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00:00 This time on Roadkill we dominated 24 laps of lemons and we killed the Rodson again
00:28 This is 24 hours of lemons
00:32 It's the world's largest road racing sanctioning body because it's all about being cheap and having fun
00:38 The cars you race at lemons are ostensibly built for 500 bucks
00:43 But that doesn't count the value of all the safety equipment tires and stuff
00:46 The thing that is cool about it though is that no one's taking this really seriously
00:50 They're all out there having a riot
00:52 Which is why lemons and roadkill got together and roadkill is now the presenting sponsor of 24 hours of lemons
00:59 Now with our relationship you would think that we would actually be pretty good at this
01:03 But if you saw one of our earlier episodes
01:06 You'll know that we ran a 73 Plymouth Fury and had an epic failure
01:11 So bad that Finnegan is
01:13 Legitimately irate about it to this day. What is your status? Are you off the track?
01:20 Yes, I'm off the track, sitting in the dirt pissed off
01:23 You guys better have ice cold freaking beer waiting for me when I get dragged back into that pit
01:28 But now we're gonna try again
01:30 The car we're gonna race is the Rodson our 71 Datsun 240z that has that Chevy
01:36 4.3 liter v6 and a Ford Powerstroke diesel turbo on it
01:40 Now, why would we pick this car for an endurance race?
01:43 Well, naturally is because this thing has failed us every single time we've had it in an episode
01:48 We're talking like five times and the last time it was out
01:52 We drove away with it knowing that it had some brutal knocking noise in it, but we didn't know what it was
01:57 When we got ready to prep the Rodson for lemons
02:05 The first thing we did wasn't to troubleshoot it and find out what might be wrong
02:09 No, we sent the thing down to Josh Lucas fabrication to have a complete roll cage built
02:15 *drilling*
02:17 But he was gonna do some other work as well because we noticed that the engine was pretty much
02:24 dangling freely in the engine compartment on these really lame motor mounts that were holding the thing in and so we had Josh
02:31 Fabricate some new solid motor mounts and crossed our fingers that that was gonna solve our problem with this mystery noise
02:36 When we hang out with the guys who run 24 hours of lemons
02:40 They hammer into us that really this event is all about the preparation. And so this time we went all out
02:46 We started working on the car on Thursday morning before we needed to be at tech on Friday afternoon
02:52 That's like 24 hours to prepare a car for 24 hours of lemons. It all adds up
02:58 So Lucas fixed the motor mounts, so it's solid now. So the clunking I think should go away because what?
03:05 Well, we you know, we haven't cranked it over to find out. Let's try that now
03:09 *loud clunking*
03:11 That's not good. See it's actually louder now that the motor mounts are fixed. Yeah, it's got solid motor mounts
03:16 The motors not flopping around. It's louder. I still don't think it's in the motor. I think it's like... Can I hear it again?
03:21 Yeah, it's kind of fun.
03:23 *loud clunking*
03:25 I think that could be like
03:27 Clutch coming apart. It's bell housing sounding to me. It's not Rodnock sounding
03:34 Here's the lay of the land. Our plan here is to run 24 hours of lemons
03:38 It's noon-ish right now on Thursday and we got to be at the track sometime tomorrow to tech and race
03:45 I think we're gonna be here all night long
03:47 So I found the problem
03:49 Finally jacked the car up. We haven't done that yet
03:51 I grabbed the pressure plate for the clutch and I really shouldn't be able to move it without the crankshaft turning
03:57 So there's our noise, which means
04:01 Engine's probably mostly okay. We can go racing for two or three laps at least once we fix that. Watch the flywheel
04:08 It's still attached. The flywheel actually has play on the crank right now. Oh, wow. Oh, that's way worse
04:13 No, that's not the pressure plate coming off the flywheel. That's the flywheel coming off the engine
04:19 Yeah, wow, that's a disaster. Okay. Well, we'll be pulling that transmission out
04:24 Add that to the long list that I made this morning. This is today
04:31 today
04:33 It turns out that they never really designed the Datsun to accommodate the 4.3 v6 and the big old ugly
04:42 Transmission that's in it. And so getting the bell housing bolts out is a nightmare
04:47 This would be a lot easier if we just cut the whole firewall out of the way
04:50 We might actually have to pull the engine and trans out as one unit
04:53 Normally, we'd say that would take about half an hour, but you know that that actually means closer to ten
04:59 Remember how mad you were when we did all that work to the fury and then didn't race more than a lap or two?
05:06 Because I did it by myself
05:09 You're here this time. It's different
05:11 We pulled the motor forward about an inch which was enough to get the last bell housing bolt out
05:16 Now we're gonna see if we can dip it down enough to actually get the transmission slid over the back of the crankshaft
05:22 If we can do that we avoid yanking the motor out of the car which would add
05:28 a whole lot of hours to this deal
05:30 We're just hoping that the motor actually doesn't fall out of the car now because we're only supporting it with a tie-down to this rested
05:36 cross member
05:38 I feel good about this. Hey, it is what it is. I'm not under the car like you
05:42 So I feel fine. We're good
05:45 You know what nobody figured out though is we have to take the shifter off from inside the car
05:57 Yeah, if you can get the trans off and down and tilt the front down then we'll be alright
06:02 But right now the shifter is about two inches hanging out over the floor
06:06 Hold on okay, that's ugly, but it'll come out
06:13 Like I should get hazard pay
06:24 Every bolt is loose, every single bolt is loose
06:27 Yep, no Loctite
06:30 Loctite
06:32 Use it
06:33 Know it
06:35 Love it. I'm happy to know it's not rod knock
06:37 So it's all good news
06:40 Rod bearings are fine
06:41 The noise was coming from the flywheel falling off the back of the motor because somebody installed the bolts with zero Loctite
06:46 So we're gonna fix that we're gonna replace the rear main seal
06:50 Clean up the mess put it back together go racing after a whole lot of fabrication wiring plumbing
06:56 Yeah, we'll be here all night
06:59 So Lucas is back there working on the fuel cell which needs to be completely encased with steel
07:04 Separating it for the passenger compartment and Finnegan's working on the wiring which needs to pretty much be redone from scratch
07:11 And I'm filling all of the little holes in the firewall and the floor and the trans tunnel
07:16 Because that's needed to pass tech because if you got a hole and it catches on fire that becomes a flamethrower
07:22 Something's on fire. It's just smoking. I think it's fine. Okay
07:25 So the deal with lemons is your race car is really supposed to be like a $500 beater and in truth
07:33 That's what this is. We paid 500 for it. We sold the motor and trans out up for 400
07:38 So we're into this car for about $100, which is way less than what that ignition box cost way less than what that turbo cost
07:46 We're cheating a little bit here
07:48 One of the rules which makes sense if you think about it is that your helmet has to be fully contained within the roll cage
07:54 It's actually got to be two inches from every bar
07:56 The problem is is that our seat is way too high my helmet almost touches the roof
08:00 So we're gonna have to sink the seat down in and this is preventing that so we are going to pack it
08:05 Ah
08:07 Things are going good. Most of the stock wiring is ripped out of the car because that's what you do. Tony Angelo showed up
08:28 He's the host of Hot Rod Garage
08:29 He's helping us work on the car because we've suckered him into sweating in a hundred degree heat to go around a racetrack
08:35 Hopefully more than one time in the rocks
08:38 I need to get a tow hook front and rear on the car so they can pull us off the track when we die
08:43 When? This is the front frame horn off Finnegan's 55 Chevy. This is off that Jim Meyer chassis under that car
08:52 We lopped it off so that we could make the tilt front end work and now it's living again
08:57 It's already been a whole lot of work here
08:59 I finished the really poorly executed tow hooks at both ends
09:03 Mike Tony and Lucas have reinstalled the transmission and there's still a whole lot left to do
09:08 But first we're gonna fire up the motor and make sure that we have killed that noise once and for all
09:13 Prepare to be motivated
09:18 (Motor running)
09:20 I'm gonna say that's just residual oil that leaked into the turbo. Let's go race it. Where's the list? Finish roll cage?
09:37 No seat mount. No harnesses. No gauges. No rewire ignition
09:40 Not really. Re-plumb fuel cell? No. Fuel fill? Yes
09:46 100%? No, no read it. It says figure it out. He's figuring it out. Legal roll cage? No. Battery cut off? No.
09:53 Exhaust out the back? No. Roll cage padding? No. Fix oil leak? Yes. Fix oil leak. Yeah
09:59 Adress number? No. Tape all glass? No. Secure battery mount? Yes. Is it welded together?
10:04 Doesn't have to be. You're gonna leave it taped? That's secure. Okay. Remove the antifreeze
10:09 Nope
10:12 Fill all firewall holes. I have that twice. So I'm gonna cross off this one
10:15 Hans mounts on helmets? No. Harness retainers on the shoulder bar? No. Window net? No.
10:21 Protection for the fuel cell? No. Fuel vent? Stop saying no, just start saying things like not yet.
10:26 Driver's side mirror? Not yet. Puke tank? Not yet.
10:29 Vacuum hose to protect the razor-sharp edge on the inside of the driver door? No. That's optional. Brake pads? Not yet
10:37 What if we wrote down all the things we did do and then crossed them off?
10:40 He wouldn't let me. Install transmission? No. Cross it off. Drive shaft? Cross it off.
10:45 Midnight progress report
10:51 Engine runs. We're working on the exhaust system. We're working on making the roll cage legal
10:56 We still have to drop the seat in the car and get it lower. We still have to do everything on that list basically
11:01 But we're making progress
11:03 Here's the dilemma. There's easily 12 hours worth of work left in this car
11:08 And we could stay up all night and do that, but then we still have to drive three hours to Buttonwillow
11:13 Which we won't be able to do because we'll be asleep. I don't know what's gonna happen
11:33 So I think we left at about 2 30 in the morning slept for three and a half hours
11:38 We're back here because it's Friday. Today is actually the day we're supposed to get the car tech inspected. There's no way that's happening
11:44 We've got three major things left to do
11:46 We've got to mount our seat, fix our roll cage, build our exhaust
11:49 And then it's a whole bunch of wiring, plumbing and other little things that would stop us from getting around the track
11:53 But not stop us from getting the car tech inspected
11:56 Which we're gonna have to pull strings or something and try to get that done first thing in the morning because tomorrow's race day
12:02 For no reason because our list is much shorter today
12:05 And I know that it's gotten official because it's on the whiteboard which is a roadkill first
12:09 It's off the cardboard and all I really know is that I've got tasks assigned to me
12:13 And I'm getting them done as fast as I can because we're leaving here at one o'clock apparently no matter what
12:18 Somebody noticed yesterday that our axles are coming apart
12:22 And it looks like because a lot of the bolts are loose. So I'm gonna take them apart
12:28 Relock tight everything retighten everything. This isn't the most durable thing in the world, but it's way better than the stock
12:34 Axles and rear diff that this car came with in 71
12:37 This is an r200 rear diff that came out of I believe a Subaru WRX STI
12:43 And it's got a limited slip 373s I think and these are aftermarket axles
12:49 That are not bulletproof, but a much needed upgrade
12:55 It took forever
12:56 But we finally got the race seat set in the car so that all of the drivers could reach all the controls
13:01 And that's actually the point at which we could finally put the switch panel in the car because we knew
13:06 Exactly where we were gonna be. Lemons is not gonna allow the hangar pipe
13:10 That's the exhaust that we've got coming straight out of the turbo and right up through the hood with that tractor flapper valve on it
13:17 You gotta have an exhaust system that dumps behind the driver something about carbon monoxide death
13:22 I don't get it. We built this thing under protest
13:25 But I gotta say the side pipe is looking pretty good check out the Duesenberg action on that, baby
13:31 There's no muffler in it, and it might not pass the decibel limit, but that's really not important right now. This looks good
13:38 We were gonna leave at exactly 1 o'clock today, no one specified a.m.. Or p.m.. It's 9 p.m.. Right now. It's Friday
13:48 This was tech day
13:49 We called in a favor apparently they're gonna let us tech at like 630 in the morning
13:54 Which doesn't sound like a favor to me, but apparently it is because the racing starts at 8
13:58 So we have one chance to get through tech with this thing
14:01 Flawlessly in order to suit up be ready be on the starting line to start
14:06 We're trying to fire this thing up for the first time after we're ostensibly done with all the work
14:10 And we had a sunk float again
14:12 You could probably do a flashback reel right here to how many times we've smacked this carburetor
14:17 With a stick with a rock with a hammer with a screwdriver in order to make it not flood, but have we fixed it
14:23 No until just now that was the demon tweak
14:26 ever again
14:29 Let's go listen
14:47 I
14:47 Think like new
14:49 This is better than it ever has been and do the honors and drive it on the trailer
14:52 This seat supposed to be installed. We're missing a pole. No one will ever love this car the way I do
14:57 Inside I'm doing jumping jacks right now. They're not nearly as happy as I am
15:02 We're going racing
15:05 The Rotson will finish finish
15:09 You
15:11 Saturday morning 6 30 a.m. Here at Buttonwillow Raceway Park, and we've been awake something
15:22 Approximating all night long, but we're here at 24 hours of lemons guys are just getting their cars fired up
15:30 They're getting their goofy costumes in place, and they're getting ready for the drivers meeting that will lead directly into the race starting at 8 a.m.
15:37 But first we have got a jam to get a lot of little last-minute things done so that we can pass tech inspection
15:42 So that we can be on the starting line when this thing goes off
16:02 See that that's what cars racing at Buttonwillow looks like
16:06 We're not out there these guys are prepping it to go through tech because what remains up in the air is they might not let us
16:12 Run this thing
16:13 There's any one of a number of things that they could look at and pick us apart on this and just go nope
16:18 You're done till you get it fixed. So
16:20 You might have to stick with these cars to know what racing looks like here at Buttonwillow
16:30 All right gentlemen, there's only one illegal thing tallest guy
16:34 There's only one illegal thing only one which is I'm not gonna tell you it's for you to find out right
16:41 I need somebody to open the hood. Okay. Do you actually read the rules? Yes
16:45 extensively
16:48 As in almost three-quarters of the way through them
16:50 All right
16:53 It clearly is somebody else's work. Yes. Oh, you want to live -
16:58 I mean, it's so much better than what these guys would have made. That's right
17:01 And for almost on time the dude in the stylish hat is Jay lamb who runs 24 hours of lemons
17:07 And he had given us a 10% chance of passing tech, but we were ready to disappoint him
17:12 So that's 70% past right? It's like 90% right told you that's really I'm impressed
17:19 All we had to do is recruit three other people to help and we were legit
17:22 So pretend for a minute
17:26 Everyone on the interwebs doesn't know all about this car
17:29 Okay, tell me what you spent for it and what's involved and how much you've got in this car. So this was an actual
17:35 $500 car
17:37 From Washington, which is why it's so rotted. We sold the motor and trans out for 400
17:42 So we're into it for a hundred then we spent about 30 grand because we redid it three times
17:46 Yeah, now when you take that 30 grand and you subtract roadkill. Yeah, that's true
17:52 All right, and then you thousand dollar part and it becomes worthless the next day
17:56 That's actually a really please note the proximity of the turbo to the fan. Yeah, and the rich of the radiator
18:02 Yeah, yeah, see that has no chance of living. So we're like class D. I
18:06 I'm convinced. Yeah. Yeah, I'm gonna make you F zero
18:12 All we have to do is put a longer vent tube that goes down to the bottom of the tank
18:20 So when the car is upside down when it doesn't siphon gas out of it
18:24 So we do that come back here sign it off and we are on track
18:28 We're so close to racing can taste it
18:32 It's predicted to be a hundred and two degrees outside the car today, which means inside the car
18:36 It'll probably be a hundred and twenty or thirty. So we're wearing these cool suits, which is a t-shirt with tubing run through it
18:42 That connects to an ice chest with cold water in it and a pump in theory that will keep us from dying
18:48 So as we get this done, we'll rock paper scissors or something to figure out who goes first. Hopefully that's me and then we're going racing
18:54 We are at the point of strategy. We need to decide actually what we're gonna do on the racetrack now given the history of the car
19:01 Five laps come in make sure the belt still on the water pump and for sure nothing else falling off. You're going first
19:08 Yeah, you should go first. Yeah, because that way you can blow it up and I can be pissed off for six
19:12 Dude, you go ahead. Okay
19:14 Sandwich before and I don't want to eat it again. Okay
19:17 So what we need to do is I volunteer you to fuel up because you got to wear the whole suit
19:22 Okay, I'm good with that we need to get a transponder
19:29 Sponder okay. Let's go do that. Where's our tech sheet? Why don't we fuel while you're in transponder? Okay. Yeah, let's do that
19:37 So at this point we're sort of taking a casual. It's 930 in the morning
19:40 The race has already been going on for I think about an hour
19:44 We stand no chance of winning except for the fact that we're here which is a win and we're gonna finish which is a win
19:49 Strategy today is we're gonna have Finnegan go out and make five laps and bring it back in just to make sure nothing's falling off
19:55 The car and it's not overheating or anything
19:57 And at that point anyone's guess whether we're working on the car the rest of the day or racing more. Okay. Here's the deal
20:04 We need 24 minutes
20:06 24 minutes will be a hundred percent improvement on the fury episode
20:10 So you need to go out there 24 minutes minimum 24 minutes of lemons. It's on you. No pressure
20:16 There he goes, yep. Okay. I'm gonna call it official when he crosses the pit road
20:39 We're racing
20:41 Any money on 24 seconds of Lamar no, he's gonna make it he's gonna do laps this is gonna be right now
20:48 He's gonna do a couple left
20:50 We got it
20:53 Yeah
21:08 Finally Finnegan's out on track and we are giving the illusion of racing
21:12 I'm kind of worried though because it's a hundred and five degrees out here and this car is probably gonna overheat and they won't let
21:19 Us take the hood off. It's kind of a rule. You got to leave it in place
21:22 This is it finally I am on a racetrack with the Rotson and it rips down the straightaways
21:33 But it's garbage as soon as I get to a corner because the transmission just doesn't want to downshift
21:38 You've got like four others
21:47 200 sounds great for putting around one lap. Yeah, totally
22:00 I'll look at him all it now. He's pulling look at that
22:02 Hopefully it has enough brakes
22:07 Should be coming up on it any moment. It's gonna be a left turn before the large straightaway
22:16 Well, we're four laps down and he says he's gonna come in
22:19 I don't know if he has a problem or not because we agreed to five
22:21 But he'll be coming down the return road here and we'll have to run into the paddock and go see what's up
22:26 Don't forget 10 miles an hour happy thing
22:29 Front bumper looks great. We're gonna have to break that off
22:33 Fan belts on it fan is not melted at all. I see no oil leaks
22:44 Well, this is better than good we do need to tear the whole front bumper off
22:50 Yeah, that's about to fall off on the track compared to the last time we did this
22:54 That was like winning the lottery the car accelerated
22:57 It stopped it didn't lose power as I went around the track. I mean it was great
23:03 My only complaints are the shifters absolute crap
23:06 You can forget about trying to like heel toe shift going into a corner and finding the gear you actually want
23:11 Pretty much need to be in that gear 300 feet before you get to the corner
23:16 Are we surviving?
23:19 There we go
23:23 Thanks team good work
23:25 You were out for 16 minutes
23:29 So 8-4 and we've done 24 minutes a lemons
23:33 Well, everything's good surprisingly the belt is still on the car we got no leaks
23:40 We did have to do a little bit of bodywork. But other than that, it looks like we're gonna do this
23:44 It's 205 degrees, which isn't great, but the fan isn't melting. So it might be a boring day
23:48 We might actually run this thing. Yeah racing all day is our boring day. Well, yeah worst day at roadkill ever with success
23:56 (Music)
23:58 (Music)
24:00 (Music)
24:29 The Ronson is back on track and looking strong
24:32 I mean no joke this thing is freight training guys on the straightaway. It is just hoisting the nose and hauling
24:40 Just when I start mastering the corners the engine starts breaking up and now it's pouring out of the exhaust
24:56 Popping out the exhaust. What does that mean? And he's at 21 and a half minutes. Burnt exhaust valve?
25:02 He's not gonna make it to 24 minutes. Come on! 22
25:12 He's coming in now. He's not gonna make 24 minutes and he's off 22-4
25:24 It just started backfiring out of the exhaust on decel and now it's running a little rough on acceleration
25:30 Oh, yeah, the wastegate broke off
25:33 I can hear it. The wastegate broke off the exhaust
25:38 Yeah fuels boiling too look at that, oh boy that is genuine fuel boil
25:46 We're gonna have to do something about that. Can we hook up the cool suit while I'm welding?
25:50 That would be awesome
25:53 Can I borrow your welder again? Of course!
25:55 We did something like seven laps. We ran 22 and a half minutes
25:59 So we've not hit our 24 minutes of lemons goal yet and we're broken which should not surprise you at all
26:04 We have a wastegate that was hanging on an exhaust pipe that turned out to be really flimsy tubing and it broke off
26:09 So we have to deal with that because without that we're not getting boost which means the engines running just way too rich
26:15 It's stupid. So we're gonna attempt to fix that and the belt has flipped over
26:19 I'm gonna work on that a little bit of pulley alignment maybe and then Tony is working on rerouting the fuel system and wrapping some
26:25 Foil around it so we don't have a fuel boiling problem. So five ten minutes. We're back on track
26:29 [Music]
26:49 [Motor]
26:54 [Motor]
27:02 That's a lemons punishment. Apparently he did something bad and that's what he was assigned to do
27:07 He was taped to the roof of his car with an echophone apologizing
27:10 Did you accept his apology? Oh yeah. Really? Not totally
27:15 My airspace theory here might be completely invalid but at least we used a beer can
27:20 My concept being the airspace is preventing this from actually touching anything giving me a cooling barrier
27:27 We tacked the wastegate back on, fixed the boiling fuel problem and Tony threw on a new fan belt and we're ready to get back on track
27:36 [Music]
27:45 Okay I'm on the track. And the clock is rolling. You got a little bit more than two minutes before you can hit 24 minutes of lemons
27:53 So one lap. You make one lap and you did it
27:56 [Music]
28:02 If you can hold that junk together for another 30 seconds, you will be somebody
28:08 [Music]
28:15 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
28:25 24 minutes of lemons!
28:28 [Applause]
28:30 And I passed our ambler. There he is. Yep. Come on, pass this guy. Go, go, go
28:36 Yeah! Rock and roll!
28:40 Wow. That was great
28:43 Then all of a sudden the car just falls flat on its face. Something's wrong with it
28:48 I think the wastegate broke off again. Bummer
28:52 So it looks like he's out there and the wastegate broke off again or it's running bad for some reason so he's going to pull in again
28:58 It was clearly running hard. It was running really hard. Maybe he burned a piston. Maybe. That'd be a little more glorious
29:05 [Music]
29:08 That one's on. Wastegates are on
29:13 Oh. The carb is loose over here
29:18 I got a carb bolt that's spinning around when he's cranking it. Crank it
29:21 Ah! The carburetor's falling off
29:24 This engine must vibrate like a mother. Everything gets loose on it
29:28 Yeah, and it's bolted in hard. Yeah. So it's not helping anything
29:32 Can you keep it running enough that I can search for vacuum leaks?
29:36 [Engine starting]
29:42 That's it
29:44 Big vacuum leak. Yeah
29:46 When that carburetor came up, it apparently blew out a bit of the gasket with the boost. Either that or it sucked it in on d-cell
29:53 Because it has a massive vacuum leak
29:55 So we're going to pop the carburetor up and see if somebody's got a 4150 Holley gasket or, you know, silicone it
30:03 I'd kind of enjoy that because that's so wrong
30:06 Alright, let's take it off
30:08 Oh, tech tip. You can cool your hot carburetor like this
30:12 Ah! Wintery fresh
30:16 [Music]
30:21 Oh yeah, destroyed
30:25 Okay, there's the carb gasket. No amount of duct tape can fix this
30:29 Okay, let's find somebody who's antiquated enough to be running a carburetor
30:33 Oh, a carburetor gasket. Got one?
30:36 Is that for a Holley? Yep, 4150
30:38 I actually might f***ing have one
30:40 That would be incredible
30:42 Yeah, the uh... I would buy you all the beer
30:45 What? Dude, look at this guy
30:47 10 feet away
30:49 Jeff from Alloy hooks us up
30:51 Right on
30:53 You are amazing
30:54 Right on, man
30:55 We'd be junk without this guy
30:56 We're junk with this guy, but, you know, he brings it up a little
30:59 [Music]
31:03 Let's see how it sounds
31:05 [Engine starting]
31:11 Okay
31:13 [Music]
31:15 Alright, on the track
31:17 [Music]
31:23 Ah, she runs fast ass, too
31:26 [Laughter]
31:28 [Music]
31:33 [Engine revving]
31:44 The crew got the engine dialed
31:46 This car has never run this good before
31:48 But now, the transmission is pretty much junk
31:51 We need to bleed the clutch, I can't shift
31:54 I'm coming in, I can't move the shifter anymore
31:57 [Music]
32:04 When you put the clutch in, it disconnects, it stops, right?
32:08 Yeah
32:09 Like you can roll it? Yeah
32:10 So I'm in the pit again
32:12 The carburetor base gasket fix was huge
32:15 Because I'm thinking a little piece of that's been blown out for over a year now
32:19 Because the engine's never run smooth
32:21 And we blew the rest of it out, and then the engine didn't want to run at all
32:24 Now it runs like it's on fire
32:26 I mean, it's badass, things are rocking down the street
32:29 But something's going on with the trans, because it didn't want to go into third
32:33 Then it didn't want to go into fourth
32:34 I got it into fifth, and now it won't come out of fifth
32:36 Like the clutch works, you can move the shifter
32:39 But that thing's stuck in fifth gear
32:41 Which is not good
32:42 If we can rig it to stay in third
32:45 It has enough balls to run around this racetrack all day long
32:47 But I don't know if we can do that
32:49 I'm counting on Freiburger for the manual transmission miracle right now
32:53 I guess we need to jack it up and go see if the flywheel or pressure plate's falling apart again
32:58 Right now, it won't go through all the gears?
33:00 I don't know
33:01 You want to try it?
33:02 [Engine starting]
33:04 Oh! Wow, it was that loud!
33:06 It got me too!
33:08 Wow, that was loud!
33:10 I can't hear in this ear
33:12 Three Metallica concerts, Kiss, Ramones, and that was worse
33:16 Wow
33:17 I'm laying on asphalt that's hovering around 102 degrees
33:23 While we jack up the engine and lower the transmission to get it out
33:28 We're going to do that so we can look at the transmission and figure out exactly what it is
33:31 Because GM farmed out five-speed trannies behind Vortec V6s to a lot of different companies in the 90s
33:37 We're going to see what we got, then we're going to search Craigslist junkyards in the pits here
33:41 To find out, can we fix this?
33:43 What's the problem with it? It broke the top of the shift tower?
33:46 Yeah, it's hard to explain but there's this cast member inside of there that's actually rotating like this
33:51 While it's actually splitting away
33:53 So now when you're shifting, the age pattern is shifting but it's stuck in here
33:57 And it's broken that actual case as well
33:59 So we're having to pull the transmission out of the thing
34:02 And we're at the break in the race right now
34:04 They take a break from three to six
34:06 What are the odds that we actually have this fixed by six?
34:08 Zero!
34:09 What are the odds we have it fixed in time to make a last lap tomorrow?
34:12 That's the goal
34:14 For the last couple of hours, we've run 11 laps here at 24 Hours of Lemons in the Rotsen
34:20 We've broken the wastegate off the exhaust, fixed that
34:23 Blown out the carburetor gasket, fixed that
34:26 And now we've grenaded our transmission
34:28 But, thanks to the magic of Craigslist, we found a full-size Chevy truck with a V6 and a five-speed in it
34:34 Fryburger went and got it, he should be here any minute
34:37 And we're gonna rob that transmission, we're gonna fix this car, and we're gonna keep racing
34:40 For you
34:42 Dude, it's got rims, smoothie chrome bumper, extended cab
34:47 Ford truck all over again!
34:50 Oh, you don't even know!
34:52 Look how nice this thing is!
34:54 Are those 22s?
34:56 Oh, I don't know, but look at the interior!
34:58 We scored!
34:59 I'm surprised you're not, like, wanting to keep this
35:01 I truly meant, but you know what, I can't develop an attachment to these trucks
35:04 Because the electrical system's gonna fail right about the time I pull it over here
35:07 Oh, are we at the, oh yeah, over 100,000
35:10 Yeah, it's done
35:12 Bye-bye, poor '91 Chevy truck
35:18 We do some stupid stuff on Roadkill
35:23 This is one of them
35:28 Finnegan's under the truck with a Sawzall, hacking the exhaust system out of it
35:32 So that we can tear the transmission out of this perfectly good truck
35:35 And meanwhile, Tony's there with a tape measure
35:38 Because he's seen this show before
35:40 And he knows it's gonna go wrong, because Roadkill
35:43 And sure enough, the transmission in the truck is not the right one for the Rodson
35:48 Oh, dude
35:51 What?
35:52 Oh, fail!
35:54 And so now we get this dude Fish
35:56 He's a fellow racer and a 24 Hours of Lemons veteran
35:59 And apparently he knows what's up with transmissions
36:02 And he has one look at the Sega, Muncie, whatever, new process, G-TRAC, ZF, Chinkadera
36:09 That's inside our truck, and is like, "That ain't gonna work!"
36:12 And so he starts having a look at the transmission out of the Datsun
36:15 And coming up with a scheme
36:17 Nice!
36:21 That's a shift point
36:23 We have a plan now, but we've got to execute it
36:26 This is gonna be a long night getting this transmission back together
36:30 [Music]
36:56 Happy Sunday of Lemons
36:58 Last night we wrenched on this thing until, I don't know, 11.30, went to bed at midnight
37:03 And we were back here at 5am
37:05 And with the help from Jeff over there at Alloy, we got the transmission in the car
37:09 After those guys had rebuilt it all night long
37:12 And by "rebuilt" I mean removing the shift fork that controls fifth and reverse
37:16 So now we've got first through fourth, which is way better than having nothing at all
37:20 My morning's going really good, 'cause there's a light at the end of the tunnel
37:24 And it's that racetrack right out there
37:27 [Engine starting]
37:33 Come on, dude
37:35 Dude
37:37 We got Tony in the car now, we have a new strategy
37:42 We've handled 24 minutes of Lemons, we're now looking at 24 laps of Lemons
37:47 That means we've got 13 to go, we have about 3 hours
37:51 The tension is high, can we do it?
37:53 Wow, with the headset on and everything, I feel like a pro right now
37:57 Yeah, we look good
37:59 Have fun
38:01 Woo!
38:03 Hey Tony, don't break it
38:05 [Laughing]
38:07 [Engine revving]
38:18 Yeah! It still runs!
38:20 [Engine revving]
38:30 Woo!
38:32 This car is great!
38:34 There he is!
38:36 Alright, pass him guys, go go go!
38:40 [Engine revving]
38:44 Look at that!
38:46 [Laughing]
38:49 [Engine revving]
38:55 We've completed one lap, we're up to 12 now
38:58 Which is amazing, and the car was hauling ass
39:01 He said he topped it out in 4th gear before he got to the end of the straight
39:05 Which, whatever, we don't have 5th gear anymore
39:08 We don't need it, it's got a red one
39:10 He's just getting used to it
39:12 There's so much rust falling into my face
39:14 [Laughing]
39:15 He said there's so much rust falling into my face
39:18 I forgot to tell you, you should probably close your visor or put on sunglasses
39:22 The roof is going to cave in on you at any moment
39:25 [Engine revving]
39:38 Yeah!
39:40 [Engine revving]
39:48 Yeah, how's it going?
39:50 Oh dude, pretty good!
39:52 [Engine revving]
40:03 It feels like we've restored this car
40:05 We've worked on the fuel system, the exhaust system, the cooling system
40:09 All in the name of getting Tony behind the wheel
40:12 The car was looking great, Tony's passing everybody in front of him
40:16 Right up until lap 13, when he starts running into some trouble
40:20 [Engine revving]
40:23 I'm at 219, but it's starting to spit out some water
40:27 I'm going to pull in and let it cool off
40:29 Apparently it's overheating, he says he's got some water spitting on the window
40:32 He's going to come in
40:33 We haven't been on the end of a tow rope, yet
40:36 Is that a goal?
40:37 It's a good goal
40:39 We had Tony out there on the track and it started to get hot
40:42 So we pulled him in to find out what was going on
40:44 We're going to let this cool down so we can change the water pump gasket
40:47 Which blew out the side, which is the source of our problem
40:50 Normally when it gets really hot, you should let the engine cool
40:52 Before you start taking things like the water pump off
40:54 But we only have about two hours left before Lemons is over
40:56 And we need to fix the gasket in the water pump
40:58 And get this car back out
40:59 Because we're eight laps short of doing 24 laps in 24 hours at Lemons
41:04 That's 15 laps
41:06 15 laps in
41:07 Best time, 2.31, .472
41:11 Not bad, respectable
41:13 And we need nine laps to hit our goal of 24 laps of Lemons
41:16 Ignition must be off or something, it just turned off
41:35 Apparently it just completely died, look at him
41:38 We're finally going to get to try my tow hook
41:40 You know what this proves?
41:52 This proves that it doesn't take just mere finnegan to break a car
41:56 Tony can do it too
41:57 And repeatedly
41:59 Let's find out what's up now
42:02 (engine starting)
42:04 We've been thrashing on the ignition system
42:09 Because the car just died on Tony out there
42:11 Shut right off, it's got no spark
42:13 We've gone through different coil, different coil wire
42:16 We've looked at the magnetic pickup
42:18 We're looking at the MSD box and seeing if it's triggering or not
42:21 And we still really have no definitive answer
42:23 So it's a mystery right now and it should be simple
42:25 Except that we only have
42:30 An hour left of racing
42:31 What is it?
42:32 The ground for the ignition box is off
42:34 The ground for the ignition box fell off
42:37 I'm guessing yet another case of a bolt falling out
42:41 Because the V6 shakes like a mother
42:43 (music)
42:45 We're looking at 8 laps now
43:03 That's all we want
43:05 (music)
43:07 Oh!
43:18 Did he slide it?
43:19 Yeah
43:20 Dude, it sounds good
43:23 And he lifted, good, good, good
43:26 Yeah, he's not using up the brakes this time
43:29 (music)
43:31 He's hauling ass
43:36 He's about to pass that Caprice
43:38 I hope so, because that guy called us Hollywood
43:40 That drove me the wrong way
43:42 I'd like to pass him right now
43:44 The guy in front of you, you need to pass him
43:46 Because he called us Hollywood
43:48 Yeah, there he goes
43:50 Thank you for handling that for us, we appreciate it
43:53 He's hauling ass, dude
43:56 He just owned that guy
43:57 (music)
43:59 (music)
44:27 It's getting kind of warm
44:29 I'm going to just try to take it easy on the throttle
44:31 And focus things for a turn
44:33 How warm is it?
44:34 228
44:35 Yeah, that's warm
44:37 Is the temperature coming down?
44:43 They're down about 220-something
44:45 223
44:47 Nice work, keep it up
44:49 20 laps, you just did 20 laps
44:52 I have lost turbo boost
44:56 I think it's a waste-gain, maybe
44:58 Tony, is the exhaust popping?
45:01 No, no, it is running clean
45:04 But I can see no boost, and feel no boost
45:06 If it's clean, stay out and get the 24
45:09 He's coming across the line for lap 21
45:13 Lap 21
45:15 It is very hard to drive a car on a racetrack slowly
45:21 I'm really good at it
45:25 Here comes Tony on lap 22
45:28 He's taking it nice and easy
45:31 Temperature is a little over 230
45:34 What do you guys want to do?
45:36 Driver, should we bring him in and check if we have enough time to get two more laps?
45:41 I'd say yes, bring him in, maybe the belt fell off
45:44 Now we're 22 laps in, and it's super hot and has no boost
45:49 And we're bringing him in because we have plenty of time to get two more laps
45:52 Even if we have to run it with no water and blow it up
45:54 But we're hoping we don't have to go there, so we're going to see if we can fix it
45:58 I just stopped running as I pulled off the thing
46:01 Coast as far as you can and we'll push it the rest of the way
46:04 We've got something hanging under the car
46:06 Probably exhaust or something
46:08 Wastegate
46:10 The wastegate broke off
46:12 So the wastegate broke off again
46:14 And for whatever reason, the master power switch won't turn the car off
46:17 So we've got a couple things to deal with here
46:19 So that wastegate is junk
46:22 We've got another one
46:24 I'm thinking beer can trick
46:27 Get a can or a soup can
46:29 Put it around there, hose clamp it, and let's go
46:31 Is it melted out?
46:33 By the time I patched up the hole in the exhaust left by the wastegate
46:36 We were running out of time
46:38 And that sucked because we had all kinds of electrical problems caused by heat
46:41 We had to get the starter and the fuel pump working
46:44 And get Tony back out on the track to get us two more laps
46:47 Yeah, crank it
46:50 No, the starter is not falling off
46:52 We have ten minutes left and the switch panel just died
46:55 So I'm about to hotwire the car old school style
46:57 So he can go out there and get two laps done
47:00 And get us to 24 laps in 24 hours
47:02 If I strip them together, tape the whole thing
47:05 We're legit now
47:09 This will never pass tech
47:10 Tech's not on the racetrack, don't worry about it
47:12 We're jamming at the very last second just to try and get the thing running
47:16 So we can go back and get our two laps
47:18 This is the wheel, Finnegan's jamming a bunch of electrical stuff together
47:21 Something's wrong with the starter, we're not sure the engine's going to start
47:24 This is actually kind of high pressure
47:26 And we're going to push start it right now
47:28 Go, go, go
47:30 Alright, let's do it
47:33 That's not good
47:36 Do it again
47:37 Faster
47:38 Give it some fuel
47:40 Faster
47:42 Do it
47:44 Oh, ****
47:45 The engine's seized
47:47 Third gear
47:48 Pretty sure the engine's seized
47:50 Come on
47:52 Third gear
47:53 Come on
47:55 Come on
47:56 Do it
48:00 Do it
48:01 The engine's seized
48:03 You want the heat?
48:04 Yeah
48:05 Let's drag it behind the truck
48:16 I think the engine's seized
48:18 Do it again
48:21 Let's do it in first
48:24 Yeah, exactly
48:27 Ready?
48:31 Do it
48:32 We're done
48:34 The engine's dead seized
48:36 This is looking pathetic
48:40 We set our own goal of 24 laps
48:42 And we've been sort of adding it up in our heads
48:44 And we are just done
48:46 But then Jeff comes up with his iPhone
48:49 And he's been looking at live timing right from the track
48:53 What am I looking at?
48:54 24 laps
48:56 Oh, you're ****ing me
48:58 What?
48:59 We did 24 laps already
49:00 We did 24 laps?
49:02 Yeah!
49:03 You better not be following me right now, dude
49:05 No
49:06 No?
49:07 Prove it
49:08 Big group
49:13 Good job, Lucas!
49:15 We won!
49:17 You set your own goals
49:21 You meet them
49:22 And you go from absolute failure
49:25 Despondent, suicidal death
49:27 To ultimate victory
49:29 In a second!
49:30 That's what this is all about
49:32 Oh, man
49:33 24 hours of lemons, what can I say?
49:36 So that's a wrap on our second attempt at 24 hours of lemons
49:41 You know what, though? Failure just isn't bad here
49:44 The place expects failure
49:46 As a matter of fact, if it was all about the winning
49:48 No one would sign up
49:49 Because that's way too hard
49:51 Instead, what lemons is about
49:53 Is getting your car out there on track
49:55 And just plain experiencing it
49:57 Hanging out in the pits
49:59 Having the party
50:00 Meeting new friends
50:01 Hanging out with old friends
50:03 Watching the goofballs in their costumes
50:05 Helping other people
50:06 It's really like a big community of guys and girls who do this
50:10 And you can get involved
50:12 You really can
50:13 This is an Everyman's Racing series
50:15 And it's a lot of fun
50:17 And maybe we'll even try it again
50:19 On a future episode of Roadkill
50:21 [Music]
50:31 [Engine starting]
50:40 Once again, our track is open
50:44 [Music]
50:55 We have a jack that works
50:57 [Music]
51:01 Fantastic
51:03 [Engine starting]
51:17 You want me to wash the windows or check the tires, sir?
51:20 You know what?
51:22 I'd like you to check the oil, for sure
51:23 Will do
51:25 Maybe rub my back
51:27 Talk dirty to me
51:29 Make me feel good about myself
51:31 This is not a full service facility
51:34 You were the one who kind of actually won the race
51:37 Yeah
51:38 For everybody, right?
51:39 So tell us what that was like being the hero to come in and save Roadkill
51:42 I mean, just coming in and being like a hero and a winner
51:45 Is something I've been doing since I was born
51:47 Yeah
51:48 [Music]
51:58 Oh my god!
52:00 [Laughter]
52:02 F*** you guys
52:03 [Laughter]
52:04 Okay, great!
52:06 Oh, that's better than a cool suit, for sure
52:10 [Engine starting]