12x04 - Monkeying Around

[bunniefuu]

That is rad.
I gotta show the guys.

When we get big boxes,
we always get excited

'Cause it's usually
really cool stuff.

-What did we get?
-Nice.

-From hot wheels.
-Oh, look at that!

How rad is that?

Christie: we just got
the red line club,

Hi-po hauler hot wheels
in the big box today.

It's amazing.

They did a great job
putting all the details

That were on our truck.
-Right.

Yeah, and the way you can
see through the back

And the bed and everything.

You guys did a really
good job. I'm super proud.

We are super, super excited
that hot wheels

Made a toy out of a car
that we did.

In my opinion, we rock.

When ours get here
just let us know.

Yeah, I'll get right on that.

[ Engine revs, tires peal ][ laughs ] whoo!

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

Hot rod hunter richard rawlings
and his band of monkeys...

-Yeah.
-...are breaking all the rules

As they try to transform
an old buick riviera...

I'm concerned this is the size
of two corvettes.

...into gas monkey's first ever
sema super-build.

I want this thing
to be rippin' it.

Narrator: and then...

You probably didn't even
know this, but I have a stepson.

...richard grows
the gas monkey family.

What the [bleep]?
A stepson?

...before sending them
on a cross-country mission...

Where are we eating, boys?

...to bring home an indy legend
in time for race day.

I hope my van's here.

[ Clack ]
-that's a wrap.

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

Captions paid for by
discovery communications

♪♪

Richard: by now, y'all know
my style at gas monkey garage.

We're always kicking down doors,

Throwing caution to the wind,
and you've seen it pay off

With some incredible builds.

There's the hi-po hauler build
from mattel's red line club.

[ Engine revs ]

There's a super slick ford gt.

No one's ever slammed
a gt on airbags before.

And, of course,
the '34 ford coupe.

Damn, it looks good. Hoo!
-Look at this thing, man.

Now that's a hot rod.

And we stepped down and built
a very big marketing truck

For shiner beer, and it
turned out unbelievable,

But the hard part
is keeping it going.

I've gotta think outside
the box, do something different,

Push the envelope, if you will,

And I think I got just
the thing to do it.

[ Horn honks ]

Ahoy, captain.

It's a land yacht.

-That is a land yacht.
-That is a yacht.

That is the definition
of a land yacht.

-Golly.
-Richard: '72 boattail.

Check this out --


The guy had it
in his man cave.

And I thought it was
pretty cool.

I couldn't turn it down,
and it looked really nice.

-They're kinda funky-looking.
-It's only got 40,000 miles?

-That's what it's showing.
-Wow.

Richard: we got
a wide open door there.

Let's put it inside,
and we can talk about it.

I didn't a/c this building
for the hell of it.

-It's hot out here.
[ Engine starts ]

We can out everybody
on the hood of this thing.

Slam on the breaks.

[ Tires screech ]

-Yeah, breaks work.
-[ Laughs ]

I survived. Don't worry.

Richard: holy cow! '72.

Rad.

Y'all remember I bought this
riviera out of a guy's man cave

Not that long ago
here in argyle, texas.

I paid 10.5 for it.

[ Hood slams ]
listen to that.

That was a steal
because it's got no rust,

Has never been wrecked,
and never been molested.

I'm beginning to wonder
why you brought this car in

To show us.
-I just think it's cool.

-A riviera?
-It's a '72.

Richard: come on, man.
It's a boattail.

What do you call that color?
Unattractive beige?

-Buttermilk yellow.
[ Hood pops ]

-Buttermilk yellow.
-Buttermilk yellow.

Buttermilk yellow?

We finally found a color
that's making me like green

Or black as an option.

I've never seen a 455 motor
look so small in an engine bed.

There's, like, a foot
back there.

And back here, it's just
got such a sexy line.

Brian: this reminds me of, like,
a '63 to '67 corvette.

Yep.

Same guy that designed
the corvette designed this car.

-Richard: did he?
-Yeah, yeah. Bill mitchell.

Richard:
I got hot roder brian bass in

Because I've got something
really big planned,

That'll make heads turn
and leave no doubt

That gas monkey is the world's
number one hot rods shop.

Brian's a top notch customizer
here in dallas,

And really knocked it out
of the park on the '34 ford.

Brian has the right eye
for design

To make this build
really scream.

Y'all, look at the car
for a second.

I've done my job
and got it here.

I want y'all to tell me
what I got for sure,

Because if I have what
I want, I got an idea.

Buff it, fix the top,
and flip it.

[ Crack ]
-hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

-Whoa!
-You're already breaking stuff.

[ Clank ]

Sorry, yeah.

Hey, hey, this is nice, not
having to push a car for once.

Richard: I want the guys
to go over the car

Without me looking over
their shoulders.

And if they confirm that
I got what I think I do,

As far as a perfect canvas
to start with,

We're golden,
because this is gonna be

Gas monkey's
first super car build

Unlike anything
anyone's ever seen,

And I plan on taking it to sema.

But when the guys find out
the crazy plan I've got in mind,

They're gonna flip.

Who already broke the top?

-Josh broke it
-josh did it.

-That idiot josh.
-Golly.

Did I break it, or am I
making progress

While you guys stand around?
-You're breaking it.

[ Laughing ]

All right, so I think you could
just clean it up and sell it

And get rid of the overspray
and maybe make some money.

This thing's worth


And maybe 20 cleaned up.

But then I got
to looking at it,

And I'm like, I was looking
at the brand new zr1s

That just came out,
and if you look at it

In the right light
and squinting...

[ Laughs ]

...this kinda looks like
an overgrown one.

If you slammed this
and had it on the ground

And slicked it up,
it can be sexy.

Richard might have an eye
for car design,

But "sexy" is not a word
I would use for this boat.

This ain't no corvette.
This is, like, two corvettes.

Imagine it down low.

Imagine the wheels
and stance right.

There's nothing
resembling a corvette

On this car right now.

Well, the back window does
look like a corvette.

If you really look at it.
-You give us, what, three weeks?

There's no way that we can
make this cool in three weeks.

-What if I gave us months?

[ Speaks indistinctly ]
-you've never given us months.

We've build hundreds of cars,
but no one's ever built

Quite what I have in my mind,
and if we get it right,

People will be talking
about this car for years

And that means they're
talking about gas monkey.

But why?

'Cause I think it'd
be weird enough

That people would freak out.

The truck market is
hot right now.

Why build a truck?

This year at sema,
there's gonna be

Every one of those
every where.

-Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
-Wait a second.

-What?
-Sema's...

-Sema.
-Sema.

Oh, man, I was hoping y'all
would come to that yourselves.

[ Laughter ]

-There's the catch.
-There it is.

Richard: that's right.

I wanna build
a 1972 riviera for sema,

The biggest automotive
trade show in the world.

And the goal is to turn heads
and blow minds,

In a way that only
gas monkey garage can.

If we're doing a sema,
we can't do half-a*s.

We have to go all out.

I want this thing
to be rippin' it.

Really badass,
not a trailer queen.

If it was up to me,
we'd drive it there.

So this is gonna be our only
build for five months?

Absolutely not.

We still gotta stay open
and make money.

We can clean it up and sell it
and make some money.

We could go a little bit
further than that

And make a really kick-a*s car
that may or may not break out,

Or we can make a car that
make people go, "holy [bleep]."

Mike: it's not that we can't
make this riviera badass.

That's not the problem.
Time's the problem.

Make sure we got enough time
and especially enough budget.

Jason:
you know, if you're building
a project in your garage

And it goes south,
well, nobody has to know,

But we put our necks
on the line every day here.

If this one blows up on us,

We're gonna look like
complete idiots.

I love the ideas.

I just -- the time window
I can see

Just getting shorter
and shorter.

Richard: we're not gonna just
rest on our laurels.

We have to take a risk
and spend our time

Over the next few months
building something

That nobody's ever thought of.

A build of this magnitude,
it really deserves a year,

If not more.

Getting it done in months and
putting it out there at sema?

That's asking for trouble.

This is all about upping
gas monkey as a brand.

This is just
the next evolution.

Let everybody know
that we're here to stay

And we're
cutting [bleep] edge.

-All right.
-Oh, yeah.

So we're all in?
We're doing it?

-I say we do it.
-I'm in.

Hey, I like a challenge.

We push all the time, we gotta
get up to that next level.

Can we play with the color
a little bit?

Mike:
maybe not green, not black.

Everybody's gonna
expect green out of us.

Okay, I will give you my word,
we won't do green or black.

Okay.

Richard: this riviera build
is gonna be big.

Sema's in five months, and that
sounds like a long way off,

But it's not, not when
I'm putting 300k into a car.

Yep, you heard that right.
This is a $300,000 build.

I gotta
go draw something up.

I mean, if we're gonna
do this thing,

I need to have some kind
of design for us to go off of.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

-That's a lot of fab work.
-I want big wheels, big lift.

I want it tucked in there.

I know what you like.
Let me go get started.

Richard's idea is to bring
corvette cues into the riviera,

And now I have to figure out
how to combine those two things,

Corvette and riviera,
and make it something

That's practical
and possible to build.


But five months?

That's not really a lot of time
for a project that needs

As much care and detail
as this one.

Everyone has their doubts,
but when sema rolls around,

One way or another,
we're gonna find out

If richard bit off
more than we can chew.

Five months is not
very long at all.

But hey, we're gonna be
camping out a lot.

Richard: I'll make us some
sleeping bags

And hot dogs to roast.
-[ Sighs heavily ]

♪♪

♪♪

[ Old timey horn honks ]

Goin' in?

-It's coming in.
-All the way in.

Daphne: come on, before
richard gets here.

I don't think we're gonna fit.

We're not gonna let you
hit nothing.

Richard: whoa, whoa, whoa.
What are you numbskulls doing?

Mike: I'm doing whatever
daphne's telling me to do,

That's what I'm doin'.
-What is daphne saying?

She wants the van inside.
[ Engine idling ]

I would do whatever
daphne said, too,

Except for
when I don't want to.

In this case, no.

There it is. Super cool.

You better remember,

I found this econoline van
in yuma, arizona.

It didn't look like much,

But what got my attention
was it's story.

This is freakin' super cool.

For 37 years, larry bisceglia
was the first in line

To get into the indy 500.

May 26th is larry bisceglia day.

Ford finally gave
him a brand new van

Because imagine the years
of publicity.

-5,500?
-We got a deal.

k*ller!that's why I bought it,

And just like ford did,
I see opportunity here.

I'm giving this van away.
-To who?

The indianapolis speedway
museum.

For free.

And here's the fun part --
you two guys are gonna drive it

To indy, because it's gotta
be there on friday.

[ Daphne laughs ]

You're driving.

If he can drive it from
scottsdale's phoenix area

Every year,
you can make it in one trip.

So this hasn't ran
since the '80s...

I drove it, like, two months ago
when we bought it.

It barely pulled in the door.

-I drove it around the block,
-it took an hour.

-The engine sounds good.
-The block.

Just throw it up in the air,
check everything front to back,

And I can guarantee you,
this thing will make it.

Get this thing back over there
and get ready to go to indy.

Larry's van really does
belong in

The indianapolis motor speedway
museum.

I love that gas monkey can
play the part of returning it

Where it belongs.

That's the fun in being
able to do the things we do,

Making a lasting mark
in the car community,

And if I can get a little extra
media splash in the process,

Well, that's bonus points
for me.

First go, not gonna
make it very far.

We're gonna die.

[ Tires peal ]
-whoo!

Narrator: coming up
on "fast n' loud,"

The riviera build
goes to pieces...

[ Laughing ]

....and richard's secret life
revealed.

You probably didn't even
know this, but I have a stepson.

Get on in.

-In this van?
-Yep.

♪♪

But there's not even
a seat for me!

♪♪

I think it's starting to
win me over a little bit.

It does have some good lines.
-Yeah.

I think
it's gonna be different,

And I think that's what's
gonna be cool about it.

There's not gonna be
five or six of these at sema.

It's rare for a reason.

Richard wants corvette elements

And I think that we can do that

Without losing all
the buick riviera,

And that's gonna
be the challenge,

To bring these modern
corvette elements

Into this buick riviera.

I do wanna have scoops,
a splitter on the front,

And need a fuser on the rear.

But the details can't
start to get worked out,

Until I finish up the sketch.

We do know the body has
to go to the sand blaster,

So there's no sense in waiting
to bust this thing down.

The interior out, all the trim,
front, back bumpers,

Motor disconnected, so we
can lift the body off of it,

And get this thing
outta the way.

Let's get it apart.

Brian: pretty simple plan,
really.

Jason and mike will focus
on the front and the motor...

That's ingenious!

...tony and josh will focus
on the rear and the trim.

Oh, my god, it's so heavy.

...and jeremy and I will
pull out the interior.

This car was built in '72 and
to make it a modern super car

Is not really gonna be
something that's easy.

[ Groans ]

We have to change
the whole car, basically,

And to do that with and keep
the same buick look and feel,

And add corvette in the mix.

I'm concerned about the fact

That this is the size
of two corvettes.

The corvette is
like half this car.

[ Whirring power-saw ]

If we just go down
the wrong path and end up

With something
that does not look good.

It has to look the part.

It has to act the part.

It has to sound the part.

Look, the part is
the most important, though,

'Cause that's my goal

Is to make it look as
good as I possibly can.

And hopefully it'll smell
a lot better

When I get done with it, too,
'cause it stinks right now.

[ Ripping ]

Oh, there we go.

Aha.

All right, bass,
making a mental note.

You gotta remember how
that goes back together.

I have no idea.

[ Clanking ]

Hey.

Oh, grab the wire,
right here, watch this.

[ Clanking ]

[ Laughter ]

All right, let's get
the body off.

This thing got
so much lighter.

It's all on the floor
over there.

[ Whirring ]
firewall's very heavy.

Whoo-hoo-hoo.
I think we're home free.

-Yeah.
-That is how it's done.

Watch your fingers. Good?

Let's get the gas tank out.

[ Drilling ]

[ Loud crash ]
-[ laughs ]

Whew!

-That's one way of doing it.
-Yep.

You know, there's that saying,

'It's so crazy it
just might work'.

Well, this build is like
'it's so effin' nuts,

It better work'.

No, it looks better already.

The closer to the ground,
the better it looks.

If we pull this off,
this car could become legend.

It could be the car
the next generation

Of hot roders talk about.

We went this far without
damaging anything,

So it'd be a, you know, just
like us to drop it on the floor

At this point.
[ Laughter ]

♪♪

Man: speeding!

♪♪

All right. '72 Rivi is back
from the sand blaster.

-Hey, guys.
-Josh: no!

Oh. My hands are clean.

Well, mike, is it good?

Yeah, it's super good.

Super good. Whew! Man.

Seems like we always waste
the best cars,

The ones we cut up.

Wait, wait, waste? Waste?
No, no, no, no, that's good.

This means jeremy and I can
get straight to fabrication

To do rust repair.

That makes me happy.
-That is very true.

Talk about good timing.

I'm actually really
stoked on this because --

Oh, wow.

You know, we talked
about this already

And I think we kinda have
a good game plan now,

And this is what I think it
should actually look like.

Wow.

Richard wants to
build a '72 riviera

And present it at sema.

It's gonna be
the most anticipated build

Gas monkey has ever done.

I've been racking my brain,
talking to the guys,

Going over different styles,
different looks,

And we finally came up with
a pretty good game plan

For the riviera, and I just
finished the rendering for it

When it came back
from sand blasting,

So really good timing.

Carbon fiber hood, bronze
wheels with a polished lip

And polished knock-offs.
-Yep.

I wanna do the split bumpers
like a '70 model camaro.

Yeah, so that looks like
it's got the chop top.

It does have a chop top.

I'm thinking, like, an inch,
inch and a half

Of the front only, so we'll
take all that wedge shape

Out of it and bring it down...
-Yeah.

...make it a little bit meaner,
little more aggressive.

You know, all these
really cool details

Will make this thing

More of a modern
pro-touring luxury car.

All these things, you know,
we're just talking about

Things that are
really time consuming,

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

This car has, like, these
natural hips right here

And I think we should
accentuate that.

And, you know,
one of richard's ideas

Was to take the corvette cues
and bring them into the riviera,

So I was thinking a vent there
for a break vent,

I think that's
a really cool idea.

It'll naturally fit there.

I came up with a name
for the car.

Uh-oh.

I wanna call it
the battleship buick,

Because it's gonna be
battleship gray

And it's a mean boattail car.
-I don't hate it.

I don't hate it.
-I don't hate that at all

Brian: this car being
a boattail buick riviera,

It's a big ol' boat,
it's a land yacht,

But we're making it
into a performance car.

That makes it a
battleship in my eyes.

Somebody needs to talk about
the elephant in the room,

And I'm not talking
about jeremy.

Damn.
What else is it?

What is it?
Time.

Five months, but we
have other projects

In that time, too.

Technically we're probably
only really getting,

What, two months, three, maybe?

I think this might be one of
the most fab heavy projects

That gas monkey has ever done,

And we're gonna
be under the g*n,

And we have to work
together to get this done.

Every one of us has to chip in

And get the fabrication
side of this thing.

What do you think
you need time wise

As far as body?

This body's pretty straight.

There'll be heavy mods,
but as far as --

Three weeks,
give me three weeks.

Three weeks? Have you ever
had three weeks

To paint a car before?
-No, that's what I'm saying.

Have y'all ever had five months
to do metal work?

-No.
-All right, three weeks.

We're breaking new ground here.

-Give me three weeks.
-All right, three weeks.

I've built a couple
sema cars before,

And there's definitely a crunch,

But five months from the get-go,
from coming up with an idea?

I know these guys work fast,
but it's gonna be a tight --

A tight squeeze.

What are we looking
at power point-wise?

Super charged, lt-4, chevy.


Is what I'm hearing.

-[ Laughs ]
-lotta gear.

Yeah, that's awesome.

All that horse power means
that the original chassis

Is headed for the scrap pile.

We'll need a new chassis,

A custom one that's not only
stronger, but lighter,

And specifically designed,

So we can mount
the independent suspension.

This is gonna be
a super expensive build.

This is gonna be
the most expensive build

We've ever built
at gas monkey.

And our most ambitious build.

Not only is this just
gonna take a lot of time,

It's also gonna
take a lot of money.

Richard seems to be
okay with it right now,

But I can foresee four,
five months down the line,

Richard may not be quite as okay

With how much money we're
spending on this car.

I actually saw some moths
fly out of richard's wallet,

Like he's getting into parts

He's never actually
got into before.

[ Laughs ] yeah.

The biggest issue
is that the chassis

Has to be built first,
and that's gonna take some time.

So in the meantime, I tackle
all the heavy body mods,

And then really,
when the chassis comes in,

We'll be ready to set the body
on it and go to town.

[ Laughing ]
-let's go to work.

I gotta go wash my hands.

♪♪

-Tony: I think that's it.
-Mike: I think so, too.

We got snacks, drinks.
Let's do this.

Road trip!

♪♪

Hey. Why do I need all this
stuff for my first day?

I'm doing social media.

Oh, super cool.
I forgot you were coming.

Come on.
-How'd you forget I was coming?

'Cause I don't really pay
attention to you very often.

-That's about right.
-Sinjin, my boy, I love ya,

But the world don't
revolve around you.

It revolves around me.

-You ready?
-Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Whoa!

-What?
-Got a prize for you guys.

You probably didn't even
know this, but I have a stepson.

What? What the [bleep]?
I mean, where do I even start?

A stepson?
-[ Chuckles ]

I've been here for,
like, five years,

And this is the first
I've ever heard

Of richard rawlings
having a stepson.

He's gonna handle some
social media stuff, so...

Okay, so is he gonna
follow us or what?

-Nope. He's gonna ride with ya.
-In thisvan?

Richard: yep. Get in there.

But there's not even
a seat for me!

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You got your camera
and your cellphone, right?

-Yeah.
-All right, go.

-Why is he going with us?
-Get on in.

Trial by fire.
-That's not even...

Sleep with your back
to the wall,

And if you get in
trouble, don't call me.

-What's that smell in here?
-Y'all good to go.

His name's sinjin.
-Sinjin?

Yeah, don't worry
about the definition.

I don't
understand it either.

-Is he indian?
-I don't know.

-Does he have money?
-Nope.

Why's he gotta go
with us though?


That's already bad enough,

And now we got
little richard?

[ Scoffs ] whatever.

-Mike: sinjin, huh?
-Yeah.

-Well, I'm mike.
-Okay.

And snitches get
stitches in this van.

You understand that, right?
-Richard: hey, come on.

Snap, snap!
You gotta get to indy!

Come on, snap it up!
-Are you supposed to rat us out?

No.
I was supposed to do my job.

Mike:
there goes our plans.

Richard: all right, man,
get social media.

Click, bing, take pictures,
have fun.

If he doesn't do good,
leave him there.

-Mike: oh, we will.
-Oh, we'll leave him there,

That's for sure.

His mom said, "give him a job."
I gave him a job.

That's your introduction to
my stepson, sinjin venegas.

Now I married his mom
when he was 3.

He just graduated
university at arkansas,

But he's a typical millennial.

He's, like, "I don't know
what I wanna do.

Maybe I wanna do some
social media stuff."

Well, we do some social media
stuff here at gas monkey,

So threw him in the truck
with those bozos,

And he's on his way to indy.

[ Laughs ]
should be good for them.

Sucks for you, bro.
I'm gassy.

[ Laughter ]

[ Engine revs, tires peal ]
-richard: whoo!

Narrator: coming up on
"fast n' loud,"

Can richard afford to keep
this build afloat?

I never thought I'd be so
happy to spend so much money.

♪ Yeah! ♪

Narrator: and custom chop
or ultimate flop?

-Did it work?
-Dude, that looks hideous.

♪♪

What?

♪♪

Richard: this has to work.

Chris alston, he's not
expecting us to show up,

And this is the guy
that can build our chassis.

I mean, chris is awesome.

I got jeremy and russell
with me today --

Jeremy because he's
my fabricator,

And russell...well, it doesn't
hurt to have his muscle

On my team when he's not busy
on "garage rehab."

He didn't tell me
"no" on the phone.

It'll be hard for him
to say "no"

When the three of us
walk in there.

Well, I'm not going
anywhere else

And I'll pay a little extra
money, but we gotta have it.

Do you want me to
new york strong arm him?

I don't know.
How's that work?

Well, I can't tell you that.
All right, here we are.

Richard: I talked to
chris alston on the phone

About building us a chassis,
and he was like, "get in line."

So I figured showing up with
jeremy, my fabrication guy,

And russell, the muscle,

He'd get the message that
we seriously need his help.

Remember --
upbeat and positive.

-I'm excited.
-We need this.

-Wow.
-This is amazing.

Richard: if you're a serious
hot roder, drag racer,

Or what have ya, chris' chassis
are your first choice.

We've used chris alston before.

Like, when we built
the hi-po hauler.

What's going on, sir?
Richard rawlings.

Chris alston.

I'm chris alston,
and this is my company,

Chris alston's chassisworks.

I know you told me that
you have a lot of people

In front of us on the line,

And you couldn't
make the time frame,

But I really need it done,

And I don't wanna go
anywhere else.

I mean, you guys are the best.
-Well, I appreciate that.

The big thing about
getting this chassis

Is not only getting
the one that we want

Done by the people
that we know can do it,

But we gotta take this car
to sema.

That's my main goal,
and I wanna make sure

That we have the best
components in it at all times.

Well, let's just blow up
the picture and take it to sema,

'Cause building that thing is
gonna really be hard.

We just gotta get parts.

We need you to come
through with what we need.

Anything's possible.

It just takes money.

There's the guy.
There he is.

The fact that they want
this thing done by sema

Is a huge, huge, huge
unbelievably difficult project.

If you really wanna step up
and spend some major coin,

Then we're the place to be.
-[ Laughing ]

I wouldn't have flown out
here if I wasn't ready.

This way.
All right.

Let's do it.so far, so good.

Chris is taking us to
see the merchandise,

And I take that as a sign
he might do business.

What is that?

Chris: this is a mock up of
the style of chassis

We're talking about.

This is called our
perimeter x frame.

It has a x in the middle, and
these perimeter frame rails.

For your riviera, it would
look exactly like this.

It'll be a little bit wider,
and the frame rails

In the back will be longer.

It allows you to build
a really bitchin' chassis

For anything.

Richard: jeremy didn't get outta
shop a whole lot with us.

He's doing
the heavy fabrication.

This is heavy fabrication,

And if he's gonna
get what he wants,

Then he needs to be here
and put eyeballs on it.

Well, this is basically,
like, everything I want.

This is the set up.
-This is what you get.

That's what I wanna put in it,
and that's what you're buying.

-There it is.
-[ Laughing ]

See? I like the way he does it.

What I want is what he wants,
it's what you're paying for.

This car needs to be
done by sema, so...

I think we can figure out
some way to accommodate

What you need.

You'll just have to bring
a wheelbarrow full of hundreds.

-All right.
-[ Laughing ]

Yeah, a wheelbarrow?

Chris has a busy shop,
so paying to get him

To put our rivi chassis in
the queue is worth every penny.

I just hope he can
get it done pronto.

I never thought I'd be so happy
to spend so much money.

I appreciate it, sir.

I wasn't going anywhere else,
so flying out here worked, guys.

You guys are flying coach
on the way home.

-Let's go.
-No, no, absolutely not.

We got a riviera
to build, come on.

Russell: you know why he wants
us flying coach?

So we don't see him crying
about how much money

He has to spend.
-Oh. Yeah.

♪♪

All right, boys,
let's do this.

♪♪

-Texarkana line.
-Yeah.

Sinjin: we made it to texarkana.
[ Horn honking ]

I need to take a photo!
-Oh, you need a photo?

Just to please the new guy.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Bat turn.

Great turning radius.

All right, jump out and tell
me what this sign says.

"Haywood county,
in honor of judge haywood."

-Mike: later! [ Laughing ]
-sinjin: what?

You know if you put your phone
down you could run faster.

Just saying.

Tennessee, baby! Tennessee!

♪♪

Mike: we are almost here,
fellas.

Yep, we're over heating, boys.

That's smoking
just a little bit.

And we're neither close to indy
nor close to home.

You're a paint guy, but you
know how to fix this, right?

I'm a paint guy, you're right.

So we're over heating.
Right now,

We're just gonna
let it cool off.

Throw some water in it,
we got some bottled water.

Some parts that
we need to fix it.

[ Clacks ]
that's a wrap.

♪♪

♪♪

Brian: hey, josh,
what do you think?

You think we should take this
thing off the rotisserie?

Yeah, I think so.

I think that leverage,
if we start cutting stuff,

Get it on some jack stands
and the rockers

On the structural parts and...
-Yeah.

I think it's better
a little lower, too,

Because we ultimately,
we need to start

Chopping the top, like, now.

Since the '70s, rivi is back
in the sand blaster,

There's no better time than now,

To keep the ball rolling
on what will hopefully be

Gas monkey's most ambitious
build ever.

And even though sema's
not for five more months,

We still have
a bunch of other builds

We're gonna be doing
at the same time.

So, bass, what are we
thinking on planning

On cutting the roof?

We're just taking some of
the forehead out of this car.

We're making
the windshield shorter.

I'd like to start with an edge.

I think that's a good idea.

And I think we have
to cut it out up here,

And then maybe bi-cut it
down here to pull it down.

Do a little bit to get
that aggressive look

And then, you know, make
it as minimal as possible.

♪♪

Typically, whenever you start
to build a car,

You start with the foundation.

The foundation is the chassis.

We don't have the chassis yet,

Because we ditched
the original riviera chassis

And decided to go with a new one

From chris alston's
chassissworks.

The problem is
we don't have it yet,

And we're already under the g*n
as far as time goes,

So we had to make a new plan.

Figure out a way to move
forward with the car

Without having the chassis here.

Right now we're gonna chop
the top on the riviera

To hopefully lower
the roof by an inch.

Typically when you chop a top,

You take the top
and cut it completely off,

And you take a little
piece out, put it back on,

And weld it together.
Well, we're not doing that here.

What we're doing here is
basically creating, like,

A hinge, so rather than take it
off, move it like this,

We're taking it and
moving it like that.

So we're getting rid of the big,
tall front windshield look,

Refining it a little bit
to make the shape of the car

A little bit more level as
opposed to a backwards slant.

A chop top is the one thing
that makes a hot rod a hot rod.

Chopping tops, it goes all
the way back to the late '30s.

Guys were souping up cars
and racing on dry lake beds.

They cut off
everything they could

To lose weight and gain speed.

[ Car engine revving ]

Their next trick
for getting faster,

Was cutting down the roof
line for better aerodynamics.

The original chop top
was solely for speed.

With he riviera chop, we're
more interested in style.

We want the window line
to come down more,

This door line's also
gonna go up,

So it's gonna visually look
like it's going down.

When you stand back
and look at it,

I don't want it to look
like it's going up hill,

Like it is.
Correct, yeah.

And I want it to be more
level with the rockers.

♪♪

Before any chopping can
be done, jeremy and josh

Need to install bracing
in the interior

To keep the structural
geometry of the rivi in place,

And add support
to the a pillars

To keep them straight
during the chop.

[ Whirring ]

As for me, I gotta remove
some of the inner structure

Of the c pillar to make a
cavity, so we can do our chop.

We need to cut right
in this area here,

So we can get to both sides,
make a really nice clean weld

And be structurally sound.

So, I think we're close
to actually starting

To chop the top on this.

That's a big moment.

[ Clank ]
I think I'm gonna come out.

Where'd everybody go?

♪♪

♪♪

Perfect.
Here we go, boys!

♪♪

You had the power
stance on that one.

Rocking out over there.

What?

Round two.
[ Machine whirring ]

It's hard to look super cool
when I'm laughing at you..

Say that again.
-Satisfying.

[ Laughing ]
-should I let it go?

Hell, see what happens.
[ Clank ]

They're good.
Good.

Dude, it looks so much
different. It really does.

Need to stand over here
and look at it.

Oh, for sure.

Let's see how it looks
with the door on.

Bass, are you sitting?
I gotta get a...

You can help us hang
the door.

-Oh, I have to help you?
-Yeah. Takes three people.

I was gonna get
a good look at it.

Did you get the bolts
in the mean time?

Visual cues are what
we're looking for.

Josh: it's close.

We want it to look aggressive,
but not overly chopped.

An overly chopped vehicle
is ugly in my book.

Did it work?

Dude, that looks hideous.

-What?!
-It's terrible.

[ Engine revs, tires peal ]
-richard: whoo!

Narrator: coming up on
"fast n' loud"...

Richard: what a boat!

...on this "superbuild,"
the monkeys can't cut corners.

I like where we're headin'.
Let's tick it together.

-♪ Yeah! ♪
-And...

We're almost here, fellas.

...the econoline closes in
on indy history.

We didn't stop anywhere,
we drove straight through.

Uh-huh, non-stop.

Where'd you get the cowboy hat?

♪♪

Josh: dude,
that looks hideous.

[ Laughs ] what?

Brian: the riviera's original
lines were wedge-shaped.

They kinda looked like a boat

With the bow leading up
out of the water.

My design calls for a chop to
take down the roofline

And make it look
a little more aggressive.

A little meaner.

-Did it work?
-That's terrible.

Brian: well, we only took
a little more than an inch

Outta the front, but that might
have been a little too much.

Looks weird.

That went uphill to match
that rising body line.

Let's unchop it.
That'd be great.

-No.
-Oh.

This isn't a radical chop.
That's not the point.

I just wanna
smooth out the lines

To give it more attitude.

It looks chopped, I know
that, but we've overdone it.

We're starting this build
with a big setback.

Ah, it's too much.

I kinda think it's maybe
a quarter-inch too much, too.

To get it just right,
we'll adjust

The brace holding the roof
and see how it all lines up.

Okay, up a quarter-inch
and then it's even.

♪♪

-That looks good to me.
-Yep.




Brian: so we have a measurement
now to go off of.

That looks good to me.

Josh:
yeah, that's much better.

-Yeah, that looks better.
-Yeah.

This is a perfect example of how

Going too fast can lead
to disaster.

[ Clanks ]

-What a boat.
-It's a boat.

Brian: just a little adjustment
makes a huge difference,

Especially looking at all
the long lines on this car.

It's a very delicate thing,
what we're trying to do here

Because we're not doing
some drastic chop,


Just way outta the box.

We're doin' somethin'
very subtle.

We're trying to do somethin'
very elegant.

It's gotta be done just right.

The desire for this
low roofline goes way back

To the art deco of 1930s.

♪♪

Our designers back then
drew low rooflines,

And they looked fantastic.

But manufacturers, well,
they were more conservative,

And they raised the roof to
accommodate drivers' headgear,

You know, tall hats.

That's right,
those sexy low rooflines,

Well, they were a victim
of fashion.

Well, in a nod to those
art deco-inspired designers,

I think our subtle chop,
well, it really improves

The riviera's sleek style.

-Dude, this thing is long.
-Yeah, it's really long.

Really long, really wide.

But personally, I think
this is the one case

Where the giant wheels
are warranted

To proportionally make this
thing look a little bit smaller.

Jason: without the fender on it,
you don't see how that body line

Planes out flat.
-Yeah.

It was so drastic
on the doors,

What was making me see it weird.

Now that it...
Everything goes.

-I think the top's spot on.
-I like the top.

Josh: I'd like to see
the hood's gonna bring

The front up, too, so it's
gonna look even more chopped.

I like it.
I like where we're headin'.

Let's stick it together.

♪♪

Just taking a little bit
of material out of the top

Made it a much more
aggressive car.

I'm-a stick it.
-Yeah.

Brian: and I would
normally wanna cut a car

A little more than this,
but cutting it an inch

Worked out to be
just the right amount.

-Did we already lay it down?
-Yeah. You can't tell?

What do you think?
-That's rad!

Brian: it's down
a full inch in the front.

It's what we decided on.

If you measure it from
the window line, it's actually,

Like, an eighth inch lower
in the front now.

Before it was, like, what?
A full...

-Inch.
-Solid inch.

Brian: it's not a drastic chop
like we would normally think of

When we say chop a top,

But we did this in the most
efficient manner possible.

I looked up and you guys
already had it done.

I don't think you could
chop a car like this

Any faster than we did it.

That's slick. I like it.

Brian: when richard and I
first started talking

About the design for this car,

He wanted to chop the top, and I
was a little unsure of that

Because I didn't think
we could do it

In the time frame that we had.

We got it done,
but I still have my doubts

About making it to sema.

Time is really against us
on this one.

Richard: y'all keep going,
'cause this is the biggest

Bite of the apple
we've taken so far.

I'm on my way to indy.

Hopefully the boys in the van
made it.

♪♪

Announcer: please have your
tickets out and ready...

I just got to

The indianapolis
motor speedway museum.

The guys should be here
with the van any minute now,

So I've got a little time
to check out a couple of cars

With the curator, jason.

We have a pretty
fabulous collection here

Of race cars, pace cars.

I'm jason vansickle.
I'm the curator at

The indianapolis motor speedway
museum.

This thing is rad.

Yeah, that's a 1911
indianapolis 500 winner,

The first indianapolis


It was a little radical
because it was a single-seater

Compared to the 2-man
cars of the era.



Yeah, it averaged at
just under 75 miles an hour.

♪♪

I hope my van's here.

-Hey, we're almost here, fellas.
-Sinjin: I guess so.

Now remember, we see richard,
we didn't stop anywhere.

We drove straight through.

Uh-huh, non-stop.
We just stopped for fuel.

♪♪

Mike: whoo-hoo!

I think we may be
the first ones here, boys.

[ Old timey horn honking ]

Mike: richard had tony and me
drive the "first in line" van

All the way to indianapolis,

Andhe made us take his
social media millennial stepson

Along for the 900-mile ride.whoo-hoo-hoo-hoo!

Sinjin: I'm ready
to get outta this van.

I think I might just get out
and kiss the ground right now.

Three days with daddy's boy,
and I still don't trust him.

Me neither.

Mike: and like we said earlier,
we didn't stop anywhere,

We drove straight through.

Look at that!

[ Old timey horn honks ]

They made it.

If you give three knuckleheads
a freakin' chore,

One of 'em
will make it happen.

Yes!

Look at that!
-Did you get your job done?

-I-i got it done.
-Look at this.

Jason: richard purchased
the 1967 ford econoline van

About a year ago
and has donated it here

To the indianapolis
motor speedway museum.

-I think it belongs here.
-Yeah.

We wanted to purchase it
about a year ago,

But bein' a not for profit,
it's hard to acquire cars.

So when richard showed up
wantin' to donate it,

It was a blessing.

Bisceglia was a folk hero,
and a lot of the fans remember

This van in the infield.

He was a legend,
and that's great.

-Where'd you get the cowboy hat?
-Convenience store.

We stopped for gas.
-Tony: yep.

-Sinjin: and we stopped --
mike: hey.

Sinjin: it was good, made it
all the way through

And didn't make any pit stops.

Yeah, just for fuel.

Really, you just
rolled right in?

Part of the team now.
He's part of the team.

-Not a problem?
-No problems at all.

Richard:
now that larry's van is here,

The gas monkey name
will be part of

The indy 500 history forever.

Man, I gotta tell ya,
that's priceless.

-I need a beer.
-Wait, hold on.

What?

One last selfie
to end this trip.

Mike: come on, get it done.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]

Sinjin: first beer
is on richard?

Mike: this has been
a great trip, honestly.

I mean, it was hot
and it was tiring,

But the reward to just bring it
here and have it back home...

It's time to party.

I feel like drivin' it
back home.

Sinjin: no, no, let's not.

[ Old timey horn honks ]

[ Engine revs, tires peal ]
-richard: whoo!

Narrator:
comin' up on "fast n' loud,"

The monkeys rock the riviera
heavy metal..

♪ Yeah! ♪

Making good progress.

...but richard is singing
a sema swan song.

The progress does look good,
but we got a problem.

Give us the bad news.

♪♪

[ Siren wailing ]

-Sinjin: hey, uh, mike?
-Mike: yeah?

Uh...

All right, mr. Koi is it?
Like the fish?

Yes, but it's spelled
different, yeah.

Officer: but it's spelled
different, okay.

Where are you guys
goin' with this car?

Sir, we're goin' to indy,
the indy 500.

-You're gonna race in this?
-No, we're not gonna race in it.

What's he sitting on?
Is that a seat?

It is a seat shaped like cooler.

All right, sir, here's what's
gonna happen, all right.

I'm gonna cut you loose
with a warning.

Is a selfie out of the question?

If you want a selfie,
that'll be fine, sir.

-Really?
-Ha.

[ Camera shutter clicks ]
-officer: say, "license."

♪♪

Brian: right now we're filling
what's called the marker lights

On the side of the car.

We're gonna fill all
the factory trim holes,

So this car's gonna be
a lot slicker than it was

When it left the factory.

'72 Buick riviera's already
a pretty slick car,

But just these removal
of these few little barbs

Really makes it look
a lot more sleek,

A lot more aggressive.

Which is obviously
what we're going for.

♪♪

Jeremy: with the new chassis
that's coming,

We'll have to ditch
the entire floor,

Rear fender wells,
trunk, everything.

I mean, just an outside shell
and a roof

Is all that'll be left.

We got some big, old tires

And really cool suspension
going in the back of this thing.

We'd like to cut
this all out now.

♪♪

♪♪

Dude, I'm totally floored.

[ Forced laughter ]
stupid.

With the trunk floor deleted
and still more to cut out,

We're gonna need a lot
of bracing inside.

Can you grab your stinger
and zappy zappy?

[ Crackling ]got 'em one by one.

In the end, that's what's gonna
keep this car right and nice.

♪♪

Now that the trunk
is all braced up,

I can get cutting on
the inner wheel wells.

Guess I gotta get in here
and get to cuttin'.

Chop chop.

♪♪

Jeremy: even though
we don't got a chassis,

We know there's a lot of metal

That's still gonna be
in the way.

♪♪

♪♪

Brian: there's nothing precise
about sticking the tire

In the wheel well,
but at least we get an idea

Of how it's gonna look.

And if this mock-up
is any indication,

It's gonna be badass.

That's about right height
right there.

Tucked in the lip.

-[ Sighs ] okay.
-Excited?

It looks good, though.
It really does.

I think it looks good.

Brian: but now we've done
just about everything we can

Until the chassis gets here.

Sema may seem like months away,
but that clock is ticking.

We got tons of work
left ahead of us.

That's a whole lotta tire.

But it's a whole lotta car, too.

♪♪

Richard: when we got rolling
on the '72 riviera,

I wasn't kidding when
I said it was gonna be

A superbuild
worth taking to sema,

And that's gonna take time
andmoney.

Now $300,000?
That is a lot of money.

But five months ain't a lot of
time, not for this car build.

Why is everybody
standin' around?

Well, we're talkin'
about the next step.

Makin' good progress.

Progress does look good,
but we got a problem.

Chris alston chassisworks
just called, and we gave 'em

A tall order -- I knew it
when we went in --

And it's
a little bit delayed.

Delayed?

It's a little bit, like,
not delayed.

We're supposed to be getting it
like next week, right?

Not comin' and it's not
their fault.

Give us the bad news.
How late is it gonna be?

Two weeks.

-Later? Later?
-So a month.

A month from right now?

Yeah, this isn't somethin' that
was sittin' in the computer

They could punch out.

Last year we had
two amazing vehicles at sema,

And that was a huge deal.

I mean, it was
a lot of pride.

Everybody seemed to
really love what we did,

And this is taking it
to the next step.

We have to be at sema.

Yeah, that's where
this car has to be.

Do they have any part of it?

Do they have
a rear end assembly?

I kinda went down that
rabbit trail with him,

But the problem is, is if
you remember the old thing

Where they started in the east
and started in the west

And built the railroads
and missed.

I don't wanna do that
from front to back.

Brian: we made as much
progress as we can

Without having the chassis.

We can't fabricate parts now
without having foundation

Of the build.

Richard said we'd be workin'
other cars at the same time,

But that time came a
little sooner than I hoped.

It would be a huge
disappointment

If we didn't have this car
there, at least if not for us

But for our manufacturers
that are helping us

With this project.

Well, I told him,
we're aiming for sema

But it's a production,
it's a vehicle,

And if we make it,
we make it.

People wanna see this thing,
I think, ya know?

People are talkin'
about it on the net.

-Right.
-They know we're buildin' it.

They're wonderin' what
we're doin' with a '72 riviera,

But the talk's there.

The countdown clock to sema
is ticking,

But we don't have a choice.

We've got to set the riviera
aside and wait for parts.

Sorry for the bad news.

Just push all the [bleep]
together and...

Let's do something else.

What a buzzkill, dude.
I was having a good time.

Well, there you go.

So tryin' to get to sema
and, you know, things happen.

Those guys are tryin' to
get to sema, too,

So everybody's on board,
nobody's doin' anything wrong,

We just time and money,
time and money.

♪♪

-Let's knock it out.
-Narrator: still ahead

On this season on
"fast n' loud,"

Even as richard brings in
fresh projects,

The clock is ticking down
on the riviera's "superbuild."

How long until the frame's
put together?

Narrator: the monkeys will face
new challenges

On their biggest, baddest,
most expensive build ever.

You'll just have to bring
a wheelbarrow full of hundreds.

A wheelbarrow.

Narrator: catch every episode
to follow the buick riviera...

We're goin' to katech.

...as it's transformed
from giant land yacht...

Check it out, richard.

Super rad!

...into the ultimate
gentleman's hot rod.

There's a lot more riding
on this riviera build

Than the 300k that
I'm puttin' into it.

Did I just say "300k"?

♪♪

[ Clack ]