Speedway.

The Jegs racing team is here

to show Groves High School how it's done.

Junior dragster champion Troy Coughlin Jr. and Sr.

descend into the world of Monster with a cool truck

and an even cooler attitude.

- Use 100% focus and do what I normally do

and go out there and have fun.

- [Host] And who's representing Monster Garage?

- I'm in California, woo!

- [Host] Lookie what we have here.

It's Jarrod Usher,

and he's got one word

to describe this purty little dragster.

- It's crunk.

[whip cracking]

This is the crunk juice, okay.

It runs off crunk juice.

- [Host] Check out that finish,

courtesy of the PhD of paint, Pete Finlan.

Jarrod's proven his skills on the horse,

but can he tame this wild ride

by winning the best of three races against Jegs?

- It's ready, man, let's go, let's do it.

[whip cracking]

- [Host] One novice, one champion,

and Jesse's on the scene to predict the winner.

- My money's on the Jegs kid.

Hundred bucks.

He's gonna smoke him,

probably because he's, like, the champion.

[chuckling]

Duh.

- Everybody's got a little monster in them,

get that monster out that garage!

- [Host] Lucky Jarrod brought Papa for pit support,

'cause he ain't getting any from Mr. T.V. Show Host.

Racers, ready!

And go!

[engines revving]

Ouch!

Looks like Jesse predicted well.

The first heat was not friendly to the Monster Garage.



- Told you.

- [Host] But Jarrod's too excited

to be nagged by the negative.

- I was just all the way to the floor.

[mimicking engine]

From the start line, it was [mimicking engine],

and then it went [mimicking engine].

So, I don't know what happened.

It ain't been run in awhile, this motor,

and it needs to be ran properly.

- [Host] Does Jesse have any advice

for our second place hero?

- Better pack your stuff,

'cause that Jegs kid's gonna whip your a*s again.

[chuckling]

- You wanna see the tires burning.

You wanna see power going down that road.

- [Host] With a fresh dose of fatherly advice

flowing through his veins,

Jarrod's ready for round two.

[beeping]

[engines revving]

[heavy rock music]

You gotta be kidding me!



Not bad, kid, the learning curve is in full effect.

Jarrod's lost two out of three races,

but Jesse's happy with the time.

- 10:54?

That's cool.

- How you doing, man, good job.

I didn't get you this time,

but next time, you know what I'm saying,

we can get together, run it again.

- [Host] Jarrod's cut the lead to less than one second.

That's pretty good for a first time driver

manning a beginner build team's virgin vessel.

- I'm here to race, I had fun,

next time I'll get him, but,

I got my own, next time I'll get him.

- [Host] There'll be no Cinderella story today, folks.

We'll save that for the movies.

This is Monster Garage!

- Just welcome to Realityville.

- [Host] Jesse's got no time for dancing queens,

slow machines, or horses that drink soda.

He's got metal to burn, sparks to fly,

the next Monster Garage challenge is just around the bend.

[heavy rock music]

[soaring tones]