05x05 - Full Steam Ahead

[bunniefuu]

[steam whistling]

- [Announcer] Hey Motorheads,

that doesn't sound like internal combustion.

- Arr.

[sky thunders]

[metal clinks]

- [Announcer] We're getting all steamy this week.

- Game on, hug.

- [Announcer] It's steam power in the Monster Garage.

- And power.

Power.

- Beep beep beep beep beep.

- [Announcer] The Long Beach King

has a date with the African Queen.

- Ow.

- [Announcer] Full steam ahead.

- We got facials too.

[man laughs]

- [Narrator] 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.

[engine buzzing]

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster Garage

[rock music]

- [Narrator] This week's challenge,

take a 1964 Chris-Craft Holiday

and turn it into a cold burning smoke spewing steamboat.

The rules, the vessel must be seaworthy

and the team can spend no more than 5,000 clams 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 he blows.

[steam blows]

If successful, the team gets a $4,000 set of Mac tools.

And Milwaukee Electric Tool will donate

a steaming set of goods worth over 2,500 bucks

to a boat tech school of the builder's choice.

And the clock starts now.

[fire whooshes]

[rock music]

Enter the design team.

Robert Desert is a journeyman machinist

from Washington State who built his own steam launch.

d*ck Vennerbeck builds steamboats

and collects steam-powered artifacts.

Ms. Pippa Garner returns to the garage.

She's an artist who's a regular in Car and Driver magazine.

Jesse greets the designers and lays down the plan.

- What's up man? - Name's Jesse.

- Jesse.

- Good to meet you.

- How you doing?

- Jesse?

- How you doing? - d*ck.

- How you doing, d*ck? - Good.

- Did you guys meet Pippa?

- Hello, Jesse.

- How you doing?

- Good.

- Welcome back.

- Thanks.

- So I got a good idea.

Let's build a steam powered boat.

- [Robert] Okay, about time you wanted to build something

that started with fire.

- I wanted to build something with steam since day one

but they always said it was too dangerous.

- The only one thing to remember with steam,

water is a necessity, steam is a luxury.

As long as you got water in the boiler, you're fine.

- I'ma told that's where the first

Monster Garage started when I was a little kid.

My dad bought me one of those little tin base steam engines

and I took a Mapp gas torch and held it against the boiler

until it went [imitates gas torch buzzing].

Boom, until it blew up.

- Well, you don't wanna be in this boat when that does that.

- No.

- So, we'll make sure that that doesn't happen.

- [Narrator] Steam power is made

by heating up water inside a boiler.

The result is pressurized steam that runs the engine.

Once harnessed, this energy can perform Herculean tasks.

[train whistles]

- You know, I don't know if we're gonna buy a boiler

instead of trying to make one.

- There's lots of different options.

Safety is key.

- What do you think with, for heat?

- [Robert] What do you wanna burn?

Wood, coal, oil?

- I think coal.

Coal is- - Like designer furniture.

- What do you think?

- Something that smokes black.

- So what do we need to use for an engine

for cylinders and stuff like that, I mean?

- We brought a couple of engines.

I bought some from my collection.

We're gonna have to do some modifications

to be able to use 'em in the boat.

We have some choices.

- [Robert] How fast do you want to go?

- I think this is more about the way it works,

you know, and how neat it is.

So basically we're gonna gut it,

see what motor we're gonna use and start building stuff.

How's that for articulate?

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The plan, after stripping the Chris-Craft,

the team will build and install a fire tube boiler,

a water tank, and a steam powered motor.

After plumbing it all together and adding a tiller

and seating, she'll be ready to launch.

[upbeat music]

[boat engine humming]

Day two.

[rock music]

The Steam Team arrives and the pressure is on.

[drill humming]

Paul Boschan is a boiler maker from Carson, California.

♪ All right, all right

- [Narrator] John Baverstock,

wooden boat restoration specialist

from Long Beach, California.

[drill humming]

Captain Dave Holden is a firefighter

on the 88 foot Fireboat in Long Beach Harbor.

[drill humming]

Robert Desert, d*ck Vennerbeck and Pippa Garner,

stay aboard for the build.

[people laughing]

Jesse greets the crew and takes the helm.

- Jesse. - Jesse.

- John.

- How you doing?

- I'm Paul. - How you doing, Paul?

- Nice to meet you.

- Dave. - How you doing, Dave?

- Nice man.

- What's your name?

- Jesse. Oh no.

[Jesse laughs]

Sorry.

- Well I think this one's gonna be kind of improvisational

where we're gonna have to just cut it apart

and see how much space we have.

- Is there anything that you want out of it?

That you're looking for or?

- I don't know.

I just kind of like that stuff

where it's kind of leaking a little bit of steam here

and there and, you know, like the smell of the grease

and the oil and stuff like that

and keeping the mechanical aspect of it,

can actually look at it and see how it's working.

You know? That's what I want, you know.

What do you think really, top speed?

- Five, six miles an hour. - As fast as it'll go.

- Five miles an hour, awesome. - Five miles an hour.

- [Paul] Oh no, that's cotton?.

[men laugh]

- I think we're looking at - I can run faster than that.

- Putting the engine Behind the boiler too.

- All right, well cool.

Let's gut this thing. - Nice.

- Let's go to work. - All right.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] It's time to crucify this Chris-Craft.

Everything must go, from the windshield.

- This is my car.

How do I look?

- [Narrator] To the gas powered 283 cubic inch Chevy motor.

[rock music]

- All right, I-

- Okay, I got it.

- Gotta try and slide that back.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] Fire and water will make this monster go.

So the old gas tank will be converted into a water tank.

- We're gonna drop this and it looks like it's caught.

- Okay.

- That's some engine?

- [Narrator] No crate engine for this baby.

Jesse's going back a century in his quest for power.

[metal clanks]

- So this one is about an 1880, 1890 bottle frame engine.

- I think we can work that out and make it work well for us.

This one here is a 1902 locum mobile steam buggy motor.

This little guy here would be a good engine.

We'd have to build a reverse for it.

It's got a very small bore and stroke.

- I think we should use that one.

'Cause it's closest to the tailgate.

- [d*ck] Yeah, and it also has pinstriping already, look.

- See the original pinstriping on it?

- [d*ck] It even has pinstriping.

- [Jesse] Look at that, customized.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] d*ck Vennerbeck was a steam hobbyist.

- I started in the high tech industry actually.

Working on nuclear reactors and things.

And then in the semiconductor industry.

And on weekends I needed to do something to decompress.

- [Narrator] Now that he's retired,

he's able to devote more time to his dreams of steam.

From cruising on a Stanley steamer

to chugging down the delta on a steam launch.

- It smells nice, makes great sounds,

you know, and it gets to you.

Then pretty soon you go "Screw the high tech."

I'm doing this forever.

[laughs]

- [Narrator] This 19th century single valve relic

is a good start, but it will need some

monster modifications to get it chugging.

To power a steam launch, you need steam.

And to get steam, you need a boiler.

So Jesse joins Paul Boschan for a trip

to Boschan Boilers to see what they can scrounge up.

[upbeat music]

- This one here worked on a chrome mine

down in South Africa.

[rock music]

All of this is vintage.

Probably 90% of what we do is hobbyist stuff.

- That's awesome man.

I wanna train like that.

[rock music]

[power tool humming]

Pretty cool.

I don't think this would float though.

[power tool humming]

- [Paul] Here's our boiler here.

- [Narrator] Paul finds this stick welded boiler shell,

but it'll need plenty of work to power a motor.

- There'll be tubes in these holes.

- Okay.

- So the section down there at the bottom,

that's the fire box.

- Is it just a piece of pipe or is it-

- Yeah, that's 20 inch pipe and then

the fire box is 16 inch pipe.

- [Narrator] Restoring these graveyard locomotives

for hobbyists like d*ck keeps Paul Boschan

chugging along at full steam.

- It's a lot of fun and it's great if you're

into mechanical things and you want to be a part of it.

Stoke the fire, run the boiler, run the engine.

It's a very holistic experience.

- [Narrator] And steam is running through the veins

of this boilermaker.

- They haven't isolated the the steam junkie chromosome yet.

Hopefully they never do.

Or an odd bunch.

That's the bottom line.

[laughs]

- [Narrator] Back in the garage

just getting the boat off the trailer

is heating up the team.

- There's only four feet between these ramps,

which mean you're only gonna catch the edge of the boat

by six inches on each side.

That's it.

- Is that gonna be adequate?

- Would you do this with one of your own boats?

- [John] I can do what I want to boats.

- [Narrator] When hoisting the boat,

the crew finds there's already a captain aboard the vessel.

- Well, if you're gonna tie one of those,

go around the pipe three times.

So it takes a lot of the stress off the knot itself.

- Oh we got that.

- And all the strength will be

trying to be pulling in the knot.

- You got it.

- Hey, this is your game, man.

- I didn't recognize it.

[rock music]

- Just gonna get this shaft up and secure it to the floor.

- You wanna lift it like that?

- Can we do it twice?

One on each side?

- What I usually do is come across over on the top

and grab it on this side with a shackle.

- Ah, nice idea.

- There's more than one way to skin a toad.

This is an old Boy Scout trick.

- I think MC Escher is the one that designed it.

No?

- Does that work?

- No.

[mellow music]

- Well, I gotta tell you, d*ck is living up to his name.

I've never met anybody that's harder to get along with.

[steam gushing]

- That's right.

That's why they call me Richard.

- [Jesse] Now you guys should hug.

[harp music]

[man laughing]

[rock music]

- [Narrator] With their main components on hand.

The team temporarily lays out the drive line.

- So you're gonna tilt that?

- We'll tilt it back.

We'll build the frame for the engine

to sit at the same angle as the shaft.

- [Narrator] Jesse wants to track down a V-drive

to step up the motor's RPMs

and transfer the motion of the crankshaft

to the propeller shaft.

With additional power comes a need for a stronger frame.

- Jesse was also suggesting we make two frame rails

for the whole length of the boat

out of steel or aluminum or whatever.

- I'm gonna drop some frame rails

on top of those stringers to mount everything.

- [Narrator] But not everybody's on board.

- You're gonna be getting...

Cause I'm married to it,

I just hate to see steel in a wood boat.

It's just crude.

No offense to your motorcycles.

- Because Sylvie drove.

- I'm just doing what I'm familiar with

because I'm not familiar with the boiler and that.

And we've got somebody that definitely knows

boilers and steam engines.

And Dave and I have done-

- Well, I can weld all this stuff too, so.

- We don't even weld with most.

It's all bolted together.

- I think that, that stuff with the bearings

and the sprockets and stuff like that

to drive the Casal drive, it's gonna need to be welded.

- Okay, we gotta get on the same page here.

Without being an a*s,

I've had the world's fastest quarter mile boat

with a Casal V-drive in it.

No welding.

So I mean it can be done.

And that's the way we typically do it.

- I don't know. I got a headache.

Let's figure it out in the morning.

All our ideas are come to us tonight while we're sleeping.

- [Narrator] As the first build day comes to a close,

a couple of the team members seem eager to walk the plank.

Monster Garage Factoid.

FE and FO Stanley created the most popular

steam powered car in the early 1900's.

The Stanley Steamer.

But after FE was k*lled in a steam car accident,

the other brother kept the name alive

by manufacturing violins.

♪ Monster

♪ Monster Garage

- [Narrator] Day three.

The team enters and establishes its priorities.

- Okay, we're back to still trying

to get a V-drive in this time.

And I brought a phone number.

- [Narrator] Before the guys can lock in the drive line.

John's gotta swindle a V-drive from a Long Beach local.

- Why don't you call your buddy on the V-drive?

- You guys keep saying he's my buddy.

You guys haven't met him yet.

[men laugh]

[upbeat music]

He's part of the color of Long Beach.

[upbeat music]

Hey.

- What do you need?

- What do you mean what do I need?

- Tell you what, I've never had one of those,

but you gotta come back here to look.

- All right.

- I've got one-

- Do you know where it is?

- Yeah. Maybe back.

I'll look around for it.

- [Dave] There it is right there.

- Okay, there it is.

It is a V-drive. Good, you didn't lie.

- I didn't lie?

What do you mean, I didn't lie?

- [Paul] By the way, this is a freebie.

- No, I've had it 20 years. You owe me $20.

[man laughs]

How's that?

- Storage costs?

- Let's see.

- Two to one?

- Two to one.

- Beautiful, we finally got something good.

- $40. [laughs]

- We're outta money. We're on a budget.

- Oh yeah.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] Boat builder, John Baverstock

and firefighter, Dave Holden

have been friends since high school.

- We build stupid projects.

That's all we do.

There's nothing smart about anything we do.

- [Narrator] They have taken the modern race boat

and thrown it back in time.

- Lots of brass, lots of wood.

And that's kind of our background.

Most of the guys in Wooden Boat Club are very purist.

We deal with stuff a little bit more off the wall.

- [Announcer] Their boats may be crazy,

but nothing is as crazy as the Monster Garage.

- I don't watch Monster Garage.

I don't watch any of these type of reality shows.

And the reason is, I just thought

it's so much [bang] but then it's not.

It's get down, get dirty.

- [Announcer] Now, the crew has to get the V-drive

and motor to work together.

- I can machine a pilot diameter

into this coupling right here

for this if this is all gonna clear underneath,

which it should.

- So he's gonna pull the crank out.

- I'm gonna pull the crank out.

- Okay.

- [Announcer] Robert removes the motor's crankshaft

and takes it to Paul's shop for machining.

- We're gonna hog the rest of this flange off.

Turn this OD and then I'm gonna lay out a bolt pattern

on here and drill and tap this.

[rock music]

- [Announcer] Robert Desert is right at home

in a machine shop.

- I've been working in a machine shop for the last 14 years.

And do a lot of the field work for the company.

Field machine work.

I enjoy going out and doing the jobs

that are too big to bring back into the shop.

- [Announcer] At the age of 12,

Robert was given his first steamboat

and he's been riding the wake ever since.

- And it's neat to sit there and watch something

that's over a 100 years old

and it's still running and running good.

And it'll run for another 100 years

as long as you take care of it.

I'm sure there's a lot of car engines

that won't be running in a 100 years.

[rock music]

- We turned down the big flange that was on here.

Down to a smaller diameter

to meet that of the V-drive gearbox.

It's like that.

So there we go.

I gotta drill four holes

and then our drive train pieces will be complete.

And we can get this thing mounted in the boat.

- [Announcer] The motor is a single cylinder,

like a straight six, minus five.

- But if you look at the relation of the crankshaft here,

you see that this upper port here is open.

Now when the valve cover is on here,

this area inside here is filled with steam.

The steam inlet comes in here

and fills this chamber right here.

- [Announcer] The steam admitted through the top valve

pushes the piston down, which turns the crankshaft

with a push rod.

Then it slides the valve cover up

to let steam into the lower valve,

which pushes the piston back up.

The crankshaft spins the V-drive,

which in turn spins the propeller.

[gas torch pops]

- Whoa.

Oh, Paul, don't do that.

[upbeat music]

[gas torch pops]

[gas torch humming]

- [Announcer] Paul forges ahead on the boiler.

- This'll be a door for the fire box.

So it'll swing this way.

And I'm just building the hinges right now.

And then I'll make a latch for this side

so that the thing latches shut.

If there's any kind of expl*si*n in the fire box,

it won't blow the door open.

[welding machine crackling and popping]

[rock music]

[metal clanks]

[welding machine buzzing]

[metal clanking]

[upbeat music]

Just a little loop around there

to keep this from flopping around.

And we're done.

- [Narrator] Jesse's working

with a full head of steam today.

- I like that one guy, he is a-

[sharp metal clanks]

- Which one?

- World record holder.

- [Narrator] And all that pressure

has to be released somewhere.

[steam hissing]

- [Dave] We went back to steel.

- Oh really?

I thought you guys were like full racing guys.

You're gonna go with aluminum.

'Cause steel was-

- [Dave] We wanna make you happy, believe me.

- If we were going high speed, we'd.

What are you guys afraid of?

Afraid you can't weld aluminum?

- No, you can weld aluminum.

[power tool humming]

- I thought we were gonna make it like

some world record boat or something with aluminum.

- We lied to you about that.

- [Jesse] Yeah.

p*ssy's, they won't play my game [laughs].

[metal clanking]

- Not to bad mouth or anything.

We wanna win the tool box.

All you just gotta do is go forward.

I don't care how fast it goes.

[metal clanking]

- [Narrator] But as Jesse starts working on the frame,

the tension continues to rise.

- We have the brass bolts that go down

through the stringers and we laid 'em out between those.

So we not sure exactly where these are gonna be.

So we don't wanna run into those

'cause we'll be going through that bolt.

- You guys just need to start making [ding].

You're trying to get, both of you guys

are getting ready - Right now.

- Both of you guys are trying to get all hyper-technical.

And let's just-

- Well, we don't wanna - make it.

- We don't wanna drill through the hole.

- It's not a race boat. It's steam powered.

[metal clanking]

[rock music]

- [Narrator] Since Jesse will be sitting next to a boiler

filled with scalding water,

he's making the boiler bracket himself.

Does Jesse have trust issues?

[metal whooshing and clanks]

[rock music]

[ornament laughs]

[machine buzzing]

- Oh, we'll give 'em the old test,

tomorrow or Thursday on Dylan.

I got this new test that's tried and trued.

The old, are you sure you know what you're doing?

All the people that know what they're doing,

say, "Absolutely not."

All the people that say, "Absolutely."

- [Narrator] Jesse and crew test fit the boiler bracket

and figure out the positioning.

[metal clanking]

- Perfect.

- Well if I'm sitting at the back of the boat

like this. - No, this is right.

- [d*ck] The way you've got it is correct.

- Yeah, and then that thing swings open

over this side and you [imitates farting sound]

You know, yeah.

- Right? Yes.

[imitates train chugging]

And you got somebody in front of the shelf,

on coal getting dirty.

- So, this is correct?

- Okay [laughs].

I'm ready.

- I've shoveled enough coal in my lifetime.

Every Christmas.

- Oh yeah.

[Jesse chuckles]

[steam whistles]

- [Narrator] It's quitting time in the monster dry dock

and the team's making some headway.

But they've got a long way to go before their boat gets wet.

Monster Garage Factoid.

The Ubehebe Crater in Death Valley was formed

when molten magma rising near the earth's crust

vaporized a pocket of groundwater.

The flashing steam blew open

a crater 800 feet deep and a half mile wide.

Enough steam was produced to make a gazillion double lattes.

[water bubbling]

♪ Monster

♪ Monster Garage

[flute music]

- [Narrator] Day four.

[rock music]

This morning, it wasn't a west coast chopper

that was tearing it up in the LBC.

- Woo-hoo. - He-ha.

- [Narrator] The team glides in and gets straight to work.

[rock music]

The guys work on the alignment of the motor and V-drive.

If the drive line is the least bit cattywampus,

the massive torque produced by this steam engine

could tear the boat into splinters.

[rock music]

- No, we gotta come up with a whole gear box.

- All right.

- This, you gotta raise this.

- [John] I gotta get my side.

That's it. - Okay?

[ratchet clicking]

- That needs to join heads here.

- [Robert] It's tight, but that'll all work.

- [Narrator] With the drive line in place,

Jesse welds the bracing for the motor himself.

He doesn't want a lap dance from this hot little number.

[rock music]

[welder buzzing and sparks crackling]

- I think he wanted to cover up that bird droppings.

- [Jesse] Yours?

[men chuckle]

Those look good [imitates farting sound].

[rock music]

- We're building seats in the back

so Jesse can sit there and run the tiller.

[rock music]

[drill thumping]

[drill buzzing]

- [Narrator] Jesse's still busting the boat guy's bows.

- These guys don't care.

- [d*ck] You're right.

- It's not plywood, so.

- [d*ck] As long as you can sit on it?

- I think we're being disparaged.

- [Narrator] While the yachtsmen are putting their wood on,

Paul gets an important delivery for the boiler.

These tubes will line the inside of the boiler.

So d*ck cuts 85 of them to length.

[saw machine buzzing]

- We're cutting the tubes for the boiler.

And we wanna make sure they're all the same length.

- If you're a 16th off either way, that's okay.

It's boiler making. We're not launching rockets.

- [Narrator] Then Paul inserts them into the boiler.

[rock music]

Both ends of each boiler tube must be rolled

or expanded to secure them in place.

[drill buzzing]

- What we're doing, you have a half inch tube sheet,

with a hole in it, and you have a tube.

And we're inserting this tube roller

into the end of the tube, which causes the tube

to expand into the hole.

So after we're done rolling, this is very exaggerated.

But basically this is what you're looking at.

[rock music]

[drill buzzing]

- [Narrator] So how will this boiler work anyway?

Water surrounds the inside of the boiler.

Wood and coal are burned in the fire box,

which heats up the fire tubes.

The tubes then boil the surrounding water making steam.

Steam is then released to the engine.

Steam power can be very dangerous

because of the incredible pressure

that builds up in a boiler, full of scalding water.

- Let's say you drop a tube sheet in this one.

The tube sheet pulls away from the tubes.

Okay, you're now releasing 500 gallons of water

under 200 PSI to atmospheric pressure.

All that water that is contained in that boiler

flashes off the steam.

[steam gushing]

Catastrophic expl*si*n.

- We're corking up the boiler

so that we can do a pressure test.

Now that all the tubes in, we can check for leaks.

[mellow music]

- [Narrator] The boiler will only

be running around 130 PSI in the boat.

- We got one leaky fitting and that's it.

And that's easy to fix.

- [Narrator] But Paul passes 250 just to be sure.

- All right.

- Hey, fellas.

Boiler passed pressure test.

We have a boiler.

- Awesome.

- [Narrator] With the boiler all sealed up,

Robert is ready to test the motor in V-drive.

He uses compressed air instead of steam.

- [Dave] We're about started.

- Well, we're about to run it for the first time here.

[air hisses]

[engine cranking]

- [Dave] Wow it is.

- That's pretty bitchin'

- [Robert] That's something else.

- You can look right at it and see how it's working.

[Jesse singing]

[propeller whirring]

- Look at that.

[engine roaring]

- [Narrator] At the end of day four,

the motor is dialed in.

The boiler is rendered safe and it's full steam ahead

for this monster vessel.

[rock music]

[flute music]

Day five.

The team appears to be

pedaling this project into submission.

But our boat ain't floating yet.

- It's got a long ways to go.

The big stuff is in and all the little stuff isn't.

- [Narrator] And Ms. Pippa's found a way

to use the boat stock fuel tank.

- This is the original fuel tank mounting.

The fuel tank's gonna be a water tank now.

So, instead of being in the stern where it was before,

we're moving it up under the bow.

Once again we're transplanting parts

from one end to the other,

which has an oddly surgical ring to it, doesn't it?

- [Narrator] Ms. Pippa Garner is an artist

for Car and Driver Magazine.

But the vehicles she rides are motor-less.

- I was hit riding my bike by cars twice

within the space of two years and badly injured.

And so I began working with four wheel pedal vehicles

and developed four different ones

that are each in slightly different configuration.

- [Narrator] Her wheels are in constant motion,

and over the past 25 years,

she's developed all sorts of inventions.

But her biggest development has been well, Pippa.

- It was a midlife crisis that I decided to solve

by throwing my life into total chaos,

getting rid of all the things that put me in a comfort zone.

[fast-paced upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The team takes a break to blow off some steam.

[flute music]

[fan whirring]

The Long Beach Fire Department

has restored this 1907 steam powered pumper.

[steam gushing]

A 100 years ago, firefighters had to light one fire

to extinguish another.

And this baby can still sh**t

an impressive 500 gallons of water a minute.

[water gushing]

All that release is getting the crew excited.

- [d*ck] Ha ha.

- [Jesse] You like it, don't you?

- [d*ck] We love it.

[men cheer]

- I love it.

- Steam.

[steam whistling]

[toy truck buzzing]

- [Narrator] Jesse rides into West Coast choppers

and gets straight to work.

Jesse cuts out a circle of copper,

which will become the transition

from the boiler to the smokestack.

[rock music]

[machine whirring]

He wrestles for hours pounding the copper dome

into submission with his 1930's Yoder Power Hammer.

[rock music]

- I made it all the way around.

First pass is always the hardest.

[machine whirring]

- [Narrator] Jesse is contesting copper.

The crew is back in the garage

ready to install the 600 pound fire two boiler.

[rock music]

- [Jesse] You're high enough.

- You wanna go to the outside of the stringer.

- That's cool.

- That's cool.

- Clear.

- [Narrator] While Paul welds the boiler in place,

Pippa pours water into the boat

to prevent any unwanted fires.

[water dripping]

But this leads to an unpleasant discovery.

- [d*ck] Hey, hey, hey.

- [Robert] Where's it coming from?

- [Pippa] I don't know.

- You said it wasn't gonna leak.

[intense music]

[wood resonating]

- [Pippa] Is it rot?

- Yeah, it's gone.

- [Narrator] If water is leaking out of the boat,

it will certainly leak in.

- I have no idea what's going on.

- Well, we're trying to find the leaks now

so we can fix 'em in the morning.

[water dripping]

- [Narrator] They add more water

to check the extent of the problem.

It's much worse than they thought.

[water dripping]

- This is bad here.

- [Robert] That's a bad leak.

[water dripping]

- [Narrator] Up till now, they were in good shape.

- [Robert] This will give it a chance

to swell up a little bit.

It's just a b*tch to get out.

- All right.

- What's the plan gentlemen?

- [Robert] Well, we can't do nothing about it right now.

We gotta get something to fix it.

[mellow music]

- [Narrator] The last day was meant

for plumbing the steam system.

- I hate the boat.

- [Announcer] But now they've also

got to keep it all afloat.

[water dripping]

[rock music]

- [Announcer] Some monsters melt.

Some monsters blow.

[car explodes]

If this one sinks, will Captain Jesse go down with the ship?

♪ Monster

♪ Monster Garage

[flute music]

- [Narrator] Day six.

The last build day.

The team enters the garage

to find a surprise waiting for them.

[rock music]

It seems that Jesse stilt skin was busy during the night

putting the finishing touches on the stack transition.

- Jesse was busy last night, wasn't he?

- Burning the midnight oil.

- That's cool.

- That's neat.

- Yeah, he did a good job.

- [Narrator] After admiring Jesse's craftsmanship,

they realize they have their own work cut out for them.

- Basically.

- [Robert] Well, this morning we know we gotta

fix some leaks. - Major problems.

- [Narrator] The crew doesn't have time

to strip the Chris-Craft and fix the weak planks,

so they'll have to c*ck the hall and hope it doesn't plunge

to the bottom of Long Beach Harbor.

[mellow music]

[machine buzzing]

- [Dave] Yo.

[mellow music]

- [Robert] It's gonna leak.

The boat's gonna leak.

- [Dave] Okay.

- We gotta build this pump and we're gonna take a bucket

and we'll keep it afloat, somehow.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] While Dave tries to seal the hull,

Robert starts plumbing.

He lays out the copper tubing

that will connect the water tank to the boiler.

Robert can't take any shortcuts.

His work must withstand the expl*sive pressure

of the steam coursing through it.

Robert attempts to explain

the complex labyrinth of pipes and valves.

- But, this the injector.

I'm gonna plumb it up down here

and it's gonna be the steam line.

This is just basically a pop-it valve.

I'm gonna run a tube line over to here.

And another one here.

And then this one goes down to here.

[speed talking]

- [Narrator] Thanks, Robert.

To simplify.

The water tank will feed water to the boiler

that will make the steam, which then fed to the motor.

Once the steam has done its job,

the excess goes up the smokestack of the boiler.

[mellow music]

[drill whirring]

- The wood around here, it's called lagging.

And there's a air gap between the boiler and the wood.

And so if somebody leans up against it,

they don't get a boiler burn.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] The boss inspects the work.

Today he brought some backup.

Jesse Junior.

- You gonna go for a boat ride with us later?

- Maybe.

- Oh, cool.

- [Narrator] The team gives Jesse Junior a glimpse

of how the boat will work.

[wood resonating]

- There you go. A little more.

A little more.

A little more.

[engine cranking]

Now grab this, reverse this over here.

All the way over.

That's how you reverse it.

- Is that cool?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, and you need to steer it right here.

[boat engine cranking]

- [d*ck] Steamboats and puppies will always get you girls.

- I thought it was Ferrari's.

- It is Ferrari's.

- [chuckles] Is it?

- Steamboat guys.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] Jesse springs his competence test on John.

- You sure you know what you're doing?

- No.

You keep thinking that's a requirement here.

- Wow.

- [Narrator] Jesse, finally gives the boat guys props.

- That was a little weird.

I guess he kind of does.

They did a pretty nice job on this wood.

[rock music]

- [Narrator] The teams in the home stretch

and the garage is a whirlwind of activity.

- Do do do do do do do do do.

- As far as I'm concerned. That's it right there.

- [Narrator] Jesse and Pippa sl*ve over the smokestack.

- Woo.

- Yeah, we did that.

Bend that by hand and rivet it all together.

- [Narrator] They stock the boat with wood to start a fire.

Then dump a bag of Jesse's Christmas coal into the bin.

[rock music]

- That's plenty of real estate.

- Arr.

- [Narrator] The steamer is ready

to be dragged out into the daylight.

- It's a monster.

We haven't built a real monster in a while.

- [Narrator] Body drop fills the water tank.

[rock music]

Pippa brings out the finishing touch.

The smokestack.

[rock music]

The fire is started.

It will take almost an hour for the water and the boiler

to generate a full head of steam.

Enough pressure to drive the motor.

- [Pippa] That's good.

My wooden leg.

If I catch fire.

- [Narrator] With all this excitement,

Jesse Junior can only think of one thing.

- I want nachos.

[Jesse chuckles]

You want nachos?

- [Pippa] Yeah.

- I wish my life was that... He's got a good life, man.

- [Pippa] Yeah.

- Ow.

[chimney pops]

- And it's white. We have a poke.

[men chuckle]

- We're just warming the engine here.

[steam hissing]

- It's awesome, man.

It's fire that makes it go.

- [Robert] Fire and water.

- Yeah.

- [Narrator] The motor works and so does the whistle.

[steam whistles]

- [Jesse] Is that awesome or what?

- [John] All of this is a good sign.

- It's neat.

- [John] But we're on dry land.

[Jesse chuckles]

- [Dave] How fast can it go?

- [Narrator] The Steam Team faces the moment of truth.

[suspenseful music]

They launch their monster into Long Beach Harbor.

Will it sink?

Will it work or will it just explode?

[steam whistling] [rock music]

It works.

It chugs along the channel. Perfectly balanced.

As Jesse puke steam and nostalgia all over the harbor.

[Jesse chuckles]

[rock music]

[upbeat music]

The Long Beach King rides the African Queen

for a sunset cruise, Monster Garage style.

[steam whistling]

[engine cranking]

- See if you can grab that pile on there.

- I got it. We got it.

- Got it.

- Nothing to it.

[Jesse laughs]

Awesome.

We got facials too.

[men chuckle]

- [Narrator] The Steam Team has earned their tools.

[rock music]

- Good job guys.

- [Narrator] Having made a monster.

The likes of which, even this garage has never seen.

- [Jesse] It's been a great time.

- Thanks.

- [Jesse] Yep, had a blast.

[hand slapping]

Mac Tools.

- [Team] All right.

- Motorcycle Mania CDs.

- [Pippa] Sweet.

- All right.

- Who gets the big one in the back?

- Which one's yours? This one?

[metal clanks]

- Oh. No, no.

I wanted the other one.

[men chuckle]

- All right, that's it.

- Little monster.

[men laugh]

- [Narrator] Build cost tally.

Hard cash, $4,762.84.

Vehicle cost, $4,999.

Freebie value, a measly 900 bucks.

Grand total, $10,661.84.

[water bubbling]

♪ Monster

♪ Monster Garage

- [Announcer] Top of the morning Monster fans.

Big swag here.

And we're hitting the water near the town of Isleton

to let off some steam in another Monster Garage Challenge.

[steam whistles]

Retro radicals from all over the west coast are here

for their annual meet.

Time to put some hot air to good use.

- We're at the BMW Resort

in the Sacramento River Delta in California.

- [Announcer] d*ck's not the only builder here.

Robert Desert brought some Magic down from Washington State.

But where's the monster steamer?

Back in the LBC the Chris-Craft

was treated to the old Pete Finland touch.

And Mauricio Aguilar added custom leather upholstery.

But will Jesse give this baby a girly name?

Yeah. Right.

- [Jesse] Let's go look at some of these boats.

- [Announcer] Jesse brought Jesse Junior along to check out

the world of steam.

[engine revving]

- Don't get scalded to death by the steam, please.

- I have a hat.

- [Jesse] Or you're on restriction.

It's neat.

[steam hisses]

- It's a hobby.

I mean, I could be collecting stamps,

but I'd be bored to death.

[steam whistles]

- Doesn't look like this sport

has really caught on with the young punks yet.

- We were all young punks, but-

- like steamboat gangs or nothing.

Check out my boat. Click.

[Jesse chuckles]

- [Announcer] But Jesse's not here

to check out geysers with steamers.

He's here to race.

All the captains gather, including builder Dave Holden.

To hear Robert explain the one and only rule

of this unusual race.

Called the bang and go back race.

- Everybody lines up on that.

And when the black powder g*n goes off,

you obey the only rule of the race.

And that you open your throttle wide open.

And you cannot touch your throttle again

'till the end of the race.

And then when the flare g*n goes off,

everybody makes a port turn

and comes back to the finish line.

- What do we get if we win?

[crowd laughs]

- [d*ck] We'll autograph your hat.

- Awesome.

[rock music]

[match stick striking]

[rock music]

- [Announcer] The fleet tries to line up

in the shifting currents of the delta

as they prepare for the start.

Hey, watch where you're pointing at thing.

- [Jesse] Come on.

[p*stol pops]

[rock music]

They're off like a herd of turtles.

The steam up sucker is at the front of the pack,

but in this race, that's bad.

The trick is to go slow on the first leg

so you're closer to the finish line when you turn around.

But going slow is just not Jesse's strong suit.

Wait a minute.

Why is Jesse staring to the starboard?

You gotta be kidding me.

He's tacking back and forth to slow down.

Leave it to Jesse James to come up with something new.

As long as he doesn't touch the throttle, anything goes.

[flare pops]

There's the flare.

The whole regatta turns around

to head back to the finish line.

It's full steam ahead.

- Who-whoo.

- [Announcer] It's neck and neck.

It's gonna be a photo finish.

[engine cranking]

- Give her all she's got.

[engines cranking]

[Jesse cheers]

- You guys come around fast.

- [Announcer] The steam up suckers in the second place.

[steam whistling]

Not bad for her maiden race.

- Now we got a second place.

[rock music]

- [Announcer] But Jesse's got no time

for smoke on the water.

Boat racing slaughter are making old steam guys cry.

- We whipped some geyser a*s today, huh?

- [Announcer] He's got metal to burn.

Sparks to fly.

The next Monster Garage Challenge is just around the bend.

[instrumental music]