- [Announcer] Hello again, Monster fans.
Don't get too comfortable because it's moving time.
[mechanic sobbing]
That's right, we're shedding our old skin
and sliding right in
to something bigger, something better, and something badder.
- Yeah. [laughs]
- [Announcer] So clean out your closets,
roll up your carpets, and wake up.
[alarm clock ringing]
It's the dawn of a new "Monster Garage."
- I brought some new stuff over here.
Everybody needs one of those.
A pit bull with a clown mask,
is that the most disturbing thing you've ever seen?
- [Mechanic] That's Uncle Sniffles.
[welder whooshing]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Announcer] Join us now
as Jesse and his g*ng of maverick mechanics
rip, grind, and burn,
transforming ordinary street vehicles into monster machines
in the Monster Garage.
[lightning cracking] [thunder booming]
[upbeat rock music]
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
[logo booming]
[rain pattering] [thunder rumbling]
- [Announcer] This week's challenge,
take a 2003 Mercedes M-Class SUV
and turn it into the baddest handicap-friendly vehicle
on four wheels.
New garage, new rules.
When built, the monster machine
must still appear to be stock.
The team will now have $5,000 to spend on parts
and be limited to just one freebie.
They have seven days and nights.
On the first day, they design;
for the next five, they build;
and on the seventh, the Monster challenge.
If successful, each team member takes home
a $3,400 set of Mack tools.
And the clock starts now.
[glass shattering]
Jesse drives the new SUV into the new Monster Garage.
This German automobile is about to get a monster taste
of some good old Yankee ingenuity.
♪ Oh yeah, it's about that time ♪
- [Announcer] The design team
makes the first challenge of the day
and makes their way up to meet head honcho Jesse James.
He's a man on a mission.
- What's up, guys? - How are you going?
- I wanna make a cool car for someone in a wheelchair
that anybody would wanna own.
- [Announcer] In his mind, a bad break shouldn't keep anyone
from having a bad set of wheels.
- You know, I get a lot of requests
from a lot of people in wheelchairs
that want either bikes or custom cars,
and I think everybody kind of turns their back on 'em.
- [Announcer] To get a wheelchair-bound driver to the front,
Jesse wants to start at the back.
- It's gonna be a pretty big undertaking,
making it so the chair can come in through the back
and in up into the driver's position.
I don't know if we're gonna have to lose
a couple of the seats
for what we're gonna have to do, but you know.
- So your idea is to go in the back
and drive from the wheelchair?
- Yeah, I think so, right in.
You'll probably have a little hump over the suspension,
but as long as it's a smooth transition
and right into the driver's position.
- [Announcer] Rear access will require some type of ramp
to unfold and extend out from the back of the car.
- Well, if we're making kind of a ramp
that goes up and in and has to dog-leg,
you know, it's split in between the shock towers
and then down in,
you know, we can slope that down.
- Drop the floor, possibly. - Yeah.
- Yeah, the ramps, typically,
they're about four foot long for an eight-inch rise.
- [Announcer] As owner of Advanced Mobility,
Scott's been modifying vehicles for people with disabilities
for over 30 years.
- We modify vans like the one behind me
where we lowered the floor in it eight inches.
- [Announcer] He found a way to combine
a medical engineering degree with cars.
- Oh, while I was in graduate school
and supposed to be designing, like,
heart-lung bypass machines,
which really didn't interest me too much,
I came up with a concept
of getting someone in a wheelchair up into a van.
It's been a very rewarding experience for me.
- How much does that chair weigh?
- About 200 pounds. - Okay.
And you figure someone, you know, around 200 pounds,
so it's gotta be able to 4 or 500 pounds.
Do you think it's a real major problem
with having to duck down a little bit?
- Well, first of all, if we're gonna build it for a person
that's in that type of wheelchair, in a power chair,
that tells us right away
that that person has a really severe disability.
You know, they're really limited.
To ask them to do anything like that is kind of tough.
- [Announcer] In 1984,
a car accident left Ray paralyzed from the waist down,
but he didn't let it keep him down.
- I've always looked at my injury as a magnifying glass.
If you were a butthead before you got hurt,
you're just gonna be that much larger
of a butthead, you know?
So between my mom and dad and my brothers,
there was no way I was gonna get away with, you know,
pitying myself or feeling bad or anything.
- [Announcer] Ray recently became
the first physically-challenged driver
to compete in a NASCAR touring series.
- When I hop out of my wheelchair into my race car,
I'm not disabled anymore.
I just would do it till the last breath.
I just love it so much.
- [Announcer] The design calls for the wheelchair
to second as the driver's seat.
- If you put a wheelchair in there,
the steering wheel's gonna hit him in the shins.
- [Jesse] Yeah.
- You gotta get that chair down
to get the person so he can see out the windshield
and get his knees under the steering wheel.
- That's gonna be the trick, is cutting the floor out of it
and seeing how much space we have over the rear end
and over the differential.
That's gonna be the majority of our work.
- [Announcer] Here's how they plan on turning an M-Class
into a high-class wheelchair wagon.
The seats will come out,
a ramp will unfold out the rear,
a section of the floor will be lowered
to carve out a path to the front,
the wheelchair will lock in,
and hand controls will get it up to speed.
- I think that's it.
It's basic and, you know, straight to the point.
Customize it just like how we would do it for ourselves.
- Right. - Handicap or no handicap.
[upbeat music]
[engine roaring]
- [Announcer] Day two,
the build team walks in wheels into the Monster Garage.
There's no dis in these guys, just ability.
[upbeat rock music]
Ed Sandoz, a student from Upton, Massachusetts;
Warren Chalker, welder/fabricator from Fresno, California;
Scott Deacon, biomedical engineer from Van Nuys, California;
Stuart Klein, a Mercedes-Benz technical trainer
from Pomona, California;
and Ray Paprota, race car driver, Birmingham, Alabama.
[stern rock music]
The team gathers 'round to hear Jesse's vision
for his handicap dream machine.
- It's pretty easy.
We're just gonna make
the world's coolest wheelchair-accessible car.
You know, lowered, custom wheels, exhaust, stuff like that.
You know, the major lion's share of the work's
gonna be gutting inside of it
and making it so we can roll right in the back of it.
I think basically we need to just get it apart
and gut the inside of it
and see how much space we have to work with.
Since I wanna keep it as nice as possible,
kind of take our time
and make sure we're not screwing anything up.
- [Announcer] How's this team gonna treat
a brand new Mercedes?
- We will cut it up and make it look better again.
[upbeat rock music] [saws whirring]
- [Announcer] Time for a Teutonic tear-out.
- [Stuart] Be gentle now.
[metal clanking]
- I'll go put this somewhere where it won't get hurt.
- Cool. - I see that, brother.
- Here we go. - All right.
- Let be free. - Sure, why not?
- [Announcer] How does the one team member
from Mercedes feel about this kind of monster man-handling?
- We always discuss the high-tech aspects of the car
and how to fix 'em.
Don't really cover this.
- [Announcer] Stuart Klein is a technical trainer
for Mercedes-Benz USA.
- Well, Mercedes has a lot of technology,
and I get to learn about it firsthand.
So it's really bitchin'.
And I get paid to do it.
- [Announcer] For Stuart, high tech is cool,
but so is that low-brow rumble.
- Raw horsepower, carbureted V8,
making a lot of power, stinking up the air.
There's something about it
that gets in your veins, you know?
[tool whirring]
- [Announcer] The team goes under
to peel off anything they don't need.
[upbeat rock music] [tool whirring]
First, they blow away the exhaust.
[metal clanking]
Then they tear out the gargantuan gas tank.
- All right, let's see if we can swing this down some.
Somebody get under the front of it.
- [Announcer] They've hit a roadblock
on their wheelchair express lane.
Normally a quick and easy part of any tear-out,
the ML's bombproof gas tank
cuts out a big chunk of the team's precious time.
- [Stuart] That's ridiculous.
- I'm actually impressed with how much room's in here.
I'm surprised.
I didn't think we were going to gain this much,
but it's looking good.
[uplifting music]
- [Announcer] Jesse's back and likes what he sees.
- Look at all that room. - See, I told you.
- [Announcer] In Jesse's wheelchair campaign,
the battle overhead room will be critical.
- 43 1/2 inches. - Sit up straight.
You're like, 50.
- Yep, 50. - 50 1/4.
- Yeah, 50. - You guys can't have any-
- We need 42. - No custom hair,
just, you know, flat tops only.
- [Announcer] Up front,
more measurements to see how wheelchair and driver
will fit behind the wheel of the car.
When it comes to putting wheelchairs in the driver's seat,
Jesse's the one who's handicapped.
Ed Sandoz helps him out.
- Where would you drive from?
- I mean, I drive like this. - Right.
- It depends on how far away you wanna be, I guess.
For me, I drive a lot closer.
- [Announcer] Ed Sandoz is a passionate two-wheeler.
- Racing bikes is like a drug.
You just pour everything you have into it.
You're full on the gas,
you're right up against another rider in the corners,
it's just an adrenaline rush.
- [Announcer] A race in 1997 changed his life forever.
- My memory doesn't really start
until I was in the hospital.
It sounds like, from what people tell me,
that when I hit the ground,
you know, I broke my neck at that point.
- [Announcer] Being paralyzed from the chest down
hasn't slowed Ed down.
[brakes screeching]
Ray and Scott have mocked up a ramp
to see what pitch will give them the right grade.
- This is the height of the rear bumper,
the hinge point of where the ramp will come out the back.
Now there's nobody on the planet
that can push that grade right now to get up in there.
- Yeah, see, you can make it up the first three feet.
It's the next four that's gonna k*ll you.
- [Announcer] To get a lower grade for their ramp,
they'll need to lower the rear frame rail.
- [Scott] Frame's gonna come down across here-
- Stuff like that. - Back up.
We'll hinge it here. - And then it'll all go up
in one piece.
- [Announcer] Warren turns talk into action.
He builds and welds into place
the new support frame for the lowered rail.
[welder crackling]
Then cuts out the middle of the too-high rear support frame.
[upbeat rock music] [welder whooshing]
- Big tools, big tools. [chuckles]
- [Announcer] Warren Chalker is all fired up.
- In my working field, I like the fire aspect of it.
I like welding.
I like fusing metal together.
No matter what you look at on this entire planet,
fire can either create it or destroy it.
- [Announcer] This maniacal fire philosopher
works at Prime Engineering.
He makes equipment
that help the disabled to walk, run, or race.
- To me, this isn't a job. It's almost like a mission.
That makes it cool to me.
[metal clanking]
Bye-bye.
[metal clanking]
- [Announcer] The lowered frame rail gets them up and in,
but the battle has just begun.
- [Stuart] Why can't we drop that diff down a little bit?
- [Ed] Drive line angle would be all right, wouldn't it?
- [Jesse] Yeah, I don't see why not.
I mean, as long as it's straight.
- [Ed] It's got all sorts of travel.
- There's bushings on the front here.
Slice through right here. - Yeah.
- Put quarter-inch plates and let it slide, you know,
just box it right back in.
And we're only gonna get an inch, but that would be good.
- [Announcer] Their plan to cut out a path
for a drop-floor wheelchair passageway
is loaded with danger.
They're talking about slicing through
the structural and mechanical heart of the car.
The rear differential, the drive shaft,
the transfer case, transmission.
No team ever wants to go there,
but it's the only way to the front.
- I think we can definitely gain an inch,
inch to play with there.
- [Announcer] Their luxury car
has turned into a luxury minefield.
[alarm beeping]
- Ah!
[upbeat rock music]
- [Announcer] Dropping the entire underbelly of the SUV
to gain one inch of vertical clearance inside
is a grip load of work.
[welder whooshing]
[metal clanking]
- [Warren] Bingo, baby.
That's it, that's it.
- [Announcer] At the end of day two,
this team of foot soldiers and wheelmen
made slow but steady progress.
The Mercedes gave up ground reluctantly.
They'll be back in the trenches in the morning.
"Monster Garage" factoid.
The Swiss Kyber wheelchair
is known as the fastest wheelchair in the world.
The three-wheeler can reach 72 miles an hour.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage [neon sign buzzing]
- [Announcer] Day three,
the team hits the ground strolling and rolling.
[upbeat rock music]
They start outside in the junkyard
checking out one of Scott's conversion vans.
- [Jesse] That doesn't look too bad.
- [Announcer] Jesse wants to see
how they handle the handicapped in the straight world
before applying the Monster twist.
- With ours, this piece here,
we were gonna put right into the top, right?
- Well, we'd do- - Or you put on bottom.
- [Jesse] Is that a gas shock, or what is it for the hatch?
- It's hydraulic. - Is it?
- Yeah.
- So we gonna try to do that same type of thing,
like a ramp that comes out, or?
- Because the ramp's so much steeper,
what we're thinking of is roll onto the ramp,
then have a ramp come up like this, and roll in.
- That's cool.
- If we can't get the wheelchair in the driving position,
we could use a seat like that
that comes back and swivels.
Bring chair, slide right over into it.
- That's pretty cool.
We're gonna have a pumpkin hump, too.
- All right. - Yeah, will be a little ball.
- Piece of cake. - You'll just have to pop
a wheelie over it.
- [Announcer] The six-way chair is pretty slick,
and Ray is thinking it might be the way to go.
- The seat would come back to about the back door
and turn 90 degrees,
and the person would transfer from his chair into the seat.
The seat would take him underneath the steering wheel
and he would drive from very a comfortable location.
Right now, even if we do get the seat,
the wheelchair to where it can fit underneath the wheel,
your head is gonna be right at the roof line of the vehicle.
So even if we do accomplish
what we're trying to accomplish right now,
it's gonna be an awkward driving position at best.
- [Ed] You ready?
- [Announcer] The team picks up where they left off
the night before
and start by lifting the car
and lowering the differential to its final resting place.
- I would put one corner and an inch and a quarter,
tack it, and get the other.
- [Announcer] With the car raised
and the differential still on jack stands,
Warren welds it into place.
[upbeat rock music] [welder crackling]
Jesse lays into the four-wheeler's floor
with his plasma torch
and finishes cutting out
and cleaning up the wheelchair path.
The trademark core hump of the differential
will be the first obstacle a wheelchair faces
once it's up and in the car.
With the headroom always the issue,
they were hoping to drop it at least an inch.
- How far did you get that thing to drop?
An inch? - Inch and a quarter.
- That's cool.
- [Announcer] Yesterday's hard work paid off.
Minus the steering column,
the wheelchair goes in the front for a quick look.
What they need to know is
how much room above the wheelchair driver's head
before the roof becomes a hard hat.
- Measure from my butt to the top of my head.
- We need a 50-inch overall clearance.
That's about- - We'll go back
to the back of the cushion? - 30 inches.
- Measure him. - Okay.
- Is that about the top of my head there?
- Yep. - Yeah.
- What's that? - About 35 inches.
- We just have to go with my original plan
and 86 that frame rail.
- [Announcer] For that extra six inches,
Jesse wants to cut into the driver's side frame rail.
Everything bolted and welded into that car
is held in place and balanced by these thick steel beams.
A weakened frame rail
could derail their handicap vehicle.
- If your frame rails aren't strong enough
to hold up the whole car,
then you might as well just scrap the whole thing
and go away.
It's like your spine.
If you don't have it, you won't stand up.
- [Announcer] Jesse's going under
to see how they might add some support to the frame rail
once they cut out the six inches.
He's thinking a heavy steel two-by-four will do the trick.
- [Warren] There's a reason you why use something this wide.
We've got some heavier wall, like two-by-two.
- Like a square two-by-two? - It's square.
- I think we need it.
It's pretty strong either way. - Okay.
- Plus the other side of it,
we can use to tie the body mounts into.
Can we do it with having this, half of this hanging down,
and then we can box it in? - Yep.
- But that whole big long piece of tubing
is gonna look like crap.
I wanna keep the looks-wise and aesthetics
our number one priority.
- [Announcer] Scott goes Jesse one better
and welds two two-by-twos together,
making a totally bombproof even stronger two-by-four.
Then shows Warren how it's going to lay
under the original frame rail.
- We're gonna tie into the frame here.
- [Scott] This frame rail right here
is one of the most important pieces of a vehicle.
If this does not function like we need it to, then-
- We're all going home early. - Yeah.
[drill whirring]
- [Announcer] Stuart installs spacer blocks
so that the transfer case can be lowered by two inches.
- Now we've got it down,
we can cut the cross frame that's got the torsion bars on it
and drop it down, too,
to get the drive train back in alignment.
- [Announcer] With the weight of the car on his shoulders,
Warren finishes welding
the beefy two-piece frame rail together.
[upbeat rock music]
- That's it right there, baby.
Right up on the jack.
- [Announcer] And Scott likes what he sees.
- [Scott] That's a frame rail and a half, man. [laughs]
Perfect.
- [Announcer] The wheelchair ramp and dropped passageway
that Scott bent and molded from sheet metal
in his shop last night arrive at the garage.
- Take that one. - That's strapped.
- [Announcer] The rear floor pan is a nice fit,
but they'll need to cut a hole in it
to clear the differential.
- [Warren] Yeah, let's start with that.
[welder whooshing]
[sander whirring]
- [Announcer] As the ongoing battle for space continues,
Warren begins the delicate process
of dropping the driver's side torsion bar and crossmember.
Soon after, Warren unintentionally gives a demonstration
of what can happen if this is not done properly.
While cutting off a piece
of the torsion bar crossmember bracing,
the over-torqued torsion bar
tried to send the crossmember through the roof.
- This is under an extreme amount of tension.
- I didn't even get all the way through, dude.
It just sunk and pushed that down.
- [Scott] Look at the bow in here.
It just wants to go, wop, fly.
- What do you mean? - In the cross frame.
- [Announcer] To avoid any further danger,
Stuart uses a tr*nny jack
to take the weight off the front suspension
and allow the torsion bar and crossmember
to be removed safely.
- Well, now we can loosen the torsion bar
and then you can move it, 'cause it ain't going nowhere now.
'Cause that was a pretty major support there.
- [Announcer] With the load lifted,
Warren finishes cutting out the torsion bar.
The new two-by-four steel frame rail is ready for install,
but heat will be an issue.
If Warren keeps the welder in one spot for too long,
the steel can weaken and the frame could warp.
- [Scott] Try not get it too hot 'cause this thing shrinks.
Do a couple inches then go somewhere else.
- Yeah, that's what I'll do.
[welder crackling]
- [Announcer] To keep the Mercedes from twisting itself
into a pretzel,
the new frame rail must go in
before the old one can be removed.
- We don't wanna just cut the frame out
and then have the whole thing sag in the middle.
Then we're kind of screwed,
trying to get it back up to the right height.
What we wanna do is brace it real well ahead of time.
Then when we cut the frame out,
which will give us the clearance for the wheelchair,
you know, everything will stay
and the doors will open and close, things like that.
- [Announcer] The new frame rail install is complete,
and now the handy cruiser has the support it needs,
but Scott wants to keep some of the old frame
for added strength.
- We might as well use as much of this as we can.
To get rid of it, we're just gonna make it weaker.
So we'll cut it down to here.
And then from here, we'll come forward up to this point,
take this section out
'cause that's where wheelchair's gonna sit.
- So you're gonna leave that torsion bar where it is still?
- [Scott] This one?
That one's coming down.
- [Announcer] The Mercedes is braced up
and ready to take back its torsion bar.
But if the install isn't perfect,
their monster could tear itself apart when it hits the road.
- You can't bend it or heat it or anything like that
'cause, you know, the twisting of the torsion bar itself
is what holds the front of the vehicle up.
So if we heat it up or something, we'll just mess that up.
Could break or, you know, just bend
as you're going down the road or something like that.
- Right there. - Gotta get on the ball, man.
- Oh yeah.
We are cooking.
If you want, turn the welder on, hand me the thing,
I'm gonna tack it in place.
[welder crackling]
- It's a freaking work of art.
Damn.
It worked.
- [Announcer] The torsion bar is back in place
and ready to carry its share of the load.
Their monster is one step closer to rolling out
with a good foundation and a bad attitude.
- Having a cool car is,
that's just stuff, you know?
And having a Mercedes SUV would be cool.
- And this was my idea and it's time to step up
and accept these people
and not treat 'em like they're crippled or handicapped.
You know, if there's a will, there's a way.
And you could look right at those two guys right there.
They've been busting their a*s,
and they're dirty just like everybody else.
[whip cracking]
- [Announcer] Before the builders wrap up day three,
Ray lays down some picture-perfect welds on the ramp hinge.
- That's good.
Ooh, good penetration too.
Get it nice and hot.
[welder whirring]
There you go. - All right.
- Nice little red dots. - That'll work.
- [Announcer] It's been a power day for the team.
They have remedied their frame and torsion troubles
so it's time to call it a night.
"Monster Garage" factoid.
In 1988, the US Olympic Team
brought home a respectable 94 medals.
That same year,
they were outshined by the US Para-Olympic Team,
who won an astounding 268 medals.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage [bubbles burbling]
- [Announcer] The handy cruiser build team
shows up ready to get rocking on day four.
It's time to build.
Engineer Ed begins his day
by using the most powerful tool known to man, his brain.
Their steel ramp is heavy.
Once lowered, it's going to need some help
getting back into the upright position.
Two cables will lend some extra lift,
but they need to be mounted in a way
that takes the stress off the end gate and hinge.
- These bolts are gonna get welded in
right underneath this seam here,
and then the cable's gonna wrap around the bolt.
And when the cable first starts pulling up,
it's gonna close this ramp up.
I should say, the end gate.
So once the cable gets there, it's gonna stop.
And we want it to pick the whole ramp up,
but we don't wanna pull just off this flap here.
So what we're gonna do is we're making some little bracing.
That's perfect.
- [Ray] And then you want me to open that up?
- Yeah, that's gonna hook over that bolt.
So once this end gate gets up to this position,
it's actually gonna be pulling off the floor of the ramp.
The bolt is gonna hook onto that.
- [Ray] You're like Wile E. Coyote super genius, dude.
- [Announcer] To put the lifting power
in their super-duty springboard,
they'll use two heavy-duty winches.
[cash register chiming]
Before they can install their winches,
Scott welds on Ed's custom load transferring brackets.
- Okay, watch your eyes. - I will.
[upbeat rock music] [welder crackling]
- Cute.
- That's what it's supposed to do.
- [Announcer] The entire project hinges on the ramp.
The team gathers while Scott tacks it in place.
- Oh yeah. - Dang.
You'd think it was made for it.
- Look at the fit. - Oh, that's sweet.
- That should work, guys. - Yeah.
- That's cool. - Half week.
- Right. - Before Wednesday.
- [Announcer] That's the successful drive fit of the ramp
is a pivotal victory for the builders.
- I'm in a better mood now that I see something functioning.
- I know.
It's before lunch on Wednesday and we're this far,
which is pretty cool, I think
- [Ed] So today's productive day instead of destructive day?
- [Scott] Yeah.
- They've all been kind of a combination so far.
- It's starting to look like a van now.
- Well, wheelchair will basically roll on, roll up to here,
the rear wheels here, this will hold the chair on,
come up to here, rolls in.
Once he's in, he comes in to this point,
and then the door closes.
So it's gonna look real close to stock,
but it'll be a big surprise when it opens.
- [Announcer] The heavy ramp closes past the vertical point
and will need some extra push to help lower it.
The builders have come up with a simple solution.
Two homemade actuators made from springs and steel tubing.
- This is gonna be the spring-loaded mechanisms
that are gonna push the door out from the stowed position,
just past where gravity will let it come out
the rest of the way.
- Hey, Scott, take a look at this piston.
- I like it. - All right.
- [Scott] I like it.
Good job, guys. - That'll work.
- [Announcer] The two 1,700-pound winches
will generate a lot of torque
when lifting the steel access ramp.
They'll need to be mounted securely to avoid disaster.
- Instead of lifting up initially,
it's actually gonna be trying to pull straight in
to the inside of the car.
It's initially, like, the first two feet,
this thing's gonna be just trying to pull it straight in.
It's gonna take a lot of pressure.
- [Announcer] The solution,
attach a steel spine in the rear of the SUV
to help carry the load.
- This is what's gonna support the blocks
for the winch to pull the ramp up.
So it's gonna have a lot of load on it.
[upbeat rock music] [hammer banging]
[welder crackling]
- [Announcer] The floor pan for their monster's midsection
is ready to install.
- [Scott] It's gotta be down, but it's gotta go forward.
[metal clanking]
Whoa, that's it, stop.
- All we gotta do is put in the middle section
and clean it up and weld some stuff in there for right now,
but it's still a lot of work.
[upbeat rock music] [welder whooshing]
- [Warren] Okay.
- [Announcer] On the driver's side,
Scott installs the last piece of the pan.
[upbeat rock music]
[metal clanking]
- That's it.
- [Announcer] The new wall-to-wall steel pans
are ready for a stress test.
- Hooah. - Look at that.
- [Scott] All right.
- Can you get all the way up there?
- Very comfortable position right there.
That's fine. - All right.
- [Ray] Let's try closing the door over.
- Oh, closed. [laughs] - I see that.
- That's perfect. That's it.
That works, sweet.
Now we gotta make it run. - Yeah.
- It's only Wednesday afternoon, so.
- It's a big victory. - Yeah.
- It's a big victory.
[upbeat rock music]
- [Announcer] The ugly hump
rising out of a hole in the rear floor section
is for the top of the differential.
It can't be avoided.
So Jesse bangs out a slick pumpkin cover
- Had to get us started in the right direction.
- [Announcer] A master of many tools,
Jesse always draws a crowd
when he puts the English wheel to work.
- We've got one of these in our race shop, an English wheel,
and I've never seen anybody use it.
Everybody says they can use it, but nobody ever uses it.
- [Jesse] Jesse James.
Hey, why don't you turn that off and come learn something.
- [Announcer] Today, Jesse Jr. is spending some quality time
in the garage with the old man.
- [Jesse] You know what I wanna be when I grow up?
- What? - Just like you.
Do you wanna learn how to weld?
You see anything?
- No. - See that?
- No. - [chuckles] All right, good.
- Mmhmm. - Okay. Okay, go.
[welder crackling]
I learned when I was 12.
He can learn when he's six.
Cool?
[group laughing]
This is like playing with fire but getting paid. [chuckles]
[bluesy rock music]
- [Announcer] The winches are locked down,
but will the ramp rise up?
[metal clanking]
[engine humming]
[upbeat rock music]
- That good? - Success!
- [Announcer] The ramp works fine lifting itself.
Ray ups the ante to see if it can lift himself, too.
[ramp screeching]
- [Ray] Do it every day, bud.
- Yeah! - Excellent!
- Yeah, baby. - Mm, front row.
Yeah!
- Yeah! - Hey, yeah!
- Mm, right. - Ooh yeah.
- [Announcer] Day four comes to a successful close
and the builders get a chance
to taste the sweet fruits of their labor.
They'll be back in the morning to face day five.
It's gonna be tough to handicap this one.
We got a race to the finish.
- Awesome! [laughs] - I love the feel.
- [Announcer] Stay tuned.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage [neon sign buzzing]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Announcer] It's a new day five in the new garage.
The teams found some new energy to match it.
- What's up, buddy?
- [Announcer] Down to a man, they know what needs doing.
They just need to do it.
[air whooshing]
Newly arrived packages are gutted like fresh fish.
Their first catch?
Hand controls to make their monster respond
to the flick of a finger.
[upbeat rock music] [cash register chittering]
The new hand controls will install neatly under the dash
once the dash is gone.
Stuart makes some room.
The next box reveals another cool and crucial item.
The docking mechanism to lock a wheelchair and operator
into driving position.
- You see the bolt in the bottom of Ed's chair.
This sits on the floor in the driving position.
And when he drives in, it locks like that,
holds him in place.
Pushes a button on the dash and can back out.
- And like it says, easy lock.
- [Announcer] FMI shows up with hydraulic pumps
and parts to help lift the heavy rear hatch.
[upbeat rock music] [cash register chiming]
The guys from FMI are the Houdinis of hatchbacks.
They stick around the garage for a while
to work some of their magic.
- Well, first thing we're gonna do is we're gonna help them
guide the mounting of the cylinder,
the specific points inside the vehicle and on the rear door
to make sure that it opens and close properly.
- [Announcer] If a habit works, don't break it.
Jesse fabricates his 30th custom exhaust
for his 30th monster.
Scott comes by to check out his handiwork.
- [Scott] Cute.
- [Announcer] Did he say cute?
"Monster Garage" mantra.
A man with a threatening tattoo on the palm of his hand
never makes anything cute.
[bell chimes]
[upbeat rock music]
They'll mount two spring actuators,
one on each side of the ramp. - You'll be all set.
- [Announcer] The homemade actuators
that will help lower the rear hatch
need catch plates to push against.
So Ray marks a location and Warren welds them in place.
[welder whirring]
- We're done. - You sure?
- That's it.
That's where they're going. - I was impressed, man.
- [Announcer] They're ready to test the homemade actuators.
- Back out. - That just proves it works.
[ramp cranking]
That spring works perfect.
I think the function is excellent.
That part we've proven.
Now, you know, it's the fit,
it's like anything, you know?
A little more polishing.
- [Announcer] Jesse tacks on
his totally-not-cute two-into-one custom exhaust.
[welder crackling]
- Huh?
- [Announcer] Stuart is trying to figure out
how to install the hand control.
- Hey,
you've driven this before. - Yep.
- What's the lever that you use to activate everything?
- This is your brake rod
and then the bandsaw goes underneath the little...
Under dash panels. - Like this?
- Yep. - Oh, oh, I get it.
And the brake will attach to that.
- [Ed] Yep.
- This is the lever that they use,
push down for the throttle.
And I guess you push forward for the break, I think.
It's kind of a jigsaw puzzle with no instructions,
and it'll work.
It will work.
Thanks, Ed. You're the man.
[welder crackling] [stern rock music]
- [Announcer] A couple more quick welds
and the hatch is batting down.
- And we got it now. - That's it.
- [Announcer] Day five is just about done,
but before the team can call it quits,
some shiny new 22s roll in.
- Got wheels, tires. - Big wheels.
- They're definitely gonna add
to the ultimate handicap mobility vehicle.
- [Announcer] Freebies, freebies.
Zip, zero, nada.
- Those are badass, man.
- [Announcer] The treads are from Toyo,
and the rims are from your friendly neighborhood outlaw,
Jesse James.
- My big pimpin' wheels, 22s. - Got your signature.
- So Ed can pimp it to Vegas.
You can't catch no fish without a giant lure.
You gotta have something sparkly.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- [Announcer] The team is beat, but Warren can't wait to see
what those slamming wheels look like
on a straight-laced SUV from overseas.
- [Warren] Oh yeah.
- [Announcer] Electronics, hydraulics, pneumatics,
and some homemade actuators all have to work together
to make the rear end remote-controllable.
Ray installs one final switch and the electronics are wired.
It's time to try it out.
The heavy ramp rises and clicks to a stop, just as planned.
- Oh yeah!
- [Announcer] The hatch comes down and closes flush.
It also goes back up.
- Woohoohoo! [laughs] - That's worth a dance.
- [Announcer] Scott does the happy dance.
It's a day-five success story.
- Woohoo! - Nice stuff.
- [Scott] It worked!
- [Announcer] Before the builders can bail out,
there's one final test.
This one requires a volunteer.
- [Scott] Go, Ed, go, go, Ed, go!
Yeah, buddy, here you go. - You're over?
- No, I got it. - Nice.
- Excellent.
Look at that.
Full throttle, then we got steering here.
- Just seeing him scooch right into that seat and, like,
I could tell he hadn't felt that in a long time.
I think that's what this build's all about.
- And someone get the garage door.
I'll see you [censored] later.
[group laughing]
- [Announcer] Day six, the final day of the build.
The last item on their shopping list is in the house.
- [Stuart] Look, I got a fuel cell.
It came with a free guy in a wheelchair.
- [Announcer] The team's been waiting
for this baby all week,
and now they can finally fire up their monster.
[upbeat rock music] [cash register chimes]
They all agreed installing the fuel cell
and firing up the Mercedes
is the number-one priority for the day.
But with just 14 hours left to build,
Scott still isn't done planning and measuring.
- I wanna put a fold in the pan right here
just to bring this part down.
So have maybe 30 degrees in the thing.
That'll make this easier to get on,
and it won't make much difference when it's up here.
- His proposal to put that angle in the ramp
is a good proposal,
but if it doesn't need to get done,
there's no sense in doing it.
So my thing is, let's do the simplest thing we can do now.
- [Announcer] It's back to Plan A for Ray.
He goes to work mounting the fuel cell
into the back of the car.
Warren fabricates some triangular braces
that will lock the fuel cell into place.
[stern rock music]
[welder crackling]
The fuel cell is braced and buttoned up.
And Scott is still pushing his idea
of breaking the ramp to lower the incline.
Warren is always ready to play with fire.
So Scott puts him to work on the ramp.
- He was getting grouchy because he's running outta welding.
[welder crackling]
- I was having fire withdrawals.
It's kinda like, you know,
you go so long without getting any and, yeah.
- [Announcer] Ray gives the revised ramp a trial run.
- [Scott] Yeah, isn't that easier?
[ramp whirring]
- Trying to buckle the rest of the metal.
- [Scott] That's a whole lot easier to get on.
- Yeah, it was.
- [Announcer] To cap off their handicapper,
a little something extra.
Disable this, you weenie.
- Added horsepower at the push of a button.
[upbeat rock music] [cash register chimes]
[upbeat music]
- [Announcer] Company man Stuart gets to give it the gas.
Definitely not standard equipment.
- It's a full-throttle switch.
It'll actually activate the system when you floor it.
It'll take care of business for us.
We have nitrous.
- [Announcer] The nitrous system is good to go.
They fill the fuel cell and Ed is growing impatient.
- Listen to the [censored] cr*pple
and test this [censored] thing.
- [Scott] All right, guys, moment of truth.
[engine sputtering]
[engine humming]
[Ray clapping] [group cheering]
[upbeat rock music]
- [Announcer] The team successfully fires up their monster.
- Well, we have fire. - Can we?
- [Announcer] So far, so good.
- It runs.
- [Announcer] They take care of a few last minute details.
It's almost showtime.
♪ Oh yeah, it's about that time ♪
♪ What time
♪ Showtime, baby, you know what time it is ♪
- [Announcer] They're ready to release their beast.
But when they get it outside,
their Monster sounds like a clunker.
[engine clunking]
- One of the universal joints
is rubbing on the floor big time.
Boom, boom, boom, boom, so.
- [Announcer] Their only option is to push the handy cruiser
back into the garage for emergency surgery.
- [chuckles] You gotta love it, man.
You gotta love it.
- [Announcer] Scott finds the source of their trouble.
The U-joint is banging against the floor pan
- [Scott] These edges are rubbing right up here.
- [Stuart] Reverse.
- [Scott] So we're gonna cut some of that out.
- [Announcer] Trimming some of the fat
off the monster's underbelly is a pretty easy fix,
but Ray's a little disappointed in himself and his teammates
for not being more cautious.
- The final thing before you drive the vehicle is
you got a list of different things
you gotta make sure you check,
and we probably should have put it in the air
and looked at this
before we even rolled it off the ramp the first time.
- [Announcer] They're done trimming,
but while the car is still on the lift,
they run it through the gears.
- Okay, go back into neutral.
Now park.
- Park. - Yeah.
- It's the camera. - Can't help it.
[engine humming]
- [Announcer] The builders are satisfied
that their new creation will hold together.
- Works for me. - Yeah!
- All right. [group clapping]
- [Announcer] Once again,
they wheel it into the street. - How come it works for me?
- I don't know. - Let me back it out.
- Door. - You got the Midas touch.
- [Announcer] The ramp drops like a steel drawbridge,
and the builders pile in.
[uplifting music]
Their new monster is still bopping out its own beat,
but it's running good,
so the builders take off on a joyride
to West Coast Choppers.
- Oh, watch my life. - Yeah, that's flex.
- How is it? - I'm telling you, dude,
it rocks. - Does it feel cool?
- Yeah.
- [Announcer] Ray gives up his seat
so that Ed can have a turn at the wheel.
- Hey, we did all this work, might as well try it.
[ramp whirring]
- Go, sputter. [engine humming]
- Woo!
- [Announcer] After a long week of monster modifications
in the garage,
the team has successfully transformed
a German-engineered SUV
into an all-American handicap-friendly strip cruiser.
[tube screeching]
- Good job, guys. - Thank you, man.
- Awesome. - Appreciate your help.
- Thanks, Jesse. - No problem, guys.
- It was a blast. - This kicked a*s.
- Mack tools. - Nice work.
- "Monster Garage" CDs. - Yeah.
- Hooah. - "Monster Garage" CDs.
- Sweet. - All right, good job, guys.
- Yeah, okay, we're done. - Appreciate it.
- [Announcer] But before hitting the highway,
the new monster gets a new non-skid interior from LINE-X.
Then monster painter Tom Pruitt
lays on a thick coat of flaming flash,
and another brand-new monster comes into the world
dripping with attitude.
[calming music] [hose hissing]
"Monster Garage" factoid.
The first wheelchair was patented in 1869.
The first patent for an automobile
wasn't handed out until 17 years later.
That patent went to Karl Benz for his motor wagen.
♪ Monster, Monster Garage [bubbles burbling]
- [Schwag] The Big Schwag here,
along with my partner Frankie Whiteside.
- [Frankie] Right, Schwag.
Our destination, Valencia, California, just north of LA.
- [Schwag] Jesse and the boys took a Mercedes SUV
and turned it into the baddest handicap-friendly vehicle
on four wheels.
We'll let the man himself tell you why.
- And this was my idea
and it's time to step up and make, you know,
accept these people into our society
and then not treat 'em like they're some freak
or crippled or handicapped.
- [Frankie] The "Monster Garage" producers
have found a young handicapped dude
who might dig the new monster,
and Jesse's gonna blow his mind.
[door knocking] [dog barking]
- What's up, man? - Hey, how you doing?
You Sean?
- Oh, that's me.
- [Jesse] Got a car for you to check out out here.
- All right.
- Yeah, you wanna take it for a spin?
- Uh, okay.
I guess I could.
- [Jesse] Unless you're busy.
[group laughing]
- [Schwag] Frankie, give us the skinny on the kid.
- [Frankie] Well, Schwag, his name's Sean Tobin.
He's 25 years old.
He had an accident four years ago
that left him paralyzed from the chest down.
He and his mom Delinda can tell the rest.
- By the skid marks,
they said I was going approximately, like, 137 miles an hour
when I crashed.
And I don't remember anything,
but, I mean, I flew out of the car somewhere.
I was found about 170 feet away from the car
and I was just...
I was in a coma for like six weeks.
I was pretty messed up.
The whole time, they thought I was gonna die.
- When he'd gotten out of the rehabilitation,
it was nine months after his accident.
He wasn't home three days, and I came home from work
and he was bent over a motor, trying to take it out.
[chuckles] So, you know, I knew there was no stopping him
at that point.
- [Schwag] No stopping him?
This dude is "Monster Garage" material through and through.
You're damn right, there's no stopping him.
- [Frankie] Check it out, Schwag.
Jesse's gonna let the kid take it out for a test drive.
- [Sean] I don't think I'll be able to drive it, though.
- You can drive it. - It's got hand controls?
- Yep.
[upbeat music]
- This seems crazy, man. - It's kind of cool, huh?
- This seems way crazy.
- You'll try it out? - Yeah, for sure.
[ramp humming]
[engine revving]
[car beeping]
- This seems crazy, man. - Yeah?
[upbeat music continues]
- [Schwag] Looks like Sean and the monster
are gonna get along just fine, Frankie.
- [Frankie] He's stylin' in the Monster wheelie wagon.
[whip cracking] [upbeat rock music]
- Cool.
He's tripping out a little bit, I think.
- I know. - [chuckles] Yeah.
I guess that's that.
- [Schwag] Oh yeah, Sean's big pimpin' now.
- Suppose it didn't help that I told him to take it
and don't come back, right? [chuckles]
- [Schwag] Looks like Jesse's outta here.
- [Frankie] What about the monster, Schwag?
- [Schwag] I guess he'll come back later and get it.
- If you want it, it's yours.
- You're kidding, right?
- No.
- No way.
- You are kidding.
- No.
- No way. Thanks, man, I...
- I don't believe it.
Oh my god. - See you, man.
- Dude, it's tight, dude. - Have fun.
Cool, man. - Thanks, man.
You guys have fun in that thing.
- All right, dude. - See you, guys.
- [Sean] I'll roll round in this thing everywhere.
- [Schwag] Jesse James just gave Sean the monster!
- [Frankie] Who was that man in the black truck?
- Yeah, dude, that's...
I don't even...
I, I...
- [Schwag] Frank, the kid's speechless, and so am I.
- [Frankie] It's a beautiful thing, Schwag.
- Oh, I saw the location and I...
Did you do this or what?
- No.
There's still people out there that care.
Don't ever give up.
And I thank Jesse from the bottom of my heart.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts.
I thank you so, so much.
- [Schwag] Sean's got no time for anything plain,
cars with no flames,
and anyone who wants to diss his ability.
There's always metal to burn, sparks to fly.
The next "Monster Garage" challenge is just around the bend.
[upbeat rock music]
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Yeah
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Huh, huh
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Yeah
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Huh, huh
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Yeah
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Huh, huh
♪ Monster, Monster Garage
♪ Yeah
♪ Monster, Monster
[gentle music] [light whooshing]
[uplifting music]
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03x08 - Mercedes / Handicap
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A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."
A team of five people with mechanical, fabricating, or modifying expertise was assembled to modify a vehicle into a "monster machine."