03x13 - RC Car

[bunniefuu]

- [Schwag] Don't touch

that remote Monster Garage maniacs.

- Change that.

Brian.

- [Schwag] We're about to create

a remote monster of our own.

- It's alive!

- [Schwag] But, before the celebrating,

there's a bit of drama.

- Whoever lost it here.

- [Schwag] We all know

there's too many lawyers in this town

and not enough cool full-size RC monster machine.

So stick around for the evidence,

and if you don't...

- That's grounds for an a*s kicking.

- Woo!

[thuds]

- [Schwag] 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.

[upbeat music]

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster Garage

- [Narrator] This week's challenge,

turn a 1971 Chevy Monte Carlo shell of a race car

into a full sized remote control racer.

The rules, when built,

the monster machine must appear to be stock.

The team can spend no more than $5,000 on parts.

Jesse and his crew have seven days and nights.

On the first day, they design, on the next five, they build,

and on the seventh day, they race.

If successful,

each team member takes home a $3,400 set of Mac Tools.

And the clock starts now.

[clink]

The bare bones of the car come from Jesse's storage area.

It's guarded by his sweet but wild pit bull noodles.

Jesse's about to unleash another vicious challenge.

[dog barks]

The two man design team muscles the race car

into the garage.

[metal rattles]

- We're gonna take that, which is basically a late model,

either dirt track or asphalt

and set it up to run on a oval dirt track

but remote control.

[remote car whirring]

Since that car is assorted out done car,

there's two facets to it.

One is engine transmission drive line,

we gotta make radiator support,

all the power steering stuff.

And the second part is all the remote control stuff,

making it servos and rams and all that stuff

to make it work with nobody in it.

- I think from a control standpoint, probably the steering

'cause it takes the most power

is gonna be the the most difficult.

- [Narrator] John Clark is a lifer

with electronics megastore RadioShack.

He's the man behind the creation

of their hit mini RC cars called ZipZaps.

- We keep thinking going smaller and smaller and smaller.

How small can you go

instead of getting bigger and bigger and bigger?

- Why does every kid get a remote control car?

- So he can drive it like

he really would like to drive his own car.

- Crashing. - Exactly.

[everyone chuckles]

- Well let me ask you then, do we want to put a big...

- [Chris] Yeah.

- You know, a big antenna on it.

- [Narrator] Scott Drake is an imagineer

working for the Walt Disney Company

designing theme park rides.

- The truth of it is,

well only gonna play with it for like one or two days

and then we'll be onto something else

like every kid was with their remote control power.

[everyone chuckles]

It's like I need it, I need it, I need it so bad,

and it's like,

[car clatters] oh look, Legos.

[everyone chuckles]

- Play with the boxing game in.

- Yeah. So all this work this week,

we'll do that for about three or four hours of fun time,

then be on this couch watching SpongeBob.

- [John] That will be worth it.

- I'm bored.

[electric music]

- [Narrator] In order to transform

the former figure 8 racer

into a fully remote controlled monster,

the team will have to first build out the car,

and at the same time, configure each major system

brakes, steering, throttle, and gears

to be controlled by Jesse while he's sitting in the stands.

[sketching]

[tire squealing]

Day two.

The build team struts their stuff

as they enter the garage and prepare to meet the challenge.

[clatters]

Super clean fabricator Fred MacGregor

has climbed to the top of his game.

Huntington Beach is his home.

[clatters]

Los Angeleno Chris Marsolais is a backyard inventor

putting himself through college by waiting tables.

In Bows Oaks, California,

Shepherd Ginzburg teaches kindergarten and races dragsters.

Staying on for the build from Dallas, Texas is John Clark,

who brings his electronics expertise with him.

Ed Robinson builds robots in Las Vegas, Nevada.

He has metal in his blood and his stomach too.

[electronic music]

- What's up guys?

How are you here?

- Hi Jesse. - How you doing?

- Alright, you tell 'em what they're doing now.

- Oh, boy.

- [Chris] I'm tired.

- We're gonna take this car and make it an RC car.

Look at the picture we put together here.

It's gonna have a big antenna right up here.

- You know what he's talking about

'cause he is got an embroidered shirt on.

[everyone laughs]

That means you're some kind of expert.

- [Fred] Needs a new engine,

transmission put in it.

- [Chris] This is a pretty good car.

I mean, you can see all the feature wins it has we won.

Three figure eight championships, so.

- [Fred] Yeah. - So you didn't do anything

to build up big horsepower or not?

- No. You know what, I think we should.

It's gotta be dependable because you're not in it

and you're not hearing noise,

and rev limiter and all that stuff.

We're gonna be up in the stands working it,

so I want to just do a nice strong 350 that we can pound on.

- What can we do to make sure that we don't glitch

and send the thing flying off into the wall

because you're losing control of it.

- One thing we discussed is putting some fail safes in it

to make sure that it has to,

that if you loses signal,

it puts the brake on off the gas on the brakes or car stops.

- Worried about my old remote control car

when the battery started to go dead it just take off.

[everyone chuckles]

- The new PCM radios have a fail signal,

if the battery goes too dead

or if it loses signal for more than half a second,

it shuts everything down.

It does whatever you tell the new shuts off.

- Can we have like a giant antenna on the transmitter

or something, so that we can get a really good signal

going out to the car.

- [Ed] Already need to get microwave antenna.

- You guys are talking Chinese.

I just...

[everyone chuckles]

I just know how to weld stuff and make it loud so.

- [Ed] Yeah, loud good.

- You guys did all that electronic mumbo jumbo.

I'll make it start and go.

[everyone chuckles]

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The build team wastes no time

in hacking away at the car.

Access to the inside is the first order of business.

[metal clanking]

[metal whirring]

[metal thuds]

[metal rattling]

[grunt] - Change that.

Brian. [metal thuds]

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Shep's got a band called The Reactors.

He wants to share the sound with the team.

Jesse's reaction?

- What'd you take out?

What?

- [Shep] You guys gotta put right?

- My black [indistinct] cheese on the dirty,

[metal thuds]

That's grounds from a*s kicking.

That means you have to take his CD and do this with it.

So it looks like that.

Then put it back in.

[metal crackling]

That'll teach him.

[clinks]

[engine roaring]

- [Narrator] John and Ed

begin to tackle the remote control systems.

Then they find some actuators in the garage.

Jesse offers his advice

on how to use the actuator to control the brakes.

- I wanna see how fluid it moves so it's like the,

you know, you can ease 'em on and ease 'em off.

- Are we ready?

I'm ready.

- [Chris] I'm not.

Okay.

[device whirring]

- [Ed] Oh yeah, look at that.

And it stops instantly.

And that's all the movement we need.

- Is this a break?

- It's a break pedal, yeah.

- I'm gonna split.

You guys don't try not to wreck nothing.

- [Narrator] Chris diagrams the bracket they need to build

to hold the brake pedal actuator.

Now that Shep's gotten off to a rough start with Jesse,

he's trying for a smooth stop on the brake bracket,

but he steps into Fred's domain to weld.

- This will sit right here,

and the actuator right here is gonna ride inside of here,

and then this two hickey here will slide in and out

and act like someone's foot on the brake pedal.

- He's a cool guy now, but he just like, you know,

he wants to get in there, and do it the hard way.

[chuckles]

We're just cool, I guess.

- There must be a switch somewhere.

This is one of those trick drill presses.

I give up.

There it is.

[metal crackling]

[upbeat music]

That'll look just fine.

- Hey Shep.

Look like the tin man keep it all over this thing.

[team member laughs]

- [Shep] What's wrong?

- [Narrator] Fred MacGregor is a master fabricator,

building custom big rigs for clients like ESPN.

- My welding teacher when I was 16,

told him I was good at it to pursue it.

If I ever find him, I'll k*ll him.

- [Narrator] His standards for his finished work are high.

- To me, I'm never satisfied with my work.

I always think I,

I'm always pushing myself to do one better.

[metal crackling]

It takes a lot of finesse time, it takes the know how it's,

it's not just mounting a couple things together.

There's a little bit of science behind it.

And if you're not good at it, you'll make a mess.

There's no penetration out of the tube.

It's all on the...

- [Shep] You think that's gonna break apart?

- Lemme do the fabricate.

- [Shep] No, I'm... [chuckles]

- That's what I do.

[ominous music]

You know, Jesse hits the brakes going into a turn,

and this thing snaps off and there's no brakes.

And so you got a 2000 pound, 70 mile an hour b*llet.

That could probably hurt somebody.

[metal screeching]

[metal clanking]

You'll never break that.

Well, you can see better now that the weld's gone.

You see that there wasn't even any weld on the tube,

so it's a good thing we caught that now.

[metal crackling]

- Now how's that look?

- [Shep] It's fine.

It was fine before, it's probably better now.

- Thank you.

[chuckles]

[electronic music]

- [Narrator] Ed demonstrates

one of his homemade remote controlled robots.

The vehicle he calls The Monkey.

- See now, that's why people want remote controlled cars.

- That's why people want remote control cars

so they can do that.

- So they can do stuff that you couldn't do in your car,

you're too scared to do.

- I brought The Monkey in basically

because he is a remote control car,

and we're going to be using the same type of electronics

on the big car for exactly this reason,

we can test with these electronics

and know whether they were work or not.

There is bigger stuff

if these weren't work to get something bigger.

[rustling]

- [Narrator] Ed Robinson

actually ran away from home as a kid

and joined the circus as a clown.

- From there, I went on to side shows

and I learned how to swallow swords,

eat fires, shove ice picks up my nose.

The various manly arts.

These days for a living,

I actually produce a robot combat event

in Las Vegas, Nevada.

[vehicle clatters]

I was born to be an entertainer.

I knew it when I was very young.

I'm a very obnoxious, outspoken, loud mouth person.

[indistinct talking]

- [Narrator] Now that the brake system bracket

has been Fred welded, they're ready to test it out.

- Are we ready?

Are we ready for a milestone moment?

Here he goes.

[metal whirring]

- Yes!

Oh hold, [indistinct].

[indistinct chattering]

- We will work as a great team.

- Yeah, we'll get it done.

- We're gonna finish just on time because it looks like

the engine transmission aren't coming till the day

before it's supposed to be done,

so we're gonna be up to the wire,

but it's gonna be really bitchin.

- [Narrator] Day two comes to an end

and Shep shows us why he shouldn't quit either his day

or his night job.

♪ Jesse's gonna fly around that track ♪

♪ Buy electron beam while he lunches on snacks ♪

[guitar strumming]

- [Narrator] Monster Garage Factoid.

The Ferrari 575M

can go from zero to 60 in under 4.2 seconds.

Top of the line RC cars get to 60 in under two seconds.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

Day three, the team enters the garage

and is greeted by a strange delivery vehicle.

- Somebody orders some electronic.

- [Narrator] Ed's friend Dan has brought some parts

for the remote control.

- I think the motors that we need for the steering.

- For the steering?

- Right.

- I need a motor for the steering.

We could just take it, put it right on the column,

more screw.

- Get a screwdriver.

Gimme a crowbar.

- [Narrator] He takes off before the team cannibalizes

his personal people mover.

[guitar twanging]

- One of these is for the ignition,

one of these is for the fuel pump shut off.

This one's for our starter.

- Yep, nice.

- That's our entire control system right there.

All we need is the radio and plug it into.

- Perfect.

We've got pretty much what we need.

- A sprockets as you ordered.

[guitar twanging]

- [Ed] This one goes on the column.

- [Shep] This one goes on the column.

- [Ed] And this one...

- [Shep] This one needs to be board out

to go over the motor.

- [Ed] Over the shaft.

- [Narrator] Yesterday they made the RC monster stop.

Today, they'll make it turn.

The plan calls for one sprocket

to be attached to the steering wheel,

another to a motor that will be operated by remote control.

[metal clatters]

- Beautiful.

- [Narrator] The steering column sprocket

is just the right size.

They test the engine sprocket on one of Ed's motors,

a stand-in for the new motor they've ordered.

It has to be an exact fit or else, trouble.

- It would be like

your steering wheel breaking loose on you on the freeway.

Nothing happening.

- [Chris] Hey [indistinct], take the wheel.

- Exactly.

Exactly. [everyone laughs]

- Here you can take the wheel.

- And off we go.

- [Narrator] Shep volunteers to go to West Coast Choppers

to bore out the gear for the steering assembly.

- It's a b*tch.

This is the best lathe I ever get to use.

- [Narrator] The full on industrial lathe

presents a serious challenge to him.

[metal clanking]

- That's good.

Unfamiliar machine.

[rustling]

- [Narrator] Shepherd Ginsburg is known as Shep, Gins,

or by his nickname, Professor Gins.

- I'm technically not a professor, it's a racing nickname.

I decided I needed one and I gave it to myself.

- [Narrator] He races top fueled dragsters on the weekend,

but he does something else during the week.

- This is where Professor Gins works

as a kindergarten teacher.

I started teaching actually because I wanted to go racing

and I wanted a job that would give me the summer off.

I think that these guys might have been better off

if they had a kindergarten teacher

to taught them more relationship skills.

You know, they need to learn what an I statement is.

I feel angry when you do something

instead of just lashing out and calling a name.

[metal whirring]

- He's a nice guy, but he's a pain in the a*s.

- [Narrator] With Shep out of the way,

Fred's freedom move forward,

and weld without any suggestions on how to do it.

- As long as he's wherever he is, we'll get something done.

See if I can remember how Shep taught me how to do this.

[metal crackling]

- I'm not gonna make fun of Shep.

It's too easy.

Like picking on a kid.

- We'll need him in a couple days to put that motor in.

- Something to do.

- [Narrator] Jesse has brought the brakes,

and Ed gets to work installing them here.

- This would be easier if I knew what I was doing.

[whirring]

- But look at that drawing.

Looks crazy.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Shep has overdone it with the lathe.

The holy made is too big.

- How, what, what's a little too big?

Like thousands or fractions?

- No, thousands. - Oh!

- Can we shim it?

Get some small shims.

Do we need to do that? - No, it's not big enough.

- Put [indistinct] in.

Here, take a look.

It'll be fine.

What we'll do is, we'll get long set screws,

we'll drill right into the shaft with two long hole,

you know, we'll put this in, tighten these down,

get a mark, drill in and in.

And it'll go in and lock.

- [Fred] That'll be good.

- [Narrator] Ed is busy analyzing the brake lines,

when Shep proposes a a radical upgrade,

replace the entire brake system.

- Oh, so you want me to replace

the entire brake line system?

- Yes.

- You can't really conveniently...

- Why?

- Because he wants race parts on here,

and you can't mix race parts with stock parts.

They don't connect to each other.

- Before we do anything, there's five of us on this team.

- [Shep] Yeah.

- This is a democracy.

It's America.

How many of us want to replace the entire break line system?

- Let's... - [Shep] I have right catalog.

- Let's investigate it for...

- [Shep] Some of this stuff is pretty hacked up.

Let's check into it for 20 minutes,

and if there's no other way then there's no other way,

but I mean... - [Ed] That's a good idea.

- Not, it's not gonna be too long before we all get together

and yank his chain.

- I think we need to put his flame out man.

- [Fred] Yeah, well.

- You need to put his flame out.

- I just, you know, we need to keep that guy in check.

We can keep him in check, we'll be all right.

- [Narrator] Chris gets on the phone and checks to see

if stock break parts can be combined with race parts.

- So it'll work.

You can do it.

Okay cool.

That's what we want to know.

We've got a guy I've heard that thinks that, you know,

all, you know, things only come one way,

so we pretty much outvoted them.

My friend just called me back

that makes flexible seal hydraulic lines.

He said it's no problem.

He said, we'll do it.

It's no problem.

- Alex has got the list. - That's it. We got it.

- Alex has the list. It's all been taken care of.

We overruled them. - Four to one, we're good.

- Sit down and eat your lunch and relax.

- You actually say that like you're surprised.

[everyone chuckles]

- Okay guys, you got some parts here.

Beauty.

[guitar twanging]

So all your fuel lines stuff, shocks.

There's all your brake lines.

- So let me see the non-existent brake line.

I've never seen anything like that.

- Apparently not.

There you go.

- Those aren't in, those are adapters.

- [Narrator] Shep adapts the story to fit his reality.

- That's what I wrote down if you look at my list.

So...

- [Narrator] Ed and Shep work on installing the motor

that will operate the steering wheel.

- It just gotta come back a whole inch

at least towards you, the whole motor.

This motor will do about 17 miles an hour

just like it's sitting,

and you can't turn your arms that fast.

This will respond faster than you can.

I love it.

- [Shep] That looks like smooth, nice and smooth.

- [Ed] It is.

I don't see anything moving in here.

Anything that's not supposed to be anyway.

- [Shep] Yeah that one's fine.

Yeah, we can weld it right.

- [Ed] Man, I see no problem with this at all.

- This is where we're gonna mount

all of the different controllers.

This here will literally be the brains

that are gonna run the car.

If anything here goes out, we're in deep [clatters].

[chuckles]

[metal whirring]

- [Narrator] Fred works on a component

critical to the steering.

- [Fred] Boy that's about the ugliest thing

I think I ever made in my life.

- That's a standard radio shack, 10K potentiometer.

The potentiometer sends a reading to the radio unit

that tells you when the steering wheel is in center.

See how it's reading seven right now.

That means we're all the way to the left.

If you get this to the center, it should read five.

- [Fred] Right about there.

- [Ed] Right about there center,

and we're just a little over five, five and a half.

- [Fred] All right, two and a half,

and this is probably seven something,

maybe on the other side.

Look at that.

- [Ed] Look at that.

[everyone cheering]

- We good.

- Yeah.

- We got...

- [Narrator] Now, the steering assembly

is ready for remote control.

The team ends the day on the right track

with the steering intact,

and Ed proves he's not just blowing smoke.

[high-intensity rock music]

Monster Garage Factoid.

Guest powered RC cars actually run on a nitro fuel mix

that costs $9.50 a quart.

Filling up a full-sized car with RC fuel

would cost more than a thousand bucks

without full service.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

Day four starts with a car that can stop and turn,

but there's a big hole in their plan.

Something critical is missing.

It's called an engine.

And they've got another problem.

One team member is not mixing well with the other kids.

- Well, we started without him because we don't like him.

- The truth is I think there's a lot of frustration

'cause guys want to get working,

and we're still fighting having everything we need here,

and I think they need something to do

and I don't fault them for that.

I think that it's good

that everyone has such good enthusiasm

and wants to get to work.

- He's just a kindergarten teacher.

He's used to going, "You go there and you go there

and you go there,"

and all these little kindergarten kids go there.

We're not kindergarten kids, we're men.

You know, you can only take so much.

- [Narrator] Ed takes Shep's set screw solution

into his own hands.

- A little bitty set screw is junk.

Anybody in robot combat knows set screws suck.

[metal crackling]

- [Narrator] This ain't about paste and construction paper,

this is Monster Garage.

It's bolt and metal and mechanics.

- That's what it's supposed to be.

I put these two bolts down there

to make sure everything was centered,

and then welded it in place.

That is not coming off of there.

- Parts.

Parts.

Woo!

- [Narrator] Critical parts begin to arrive

in rapid succession.

- Oh, that's our clips.

- Front clips.

I love this.

♪ Freebie, zero, nada

- [Narrator] The real brains of the whole operation

has arrived.

The controller, it receives signals from the remote unit

and distributes commands throughout the customized system.

- Engines the muscle and car is the body,

here's the brain.

- If they can get us an engine

in a reasonable amount of time, we'll start it today.

We'll have it running.

We'll have two days left on the build.

- [Speaker] Engine!

[team celebrating]

- [Narrator] The team celebrates the arrival of the engine.

A 350 long block from Wayne's Engine Rebuilding.

Now the pressure's on for Shep to live up to his boast.

♪ Freebie, zero, nada

[soft beat music]

- That's full movement, isn't it?

- Well, go all the way forward.

Yep, that almost lost.

- Now we don't even need that 'cause that's low gear.

We don't care about low gear.

- Yeah.

- This is a fast mover, so we're perfect.

- Rock and roll.

- Right on success.

[horn blows]

- [Narrator] The team continues

to have difficulty allocating the jobs

as both Shep and Ed work out their control issues.

- You need something to do.

- Huh?

- [Shep] Do you need something to do?

This is hard reality. - Did I jerk your chain?

- [Shep] What's that? - Did I jerk your chain?

- Let's...

- Did I ask you to give me something to do?

- I'm just asking.

I wanna keep us all going.

- Was I open they're talking about something to do?

- [Narrator] Despite being the focal point

for the team's displeasure,

Shep maintains a positive attitude.

- Team is fine.

I think that some of the guys get a little frustrated,

they just let it come out the wrong way.

But I think that everyone here has basically,

I think we got a real good team.

I think everyone's knows their job,

and I think everything's getting done,

and I feel really confident about the whole thing.

If you surround yourself with happy thoughts,

you'll be hit and say, "Oh, get a zoom on that."

That's what he thinks the most important part of his life.

[Ed angrily pushes Shep]

[thud]

Oh, Okay!

I think you should me in the face right now.

- You gotta chill dude.

[rock music]

You gotta [clinks] chill.

Understand it?

- Now, I'm gonna tell you something.

You can tell me you're going do anything mean to me,

but I'm gonna be nice to you because I'm a nice person,

and I'm gonna continue to be a nice person.

[rock music]

I guess, do I have a lawsuit here?

- [Narrator] Suddenly it's very quiet in the garage.

[Fred making funny sound]

Brian Lynn, senior firefighter patches up Shep.

- I don't really want to talk to you.

- I know, but I have to apologize first.

I would shake that hand that I just [metal clangs] up.

You touched me.

- Well, I'm not shaking your hand.

You know someone just threatened me by you.

- You laid your hand on me first.

I came in to apologize. - No, I didn't raise any hand.

- I tried to apologize.

I'm gonna walk away before I anger you.

Touch me again, you're dead.

- Say, these are the threats I don't need.

I'm leaving.

- [Ed] I tried to apologize.

I still will.

- You sh**t someone, can you apologize?

- I hope it begins.

- I said I was sorry three times.

That's all I'm gonna say it.

- You sure you wanna do this?

- Why not?

- Alright man.

- [Fred] I think that being that,

you guys are both grown men,

this is a little bit extreme but...

- Well, see if there's grown men don't sit there

and throw each other against the car.

- Sure they do, sure they do.

It happens, but you know...

- Oh, come on. People get thrown in jail for that.

- Exactly.

- I mean I can file charges on him if I wanted to.

- Right, it happens.

That's what I'm saying.

That's what separates the man from the boys though,

is being able to put your differences aside

and get on with a job man.

[screams]

- [Narrator] Instead, Shep gives himself a timeout

and leaves.

- I don't want the team mad at me.

- No, I'm not mad dude. - That's my only issue.

- I'm not mad.

- You know what's going on. - I don't care.

So let's just get in.

Let's get work baby.

- He walked all across the shop,

touched blue in the money sack.

And physically touched my [indistinct].

- What?

He touched what?

- Yeah, I'm not gonna touch you here,

put the fan in front of you.

He walked across the shop and went,

and touched me physically.

I am sorry.

I am very sorry to you gentlemen for handicapping the team,

but I went off and I bear hugged him against the car.

As long as you guys don't hate me, I'm cool.

We can go back to work and finish this car.

If we can cut the drama and get back to work.

So, I'm sorry.

We good?

- That's all ask.

That's all ask.

- I started out nervous this morning,

then I started to feeling a little bit better,

and then after our the drama queen left,

now I'm starting to feel a little shaky again.

And it's not about anything but just being a man short.

- Now...

- [Narrator] The builders are falling apart.

They're down a man.

They could use Jesse's help,

but he's on location five hours away

with the grave digger.

[Jesse laughing]

Back in the shop, the team is about to dig their own grave.

They struggle to put in the engine

and link up the transmission.

It seems like they're facing a major problem.

- The [indistinct] gonna hit the prosperous

or the transmission mount.

- Yeah, we're gonna need a different oil pan,

and we're gonna have to get a longer drive shaft.

- Those are two big things to get hit with.

Two days into the build.

- Yeah, right now. - Yeah.

- [Chris] It's five o'clock.

- Yeah, that's major.

- Well, if we've got the motor earlier.

- [Narrator] The drive shaft doesn't fit.

They may have to make one from scratch or buy one.

- We got a problem with the oil, with the oil pan,

and the dry shaft short.

- That oil pan has been in this car before

'cause that oil pan took this motor out racing figure 8.

- [Narrator] Alex's input gets them going.

- I'm getting this done.

I don't know.

Can we go back any further or we may have to move that coil?

- Damn, steel cable that was wrapped around the driveway.

Okay, get out that.

- [Narrator] As Ed struggles underneath the car,

it seems the coil that's mucking up the works

is the last thing Shep put in before he left.

- You know we're good on the engine.

Good. - [Ed] All right.

- We're good on the engine. - Alright, we're right there.

- [Ed] You know what?

- [Fred] We just had to move this.

- [Ed] This dry shaft will work guys, will it?

- [Fred] Are you serious?

- Come on down a little bit.

[Ed grunts]

Little bit, little bit.

How's that looking?

- [Ed] I am perfect.

- Are we?

- [Ed] The line is straight.

The motor mount has a hole in the middle of the mount

where the bolt goes.

- Alright, we're good. - We're perfect up here.

- Turns out just because one stinking coil

was in the wrong spot,

pushed it back, right here, pushed it back.

Ed lined it up and we're perfect.

We're good to go.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Chris Barslay is a college student

and backyard inventor.

He once tried to make the family lawnmower remote control.

- Partway through is when I was younger,

my dad found out about it,

and he kind of stopped in the middle of it

so we'd have a lawnmower still.

- [Narrator] Chris also has ambitions outside the garage.

He's thinking about building a career in politics!

- I do political work and campaign work.

And yeah, I've been getting into that now

for the last few years.

And a lot of those people would have no idea

I do any of this kind of stuff.

[swishing]

[soft music]

- Hi.

- [Narrator] Shep mans up and comes back,

but only Fred is man enough to greet him.

- Hey Fred.

- You come back.

- I thought it was better not to leave it half done.

- Better.

Thank you.

- You know, at this point I just want to,

I figured I committed to do it.

Let's finish the job. - All right. Right on man.

Good job.

Well, glad to see you back.

I think I'm glad to see you back. [Shep chuckles]

- You want people to slide that in.

- Throw the starter.

Yeah, you're good.

Watch your finger.

- [Ed] Go quick though.

- [Narrator] John and Ed are making final tweaks

to the complex control panel.

The brains of the car that controls everything.

- When he pushes this button,

if it smokes, we just lost a thousand dollars

and we're not gonna make the challenge.

There's no possible way to recover if this thing goes.

And you get to push the button.

[Ed laughs]

- Should I like do it?

Eyes open or close?

- [Ed] Leave 'em open.

[whirring]

- Well, that's a good sign. - That's a good sign.

Everything works.

Devil has [indistinct]. - Woo!

- The control board works perfectly.

- The brain of a car is ready.

Not too shabby,

especially considering what's going on today.

- [Narrator] Reunited with the engine in place,

but untested, the team has two days left.

[metal clatter]

- [Schwag] Will the team stay together

and finish the build, or go remotely postponed?

- Fricking... - [Schwag] You be the judge.

- Fricking, fricking.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

- [Narrator] Day five.

Two more days to complete the build and meet the challenge.

[rock music]

The team still has some major tests left to accomplish.

Start the engine, test the throttle control,

test the transmission shift control,

mount the tires and finish the cosmetic details.

[metal crackling]

But Gins can't get control of himself

and keeps telling everyone what to do.

- What you do is to make sure

you don't suck a bubble in when you're done.

Wait, wait, don't leave.

Lemme just finish 'cause I want you to do this.

- You guys all...

- [Narrator] Chris finally let loose

and tells Gins how he really feels.

- Listen to a fricking thing I say.

I'm not a freaking shop boy.

I'm built an engine.

I know some stuff.

- I'm not saying you don't. - [Chris] You don't treat me

like I'm a some fricking shop boy.

- I don't treat you like that either.

- I'm the quiet guy on this, you know.

I don't go off ask most of my friends.

I'm usually a shy, polite guy,

but I'm fricking sick of that guy.

You know, I'm not his fricking little shop boy here,

and we're not his shop men, you know.

- Chris is the guy

that shows up to the office with the r*fle.

You know what I mean?

Keeps it all inside,

one day he is like fricking, fricking, fricking, wheez.

Fricking... [laughs]

- I don't know.

I don't know who it was going on.

I came in, I thought everything was cool.

- [Narrator] Jesse checks in on the team's progress.

They're further along than he thought they'd be.

- I actually didn't think they'd have the motor

and stuff in it already, but that's cool.

So tomorrow, I'll be here full day and we'll try to dial in

and all the body work and stuff.

Make it look good.

The vehicle must appear to be stuck.

That's tomorrow.

- [Narrator] The team's reward is a set of tires

from Bartel Motorsports.

This one goes out for Monster Garage, and Jesse...

[band member shouting]

- [Narrator] This build is completely reliant

on a clear signal.

What band more perfect to play than Static-X.

[rock music playing]

[band member sings]

The speed metal pioneers stop by

to give the builders a sonic energy boost.

[Ed drumming with metals]

[band member singing]

[rock music playing]

- Woo!

[everyone applauding]

- [Band Member] Thank you very much.

- [Narrator] They're about to test the car

to see if they can start the engine by remote control.

- Everyone, you ready?

Franking, three, two.

[rattling]

- [Narrator] Something's not right.

- Is the timing off?

- [Shep] No, the timing's right.

- Firing order.

- Firing order is right.

It's just not cranking fast enough.

The battery connections crack hanging up too,

because I got the sense that the battery we bought

isn't strong enough to cranking on.

- [Narrator] The team is fractured as they try to figure out

why the engine won't turn over.

- Which one did you have? - What?

Let's stop guessing and just turn it,

just wasn't spinning fast enough.

- Well, you are guessing.

- No, I'm not guessing.

It just wasn't spinning fast.

Now they have a battery charger.

Try it again with the battery charger on it.

- Transmitter's on.

- They're stressed as Ed gets ready to throw the switch.

- I'm gonna hit the starter.

Three, two.

[whirring]

[car growling]

[marching band music]

It's alive.

[Ed applauding and cheering]

None of them are happy.

We've been working for four days to make this car run.

We finally made it run and they all like, "Cool."

- And less worse.

- [Narrator] Shep was right.

With a bit more power and faster spin, the engine started.

- It took us a long time to make that engine run.

It should have been a little easier,

but it's a brand new engine.

So stuff happens.

- [Narrator] It's the end of day five.

Despite some rough patches, the team is getting closer

to actually meeting the challenge.

Day six.

Yesterday, the team succeeded in turning over the engine.

Today, they're eager to put the finishing touches

on the full sized RC monster and meet the challenge.

[upbeat music]

- We've already, we have throttle, we have brake.

We've done the transmission, ignition, fuel pump, starter.

We made it run yesterday.

The last thing we have to do is the steering,

and this is it right now.

Make or break time.

I go to the left, it goes to the left,

I go to the right, it goes.

See how it goes back to center on its own.

I steer it to the left, I let go,

it tries to pull itself back to center.

I steer it to the right, I let go,

it tries to go back to center.

See that, it went back to center on its own

when I let off the step. Yes!

We have control.

- [Narrator] The team is feeling

so good about their progress,

that they're happy to take a field trip for an RC surprise.

[remote car whirring]

The pros show our builders

what a top of the line remote controlled car can do.

[remote car whirring]

- That is real.

- [Narrator] Gins is brave enough to trust the RC pros.

Then it's his turn to see what he can do.

[remote car whirring]

- [Ed] Oh!

[remote car whirring]

- Yeah!

- [Narrator] Back in the garage,

the team dreams about making their car run like the RC pros.

[metal buzzing]

The pace picks up as the hours tick away.

[metal crackling]

The steering wheel is welded in place.

The final touches are taken care of.

The ultimate irony, the safety cage is reinstalled for a car

that will have no driver.

[rock music]

[device buzzing]

- Good.

- This is it.

This car's ready to run.

As far as we're concerned,

and if we didn't screw up anything, we'll be hunky-dory,

and if we did, we'll fix it.

- I mean,

I've stood on stage in front of thousands of people

and shoved swords down my throat and not been this nervous.

- [Narrator] The moment of truth is almost upon them.

The gas pedal is installed, the brakes are installed,

the engine runs.

Now it's time to back it up and take it out.

[engine roaring]

Everything hinges on this.

The car begins to back up and then stops.

Trouble!

- The brakes locked.

So what do we have to...

So the brakes will not release right now?

- The brakes won't release and the gear shift won't shift.

We're not done, we're not ready to back it out.

- So why won't the brakes release?

- Close the door.

We're going back to work. - We figure out.

- [Narrator] There are two problems.

The first one, the brakes are locked.

- One wrench, one bolt.

It was loose.

It was on the floor.

- [Chris] It was on the floor.

- The bolt that holds the potentiometer to the brake system,

the feedback loop was laying on the floor.

So the vibration of the car when we first cranked it up,

we're assuming it vibrated out,

which means we have to put a jam nut

or something on it to keep it in place.

Now the brake is working perfectly.

[device whirring]

- [Narrator] The other problem is a bit more serious.

Ed can't get the monster in gear.

It seems he has a sensitivity issue.

- The shifter is way too sensitive.

That the smallest touch, and it goes from one gear

through three others all the way into the last one.

There's no way to get it into a neutral

or anything while it's running.

When it's not running, it's different

because nothing's moving

and the noise and the engine, anything.

But as soon as you turn it on

and you touch that knob once, it goes whirr.

- [Chris] Underneath the push.

- [Narrator] Chris and Fred fix the throttle connection

to adjust the sensitivity.

[whirring]

- Good, it's good.

- You ready with the ignition?

[monster truck ignites]

- [Narrator] The second time is the charm.

The car remotely controlled backs off the lift.

- We have it first.

Yes! [echos]

- [Narrator] Jesse admires the engine's beefy sound.

- Everything's loud.

[engine roaring]

Let's just leave the hood off

and you can see all the stuff working.

[engine roaring]

That's pretty cool.

- [Ed] Break!

Brake, break!

[everyone laughs]

- [Chris] Yeah, the breaks.

- [Narrator] Ed's a little shaky on the brakes.

- [Ed] Yeah.

Supposed to punch a hole in the...

- You got brakes.

There you go.

- Yeah, they're just too slow in responding.

- [Narrator] The battery has run low,

causing the brake system to respond too slowly.

[fan clatters]

[engine growls]

The team watches as Ed takes the controls

to load the car on the transporter

to take it to the test location.

[fun music]

[engine roaring]

- [Shep] All right.

- Woo!

- We win the challenge.

Oh!

- Man, I did a four corner turn

and pull it up on a trailer baby.

That ain't bad.

[swishing]

- [Ed] Slow, slow, slow, slow!

- [Narrator] Now they're out in the real world

away from Monster Garage.

Brian doubles up on the fire extinguishers.

- I'm just gonna pull, bottle it into that container

if I gives me the controls.

Boom!

Here's your tools. [laughs]

Get in there Shep.

- [Narrator] Shep volunteers to be a passenger for the test.

- Alright, gimme that controller now.

- [Narrator] Jesse's willing to chance it.

Ed who earlier threatened to k*ll Shep,

now wants to save his life.

- Stupid!

- That's a sign of trust.

[Brian chuckles]

[rock music]

[Shep chuckles]

[rock music]

[car engine growling]

- It was definitely controlled remotely.

Good job guys.

I don't think it's gonna win.

[rock music]

Good job guys.

Monster Garage CDs, Mac Tools for everyone.

- Right on.

- Sweet.

[everyone applauds & cheering]

- [Narrator] The team gets some new tools.

The car gets a new paint job,

and that's how you make a monster.

[upbeat rock music]

Build cost tally: hard cash, freebie value,

vehicle cost, grand total.

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

- [Schwag] Wake up Monster fans.

It's time for another challenge.

We're back at Irwindale Speedway, Frankie.

- [Frankie] Two of the builders are arriving Schwag,

and they're not too happy to see each other.

- [Schwag] Both of them want to control the RC Beast,

but Jesse has an idea about how to settle things.

- Why don't you guys fight to the death right now

and see who's gonna drive it.

- [Schwag] Last time they tangled, Shep walked away.

- [Frankie] What's he gonna do this time?

- [Schwag] Looks like he's leaving again.

- [Frankie] He's a teacher, not a fighter, Schwag.

- [Both Schwag & Frankie] Bye bye Shep.

- Like every remote control car, it's the same, my turn.

- [Schwag] Playtime is over folks.

Jesse's got his El Camino figure eight racer.

- [Frankie] The last time we saw that car Schwag, man,

was when Jesse crashed into barefoot Billy.

[crash]

- [Schwag] It looks a lot different now.

But what does Jesse think of this classic

man versus machine showdown?

- It's like that Russian

trying to beat that computer at chess.

[upbeat rock music]

- [Schwag] Jesse's no pawn,

but he has a problem with the monster stare down.

[engine growling]

- It make you scared.

- [Schwag] And they're up.

- [Frankie] The RC car gets to jump on Jesse James.

- [Schwag] But wait, it's already totally out of control.

You gotta be kidding me.

Not much of a challenge for our man, Jesse James.

This machine's just not up to speed.

- [Frankie] Oh man, Schwag, the RC car just winged the wall.

- I just wrecked it.

- [Schwag] Maybe Shep should've stayed.

[rock music]

Now the RC Beast is cutting corners trying to catch up.

[rock music]

- [Frankie] But Jesse's about to lap the RC car.

[car engine revving]

[thud]

Now, he's just toying with his adversary.

- [Schwag] Wait a minute, can we say that on TV Frankie?

- [Frankie] We just did Schwag.

[car engine growling]

- [Schwag] You gotta be kidding me.

He is running circles around it.

[rock music]

[tire squealing]

[tire squealing]

- [Frankie] Some machines learn quickly,

but the learning curve for this monster is a dead end.

[crash]

[engine revving]

- [Schwag] Oh, be the RC car didn't see that coming.

[Schwag laughs]

- [Frankie] Oh, the machinery!

[crash]

[silent horror]

- Oh, man!

He wrecked my toy.

It's very squirrely and the track's a little wet,

so I was really breaking loose and doing a lot of donuts.

Started to get the feel of it right

as I started to get the hang of it,

Jesse knocks me into the wall and knocks me outta the race.

- [Frankie] Someone may lose to the RC Beast,

but not Jesse James.

Does he regret wrecking his own monster?

- I ain't sad for nothing.

- It's man against machine, the man obviously won.

- [Schwag] Get out your hankies RC fans.

But don't shed any tears,

because Jesse's got no time for RC car smash machinery trash

or kindergarten teachers who need a timeout.

- [Shep] Get, get, no.

Get used to it.

I'm not being on camera.

- I won't.

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

Sport survive.

The next month's the garage challenge

is just around the bang.

[high-intensity music]

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, Monster Garage

♪ Monster, monster

[soft music]

[loud music]