Monster Garage: Racing Lincoin
On this episode of Monster
Garage, the monster builders create an open road racer
from a 1964 Lincoln Continental. As usual, the car must appear stock
and the team has seen days to complete the challenge. Day One, the design.
Days two through seven, the build, and day seven, they ride.
The final day will be in a test but then Jesse
James will head out to Las Vegas to a lonely stretch of
road and open the Lincoln up. Participants usually get up to speeds
of 130 mph to 220 mph. Dave Golder,
an expert open road racer, helps to design the car. Dave has won a number
of championship races and knows what the racer needs to do. With his
vast knowledge of mechanics, he will also assist in the build.
So Jesse has a chassis at his shop to use but the body of the car is
17 inches longer then the chassis. The plan is to pop the body off and
cut the amount needed out of the middle, weld it back together and stick
it back on.
The team arrives on the first build day. They consist of a race care
fabricator, hot rod builder, racecar designer, open road racer and mechanics.
The hood goes first, then the doors, seats, bumper, gas tank and windshield.
Pat Mc Elreath, a racecar consultant out of Portland Oregon and holder
of the silver state record of 207 mph starts to cut out the floorboard.
Meanwhile, Jesse James and Dave Golder jet off to Jesse’s shop
to pick up the frame. The frame is bare bones, no electrical and no
plumbing. When they return the garage, the team replaces the Lincoln
for the chassis. Brian Haynes, a construction supervisor and stock car
racer from Janesville, California starts a parts list. He quickly realizes
that they need to remove the excess weight from the Lincoln in order
for it to reach top speed. In order to prepare the Lincoln for the chassis,
the rear axle is removed. They will return the next day to strip more
weight from the car.
Day three arrives, and the success of this builds weighs heavily on
the parts, which have not arrived. While waiting on the new engine,
they remove the old one with a bit of resistance from the engine itself.
It finally budges and Jegs arrives with a new engine. They set the transmission
into the chassis, which fits perfectly and then drops the engine into
the engine compartment. While Dave Golder makes motor mounts, Pat levels
the engine. Craig Jull, racecar engineer and open road racer out of
Bellflower, California, takes a hold of a grinder but burns his arm
and catches his tooth on the wheel. It breaks off and you know that
has to hurt. He charges on and continues to work despite the pain. The
car is marked for the cut and once cut; Jesse and Craig tack the body
back together. Jesse James and Pat make things a little interesting
with a bet. Pat estimates the total weight of the car without driver
will be about 3400 pounds while Jesse says over 4000 lbs.
Day four comes and they need to add to the wish list. The team sends
Body Drop, from Jackass, to pick up the parts while Pat creates a customized
sway bar to keep the car from leaning. Jesse James rolls up in his ride,
a Bentley, and gets right to work on the body. All four doors are cut
down and welded together. Dave pop rivets the roof to hold it together
while it is being welded. After the engine is removed for complete assembly,
it is returned to its permanent position and mounted to the chassis.
Matt Goodsell, a fabricator and designer out of Orange, California,
salvages exhaust pipes from the failed challenge All-Girl Build: Dirt-Track
Racer. After a few fireworks set off in the bathroom by prankster Jesse
James, the team heads home.
On day five, Craig works on the body and makes a tail fin to attach
to the Lincoln. The spoiler will help keep the car down and aid in the
speed of the car. Brakes, shocks and power steering arrive just as Jesse
arrives on his chopper. He welds the doors together and Matt finishes
the muffler. After the exhaust is installed the chassis is complete.
They start up the engine and it runs. A little tune up and timing is
checked, Jesse climbs in. The body is them placed on the chassis they
will attach it to the frame on day six.
Day six, the last day in the garage. The body is married to the chassis
by metal panels and tacked on. A front air dam is installed in the hood
to make it more aerodynamic. A hole is cut for the carburetor to peek
through and Craig makes an air deflector for it. This is where it gets
a little weird. A dentist shows up with his assistants to fix Craig’s
tooth. He uses a Seric Restoration System to mold a new ceramic tooth
for Craig. The system shapes the tooth like a lathe used in making custom
wheels. It is then permanently cemented to the tooth and Craig is good
as new. After the dental visit, the windows, doors and skull are placed
on the car to finish it up. Jesse hops in and tears down the street.
Craig uses and old-school trick with a bat to curve the wheel wells
so they don’t catch on the tires. Before the team collects their
prize tools, a bet needs to be settled. The final weight of the car
is 3561 pounds and Pat wins. As it is tattooed on Jesse’s pal,
Pay Up Sucker!
Final day seven, Jesse is in North Las Vegas to race. The body is painted
out with green flames and looks awesome. The first race, Jesse clocks
156 mpg. The stock Lincoln runs 93 mph, Cobra is 130 mph and the Dodge
Viper hits 183 mph. Jesse races again and reaches speeds of 173.3 mph.
Not as fast as the others but it is a Lincoln. Jesse James gives it
one more shot and but the clutch died and that was that.
The final build tally is $21,500 for the vehicle. $6215 for the build
and $26,600 in FREEBIES. Total build $54,315. A new 2005 Lincoln LS
V8 Ultimate completely loaded costs $5,080 less than this racer but
I’ll bet it doesn’t quite move as fast.
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