All language subtitles for Hot.Rod.Garage.S12E03.WEB.H264-RBB

On this episode
of Hot Rod Garage,

we might not have a shop

but we got lease money.

Lease money. Right here.

Now we got dents.

[upbeat music playing]

Welcome back
to Hot Rod Garage.

I am Alex Taylor
and this is Lucky Costa.

Hello. Is this Hot Rod Garage?

Well, look, okay?

If you guys remember
last season,

we may have lost the shop.

We are technically
garage-challenged.

We are very garage-challenged.

However,
according to that wall,

we are currently
at MotorTrend Studio,

so I think
we're kind of home for now.

Technically.

But, tech tip,
somebody invites you

to go to the race track
for the day and hang out,

lock your doors before you go.

They're trying
to kick you out.

Yeah. We came back.
There was nothing.

Anyways, we may not have
a shop currently

but we got a new season.

Yes, we do. Season 12.

You guys have us

for at least 13 more episodes.

-Thirteen?
-Yeah.

-Lucky number 13.
-Lucky number 13.

And with that said,
all that budget

had to go somewhere.

They didn't have
to pay the rent.

Nope. And something
we're not skipping on

is starting the season off
with a brand-new project

that's going to be
a really awesome car

to work on, a '72 Nova.

[Lucky] Ooh, you know
what Nova means in Spanish?

[Alex] It might mean no go.

[Lucky] Technically, that's
an excellent description

of this vehicle.

[Alex] I think
that's perfect for now.

There's a lot of stuff

that's not certain
around here,

but one thing is for certain

and that's that we want a car

that is very capable
on the street

and very capable to the venue

that we're gonna take it to,

which is most likely
gonna be a drag strip.

We want
a street-able race car.

We have bone marrow

that we have said
for a long time

is a street-able race car.

Yeah. It was at one point.

And we actually kind
of used that as an excuse

to an extent sometimes
when we're at the track,

and it may not perform
to how it should and we say,

"Well, it's
a street-able race car."

But we want something
that's very capable

at being a nice comfortable
cruiser on the street

that we can go grab a boba in

-just for fun.
-Well--

And we also want something

that when we take it
to the track,

it might just surprise

some people along the way.

-So cup holders, for sure.
-Absolutely.

I think... I think
we have everything we need.

[Alex] It has
some good parts on it.

But it is missing
a few pieces.

Maybe a transmission.

It is missing a transmission.

[Lucky] So small stuff
like a transmission?

[Alex] Yeah.
Fuel delivery and ignition.

Yeah, there's no
exhaust either.

-Okay.
-[Lucky] Okay.

So that gives us
something to do this week.

We are missing some parts.

But that's fine.

Other than that,
it's got good interior.

It's got good body.

There's some
good suspension parts

under the rear.

So in the spirit
of Drag Week...

we have no 220, no air,

no compressor,
a bunch of hand tools.

-Yeah.
-We're building it here?

-All right.
-Yeah, so we have

our track tool kit,

not a whole lot more.

-But all we need--
-Yeah, most... Everything

-is in storage somewhere.
-[Alex] Yeah. And, I mean,

this isn't something
that's gonna be done

by Friday.

We just want it
to run and drive.

We want it to not be a "Nova"

-by the end of the week.
-What do you want it to be

by the end of the week?

You are thinking it
but I'll say it for you.

-Gova.
-There you go.

-[both laughing]
-That's not a word.

All right. Let's get going.

[Alex] So we have a little bit

of a mystery engine here.

However, we've been told

that it has
some really nice stuff.

[Lucky] Right. It does have

good stuff on the outside.

Allegedly,
it's a 350 small block Chevy

-that was built by SCAT.
-Ooh.

I've never heard of this,

but the guy
that we got it from

said that
they were really good friends

with the people over at SCAT,

and they actually built it
for them.

So maybe if that's true,
that's actually good.

It could be one of those

maybe like an R&D motor

that they built over there,

or I know a guy
who works at SCAT,

so technically
it's SCAT-built.

Yeah. So we don't really know

if that part is true,
but we were told

that it has
SCAT rotating assembly,

forged bottom end,

350, AFR heads.

So there's
some good stuff here.

Yeah.
I don't question it at all.

I see high pressure
power steering hoses.

It has a vacuum diaphragm.

So if the cam is too big,

it prevents it
from making vacuum,

so a vacuum diaphragm allows

power brakes to work,

in some cases.

Other cases,
you need an air pump.

Lots of good stuff.

And really it's very...

It's clean under here.

What size is that carburetor?

-[Alex] Oh, wait.
-[Lucky] Oh, okay.

All right. All right.
It is a double donut.

[Alex] Double donut.

[Lucky] It is a dual-plane.

We don't actually
intend on this

being our forever engine.

However, hopefully, it really
is a nice enough engine

that maybe it can go
in another project

at a later date.

-Ooh.
-[Lucky] Okay. 1.5.

[Alex]
So steel stud mount rockers.

I don't know. I've not seen
anything questionable here.

It all looks very cool.
I'm liking it.

And those are new lines.
Awesome.

They do look like
they've been swapped out

or, potentially, I would say

fuel injection but it's got...
It's got a clamp on it.

So, yeah, it was probably...
For sure, carbureted.

It does have good lines on it.

[Alex] Yeah.

[Lucky]
I feel good about this.

[Alex] You know what?
I have to say,

I am very impressed
by the interior.

It's almost complete.

[Lucky] This is actually one
of the fanciest cars we have.

[Alex] I have to say,
I thought, at first,

that something was wrong

because I don't
smell anything.

There's no mold.
There's no mice.

There's nothing dirty.
There's every panel.

It's very not normal.

Well, you know,
every part that's not on here,

minus the transmission,

-looks like it's back here.
-[Lucky] Right.

So headers.

[Lucky] Those are actually
nice headers too.

[Alex]
We got a distributor here.

-[Lucky] Yeah.
-[Alex] Uh-huh.

[Lucky] We need to get
this thing on the lift

and find out more stuff.

Okay. So like you said,

put it up in the air,

check it out.

I'm surprised
we didn't get any kind

of nasty surprise back here.

It actually doesn't smell--

Something's weird.

No part of this car
has smelled

like any of the other cars
we've owned.

Hey, maybe not having a shop

is working out
for our best interest.

-Correct.
-No shop, nice car.

-Exactly.
-Deal.

So it looks like somebody
bought a whole bunch

of really high-end parts,
good stuff.

-Yeah.
-CalTracs, we love those.

And just started
throwing it at their car,

and at some point
just decided, "I'm done."

I mean,
these subframe connectors

look like they were installed

but don't show
any signs of wear.

It doesn't look like
a rust bucket though.

-Like it's got nice floor.
-No. It looks super clean.

There is a...
We can see it's got

a new gas tank in it.

It looks like new lines
have all been ran.

So it looks like
we have a 10-bolt rear end,

but we don't know
what's inside it.

There is an extra rear
brake caliper in the trunk,

which means that
maybe there's a problem

with one of the calipers.

It does look freshly rebuilt

on the rear brakes.

[Lucky] Trans cooler lines.

I thought
it was something else.

Trans cooler lines
are zip-tied

to the steering link.

We have a slight oil leak
going on somewhere.

That's more seepage
than anything.

You think it's just seepage?

I think it's been there
for a while

and they just put
the starting motor back

on the clean motor.

But there's a whole lot
right here, right here,

and right there.
I think worth checking.

[Lucky] You know what?
I like it.

I like the fact that
the important parts

have been coated in oil
ahead of time.

We can scrape that off

-and clean it up a little bit.
-Yeah.

[Lucky]
t has all the good stuff.

This is the definition
of good bones.

[Alex] It really is.
I think we have a project

on our hands
that's gonna be a lot of fun.

Yes. I can't wait.
Let's get this thing down.

-Then we'll prop up the motor.
-Yeah.

Put in... Should we try to put

the transmission in
right now?

-[Alex] Might as well.
-[Lucky] I think we should.

Let's just bolt the
transmission up for right now,

confirm that the bolt pattern
is correct,

and put in a crossmember.

I think we have
all this stuff, right?

-We should.
-Okay. Let's do it.

-We have a plan.
-We're working.

-We got a plan.
Let's get to work.
-We're working, people.

Okay. So we have some
used parts floating around.

Somebody came up
with a torque converter.

It says 2,500 stall on it.

I can't really determine

what the flashpoint
is gonna be.

Yabbie-dabbie.

-Uh-huh.
-[chuckles] Down, down.

-Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
-Unless you have

-a can spec, but--
-Ah, aha.

So here's the deal.

We're test fitting
the mystery torque converter

-onto the flex plate.
-Uh-huh.

Do any of the holes line up?

-Yes, they do.
-Nice.

Keep your hand on that plug.

Otherwise,
you get a new hairdo.

That's fun.

So before putting
the torque converter

on the transmission,

we made sure
it fits the flex plate.

At which point,
now we will put it

on the transmission,
put the whole thing in.

It's no fun
doing it the other way.

Actually, it's still fun.

Half the mystery solved.
It fits.

We're halfway...
It fits this half.

-Does it work?
-Let's see if it fits

-on the other one.
-Next question.

Yeah. Can I get that?

-You can have it.
-Carry this over here.

That could be your little guy.

-I'll see you over there.
-Bye-bye.

-One, two, three.
-Two, three.

All right.

Ready to put this in?

[hums]

Hitting a bunch of wires.

That's gonna go.

There you go.

All right.

There you go, buddy.

Holy smelly.

[machine whirring]

Okay. So let
the transmission jack down.

It looks like everything
is staying in place.

I'm very happy with it.

I think we're done with you,

Jackie stand.

On to the next.

Okay, Alex.
So the list of stuff

to do to the car
was the transmission,

-seems pretty important...
-Correct.

...carburetor seems
pretty important

but that's pretty
straightforward...

Absolutely.

...and the exhaust
was a surprise.

Well, the exhaust is
always a surprise on cars.

Yeah, and we're limited

to the type of work we can do.

We can't really weld
or anything.

It's a storage facility.

It's in the lease.

Store cars only.

-I think we're kind of already
in violation as it is.
-Yeah.

So if we catch
anything on fire,

that's probably bad news.

-Right.
-[Lucky] So for that reason,

you guys reached out
to Holley, right?

[Alex] Yeah, who makes headers

that go with a Summit exhaust
bolt-on kit.

-[Lucky] Cool.
-[Alex] We know

how bolt-on usually goes,

and that it usually means

a little bit of pain later

and it'll
probably fit, kinda.

[Lucky] Boom shaka a-laka.

One bolt in the--

Rear.

And then we'll do
a little notching

on the gasket

and drop it right in

when we get to that point.

But, for now, look at that.

Clearance around the header.

It looks-- oh, yeah.
Look at that.

Just a little air gap
right there. It's perfect.

[Alex] Would you look at that?

Just a bit outside,
Bob Uecker.

Okay. I'm feeling
confident about this.

It looks like a lot of room.

I just took out
one motor mount bolt

and I could
technically put that in

without scratching
the headers one iota.

I wanna go ahead
and scratch the headers,

but I could have done it
without scratching.

And they're in.
And they're in.

[Alex] Aha.

There we go.

And then it turns it back out.

There we go.

[Lucky]
Uh, I think it fits.

Okay. So we've made a couple

of field trip projects.

It's gonna be cut
the prefab flanges

if this had standard
collector's end off

of the "somewhat universal
but almost perfectly fitting"

exhaust system from Summit.

Correct.

And use the adapters
from Hooker,

and weld them
to the Summit thing.

To adapt
to the Hooker headers.

-The Hooker headers.
-But the only thing

is we are currently
missing some clamps.

And some 220 and a welder.

Yeah. So--

I probably have
some clamps at my shop.

-Okay.
-I got some hangers too.

-We're leaving,
what that said.
-[Lucky] Okay. Right.

-Bye-bye.
-We're gonna get

in the streets.

We're at the Lucky's on Loan.

Luck... Lucky's on Loan?

-I like that.
-Yeah. So we're gonna be here

on this show all week,

so I told some friends

that they could...
If they had a little side job,

they could do
over in this unit.

Yeah.

So let's see how much trouble

-we could get into right now.
-We're gonna see
if we can re-invade?

Maybe.

Ka-kaw.

[Alex] Hooley-hoo.

[Lucky] I'd like
to cut a couple of pipes

and weld something on.

Okay. I just didn't wanna--

Is it cool?

[Alex] So we had to leave
our parking lot garage mall,

whatever we're calling
our workspace

because we don't have tools

and we can't weld, cut,
and do things.

So we came over
to Lucky's Unit on Loan,

which is currently loaned out

to the Roadkill guys,

and we asked
to re-borrow the tools

that Lucky just loaned out.

So we got our stuff welded up.

We're gonna go back
to our "garage"

and put our parts on.

And we'll be one step closer

to actually getting
the Nova running.

[machine whirring]

So I believe we have

most of the heavy
lifting done.

-[Alex] Yeah.
-Am I wrong?

-No, we got most of it done.
-Yeah.

What we're gonna do
is go through,

check things, these CalTracs,

even though they look like
they're installed properly,

the nuts were actually never
tightened on for the bars

and a preload was never set.

So we're gonna go through
check stuff like that,

make sure it's all set
and good to go.

And while we're under here,

we wanna go ahead and pull

the rear differential cover

and see what we have inside.

And... I mean,

I'm mentally adding stuff

to the to-do list
of upcoming project on this.

-Keep that to yourself.
-[Alex] Yeah, it's a secret.

I'm mentally
subtracting stuff.

-Keep that to yourself.
-Okay.

All right.
With that said,
I'm done for now.

-We're waiting on parts.
-You're done?

-[Alex] I'm done.
-All right. I'm out.

-Bye.
-See you.

[upbeat music playing]

So it seems like we're doing
extra work for no reason.

Why would we take
this cover off

and check what's in it?
Well, a couple reasons.

One, we don't actually know

that it's got fluid in it.

So bare minimum,
I need to check

and make sure it has fluid.

It's not something brand new

that the project
never got fluid.

Two, I wanna see
what's inside of it.

As we get ready to progress
with this car,

we probably won't keep
this rear end

'cause we're going
to be wanting to add power,

but, in the meantime, we will.

And as we started that project
and that progress,

we wanna make sure
that this part

isn't gonna be our weak link.

So we're gonna do a little
bit of investigating,

just making sure what we got

and kind of figuring
the car out.

The car is still new to us

and we wanna make sure it,

one, survives
and, two, is right,

'cause that's what we're
trying to do with this car

right from the start.

[Lucky] And, look,
that oil is brand new.

I think it was rebuilt

-because it's fresh oil.
-[Lucky] Right.

[machine whirring]

-That looks new.
-[Alex] Oh.

Well, it's ran a little.

You can see a little bit
of metal in there.

[Lucky] It looks
a little cafe latte.

Okay.

Spin it around,
see what's in there.

But you can see on the gear

that they just
set it up recently.

You can see the grease on it.

[Lucky] Oh, yeah. I see that.

The pitch
and pattern right there.

So it's a new ring gear.

Now is a great time
to figure out

-what gear ratio it is.
-[Alex] Yeah.

So--

[Alex] You're gonna put
a mark on it?

-Well, no. Just read the gear.
-I don't know if I can see it.

It's usually written on
the outside part of the ring.

[Alex] Right there.
No, that's not...

That's just the serial number.

Keep going.

-Is there a part number?
-[Alex] No.

[Lucky] This could
be the budget stuff.

Okay. So we searched
the ring gear

and all we found
was more clues

-but no answers.
-Clues but no answers.

So we decided
we would go ahead

and spin the tire,

count the rotation
of the drive shaft

to count our...
Or to figure out

our gear ratio.

We're gonna spin that thing.

So, anyways, long story short,

we have a 350 rear gear,

which is great for the street,

not so much for what
we wanna do at the track.

But it is good enough
to get us to the track.

And, thankfully, the rear end

actually looks fresh and new.

It's been recently set up.

You can still see the dye
on the ring gear.

And it will get us by.

Speaking of track,

have you tried
the chili dog there?

-No.
-They're amazing.

-Noted.
-Mmm-hmm.

Anyways, this is something

that we're going to add
to our upgrade list

at a later point in time.

Will it probably end up

getting swapped out
completely?

I'm voting for that.

Maybe to a nine-inch

'cause we're gonna be
making more power, hint, hint,

but this is good
for what we're doing.

Okay. So walked around,

did a little peeking in there.

Saw a bunch
of loose nuts, bolts,

and hardware on the CalTrac.

We tightened
all that stuff up.

Alex has given
the differential

some attention that
was desperately needed.

We now know what the gear is.

Get these wheels back on

and move forward.

All right. So we had taken
the spark plugs off

the other day when
we were doing the headers

and that is beneficial to us

working on it right now.

Now, when I drop
a distributor in,

I generally
just point the rotor

towards
the number one cylinder.

That is generally
where the number one

spark plug wire goes.

I think that's it. Here we go.

Boom.

So the cam and the motor,

it still remains
a mystery motor.

But we went with a carb

that's pretty universally
sought after.

It's a lucky 9,000.

Sometimes they work well.

Sometimes they hurt
your feelings.

I also do not see
a fuel bar...

-We have that.
-...a lug.

-Do we have a lug?
-We have that.

All right. And a throttle
linkage bracket.

Don't know if we have that.

[Lucky] Okay.

-Moving forward.
-[Alex] I'll get parts.

[Lucky] Carb's on.

Okay.
So Alex had a good point.

A lot of things
pointed to this vehicle

having fuel injection
at some point.

The pump is inside the tank,

which generally means
it's gonna be, you know,

60 pounds
or something or more.

You can regulate that down

but it's not looking
like they did.

We have a return line,

AN fitting out the back,

which is all telltale
of potentially

being fuel-injected
at some point.

So we're gonna
hook all this up.

We're gonna turn the key on

or power up that pump.

If it zips straight up
to 40 or 50,

we'll be swapping out
this regulator

or figuring out a way
to turn it down to...

This is
a mechanical regulator.

I don't think
there's a spring in there.

We could probably turn it
all the way down to zero.

So we'll just be cautious
of the fuel pressure

as to not damage
the carburetor.

So I'm putting
a bolt in this hose

and I'm going
to tap the fuel pump.

And, hopefully, it doesn't
spray gas all over my face.

But I wanna try
and look at the gauge here

and see if it maybe stays
really low for a carburetor.

But if it goes up too high...

Anything above 10
is too high for a carburetor.

No. Straight to 60.

So it is fuel-injected
on the regulator.

So--

So we know
we can put a case closed

that it was probably...

Most likely
a terminator on here.

[Lucky] Yeah, it was... Right.

And then
we want it to be lower.

Much mo' low.

All right.
So that is down pretty far.

I don't necessarily know
that it's down far enough,

'cause we only want 6 pounds
or so into a carburetor.

Right.

[Lucky] So...

-[Alex] Hmm.
-Oh, wait.

That went straight to a...
Straight to 100.

[Alex] Wait. Cranking it down
would add pressure.

-Good point.
-[Alex] I was wondering,

but then I thought
that I didn't...

Now, that one
may not go low enough.

We may have to get
another regulator.

[Lucky] Maybe.

Yeah, so that's up
all the way.

That's doing nothing.

So this should actually...

If that is correct,
it should bypass directly

back into the tank
as soon as I apply voltage.

Oh.

It's circulating
right back into the tank,

but it says
it's like 20 pounds.

It's not leaking any...
Well, it's not leaking a lot.

[Alex] So I think
we need a new regulator.

Yeah. We need a...
Another regulator.

-Do we have anything here?
-[Alex] We have nothing.

Welcome back
to waiting on parts.

[upbeat music playing]

So you think
100 PSI is too much?

Uh, you know,
maybe just a little.

What's that carburetor
rated at?

[Alex] Not that.

[laughter]

But we do have a little bit
of an interesting situation

'cause we have an...
Like fuel injection pump,

so it's making
a lot of pressure...

Right. Right.

...and then we need
a regulator that also returns

but we need it
to regulate down
to low pressure.

-Like nothing.
-[Alex] Yeah.

So there's one thing that
we can actually do today,

'cause we actually
have a couple tools.

We're gonna go ahead
and get the regulator
mounted up.

-Regulator's mounted up, yeah.
-Mount up.

Uh-huh.

So we have a wide selection
of select a hole

on the firewall right here

where this is
supposed to mount.

None of them work
except for these two.

And I'm getting ready
to mount this crooked

and it's gonna drive me nuts,
but this is not gonna stay.

It's very temporary.

So rather than add
another set of holes,

we're just gonna live with it.

That's me twitching from
my anxiety this is giving me.

[machine whirring]

Okay. So Alex has
the regulator all installed

on the hose clamps.

Not something
you often get to say

when you're installing
a fuel system.

With a crooked regulator.

Yeah. And the hose clamps are
actually heater hose clamps.

Totally the wrong size.

Yeah.

So, now,
we're gonna stab some voltage

into that wire,
and it will either spray gas,

catch on fire,
or work perfectly.

-Any leaking?
-[Alex] No.

-[Lucky] Is it on fire?
-No.

Working perfectly then.

-Sweet.
-Let's check.

Man, should we give it a kick?

-[Alex] Give it a kick.
-All right.

[car engine revving]

Okay. So we have
amazing oil pressure.

We have 15 volts, at least,
fuel pump's running, and...

What happened?

-I don't know. What'd you do?
-What'd you do, Alex?

-I didn't do it.
-[Lucky] All right.

[car engine revving]

Super.

All right.
So start-up went pretty good.

As far as we know,
the motor is running
and have...

Yeah, we finally have
heat in the shop.

-[Lucky] Heat, man.
-First time.

Supposed
to bring our own heater.

[Alex] We had to bring
our own heater.

-Yeah.
-But it started up.

Ran well.

The only thing is we need
to keep it running.

But there's stuff
that was just kind of done

for a start-up.

So we gotta do
a little bit of wiring,

including fuel pump
and get the coil wire

actually hooked up.

And then we need to go
hunt some wheels and tires.

We also need to set timing.

But we need to find
some wheels and tires.

We're going hunting.

-He not listening.
-We hunting?

He's not listening.

Basically,
the wheels and tires

in the back are rubbing.

We wanna get to the sunshine,

Lucky's tired of me talking,

so we're gonna finish up here.

Then we're going to the shop
and going to find wheels.

He won't remember it happened
in like 15 seconds from now.

[mimics talking] Okay.

-I'm sorry. What?
-He already forgot. See?

[Lucky] All right. Good.

So, clearly, there's more
than enough room in there

for some other tire
but not that one.

Stuck.

-Not enough room.
-All right.

The rim back spacing offset
and everything looks fine.

-Yup.
-[Lucky] The tire,

there's just too much tire
on that rim.

[Alex] We just need
a new set of wheels and tires

that we can borrow
for a minute.

What a nice stroll
through the cold, dark...

It is rather brisk.

-[Alex] Yeah. Okay.
-[Lucky] These are...

No, it's a little
low profile-y.

[Alex]
That's not the one that...

-Not gonna fly.
-Nope.

A little blooper car.
This is your car.

[Alex] I missed this car.

It was my rental
when I was out here.

-Um, unfortunately...
-Not gonna work.

Wait. Wing boy was here?

Yeah.

-That explains that.
-And Batman. Okay.

Aww, look.

[Lucky]
This car is really fast.

I'm gonna say right now,
the Typhoon...

-[Alex] The Typhoon.
-[Lucky]...is amazing.

'Phoon you later.

Um, ah, this is five-on-five.

This is truck bolt pattern.

[Alex] Yeah,
we're not gonna be...

-[Lucky] It won't fly.
-...appropriating that.

Um, Ford, NASCarlo.

NASCarlo's a wide five.
Do you see those hubs?

-[Alex] Yeah.
-[Lucky] That's crazy.

Pretty sure, though,

if we touch
anything on this side,

we'll probably
get in trouble.

[Lucky] Yeah,
we'll hear about that.

That will be in email,
all caps.

I see a candidate.

[Lucky] These...
This, for sure, won't fit.

[Alex] Yeah, it's okay.

[Lucky] It won't be
on the same boat.

[Alex] Yeah,
but look at those fronts.

We just made this thing nice.

Do we wanna start
taking it apart?

Okay, listen, hear me out.

We are going to keep this,
it's gonna stay together.

However, we're gonna borrow
those wheels and tires,

then get new wheels
and tires for that one.

Mmm-hmm.

As we go faster,
we're gonna mini tub it,

and then we can put
a radio under.

So let's just take it--

I was fully hoping
we could steal stuff...

Uh, borrow stuff from some...
Somebody else.

Well, I think we'll get
an email about that.

So we're borrowing
from ourselves.

[impact wrench whirring]

[upbeat music playing]

All right.
That's torqued to spec,

as in three ugga duggas.

Uh, drop the car,
check the front lug nuts,

make sure they're all tight.

And it's finally, finally
time to hit the road.

Uh, it's also
the first time this week

that it's been sunny
in California.

So, impeccable timing.

[blues music playing]

[car engine roaring]

Okay. So far we've made it
hundreds of feet.

We have made hundreds of feet.

We have gone hundreds of feet
with no problems whatsoever.

Hey, it could be worse.
We have done worse with...

-Well, maybe not better.
-With less.

-[Alex] Yeah. Yeah.
-Yeah.

Yeah. But, uh, yeah,
there's a peculiar smell

-and a little bit of smoke.
-Yeah.

And we just spent
a couple minutes

trying to figure out
what it was

and we've agreed

it's something
we don't smell often.

It's a brand-new
clean exhaust system.

Yeah.

That's not cobbled together
with a bunch of scrap

from all over the place.

It almost smells a little bit
like jalapeno peppers.

-It does. It does.
-[laughs]

Um, the... Oh, you know what,
I did notice
on the transmission

there's a vacuum
shift modulator.

Oh, okay.

And it is not
hooked to anything.

-That could be part of...
-[Lucky] So...

-...our problem.
-[Lucky] Yeah, that's...

I mean, it will force itself
to shift eventually,

but it just make us
drive around all aggressive.

Okay.

Uh, so yeah, note to self.

-I'll put that on the list.
-[Lucky] Okay.

Put that on the list.

So part of what
we're doing right now

is trying to figure out
what the car needs,

'cause we're going to be
taking it to the track

to give it a shakedown pass

and get an "ET" on what
our brand-new car will do.

Hold on. I'm doing it.

[car engine roaring]

[blues music playing]

A lot of oil.

Uh, it's spraying everywhere.

[Lucky] Where is that?

I don't... I can't...

It's up front.

I'm gonna move my head

'cause you will boink my head
off the window really hard.

I would never do that.

-He has done that.
-As far as you know.

As far as you guys know.

[Lucky] All right.

From drive, lift up to safety
and go directly into park.

All the way to park.
Very nice.

It is spraying oil.

[Lucky] Is it oil?

[Alex] We have a massive leak.

On small-block Chevrolets,
we do a lot of LS stuff,

but on a conventional
small-block Chevrolet,

it has a mechanical fuel pump

mounted on the side
of the block.

At which point, there is
a fuel pump drive shaft

that rides off the camshaft,

and then you have
a little bolt in the front

that you can push
that shaft up

and you tighten the bolt,

holds it in place,

install the pump,
remove the bolt,

and put it in a shorter bolt
that does not interfere
with the shaft...

Right.

...but allows it
to not leak oil.

That bolt, however,

is missing
and it is not right here.

This is totally something
you should actually

expect when you buy a car

that a bunch of other people
have been working on.

This car was sitting around.

Somebody needed that bolt.

I hope it worked out for you.

I mean,
we steal stuff all the time.

-We did it all week.
-Yeah.

So, lucky for us, we actually
came to the hardware store

to get a bolt for our,
um, air cleaner up top...

-Correct.
-...so we can put that on.

And, uh, we're going
to pick up one more,

which is gonna go right there.

And we are
solving problems already.

Have we got
the budget for this?

I don't know.
It's kind of expensive.

[blues music playing]

Okay. Which way you wanna go,
west or east?

What are my options with east?

West, I'm familiar with.
East, I am not.

That's fun.

Okay, we'll figure it out.

[car engine revving]

We're not getting
anywhere near full throttle.

So primaries only.

-I'll put that down.
-Okay.

Test throttle linkage.

[Alex]
And then the back of the T...

We need to put...

We need to put a T
on the back of the manifold,

-so we can do...
-Correct.

-...reference there.
-Add a...

Add a manifold vacuum T,

-or--
-Should we stop

in a parts store?

We could.

It really depends
on whether or not

it does a burnout right now.

-That's the dictating factor?
-[Lucky] That's the...

[tires squealing]

[car engine revving]

-Yeah, yeah. We need vacuum.
-We need vacuum.

Yeah, we need vacuum.

I mean, overall,
it's a pretty comfy cruiser.

You know what,
this is a nice little driver.

-It is.
-The ride is firm.

-[Alex] Yes.
-Not rough, not overbearing.

[Alex] No,
it's a good cruiser.

And like
if it was shifting properly,

it'd be like a really...

-Pretty smooth ride.
-[chuckles]

[Lucky] So technically,

the test drive
was an absolute success.

[Alex] The car overall
handled really well.

[Lucky] We made
a little party list.

[Alex] Correct.
We made a party list,

which includes checking
the throttle linkage.

[Lucky] We need full throttle.

We have about
one quarter throttle.

[Alex] We need to hook up

the vacuum modulator
on the shift...

On the transmission.

[Lucky] It would be nice
if it shifted

just under red line.

[Alex] Yeah. We had to just...

[mimics engine revving]
And then we get a shift.

And then we actually have
a hood to put on this.

-We're gonna...
-[Lucky] What?

[Alex] ...slap it--

[Lucky]
I'm not covering this up.

[Alex] We are.
We have a hood
we're gonna put on.

Hood's going on
and then we will be ready

to hit the road
and drive to Irwindale, okay?

[Lucky] Well, I guess
for aerodynamic purposes,

-it will be allowed.
-[Alex] Okay. Deal.

Okay. So, that's a wrap
on the day...

-On the week, actually.
-On the week.

On the first version
of this car, actually.

Right. Step one.

Yeah. So, as we go through
this, we have two goals.

Remember the goals?

Um, to not get caught,
but for sure have fun.

Oh no,
those are my personal goals.

Yeah.
No, definitely not the goals.

The goals are to drive
on the street really well

and to be
a really good race car.

Right.
And every upgrade that we do

will actually be an upgrade.
Everything that we fix...

Change from now on
will be a step up.

Yup. So for now,
we're going to put

our small-block Chevy

with our loaner Turbo 400
to the test,

take it to the streets,

drive it to the track,
and get a baseline

on what our eighth-mile
time looks like.

I'm down with that.

-You ready to hit the road?
-Yeah.

-Road trip?
-Are you ready?

-Yeah.
-Let's go.

All right. Road trip.

All right.
It is finally time to take

our new '72 Nova project out
on its very first excursion.

We actually made it.

-To where?
-Today.

[Alex] Today. [chuckles]

We made it
all the way to today.

We did a transmission,
we did ignition system,

full exhaust system,
front to back.

-Yeah.
-[Lucky] Uh, cooling system.

I think we just
fix it up a little bit.

We didn't... Yeah,
we didn't do too much there.

It had fuel injection.
We never saw that.

-[Alex] No.
-We put a carburetor on it.

It runs pretty decent.

Yeah. So we got to take it out

for a little bit
of a test cruise.

-It did good.
-Yes.

Uh, we did some minor repairs
and fixes along the way,

stopped at a bunch of shops

as we hunted down
a couple parts.

-[Lucky] Mmm-hmm.
-But if you guys remember,

we were working in our
temporary shop location

as we wait to move
into our new home.

And it was so warm
and comfortable in there,

and super cozy.

None of that's true.

However, we were also
hindered by the fact

that we didn't have a welder,
we couldn't cut,

so we had
a lot of bolt-on stuff,

but luckily we had
a good set of bones here,

-which made that possible.
-Absolutely.

And the stuff
that we weren't able to weld,

you may be seeing it
in just a little while.

This project
has a long life ahead of it.

We wanna make it a really
awesome street-able race car.

And today, we're going to put

both of those pieces
to the test

'cause we're going
to drive our car

to the drag strip.

Is it super-fast yet?

No. Is it super street-able?

We're gonna see.
Seems semi street-able.

Tell you in 15 minutes.

All right. So ready?

-[Lucky] I'm ready.
-Set?

-Are you ready?
-[Alex] Set?

-Two times.
-Okay.

We gone.

[car engine revving]

Okay. So we are on our way
to Irwindale Raceway.

You know where it is?

In Irwindale?

Beautiful
Irwindale, California.

[Alex] Yeah.

And what is it,
Thursday Thunder

or Thunder Thursday,
or something?

-Something like that. Yeah.
-Yeah.

We're going
to an actual test and tune

or Thursday Night Drag,
whatever you wanna call it.

And this one
should pass tech.

-Yeah.
-Yeah.

Maybe. I've actually never
had a car pass tech there.

-Really?
-Yeah.

-Huh.
-Just saying.

Okay.

We barely had Bonemaro
pass tech there.

Yeah.

My first time down that track
was at Power Tour West.

-Oh, nice. Okay.
-You were there.

Yeah. It did not go down it.

So we're just gonna get

a baseline on it
this time, right?

Yeah. All we're doing
is getting a baseline

-because, honestly...
-[clattering]

Pull over.

Pull over, pull over.

Sounds like a spark plug.

Something's wrong.

-Spark plug came out.
-[engine sputtering]

Okay, guys. I said
we were getting a baseline.

We're getting
more than that right now.

So it sounds
like something knocking

or like literally
an exhaust fell off.

-That's not good.
-[Alex] No, it's bad.

It's almost like we're not
seeing anything on the top,

so it's almost like
the knock we're hearing

is deep inside and internal.

The... I'm gonna
start it up right now.

-And I'll listen.
-[Lucky] All right.

[engine sputtering]

-That's not good.
-[Lucky laughs]

That is not good.

Is it through the carburetor?

Well, I was scared
to get too close

'cause yes, it's like...
Do you wanna listen?

-I'll start it.
-Yeah. Start it up.

Okay.

[engine starts]

So what is happening there

is the compression
is occurring

while it's in
the intake stroke.

So timing chain shifted,
broke, came apart,

or we broke a valve, a seat,
something like that

'cause compression is coming
back through the carburetor.

You wanna pull the valve cover

just to see
if we see anything?

Uh...

Let's just do it. It's for...

-That's... Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-Okay.

[Lucky] So we're gonna
pull up the valve covers

and see if maybe
a rocker arm popped off

or a push rod bent.

-Oh, back rocker.
-Found it.

[Lucky] Found it.

-Stud broke?
-[Alex] Oh, yeah, it broke.

[Lucky] Yeah.

[Alex] Okay.

If we could get a stud,

I think we could get
the rocker back on.

Um, yeah.

It's...
The push rod's not hurt.

-[Lucky] Yeah.
-[Alex] All right.

So the thought right now,
so you can see,

the stud literally
just like sheared off.

Is there an underlying
cause or culprit?

Possibly.

Maybe that stud was bad.

You know, you get bad parts.

Everything else
appears to be okay.

So we're gonna get out
from in front of the car

where traffic
is coming behind the car

and start making some calls
and see if we can get a stud,

and see if we can
get back on the road.

This thing's super-hot.

You want a tattoo?

I already tried, I did.

[Lucky] So,
busted side of the road.

Metro Freeway
Service Patrol rolls up.

He can hook up
a car pretty quick.

Now let's go see
if we can find some snacks.

Backing it
into the shade for us.

[Alex] Nice guys.

[Lucky] Very considerate
tow truck driver.

So Mark King, the parts guy,
is out hunting down parts

from a local
auto repair shop, right?

[Alex] And in the spirit
of doing Drag Week things,

we're gonna fix it
on the side of the road,

get back on the road,
and hit the track.

[Lucky]
Fix it on the next exit too.

[Alex] I had him
get a couple extra studs.

[Lucky] And some more snacks.

-[Alex] And that too.
-[Lucky] All right.

Okay. Rocker replaced.

-Yes, it has been.
-Stud's been replaced.

-[Alex] Yes.
-But I'm...
But I'm still here.

-[Alex] I was gonna say
you're... But...
-I'm still here.

[Alex] I knew
that's where you were going.

-I was trying to catch it.
-Um, valve cover's back on...

-Uh-huh.
-...coil plug back in.

I think a couple zip ties
in the fan strut

and we are
Irwindale Dragstrip ready.

Yeah. I mean,
as fun as this has been,

the dragstrip
will be a lot more fun.

And clearly
we're out of donuts.

We might as well just...

We might as well just move on.

What'd you want, man?

Dude, we got to go.

Alex, tell this guy
to get out of here.

We got to go.
We got to get in the wind.

-Shoo, fly.
-We're out of here.

Bye.

[car engine revving]

[upbeat music playing]

[Lucky] We made it
all the way to Irwindale,

in beautiful Irwindale,
California.

[Alex] Yes, we did.

With our brand-new '72...

Brand new to us, '72 Nova

that we took
on its first cruise

and now it's at
its first track day with us,

but it wasn't without
a little bit of trouble

along the way.

Absolutely. The first cruise
left us with a...

-Our first bruise.
-Yes, it did.

-[laughs]
-Yes, it did, actually.

So, we are finally
at the track

ready to put
a baseline on this car.

[Lucky] Absolutely.

And we are here specifically
for chili dogs...

-No, we are not--
-...and six-second passes.

No.

-Uh...
-[laughs]

-A little ambitious.
-All right.

None of that's gonna happen.

Little ambitious.
However, we are planning

to build this car out
over its life here at HRG.

[Lucky] Right.

And we want it to be
a fast car at some point.

Sure. And we want
this motor to survive.

[Alex] Yes. However, this
motor won't stay forever,

-but it's a baseline
for now.
-[Lucky] Yeah. We want...

It's gonna be
a good plantation
for something else.

Yes. On the way here,

we did hear
quite a bit of pinging.

-[Lucky] Sure.
-So I messed with timing
a little.

There was
some drum roll going on,

but I think we're running
some mystery fuel.

We're not very certain
about what's in that motor.

It could be
a high compression.

-Yup.
-[Lucky] Could be.

So, we're going to get
a little bit of higher octane

race fuel from the track,
put it in there,

check timing, go to tech,
and then make a pass.

Uh-huh.

We'll get you a snack
somewhere in between.

[laughs] Make a pass.

This is gonna be good.

Don't go anywhere.

[upbeat music playing]

[Lucky] Alex pulling
the Nova up right now.

She's not gonna do a burnout.

Uh, she might put a little
heat into it just for fun.

And remember,
we're not trying to set
any land speed records.

You're gonna see
the car go down the track

under throttle,
full throttle I might add.

And just sort of a shakedown.

Seeing what stays together,
and what doesn't.

[car engines revving]

[upbeat music playing]

[Lucky] So one of the deals
about doing burnout

with shredded tires
is you throw a lot of water

up into the wheel well.

She's staged right now,
so she's getting ready to go.

[car engines revving]

[Lucky]
All the parts still on it?

Barely.

I think it was pinging
all the way down the road.

Was it detonating a lot?

It felt like it.
It's either exhaust...

it's either exhaust or...
I don't know.

It sounded like a misfire
all the way down the track.

-Not so much detonation.
-That may be what it was.

That was incredibly...
disappointing.

-[laughs]
-Are all the parts on?

-Does it still run?
-It does.

-That's a success...
-I mean--

-...is what that is.
-So to be up on...

On the positive side,
it made it down the track...

[Lucky] Uh-huh.

...and it made it
down the return road.

Success.

[Alex]
It didn't feel like it had
bottom-end snappiness

-or top end.
-[Lucky] Oh.

[Alex]
So we're missing all three.

[Lucky] Right.

[Alex] So we're gonna do
a little investigating,

see what we can do
to maybe drop that baseline.

And this is going to leave us
with lots in the think tank

to decide where we
wanna go forward with this.

I just took a ton
of timing out of it,

so let's make another pass.

[Alex] Okay.

[upbeat music playing]

[announcer] Third Generation's
Nova getting ready to go.

[car engine revving]

[tires squealing]

[Lucky]
I do feel better about it.

We changed the ignition wire

and took some timing
out of it.

[car engine revving]

[Lucky] Still falling apart.

So that was just
as bad as the last pass.

We did some changes,
but nothing critical.

Pretty sure we're gonna take
that distributor out

and throw it in the trash.

Then actually put a little
more love into that motor.

Bring that thing to life.

Sounds like
it has a good base,

good bottom end, but, uh...

you know,
just not hanging out.

[upbeat music playing]

Is that a wrap?

That's a wrap
for this episode,

but it is not a wrap
for this car

because it has
a long life ahead of it.

It does.
And it is lease money.

-It is.
-[Lucky] So...

We don't have the shop,
but we got the car.

I mean,
that's a pretty fair trade.

Yeah. They spent
the same amount of money.

[Alex] Yeah, true.

So we want it to be
a really good street car,

a really good race car.

We have it kind of
there on the street.

-Do we though?
-No. Probably not.

Okay. All right.

It did...
You said... You said it.

Tows well?

Tows amazing
behind a tow truck.

[Alex] Yeah. So it needs
a little bit of work.

I feel like we've been
on a roller coaster

of ups and downs,
but overall...

-You break dancing just now?
-Overall...

-Okay. Yeah.
-I feel really good about it.

-I'm glad we got this car.
-[Lucky] Yeah.

I think it's great.
It's a good start.

And it's one
of the nicest cars

we've started with, honestly.

It is actually a super nice,
comfortable, fun-driving car.

I had a blast driving it here.

We were cruising,
meet people...

-Yeah.
-...on the freeway...

We just need
a little more horsepower.

But are you ready
to go to bed?

It is late.

Don't we have a few people
we need to thank?

Yes, we do.

-For example?
-[laughs]

We need to thank Holley
because of course,

they're always a big help.

-They sent us a carburetor...
-[Lucky] Right.

-...for the car.
-[Lucky] Right, right.

We need to thank
Dennis over at...

-Vehicle Effects.
-Vehicle Effects

'cause he just
happened to have

a transmission lying around.

Gave us a loaner Turbo 400...
Yeah.

Again,
'cause he's done that before.

-Yeah.
-Has a loaner Turbo 400

-that we were able to borrow.
-[Lucky] Right.

And with that said,
we need to go ahead

and thank Gearstar
'cause they're currently

building our really rad

and awesome transmission
that's going to be

in the final product
once it's done.

That is a preemptive
thank you to Gearstar.

Oh, it... It's necessary.

[Lucky] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

How long have we been
working together now?

We're going on
three years together.

-Do you have social media?
-Oh, my goodness,

I didn't know you'd ask,
'cause I do.

It's Alex Taylor Racing.
What about you?

Oh, yeah. That's crazy.

I am Mobile Tech Lucky
on everything.

Oh, and we are
Hot Rod Garage Show

if you wanna see more.