Dave: coming up...
This is an exercise
in overkill.
...after years of planning
and building...
Holy smokes.
It's finally here.
...we're turning this '67 nova
Into the rocket ship
it was always meant to be.
[ Imitates
engine revving ]
[ Coughs ]
It's set up to be about
Yeah, it's american.
I've called this the thing the
nasa project from the get-go.
Dave: but fitting 35 pounds of
engine into a 8-pound engine bay
Ain't going to be easy.
Did we get
the hood to fit?
Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.
I guess it's not
going to go, is it?
Dave: but if you think
building this car is tough...
Wow.
You better
recognize, sucker.
...wait until you see
what it takes to drive it.
I don't know if I'm man
enough for this thing.
[ Both laugh ]
I don't know.
[ Drill whirring ]
¶¶
Building custom cars
isn't easy...
It's bitchin'.
My name is dave kindig.
I'm a self-taught custom-car
designer and builder.
The baddest cars on pavement.
This is gorgeous!
I've assembled a team
Of master craftsmen
-whew!
Ohh!
Guys, I love it!
There are a lot of great
machines out on the road...
Kevin: dude, we're
on the sidewalk!
...but only a select few
are bitchin' rides.
-- Captions by vitac --
www.vitac.com
I would describe jordan as deep.
He's pretty complex.
Jordan's mysterious.
Don't really know
what's going on there.
I'm special, I guess.
I don't know.
I think I've got the only metric
measuring tape in the shop.
Pi isn't big.
I mean, it's irrational,
So the decimal place goes on
to, kind of, infinity.
Our shop is full
of unique individuals,
Whether they're
into motorcycles,
Bobsledding, dog sledding,
skateboards.
And jordan, well,
he's got his own flavor.
He got married,
and we didn't even know.
He wears his shirts inside out,
so that's weird.
My shirts are printed inside out
'cause I'm really picky,
And it feels better.
Jordan just got back
from vacation.
He didn't tell anybody where he
was going or what he was doing.
What gives, man?
A guy like jordan
would probably go on a vacation
To, like, a museum...
Jordan would totally
go to space camp.
...mathematic equation library.
Jordan, how was
your vacation?
Good.
The bermuda triangle
or something.
I think he got
a new physics book
And had to spend
a week reading it.
Jordan would totally do that.
Where'd you go?
Far, far away.
I mean, I'd really love to see
if he wants to take
Maybe, like, a long walk
on the beach
And search for sea turtles
or something,
But I don't know
if he's into that.
He does a great job
for the shop,
And he's part of the family,
and we missed him.
I'm glad he came back
to our planet.
I would describe jordan in --
I don't even need a sentence,
just one word.
Flanders.
Howdily hodily?
¶¶
Hey, so, really quickly,
I was cleaning out in the back
Where the feature liner
and the assembly area is,
And, lo and behold,
there's the nova.
Right.
Our good friend and client,
George theodoridis,
had given us the challenge
Of building the biggest,
baddest twin turbo motor
With a flat hood.
Do you know what's
going on with that?
I mean, we did
so much work on it.
The idea behind this build --
Build the most massive engine
you've ever seen,
And wrap it in a '67 nova,
And now, seven years later,
we've got the car,
But we don't have an engine.
You guys have done the exhaust.
You've done the rockers,
All of the turbo plumbing,
intercooler plumbing.
We've done door handles,
roll cage inside,
New floors, re-tubbed it.
We're just waiting
on the engine.
Turns out, building the massive
motor that we're after
Takes a little bit of time.
Well, any monkey can put
a cowl hood on a car, right?
-Yeah.
-The idea of the sweet spot
Is to keep it looking like
a "grandma car"
With a flat,
non-blinged-out hood.
We had to learn the long way
To fit in that size
of a package.
We actually waited 2 1/2 years,
I think, for the first
engine builder,
Which never really
got us anywhere.
He ended up sending us
a hood scoop intake manifold
That stuck out of the hood
this far.
It was not supposed
to have anything
Coming through the hood.
We found the right
engine builder,
So once we get
this big b*llet back,
We'll get it stuffed
in that car.
Well, that's actually why
I got you guys here.
The engine is on its way.
-Nice. Okay.
-So we are good to go,
And I would say
oil up those wheels
That you once had
for the nova.
I won't believe it until
I see it, to be honest with you.
-Right.
-It's been a while.
This car is going to be fast.
It's going to be custom.
It deserves an awesome name.
We'll call it
the red galaxy.
Let's call it
the space cadet.
The lipstick.
Step-headed red child.
[ Laughter ]
Okay, we'll name it later.
The good news is,
Is I have a number,
and the engine is coming,
So we can get
this thing going again.
You've got the million-dollar
tracking number.
Yeah.
It's on its way.
Did they give you
any numbers?
Numbers?
Isn't the tracking
number good enough?
He can measure everything
when it gets here.
Now you're asking for other
numbers. It's never enough.
Never enough.
I got to go.
You guys go.
-I'm glad they're gone.
-Sweet.
-Now what?
-Get back to work.
¶¶
What we've got here
is george's 1967 chevy nova ii,
And the idea was to keep it
looking basically super clean,
Oversize the wheels big-time,
Correct the stance,
and the flat hood.
The flat hood's what's going
to be the big trick on this car.
We got 25 pounds of engine
in a 5-pound engine bay.
It has that much stuff
under there,
But when you open it up,
it's party on.
Red on red's going to look
very classic, very hot-rod.
The leather matches
exactly with the paint.
I really hope george saves up
a little bit of money
For some extra tires,
'cause if he launches it,
It's not going to go forward.
It's probably just going
to go straight up.
¶¶
¶¶
It's here. It's finally here.
The crown jewel,
the heartbeat of this nova
Is finally here.
-Wow.
-Three long years.
Holy smokes.
It's finally here.
And it has all the parts
inside of it.
-That's weird.
-Right?
What's our horsepower
on this one?
It's set up to be about
-Holy smokes.
-You could push it to 35 to 4
If you change the fuel
and do a couple things.
The only reason to have an
engine with this much horsepower
Is to have an engine
with this much horsepower.
Dave: this thing, just looking
at it sitting on the pallet,
Holy crap.
It's like you need another car
just to hold the motor.
Mm-hmm.
Well, you've got to figure.
I mean, all this stuff
right here,
This is as wide
as the car is.
-Is that what it is?
-It's 650 now?
-Yes.
-I thought we were 638.
-Yeah, 650. Holy cow.
-I thought we were 638, too.
That's a lot of motor.
-Oh, yeah.
-This is a big chief block,
-Big chief heads.
-All aluminum,
So the weight is way down,
but the size is way up.
So you're saying
it's a hybrid.
It's going to be really
important to make sure
That this thing
doesn't melt itself down.
I think the trick on this car
is going to be definitely
To try and remain
looking like a street car.
That and the fact that
when george gets in this thing
And lights it up,
to get it to launch forward,
Not straight up, I think
is going to be a miracle.
Now, I've called thing the nasa
project from the get-go.
This has got to be
one of the closest things
To a rocket ship
we've ever built,
And since it's going to be red,
I think we should
call it the red rocket.
-Did you just come up with that?
-I just came up with that, yeah.
It's pretty slick, huh?
Yeah.
[ Laughs ]
You got to see my line
of children's books.
It's pretty impressive, too.
I'm going to pass
on the children's books.
I'm good.
I am super, super stoked
To get going on this thing.
I think it's going to be cool.
And the trick is, we're still
not out of the woods yet
With this.
All of a sudden,
The fuel injection
and these rails are --
You know, I think this is
kind of the max height
That we were hoping for,
and all of a sudden,
We've got a lot
of fuel system up here.
The whole design idea
behind this car
Is to make it look
like a semi-sleeper.
At first, you might think
that it couldn't possibly have
That much horsepower,
but wait until you see it run.
What's your
racer name, dave?
-It's tumbleweed.
-[ Laughs ]
Is that a cool
racer name?
-No.
-It makes perfect sense.
We're going to come up
with a new one.
I don't race other people,
so I'm like a tumbleweed
On the side of the road,
just tumbling down,
Looking at the vehicles
as I go down the track.
We should call you
standing weed or something.
Standing water.
That's better.
-Ah, I got to go.
-Okay.
All right. Let's get the b*llet
in the rocket, huh?
-I want to see it.
-Okay.
-I'm excited. Cool.
-All right, man.
¶¶
I can't get over how cool it is
to have this engine the shop.
Opening the box
was like christmas
When you're little kid,
except a lot better.
I had to move this entire
firewall back 6 inches,
And I'm still not sure
if everything is going to fit.
The only thing wrong with that
is, it's not my engine.
Before we can say this engine
belongs to anybody,
We got to make sure
it still fits in the car.
This is an exercise in overkill.
Yeah.
Everything about
this engine screams,
"Scary fast."
These are monster wastegates.
Wastegates regulate pressure
on a turbo engine.
Usually, they're about this big.
On this engine,
they're about this big.
Your import, this would
handle about three engines.
Three import engines?
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
But on this big-block chevy,
one per bank.
When it comes to speed
and power,
This thing's, like,
borderline insane.
-Yeah, it's american.
-[ Laughs ]
¶¶
We're hoping that this
will be the last time
That we have put this in
and build everything around it.
We haven't got a whole lot
of fabrication left.
And we don't have a lot
of time left, either.
You've got grease
everywhere on this thing.
¶¶
Okay, don't go up too far.
Just try to go in.
I guess it's not going
to go, is it?
-No, I think you just --
-well, we got to --
I think if you lower it
just a little bit --
Okay.
Lower the engine
or lower the back?
-The engine.
-Okay.
-We'll try it your way.
-Okay.
For some reason,
will thinks this engine's
Going to slide right in,
but I got my doubts.
Will:
ew, it's dirty under here.
Don't be scared.
We'll see how long it takes
-Till you figure out I'm right.
-[ Chuckles ]
Here we go.
¶¶
I think you may be right.
You seeing what I'm seeing?
Yeah.
So, we're kind of
an inch short.
I like to call this
our nasa project
Because it ends up
so crammed tight.
I mean, we kind of have to use
every little inch of space
In this engine compartment.
Kris: 650 cubic inches.
I think will's finally
understanding,
It's not going to
just slide right in.
I think you may be right.
-You seeing what I'm seeing?
-Yeah.
So we're kind of
an inch short.
I like being right,
especially when will is wrong,
But I just want
this engine to fit.
So what do you think?
Let's just
drop the engine in
Are you ready?
'Cause it's super heavy.
Oh, man, it's heavy.
By removing
the transmission housing,
I think we'll buy ourselves
a little wiggle room.
Okay, you can go back
an inch.
Okay, now down.
Got to go back
some more still.
We got room?
Yeah, now.
Ooh, we're fitting.
-Look at that.
-I told you it'd fit.
¶¶
[ Laughs ]
-Look at that.
-This is looking way better
Than what I was
thinking it was.
It's fitting great.
I'm ecstatic.
I don't know how long
We've been waiting
on this engine to come together,
But it's here now.
I'm like...
Sixth-grade dance.
This thing's cool.
Back in my days
of doing this stuff,
I would have loved to have
an engine like this.
-It's a monster, huh?
-Yeah.
You don't challenge
this car to a race.
[ Laughs ]
I don't care who you are.
¶¶
Kevin: hey, jordan, what's up,
man? What are you doing?
I'm between things.
What do you got for me?
So, basically, you're doing
absolutely nothing.
Nothing. I'm trying to not
say nothing, but yes.
Jordan's brain is super smart,
So we put him in charge of the
exhaust system on this project.
But there's one aspect
that dave wants to make sure
Jordan is crystal clear on.
Tip.
-Just the tips?
-Yeah.
And that is crazy big,
so we have to make sure
The tips that go on the end
of the exhaust
Look and act like they should.
Let me see if I can
recreate what dave drew.
Okay.
So he drew, like,
quarter panel --
Whoops.
Let's start over, there.
The car is, like, here,
and then the rocker,
And then
there's another boom,
And then the trunk
kind of comes up.
The big engine's in here,
and there's the windows.
I don't -- no,
this is my drawing, dude.
-Can you stop?
-Sorry.
-Geez.
-It looks like a truck.
Okay -- well,
I like trucks, dude.
-Okay?
-Okay.
Dave might be
a way better artist
When it comes to paper
and color and pencils,
But on a workbench, I got him
beat every day of the week.
So he wants to do
kind of, like,
A nascar tip kind of
underneath here.
What's a nascar tip look like?
I don't watch nascar.
It's kind of like a swoopy,
like, more like a flat guy,
And then it has, like,
some dividers in it like that.
"Is that a photograph?"
No, this is, like, a h.d.,
Way better than a photograph.
And let's just poke it out
right here.
I think his car's
on fire.
No, that's
burnout smoke, dude.
-Oh, I see.
-I want it to look dainty,
But it needs to be big enough
to still do the job.
-Dainty and beefy?
-Yeah, exactly.
Mix the two.
Okay.
¶¶
It always comes down
to the small details
That makes the car
the whole package.
Jordan: got it taped on,
and I think I've got it
Sitting about
where I want it to,
So does it look good?
No.
I want it to be hidden,
But not so hidden that you can't
see kevin's dainty, beefy,
Hidden whatever concept
that he's got going on.
It's probably one one of the
biggest exhaust tips I've made.
Definitely the biggest-diameter
exhaust system
I've ever played with.
Meant to breathe.
The exhaust pipe is so big
that finding the right home
For it can be a little tricky.
We don't want to get it
too close to the body, too,
'Cause it is going
to be pretty hot,
So we don't want to burn
the paint or anything.
Let's see what it looks like.
¶¶
It's not too bad.
I might grab will,
see if he has any reservations.
Usually, will and I
are on the same page.
Whatcha think?
¶¶
I just think we need
to level it a little more.
Just -- yeah.
So it's a good --
I know what I'm seeing, okay?
Do you mind?
Well, I guess we're not
on the same page after all.
Almost double this
would be fine.
¶¶
I just think we need
to level it a little more.
Will: jordan just finished
these exhaust tips,
And I'm not really
liking the angle.
I want an up-skirt exhaust tip
that'll blow your skirt up.
I don't necessarily want it
a street sweeper, right?
It's going to clean
all the dirt off the ground.
-Mm-hmm.
-And, yeah,
I think we need
a little more gap,
So almost double this
would be fine.
Impossible? No,
but a lot more work.
Yeah, right there.
Finger. Okay.
The angle's good, too,
at that point.
Okilly dokilly.
Okay, get them on there
so we can fire this thing up.
Okay.
¶¶
Kris:
word to your mother.
While jordan goes back
to the drawing board,
Kris has something
magical up his sleeve.
I'm going to put another
one of these on that side.
There's two oil coolers
that have a fan.
They blow down through here,
So we're going to have the air
come in one side,
Over the trunk to the other side
And blow cool air
through the oil coolers,
And they'll all be
hidden in the back.
This thing's going to need
a lot of cooling.
I didn't put a hole in there
about three years ago
Because we were going
to do louvers here
Instead of a screen.
But dave changed
the design to a screen,
Which is a whole bunch
more work.
¶¶
I'm going to take a blank
And cut a hole in it.
¶¶
I cut a hole.
¶¶
And then I'm going to move it
over to the pullmax
And introduce the shape to it
all the way around,
'Cause that's how I roll.
That's how I get down.
You better recognize, sucker.
I'll have to do a lot
of hammer dolly.
Groundbreaking stuff, isn't it?
Once I get that done,
then I'll lay it on here,
Cut it out, weld it in.
This here's a real car.
This ain't no toyota.
Put this on
to keep the rocks out.
Anything that's going
to come up off the road,
It's going to keep it
out of the cooler.
¶¶
There it is.
¶¶
Wow.
I like that, a lot.
Kris: that looks like --
I don't know what it looks like.
I've never seen anything
like that before.
So, you got air
coming in here,
And it goes
around the gas tank
And then up to the top
where there's a fan,
And then fan's
shoving that air
Down through these oil coolers
right here.
And this is all
ducted and sealed,
So it's all coming out
right there.
Oh, that's so cool.
So, we got two pumps,
two radiators for the engine.
Oh, that will
keep it crazy cool.
And then, we also put
Two oil coolers back here.
This thing's just
a car of coolers.
-It's pretty cool.
-We have intercoolers, two,
Two radiators,
A trans cooler,
and an oil cooler.
Mm-hmm.
It's the coolest.
Right?
[ Laughs ]
¶¶
Now the fun part -- I get
to sh**t sparks in my face,
So, here we go.
¶¶
Since will didn't want a street
cleaner or a skirt blower,
I had to completely
redo the tips.
Now I just have to make sure
they fit right.
Hopefully kris' approval
will come easier than will's.
What?
My mom used to have
a vacuum cleaner attachment
That looked like that.
[ Chuckles ]
this is a blower attachment.
-How's it look from there?
-I just told you how it looks.
My mom used to reward me
for vacuuming.
I think jordan needs a reward.
I think you get to do all of the
custom exhaust tips from now on.
-Don't I anyway?
-Yeah.
Doing great work
is its own reward.
Actually, I'd prefer
the paycheck.
I think I would
give you a...
"A." There we go.
..."B"-plus
and an "a" for effort.
What?
Why the "b"-plus?
There's got to be room
for growth.
You're saying
I could be better?
Everything can be better.
No, I think
it looks great.
Okay, then.
[ Chuckles ]
Good thing my pay
doesn't depend on my grade.
¶¶
[ Imitates engine revving ]
That's the parachute.
[ Imitates screeching ]
That was
the hyperdrive switch.
Not only am I the chief
engineer around here,
But I'm the chief ergonomist.
The ergonomics on this car are,
to me, are extremely important.
With as much horsepower
as this car's going to have,
It's going to be
really ridiculous
If you can't
stab it really hard
And feel like
you're safe doing it.
The intention here
is to provide optimum comfort
Whilst avoiding stress
or injury -- ergonomics.
Kris, what do you think
about this link on this column?
Your arms look they're
in the right position.
Yeah, I know.
I'm just kind of,
Like, splitting hairs here.
How about another seat?
Well, yeah, I can do that.
We should put a seat
on this side, too.
Ergonomically speaking, this car
could be more roomy
Without will in it.
The way we've laid out
this car
And brought the engine
back so far,
The dash is back,
everything, so...
-Mm-hmm.
-Ergonomics, you know?
Overall, I think we headed in
a ergonomically sound direction.
Did you install
the hyperdrive button?
-Unh-unh.
-Can we put it up here?
That's where
the parachute goes.
Well, put the parachute
next to it or something.
Right, some ergonomics
expert you are.
-That's not a good idea.
-Shh.
The parachute next
to the hyperdrive?
[ Laughs ]
you're right.
That wouldn't be
very smart, would it?
¶¶
Dave: from ergonomics
to multiple engine coolers,
If we want this car
to run right,
There's one thing that has
to be done exactly perfect.
Kris: this entire car
is all about plumbing.
I mean, everywhere you look,
there's plumbing.
Dave: a lot of times in these
cars, we run electronics
And wiring through
the center console.
In this particular case, every
kind of fluid you can think of.
There's plumbing for
the fuel system.
There's plumbing
for the crank case.
There's plumbing for
the extra oil cooler.
There's plumbing
for the extra radiator.
It's just everywhere you look.
It's all about plumbing.
There's one special part
that just arrived
That makes all that
plumbing worth it.
So, turbos are here.
I got this one in,
Going to put that one in next.
It's pretty cool turbos.
And hopefully
everything clears enough
So we can shut the hood.
Sweet, kris. Looks like
you got the turbos all in.
Looking good.
-Yeah.
-It looks like everything.
Look at that menagerie
of fuel line,
Pcv,
Every other line
that you could imagine.
-Everything's plumbed.
-Wow.
It is packed in there.
It's really
packed in there.
-She's coming right along.
-Yeah.
It looks great.
It's almost too good to be true.
I have one question.
Did we get the hood to fit?
-She's coming right along.
-Yeah.
There's only one big question
left on the front of this nova.
Did we get the hood to fit?
I haven't tried it yet.
-Gosh, I hope it fits.
-But I think we're good.
I don't know why kevin's so
worried about this hood fitting.
I'm the one that measured it.
I know it's going to fit.
We could maybe put this big,
massive engine
In a bigger car, maybe.
-That wouldn't have been fun.
-[ Laughs ]
When you go to put the hood on
and test-fit it,
Get ahold of me.
I'll give you a hand.
I'm really excited to see
if it's going to fit.
Okay.
Kris:
sure. I'll let kevin know,
We don't typically
see this in a car.
I'm putting these row of louvers
In the front
of this front wheel well.
This is going to allow the air
to come through the intercooler
And get out.
See that?
Pretty amazing.
Going to put all this stuff
back together
And make sure it all fits.
These look nice, real nice.
With those out of the way, it's
time to see if the hood fits.
Phew. Gosh,
you really packed it in.
I guess the question is,
"does the hood fit?"
Does it close with this fancy
stock hood that we made?
You want to find out?
Yeah.
Let's check it out.
¶¶
[ Hood clicks ]
-I told you it'd fit.
-Yeah, but a lot of people
Tell me a lot of things, so
I have to always have my doubts.
[ Both laugh ]
¶¶
I got to admit it. I'm pretty
happy that we got all of that
To fit under the hood,
and the hood actually shuts.
And just in the nick of time,
Because guess
who just showed up?
Well, george, I don't think
you've ever seen it
-In person at all, have you?
-I haven't, and I'm excited.
My name is george theodoridis,
and I'm here to look at my nova.
-Whoa-h*-h*-h*.
-Mm, baby.
I'm very excited
and very nervous
That I can't contain myself.
What do you think of that?
-[ Sighs ]
-take it in, my friend.
Finally.
Seven years.
Seven years.
The very first thing I noticed
was the stance.
That right there, with how big
that tire is in the rear,
It floored me, actually.
That's a rim.
It's massive.
Well, those are one-offs.
I like the exhaust, too.
You like what you see, george?
Wait until you see in the trunk.
This is going
to blow your mind.
All that stuff -- breathers,
secondary radiator,
And then also,
there's a tr*nny cooler.
The trunk has half of nasa's
proprietary systems in there.
It's overwhelming, actually.
Starting to get a headache.
There's so much detail to that.
-Whew.
-Yeah.
This is going to be
a rocket ship.
[ Laughs ]
no ejection seat.
-Yeah. Hang on.
-Exactly.
It's really important to us
to make sure
That the outside
of the car looks great,
But even more important
is to make sure
That he feels great
inside the car.
You know what?
Jump in there.
Yeah, 'cause
I'm vertically challenged.
[ Laughs ]
[ Grunts ]
How does that seat feel?
This is going to work for me.
This is it right here.
Very cool.
I wish I could just
sit in there all day,
'Cause I'd like to look at all
the stuff that you can't see.
I want to learn about it.
We've got this roll cage,
And when we built
the roll cage in,
We kept it really tight
to the "a" pillars,
So you're going to be safe,
But everything's been put
tight enough to the body
To where we can actually float
the leather panels over the top.
You're not going to see it.
No kid seats, huh?
Not yet.
[ Laughs ]
Almost like a dragster feel.
But when it's actually done,
it's going to very elegant.
It's going to be just plush.
Luckily for us, we got rid
of that first engine builder.
We went to the second one.
I think we really
got ourselves a b*llet.
-Want to see what it looks like?
-Absolutely.
These guys have done
so much work under here.
[ Imitates fanfare ]
let's check her.
I am extremely excited
to see it.
Oh, yeah.
Holy mackerel.
[ Laughs ]
it's a lot of motor.
That's a lot of motor.
Under the hood,
I pretty much gasped,
Because, for multiple years,
Trying to get
this size of a motor,
It was a feat.
This almost makes me
want to cry, it's so nice.
It's all man hours,
and it's all by imagination
And doing it by hand, all of it.
I haven't --
maybe you have --
But I haven't seen
a under-factory-hood
-3,000-Horsepower motor...
-Unh-unh.
...twin-turboed
under factory hood.
I've never seen it, either.
Never seen it before
until now, george.
I don't know if I'm man
enough for this thing.
[ Both laugh ]
I don't know.
When this thing fires up,
I know what can happen.
It's like a rocket ship.
Well, you look like you've
been working out, george.
I think you're going to be fine.
Oh, man, I don't know.
I'm, like,
intimidated by it.
I'm so proud of
everybody touching it.
It's more than
I probably expected.
So, what do you think?
¶¶
I hate it.
[ Laughs ]
shut up, george.
I had to do it.
I had to do that.
Honestly, the pictures that
we would get periodically...
-Uh-huh.
-...don't do it justice.
You have to see it
in person.
So I can drive it home
back to california right now.
It's going to be
one bitchin' ride.
-I like that.
-Cha-ching!
-Can I use that?
-No, do not.
-Really?
-[ Laughs ]
This is awesome.
Dave:
what's up, dudes?
I think dave's really
going to like this one.
Dave: we're painting
the entire nova red.
But with the right set of eyes,
We can make sure
it's the right red.
That's way too dark.
This is like blood red.
-Ew.
-I think this is too milky.
That almost looks like
a pastel kind of --
Yeah. This is the match
to the leather.
The problem is, when you put
gloss over the top of it,
It just goes kind of dead.
How the paint finish
plays off of the interior
Is going to be truly
the make-or-break on this car.
Where's the --
-Is this the sprout?
-Yeah.
I think that's just
a prettier color.
-Yeah.
-I think that's it right there.
Now that we found
the right red color,
All we need to do is name it.
Should be easy enough.
-Raspberry red?
-No, it's not raspberry.
Ricky racer red.
No.
What's red that's fast?
A rocket.
[ Laughing ]
-Red rocket.
-Red rocket.
Stop.
Please.
If anyone out there
has a red car,
Please do not name it
the red rocket.
I don't know if you talked
to george when he was here,
But he said if we named his car
the red rocket,
He was going to --
you know what? Whatever.
He was going to do what?
He was going
to punch me in the face?
-Yeah.
-Red rocket. Red rocket.
Quick disclaimer -- george,
I don't think you're that short.
Please don't punch me
in the face or in the knee.
What about
radical red nova?
-Too hippie.
-High roller red.
-I just came up with that. What?
-No.
High rollers are usually
fat and slow.
It's true.
The super red rocket nova.
It sounds like a cheap
t-shirt at a swap meet.
-How about harvest supernova?
-What?
Like a harvest moon's
kind of red?
-Dude, you're way off.
-No, it's not. That's dumb.
-You're way off.
-That's not nice, all you guys.
What about
"the hunt for red nova"?
Rosso swift.
That sounds like
a cleaning product.
Retro pu--
[ stammering ]
-Piñata.
-Um, no.
-It's not an italian car.
-Who cares?
Why don't you just call it
swift red?
-That's stupid.
-Swift nova.
I'm out of here.
-I'll get back to work.
-He wouldn't know a good name
If it landed on his face
and wiggled.
His name is kevdogg, so...
Right?
Like, he's that picky.
[ Laughs ]
Dave: george came, he saw it,
and then he fell in love.
Now that george is all warm
and fuzzy on our progress,
It's time to get it over to the
body shop and make it smooth.
¶¶
Getting the bodywork perfect
on this car is going to be key
To make sure that red paint
is perfectly smooth.
¶¶
Bodywork on the nova
is wrapping up.
Now it's time to give
this car some attitude.
¶¶
¶¶
From the engine to the chassis
to all the bodywork and panels,
This car is going
full monochromatic red.
¶¶
This is going to look
really k*ller,
Especially with a little polish
and chrome details.
Can't wait to see it finished.
Of course the paint job
looks good.
It was done on my side
of the shop.
That being said,
I'm more than happy
To get the nova
over to the assembly side
So the guys can start
putting it together.
Cool. Looks good, guys.
Great work, javier.
-Well done.
-You nailed it.
Good bodywork.
Don't touch it.
[ Chuckles ]
¶¶
Dave: color, stance,
wheels, interior --
All that stuff
is really important
For a car like this,
But at the end of the day, this
one is all about that motor.
Where are they going
to come up through?
Does it come up
through here?
Well, the bottom
of the oil tank
Or something I think
sticks through here,
So maybe they just
go right to that.
Before we can marry
the body to the chassis,
We've got to map out where
all the plumbing will be,
And I know just
the guy to help us.
-There's something we could use.
-That looks like a mean look.
That's kind of a mean look.
Did you see that?
I thought you'd be happy
being over here
Where it's all clean and quiet.
Happy? You guys thought
I'd be happy
To come over here
and help figure out
The most complicated engine
in the history of kindig-it?
¶¶
I'm putting together
the back of the engine.
I've got some drawings
and some measurements,
And I've got to finish plumbing
it within those constraints.
¶¶
Dave: after a bunch of grumbling
and digging through boxes,
Kris has the hoses in place,
And that can only mean
one thing.
Kris:
raise it on down.
Dave: it's time to set the body
down on the chassis,
And this creates
another little issue.
Sometimes when you do
body and paint,
Things might not fit
the exact same way.
Kris:
hey, hold it there.
We need to come forward
about an inch
At least.
Can't come much further
than that, dude.
Kris:
marrying the body to the chassis
Can be a complicated
process with any car,
But this just isn't any car.
There are lots
of hoses and pipes.
It'll make this
a little difficult.
Okay, we can go forward
now a little more.
We're clear of the arms.
You can go down some more.
¶¶
Okay. Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Little bit more?
-No.
-What are you trying to do?
Trying to sneak past
that bracket.
Before body and paint,
things fit pretty good,
But after they get bodyworked,
pieces grow.
Who knows what happens?
Going back together
is never smooth.
Your 1/8 inch has shrunk.
Kris, front of the car
needs to go that way.
How far that way?
Whoa.
That's probably it.
That's all I need.
When it's all said and done,
It's going to come down
to 1/4 inch.
It's going
to come down to 1/1,000s.
Okay, raise it down some more.
¶¶
I'm looking okay back here,
so...
-That's it.
-And we're down.
Touchdown.
Looks great.
Doesn't get any closer
than that.
Yeah. Landed pretty good.
Let's get the body bolts in
And turn it into a race car.
Awesome.
¶¶
Dave: now that the assembly
of the nova is under way,
It's time to make sure
that the interior
Goes in the same direction.
Well, you got
the leathers, huh?
-Yeah, we got them in.
-Ooh.
It's a deep sea red.
Well, I got a design, finally.
Some cars are all about
the form and not the function.
Some are all about the function
and not necessarily the form,
But true hot rods,
they're about both.
Very simple design.
I think this car,
the simplicity
With the outside
as clean and simple as it is,
The engine bay is complex,
but it's all monochromatic.
We're going for as much red
on this car as possible.
I want that really nice contrast
Even if it's down to the
pass-throughs in the back rest.
Are you going to want
to paint those?
Yeah, I don't see them
being wrappable.
I don't know. I'll have to see
if I can pop them apart and see.
I'll take leather
over paint any day.
I just hope we can get these
two piece of plastic apart.
¶¶
One more right here.
Bingo.
[ Chuckles ]
By the looks of things --
get it? --
I think it's going
to be wrappable,
And it's going to go back
together and look awesome.
I think is just what
the doctor ordered.
¶¶
While justin plugs away
on this custom interior,
We have a huge milestone
on the other side of the shop
That we got to attend to.
Lane.
So, you guys about wrapped up
Doing your preliminary stuff?
It's going to dyno?
We're just going to torque
these lug nuts and off to dyno.
[ Whistles ]
what do you think
It's going to pull
on the dyno?
-Two.
-2,000 Horse?
No, about 200.
Cut it out, dawg.
No, 1,800,
-You think so?
-Yeah.
By allowing us
to get it up into the "r"s.
And even better, it's going
to going to show us
How much horsepower
we can get up to.
I think thought that they had
made this capable of,
Like, upwards
of, like, 4,000,
But they de-tuned it
for the street.
That's correct.
So I'm going to go in
at about 1,300.
-1,300?
-1,300 To the rear wheels.
Sweet.
Dude, that is
ridiculous, though.
I hope I never have to drive it.
I can't wait.
¶¶
At last, it's here.
It's on the rack.
It's strapped in
and ready to rock 'n' roll.
How's everything looking?
Good?
Looks like it's about ready
to fire, huh?
I think we're ready
to rock 'n' roll.
What are you
thinking, kris?
I'm thinking about
what could go wrong.
Oh --
[ scoffs ]
I'm thinking about
what could go right.
Is there more on my things
Or more on your things?
[ Laughs ]
Well, cool enough. Let's fire it
up and see what she can do.
-Okay.
-Let's do it.
[ Engine starts ]
[ Engine revving ]
¶¶
¶¶
¶¶
[Bleep] damn, that's a lot
of horsepower.
[ Laughs ]
¶¶
Dave: we're out here
at one of my favorite places,
Rio tinto,
to give the the '67 nova
Back to my good friend george.
George:
it's over seven years now
that we've been working on this.
I think we could have waited
a couple more years
Just to make it
really out there,
But, no, it's been
a long time coming.
I can't wait. I'm chomping
at the bit to see my car.
All right, george.
So, it's been a little while.
I had to find a nice, obscure
place to give the car to you,
'Cause it makes
a lot of noise.
We're going to need
a little bit of room.
Are you ready for it?
I am ready, young man.
All right, kev. Fire up and get
this rig out of the way.
-Let's show him his car.
-Let's see.
[ Truck engine starts ]
Many years in the making.
I had to get a long rig
so it'd take
A long time for you
to see your car.
Yeah.
You're k*lling me.
-Wow.
-[ Laughs ]
Whoo-whee!
¶¶
What do you think of that?
[ Sighs ]
that's a beauty.
I'm a person that doesn't
get shy of words too often,
And it took me a back
for a minute.
I'm still trying to put
everything together,
To be honest with you.
Whoo!
George is never short on words,
But today, he was speechless,
to say the least.
I forgot what it looked like
after so many years.
That is amazing.
Beautiful. Wow.
George: the color, the depth of
the red and the chrome offset --
I think we hit out of the park,
out of the park.
Well, the last time you'd seen
this, it was still in primer.
Basically everything was
roughed in, you know, pre-built.
Really, overall, putting
the color on this car,
Really showing off
all of the body lines
And all of the cool
stuff that we made,
Like opening the rear wheel
wells to fit those to 24x15s.
Not only do the rims
look 10 times better,
I think just the styling
and the stance
And how beefy it is,
meaty tires.
Come and look at this thing
from the back side.
You already knew you had
a lot of a tire and stuff.
-Yeah.
-But look at that thing.
It's all mean.
Smoothed out
all of the bumper,
Perfected all of the fitment
on the taillight frames.
You can't see all of the
exhaust, the fuel lines,
The cooling lines,
'cause you got two radiators.
You got two intercoolers, two
of everything and four of some.
If nasa was to build
red hot rods,
They'd be blushing
because we built this one.
Whew. We're going to send
'em to the moon.
Words are probably
not enough for it.
It's a miracle
in the making in there,
But the heart of the car
is the engine compartment.
It's crazy.
Whoo.
Oh, h*, h*, h*!
I just want stare at it for
a minute, to be honest with you.
Um...scary, for sure.
Yeah, the guys were
pretty amazing
To make all of that stuff
fit in here.
I agree.
To stick not only a big-block
But 98-millimeter
turbos in there,
All under factory hood,
I don't know they did it,
But it worked out beautiful.
It was no easy task, as you
know, 'cause we've sent you
The bills for
that stuff, but --
Yeah.
I'm still hurting from those.
They've had it long enough
to dial it in,
But the presentation is amazing.
Everything is on par.
All good things happen
to people that wait, they say,
So I'm good with it.
So, dave, with all this
being said now,
We got a pretty car,
pretty engine compartment.
Where are we at with horsepower?
What were the numbers?
On race fuel
and with that tune,
It will go well over
So, you can't drive
It's impossible to even think
that it would be reliable
Or, you know, you'd be able
to go more than 3 blocks
Before you run out of fuel.
So we actually are
about half that.
We're ranging between
And that's more than enough.
That's like twice as much as
I ever have put into anything.
I'll go ahead and start
ordering more tires for you.
Okay. Sounds like a winner.
Let's do it.
Might as well get some fenders,
too, while you're there, too.
'Cause I'm going to be wrapping
it around a pole at some place.
I can't say one thing
that I'm not happy with.
-It's amazing.
-You want to sit in it?
-I want to drive it.
-Well, you got to sit in it
-Before you can drive it.
-Yeah, let's go.
You got to crawl
before you can walk.
Is that what they say?
Or in my case,
roll before I get up.
[ Laughs ]
jump in the seat, man.
All right.
Let's do this.
You're going to have
to wipe that.
I know.
¶¶
How does that feel?
¶¶
Amazing.
Just like you molded it
to my body.
Pretty much.
Everything's comfortable.
The seats actually fit me.
Where's the roll cage?
Is it in here?
Yep. It's inside of here,
across there,
Across there,
right behind you, big --
Hey, dave,
you're talking too much.
I need to drive this, man.
Come on.
The small, minutiae stuff
really bores me.
Come on, let's go.
So I just wanted
to get in the car
So I was waiting
for him to shut up.
-You guys are k*lling me.
-[ Laughs ]
I'm in.
You don't have to ask me twice.
I just want to drive.
[ Engine revving ]
Dave:
that car's got long legs.
This is a very small corral
for that many horses.
All right.
Let's go.
[ Tires squealing ]
¶¶
In good fashion, george is
taking a lot of tunes
From a lot of my other clients
Oh.
Do you smell that?
-Yeah.
-[ Laughs ]
-Did we do that?
-Uh-huh.
It's like just a [bleep] load
of raw horsepower.
Yeah, she just wants to go.
¶¶
She definitely wants to be
wide-open throttled,
Because that's what
she's made for.
-Sounds badass, huh?
-It does.
You know how bad I just want
to just lay into her
-And just keep trucking?
-Uh-huh. Yep.
It is an absolute
bitchin'est ride.
-Go ahead.
-Rip?
Yeah.
Overall, george has been a great
friend for a very long time.
We had a great experience
building this car together.
This is one very fast
all-red bitchin' ride.
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04x05 - The Supernova
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Reality show featuring Dave Kindig from the Salt Lake City, Utah-based company Kindig It Designs as they show their process of restoring and rebuilding vehicles.
Reality show featuring Dave Kindig from the Salt Lake City, Utah-based company Kindig It Designs as they show their process of restoring and rebuilding vehicles.