Tex Mex Motors (2023) s01e07 Episode Script
Rambler and a Gambler
[drill whirs]
[engine revs]
[slow rock music plays]
[moos]
[Jaime] Scooter, what did you do?
[Scooter] I don't know.
I pulled on this lever here.
[Mike] Ah… [bleep]
-Aw, man.
-[Wes] Damn.
Hey, you better check the engine.
[hood squeaks]
The good news is the fire-suppression
system isn't working back here.
[Wes] Thank God.
-[Scooter] Can we clean it?
-[Jenicio] It's Alcantara fabric.
It's gonna be hard to clean that.
-[Rabbit] Well--
-Did I ruin it?
[Rabbit] What do you guys think
about the Porsche?
[Wes] Check out the seat.
Look what Scooter did.
What the hell did you do?
I pulled on this lever right here,
but I didn't know it was gonna,
like… [mimics explosion] …explode.
-Why do you touch things you don't know--
-I tried to stop him.
Yeah, she did.
[Mike] He's got to touch everything.
Well, aside from this mess,
I can give you
two good reasons to be happy
and put him back in your good graces.
Number one, the Cutlass is sold.
Did we get good money for it?
-Fifty grand.
-Yeah.
Well, that's good, 'cause now
we'll have some money to buy seats.
[Rabbit] Number two,
Scooter's connection found a Rambler,
and we're about to go look at it.
-Really?
-Nice.
-[Wes] Good job.
-We're good.
[Scooter] You're welcome, huh?
-You're not out of the hot seat yet.
-[Mike] We got to figure this out.
[Rabbit] We'll get the Rambler
while they figure out
how to clean up your mess.
[Mike] Ugh.
[theme music plays]
[engine revs]
[rock music plays]
[Rabbit] I don't know
if I should get my hopes up.
This has been a freaking wild goose chase.
[Scooter] I know, man,
but I think this one is legit.
Rabbit and I called
a friend of mine a few weeks ago
that's well-connected in the Juarez
car world, and he finally called us back.
He knows somebody that bought a Rambler
sight unseen and he's trying to unload it.
So fingers crossed. Still hope it's there,
and it's not in a million pieces.
So, what's your plan
for selling the Porsche?
You know, we gotta find a way
to get the word out about this Porsche.
We need to do something bigger.
We got a high-end car.
We need a high-end buyer.
I think we need to put this thing
in an auction format.
People love auctions.
They bring big money.
We get two buyers
in love with this thing, more money.
That's what we need.
Más dinerospan style="style1". That's true.
I know when the gang
is done with that Porsche,
this is gonna be something
that sets us apart from the crowd.
If we pull this off,
we're in the big leagues,
and that means
we can move deeper into Mexico
and bring back way more desirable cars.
That's when the big bucks
start rolling in.
You know, I think what we need to do
to promote something like this,
we need to put a flyer
literally in every car guys' hand
in this town.
Every speed shop, body shop,
the track guys,
Pan-American guys, everybody.
If you like cars,
I want a picture of our Porsche
on a piece of paper in your hand.
A flyer in their hands, yes. But, uh…
I was thinking, like, also,
what about a TV commercial, man?
-There's only one catch to that.
-[Scooter] What?
I've never shot a TV commercial.
Well, I have. I went to school for that.
[Scooter] I've had a bunch of jobs
and lived many lives.
One of them was working
at a local El Paso TV station.
I still have connections there,
and some people owe me some favors.
I got this.
I got all the bases covered, man.
Yeah, that's what concerns me.
-[chuckles]
-I feel my ulcer flaring up.
-You worry me. You really do.
-[Scooter] Trust me.
[Rabbit] Make me a believer, bud.
I'll make Rabbit a believer
Yes, I will ♪
[chuckles]
[Rabbit] All right. Let's see
if this Rambler is legit.
[upbeat trumpet music plays]
[Scooter] So I think this is it,
Rabbit, right here.
[Rabbit] I hope so.
[Scooter] And look at all these cars, man,
and trucks.
-I like it.
-Of course you like it. You have no taste.
[chuckles]
-What year is that Caddy?
-[Rabbit] '64.
But we're not here to look at Cadillacs.
Not here to look at Dodge trucks.
This is beautiful. Look at the fins.
[Rabbit] You know what's beautiful?
Making money. Stay on task.
-Holy… [bleep]
-[Scooter] What?
[angelic music plays]
[Rabbit] God help me, we found a Rambler.
-There it is, right there.
-This is what we're looking for.
-'59 Rambler American.
-[Scooter giggles]
[Rabbit] It's absolutely gorgeous.
The Rambler American was introduced
in 1958 by the American Motor Company
as a way to heat up the small car market.
It was a reboot
of their older Nash Rambler.
With its chic look and affordability,
the Rambler American was a hit
and quickly gained a reputation
for being a reliable workhorse.
Today, the Rambler legacy lives on.
For collectors, it is a popular model
to convert to drag cars across the U.S.
[speaking Spanish]
[Rabbit] Ask him
what the story is on this car.
-[in Spanish] The engine is failing.
-[in English] Says there's engine trouble.
[Benny in Spanish] But everything is fine.
And as you can see,
inside the car is fine too.
[in English] The car doesn't run, but he's
talking about the interior. It's nice.
Oof.
Good Lord. Looks like somebody
skinned a pimp in this damn thing.
[Scooter laughs]
[in Spanish] The interior,
it looks like your friend's hair.
[in English] He's describing
how beautiful the interior of the car is.
-[Rabbit] Ask him what he wants for it.
-[in Spanish] How much?
Mmm.
I'm thinking about $4,000.
[in English] So he wants
four grand for it.
-Yeah, I want to be on a beach right now.
-Yeah, me too. [chuckles]
Ask him what he'll really take for it.
[in Spanish] How much
do you really want for it?
Because it isn't in great condition.
[speaks Spanish]
What is the least you would take?
Two thousand.
[in English] Tell him $1,800.
-[Scooter] 1,800?
-In 100 dollar bills.
[speaking Spanish]
[both speaking Spanish]
-[Scooter in English] He's thinking.
-Tell him you think long, you think wrong.
[speaking Spanish]
-[in Spanish] What do you think of $1,800?
-$1,800 it is.
-[in English] Okay. He says deal.
-Love it.
We paid $1,800 for this car,
which isn't a lot of money,
but you got to save
every penny you can in a build like this.
Turning it into a dragster
isn't gonna be cheap.
It's gonna take
all new interior, suspension, engine.
But I did my part.
Now it's up to the guys at the shop
to make this happen.
So now, load it up.
You're gonna leave me hanging?
I found the car,
and this guy leaves me hanging.
[quirky music plays]
[Rabbit] Why did that guy
keep staring at my hair?
[Scooter chuckles]
We all got problems ♪
We all got problems ♪
[Wes] Holy… [bleep] They finally did it.
[Mike] One of my first old cars
was a Rambler American just like this.
My seats didn't look like that,
that's for damn sure.
This is not original.
-[Wes] No.
-[Mike] I don't know what this is.
Interior crushed-velvet,
Austin Powersspan style="style2"-looking stuff has to go.
[Jaime] It's got a couch
in the back, Mike.
[Wes] There's no telling
what has happened on that couch.
Put a black light on this,
the whole thing will glow.
[chuckles] Oh, man.
[Wes] Something's definitely going on
with the rear end.
[Jenicio] Yeah, crazy.
[Wes] The tire is actually forward
in the wheel well.
The rear end is definitely
not in there straight or square.
[Mike] I've already talked to Rabbit.
We've already kind of got a baseline
of what the customer wants.
Basically, it's a weekend warrior car,
and it's not like super competitive.
-He's not NHRA or something like that.
-Right.
He wants loud, okay? Like, this guy wants
to be noticed when he shows up.
-Yeah.
-[Mike] Let's give it to him.
-We'll add a big motor.
-[Jaime] Yeah.
[Mike] We should do, like,
a custom Chevy small-block race engine.
-Big old 671 blower on top of it.
-[Wes] Yeah.
[Mike] We'll hit over 800 horsepower
with that monster.
And we'll do some big nasty tires
that'll really stick to the ground.
[Wes] Wait. We're gonna need a roll cage.
We have to tie this thing together
front and back.
-[Mike] Let's give it a wild paint job.
-[Wes] Yep.
[Mike] Lime green, maybe.
[Wes] I like it.
What kind of money are we talking,
you know?
That's gonna determine
how wild we can go with this thing.
Let's try to keep the expenses
in the $30,000 range.
Sweet. I've done a lot of drag cars,
a lot of race cars.
Not a Rambler,
but, really, with a drag car,
it all comes down to chassis,
suspension, motor, and transmission.
The body's just there for looks.
I think we can get it in our budget
and still make a decent profit.
And it's gonna be fun, and I think it's
gonna draw more people to the shop.
I think it's super cute.
And I think we can do a lot with this.
-We talked about that word in here.
-Whatever. [chuckles]
Looks like we got a plan. Let's get tools.
-And let's start tearing into it.
-[Jaime] Interior first.
-[Mike] Gloves on.
-[Jaime] It's a goner.
[drill whirs]
[Mike] Later, door.
This supercharged small block that we're
dropping in could hit 130 miles an hour
in a matter of seconds on the track.
But since it's a heavy car, it needs
to go on a diet and shed some weight.
We need to drop the nonessential
components and make it lighter.
Like, 700 pounds lighter.
But that'll also make room
for the must-have safety roll cage
and the new suspension.
This thing is gonna get a lot leaner
and a lot meaner.
-Thanks. Can you get me a water, please?
-[Jenicio] Yeah.
Here you go, Mike. Here's your water.
[Wes] What the hell are you doing?
I wanna know
how you learned how to do that.
[Jenicio laughs] TikTok.
[Mike] Kid's learning something.
Can I get a water though?
[laughs]
[drill whirs]
[Wes] All right, ready?
So the Rambler actually seems to be
in pretty decent shape, minus some…
[Jaime coughs]
…ugly interior.
She's not in very good shape,
but we'll get all that cleaned up until…
Will you shut up?
-I'm talking…
-My pants and shoe!
[Mike] Yeah, they'll wash. Jesus.
[Jaime] No, you see this?
-[Wes] Oh man.
-[Mike] Everybody here looks like that.
[Jaime] No, this looks like
I crawled out of the desert.
[Mike laughs]
[upbeat techno music playing]
-[Mike] Got a half-inch wrench?
-[Jenicio] Yeah.
Was this in the bumper?
Yep. We got that free of charge.
Whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪
Whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪
Let's shake it off from here ♪
[upbeat rock music playing]
Scooter set the fire suppression off.
It pretty much just doused
the inside of the car.
Like, this seat's soaked,
and so's the steering wheel.
And all that stuff's gonna crust over
and ruin the damn interior.
[Mike] We ordered parts for the Porsche,
but they're coming from Germany,
and they're specialty parts.
So it'll be weeks before we have 'em.
And I really need the team to be focused
on the Rambler right now,
so I called back a couple of my body guys,
Mike and Tony, to help clean the Porsche.
That way the team can get started on
the Porsche as soon as the parts show up.
It's a necessary expense
to keep this train moving,
and these guys will know what needs
to be replaced and what we can save.
[Mike] Got it?
I guess so. Sorry I don't have
my super excited face on right now.
Yeah, I don't blame you. Thank you, guys.
[Little Mike] You're welcome.
Tony, he sure did make a mess.
Right? Go smack Scooter in the head.
-[Little Mike] Yeah.
-[tools clicking]
[upbeat music plays]
Rabbit! Rabbit! Check this out.
You were scaring me,
'cause you were quiet.
I almost made it through
a call without you talking.
What did you find?
[Mike] Hey, guys. Guys, guys.
-[Scooter] What's up, Mike?
-Quick thought.
So since the Porsche is on hold
because we're waiting for parts,
we need, like, an influx of cash.
If we could find something,
maybe, that's a quick flip…
Not too big, not something
that's gonna take a long time,
and not something that's just
completely beat-up and trashed.
It doesn't matter,
as long as it's in good shape.
Look, I know this guy in Juarez.
He has a van. It's an old-school van.
And, uh, maybe we could do that.
Quick flip.
[Mike] Something like that's fine,
but I just don't want to have to do,
like, a ton of bodywork.
-No rust repairs, anything like that.
-Right.
Something nice, clean, something easy.
I like the van idea. If he knows
where one's at, let's look at that.
I had good luck with them in the past.
It's a niche thing, but they do well.
It's gonna cut into
our auction planning time,
but if the team needs an influx of cash,
a '70s Dodge van ain't a bad way to go.
These vans were huge in the '70s,
and now they're making a comeback.
And people are paying good money
for that nostalgia now.
We haven't done a van, have we? No, huh?
-No, we haven't.
-[Rabbit] No.
-Where have you been? Just something…
-[laughing]
Something quick.
If you can find something. Cool?
-All right.
-Call your buddy.
Get on it. Thank you.
-[Scooter] I'll call this guy.
-[Mike] Love you, guys.
[rock music plays]
[Wes] I've been busy on the Rambler.
Now that this hideous interior is out,
it's time to turn this thing
into a race car.
Got the roll cage in,
I'm welding some support braces in.
It's critical that I get this chassis
welded together and braced correctly.
We're gonna have a lot more power
than it had originally.
And one thing is,
if we don't tie this together,
we could twist this body to pieces.
It could be very unsafe.
And we can't get the power
to the ground if this chassis isn't stiff.
[rock music playing]
I ain't going back ♪
Avalanche ♪
[Mike] Wes got the body off the frame,
so it's time to paint.
This is a dragster,
so this car needs to be so loud,
not only motor-wise,
but the paint needs to be super popping.
What better than a bright
lime green metal flake?
This thing's gonna look
like a fire-breathing dragon,
running down that drag strip.
'Cause this is war ♪
Stick to the… ♪
[Mike] I like to do a base coat
in a really similar color as my flake,
that way, when I'm flaking, everything
gets covered and it looks the same.
Now that we got our Rambler
all based out in our lime green,
time to hit it with flake, and we're gonna
go heavy on the flake. A lot of flake.
I got a dragon in my heart ♪
[Mike] Flake paint has
small, shiny flakes of metal mixed into it
that'll reflect and sparkle in the sun.
It gives the car a unique look
and will really turn some heads.
I guarantee you,
the next 10, 15 paint jobs
I'm gonna find
a little bit of green flake in
because it's like a glitter bomb
blew up in my paint booth.
See you on the floor ♪
This is war ♪
I hope you cry ♪
Stick up, guys
See you on the floor ♪
-That is war ♪
span style="style1"-[Mike] Whoo!
[Wes] Let's get started
with this rear end.
Be careful. Don't scratch the paint.
-You want to bolt them up first?
-Yeah. Bolt it up, roll it under.
[Wes] Mike hired a few racing experts,
the two Jakes,
to help us out with this rear suspension.
We're gonna get
our rear end mounted together.
Get this rear end under the car
just to see what kind of room
and clearance
we're gonna to have from our frame rails
to the inside of the tires.
Coming down.
[Wes] We're going in
with some really big back tires.
We're gonna put some meat under this.
-This is for sure how NHRA guys do it.
-[laughs]
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
[Wes] The wider tires
have more surface area.
That's gonna help
put the power to the ground.
With this car having over 800 horsepower,
we'll need all the grip we can get
to move this car down the track.
Everybody go crazy ♪
Factory subframes
are gonna have to come out,
so we're gonna go in
with an aftermarket subframe rail.
The tires we're going with
are two to three times wider
than what was on this car originally.
So we're gonna have
to custom-adjust these frame rails
to accommodate these big tires.
Then we'll tie this into our roll cage
and make this car complete
and be able to put
the power to the ground.
[intense rock music plays]
[tool clicking]
-[Wes] Oh, what do we got here?
-[horn honks]
[Scooter] We're finally here. span style="style2"¡Llegamos!
-I thought you were the parts guy.
-[Scooter] Hey.
-Let me get that for you.
[Scooter] Wes, Mikey, what do you think?
You wanted a van.
-I like it.
-We produced.
[Rabbit] Once again,
Scooter had a killer tip,
and now here we are.
These shorties are hard to find.
How much did y'all pay?
[Rabbit] $2,000.
-You don't find shorty vans anymore.
-Nah.
This bad boy is nothing but
a blank canvas of badassness.
[Mike] Couple little whiskey dents
here and there,
but other than that, it's nice.
[Rabbit] Check that out.
-[Mike] Oh yeah.
-[Scooter] Smooth.
[Mike] Don't worry, I can fix that.
[rattling]
-[Scooter chuckles]
-I didn't push enough.
-[Rabbit] Check this thing out.
-[Scooter] Eh?
I like this. Yeah, a little bit of paint,
some different wheels and tires.
It needs a retro vibe.
-It's a van. Of course it does.
-I say we do some side pipes.
-Look at the dash.
-[Scooter] Side pipes!
[Mike] Why has it got a seat cover?
Ah.
Maybe upholstery too,
but two seats ain't no big deal, you know.
Here's what I think.
These vans are pretty popular
for transporting motorcycles
all over the place down here.
People love taking them out to the desert,
so I think we turn this into a bike hauler
with, like, this wild '70s vibe.
We'll install the ramp
and rubber flooring inside for the bike,
replace the seats,
clean and tune the engine,
and then we can let the retro fly.
Let's install bubble star windows
in the back, add some new chrome wheels.
To top it all off, we'll give it
a sick '70s-style flake paint job.
-I like this, guys.
-[Scooter] You like?
Yeah, 'course I like it.
How much are we gonna get for it?
[Rabbit] With a '70s retro feel,
we could easily snag around 20, 25 grand.
-Yeah.
-[Rabbit] It's a good piece.
[Mike] Good job, guys. All right,
we gotta get back to the Rambler.
-Thanks, buddy.
-[Scooter] You're welcome, guys.
[rock music plays]
Our Mustang two front suspension
came in on the Rambler.
It's a really good upgrade.
It's gonna bring the value of this car up.
It's gonna be a really big engine.
So to keep it from stickin' in front
of the windshield where we can't see,
this lower cross member
is gonna allow us the clearance we need
to get this engine in here,
make everything work a lot better.
Over the years, I've installed
50-plus of these things.
It's a really good upgrade.
Mustang two suspension design
is really great
for its solid handling, reliability,
and its compact size allows
you to install a much bigger engine.
This is the right way to go.
I like to do what's right,
not what's the easiest.
Once I get finished,
we can install the engine.
[upbeat music plays]
-Don't let go ♪
-Don't let nobody take your shine ♪
So we got the windows cut in.
I did those, so the rest of the team
can focus on the Rambler.
Got all the seats out.
Inside's basically gutted,
minus the dash and stuff.
We got a couple dings and dents
that we're knocking out.
It's coming along pretty good,
and we should be in primer
by the end of today.
Show your grind ♪
Take it, the whole world is mine ♪
[rock music plays]
Tell you what. Let's get this engine in.
Make sure we don't lift the car out.
You got it.
Looks like it's gonna be a tight fit.
[Wes] Yeah. We make it fit.
-Whoo!
-[Jaime chuckles] Sorry.
This beast of an engine
we're putting in right now
is 350 small block
with a Weiland 671 blower.
It's also gonna have nitrous,
so the engine itself
gonna be approximately 800 horses,
and I think the nitrous
might give it another 300.
Hopefully,
it's not too much power for the car.
[Wes] With what we're setting up here,
an experienced driver should be able to do
10.5 seconds in the quarter mile,
if not better.
And that's smoking
for a non-pro street car.
The buyer should be
more than happy with this beast.
Big motor, little car.
[laughs]
-You ready?
-[Wes] Yeah. Let's drop it in there.
-[Jaime] There you go.
-[Wes] Look at that.
[Jaime] span style="style2"Perfecto.
Guess what I'm seeing.
-What's that?
-The hood ain't gonna fit.
[chuckles] Who needs a hood?
When you have all this,
you just leave the hood off.
-That way, you can see what you got.
-Women don't say that.
[laughing]
[Wes] It's great to finally have
the engine in this Rambler,
but we still have a ton of work
to do on this thing.
If we're gonna finish this, the van,
and the Porsche by the end of the summer,
we'll have to kick it into overdrive.
Let's get some tools
and get this thing buttoned up.
[Jaime] All right.
[trumpet music plays]
[Mike] So I finally got the van
all wrapped up and in sealer,
so now it's time to hit it
with this crazy pinkish-purple color.
Honestly, I think our van is gonna look
pretty damn bitchin' in pink.
Do you ever
immediately second-guess yourself?
I don't. This is gonna look awesome.
[Mike] Sure, I could paint it blue or red
like every other van out there,
but to the right buyer,
this groovy paint job
will be impossible to resist.
And just like the Rambler,
we're adding a layer of flake
to make it pop.
The flake's reflectiveness will also help
cover up any minor imperfections.
Since this is a quick flip,
there may be one or two tiny dents
that we didn't have time to get to.
Adding this paint should nab us
an extra 5K or so to the resale value.
Not bad for a quick peace and love flip.
Take this van back into the '70s.
[rock music playing]
Don't give me too much
It's never enough ♪
Don't give me heartache… ♪
-[Mike] What do you think of the color?
-[Wes] Definitely a head-turner.
We'll get the coin flooring in,
the rubber floor.
So, we'll figure out some way
to secure the motorcycle in there.
-Some tie-down spots.
-[Mike] We don't know who's buying this.
-[Jaime] I have a good idea.
-What?
[laughs]
-It's probably gonna be a woman biker.
-Why? What's wrong with pink?
Are you saying I'm being sexist?
-You're absolutely being sexist.
-I don't know.
I'd drive this all the time.
You wouldn't drive this?
-I'm comfortable with my manhood.
-Right.
-I would drive it.
-I would drive it too.
[Wes] But I do have a buddy.
His wife may be interested in this.
[Rabbit] Oh my God.
[speaks Spanish]
[Scooter] What happened?
It's so magenta.
[Wes] It's flashy, man.
It's very bright. Very colorful.
[Rabbit] What's the idea here?
I need to find a badass biker
who's looking for a hauler
with a little flair.
How many Harley guys do you know
that don't add chrome,
that don't add tassels,
that don't wear leather.
-How many?
-This is pink magenta.
Yeah. I guarantee you,
you won't have a problem selling it.
Wes might actually have a buyer for this.
-He'll give him your number.
-Right.
-Wes.
-So, for me, this is an easy sell.
How do you plan on selling the Porsche?
That's the one that'll be a hard sell.
-That is a different--
-TV commercial.
-Spielberg here.
-That's what I went to school for.
I'm calling in a favor
to this guy from college.
You went to college?
-In English too. [laughs]
-[Mike] Okay.
But who's gonna do the commercial?
And I'll be the director of it,
and Rabbit here gonna be like,
"Hey, come and get your van over here."
[laughing]
-[Jaime] This is gonna be funny.
-Okay, we gotta work.
-Bunch of non-believers.
-[Mike] Good luck on your commercial.
[Mike] Let's put the finishing touches
on this boxy beauty.
[smooth dance music plays]
[Mike] And… done.
This Dodge V-100 went
from a crusty breadbox
into a motorcycle-hauling retro machine.
We painted her a groovy pink
that sparkles in the sun.
Threw on some classic chrome wheels
and white wall tires.
Put in psychedelic star bubble windows.
Added new seats.
Outfitted it with water and dirt
resistant rubber flooring…
and a ramp to easily get bikes in and out.
We put the shaggin' back in this wagon.
[slow rock music plays]
[Mike] So it turns out
that our Rambler buyer
is going out of the country
for a couple weeks,
and he wants to come by tomorrow
and look at the car and finish the deal.
So I had to hire a small crew,
so we could get it
as close to finished as we possibly could.
I'm even paying these guys
out of my own pocket,
but it's totally worth it.
I believe in this business, and I got
my eye on bigger and better builds,
but I need the team to feel supported
and stick together for that to happen.
[Wes] We're getting
the transmission lines in, radiator,
all the really critical components we need
to make this thing run, stay cool.
We're putting in the body panels,
doors, windows.
It's looking pretty good,
but we still have a lot to do.
[Jaime] All right, this is the problem
with the radiator.
This is our serpentine system
for the engine.
And we're literally sitting
on the fans right now,
and we still don't have enough room.
We have at least
a two-to-three-inch difference,
because its front end is bowing.
You know what we could do?
We can trim it three quarters of an inch.
Oh, really?
[Jaime] Yeah, but that's not gonna solve
the whole problem.
The side section here
in the nose, right here, it's bulging.
This is gonna have to get cut out
so we can put the radiator
down in this way.
We need to start slicing and dicing.
[Jaime] It's a big engine.
We need a big radiator.
We gotta keep this thing cool.
With the horsepower it's gonna be pushing,
it's important
that the radiator's a decent size.
You never give up, you never give in ♪
You never stop for a second
For it all to sink in ♪
Keep on pushing ♪
-[Wes] Looks really good.
-[Jaime] Teamwork. All right.
[rock music plays]
Sparkly.
-Very sparkly, sir.
-Very sparkly.
[Rabbit] You're not gonna lose
this thing at the supermarket…
-[man] Nope.
-Anything like that.
You're telling me
you want to buy this for your wife.
I do. We've been talking
about a toy hauler for her bike.
-This will fit her. It's cute like she is.
-[Rabbit] It is. Who's this we got here?
-What's going on?
-[David] Well, this is my wife.
I'm Danielle. Nice to meet you.
[Rabbit] Nice to meet you.
[Rabbit] When Wes said he knew a guy
whose wife wanted a bike hauler,
you know, I had my doubts.
Check that out.
-Wow.
-[David] Look at that.
-[Danielle] Wow.
-[David] The ramp and everything.
-It has a bed-liner cover.
-[Danielle] Amazing.
[Rabbit] Is it a good fit for your bike?
[Danielle] Yes. Absolutely.
What do you think?
Well, aside from cute, I love the color.
I like the white walls.
Basically, it's a stock '79 Dodge van.
My team, they took
a good running survivor van
and gave it this '70s retro
Barbie girl kind of wild vibe.
If Barbie was into badass custom vans,
she'd be rocking it.
-[Danielle] Right.
-[David] I agree.
[Danielle] I love it.
-[Rabbit] She likes it.
-[David] I think so.
[Danielle] Oh my goodness.
-[Rabbit] She likes it. You like it.
-[David] Yep.
Custom paint, custom wheels.
What would you expect
to pay for something like this?
-Something like this…
-I mean, realistically.
I'd do about, uh, 24.
You know what? We're not far apart.
-In my mind, I had a number.
-Okay.
We're about 6k shy on that number.
I was sitting at 30k.
-I really, really love it.
-You're not helping.
When you see that look in somebody's eye,
I know I already had it sold.
We just got to work out the formalities.
All right, I'll meet you in the middle.
You're at 30, I'm at 24.
Twenty-seven.
You know what? It's hot. I'm ready to make
a sale and get something cool to drink.
-We can go in the office.
-Let's do it.
-$27,000.
-Twenty-seven.
-You are gonna love your van, Danielle.
-I'm sure I will.
We sold the van for 27,000.
You know, quick math,
that's 15,200 bucks in profit.
Not bad for a quick flip.
At the moment, we're currently sitting
at a 182,700 dollars in profit.
It's respectable, but we still need to get
some fantastic returns on our Rambler
and the Porsche
to hit that sweet goal of 250 grand.
-You'll love it.
-[Danielle] Oh my goodness!
[Rabbit] She's so excited.
Get your hands in the air
And say yeah ♪
[rock music plays]
[Jaime] I can't believe we did it.
-I believe we're ready to start it.
-Yeah.
We worked all night and, by a miracle,
we got this Rambler in a good place
for the buyer to check out.
He's gonna be here any minute,
and, man, I feel like
I just finished a marathon.
You got here just in time.
We're ready to fire it up.
-Shut up. Really?
-[Jaime] Mm-hmm.
Since it came in the shop,
I've been wanting to hear it.
Honestly, the past three days
has been a blur.
You look like somebody peed
in your Cheerios. You all look tired.
It's… It's been rough.
Well, let's hear this.
Maybe it'll wake everybody up.
All right. I think since I got to wire it,
I get to pull the trigger.
All right.
Ever been around a woman
when she pulls the trigger?
I'm gonna step back a little bit,
keep my mouth shut.
[engine starts]
-Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh! Oh!
-[engine revving loudly]
Whoa!
[revving continues]
[imperceptible]
[revving stops]
-Yeah.
-Huh?
-Yes.
-[Jaime] It works. Our hard work.
I love it when it's like… [mimics engine]
-[Wes] Yeah.
-Yeah. That sounded mean to me.
-I don't know about you guys.
-It sounded healthy.
[Mike] It sounded itchy.
-Are you insane? You added nitrous?
-[Wes] That's it.
So adding nitrous to an engine
is like giving it a big hit of steroids.
The nitrous injects extra oxygen
into the fuel system which combusts,
and that creates more energy
to give you an instant shot of speed.
Like, that's not enough.
You gonna add that to it.
More power, more power.
You need that little extra, you got it.
That way you don't just blow the tires off
at the beginning.
It'll either go or blow.
-It meets your expectations?
-You sure of that?
Yeah, I love it. Now I want to see it go.
This Rambler is kick-ass.
Even though it's not for serious racing,
the buyer needs to know
it can flex its muscles on the road
so we can get top-dollar.
The team really busted their ass
to get this thing done,
so Rabbit needs to do the same
and get this sale locked in.
If this buyer falls through, it is going
to be a major setback for this shop.
Let's finish it up.
[upbeat music plays]
[dog barks]
-[Rabbit] I got one question.
-[man] Yeah.
What in hell got you wanting a Rambler?
Well, you know,
when I was a little kid, the neighbor had
a nice, awesome Rambler, and you would
see him working on it all the time--
It's a childhood thing.
Well, that, and I kind of
don't know what to spend my money on, so--
Well, speaking of things
to spend money on, how about this?
[Damian] There we go. Damn, man.
[Rabbit] The Rambler is almost done,
but since Damian's
headed out of town tomorrow,
I want him to put some eyes on this thing
to make sure we're on the same page.
Because if he's not, that means
I'm gonna have to find another buyer,
and that would suck, because we need
that 60k ASAP to build the Porsche.
So this thing's got a supercharger,
but on top of that, you'll notice
these plates and these lines.
This thing has
a 300 shot of nitrous on top of it.
-This thing demands attention.
-[Scooter] Yes, attention.
[Damian] I do like green, so…
You know, money. Money's a big factor.
-[Scooter] Money.
-[Rabbit] Green for the money.
So are you a race car driver?
Because this is a lot of car.
Well, I'm not gonna lie,
this is gonna be the first one.
But I've just got all this
spending money on me now, man,
I figured racing's
a good way to go on the next step.
I'm with you there.
The fastest way to make a small fortune,
start with a large one and buy a race car.
There you go.
[Wes] We have a roll cage in here.
This thing's gonna be really safe.
And the Mustang II front suspension
is gonna make this thing
where you can keep it in a straight line.
Moving on, there's something else I love.
I love that classic Rambler dash.
It's still got so many old elements here.
Jaime's wiring this thing up.
Yep. Got a push button start here.
Emergency shut-offs.
It's all engine. And we will give you
the hood to take home.
-Because it no longer fits.
-Appreciate that.
-Doesn't get any sweeter than that.
-She's a badass ride all the way around.
I mean, it looks good.
I don't think I could ask
for anything better than this.
So, Damian, you said
you'd come into some money.
-What do we do for a living?
-I started off with doing cryptocurrency.
I hit a little dip and then
things are looking back up again.
The whole NFT market, so, uh…
I'm gonna have
extra cash on hand eventually.
Eventually?
I'd like to get started
on paying with crypto, you know?
Maybe I can cut you guys
on a deal here with my whole NFT stuff.
What do you guys feel about…
I pay 60 in NFTs, man?
-You want to pay for this car in NFTs?
-NFTs.
Yeah, man. I mean… It's a growing market.
Crypto, Rabbit. Let's go crypto.
You know, the crypto make-believe,
whatever he's doing,
that's great and that's his business,
but we need cold hard cash,
not blockchain internet pictures.
I just hope
we didn't pour 30 grand into a car
for a kid that doesn't have the cash.
There's a big future in the crypto.
You know what NFT stands for, for me?
No… [bleep] …thanks.
[closing theme music plays]
[engine revs]
[slow rock music plays]
[moos]
[Jaime] Scooter, what did you do?
[Scooter] I don't know.
I pulled on this lever here.
[Mike] Ah… [bleep]
-Aw, man.
-[Wes] Damn.
Hey, you better check the engine.
[hood squeaks]
The good news is the fire-suppression
system isn't working back here.
[Wes] Thank God.
-[Scooter] Can we clean it?
-[Jenicio] It's Alcantara fabric.
It's gonna be hard to clean that.
-[Rabbit] Well--
-Did I ruin it?
[Rabbit] What do you guys think
about the Porsche?
[Wes] Check out the seat.
Look what Scooter did.
What the hell did you do?
I pulled on this lever right here,
but I didn't know it was gonna,
like… [mimics explosion] …explode.
-Why do you touch things you don't know--
-I tried to stop him.
Yeah, she did.
[Mike] He's got to touch everything.
Well, aside from this mess,
I can give you
two good reasons to be happy
and put him back in your good graces.
Number one, the Cutlass is sold.
Did we get good money for it?
-Fifty grand.
-Yeah.
Well, that's good, 'cause now
we'll have some money to buy seats.
[Rabbit] Number two,
Scooter's connection found a Rambler,
and we're about to go look at it.
-Really?
-Nice.
-[Wes] Good job.
-We're good.
[Scooter] You're welcome, huh?
-You're not out of the hot seat yet.
-[Mike] We got to figure this out.
[Rabbit] We'll get the Rambler
while they figure out
how to clean up your mess.
[Mike] Ugh.
[theme music plays]
[engine revs]
[rock music plays]
[Rabbit] I don't know
if I should get my hopes up.
This has been a freaking wild goose chase.
[Scooter] I know, man,
but I think this one is legit.
Rabbit and I called
a friend of mine a few weeks ago
that's well-connected in the Juarez
car world, and he finally called us back.
He knows somebody that bought a Rambler
sight unseen and he's trying to unload it.
So fingers crossed. Still hope it's there,
and it's not in a million pieces.
So, what's your plan
for selling the Porsche?
You know, we gotta find a way
to get the word out about this Porsche.
We need to do something bigger.
We got a high-end car.
We need a high-end buyer.
I think we need to put this thing
in an auction format.
People love auctions.
They bring big money.
We get two buyers
in love with this thing, more money.
That's what we need.
Más dinerospan style="style1". That's true.
I know when the gang
is done with that Porsche,
this is gonna be something
that sets us apart from the crowd.
If we pull this off,
we're in the big leagues,
and that means
we can move deeper into Mexico
and bring back way more desirable cars.
That's when the big bucks
start rolling in.
You know, I think what we need to do
to promote something like this,
we need to put a flyer
literally in every car guys' hand
in this town.
Every speed shop, body shop,
the track guys,
Pan-American guys, everybody.
If you like cars,
I want a picture of our Porsche
on a piece of paper in your hand.
A flyer in their hands, yes. But, uh…
I was thinking, like, also,
what about a TV commercial, man?
-There's only one catch to that.
-[Scooter] What?
I've never shot a TV commercial.
Well, I have. I went to school for that.
[Scooter] I've had a bunch of jobs
and lived many lives.
One of them was working
at a local El Paso TV station.
I still have connections there,
and some people owe me some favors.
I got this.
I got all the bases covered, man.
Yeah, that's what concerns me.
-[chuckles]
-I feel my ulcer flaring up.
-You worry me. You really do.
-[Scooter] Trust me.
[Rabbit] Make me a believer, bud.
I'll make Rabbit a believer
Yes, I will ♪
[chuckles]
[Rabbit] All right. Let's see
if this Rambler is legit.
[upbeat trumpet music plays]
[Scooter] So I think this is it,
Rabbit, right here.
[Rabbit] I hope so.
[Scooter] And look at all these cars, man,
and trucks.
-I like it.
-Of course you like it. You have no taste.
[chuckles]
-What year is that Caddy?
-[Rabbit] '64.
But we're not here to look at Cadillacs.
Not here to look at Dodge trucks.
This is beautiful. Look at the fins.
[Rabbit] You know what's beautiful?
Making money. Stay on task.
-Holy… [bleep]
-[Scooter] What?
[angelic music plays]
[Rabbit] God help me, we found a Rambler.
-There it is, right there.
-This is what we're looking for.
-'59 Rambler American.
-[Scooter giggles]
[Rabbit] It's absolutely gorgeous.
The Rambler American was introduced
in 1958 by the American Motor Company
as a way to heat up the small car market.
It was a reboot
of their older Nash Rambler.
With its chic look and affordability,
the Rambler American was a hit
and quickly gained a reputation
for being a reliable workhorse.
Today, the Rambler legacy lives on.
For collectors, it is a popular model
to convert to drag cars across the U.S.
[speaking Spanish]
[Rabbit] Ask him
what the story is on this car.
-[in Spanish] The engine is failing.
-[in English] Says there's engine trouble.
[Benny in Spanish] But everything is fine.
And as you can see,
inside the car is fine too.
[in English] The car doesn't run, but he's
talking about the interior. It's nice.
Oof.
Good Lord. Looks like somebody
skinned a pimp in this damn thing.
[Scooter laughs]
[in Spanish] The interior,
it looks like your friend's hair.
[in English] He's describing
how beautiful the interior of the car is.
-[Rabbit] Ask him what he wants for it.
-[in Spanish] How much?
Mmm.
I'm thinking about $4,000.
[in English] So he wants
four grand for it.
-Yeah, I want to be on a beach right now.
-Yeah, me too. [chuckles]
Ask him what he'll really take for it.
[in Spanish] How much
do you really want for it?
Because it isn't in great condition.
[speaks Spanish]
What is the least you would take?
Two thousand.
[in English] Tell him $1,800.
-[Scooter] 1,800?
-In 100 dollar bills.
[speaking Spanish]
[both speaking Spanish]
-[Scooter in English] He's thinking.
-Tell him you think long, you think wrong.
[speaking Spanish]
-[in Spanish] What do you think of $1,800?
-$1,800 it is.
-[in English] Okay. He says deal.
-Love it.
We paid $1,800 for this car,
which isn't a lot of money,
but you got to save
every penny you can in a build like this.
Turning it into a dragster
isn't gonna be cheap.
It's gonna take
all new interior, suspension, engine.
But I did my part.
Now it's up to the guys at the shop
to make this happen.
So now, load it up.
You're gonna leave me hanging?
I found the car,
and this guy leaves me hanging.
[quirky music plays]
[Rabbit] Why did that guy
keep staring at my hair?
[Scooter chuckles]
We all got problems ♪
We all got problems ♪
[Wes] Holy… [bleep] They finally did it.
[Mike] One of my first old cars
was a Rambler American just like this.
My seats didn't look like that,
that's for damn sure.
This is not original.
-[Wes] No.
-[Mike] I don't know what this is.
Interior crushed-velvet,
Austin Powersspan style="style2"-looking stuff has to go.
[Jaime] It's got a couch
in the back, Mike.
[Wes] There's no telling
what has happened on that couch.
Put a black light on this,
the whole thing will glow.
[chuckles] Oh, man.
[Wes] Something's definitely going on
with the rear end.
[Jenicio] Yeah, crazy.
[Wes] The tire is actually forward
in the wheel well.
The rear end is definitely
not in there straight or square.
[Mike] I've already talked to Rabbit.
We've already kind of got a baseline
of what the customer wants.
Basically, it's a weekend warrior car,
and it's not like super competitive.
-He's not NHRA or something like that.
-Right.
He wants loud, okay? Like, this guy wants
to be noticed when he shows up.
-Yeah.
-[Mike] Let's give it to him.
-We'll add a big motor.
-[Jaime] Yeah.
[Mike] We should do, like,
a custom Chevy small-block race engine.
-Big old 671 blower on top of it.
-[Wes] Yeah.
[Mike] We'll hit over 800 horsepower
with that monster.
And we'll do some big nasty tires
that'll really stick to the ground.
[Wes] Wait. We're gonna need a roll cage.
We have to tie this thing together
front and back.
-[Mike] Let's give it a wild paint job.
-[Wes] Yep.
[Mike] Lime green, maybe.
[Wes] I like it.
What kind of money are we talking,
you know?
That's gonna determine
how wild we can go with this thing.
Let's try to keep the expenses
in the $30,000 range.
Sweet. I've done a lot of drag cars,
a lot of race cars.
Not a Rambler,
but, really, with a drag car,
it all comes down to chassis,
suspension, motor, and transmission.
The body's just there for looks.
I think we can get it in our budget
and still make a decent profit.
And it's gonna be fun, and I think it's
gonna draw more people to the shop.
I think it's super cute.
And I think we can do a lot with this.
-We talked about that word in here.
-Whatever. [chuckles]
Looks like we got a plan. Let's get tools.
-And let's start tearing into it.
-[Jaime] Interior first.
-[Mike] Gloves on.
-[Jaime] It's a goner.
[drill whirs]
[Mike] Later, door.
This supercharged small block that we're
dropping in could hit 130 miles an hour
in a matter of seconds on the track.
But since it's a heavy car, it needs
to go on a diet and shed some weight.
We need to drop the nonessential
components and make it lighter.
Like, 700 pounds lighter.
But that'll also make room
for the must-have safety roll cage
and the new suspension.
This thing is gonna get a lot leaner
and a lot meaner.
-Thanks. Can you get me a water, please?
-[Jenicio] Yeah.
Here you go, Mike. Here's your water.
[Wes] What the hell are you doing?
I wanna know
how you learned how to do that.
[Jenicio laughs] TikTok.
[Mike] Kid's learning something.
Can I get a water though?
[laughs]
[drill whirs]
[Wes] All right, ready?
So the Rambler actually seems to be
in pretty decent shape, minus some…
[Jaime coughs]
…ugly interior.
She's not in very good shape,
but we'll get all that cleaned up until…
Will you shut up?
-I'm talking…
-My pants and shoe!
[Mike] Yeah, they'll wash. Jesus.
[Jaime] No, you see this?
-[Wes] Oh man.
-[Mike] Everybody here looks like that.
[Jaime] No, this looks like
I crawled out of the desert.
[Mike laughs]
[upbeat techno music playing]
-[Mike] Got a half-inch wrench?
-[Jenicio] Yeah.
Was this in the bumper?
Yep. We got that free of charge.
Whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪
Whoa, oh, oh, oh ♪
Let's shake it off from here ♪
[upbeat rock music playing]
Scooter set the fire suppression off.
It pretty much just doused
the inside of the car.
Like, this seat's soaked,
and so's the steering wheel.
And all that stuff's gonna crust over
and ruin the damn interior.
[Mike] We ordered parts for the Porsche,
but they're coming from Germany,
and they're specialty parts.
So it'll be weeks before we have 'em.
And I really need the team to be focused
on the Rambler right now,
so I called back a couple of my body guys,
Mike and Tony, to help clean the Porsche.
That way the team can get started on
the Porsche as soon as the parts show up.
It's a necessary expense
to keep this train moving,
and these guys will know what needs
to be replaced and what we can save.
[Mike] Got it?
I guess so. Sorry I don't have
my super excited face on right now.
Yeah, I don't blame you. Thank you, guys.
[Little Mike] You're welcome.
Tony, he sure did make a mess.
Right? Go smack Scooter in the head.
-[Little Mike] Yeah.
-[tools clicking]
[upbeat music plays]
Rabbit! Rabbit! Check this out.
You were scaring me,
'cause you were quiet.
I almost made it through
a call without you talking.
What did you find?
[Mike] Hey, guys. Guys, guys.
-[Scooter] What's up, Mike?
-Quick thought.
So since the Porsche is on hold
because we're waiting for parts,
we need, like, an influx of cash.
If we could find something,
maybe, that's a quick flip…
Not too big, not something
that's gonna take a long time,
and not something that's just
completely beat-up and trashed.
It doesn't matter,
as long as it's in good shape.
Look, I know this guy in Juarez.
He has a van. It's an old-school van.
And, uh, maybe we could do that.
Quick flip.
[Mike] Something like that's fine,
but I just don't want to have to do,
like, a ton of bodywork.
-No rust repairs, anything like that.
-Right.
Something nice, clean, something easy.
I like the van idea. If he knows
where one's at, let's look at that.
I had good luck with them in the past.
It's a niche thing, but they do well.
It's gonna cut into
our auction planning time,
but if the team needs an influx of cash,
a '70s Dodge van ain't a bad way to go.
These vans were huge in the '70s,
and now they're making a comeback.
And people are paying good money
for that nostalgia now.
We haven't done a van, have we? No, huh?
-No, we haven't.
-[Rabbit] No.
-Where have you been? Just something…
-[laughing]
Something quick.
If you can find something. Cool?
-All right.
-Call your buddy.
Get on it. Thank you.
-[Scooter] I'll call this guy.
-[Mike] Love you, guys.
[rock music plays]
[Wes] I've been busy on the Rambler.
Now that this hideous interior is out,
it's time to turn this thing
into a race car.
Got the roll cage in,
I'm welding some support braces in.
It's critical that I get this chassis
welded together and braced correctly.
We're gonna have a lot more power
than it had originally.
And one thing is,
if we don't tie this together,
we could twist this body to pieces.
It could be very unsafe.
And we can't get the power
to the ground if this chassis isn't stiff.
[rock music playing]
I ain't going back ♪
Avalanche ♪
[Mike] Wes got the body off the frame,
so it's time to paint.
This is a dragster,
so this car needs to be so loud,
not only motor-wise,
but the paint needs to be super popping.
What better than a bright
lime green metal flake?
This thing's gonna look
like a fire-breathing dragon,
running down that drag strip.
'Cause this is war ♪
Stick to the… ♪
[Mike] I like to do a base coat
in a really similar color as my flake,
that way, when I'm flaking, everything
gets covered and it looks the same.
Now that we got our Rambler
all based out in our lime green,
time to hit it with flake, and we're gonna
go heavy on the flake. A lot of flake.
I got a dragon in my heart ♪
[Mike] Flake paint has
small, shiny flakes of metal mixed into it
that'll reflect and sparkle in the sun.
It gives the car a unique look
and will really turn some heads.
I guarantee you,
the next 10, 15 paint jobs
I'm gonna find
a little bit of green flake in
because it's like a glitter bomb
blew up in my paint booth.
See you on the floor ♪
This is war ♪
I hope you cry ♪
Stick up, guys
See you on the floor ♪
-That is war ♪
span style="style1"-[Mike] Whoo!
[Wes] Let's get started
with this rear end.
Be careful. Don't scratch the paint.
-You want to bolt them up first?
-Yeah. Bolt it up, roll it under.
[Wes] Mike hired a few racing experts,
the two Jakes,
to help us out with this rear suspension.
We're gonna get
our rear end mounted together.
Get this rear end under the car
just to see what kind of room
and clearance
we're gonna to have from our frame rails
to the inside of the tires.
Coming down.
[Wes] We're going in
with some really big back tires.
We're gonna put some meat under this.
-This is for sure how NHRA guys do it.
-[laughs]
-Yeah.
-Yeah.
[Wes] The wider tires
have more surface area.
That's gonna help
put the power to the ground.
With this car having over 800 horsepower,
we'll need all the grip we can get
to move this car down the track.
Everybody go crazy ♪
Factory subframes
are gonna have to come out,
so we're gonna go in
with an aftermarket subframe rail.
The tires we're going with
are two to three times wider
than what was on this car originally.
So we're gonna have
to custom-adjust these frame rails
to accommodate these big tires.
Then we'll tie this into our roll cage
and make this car complete
and be able to put
the power to the ground.
[intense rock music plays]
[tool clicking]
-[Wes] Oh, what do we got here?
-[horn honks]
[Scooter] We're finally here. span style="style2"¡Llegamos!
-I thought you were the parts guy.
-[Scooter] Hey.
-Let me get that for you.
[Scooter] Wes, Mikey, what do you think?
You wanted a van.
-I like it.
-We produced.
[Rabbit] Once again,
Scooter had a killer tip,
and now here we are.
These shorties are hard to find.
How much did y'all pay?
[Rabbit] $2,000.
-You don't find shorty vans anymore.
-Nah.
This bad boy is nothing but
a blank canvas of badassness.
[Mike] Couple little whiskey dents
here and there,
but other than that, it's nice.
[Rabbit] Check that out.
-[Mike] Oh yeah.
-[Scooter] Smooth.
[Mike] Don't worry, I can fix that.
[rattling]
-[Scooter chuckles]
-I didn't push enough.
-[Rabbit] Check this thing out.
-[Scooter] Eh?
I like this. Yeah, a little bit of paint,
some different wheels and tires.
It needs a retro vibe.
-It's a van. Of course it does.
-I say we do some side pipes.
-Look at the dash.
-[Scooter] Side pipes!
[Mike] Why has it got a seat cover?
Ah.
Maybe upholstery too,
but two seats ain't no big deal, you know.
Here's what I think.
These vans are pretty popular
for transporting motorcycles
all over the place down here.
People love taking them out to the desert,
so I think we turn this into a bike hauler
with, like, this wild '70s vibe.
We'll install the ramp
and rubber flooring inside for the bike,
replace the seats,
clean and tune the engine,
and then we can let the retro fly.
Let's install bubble star windows
in the back, add some new chrome wheels.
To top it all off, we'll give it
a sick '70s-style flake paint job.
-I like this, guys.
-[Scooter] You like?
Yeah, 'course I like it.
How much are we gonna get for it?
[Rabbit] With a '70s retro feel,
we could easily snag around 20, 25 grand.
-Yeah.
-[Rabbit] It's a good piece.
[Mike] Good job, guys. All right,
we gotta get back to the Rambler.
-Thanks, buddy.
-[Scooter] You're welcome, guys.
[rock music plays]
Our Mustang two front suspension
came in on the Rambler.
It's a really good upgrade.
It's gonna bring the value of this car up.
It's gonna be a really big engine.
So to keep it from stickin' in front
of the windshield where we can't see,
this lower cross member
is gonna allow us the clearance we need
to get this engine in here,
make everything work a lot better.
Over the years, I've installed
50-plus of these things.
It's a really good upgrade.
Mustang two suspension design
is really great
for its solid handling, reliability,
and its compact size allows
you to install a much bigger engine.
This is the right way to go.
I like to do what's right,
not what's the easiest.
Once I get finished,
we can install the engine.
[upbeat music plays]
-Don't let go ♪
-Don't let nobody take your shine ♪
So we got the windows cut in.
I did those, so the rest of the team
can focus on the Rambler.
Got all the seats out.
Inside's basically gutted,
minus the dash and stuff.
We got a couple dings and dents
that we're knocking out.
It's coming along pretty good,
and we should be in primer
by the end of today.
Show your grind ♪
Take it, the whole world is mine ♪
[rock music plays]
Tell you what. Let's get this engine in.
Make sure we don't lift the car out.
You got it.
Looks like it's gonna be a tight fit.
[Wes] Yeah. We make it fit.
-Whoo!
-[Jaime chuckles] Sorry.
This beast of an engine
we're putting in right now
is 350 small block
with a Weiland 671 blower.
It's also gonna have nitrous,
so the engine itself
gonna be approximately 800 horses,
and I think the nitrous
might give it another 300.
Hopefully,
it's not too much power for the car.
[Wes] With what we're setting up here,
an experienced driver should be able to do
10.5 seconds in the quarter mile,
if not better.
And that's smoking
for a non-pro street car.
The buyer should be
more than happy with this beast.
Big motor, little car.
[laughs]
-You ready?
-[Wes] Yeah. Let's drop it in there.
-[Jaime] There you go.
-[Wes] Look at that.
[Jaime] span style="style2"Perfecto.
Guess what I'm seeing.
-What's that?
-The hood ain't gonna fit.
[chuckles] Who needs a hood?
When you have all this,
you just leave the hood off.
-That way, you can see what you got.
-Women don't say that.
[laughing]
[Wes] It's great to finally have
the engine in this Rambler,
but we still have a ton of work
to do on this thing.
If we're gonna finish this, the van,
and the Porsche by the end of the summer,
we'll have to kick it into overdrive.
Let's get some tools
and get this thing buttoned up.
[Jaime] All right.
[trumpet music plays]
[Mike] So I finally got the van
all wrapped up and in sealer,
so now it's time to hit it
with this crazy pinkish-purple color.
Honestly, I think our van is gonna look
pretty damn bitchin' in pink.
Do you ever
immediately second-guess yourself?
I don't. This is gonna look awesome.
[Mike] Sure, I could paint it blue or red
like every other van out there,
but to the right buyer,
this groovy paint job
will be impossible to resist.
And just like the Rambler,
we're adding a layer of flake
to make it pop.
The flake's reflectiveness will also help
cover up any minor imperfections.
Since this is a quick flip,
there may be one or two tiny dents
that we didn't have time to get to.
Adding this paint should nab us
an extra 5K or so to the resale value.
Not bad for a quick peace and love flip.
Take this van back into the '70s.
[rock music playing]
Don't give me too much
It's never enough ♪
Don't give me heartache… ♪
-[Mike] What do you think of the color?
-[Wes] Definitely a head-turner.
We'll get the coin flooring in,
the rubber floor.
So, we'll figure out some way
to secure the motorcycle in there.
-Some tie-down spots.
-[Mike] We don't know who's buying this.
-[Jaime] I have a good idea.
-What?
[laughs]
-It's probably gonna be a woman biker.
-Why? What's wrong with pink?
Are you saying I'm being sexist?
-You're absolutely being sexist.
-I don't know.
I'd drive this all the time.
You wouldn't drive this?
-I'm comfortable with my manhood.
-Right.
-I would drive it.
-I would drive it too.
[Wes] But I do have a buddy.
His wife may be interested in this.
[Rabbit] Oh my God.
[speaks Spanish]
[Scooter] What happened?
It's so magenta.
[Wes] It's flashy, man.
It's very bright. Very colorful.
[Rabbit] What's the idea here?
I need to find a badass biker
who's looking for a hauler
with a little flair.
How many Harley guys do you know
that don't add chrome,
that don't add tassels,
that don't wear leather.
-How many?
-This is pink magenta.
Yeah. I guarantee you,
you won't have a problem selling it.
Wes might actually have a buyer for this.
-He'll give him your number.
-Right.
-Wes.
-So, for me, this is an easy sell.
How do you plan on selling the Porsche?
That's the one that'll be a hard sell.
-That is a different--
-TV commercial.
-Spielberg here.
-That's what I went to school for.
I'm calling in a favor
to this guy from college.
You went to college?
-In English too. [laughs]
-[Mike] Okay.
But who's gonna do the commercial?
And I'll be the director of it,
and Rabbit here gonna be like,
"Hey, come and get your van over here."
[laughing]
-[Jaime] This is gonna be funny.
-Okay, we gotta work.
-Bunch of non-believers.
-[Mike] Good luck on your commercial.
[Mike] Let's put the finishing touches
on this boxy beauty.
[smooth dance music plays]
[Mike] And… done.
This Dodge V-100 went
from a crusty breadbox
into a motorcycle-hauling retro machine.
We painted her a groovy pink
that sparkles in the sun.
Threw on some classic chrome wheels
and white wall tires.
Put in psychedelic star bubble windows.
Added new seats.
Outfitted it with water and dirt
resistant rubber flooring…
and a ramp to easily get bikes in and out.
We put the shaggin' back in this wagon.
[slow rock music plays]
[Mike] So it turns out
that our Rambler buyer
is going out of the country
for a couple weeks,
and he wants to come by tomorrow
and look at the car and finish the deal.
So I had to hire a small crew,
so we could get it
as close to finished as we possibly could.
I'm even paying these guys
out of my own pocket,
but it's totally worth it.
I believe in this business, and I got
my eye on bigger and better builds,
but I need the team to feel supported
and stick together for that to happen.
[Wes] We're getting
the transmission lines in, radiator,
all the really critical components we need
to make this thing run, stay cool.
We're putting in the body panels,
doors, windows.
It's looking pretty good,
but we still have a lot to do.
[Jaime] All right, this is the problem
with the radiator.
This is our serpentine system
for the engine.
And we're literally sitting
on the fans right now,
and we still don't have enough room.
We have at least
a two-to-three-inch difference,
because its front end is bowing.
You know what we could do?
We can trim it three quarters of an inch.
Oh, really?
[Jaime] Yeah, but that's not gonna solve
the whole problem.
The side section here
in the nose, right here, it's bulging.
This is gonna have to get cut out
so we can put the radiator
down in this way.
We need to start slicing and dicing.
[Jaime] It's a big engine.
We need a big radiator.
We gotta keep this thing cool.
With the horsepower it's gonna be pushing,
it's important
that the radiator's a decent size.
You never give up, you never give in ♪
You never stop for a second
For it all to sink in ♪
Keep on pushing ♪
-[Wes] Looks really good.
-[Jaime] Teamwork. All right.
[rock music plays]
Sparkly.
-Very sparkly, sir.
-Very sparkly.
[Rabbit] You're not gonna lose
this thing at the supermarket…
-[man] Nope.
-Anything like that.
You're telling me
you want to buy this for your wife.
I do. We've been talking
about a toy hauler for her bike.
-This will fit her. It's cute like she is.
-[Rabbit] It is. Who's this we got here?
-What's going on?
-[David] Well, this is my wife.
I'm Danielle. Nice to meet you.
[Rabbit] Nice to meet you.
[Rabbit] When Wes said he knew a guy
whose wife wanted a bike hauler,
you know, I had my doubts.
Check that out.
-Wow.
-[David] Look at that.
-[Danielle] Wow.
-[David] The ramp and everything.
-It has a bed-liner cover.
-[Danielle] Amazing.
[Rabbit] Is it a good fit for your bike?
[Danielle] Yes. Absolutely.
What do you think?
Well, aside from cute, I love the color.
I like the white walls.
Basically, it's a stock '79 Dodge van.
My team, they took
a good running survivor van
and gave it this '70s retro
Barbie girl kind of wild vibe.
If Barbie was into badass custom vans,
she'd be rocking it.
-[Danielle] Right.
-[David] I agree.
[Danielle] I love it.
-[Rabbit] She likes it.
-[David] I think so.
[Danielle] Oh my goodness.
-[Rabbit] She likes it. You like it.
-[David] Yep.
Custom paint, custom wheels.
What would you expect
to pay for something like this?
-Something like this…
-I mean, realistically.
I'd do about, uh, 24.
You know what? We're not far apart.
-In my mind, I had a number.
-Okay.
We're about 6k shy on that number.
I was sitting at 30k.
-I really, really love it.
-You're not helping.
When you see that look in somebody's eye,
I know I already had it sold.
We just got to work out the formalities.
All right, I'll meet you in the middle.
You're at 30, I'm at 24.
Twenty-seven.
You know what? It's hot. I'm ready to make
a sale and get something cool to drink.
-We can go in the office.
-Let's do it.
-$27,000.
-Twenty-seven.
-You are gonna love your van, Danielle.
-I'm sure I will.
We sold the van for 27,000.
You know, quick math,
that's 15,200 bucks in profit.
Not bad for a quick flip.
At the moment, we're currently sitting
at a 182,700 dollars in profit.
It's respectable, but we still need to get
some fantastic returns on our Rambler
and the Porsche
to hit that sweet goal of 250 grand.
-You'll love it.
-[Danielle] Oh my goodness!
[Rabbit] She's so excited.
Get your hands in the air
And say yeah ♪
[rock music plays]
[Jaime] I can't believe we did it.
-I believe we're ready to start it.
-Yeah.
We worked all night and, by a miracle,
we got this Rambler in a good place
for the buyer to check out.
He's gonna be here any minute,
and, man, I feel like
I just finished a marathon.
You got here just in time.
We're ready to fire it up.
-Shut up. Really?
-[Jaime] Mm-hmm.
Since it came in the shop,
I've been wanting to hear it.
Honestly, the past three days
has been a blur.
You look like somebody peed
in your Cheerios. You all look tired.
It's… It's been rough.
Well, let's hear this.
Maybe it'll wake everybody up.
All right. I think since I got to wire it,
I get to pull the trigger.
All right.
Ever been around a woman
when she pulls the trigger?
I'm gonna step back a little bit,
keep my mouth shut.
[engine starts]
-Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh! Oh!
-[engine revving loudly]
Whoa!
[revving continues]
[imperceptible]
[revving stops]
-Yeah.
-Huh?
-Yes.
-[Jaime] It works. Our hard work.
I love it when it's like… [mimics engine]
-[Wes] Yeah.
-Yeah. That sounded mean to me.
-I don't know about you guys.
-It sounded healthy.
[Mike] It sounded itchy.
-Are you insane? You added nitrous?
-[Wes] That's it.
So adding nitrous to an engine
is like giving it a big hit of steroids.
The nitrous injects extra oxygen
into the fuel system which combusts,
and that creates more energy
to give you an instant shot of speed.
Like, that's not enough.
You gonna add that to it.
More power, more power.
You need that little extra, you got it.
That way you don't just blow the tires off
at the beginning.
It'll either go or blow.
-It meets your expectations?
-You sure of that?
Yeah, I love it. Now I want to see it go.
This Rambler is kick-ass.
Even though it's not for serious racing,
the buyer needs to know
it can flex its muscles on the road
so we can get top-dollar.
The team really busted their ass
to get this thing done,
so Rabbit needs to do the same
and get this sale locked in.
If this buyer falls through, it is going
to be a major setback for this shop.
Let's finish it up.
[upbeat music plays]
[dog barks]
-[Rabbit] I got one question.
-[man] Yeah.
What in hell got you wanting a Rambler?
Well, you know,
when I was a little kid, the neighbor had
a nice, awesome Rambler, and you would
see him working on it all the time--
It's a childhood thing.
Well, that, and I kind of
don't know what to spend my money on, so--
Well, speaking of things
to spend money on, how about this?
[Damian] There we go. Damn, man.
[Rabbit] The Rambler is almost done,
but since Damian's
headed out of town tomorrow,
I want him to put some eyes on this thing
to make sure we're on the same page.
Because if he's not, that means
I'm gonna have to find another buyer,
and that would suck, because we need
that 60k ASAP to build the Porsche.
So this thing's got a supercharger,
but on top of that, you'll notice
these plates and these lines.
This thing has
a 300 shot of nitrous on top of it.
-This thing demands attention.
-[Scooter] Yes, attention.
[Damian] I do like green, so…
You know, money. Money's a big factor.
-[Scooter] Money.
-[Rabbit] Green for the money.
So are you a race car driver?
Because this is a lot of car.
Well, I'm not gonna lie,
this is gonna be the first one.
But I've just got all this
spending money on me now, man,
I figured racing's
a good way to go on the next step.
I'm with you there.
The fastest way to make a small fortune,
start with a large one and buy a race car.
There you go.
[Wes] We have a roll cage in here.
This thing's gonna be really safe.
And the Mustang II front suspension
is gonna make this thing
where you can keep it in a straight line.
Moving on, there's something else I love.
I love that classic Rambler dash.
It's still got so many old elements here.
Jaime's wiring this thing up.
Yep. Got a push button start here.
Emergency shut-offs.
It's all engine. And we will give you
the hood to take home.
-Because it no longer fits.
-Appreciate that.
-Doesn't get any sweeter than that.
-She's a badass ride all the way around.
I mean, it looks good.
I don't think I could ask
for anything better than this.
So, Damian, you said
you'd come into some money.
-What do we do for a living?
-I started off with doing cryptocurrency.
I hit a little dip and then
things are looking back up again.
The whole NFT market, so, uh…
I'm gonna have
extra cash on hand eventually.
Eventually?
I'd like to get started
on paying with crypto, you know?
Maybe I can cut you guys
on a deal here with my whole NFT stuff.
What do you guys feel about…
I pay 60 in NFTs, man?
-You want to pay for this car in NFTs?
-NFTs.
Yeah, man. I mean… It's a growing market.
Crypto, Rabbit. Let's go crypto.
You know, the crypto make-believe,
whatever he's doing,
that's great and that's his business,
but we need cold hard cash,
not blockchain internet pictures.
I just hope
we didn't pour 30 grand into a car
for a kid that doesn't have the cash.
There's a big future in the crypto.
You know what NFT stands for, for me?
No… [bleep] …thanks.
[closing theme music plays]