Original subtitles

On this episode of "Hot Rod Garage."

Bondo, condo, zero down, zero monthly.

Come on down, we're giving 'em away!

Tried to.

[theme music playing]

Welcome back to "Hot Rod Garage."

I'm Alex Taylor, and this is Lucky Costa.

Hello.

So we have a new project car for "Hot Rod Garage."

And by new, it's not just new in the garage as far as

the vehicle goes, but it's actually a new shape

and style that we haven't had the chance to play with.

So behind me is a '51 Plymouth on a '79 Monte Carlo chassis.

This falls in the group of a lead sled.

Yeah, I think it checks all the boxes for a lead sled,

except for the sleddy look and the lack of lead.

Everything else, I think, is on point.

I mean, I still think that it falls in that category, though,

because even though it may not be technically

done with lead, it's done with Bondo, it's the look.

The lead sled is the look.

So lead sled -- lead used to refer to the fact that

when the car was chopped and shaved and reshaped,

it was filled in with lead.

Now a lot of them use Bondo.

And then the sled part refers to the fact

that it's chopped, lowered,

and it looks like it's just kind of gliding down the road.

Yeah, chopped, channeled, pressed on the ground.

-It looked like a sled. -[Alex] Yeah.

So that's kind of a new something that we haven't had

the chance to play with on "Hot Rod Garage."

So we found this one...

pretty much sight unseen, other than a couple of pictures.

And we picked it up because it was a good price.

And now comes the part where we find all of the quirks

and the shortcuts that most likely come when you buy

somebody else's lead sled project.

[Lucky] If a lead sled has drywall screws, Tek screws,

mystery parts, and awning parts,

yeah, I guess it is some kind of sled.

[Alex] No, I mean, there is some truth to that.

However, I do think, though, that we could get it

lower to fit the sled part. -Oh yeah, yes please.

-[Alex] Yeah, OK. -Absolutely.

So this one's a really good starting point.

It's a decent starting point, but we do need to address

a couple things.

First of all, we need to get it running and driving.

There's a little bit of a wiring issue potentially

may need to replace a starter.

And then also something that's kind of important is

when the body is attached to the frame.

This one...sits on there

and it's attached with a couple zip screws, Tek screws,

whatever you want to call it. There are no body mounts.

So we need to address stuff like that and suspension.

And I'm sure once we get it on the lift, we're gonna find

some other stuff for it,

but that at least gets us going.

So the main goal for now is to get it running and driving,

cram Lucky in the car, shut the door,

and then Lucky and I are going on a malt shop trip.

A malt shop trip is a perfect excuse to go for a test drive

and see what this car actually needs to make it a functioning,

cool lead sled.

You've come a long way, grasshopper.

-[Alex] Oh, my goodness. -[Lucky] Don't go under there.

[Alex] Wow.

You guys remember when I said I had a good starting place?

It's got an interesting starting place, I should say.

So this crossmember here, it's just two pieces

of what looks like channel -- -[Lucky] Angle iron.

[Alex] Angle iron?

[Lucky] No channel iron, you're right.

[Alex] Welded together with no other structural reinforcement

with one bolt through the middle.

Wow.

The exhaust held on to said crossmember

with a very lightweight chain.

[Lucky] This is like good chain for hanging fluorescent lights.

-That -- yeah. -So in the future,

if we need to hang some fluorescent lights,

we have a little bit of chain here that we can use.

That is just amazing.

Fortunately enough, I have no tools.

-Lucky. -I made this for you.

Aw, thank you. It's a friend --

is this a friendship bracelet? -It is.

Is that a -- did we have a Tay-Tay moment?

[Alex] You know the nicest thing on here

is the lines for the transition. -[Lucky] Ooh, no.

These are the Amazon ones.

-These are like a -5.3. -[Alex] So it's fake nice.

-[Lucky] Not even -6. -[Alex] It's fake nice, OK.

-[Lucky] It's faux nice. -Look at the motor mount, too.

-OK, that's nice. -The other side's half attached.

Yeah, yeah.

I think that's, like, grade 3 bolts, too.

This guy obviously lived closer to a hardware store than he did

to an auto parts store. -I actually agree with that.

Where are the body mounts? Those are really missing.

Hey, look. I mean, this is a new shock.

[Lucky] Look at the shocks. Well, yeah, I'm sure

that was, like, got everybody's attention.

And then the back half of the frame...

-It's just gone. -Yeah, this is --

[Alex] What kind of connector is that?

[Lucky] It's like air fitting.

-[Alex] That's bad. -[Lucky] That is a legit air fitting.

-It's a push-lock air fitting. -[Alex] Attached to the...

-[Lucky] To the gas tank, yeah. -...to the gas tank.

Huh.

So we have, I think, a little bit bigger project

probably than we initially anticipated.

We can get it running and driving and all that.

But if we want it to be anything nice,

we got a lot of work.

Or we can just opt to have fun with this,

which may be the better option.

Do you still want to drive it?

I would love to drive it so I can see you do this.

I appreciate you.

OK, I -- [chuckling]

if we're still going to drive it,

we only have a couple of things to do underneath here.

And that would be upgrade the muffler hanger.

And then we pop the trunk.

I'm very curious to see what's in that trunk.

I've only seen it through the rear deck.

And then make sure there's no fire.

Well, I know there's fire about to happen in the trunk.

So we'll straighten that out.

And maybe we should just make sure

the body's not gonna slide right on off.

-It's a tall order right there. -OK.

[both swooshing]

-Time to work. -Remix?

-[Alex] Yeah. -All right.

What are you guessing? Lawnmower?

-[Alex] I don't know. Read the cap. -I do --

[Alex] See what it says.

[Lucky] John Deere. No, it doesn't say that.

-But it should. -This mixed with this.

Someone went through the time to make a mount...

for two and a half gallons of fuel.

-That is definitely closer -- -[high-pitched scraping]

-That's the worst sound. -Oh, it gets worse.

-[loud banging] -Oh.

What a joke.

So they took the time to make a mount,

yet it is halfway held in,

and it's a piece of wood. So it's a very interesting --

It's like they almost did it, but then they stopped.

[Lucky] Sorry, I'm adjusting the fuel system, my bad.

-Go ahead. -No, it's OK.

OK, let me shut this down. We're gonna put it up.

We'll do a muffler hanger, secure the fuel cell.

Then I think we'll see if it'll start up.

[Alex] This may be the most interesting test drive all year.

-Is it in park? -Yeah.

How do you know? No, that wasn't park.

-Well, I had my throttle. -[Lucky] It totally was not in park.

[engine whining]

-Sounds great. -That sounds lovely.

[engine clicking]

Awesome singing voice.

-[engine clicks once] -La-la-la-la!

-I -- it's done. -[Lucky] That's it?

-That no more crank. -[Lucky] Man.

-All right. -[Alex] I think we killed it.

-Do you see smoke anywhere? -Not yet.

OK, we're good -- all right, I think I got -- yeah.

Let me just find something to jumpstart this with.

-You want to check the battery? -[Lucky] Yeah.

[Alex] Ready?

[loud scraping]

Good grief.

[engine whirs, stops]

[engine whining]

I think it's got one start left in it.

[engine whirs, stops]

Boop. [laughing]

-One more shot. -OK, one more time.

[engine whining]

All right, let's put a starter in it.

Call it, we're changing the starter.

Look at us, we do stuff right. Kind of.

I've never heard one that bad before.

That's really bad.

So that was a really bad sound.

-Don't you agree? -I concur with your diagnosis.

-I -- I think -- -That sound was very poor.

[Alex] We were going to start by using the old starter,

but that didn't start the car.

So now we're gonna start putting this new starter on.

[Lucky] Whoa, you're saying start because it's a starter.

-[Alex] See what I did? -[Lucky] That is hilarious.

[Alex] I know, I know.

So the flex plate, not flywheel, flex plate --

-Flex plate. -Eh, it's a flywheel.

The teeth are polished just on the end, which means

the sprockets seem to be too small.

And if you actually look at these,

the teeth are starting to be rounded off, so.

They're deburred, they're just deburred.

They are more than deburred.

But that still looks usable... -[Lucky] Yes.

...if we have the right starter.

[Lucky] Right, this Bendix or gear right here

is larger in diameter than that one right there.

This actually looks like it's gonna be a lot better.

And that one looks like it's more of a...

puree, less blend.

Yeah, it's definitely got a different teeth angle

than this one.

-This one is starting to fold over. -Right, right.

So it may still grind,

but it's gonna be a different kind of grind.

[Alex] Maybe it'll be like grind start,

not grind not start. -[Lucky] Maybe.

OK, hit it.

[engine whirring]

-OK. -Yes.

So it started up.

I can clearly see that it's 14.9 volts.

You can see the alternator's charging.

There's no reason why we shouldn't drive this.

Actually, there's lots of reasons why

we shouldn't drive it.

See you in the streets.

-[Lucky] Careful, whoa. -[Alex] Whoo! Whoo!

[Lucky] Simmer down. Do we have brakes?

-[Alex] Kind of. -[Lucky] Does it steer?

[Alex] I don't know. OK.

Does something already smell hot?

-You know what, maybe. -I definitely smell hot.

I looked at the firewall,

and it seemed like it was relatively sealed.

So whatever happens up there...

-Yeah -...we'll see on the big TV screen here.

OK. My legs are hot.

-Is that the sun, or is that it? -Yeah, it might be the sun.

I don't think it's the sun.

[Lucky] There's a crater right there.

-[loud thudding] -Oh.

Man. Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Are you making it go faster?

-Yeah. -Don't do that.

You're going crazy fast right now.

This feels like 35.

Pretty sure we're doing 15 miles an hour.

-Eh, 15? -[Alex] Yeah.

Look, OK, to be fair, it's the car.

-It's not me. -Yeah?

I've used that before. It always seems to work.

Hey, when we make a right here,

find some shade to pull over in. -OK.

Because I never actually saw the electric fans come on.

I think it's overheating.

-[Lucky] Oh, be careful. -[Alex] Oh, yeah, I got it.

-The body just moved on the frame. -It's --

We just fishtailed, and the car didn't.

That's crazy. Give it some gas.

-That's all she got. -You're giving it the beans?

That's all she got.

All right. That's good.

Make sure it comes off.

Oh, it's hot.

There is something not happening.

Oh, there's some shade right there.

Now listen.

-No spew -- yeah, no. -I don't hear it.

Turn the key on and see if the fan comes on.

-No. -The key on?

[Alex] Yeah.

I don't hear the fan either.

-[soft whirring] -Oh, the fans just came on.

-[Lucky] Did they? -They just came on.

[Lucky] Oh, so there's the problem, clearly.

Yeah, they were not on that whole time.

[Lucky] Right.

So we went for the scariest ride of my life down

whatever street that was. -So dramatic.

-[Lucky] Seemed like it. -It was a little scary.

We were doing 30, 35 miles an hour.

It was the craziest thing you'd ever seen.

-And it started to smell like -- -It got hot real quick.

I often say she got some steam in her.

It smelled like it actually had some steam in her.

And then just standing here, we stopped to make sure

the fans were working. And they have not been running.

And then they just randomly kicked on.

We shut the car off and turned the key on to listen for fans.

I don't even know if the key's on right now.

[Lucky] Oh, you know, that's a good point.

-[Alex] Our key is not on. -OK.

Turn the key on. Maybe the fan shut off.

-Nope. -No?

[Lucky] No, OK.

I'm sure it's one of the red wires.

I'm scared to put my hand in there.

You should be.

I mean...

it's running now...

violently. -Are they going the right way?

I don't know.

All right, so the temp, oh, maybe the thermostat

just never opened that whole time.

Or with the temp center hooked up, the fans work.

I'm sorry, what were you saying?

Let me shut that off so we can finish talking.

The fans work.

-I guess it just smells hot. -[Lucky] Well, you know what?

Has this thing ever been -- is this the maiden voyage

for this thing? Maybe.

I mean, it doesn't ever look like it's ever overheated.

Yeah. OK, let's go again.

[Lucky] All right.

Hold on, let me turn the fans on.

Help me!

Hold on!

Oh, I've been holding on since this started.

-[engine accelerating] -What are you doing?

So on the short list, we need to overhaul

all the suspension, lower the seat, close the trunk.

We need to mount the body.

I mean, it's not good.

That's the exact opposite of what we always say.

Like, hey, it's not bad.

[Alex] On the bright side, though,

giving credit where it's due, it does run,

it drives, it stops.

It's got a long list of stuff that we need to do,

but it has potential.

Whoo-hoo!

I think the frame -- Oh, what was that?

-I think it dragged. -I don't know.

Oh, you know what? It's exhaust.

Oh, yeah.

That hanger didn't quite do so well.

[metallic knocking]

[loud thudding]

[Alex laughing]

On the bright side, we made it back with all the parts.

Yes, and we have a mental list of just a few things that need

to be taken care of. -Uh, body mounts.

-Yes. -Fan addressing?

-[Lucky] Yes. -Seat height?

Yes.

Everything to do with suspension.

-Right. -And add exhaust to the list.

-We still have this one, though. -Add it to the list.

All right.

-Isn't that everything? -All of this stuff.

So after that little cruise, we learned a couple of things.

First of all, I barely fit in here.

I was potentially going to cut a hole in the headliner

so my head fit in because it's rubbing on the headliner,

but honestly, I don't know

what's gonna get in my hair and my age.

I'm just happy to have hair, so I'm not going to abuse it

by sticking it into the mystery zone of the headliner.

So I'm going to address the seat right now.

Pretty simple application.

We're gonna take the seat out,

set it up on a bench, and figure out a way to take about

that much out of it

and still be comfortable.

This is something you're not gonna see every day.

Check out the way this seat comes out.

Just like a back seat.

Looks like the base of the seat cushion goes right

to the top of the trans tunnel.

So shortening up the frame of the seat may be more difficult

than it's worth.

I think I want to concentrate on shortening up

the actual pillow that we sit on.

I don't know. Let me try it out.

Does this seem normal?

[Alex] So, one of the biggest issues we found with this car is

that the body is not actually attached to the frame.

And to fix that, unfortunately, we're gonna have

to add a little bit of height.

We're going to be adding one-inch body bushings

with actual mounts.

It's a necessary evil, but it's gonna be for the best.

All right, so these are universal chassis mounts

that we got from All-Star Performance here.

And basically, they come undrilled and extra length,

so that way we can cut them to the length that we need.

So I'm just gonna go through and pre-drill them.

I've got them marked, pre-drill them, and then

we'll just cut off the length that we don't need and then

weld this to the frame.

And then we'll be able to actually put our bushings

on top of that.

So gone through, I've marked them,

center punched them, go drill some holes,

and then we'll cut them to length

once we know what that length is.

[Lucky] OK, so we've jacked the body up off the frame

on one side just to make sure that there's a little bit

of air gap in there.

There's my measurement for how thick

I want these spacers to be.

I'm just using it as a reference.

We're gonna be lifting the body about one inch off

of the frame, and then we have these bushings

that will go on these brackets.

Putting our body right about here,

but we want to be able to find a way to measure

between the two mounting surfaces,

one of them we have to weld in.

So I'm just kind of using that as a visual.

I'm going to dice and slice to my content.

[Alex] All right, so I drilled some holes in our prefabricated

chassis brackets, but then I realized after that it needed

to be bigger holes.

And so Lucky's like, hey, let me plasma that.

And so he is plasma-ing out holes

so that way we can use these.

And then I'm gonna saw the bushing

so that way it fits under here. You'll see.

So all I'm doing is taking

the bushing that looks like this,

and I'm shaping it to look like that.

So basically, it fits in here, and it'll sandwich.

And then we can put the washer

and the bolt through, washer up here.

So we're close to having body mounts

ready to go on the car.

OK, so what we're talking about right now is the few options

there are to support the back of the vehicle.

Like, it is just...

[soft squeaking]

That's the body bouncing on the frame, as you're hearing.

Yeah, it's flexing, and not the good flexing.

The frame is cut off here. Clearly, the body goes to here.

Body mounts are here.

[Lucky] Yeah, body mounts are all the way towards the rear.

We could just drag a bar from there to there,

piece of square tube.

-We have some over there, some good stuff. -Yeah.

Build a little frame, you know, end.

But that's gonna interfere

with where we might want to put the tank.

So we're gonna go ahead and spend a little extra effort,

come all the way to the back, come all the way across,

and go all the way back forward.

So we're going to be boxing up the rear of the frame

that they already cut off. -Yep.

And that'll give us provisions to put new body mounts

back here and support the vehicle

the way it's supposed to be supported.

You want to mount the front, and then we can figure out

what we're gonna do with the back?

[Lucky] We'll do a lot of stuff underneath.

We can put the car up,

figure out where the mounts are gonna fit.

-Maybe I'll fit some of those brackets. -Yep.

And then you can maybe do some of the square tube welding

fabrication for the back of the car.

But we can do it all underneath.

So we'll be in the shade and rust and dirt

under the car. -Lovely.

-It's a glorious day here. -Just need a breeze now.

We're good.

[rock music playing]

♪♪

So while Alex is over there grinding and welding,

I've been doing a little grinding and welding of myself.

I whipped up a couple of the rear body mounts.

She started it.

I'm just kind of helping her out.

Are you ready? Are you ready for the big reveal?

I hope she likes 'em.

There they are.

So the idea was, instead of welding this to the frame,

cutting at the right angle, just welding right to the frame,

the contact patch would only be this amount

to hold the body of the car.

Potentially gonna fatigue, crack, and fall off,

or bend, or something. So I welded them to a plate.

That's gonna give us a lot more contact patch and more

area to weld it on there. Still gonna bend.

Still gonna fall off.

But it's gonna look good doing it.

[rock music continues playing]

♪♪

I'm gonna hold this up, actually.

[Lucky] This is crazy.

-That's the axle. -[Alex] Wow.

But we were going up and down before.

OK, you don't see the body hitting the frame there.

That's because it's mounted, OK?

Something new.

[Alex] It is sitting one inch higher now,

which we don't like.

But it is mounted to the frame, which we do really like,

and we can deal with ride height later.

One of the things I'm seeing

that we don't have still is suspension.

The body's not moving, but everything else is moving

like it shouldn't be. -Right.

[Alex] I mean, I guess that's what happens when you heat springs.

That also explains the terrible ride.

So we're going to replace them with new coilovers

all the way around and get it sitting as low as possible,

but also actually driving well.

Aldan hooked us up, and we're getting ready

to do that before we do another test drive.

I'm driving, you're riding, OK?

We're gonna see if you're scared again.

We need an accurate test,

so I need to see if Lucky reacts the same.

-I have to duplicate the same screaming. -[Alex] Exactly.

Exactly. OK, I got you.

All right.

We have a suspension coming up,

and hopefully it's not as hard

as the body mounts have been,

but we are taking a '79 Monte Carlo bottom half

and trying to attach it to a '51 Plymouth top half.

Is it doable? Yes.

Is it gonna be time consuming?

[both] Nah.

But just think, there's gonna be a great test drive

that I'm very excited about to come after that.

Oh, I'm excited too. Watch your fingers.

All right, we just put body mounts

on our '51 Plymouth lead sled

that's on a '79 Monte Carlo frame,

But "on there" was a very loose turn.

Like you do.

[Alex] So we have suspension coming up.

All new suspension, all four corners from All-American.

And hopefully it really takes our bounces and bumps

and makes them a lot more smooth.

Smooth.

The only issue is that our lead sled is turning less sled

and a lot more four-wheel drive.

Oh, the upside of that is these are coilover conversions.

So we can set it at sled, and then redial it up to,

well, why would you ever take it off of sled?

Yeah, at some point, we may have to address

the height issue.

But at least we'll have good suspension and a mounted body,

and then we'll get into some fun stuff later.

We couldn't throw this thing away now if we wanted to.

Nope. OK, it's time for your beak

to get a little more dust going, 'cause we got stuff to do.

Good times.

[upbeat music playing]

[Lucky] So the Aldan American Coilover Conversion Kit

comes with a upper shock reinforcement.

The deal there is the shocks are set up right now to just

stabilize the ride of the car, because there's supposed to be

a spring in front of it that is in a much more sturdy area.

Sturdy, yeah.

We're going to be relocating the spring to the same location

as the shock, so they make this pretty nifty little...

[Alex] Pretty nice piece.

-Pretty nice piece. -...shock reinforcement.

I wonder if we can do this without cutting the floor out.

Wow, wouldn't that be nice?

[Lucky] It's pretty close.

[Alex] All we have to do is do a little notch.

No, no, no, we can't disrespect the Aldan American.

[Alex] No, you just got to do a little notch for 'em.

And then Aldan American sticks down below so you can see it

from the back, and the braces on the top.

Yeah, let's do it.

I hogged a couple of holes to the correct size.

And this is actually fitting right in.

Who would have thought that if you did your homework,

stuff would work?

Huh?

OK, so the rear Aldan American coilover conversion brackets

are all installed. They bolted up no problem.

The billet aluminum shocks that are adjustable for ride height

and compression and rebound are all installed.

The reinforcement bracket that stops the frame

from flexing in is all installed.

I think we're about ready to throw some...

tires on the back of this and go join Alex in the front

for a brake party.

We're going on a "brake."

So, when we were doing the front suspension,

looked at the calipers as they were hanging there

and the brake hoses that were there.

They're dry-cracked and nasty and all this.

We're like, OK, if we're already here, we might as well

go ahead and replace it if we can get the stuff.

And we could, so while Lucky's finishing up in the back,

our brake parts just arrived.

We didn't plan on doing it, but luckily they had some

right down the road.

So going through, packing bearings, which isn't

a bad thing. That way everything's fresh.

Brakes worked before, they worked well,

but now we can prevent having any other issues.

So we wanted to go for a test drive today,

but just like everything else, one thing leads to another.

So we're gonna go ahead and get everything

nice and right.

And then we can hit the streets.

And then we can do more work after that.

Mwa-ha-ha.

So there's a painless wiring harness.

It was -- somebody attempted to install it.

Luckily, I've seen this many times where they leave

just spools and spools of wire

because, oh, they might need them later.

If you're putting in a harness in your car,

it's a harness for your car.

So tailor fit it to your car. Cut it.

You don't need -- are you ever gonna put power door locks

and windows in your car? No, you're not.

Cut that out. You don't need it.

You don't need to spool up wires

in case you're going to decide to move your taillights

or brake lights three feet in some other direction.

If you put it in your car, fit it to your car,

make sure it's safe. Route it through grommets.

Zip tie it up.

This really, there's no reason for this.

Makes zero sense,

except for in our case.

Luckily, they left spools and spools of wire under here.

And I'm gonna be able to thin it all out

and custom tailor it to this car.

It will go from one fire to the next.

All right, well, Lucky is working on wiring

and the mess that that is.

I'm gonna address the hole in the floor that we found

once Lucky pulled the carpet out.

So I'm gonna make a pattern off of this,

but since it's already a hole and it doesn't really matter

what shape that hole is, I'm going to go ahead

and square up the lines for it.

That way it's easy to cut a pattern for, it's easy to cut

a patch panel for, and it'll be easier to weld in.

So clean this up, and then make a pattern cut and bend

and all that fun stuff.

[engine whirring]

No smoke. Still runs.

However, it's lighter,

because I took about 40 pounds of wire out of here.

So that's gonna help the 60-foot time.

But it's not a drag car.

It is charging. It started back up.

So yeah, nothing's on fire. I think maybe that's a racket.

Let's see what else we got going on here.

[Lucky] Pump up the volume.

-[Lucky] Holding. -[Alex] Holding.

[Lucky] How's the pedal feel? Pump it up.

It feels good.

[Lucky] Start it up, see if it actually retains boost.

OK.

[Lucky] Pump, pump, pump.

Whoa, stop, stop!

Turn it off, off, off off!

Did we have a coolant leak before?

[Alex] No.

-[Lucky] Yeah, we have one now. -[Alex] Why?

So there was this time

when the body was loose on the frame.

Oh, I see where this is going.

And the radiator was dangerously close

to the front pulley. -[Alex] Uh-huh.

Well, apparently, if you jack it up...

Yeah.

it puts it just past dangerously close

and directly into...

-[Alex] The danger zone? -Yeah, a couple of tubes.

All right, so the deal is, we started it up to make sure

the vacuum brake booster was working correctly

after bleeding the brakes, and the first thing I did

was cut a hole, a perfect hole I might add,

right in the middle of the radiator,

almost exactly in the middle.

In the spirit of backyard hackism,

we are going to just use a little Bondo,

smear it over the wound, let it dry,

and then we fly. Let it dry,

and then we fly.

[grunting]

Pull it forward more.

Yup.

All right, so now that we've taken the racks of the tracks

off of the seat and set it back in there,

it's giving us, like, maybe an inch or two.

I mean, I could do this before.

There is no us. There is only me.

Me -- you're right, I'm sorry.

So there's a thing in here called headroom.

You're not familiar with it because you have so much of it.

-[Alex] Yeah. -I, on the other hand,

was wearing a hat in the shape of a dirty,

filthy, dusty hot rod.

-Well, that's unfortunate. -Yeah.

But we have to test today.

I have to hit every bump I can and make sure you're still --

Believe you me, it's a test every time I ride with you.

It's already a test.

-Anyway, in a good way. -OK, you exit, I get in.

Hey, stop breaking stuff.

We've been trying to get out of this shop for two days.

I didn't know it was telescopic.

That's cool.

[groaning]

-Get out. -All right.

All right, so we rolled our Plymouth lead sled out

so we can see it in a different light.

We were hoping that maybe once we got it out here,

the stance might look a little bit better.

It doesn't.

So while we did put coilovers on this,

and they are fully adjustable, and they're really nice,

we have them set at the very lowest setting,

and it's still sitting super high.

This is not an Aldan American problem.

Our ride is gonna be great.

Our looks, however...

not so much.

And yes, we could fix it, but that's gonna require

a whole lot of work.

It's gonna require cutting the floor up,

channeling the body over the frame, do frame mounts,

all kinds of stuff. Yes, we could do it.

No, we can't do it today. Maybe we'll touch it one day.

Hopefully not ever.

[engine rumbling]

A little noisier than before.

It's a good noise though.

We can't hear all the rattles though.

I want to say, hit it.

But it sounds like we're in the back of a boat.

We're idling around the dock.

Hold on.

-That's a little better. -Little better.

We have to put exhaust on this.

-Yeah. -It's so bad.

[engine revving]

Whoa, whoa, whoa!

[Alex] We lived. We didn't even accelerate.

Whoo, whoo! That's better.

-It does drive better. -Yeah.

I can hear the rattles on the regulators

inside the doors. -Yeah.

The car seems pretty solid.

I can't hear, so.

-Transmission works good. -Yeah.

I said the transmission works good.

Yeah.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

Now you can go.

I'm sorry.

-I was watching our -- -I know you were.

I know you weren't watching to see where we're going.

It's OK.

On the steering wheel, you're going straight.

I get it. Turns are new to you.

All right, I had a really good drive.

I'm gonna enjoy my snack. Thanks for waiting.

Anyways, so overall, the car is still...

awful.

However, I'm liking it a little bit more.

It did get us two treats.

-It did. -It did.

So part of it right now is we can't think straight

because it's so loud

and exhaust fuming in there.

-[Lucky] Correct. -It's bad.

Which is on you because you cut the hole --

-Oh, and the hole was already there. -It's on you.

-You didn't put the muffler back on. -Can't even blame it on you.

All right, we're both responsible.

-Yeah, it's a 50-50 issue here. -Cool.

So we have a hole to patch. We have a exhaust to put on.

And then the car might be halfway decent?

Yeah, unfortunately, that's it for this episode

with this car. -It's not.

We're only halfway through.

-Really? -Yeah.

Great!

All right, that means you guys can follow us right back

to the shop because we have all of that to do,

plus we have a little special treat, kind of like this.

Speaking of treats, um, I finished mine.

Can I get a leaf -- a leaflet?

Thank you.

Crumbs.

Lucky and I went on a test drive,

and we had an abundance of exhaust flowing in the car.

So I just got to finish welding this patch panel in.

And then Lucky is going to add exhaust because we can't hear,

we can't think, and it was very smelly in the car.

I'm hoping we might heat it enough that it will...

bend up just far enough to get the end over

the trans-crossmember. I think this is gonna work.

Keep going, keep going!

Little more. That's it!

We did it everybody!

OK, finally, that's it for this episode.

Let's put this yard art back in the yard

and move on to something fun.

-No, it's not. -Why are you shaking your head?

[Alex] Because you know that's not true.

It is yard art.

It's yard art, but we are not done with this episode.

As much as we'd like to be,

everything else has kind of failed.

This has been very interesting.

-Absolutely. -Turns out, when you buy

somebody else's project

that's a '51 Plymouth on a '79 Monte Carlo chassis,

stuff becomes questionable.

One man's junk is actually

another man's junk, in this case.

Yeah, our lead sled turned into a Bondo condo

because we took everything that was somewhat OK about it.

We made it worse by making it better.

So new suspension, good, great brand.

However, it's now a high-rise condo full of Bondo.

We have no lead sled coolness going on.

So for payoff, what do you think?

We drive about a mile that way and pull over and break down?

-Well -- -We drive a couple of miles this way,

pull over and break down?

You know, as interesting as that sounds,

I was thinking maybe we took it back to its friends.

-That way? -The junkyard, yeah.

-Oh, the wreck yard. -Yeah, junkyard

No, I'm sorry. That's automotive dismantler now.

-You know what I'm thinking? -[Lucky] What?

I actually already have a plan.

Lucky just doesn't know it, and we're going on a trip.

[scoffs] Great.

[laughs] OK. It's time for a road trip.

-What's wrong with this? -It's going straight.

-What's wrong with this car? -It's going straight.

That's it working pretty well.

I know, I forgot how miserable this last ride was.

Hey, we actually made an improvement.

We made some improvements, because our hearing was shot.

-Yeah. -Our brain cells were shot.

It's actually -- we can hear each other talk now.

-Yes, it's a nice driver. -I don't smell too much...

fumes. -Yeah, not too much.

[Alex] Overall...

-I guess it's better. -It's still a rag.

It is.

So, uh, do we have more stuff to do with this thing?

I was wondering if we could park down there.

I think it's got a better view.

Oh, yeah, you know what?

Yeah, they're surfing down there.

You know, they got the flags. You can't surf in this area.

-Let's go down by where the surfers are. -There's a couple spots.

-So, yeah, I think we can. -[loud whining]

-That didn't -- -[loud thudding]

-Um... -That's new.

Yeah, no, we can't go down there.

Well, you know what? Lucky for us...

-This do? -This is a great spot.

This here seem all right to you?

Yeah, I brought some stuff for us.

[Lucky] Like what?

-[Alex] Here, yep -- uh-huh. -[Lucky] Is this for me?

-Thanks. -[Alex] Yep.

-This for you. -Nice.

There you go. Uh-huh.

-[Lucky] Got it. -[Alex] Stay there.

I like where you're going with this.

-Please? -Take.

-Just like new. -Like -- like new?

We start the whole thing off dishonestly?

-Just sit down. -All right.

-Sit down. -Well, can I have some popcorn?

[woman] You want to give him some popcorn?

She said no.

So, everything that we've done with this car has been

kind of a bust, and we made it worse. -No, it's safer.

It's safer, I don't necessarily know that it's any better.

Well, we made it the right -- we mounted the body correct.

It's not falling off, I will say that, yeah.

But we put good suspension and now it sits too high.

-We should heat it a little at a time. -We should not.

-We should not. -We kind of are.

So what we were thinking is maybe we could get something

good out of it, you know?

Have a good conversation with passerbyers on the beach here.

And so we have "For sale." You can take it, actually.

Just take it off of our hands.

I -- I -- this is a really nice community.

I don't think they're gonna take it.

They ain't -- Everyone needs flowerpots.

-You know, this is yard art? -Yeah.

I think the yards down here are a little expensive.

Yeah. Yeah.

-Yeah, you want a car? -Do you guys want to take this thing off of us?

-[man] For free? -[Lucky] Yard art.

It's so bad no one wants to take it.

But you know what? We're gonna sit here

and enjoy the beautiful breeze,

make fools of ourselves and try to get rid of this.

-Hi, guys. -Hey.

How are you? We're running a special on

potted plants right now.

What, the '55 Plymouth -- what?

Yeah, '51 Plymouth on a Monte Carlo frame.

Looks like the kind of projects you do on MotorTrend.

-What do you know? -The TV.

Oh her, I know you.

-That's so funny. -You're on TV!

The driver.

-Yeah, that's me. -And you're with her.

-I am. I am, whenever possible. -OK.

Well, we had a really good interaction.

I thought we had a taker for a second.

-Yeah. -Oh, I do.

Who's walking who there?

-[laughing] -What did you say?

Just yesterday, we were sanding primer?

Yeah.

And today, we're getting ready to pound sand.

That's what everyone's telling us to do.

Hey, you want this?

You couldn't possibly give that away.

It's too neat.

-Ooh. -Ooh, yeah.

Tough call there. Come on down.

Come on down to Winnebago Land. We're giving them away.

Well, you guys take care.

Will somebody please, please take this?

-This car is awesome! -[Alex] Thanks.

I think my brother would love it.

-[Alex] Really? -Does it run?

Kind of. It drove here. We'll put it like that.

It drove here, but it may not drive away?

-We're hoping it does. -This is awesome.

My brother, like, loves cars, like, old cars.

Why are there, like, stickers as, like, the gauges?

[Alex] That's a great question.

We ran out of time to put the real ones in, and, uh.

Oh, OK. So that's just what it could look like.

-Wow. -We're trying to give it some vision.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. How much is it going for?

[Lucky] Are you super attached to that dog?

Uh, yeah, very much so.

She may -- we may have a taker.

-[imitates dog whining] -[Alex] Your brother may buy it.

So I feel like in good conscience

we can't sell it right now. -This deal's done.

I mean, we got to at least vacuum it first.

She's going to fluff up Dallas, and then we'll vacuum the car.

-Shampoo? -Yeah.

-Smell pretty? -Yeah.

-All right, it seems fair. -Let's get your brother's info.

OK, sounds good. Awesome.

Oh, wait, we don't get to keep the dog?

-I'm sorry. -Aw, man.

-Thank you. -Thank you.

All right, we should probably get back to the shop and get

this thing ready for its new owner.

Call for a ride? You got the app?

No, we have to -- we have to drive it back.

Maybe we can sell it. Maybe it's ours.

[Alex] All right, well.

-Is it over? -It's over.

Nice. We made it.

-You've been trying to make -- -Safe.

You've been trying to end this episode for, like, the last,

-I don't know... -Seems like since it started.

-[Alex] Pretty much. -All right.

I'm glad that is out there.

Yeah, you've been trying to wrap it, so now we actually get

to wrap it up. -Nice.

I was really worried when we got started that there

wouldn't be enough to do on it.

I was really worried when we got started.

Fair enough.

And then once we got it done, I was really worried, like,

"Oh, we're just gonna go sit by the beach

and try to get rid of our car?"

This truly is the definition of it's not the destination,

it's the journey. -[Alex] Anyways, as...

pain in the butt as this has been,

it has also been, I mean, halfway enjoyable.

There were some rewards.

It did get us through historical, beautiful

Old Torrance. -It did.

It got us some delicious snack-y treats from a local bakery.

It did. Snack-y treats, it did do that.

We had a fun test drive.

We've laughed a lot,

mainly at ourselves and our situation.

Eh, the exhaust fumes inside the car could have had

something to do with that, too.

All right, with that said,

we do have some nice parts on the car,

which leads us to a big thank you

to Aldan American.

The nicest part on this entire car.

With that said, you have social media?

I do.

I am MobileTechLucky on absolutely everything.

-Do you have social media? -I do.

I am AlexTaylorRacing,

and we are "Hot Rod Garage" show.

-Yes, we are. -We can be done.

Please.