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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