05x16 - '51 Cool Caddy Daddy

[bunniefuu]

[Darryl laughing] [rock music]

- [Schwag] Hey, old school fans!

Where there's smoke.

- A little grease in there.

- [Schwag] There's fire.

- I hate the [drill thudding] you pull, that's all I hate.

- Don't start.

- [Schwag] Get him, Body Drop!

- Let that be lesson to you.

- Give him the finger.

- [Schwag] We've got rodents.

- Eek, eek! Ah, a mouse!

- [Schwag] And rock and roll legends.

What do you think, Jesse?

- I don't think, I only react.

I don't think, I only react.

- They don't call it Monster Garage for nothing.

- [Narrator] Join us now g*ng of maverick mechanics

rip, grind and burn.

Transforming ordinary street vehicles into monster machines

in the "Monster garage."

[driving rock music]

This week's challenge, turn this '51 Cadillac Pillared Coupe

into a smooth running, eye popping, cool daddy custom Caddy.

The rules: when built, the vehicle must be a trophy winner.

The team has five grand for parts.

Jesse and the crew have seven days and nights.

On the first day they design.

For the next five day build.

And on the seventh day, they show.

If successful, they'll walk away with a $4,000 set

of Mac's hottest tools,

and they'll each get a 28 volt lithium ion combo kit

from Milwaukee Electric Tools.

And the clocks starts now.

[clock shattering]

To get things started off right, Jesse arrives in his

chopped, dropped and sectioned '54 Chevy.

[rock music]

And straight from ZZ Top land, comes celebrity customizer

Billy Gibbons in his mint '61 Caddy.

[acoustic guitar strumming]

- What is it about cars and what is it about guitars?

They do seem to kind of go together.

That first set of keys does more than turn the motor on,

it unlocks the door to power.

[computer beeping]

- [Narrator] Billy heads for the design loft.

Next comes Darryl Starbird, known throughout the customizing

world as the Wizard of Wichita.

Also from Kansas, artist supreme, Dennis McPhail.

- Hey, what's happening, boss?

- What's up, man?

- Well, you know how these things go.

It's a roll of the dice.

- I like those. You got your own dice.

What's up, Dennis?

- How you doing, Jess.

- John.

So, let's do another old school build, but this time

a Cadillac.

I think we should do some major body stuff and smoothing

it out, make some skirts for it.

- Yeah, skirt the rear.

- And I think we should do a Carson top.

- Oh yeah. - A workable Carson?

- Yeah, well it's just a lift-off.

Yeah, and then we can make the top any shape we want

and make it look cool as we want.

Like a real little coupe or something.

- Of course, Jesse, you realize this goes totally against

my grain, don't you?

- [Jesse] Why? - I like radical things.

- Well, what are you thinking?

- Well, I had a total different concept in mind.

I was going to half chop, half section, actually.

My thought was to section it and drop that glass down

and actually lower the trunk.

But do all the work right in this area here and back.

Leave the cowl the same height, do our chop on the

windshield.

We'd end up with a total different look than anybody's

ever done on one, is what I was trying to do actually.

- Have you done a '54 or a Caddy before like this?

- I've done a Cad like that, in fact, I'm doing one

right now.

Let me show you some pictures, just to give you an idea

of what I'm talking about.

This is a '57 Brougham that I'm working on right now.

- [Jesse] Oh, man.

- [Darryl] Then I dropped this down.

See, this is stock height here, but the whole back

of it's section.

- So just the back's pinched down.

- Right. The whole back. - I'm totally game to do that

if you think we can pull it off, time-wise.

Because that way when you lay it down it's kind of,

- Yeah, right, it's going to have kind of-

- It's still a tail dragging a little bit.

- Kind of a tail dragging look about it.

- I kind of like that, I like the car go skinny to big,

that big impressive front and then tapering down.

- This one detail, side trim here could actually be sculpted

slightly following your roof line.

- [Jesse] Maybe scoop that a little bit?

That might be kind of cool.

- Maybe a slight S turn.

- Other stuff we got to frame, let's just straight

make it a good chassis that we can beat on.

We'll bag it front and back.

- Yeah. - We're doing that.

- Clip it in front.

I got a 502 with a turbo 400.

We can probably get a late model Chevy truck rear end.

- I like your truck idea. - [Jesse] Yeah.

- That thing is a beast.

- [Jesse] Yeah.

- It'll require some beef.

- So here we go.

- [Billy] Sweet.

- I like it 'cause it looks like the back

is being ground off

by the street, it's kind of.

- Yeah. - Getting thinner.

All right, cool. - [Billy] Done.

- [Darryl] It's going to be tough.

- [Dennis] Yeah, it'll be hard.

- [Darryl] It'll be right.

- [Narrator] The plan is to cut a four and a half inch

section out of the rear, chop four inches out of the posts,

add a Carson top, make a two seater out of a four seater,

chop and replace the front end, and install a new motor,

drivetrain and rear end.

Very ambitious for a five day build.

[chaotic rock music]

[tires screeching]

[car crashing]

Day two. [door rumbling]

Enter the builders.

From Pittsburgh, California, legendary customizer,

Frank DeRosa, Sr.

In his father's footsteps, master custom maker,

Frank DeRosa, Jr.

From Arkansas City, Kansas, master fabricator, Jeff Meyers.

From Oakland, California, rising star, John Aiello.

Back by popular demand, world famous innovator,

Darryl Starbird.

And also back from design, artist motor head,

Dennis McPhail.

- Hey.

- [Narrator] Jesse rallies the troops to prepare for metal.

- So you guys got the gist of it.

It's going to be a bunch of body work.

I think mostly around the a*s end.

Try to section that down a little bit. Pinch it down.

Motor trans, Carson top, that's it.

I think today, we should probably just get it gutted apart.

You guys all know what to do. Let's get after it.

- Alright. - Okay.

[upbeat music] - [Jesse] Old school.

- [Narrator] Back in the day, Cadillacs were oh, so cool.

They were GM's leading brand, the top of the

general's pecking order.

Once a pampered darling, this thoroughbred was driven

into the ground, then abandoned only to become a cat kennel.

- It's a little smelly in there.

- Smells like a habit trail.

- There you go. [match lights]

Ah, it smells better.

Get rid of the cat piss smell in there.

- Eek, eek! Ah, a mouse!

[upbeat rock music]

- [Narrator] There's a couple of hundred thousand dollars

worth of tools in this garage.

- We got gold plated tools, man.

- [Narrator] But for Frank, Sr, one is lacking.

- Ice pick. You have ice picks?

You need a special tool, we have them at the shop.

- Yeah, I know that, it's not here, we're not at home.

Frank, try to find an ice pick.

- [Frank] An ice pick? - Yeah, that's the only thing.

They haven't got the tool for this.

Unless you get a die cutter, cut them out, but I don't know

what you want to save on the car.

- [Narrator] Famous styling guys like Harley Earl

and Bill Mitchell lavished special attention on these

beauties.

The '51 sported a revolutionary one piece windshield,

a classic grill, and Dagmar bumper b*ll*ts.

[upbeat driving music]

If this was a modern car, the disassembly would go

twice as fast, but back in the day, GM made cars to last.

- I deem it an honor to be here today, gentlemen, really.

- What do you mean, Frank, an honor?

You haven't worked this hard in 20 years.

- You bet. [Jesse laughing]

I got a son now.

[Darryl laughing]

And another thing I was told before I got here,

I can't holler at my son.

We can't fight, so this is kind of-

- We're on good behavior. - This here is sort of

an artificial day for us. [Frank Jr laughing]

I'm going to say it, Frank, we have been called

the white Sanford and son.

- Yeah, you big dummy. [Darryl laughing]

- [Narrator] DeRosa and Son Customs has been in business

since 1949.

The father and son are best known for their outlandish

designs, and they've been drafted into six halls of fame.

- I always altered everything that I ever owned.

Bicycles, cars.

I accentuate everything a little bit beyond.

Like slanting the posts.

I go a little bit more.

You say, "Why do you do it?"

I love it.

Now my son's the same way.

- One of my best creations, the one I finished was a



I started the car, me and my father when I was 18 years old

and it was a four year project.

We opened at the Oakland Roaster Show in 1991

and I took best custom with it.

- I'm very proud what he's been doing, the way he's done

the work and the way he's acted.

Very nice.

Did you lie and tell him that you loved your father?

- I did lie and tell them that.

- Yeah, okay.

Big lie?

[upbeat music]

- Well, we're actually trying to get the door panel apart.

We're not going to use the glass sides,

we're going to make it into a register type vehicle.

Only been doing it 52 years.

Say the least, I've had a little practice.

- [Narrator] Darryl Starbird has been a customizing radical

for 45 years.

As a young man, he created Predicta,

the first bubble top ever.

- Took me 90 days to build it.

We took it to the Grand National Roaster Show in California

and I won top owners in all categories.

Blew their minds. The first ever bubble top car.

And the best part, it came out of Kansas, Wichita, Kansas.

Why?

First love, I guess.

Love is my family, my only love.

I don't want to do anything else.

I'm going to die building a car, I hope

- [Narrator] Since the Caddy is going to be sectioned

and lowered, none of the glass will be used again,

except the windshield.

So John and Dennis extract it with super care.

[driving music]

Most of the builders are body experts, therefore

Jesse's the go-to guy for the underbody and drivetrain.

The front end is going to undergo major surgery.

First, Dr. James will amputate, then fully reconstruct.

If the operation is successful, the Caddy daddy will not

only end up with a brand new front end,

but a new motor, drivetrain and rear end.

Very ambitious, especially since Jesse's never done

a Caddy before.

The first task is to remove the old 160 horsepower V8.

This mighty power plant weighs close to 700 pounds.

- Been on there a long time.

[rock music] [tools whirring]

- A little grease in there.

[rock music continues]

There we go.

- [Narrator] Seems like the old ticker just doesn't

want to go.

It's going to take all available muscle power to pry

this old mill loose.

- How the [tool clangs] is this thing not?

What the [thud] is wrong with it?

[rock music continues]

- [Narrator] At last, the engine's out.

Time to relax.

[engine bangs]

Not.

- You all right?

- Yeah! [all laughing]

- Nice.

- [Narrator] Just a few scratches and bruises, but that

was a close one.

- Didn't miss my [drill thudding] shin though.

[Frank laughing]

All right, I'm done.

- [Narrator] No more country club fat, this cruiser's been

liposuctioned down to basics.

- We've actually come a long ways on it, because we got rid

of all the old chrome pieces and tram pieces that we're not

going to be using.

And of course, mechanically, we got the engine pulled

and the transmission out of it, ready to subframe it.

So, we've come quite a ways today, actually.

[upbeat piano music]

- [Narrator] "Monster Garage" factoid.

Henry Ford's first motor company failed in 1902,

and investors brought in engineer, Henry Leland

to sell the assets.

Leland convinced them to stay in business,

and Cadillac Motors was formed.

The 1903 Cadillac went on sale at the New York Auto Show.

Listed at $850, they sold 2,286 cars in one week.

[rock music]

- [Old Man] Lovely day.

Wonderful day to- [titres screeching]

[old man telling]

- [Narrator] Day day three begins.

- [Old Man] Why, you sone of a!

- [Narrator] Frank Sr spells out the solemn task ahead.

- Time to create another masterpiece of rolling art.

- [Narrator] The first step in sectioning the Caddy's tail

is to remove its trunk lid.

[upbeat music]

Using high tech measuring devices such as a roll

of masking tape and a magic marker, Darryl lays out

the cut lines for the section job.

- We're taking two and a half inches off through this area,

we're dropping down here an inch, cutting along here

to maintain the strength of our opening of our trunk

as we go, and we'll overlap that when we do drop

the whole thing down.

[light rock music] [tools hissing]

- We're officially starting to cut the body to section it,

and we're going to wedge it down and give it a cool

little slant back look.

[light rock music continues]

- [Narrator] While Darryl and Frank are sectioning the rear,

Frank Sr is salvaging the doors.

- I am taking mills off, getting rid of the big pits,

and then I've saving this door.

This is a big thing, saving two doors that you don't

have to buy.

- [Narrator] The Caddy daddy's headlights and taillights

are going to be Frenched in; this means that the front

and rear fenders hug the lights in one smooth,

unbroken curve.

- They fit on the outside.

We're going to take these out, flip them around

to the inside, weld some studs through here so you can

fasten them and get them out from the inside,

and then we're going to weld the bezels on.

- [Narrator] Jeff Myers is another Kansas customizer.

As a lad, he fell under Darryl Starbird's influence

and never recovered.

- I was born in Wichita.

My dad used to take me to all the Darryl shows,

and started building model cars when I was five.

Really got me going. I loved it.

It's great working with Darryl.

It's been a long time fascination seeing how these guys

build handmade cars.

It's an honor to get to work with all these guys.

[upbeat music] [tools whirring]

- [Narrator] John Aiello is the designated roof guy.

He's the most experienced making Carson tops.

- I'm cutting the front of the roof off.

I left it kind of long 'cause we're not exactly sure

where the Carson top's going to lay.

So I left everything a little long, but I just cut it

so we can get the top out of the way and stand back

and take a look at it.

- [Narrator] Even though John is one of the youngsters here,

he's won a number of major awards in the world of

customizing.

- My grandfather owned a body shop when I was a little boy,

and my dad bought that body shop from him,

and I've just always been around body shops,

and that's when it happened.

You can pretty much do whatever you want to a car.

Whatever your style or taste is;

it's just like a part of you.

[rock music] [saw grinding]

- Okay, it should be ready to roll.

- Oh boy.

- [Narrator] And now, the delicate job of removing the roof

and rear section is apiece.

It's sort of like removing a brain from the skull.

- Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

- Yeah! - Now we got a roadster!

- [Frank Jr] Cadillac roadster.

- Let's just take it out and drive it around like us.

It looks pretty neat, huh?

- I think we get a car full of ladies with this baby.

- Right!

[rock music]

- [Narrator] Let the grinding begin.

[rock music continues] [tool grinding]

- He's the mad grinder.

[rock music continues] [tool grinding]

- [Narrator] Every inch of the cool Caddy daddy must be

ground down to bare metal.

Now that the top is gone, John's going to chop

the front posts.

The plan is to remove a conservative two and a half inches

at first, nut Jesse, of course, has a more radical idea.

Always pushing the envelope, Mr. James is of the opinion

that the posts are still too high.

- Well don't forget though, that dictates the height

of the Carson top.

- Yeah.

- If we go too high then the top's going to look too high.

- We'll go an inch and a half?

- Try it. We can always go more.

- Okay.

- Go for it man. - All right.

- [Narrator] While John takes another inch and a half

out of the front posts, Darryl separates the trunk frame

from the roof.

- Right there.

[classic rock music]

- [Narrator] Frank Jr and Darryl trim up the trunk lip

so that it will fit back in place.

- That should sit right down on there like that.

- Beautiful. - All the way.

Now we're putting our trunk deck itself back on

so we can actually get back and take a profile view

of the car and see whether we've accomplished the look

that we want at this point.

If not, we'll do something different.

You may still hit up there.

- Is it hitting there?

- It may.

We're not that far off now though.

- It looks good though, we're on our way now.

- Well, we're getting a nice line to it now.

Profile's looking about right.

Don't you think it's looking better?

- It's looking good, it's really low now.

It's got a good silhouette to it.

- [Narrator] There's a lot of back and forth,

and it has to be perfect because the line of the trunk lid

will determine the shape of the entire rear end.

[classic rock music]

- Beautiful. That's what you want.

That's free flowing right there.

See how it's fitting so nice?

But right now, we're going to temporary tack it to keep it

in place where it belongs, then you put it on the car,

weld it where it's going to go, then you can break

those loose.

[classic rock music continues] [tools whirring]

You want it to go lower?

- No, I think we're in good shape now.

- [Frank] I think so too.

- Looking mighty good to me.

- Yeah, it looks good.

It's where we want it now.

It's all about getting it measured where we want it, exact.

Tack weld it and start doing our plate work.

[upbeat rock music]

- [Narrator] Now that the trunk lid has been tacked

into its final resting place, Darryl can fill in the gaps.

The curve will be filled in with at least five hand cut,

hand rolled pieces of 20 gauge steel.

- Actually, I'm forming a little piece of metal here.

Putting a compound curve in it to fit in between the fender

back there.

I need, not only a dip this way, but I need a compound curve

this direction, so I'm actually building a compound curve

out with the angled wheel here.

You can see I've created me not only a curve here,

but I've also created this effect.

Well, now then start doing is welding that and shrinking

that on and around there where I'll get my shape

like I want it.

[fast paced rock music] [tools banging]

We're about to make it look like a car again.

Looked pretty hopeless there for a while.

Actually turned out very nice.

- [Narrator] As Billy Gibbons suggested,

no swept back slammed Caddy coupe would be complete

without air scoops.

[smooth rock music] [welder popping]

- Looks a lot better flowing this body line

into the door line.

And this'll be open right here.

A lot of guys put little b*ll*ts or pieces of chrome trim

in here eventually.

- [Narrator] Huge progress was made in day three.

The trunk was sectioned and filled in, the top was chopped,

the headlights and taillights were prepared for Frenching,

and the all important air scoops were cut and welded in.

- I'm feeling real good about that.

This part that we've done is probably the hardest part.

[Darryl laughing]

[driving music]

[rock music] [tires screeching]

- [Narrator] Day four of the build, and the team wastes

no time getting down with the Caddy daddy.

Darryl cuts the rear deck off to make room for the

Carson top, while Frank Jr smooths out the wells

and sheet metal work finished yesterday.

- See what I'm doing with dirty hands there?

- [Narrator] Frank Sr is using small pieces of cut paper

as patterns for sheet metal patches.

- There we go. See?

Frankie, tack the top.

Hey, he knows I'll cut him out of the will if you hurts me.

I have his name in pencil on my will.

In case it goes [indistinct] all I got to do use an eraser.

[Frank laughs]

- [Narrator] With a brand new motor and drive train

on the way the team has already maxed out its parts budget.

So Dennis gets on the horn with his friend Jimmy White,

who restores 50s cars.

- You want that Cadillac motor?

- [Jimmy] Yeah.

- Would you come down here today and get it?

- [Narrator] Looks like Jimmy White wants to buy

the old mill.

- [Jimmy] Yeah, I'm willing to spend $400.

- I think that'd probably be cool.

I think that'd probably be a fair deal.

- [Narrator] The deal was for 400 bucks,

but Jesse manages to bump it up 100.

- It's worth 500 bucks. Come on, it's a good Cadillac motor.

- You got four?

- Yeah, I brought four with me.

- You got four, I got one, we need the dough.

Well, we made the deal.

Jimmy had four on him, I had a 100.

It's worth 100 to me just to get it out of my way.

Motor almost broke my leg. [Jimmy chuckles]

- 500 bucks for something that almost broke my foot.

That'll work. We need it.

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, Darryl has second thoughts about

the window line.

He wants a dip.

Dennis wants to keep it straight.

- Two different things on the concept drawing;

one where the door sill had a little dip in it,

or if we want a straight line.

I'm thinking a straight line might be a lot less work.

- It won't be less work, Dennis.

It won't be less work at all.

It'll be the exact same amount of work.

Well, frankly, I like it dipping because I'm worried about

a transition from this height to this height.

If we don't do some kind of a transition here,

we're going to end up with a very straight line, I'm afraid.

- So, this line would follow- - Follow this line.

- It would have to follow this curve.

- Exactly.

- He's been doing this a lot longer than I've been alive,

so who am I to say?

- Yeah, see, that makes a nice transition.

You agree? - There we go.

- Good man. - Rock and roll.

- I'm glad you do, good.

- It's like working with all my heroes, man.

Like I said before, I've known Darryl, he gave me my first

trophy for model cars when I was seven.

- [Narrator] Artist builder, Dennis McPhail has been at it

since he was a kid.

- I just always drew cars.

I worked on cars, I started working with a guy named

Eldon Titus when I was right around 12.

And then I realized I was a lot better artist than I was

a welder.

Always admired Ed Roth, and finally crossed paths with him.

Showed him some of my artwork.

He had me commissioned me to do some work for him

for the Ed Roth shirts.

That just took off.

And that led him into tattooing.

Now I'm tattooing, drawing, painting, working on cars.

- [Narrator] Mr. Starboard and Mr. DeRosa Jr

cut a notch out of the doors to produce the all important

dip.

Half inch conduit is perfect for creating lines.

It can be easily bent to make any curve you want.

Then it could be tacked into place.

A dolly full of parts arrive, mostly pieces for the new

front end.

- Well, first things first, I'm going to lock the whole car

down on the chassis to that lift.

- [Narrator] Jesse has made blocks three inches high.

This will be the final ride height of the Caddy daddy.

- We're jigging the chassis up on this lift

and then we can weld it in place where we want

our ride height, and then we can fit all the suspension

to the lift.

[rock music] [welder hissing]

- [Narrator] There's a lot of plasma cutting to do

on this old baby.

The front end is supported by a two by six steel beam.

[metal clangs]

[metal clanging]

- Well, it's almost a blank canvas.

Then we just connect the dots.

Right here.

- [Narrator] Hey Jesse, is this your favorite thing to do?

- It's not my favorite thing to do, my favorite thing to do

is lay around in my underwear and count money.

But this is pretty close.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

- [Narrator] The body of the Caddy daddy is emerging

piece by piece.

When complete, it will be made of scores of hand-formed

pieces, not one the same size as the other.

[upbeat music]

As things heat up in the garage, tempers begin to flare.

Frank Jr's totally into the trunk lid when his old man

breaks his concentration.

Not good.

- I don't like to be pulled off I'm working on, that's all.

- Frank, you're starting.

Stop.

S-T-O-P.

- I'm going to start and I'm going to finish.

- Slow down now, Frank.

- Kiss my [drill thumping].

- I know you hate me.

You've already proven that.

- I hate the [tool clanging] you pull, that's all I hate.

- Okay. All right.

This is not the place.

Don't start going off the edge.

- [Narrator] This frame is the beginning of a whole new

front end, and it's got to be right.

- It's cool.

- [Narrator] It's getting late in the garage,

and it looks like Frank Jr and Frank Sr have decided to

bury the hatchet.

- Hey, I got a patch over here for you, dad to grind.

It's all welded up for you.

- Okay? Thank you, sir.

- Okay, buddy.

Hey, I apologize I told you to kiss my [tool clanging].

- You know what, I had his name in in pencil in the will.

Now, he's getting to be a pretty good kid, I'm going to

put it in ink.

- What do you think?

- What do I think?

We got an array of talent here.

- You know the thing I like most about today is

we all become a team.

We begin to really work together rather than just work

separately.

And of course, with Jesse here, working with us gives us all

that extra little push of energy.

- I think we'll be all right.

- [Narrator] Another day of progress in the Monster Garage.

The Caddy daddy is fast becoming one very cool ride.

"Monster Garage" factoid.

Grinding or sanding of paint and rust is critical to any

old school restoration.

Persistent rhythmic auditory stimulation can lead to

creativity, sensory integration, relaxed

or meditative states and aid in the treatment of children

with developmental disabilities.

[rock music] [liquid bubbling]

[tires screeching]

Day five.

With a fresh eye, Darryl has once again changed

the window line.

- If you look across it where we did have it,

it's so flat looking, but it drops off much too quick

and doesn't match the line of the hood here.

The reason I've set the hood back on here

is to follow this crown line right on down.

But that little inch there is just makes a world

of difference in the overall design of it,

how it all flows together and looks right.

- [Narrator] Now that the dip line is set, the top of the

doors can be finished.

- I'm making a cap at the top of the door,

and the door comes at a swoop where it's got a compound

curve on the top.

It's a specialty part.

You couldn't get one anywhere.

It looks good.

A little trimming and it should be all right, I think.

- [Narrator] The Caddy daddy demands ultimate respect,

so living legend, Bill Hines is here to lend a hand.

Billy's been customizing for over 60 years,

and he may be the last guy on earth who knows how to

French in headlights with molten lead.

- Hey, Billy!

Good to see you. Come to help us, huh?

- Ready to go to work.

- Hey, what the hell you doing here, man?

- Good morning, Jesse.

- Hey, Bill, how's it going?

- Haven't seen you for a while.

- Yeah.

What do you think?

- Oh yeah, It's going to look good, huh?

- [Narrator] If your passion is handling lead,

you may as well begin each day with a stogie.

[Billy laughs]

[rock music]

- My doctor called me up

two days ago.

I had a blood test done last week.

He said my lead's down three points.

[Jesse laughs]

- Look at that.

That's cool.

King of the lead right here, man.

- [Narrator] Today 99% of customizers are bedtime

for Bondo freaks.

They use Bondo to build up surfaces and cover imperfections,

but Bondo shatters, lead doesn't.

- [Jesse] Are you sure you know what you're doing?

- Well, 60 years of it, I know, yes.

- [Jesse] Okay.

It looks awesome.

- Yeah.

Well, I got a little experience, you know.

- [Narrator] In the morning light of day five,

the front clip still doesn't look right.

Here comes the Mustang spindles, upper and lower arms

and rack and pinion steering pieces.

These will have to be adjusted for air ride suspension.

So, Jesse's got his work cut out for him.

- I don't even know what this cross-member's for,

these A-arms might work.

And that's too wide for Cadillac, so I got to narrow it.

So I'm going to probably have to cut that back off

and make the whole thing on the table

and build it from scratch.

So, that's what I say.

[rock music] [tools grinding]

- [Narrator] Jesse tacks in post to set the final position

of the Caddy's wheels.

Because Dennis and Jeff are primarily body guys,

they're going to get help with the rear end.

- We're both going to go over to Jesse's shop

and they're going to help us set this rear end up.

- [Narrator] At the shop down the street, Chris and Rick

help our builders tackle the problem.

But of course, nothing is easy.

- I've never seen anything going over the top of that.

That can't be right. - No.

I think you got the wrong brake brackets.

See these little nubs on here?

They're too tall, and they're hitting the bracket that they

supplied, so if we get rid of these little nubs,

just knock that off on the apex wheel.

[industrial music] [tools grinding]

- [Narrator] The nine inch Ford rear end is complete.

Now, back to the garage.

Dennis and Jeff got help with the assembly,

but now they're on their own.

Since neither have done this before, it's going to be

strictly trial and error.

- See, this can't be angled, Jeff, this has to be straight.

- Right, right.

- [Dennis] It's not mounted on the frame though.

- [Jeff] I know.

- [Dennis] Well, ask John.

- I don't know.

If we trim up this bracket a little bit here, or that brace,

we can get it up.

I'm going to have to cut it.

[industrial music continues] [tools banging]

- It's been frustrating to learn.

- Anything you do, there's going to be a first time once.

- It's challenging.

We don't get to do this on a normal basis.

- It's like basic training. - We're learning a lot.

- I wouldn't trade the experience for anything,

but I don't think I'd do it all over again.

- I've never done a caddy before, so this is my

learning curve. - [Darryl] There you go.

Every one of them's different, so it don't matter.

- Yeah.

Off again.

[rock music] [tool grinding]

- [Narrator] Looks like Jesse's cutting off the front end

again.

Just ain't right.

The rear wheels of a '51 Cadillac were exposed,

but the Caddy daddy's going to wear skirts.

- See here, look at me.

The other one went up like this, now this one here

goes straight down like that.

Hand making a fender skirt.

Car was missing one, they wanted $200 for one,

and we decided to just make one.

[Frank Jr laughing]

[bass music]

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, Jesse is making progress on the

front end.

[bass music continues]

- Hey, Body Drop, hand me that die grinder.

[sparks popping] You like to with him.

Get Frank.

- Give him the finger. [Jesse laughing]

Give him the finger.

You won't get a paycheck next week, but you know.

[Jesse laughing]

[rock music]

- [Narrator] End of day five. One more day to go.

Much of the coach work is done, but there's still no

front end, rear end or drivetrain.

As usual, day six in the Monster Garage is going to be

a bear.

- Let's go.

- [Schwag] Will this old school beast be ready for

show and tell?

Or will it melt in hell?

- I'm scared.

[rock music]

- Damn whipper-snapper! Get out of that car!

[old man yelling]

- [Narrator] Day six.

This is the last day of the build, but Darryl, as usual

is optimistic.

- The guys are doing real good on the suspension.

We're going to put the airbag down to the rear this morning

and then set the engine in a couple hours.

We're really on a roll.

[fire pops]

- [Narrator] Bill has Frenched in the headlights,

and now he's stitching up the skirts.

[Billy laughing]

Now, the artists hunker down to get the line on what's

going to be the glassless side openings of the cars in top.

- Hey Darryl, you like it being even all the way down?

- I think we need a little radius right in here, don't we?

Hey, there's the old knee working.

How about that?

[rock music]

Oh, hey, that's looking much better, yeah.

About right there, John.

- [Narrator] John uses conduit tubing to form the skeleton

of the Carson to be.

- We bend the first one in the center,

and then all the other ones match it.

- [Darryl] Oh yeah.

[rock music continues]

[driving rock music]

- [Narrator] Speaking of 50s Caddy daddies, Barry Weiss,

Jesse's godfather rolls into the garage.

- What's up, man? - Good to see you.

- How you been? - Good, man.

Still hanging out.

- Where you been? - Here.

- Yeah?

Making an honest living now, huh?

- Yeah.

- I brought the Caddy down.

[engine roaring]

- [Narrator] This customized 1947 Cadillac,

fabricated by Frank DeRosa Sr and Jr, is called Dragon Fire.

- It's been sectioned through the body.

Two and a half inches through here.

We slanted the post to give it a real swoopy look.

We sectioned the hood, we brought the hood down,

kind of leaning down this way.

We used the stock grill, but what we did was we cut

the teeth off and we mitred it on an angle.

These are 55 Pontiac bumpers.

Split bumpers, they're real pretty.

I really regret selling this thing, especially now

seeing it.

It's really a bitching car. It really is.

[engine revving] [tires screeching]

[Frank Jr laughing]

That's one car I should have kept.

- [Narrator] See you later, Barry.

This is the final shipment of parts.

It's the drivetrain, including a brand new



- Just is so you don't get dirty when you work.

He looks like a pocket protector.

[Jesse laughing]

- [Narrator] Meanwhile, the underpinning for the Carson top

is near completion.

[rock music] [tools whirring]

Bill Hines continues to do his thing.

Now he's Frenching in the taillights.

The tr*nny goes onto the motor easy enough,

but it's the cherry picker that you've got to worry about.

- I'm scared.

[rock music] [tools whirring]

Right.

- [Narrator] The sun set an hour ago.

But since this is the last day of build, the rules say

that the team can go into the night.

- I'm going to beat them.

I'm going to be done before all of them.

And I know yesterday afternoon they were looking at my

progress thinking,

we hope he better get that front end done.

I'm going to win.

- Let's go.

Let's go.

[driving rock music]

- [Narrator] Miraculously, the front end is finished.

Now the cosmetics. - He's the man.

There you go, bring her up over the tire.

There you go, buddy.

[rock music continues]

- Bring it back.

They don't call it Monster Garage for nothing.

- I deem it an honor to have worked with the crew that I

associated myself with the last five days.

In fact, I'm proud of Jesse,

'cause I heard he didn't work,

now I found out he worked, like me and everybody else.

They say, well, he goes in there,

he put the makeup on and then he leaves.

- I did. [Frank laughs]

- Then he leaves.

- I used 30 weight. - Yeah.

- [Narrator] By 9:00, all the major pieces are back on.

And now, for the moment that everyone's been waiting for.

[all cheering]

- Boy, this is what really makes it all worthwhile,

when you first get your first step back and look at

the finished product, and you see how everything's

flowing together.

There sits a complete car all at once.

What a feeling.

- It's rolling art.

It's another creation of all of us customizers join forces,

and this is what you get right here.

Let's fire it up and go cruising, dude!

- Yeah!

- Let's go!

- [Jesse] We have to lock the doors to keep

the [dog barks] out.

- [Frank] You know it.

- You want some tools or you got all the tools you need?

- Oh, I want some, but hey.

- All right. - Toolbox, T-shirts, hat.

- [Narrator] And now the concrete reward for a hard

week's work.

- Good job, Jr.

- Get the crane. Thanks, Jesse.

- Darryl.

John. - Thank you.

- McSmell. [Dennis chuckles]

Jeff.

- My pleasure.

- Cool, guys.

Just like everyone else, Mac Tools

and a Milwaukee Power tool kit.

So, good job.

It's pretty awesome. - Thank you.

- [Narrator] Build cost tally.

Vehicle cost $2,000 bucks cash.

$6,351.81.

Freebie value: $3,820.

Total build cost, $12,171.81.

[rock music] [liquid bubbling]

- [Schwag] Hey Monster fans, Professor Schwag here

in the beautiful LBC.

School is now in session.

Old school that is.

Will you look at that beauty?

There's no school like the old school.

[hydraulics hissing] [rock music continues]

- Whoa, what a cool ride, huh?

- Nice.

- [Schwag] Build team members, Darryl Starbird

and the DeRosa's, Sr and Jr, have made the trek to the LBC

to check out the finished look of this brand new classic.

- Of course we got the California suede purple paint on it.

I think we got a nice touch to it.

- I love the way the Carson top turned out.

It just flows. It's got the 50 style look.

And with all the hard work we all did,

I think it really paid off.

- Suddenly take shape becomes a real car.

The thing that I'm really proud of is the lines

we ended up with.

The nice flow. - [Frank Sr] Yes.

Good silhouette, good silhouette.

- [Darryl] It's got a different look than the Cadillacs

I've haver had.

- I want this guy right here to stay in the trade

'til he learns it.

[Darryl laughing]

- When he dropped it down on the ground like we just did

a minute ago, and you get that impact all at once

of that car setting down.

Disappearing right into the blacktop.

Man, it's unbelievable. - Very striking.

- Just gives you a feeling way down deep in your tummy,

don't it? - That's it.

Especially going down the road.

You usually see them in a museum, but when they're driving

down the road, it's the most thrilling,

where you get goosebumps, and it's just a thrill

driving them, it's just exciting.

- Let's head out that way, huh?

- [Schwag] All right then, folks, let's get this showboat

on the road.

[classic rock music] [engine revving]

Oh yeah!

[classic rock music continues]

- [Frank] What's up, boss?

- [Schwag] There's only one place to take an old school

charmer like this.

A burger joint.

Paul's Place.

- Gentlemen. Ian Kelleher.

- All right, nice to meet you.

- [Narrator] Ian Kelleher from the renowned RM Auction

stops by to give his professional once over.

- Give a little bit of a walkthrough on it.

- We section it from the cowl back.

We also of course chopped the top from the windshield.

I think we've come up with a whole new look for a Cadillac

with the drop down here and the profile look that we

ended up with on it.

- There aren't a lot of people that could do this

in five days.

'Cause this is old school, and it's genuine.

- [Schwag] Hey, Ian, you're the auction expert, right?

Well, what do you think a head turning old school dame

like this would fetch?

- I know you've got a track record,

and you've got a track record, and you've got a track record

coming up, so this is a pretty desirable piece.

If I had to ticket for auction at estimate, I'd put it at



- There you go.

- [Schwag] Sweet!

Let me get my checkbook out.

- Okay, we're going to roll.

- [Schwag] Hey, wait a minute!

The builders are out of here.

They've got no time for munching on chow.

Taking a long bow for figuring out what things cost.

- This car is priceless. It's a museum piece.

And that's where it should end up, in a museum where it'll

be there for eternity.

- It was an experience for me that I'll never forget.

- [Schwag] They've got metal of burn,

sparks to fly.

The next "Monster Garage" challenge is just around the bend.

[synth music]