- [Brett] How you doing, Monster fans?
Jesse James is going to the dogs,
[hammer pounding]
and he brought the boys from New York City
to get the job done.
- Yo!
- [Brett] And they don't kid around.
- When I find my inner child, I'm gonna k*ll it.
[group laughing]
- [Brett] So grab a hotdog, put it on the fire
and slam it home.
It's a "Monster Garage" barbecue.
Hey, you talking to me?
- [Announcer] 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."
[thunder booming]
[energetic music]
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster Garage
- [Announcer] This week's challenge,
turn a 2003 New York City hotdog cart
into a hell on wheels monster dragster.
Can it be done?
Forget about it.
The rules: when built,
the monster machine must appear to be stock.
The team can spend no more than 3,000 greenbacks for parts.
Jesse and his crew have seven days and nights.
On the first day, they design.
For the next five, they build,
and on the seventh day, they race.
If successful, each team member takes home a $3,400
set of Mac Tools, and the clock starts now.
[tense music]
Guest driver, New York hotdog cart king Louie Diraimondo,
hoofs his latest model into the garage.
This little steamer is about to turn top fuel.
[whip snapping]
Jesse's hand-selected design team make their entrance.
- Hey.
- [Announcer] It's day two in the Monster Garage.
That's right, day two, because on day one,
Jesse played hooky
and raced in the Celebrity Long Beach Grand Prix.
[motors roaring]
Jesse got his knocks in
but finished second to a soap opera star.
- "Young and the Restless" versus "Monster Garage."
- [Spectator] Yeah, right.
[both laughing]
- [Jesse] He said I knew it was coming.
I just didn't know when.
- [Announcer] The price paid for Jesse's play?
Hard work.
For the first time ever,
design day and day one in the garage
are both one and the same.
- We take something that is perceived as really, really slow
and make it ungodly fast and scary.
- It's gotta be able to cook the hotdogs,
boil or steam them, so we need the propane tank there.
We need storage for the product.
- [Announcer] Louie Diraimondo knows what it takes
to serve a good hotdog.
- Want a hotdog?
We got it all, mustard, ketchup, sauerkraut, chili.
What are you gonna have?
I started as a vendor 30 years ago.
- [Announcer] He's gone from fixing frankfurters
to fabricating more carts than anyone in the world.
- When it comes to a hotdog cart,
you name it, we can do it.
You dream it, we'll build it.
I hope, okay, that people think of me
as the hotdog cart king.
- So basically what we're gonna do
is build a whole car around this cart.
- Exactly. - You know,
keep the cart as a functional unit.
Stick a good chassis around it and stick a big motor in it.
- [Announcer] The hotdog cart, that was the easy part.
Who in the world has a dragster chassis
they want to part with?
- I got a whole dragster chassis we can use.
- Front engine? - Yep.
- Slingshot? - Yep.
- Woody will love it.
- [Announcer] It just got easy.
Jesse's offered up his '60s dragster chassis called Mr. C.
Currently it decorates the ceiling of his shop,
but the time has come to sacrifice it to the garage.
- You think if we hack up that car it'll piss people off?
- [Mike] Oh yeah, dude.
- This is a famous fueler.
I still get letters every day from hearse clubs
that are pissed because we messed up that hearse
we bought for two grand.
- You know what?
I think it would be perfect as a hotdog cart.
- Mike Desmond, co-creator of Mad Machines,
is the right man for this job.
- I really like the challenge of taking anything,
seeing if I can tweak it.
I just grew up loving the power and the freedom of torque
and the possibilities of design.
Something different, something new,
something that people freak out on.
You know, if you think people are gonna be pissed,
we'll just do a really good job and make it go real fast.
- They're still gonna sit over the rear end.
- sh*t, make it a tribute.
- [Announcer] Jesse's donating the dragster,
but where are they going to cook the dogs?
- [Mike] I'm still just trying to figure out
how I want to put the cart,
and keeping it intact as much as possible.
- What if we section that and built all that stuff in
and have this stuff basically swing open like this
and have all your stuff in there
so the service is from the front?
- Then visually we're not seeing the hotdog cart.
I want to see a hotdog cart go 200.
I want to see it in the air.
- Right.
- I want to see it skid and throw sparks off the back end.
Let's hang it way off the back.
Sit down in here somewhere,
and then keep the long wheel base.
- Are these wheels ever gonna touch the ground?
- I hope so. - When it comes up?
- Yeah, dude.
- I hope them sumbitches break off.
Bam!
- Sparks.
Short wheel base would be fun,
but packaging it isn't really realistic.
- Why not?
- It would be wicked, really dangerous to drive,
but no big deal.
Not for Jesse.
- [Announcer] Jesse signs off on the design.
It's time to build a hell on wheels hotdog cart.
- Not on the ketchup.
Oh.
So that's the three elements, hotdogs, wheelies
and 130 miles an hour.
- [Mike] There you go.
Guinness, we're coming.
- [Announcer] The plan is to give fast food
some bad attitude.
The recipe?
Skin a classic drag rail down to its steel tubing frame.
Then build an entire dragster and hotdog cart around it.
[energetic music]
[motor roaring]
[exciting music]
Two hours later, the build team enters the Monster Garage.
There're on a culinary quest, and nothing can stop them,
[glass breaking]
except for lunch.
- Got any dogs?
- [Announcer] West Coast Chopper Jesse James
leads his East Coast crew.
First up, master mechanic Tom Betar
from West Nyack, New York.
The Big Apple's Steve Bonge brings classic custom skills.
New York City's renowned wrencher Indian Larry
joins the team.
In from Philly is auto mechanic Dan Ferrazzano,
and staying on to build is custom fabricator Dave Tucci
from Marcy, New York.
- So you guys know what the plan is?
You're gonna make this the world's fastest hotdog cart.
I don't really need to run down anything.
It's kind of self-explanatory.
- Let's do it. - Rock and rolling.
[engine revving]
- [Announcer] The crew followed Jesse's trail
of burnt rubber to West Coast Choppers.
They get their first look
at Jesse's prized old school slingshot dragster.
[energetic music]
- I think I'd better go up there and pull the dragster back.
These guys are having some confusion.
Yeah, hold on.
Don't move yet, don't move.
- How many monkeys does it take
to take a dragster off the ceiling?
[monkeys calling]
- Start going down easy.
All right, you guys got it.
Whoa, whoa.
Only down, only down.
Pull it back.
All right.
- Yeah.
- A rope around it. - Makes you hungry
for a hotdog, right?
[group laughing]
- [Announcer] Dave's truck is on hand to cart the body.
[group grunting]
- Okay, you're in.
- There you go, that's safe.
[group laughing]
[energetic music]
- [Announcer] The team brings the dead dragster
into the garage, where it will be brought back to life.
[energetic music]
- I don't know.
As it looks right now, the hotdog cart would win the race.
[group laughing]
Well, let's pop all the tin off it
and look and see what we got to work with.
[exciting music]
- Get that one.
[exciting music]
[drill whirring]
- [Announcer] Jesse tries the dragster on for size.
- Oh I could get in it.
I'm cool.
- Okay, do you want to shorten this damn thing, Jesse?
- [Jesse] Yeah. - All right.
How much you want to take out of it?
- Make it 128 inch.
- Yeah, but then we gotta do something with this.
- We can shorten this, big deal.
It's five minutes.
- Which would be here.
I like to do it right to where it's really braced up good.
We need to look at that, see if that's gonna look cool.
That's the most important thing.
- Put a wheel.
Let's pull the wheel up to it.
Get a rear wheel and we'll get a front wheel.
- Yeah, that's cool.
- [Announcer] It looks cool, but what's the point?
- It makes it more gnarly the shorter it is.
[imitates motor] For getting sideways.
- It's the real short cars, the ultras and stuff.
They were going down the track literally sideways
because they were so short and almost uncontrollable.
But I think it would be a little bit more spectacular.
- [Announcer] Cover your eyes, kids,
because this classic dragster is about to be violated.
- Oh, this is so sacrilegious.
This is a good car.
- One more clip.
[saw buzzing]
I'm not here to save the world.
I'm just here to have as much fun as I possibly can.
- [Announcer] Jesse knows the score, but Dan's in denial.
- We're really not, not really chopping it chopping it up.
[saw buzzing]
We're really not chopping it chopping it up.
[saw buzzing]
We're really not, it's not being chopped.
- [Tom] Cut this one up here like this.
Cut this one up here.
[saw buzzing]
- We are actually chopping this thing up.
[saw buzzing]
- How many old cars I've cut to pieces.
[both laughing]
That's Nick.
[tool grinding]
- I sprung a leak, oh!
I just couldn't hold it.
- Okay.
- We're ready to go up.
- Lift it out, lift it.
Hold up, hold up.
[exciting music]
- [Announcer] Louie can't stomach
the sight of his d*sfigured cart,
but there's no time for mourning.
There's a monster to make.
- We have fire.
Watch out, guys.
[torch hissing]
- We're gonna bend this down
so that we can get it ready to mount the front,
for the whole front section.
- Good? - Yeah.
[tool whirring]
- [Announcer] The tubes are bent, cut,
clamped down and welded strong.
[exciting music]
[tool snapping]
The boys carefully reconnect the front end.
A minor offset could be a major steering problem.
- I am five and an eighth more or less.
It has to be strong so when you come down,
especially if you're at speed, your front end snaps off
and it goes into the ground, you're done for.
[exciting music]
- [Announcer] The front's dialed in.
Time to get the back on track.
- I think our main concern is cut the wells out of it,
get some mount structure on it.
Then it's there, and then we can build
a beefed up structure for it.
- [Announcer] Larry traces out a well for the wheel to spin,
then puts the nibbler to work
on the quilted aluminum cart body.
[tool buzzing]
- Okay, I'm done there.
- It's done, let's go home. - That's it, out the door.
- [Announcer] The wheel fits on the sitting dragster,
but at top speeds, a drag slick tire
will expand beyond its resting state.
- We gotta trim it two inches to go forward
plus three inches for the tire expansion,
because you got a six inch growth.
- [Tom] I think you have to wait for the tires to get here.
- You know what we can do though,
is we could still make, we could still make everything,
slide it on, just leave all of this.
[saw buzzing]
- [Announcer] While they wait for tires,
the crew strengthens the hotdog cart
so it can withstand the strain at high speed.
[energetic music]
- Put a real dent in it today,
and we're just gonna keep going.
Failure's not an option.
- [Announcer] On their first day in the garage,
they cut up a classic dragster
and destroyed a brand new hotdog cart.
It's a good start, but destruction is easy.
Tomorrow they build.
[exciting music]
"Monster Garage" factoid.
The Hot Dog and Sausage Council expects Americans to eat
That's enough wieners to stretch to the moon and back.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Announcer] Day three starts with a parade of parts.
- Vintage set of dragster wheels.
[register dinging]
Slicks in a fuel tank.
- Got some rubber happening.
[register dinging]
- [Announcer] Power packed packages arrive from Jeg's
at just the right price.
- [Larry] We're pretty excited now.
Getting into the power making stuff.
- That's right.
- [Larry] Wonder what's in this box?
- Power plan.
Look at that, boys.
It's Christmas time.
- This will make some power.
- [Announcer] With a 502 cubic inch big block Chevy,
this hotdog cart should cook.
♪ Freebie, zip, zero, nada
- [Dave] Yo boys, we got some more stuff.
- [Announcer] A power glide transmission rolls in.
[register dinging]
- No wonder we're pro.
Look at all this.
- Look at this.
- [Announcer] Front wheels, rear slicks,
gas tank, transmission.
[register dinging]
The Monster's register has rung out,
leaving the team only pocket change for parts.
The front wheels are a cinch.
- [Dave] This one looks good.
- [Announcer] But the rear slicks are questionable.
Larry calls Mickey Thompson's
to find out just how much the tires will expand.
- I just need to know the maximum diameter expansion
on these tires.
Okay, we'll call you back if we have to bug you.
Three and a half to four inches.
It's a minimal growth tire,
so we can cut this and we should be fine.
- [Announcer] A few inches are no problem.
They pop the back off and expand the wheel wells.
[tool buzzing]
With years of bitchin' cars under their belts,
Steve and Larry know their way around an engine,
but something about this shiny new big block
just doesn't feel right.
- I'm not used to working on something
where stuff just pops right off, you know?
It's usually rusted on
and been on there 35 years or something.
- I really don't like getting a new thing,
but on something like this,
you really need to use a new thing.
- Act happy, will ya?
- I'm happy, I'm happy.
It's just work.
- [Announcer] Indian Larry is more
than just another bad boy biker.
He's a streetwise sage roaring into the garage
with a head full of homemade philosophy,
and it's written in ink.
- You see over here, University of Hell?
'91 and '94, I had to go back twice, see?
A lot of hard work to get to that point.
- [Announcer] He's a sinner and a saint, a true believer.
- It's like in God we trust,
and you know, I believe in God.
Whatever's got us here breathing and existing,
whatever that is.
I mean, that's as much as I understand.
When I'm on the bike, no matter what I'm thinking,
what kind of crap is going on in my head or anything,
I just pretty much feel at home.
I hate to use a cliche like at one with the universe,
but then I feel like, yeah, okay,
this is what I was meant to do.
- [Dave] Stand back, guys, stand back.
- [Announcer] The boys break out
their new power glide transmission,
but a quick look at this super shifter is cause for concern.
- This fits the rear end,
and this is a real dragster coupling.
It ain't gonna work.
There's no way we can hook this up to this.
- [Announcer] In a typical dragster,
the transmission locks directly into the rear end
by mating the rear coupler and transmission splines.
Unfortunately, these parts don't fit.
The solution is simple.
Buy a new coupler.
Only one problem.
- We're out of money, out of money, dude.
- [Announcer] Steve calls in a favor from his buddy Jerry,
a fellow member of the Beatniks Car Club.
- Exactly, the old dragster coupling, yeah.
All right, thanks, Jerry.
Bye.
We can show it to him.
He might be able to match something up.
- [Announcer] The road warriors head off
to solve the coupler problem.
Dan has some issues of his own.
- It's one piece in the puzzle,
but we could have maybe left that for a little bit later on.
- This coupling is even more important than anything.
Without this, you're not going nowhere.
Nothing's happening without this.
We gotta get this together.
All else fails, we'll take it out of Steve's car.
I think he's got exactly what we needed.
- If that's what it takes, we'll do it.
- [Announcer] These veteran gearheads don't sweat deadlines.
- I mean, there's nothing to worry about.
We're either gonna do it or we're not.
- I ain't been nervous a single day in my life.
What kind of a question is that?
- [Announcer] Confident and crazy.
- Yeah, yeah!
- [Announcer] Steve Bonge might be old school,
but he's always been cool.
- I've been building custom motorcycles and cars
since probably the mid-seventies.
That's kind of like the original cool,
looking back on the old days.
- Bonge is the coolest, man.
He's got that whole cool factor down.
He's had it down since the '60s.
- I'm into the nostalgia thing,
so everything is usually a '50s or early '60s style custom,
done in that styling.
I just come across them and like them and take them in.
I don't know, I guess they choose me.
It's a '48 Indian Chief.
Just got done restoring.
My main thing is motorcycles, it always has been.
[engine rumbling]
I'm a member of the New York City Hell's Angels.
I'm into the custom bikes, building bikes,
riding bikes, going on cross country trips.
Jesse called me.
He said, "You were the first guy I thought of
when I thought of this project."
[horn honking]
- [Announcer] The terrible twosome arrive at Jerry's place.
- This is what was on there.
- Yeah, I think I got one here somewhere.
Got that. - What's that one?
Jerry's got everything. - Yeah, these are all same,
the 350 power? - 350 power.
- We're gonna stick this in the transmission,
stick this in the rear end, couple it up like that.
♪ Freebie, zip, zero, nada
- [Announcer] Jerry didn't have the exact coupler,
but they found a solution that should work.
They'll join the transmission and the rear end
with opposing yolks connected with a U joint.
Indian Larry spots another freebie, a radiator.
- Well, let's take them both.
We have the option. - Yeah, all right.
We'll take it and return one of them.
- What we don't use.
- All right Jerry, thanks again, man.
I'll see you later on.
Thanks for bailing me out again.
- [Jerry] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[horn honking]
- [Announcer] Success, but back at the garage,
there's some rumblings,
and it's not coming from the engine.
- Today is kind of dragging.
I could start kicking some [beep] right now.
- He say that?
Wait 'til I get back there.
- Yeah, we'll blacken his eyes for him.
- Right now it's running too slow for me.
I think we're just kind of a little spread out here.
We got too many things started right now.
- He's used to building meticulous, you know,
start, finish one task, move on to the next task.
- So are we, but not when the clock is ticking.
- I don't think he's used to working
industrial or grease monkey style
where you're under the g*n.
Gotta attack.
- What you're trying to say,
he's not used to working with a bunch of animals.
- [Larry] Bunch of animals, yeah.
- [Announcer] And the rumbling continues.
- Pull the transmission up.
Do something instead of just sitting around doing anything,
guess we just pulled it up,
and I'm sure when they come back
they're gonna probably say,
"Oh, what'd you go and do that for?"
And then maybe that's when [beep] will hit the fan then.
Let's go, come on.
- [Announcer] The transmission bolts onto the engine,
no problem.
They're ready for Steve and Larry to return
so they can connect the rear end.
Dave keeps busy and saves some cash
by handcrafting a brake lever.
[sparks whooshing]
[tool grinding]
- Just a grip brake.
You can just hold onto it and pull it back.
Very simple.
- [Announcer] Dave Tucci custom fabricates cars
into dream machines.
- I love getting up every morning and going out
and creating stuff, taking something from nothing
and making it into something that's cool.
We got about 5,000 hours into this car alone.
- [Announcer] Not easily impressed,
Jesse is totally taken with Dave's handiwork.
- That's the handmade one you did?
- Yeah.
- What's it got, the throttle body thing on it, or no?
- [Dave] No, just a carburetor.
- [Jesse] Who put chassis on it?
- Mine.
It's like 37 side rails,
and that's all tube in the center.
- Oh, it looks cool.
Awesome, I like it.
- Took a 35 grill, sliced it and laid it back.
Harley V-rod headlights.
- Is that what they are, yeah?
- Yeah.
We made the one body out of it, and then that was it.
The mold was destroyed.
- That's kind of cool.
- Yeah.
- So it's got juice on it.
That's a bad little [beep].
What do you want to trade for it?
- [Announcer] The salvage brothers return with their loot.
- [Tom] All right! - All right.
You guys are done?
You guys are finished?
All right, here's what we got.
- Ready to rock and roll here, man.
- Hopefully we can get this in here
and maybe get the motor in tonight.
- If we get the motor in tonight,
we could start it tomorrow.
- I don't plan on leaving
until the engine's in the chassis tonight.
That's me.
How's that sound to you guys?
- Unanimous. - This is crucial.
Yeah, so that's. - The crew's staying tonight.
[catchy music]
Real slow. - Real slow, yeah.
- It's gotta go back. - Squash that front.
- [Announcer] The power unit
is carefully lowered into place.
- Just bring it down a little more.
Okay, that's it.
Lock it in.
Where's the keys?
I'm gonna start it.
- Let's go!
- [Announcer] It's time to see if the hotdogger's U-joint
will cut the mustard.
- Jerry knew exactly what this was when he spotted it.
He knew exactly what milk crate to go to to find it.
[group laughing]
There you go, rumbled his whole way through it
and got us what we needed.
- [Announcer] They make the connection.
- [Steve] Catching in here.
- [Announcer] It turns, and the wheels turn.
- We're almost done, look at that.
That's a good sign.
- [Announcer] The drive line's connected,
but it must be level and in line to maximize power.
- I thought this was "Monster Garage."
We're doing it so precise.
- What you at?
- I saw a protractor once.
- [Tom] We're about two degrees.
- [Larry] Let's leave it.
- [Dave] That's it, done.
- We're almost there.
We just gotta make the motor mounts and bolt it in.
Just two on the front of the motor
and one on the back of the tr*nny,
which is your basic mounting setup
on just about any motor thing, you know?
Then we could call it a day
and worry about the other crap tomorrow.
- [Announcer] It's 10:30 p.m. on day three,
but this team is determined to get their motor mounted.
- These are our front motor mounts.
- They're gonna cut them,
all four of them at one shot and be done with it.
- We're only doing two and then the trans cross member.
Nothing there.
Nah, we don't need it.
- [Announcer] Steve goes high tech
to explain how it's all gonna fit.
- This is the basic layout of the dragster,
fuel tank right about here, the tr*nny,
the motor goes right about here.
The blower's gonna be right on top of here
with big crazy pipes coming out of here like that,
and that's gonna be Jesse driving the thing here.
That'll probably have some crazy flames happening here.
Insanity.
- [Announcer] It fits on the screen,
but what about the dragster?
- Always follow the directions.
You have to follow the directions.
- [Announcer] The motor is bolted down,
but these builders aren't done yet.
They drive fit the supercharger
and a dual quad carburetor set up,
pairing twin Holley 750 CFM four barrels,
an air scoop to top it all off, and it's a thing of beauty.
- Starting to looked dangerous, huh?
- [Announcer] But it's still too early to celebrate.
- People always get confident the first or second day.
Oh yeah, we got this, you know?
But it's a lot to do here.
Don't kid yourself.
- [Announcer] On day three, the parts came in,
the money went out and the team moved on.
The cart is locked in place, but they're a long way
from cooking dogs on the quarter mile.
"Monster Garage" factoid.
In the early 1930s, dragster speeds first topped
Today, a top fuel dragster
can reach speeds of 320 miles an hour.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
[energetic music]
- [Announcer] The crew marches in on day four,
focused and ready to work.
- First thing we gotta tell you guys,
not to bother us today.
No bothering us.
- [Announcer] Better talk to Dan,
because he's still not buying the crew's plan
for mounting the engine.
- Why don't you make the plate for here?
- Dave says we don't need it.
- We're holding our hand up our [beep] right now.
You could be cutting that and be done deal.
- [Announcer] Dan gets his way, and the crew gets to work.
Quick handy work solves the problem,
but Tom's got the job that blows.
- I got the blower all ready,
and with any luck, it'll all come together.
Got air coming in through the scoop, which is here.
That goes on top like this.
Air's gonna get sucked in by the blower.
Fuel dumps through the center.
As it goes, more throttle, more fuel.
Faster the fuel and air goes,
the faster the blower goes,
faster the RPM goes, more horsepower.
We're just gonna fire it up and go,
because it's "Monster Garage."
- [Announcer] Tom Betar came to "Monster Garage"
on the verge of a lifetime challenge.
- Because it's time to get my own business
and do my own thing, just customizing.
I'm working in dealerships since I've been 17.
I'm 32.
I'm at the top, top, top pay, top level, top everything.
It's just not enough anymore.
- [Announcer] He's making the big jump opening his own shop.
- I know it's gonna be tough,
but I'll be working for myself.
- [Announcer] The hotdoggers flip the frame
to check for strength.
[energetic music]
- This thing was a wall ornament three days ago,
so we can't just assume the old welds are good.
I'm just gonna wire brush around every joint
and check every tube and make sure there's no cracks
or anything that we didn't spot when it was right side up.
That would be a weak point where it could break.
That's why I'm circling it with this soap stone
so we spot it and get it welded up.
[exciting music]
- [Announcer] Old welds are rewelded
and new tubing goes in to add strength to the old frame.
- Yeah, okay.
- Just trying to tighten up the front end a little bit more.
[tool buzzing]
- One's gonna go on this side here,
and once I get this one trimmed up,
the other one's gonna go on this side here.
- [Announcer] Philadelphia native Dan Ferrazzano
was raised in his father's repair shop.
- This car here is the car that actually started everything.
It was our mom's car.
It was a father-son project.
As you can see, I'm emotional because of my father.
- [Announcer] Dan spent his whole life
filling his dad's shoes.
- I've been there over 20 years,
and in 20 years I've only been on five vacations
because I just don't like leaving my business.
[exciting music]
- The secret to making any chassis as rigid as possible
is to have as many diagonal pieces in it,
so this is helping this from moving that way,
along with this helping it.
So by being diagonal, they both help each other.
Front end's just about all done.
Then we can flip it over
and start putting everything back together.
- Jesse's back, revved and ready.
This monster needs some pipes to make it growl.
- Exhaust flange is hitting those head bolts.
[tool buzzing]
[tool whirring]
- [Announcer] He comes undone
when he takes a look at the team's makeshift coupler.
- Looks pretty funky, but that's what they had to do.
- It's back there, but since it's right between my legs.
- We were stuck.
That's all, we had no money to do anything else,
so that's gonna delay us
from getting engine back in the car, right?
- We'll make do, whatever it is, it is.
We'll get it done.
- We have to change everything.
We have to change training mount, mid mount and front mount.
- Gotta get the piece.
So, we hit a little snag.
Snag on the fishing line.
It's all right, we'll be all right.
- If we were gonna run that U-joint set up,
I would never even get in it.
That's dumb.
- If it broke, you know,
he was worried about taking out his ankle.
- I'm gonna make a scatter shield and stuff for it,
because I got pretty legs
and I don't want nothing to happen to them.
- [Announcer] The bottom is well done.
Time to flip it.
- Some of the teams are all real bookworm-ish
engineer types, guys that really spout off,
"I'm great for Monster Garage
and you gotta have me on there," and all this other stuff,
and they come on and totally implode.
- Do you understand me, you piece of [beep]?
I'm [beep] quitting.
[metal smashing]
[man yelling]
- It's guys like these that are my friends.
They're just down to work.
- [Announcer] Even with this setback,
Jesse's down with this team.
The gas tank is in place and the steering is on course.
The crew has decided to go ahead and put the engine in,
despite needing a coupler.
- We're gonna dump the engine in now.
Set it in, do some plumbing, do some wiring,
do as much as we can without the other pieces that we need,
and we're just gonna keep rolling.
- That one coupler screwed us up, I think.
- It's unanimous.
We're not leaving until it's done.
- If Tom would stop fooling around.
- Yeah, all right.
Yeah, all right.
- Easy.
While we're pulling, we got some space.
Come on.
You're gonna have to go a little higher, I think.
- Good, easy.
- Start letting it down a little bit,
and then we can glide it in.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
- Go down.
We're right there.
We're good.
- [Announcer] The engine's in place.
Tom's blower tops the power plant.
- Put that seat in there.
I want to get in there.
Feels all right. - Pretty cool, huh?
- [Tom] Can you see? - Yeah, the motor.
- That's it, right?
I told you about the shifter, right?
It's got fast and faster, that's it.
- Yeah.
[Tom laughing]
- [Announcer] Jesse puts the finishing touches on his pipes.
[energetic music]
- Did you set those on there yet, see if we got the angle?
- We just got it in like 10 minutes ago.
- [Announcer] He stands back
to enjoy the fruits of his labor.
- What do you think, Bonge?
Do I look all right?
- Looking good, man.
Pretty drag looking.
- Yeah. - I'm the voice of reason,
believe it or not.
- [Tom] Voice of reason, huh?
- I'm a satanic mechanic.
I don't need tools.
[Larry laughing]
Me and Larry, international man of mystery.
Knows all, tells nothing.
- I know nothing and I tell all.
[group laughing]
- We're just gonna juice it up and see if it'll start.
- [Announcer] It's time to see if their monster will roar.
- It's not how I wanted it, but it's how it's getting done.
- Yeah, get out of the way.
[machine clicking]
- It don't crank.
- That's the starter.
[machine clicking]
It's not cranking, so we're just looking for anything.
He knows what he's doing.
- [Announcer] The engine won't start,
and that's no laughing matter.
- Just jump it.
You don't have to cool it.
We're not gonna run it.
You guys got lube in the blower?
You got seals in the back.
- I'm home with my wife.
Did you do this, did you do that?
Do this, do that.
- [Larry] Just double checking,
just double checking. - I double checked, trust me.
- Two quarts of milk and a loaf of bread.
- Yes, dear.
I'm here to get away, man.
- She's gonna be mad when she sees this on TV.
- Let's give her one rotation.
Go ahead.
Who's manning the fire extinguisher?
It's just a precaution.
- Fire in the hole.
Ready?
[machine grinding]
[motor rumbling]
- Yes!
- [Announcer] A great start, and the team finishes day four.
[wrench pinging]
- Oh, they're not tune length.
- It's music, but not everything yet.
Victorious day today.
I'll be excited once it's down on the ground
and it's outside.
That's when I'll get excited.
[exciting music]
- We're good.
- [Brett] All right everybody,
Jesse's found the missing link,
and he's putting it to the test.
Win or lose, it's gonna be the ultimate drag.
Stick around.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
[exciting music]
- [Announcer] The build team makes a big entrance
on day five.
Jesse makes a bigger one.
- Anybody can just walk in, right?
I drove this to remind myself
I'm not scared of the dragster.
[group laughing]
- [Announcer] The tension is obviously
getting to these tattooed bad boys.
- We're supposed to be at each other's throats.
[Tom laughing]
- If it wasn't for me,
this would never get finished. - [Tom] Yeah.
[both laughing]
- Tom, what did we say this morning?
Didn't we have a plan later on towards the end of the day?
- We're gonna have a steel cage match.
- Yeah, that's what we're doing at the end of the day, man.
Steel cage match.
- Last man standing.
- The plan comes together
and everybody works together like a team.
There shouldn't be any drama.
- We're not gonna crack.
- It's usually when we have a build
where someone's totally [beep] off
when there's a lot of fighting.
- But all these guys know what they're doing.
- We're just in sync here, man.
- Nothing phases me.
- I'm always calm.
[chair smashing]
[object clattering]
Somewhat.
Hey, if you don't like it, go [beep] yourself.
- [Announcer] It's back to the business
of building monsters.
Jesse attacks the steering column.
- [Jesse] See if it's straight.
- Centralizing the steering.
If your steering wheel is straight
and your wheels are pulling that way,
it'll just hook extremely.
[motors rumbling]
- That's good.
I'm just trying to get it.
- Drill a hole, plug weld it, too.
- Okay.
Wait, wait, wait.
Just kidding.
Did you see that old timer Larry move that fast?
Like a [beep] cat.
- I can move pretty fast.
This is some serious thing.
This is no toy.
- [Announcer] Dave makes Jesse's legs his top priority.
- This is the drive shaft tunnel,
and then this will slide right over the top
of the tail shaft of the transmission.
In case the tail shaft breaks off,
it'll stay inside of here and roll around
and not take his ankle off.
- [Announcer] The scatter shield is set.
- Perfect.
There's no real testing.
Set the timing and get in it and hit the throttle.
Try not to hit nothing.
- It's pretty much a death trap, you know?
- [Announcer] There's still one thing on everyone's mind.
- The main thing, again, is still the problem
with the coupling.
- The coupler. - The coupler.
- The coupler.
- Boys, we got some parts.
- [Announcer] Tom walks in with the new coupler.
- Here it is, yo.
- [Announcer] It's time to button down this monster.
- Okay, now essentially, this is loose.
We can move this thing forward.
- Once the coupler's in, hopefully that's it.
Got enough room for the coupler now, Dan?
- Oh, we'll see.
- That's it, we're good. - Good.
- [Announcer] They remove yesterday's makeshift yolk,
reattach the rear connector,
then lock in the new coupler.
- Lift, lift, push.
Okay, come on back.
- Gotta spin this mount around backwards.
- We can't, we can't, we can't.
We're up against the mounts.
- [Announcer] Before they can reattach
the motor to the frame, they need to cut out
the now useless engine mounts.
[hammer tapping]
- Here we go.
Ready?
- Keep going, you gotta keep going.
You're good to go here.
- That's probably close.
- Don't knock the car off the jack stands.
- If I don't control it, then it's history.
It's coming.
There it is.
- We got it.
That's in.
We need to make some tags and lock that motor in.
[drill whirring]
- We're making them nice, nice.
Now we just want to get the car done.
- [Announcer] The hotdog cart gets back to stock.
Dan wants to put the wheels back on.
- We were supposed to stay to that,
dummy wheels on the side
so it really looks like a hotdog cart.
- I'd vote no.
Are we nixing the wheels?
- I just don't think the wheels should go on.
You're missing a whole concept of the whole thing.
- Well, let's vote on it.
Let's not waste a lot of time on it.
Yes, no?
How many for yes?
One?
- I just think it should go on,
unless you're missing the concept of being a push cart.
- We're just voting, how many for yes, one?
Four nos?
Okay, no wheels.
- [Announcer] The group has spoken, no wheels for the cart.
The team legs it out at the end of day five.
- It's time to light it up.
- [Announcer] Day six.
One by one, the build team enters the garage.
This East Coast squad is ready to make a run for the buns.
Jesse wants his dragster to wheelie off the starting line.
- Keep going.
- [Announcer] The team wants to know how high.
- That's good.
- [Larry] Get outta here.
- There's nothing wrong with that.
- [Announcer] Every wheelie needs a wheelie bar.
Dave's son gave him a great idea.
- This is the front of the car that we cut off
and made it shorter.
I was talking to my son Dominic.
He's 10 years old.
He gave me the idea to use this as the wheelie bar tubes.
It runs in the family, definitely.
He'll be on "Monster Garage" pretty soon.
[saw buzzing]
[exciting music]
- [Announcer] He shapes the bar and it's ready to mount.
- We'll do an inch on each side.
- This side over here is good.
[exciting music]
[drill whirring]
[engine roaring]
- [Announcer] The engine's roaring,
the wheels are spinning and the brakes are stopping.
But the radiator?
- The cap's gotta be big
because the radiator's not that hot.
- It's 180 degrees.
- It shouldn't have blew it off, though.
- What happened to that fan?
You want to swap it on?
- That's all it needs.
It'll be fixed up.
- Yeah, it'll be fine.
- [Announcer] The engine's cool, thanks to the fan.
The dragster is now locked, loaded and ready for action,
but that's only half the challenge.
- The only thing really left
is doing the hotdog cart, really.
- We're bolting in the propane tank.
Then we're gonna run the line for the burner
so we can cook some hotdogs.
There you go, we got hotdogs.
- That's enough, that's enough.
- [Announcer] Jesse prepares the monster's first meal.
- Hotdog cart's gotta have hotdogs.
- [Announcer] The dogs are heating up.
- Do we got any more chili?
[blowing raspberry]
I'm ready, I'm hungry.
[exciting music]
[engine rumbling]
- [Announcer] The engine blows weenies.
Their monster's a success.
It'll have room to stretch out in the challenge.
[group laughing]
- This this how motorheads roasts weenies.
- [Announcer] Pete Finland, "Monster Garage" veteran
and pinstriping pro, shows up to make the dog cart
ready for business.
[energetic music]
"Monster Garage" factoid.
The world's biggest hotdog was 1,996 feet long.
A standard drag strip is a quarter mile, only 1,320 feet.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
- [Brett] Okay, fans, the Big Schwag here.
The welcome mat is out for Jesse James
and another "Monster Garage" challenge.
Stand up and salute, because the race is on
at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
And as always, on my right side, Frankie Whiteside.
- [Frankie] And we are track side, Schwag Man,
looking down a quarter mile barrel of sizzling tar.
It's the hottest strip show in the desert,
where the brawniest dragsters get to flex their muscles
and lay it on the starting line.
We're talking top fuel, pro stock, all the big g*ns.
- [Brett] And they're speaking my language, Frankie.
Oh, yeah.
- [Frankie] And when it comes to monsters,
Jesse James speaks only one language.
- [Brett] That's right, Frankie.
He's a man of two words, go fast.
- [Frankie] And that's what this monster is all about.
Feast your eyes on the Hotdogster.
- [Brett] I like it, but what the hell is it?
- [Frankie] It's a 1966 front engine slingshot dragster
that came out of the garage monster to a 2003 hotdog cart.
- [Brett] It's making my mouth water, Frankie.
The Hotdogster, it'll eat your lunch, then serve it to you.
- Weenie, weenie.
- [Frankie] It's wiener take all.
Jesse's going up against the pride and joy of Jeg's,
the company that donated the dogster's gnarly engine.
- [Brett] In your face, Jesse.
What can you tell us about the Jeg's mobile, Frankie?
- [Frankie] Well Schwag,
it runs on the pro stock car category.
They call it the Jeg's Mail Order Chevy Cavalier.
- [Brett] Not a name to strike much fear.
- [Frankie] It's all in the numbers, my friend.
The engine?
horsepower on the plus side of 1300.
- [Brett] Who's the dude?
- [Frankie] That's the driver, Jeg's Caughlin, Jr.
He's a two-time NHRA Pro Stock World Champion.
- [Brett] Frankie, does The Hotdogster stand a chance
against that yellow bumble beast?
- [Frankie] A chance in hell, Schwag,
right where Jesse likes it.
- [Brett] While they're lining them up,
why don't you lay it out for us, frankfurter?
- [Frankie] Okay, foot long.
You've heard of eat and run?
Well, this is run and eat,
a quarter mile drag followed by a hotdog lunch
for Junior's hungry Jeg's crew.
- [Group] We we want dogs!
We want dogs!
- [Frankie] The first one to link them up
gets the dog prize.
[engine rumbling]
- [Brett] It's the monster stare down.
[engines rumbling]
The alpha dogs are ready.
[engines revving]
Release the hounds!
[exciting music]
Junior's putting the mustard on the Dogster.
[exciting music]
- [Frankie] Check it out, Schwag.
Jeg's 197.74.
- [Brett] And Jesse's Hotdogster, 139.98 miles per hour.
- [Frankie] But there's another lap to this dog.
Jeg's legs it over to a roach coach
to collect his crew's wieners.
- [Brett] But he's playing "ketchup."
He's back in the Jeg's for the fast food delivery.
- [Frankie] Too late.
Jesse's already making the pit stop,
and he's got the fuel.
Hot off the track hotdogs and buns
for the hunger-crazed crew.
[crew cheering]
- [Brett] Frankie, you gotta be kidding me.
- [Frankie] And there's no bad feelings
between Jesse and Jeg's Coughlin,
a true friend of "Monster Garage."
- World's fastest hotdog vending cart right here.
- [Brett] What more can you say,
except Jesse's got no time for bad dogs,
messy lakes and dumb questions from the producer.
- [Producer] So, Jesse, after it's all done, why?
- Hey, if I have to explain why,
go watch "Home and Garden TV."
[group laughing]
Learn how to redo your flower bed.
- [Brett] You p*nsy.
He's got metal to burn, sparks to fly.
The next "Monster Garage" challenge
is just around the bend.
[metal tapping]
- All right guys, good job.
Steve, thanks man.
There. - All right.
- Got some Mac Tools for you,
"Monster Garage" CDs
you can listen to on the way back to the East Coast.
- Hot dog, get your hot dog.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster
[bright tones]
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02x15 - Hot-Dog Cart / Dragster
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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."