Viva Ranchero! Alaska or Bust! - Roadkill Episode 2
On this episode of Roadkill
Transcript
00:00 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:02 Yay!
00:04 Finally, get some love!
00:06 [ENGINE REVVING]
00:09 [GUNSHOTS]
00:11 [TIRES SCREECHING]
00:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:29 Oh, dude.
00:30 Come check this out.
00:32 What do you got?
00:33 You wanted to go to Alaska, right?
00:34 Yeah.
00:35 I've got it.
00:37 Is that snow?
00:38 Ice racing.
00:38 Ooh.
00:39 And it's oval track, wheel to wheel, bashing.
00:42 This is in Big Lake, which is like just
00:43 the other side of Anchorage.
00:45 So we can drive all the way there on the Alcan Highway.
00:47 Where's the Alcan Highway?
00:49 Oh, it's this historic, legendary road that they built.
00:51 It was an oil road in World War II.
00:53 So you're saying drive from here to Alaska and go racing.
00:56 Does it sound like a problem?
00:58 No, I'm totally in.
01:01 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:05 I bought this thing in the dark, so don't criticize me.
01:17 You paid how much for this?
01:19 $1,300.
01:21 This is exactly what we need, because if we wreck it,
01:23 it doesn't matter, right?
01:25 So we need to make a list, because--
01:29 That's easy, one of everything.
01:31 I think we should drive it around the block,
01:33 figure out if the brakes and suspension work,
01:35 and then come back, make a list, and tear the engine
01:38 to trans out of it.
01:39 Oh, yeah, let's go around the block,
01:41 because it'll seem like such a much better idea after we
01:43 do that.
01:45 And it still runs.
01:47 Just test the brakes.
01:48 This was a good time for this job.
01:53 All right.
01:54 Perfect.
01:55 We discovered the custom quick release dashboard.
02:00 That's for racing.
02:00 Let's tear it apart.
02:01 All right.
02:04 Cool.
02:04 How's your confidence now?
02:13 Oh, let's just leave right now.
02:16 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:18 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:21 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:25 [MUSIC PLAYING]
02:27 I used this as an excuse to build a car I'd always wanted,
02:30 a clone of the Ranchero that Hot Rod raced and won
02:33 their class with in the very first Baja 1000
02:36 with Ak Miller and Ray Brock.
02:37 When I picked the car up, I was really
02:39 hoping that it would just need sort of a fluff up,
02:42 and paint it, and hit the road.
02:44 And as it turns out, it needed everything.
02:46 [ENGINE REVVING]
02:48 [TIRES SCREECHING]
02:51 This is the biggest order I've ever placed at Summit Racing.
02:53 3,400 bucks worth of stuff from Summit all at once.
02:57 That's what happens when you're on a short schedule.
02:59 [MUSIC PLAYING]
03:03 Oh, yeah.
03:04 This is Thursday afternoon.
03:05 We leave Sunday morning.
03:06 And as you can see, we still have no engine, no trans,
03:09 no suspension, no brakes.
03:11 I think the gas tank's actually in the car.
03:13 These guys are all jamming hard.
03:14 I'm doing corporate stuff.
03:16 And I am still really hoping that we make this.
03:19 Seriously.
03:20 You know, once we tore into it, it was ridiculous.
03:22 We replaced the engine, the transmission, the brakes,
03:25 the wheels, the tires, the wiring,
03:27 sheet metal in the floor.
03:28 We added a heater, because the car didn't have one.
03:31 Insulation.
03:32 I mean, you name it, we replaced it on this car.
03:34 The motor we put in it was a 302-based Ford
03:37 from Dart Machinery.
03:38 And it was 363 cubic inches.
03:41 I think it made like 450 horsepower on the dyno.
03:44 It wasn't an easy swap.
03:45 It didn't go in right away, even though we
03:47 were replacing the same model of motor that was in the car.
03:50 This is what I look like when I'm watching Grant work.
04:00 It's Friday night.
04:01 We have a day and a half left.
04:03 The biggest problem is we're past the window of opportunity
04:05 to actually have open shops for alignment, exhaust,
04:09 and drive shafts.
04:10 So there'll be moments of entertainment to come.
04:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:16 Status report.
04:23 It's not quite as cold as Alaska in here, but damn close.
04:28 We were supposed to leave half an hour ago.
04:31 I'm guessing we're going to leave 12 hours from now
04:36 to conserve the rest of the--
04:37 Dude.
04:38 That was an emotional blow.
04:40 I'm telling you.
04:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
04:44 So tired.
04:51 28 hours late is the new just on time.
04:57 Let's go to Alaska.
04:58 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:01 [ENGINE REVVING]
05:05 [TIRES SCREECHING]
05:14 [MUSIC PLAYING]
05:18 We hit the road finally, and it was smooth sailing all the way
05:21 up into Utah.
05:22 But then we got slowed down again
05:24 when we hit a big snowstorm.
05:28 We're at Salt Lake City.
05:29 We left 11 AM this morning.
05:30 It's 4 AM right now.
05:33 We're doing good.
05:33 I'm going to go hose myself off, and then we're
05:35 going to drive to Canada.
05:38 I think I'm dying.
05:40 Slowly but surely.
05:41 I need a burger and a bed and a beer.
05:45 Not necessarily in that order.
05:47 I'll take whatever.
05:48 The next morning, we had our first disaster.
05:55 We had installed a block heater, which
05:57 is a heating element that replaces a freeze
05:59 plug in the side of the engine block.
06:01 And it didn't fit perfectly, and it was puking coolant
06:04 everywhere.
06:05 Oh, yeah.
06:06 Uh-oh.
06:07 That was all half of it.
06:08 You know what would make me feel much better about that?
06:12 Yeah.
06:13 All right, that's it.
06:19 [ENGINE STARTS]
06:22 Oh!
06:23 By this time, it was about zero degrees out.
06:29 I slammed the car door, and the passenger side window
06:31 exploded into like a billion pieces.
06:33 The window had come off the track
06:35 a little bit on the passenger side of the Ranchero.
06:37 And I told Finnegan, dude, be careful,
06:38 because the window comes off the track.
06:40 He didn't put two and two together
06:41 that that meant that the glass was
06:42 going to hit the roof of the car if you
06:44 shut the door the wrong way.
06:46 And he shut the door the wrong way.
06:48 And I'm looking the other way, and all I hear
06:49 is glass hitting the pavement.
06:51 It's like, ugh.
06:53 And we're going into freezing weather with no wind.
06:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
06:59 Can you adjust the mirror over there on the right?
07:05 I can't reach it.
07:05 [LAUGHS]
07:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
07:10 I saw Andy freeze again.
07:17 I don't want to ruin your day, but I think we need to stop.
07:20 It's puking, isn't it?
07:22 Not good.
07:22 [SCREAMS]
07:26 The plug came all the way out.
07:29 Not good.
07:30 [GROANS]
07:33 I can fix it.
07:34 I can fix it.
07:35 This seemed like such a great idea two weeks ago.
07:38 Ta-da.
07:39 As predicted, that freeze plug kept popping out.
07:41 But the good news was we got really good
07:43 at hawking them for distance.
07:45 Shall we?
07:46 Yeah.
07:46 [LAUGHS]
07:49 We're running out of time, you know that?
07:52 [CLINK]
07:53 At this point, Alaska is a pipe dream.
07:55 We'd have to cannonball 24 hours a day for the next three days
07:58 to get there, and we could still miss the race.
08:00 Well, let's just at least go get it fixed
08:02 and decide what to do.
08:05 Cross your fingers.
08:06 So we're in the middle of nowhere in Idaho.
08:08 We're freezing to death.
08:10 We do the math and realize there is no way we can get to Alaska
08:13 in time for the race.
08:14 We're sitting around going, what do we do next,
08:16 refusing to put our tail between our legs and go home.
08:20 And then I realized that some of our corporate guys
08:22 had bought a '55 Chevy sight unseen on eBay
08:25 just a few days earlier, and it was in Colorado Springs,
08:28 Colorado.
08:29 We could probably get from Idaho to Colorado Springs.
08:32 So that's what we decided to do.
08:34 What's the likelihood that I could come grab that car,
08:36 like, say, day after tomorrow?
08:38 No, tomorrow.
08:39 Tomorrow?
08:40 Tomorrow.
08:41 Great.
08:42 Thank you.
08:43 We're on.
08:44 Sweet.
08:45 Change of direction.
08:46 [ENGINE RUMBLING]
08:50 [BEEP]
08:52 Hey, I'm Finnigan.
08:52 This is Fryburger.
08:54 We're in Idaho.
08:54 [LAUGHTER]
08:55 We're not staying here.
08:58 We bought a '55 Chevy in Colorado Springs
09:00 because why wouldn't you?
09:01 So we're going to Colorado.
09:03 From Idaho.
09:04 Now.
09:05 Instead of Alaska.
09:06 [BEEP]
09:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:10 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
09:17 This is getting old.
09:29 I like how I broke the window, and you're the one
09:31 having to climb out of the car.
09:32 I'm excruciatingly aware of that.
09:33 [LAUGHTER]
09:34 Now, that's a muffler man.
09:35 If you're not hip to muffler man, here's the deal.
09:38 They are giant fiberglass dudes that
09:40 were made by International Fiberglass back in, I think,
09:43 the late '60s, early '70s.
09:45 And they're all built standing there like this
09:46 so they can hold a muffler.
09:48 But in subsequent years, people have bought them and turned
09:50 them into all kinds of things.
09:51 I've seen them holding golf clubs, or as Paul Bunyan.
09:55 And this particular one in Helper, Utah, was a coal miner.
09:58 He'd look real good in the bed of the Ranchero.
10:01 You think we can get him home?
10:02 [LAUGHTER]
10:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:06 Woo!
10:07 I lost the freeze plug again.
10:10 Three times.
10:11 Told you.
10:12 Three times.
10:13 So who reinstalled that one?
10:15 Some dude.
10:16 I don't know.
10:17 He's not here right now.
10:18 What a mess.
10:19 [LAUGHTER]
10:20 I swear to God, it was tight.
10:23 You going to go find it?
10:24 We have more.
10:25 Two more.
10:26 Because that just happens.
10:27 [LAUGHTER]
10:28 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:31 [LAUGHTER]
10:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:35 Because that just happens.
10:36 [LAUGHTER]
10:37 [MUSIC PLAYING]
10:40 It's in here somewhere, I swear.
10:42 The snowboard came in handy on this trip.
10:46 Air cleaner?
10:47 No.
10:48 All right, we might be hosed.
10:50 Because I can't find them now.
10:51 Are you serious?
10:52 Yeah.
10:53 Ah-ha!
10:54 Ta-da!
10:55 Yeah.
10:56 We faked that for the golf.
10:58 We knew it was there the whole time.
11:01 We in trouble.
11:02 These are made in India.
11:03 These aren't even in China or Mexico.
11:05 That's a step up.
11:06 At least it's easy to get to.
11:07 It could be much worse.
11:08 This could be the freeze plug that's
11:09 located behind the motor mount.
11:11 Don't talk about that.
11:12 That's what's going to happen next.
11:13 Don't talk about it.
11:14 If we just face it head forward--
11:15 Don't talk.
11:16 Don't talk about it.
11:18 This stuff is awesome.
11:19 It dries in one minute flat.
11:21 [ENGINE REVVING]
11:23 Now that ought to stay in there.
11:26 I hope.
11:28 This is the view.
11:31 This car says, I'm going to run you over.
11:33 If only I could run more than a few miles at a time.
11:36 [ENGINE REVVING]
11:39 Let's do it.
11:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
11:45 Woo-hoo!
11:56 Out of gas.
11:57 On a hill in a snowstorm.
12:00 In a veil.
12:02 Good snow here.
12:04 I'm really starting to enjoy the climb across a little too
12:06 much.
12:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:10 Oh, damn.
12:14 Nobody likes you.
12:15 I can't get the hood open.
12:19 [LAUGHTER]
12:21 All right, we got this.
12:23 No problem.
12:24 [MUSIC PLAYING]
12:27 [ENGINE REVVING]
12:30 We just climbed Veil Summit, over 12,000 feet of elevation,
12:36 in a snowstorm, in the 40-year-old Ranchero
12:39 with a carburetor.
12:40 And we're actually patting ourselves on the back,
12:42 because we were able to get up the hill without change, which
12:45 was cool.
12:46 But on the way down, the heater stopped working.
12:50 And I looked down at the gauge, and I was like, oh, crap.
12:52 It's overheating.
12:53 Why is it overheating?
12:54 And we pulled over, because we actually
12:55 thought the radiator was icing up.
12:57 But then we noticed the belt's gone for the water pump.
13:01 And we don't have a spare.
13:02 And it's, what, like 10 o'clock at night?
13:04 So there's no auto parts open.
13:05 And it's 10 degrees.
13:06 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:08 There's a certain irony in overheating in 10-degree
13:11 weather, isn't there?
13:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:15 Where are we?
13:22 I have no idea.
13:24 We're at the foot of our 12,000-foot hill,
13:26 where we lost an alternator belt. And we
13:28 coasted 30 miles to get here.
13:30 So we're going to go scrounge food,
13:31 stay at this luxury resort, and hit the road again
13:34 in the morning.
13:35 Food sounds awesome.
13:36 I'm ready.
13:37 Beer sounds better.
13:38 Yeah.
13:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
13:42 And then there was the '55 Chevy.
13:49 I got to say, it looked good from a distance.
13:51 Good looking from afar, but far from good looking.
13:54 When I initially saw the '55, I was fired up about it.
13:57 You know, from 50 feet, it was sexy.
14:00 You know, it reminded me of the two-lane blacktop movie car.
14:04 And it was primered, had radius-cut rear wheel wells,
14:08 tunnel ram motor sticking out of the hood.
14:09 And I thought, oh, this thing's going to be so much fun.
14:12 But by the time I walked up on the car,
14:16 my heart was sinking.
14:17 Because as I got closer, I realized,
14:19 this thing is a piece of shit.
14:21 This thing was clapped, man.
14:23 But the company had bought it, so we decided to hook it up
14:25 and drag it home anyway.
14:27 If you thought this was bad up to this point,
14:29 it's about to get worse.
14:30 We're now less than a block away at Colorado Speed Company.
14:37 These guys are kind enough to let us use their shop
14:39 and to help us prep this thing to be towed behind the Ranchero.
14:43 It came with a tow bar, but it's pretty much junk.
14:46 So we're going to go find a new one, probably from U-Haul.
14:48 We're going to find the right lug nuts for this
14:50 so the wheels don't fall off of it,
14:52 wire up some lights, and head home.
14:54 So wish us luck.
14:55 [MUSIC PLAYING]
14:58 So we're just about to leave Colorado Springs,
15:21 and I decide to say to myself, let's find out
15:23 why that wheel keeps squeaking.
15:26 This is why.
15:27 Because the axle bearing, which was brand new, by the way,
15:30 has been eating its way into that axle shaft right there.
15:33 And now we have a new bearing at long last,
15:35 after four trips to the auto parts store.
15:37 We're going to commit the ultimate sin
15:39 and tack weld the bearing to the axle itself to get home.
15:42 [SAWING]
15:45 Uh-oh.
15:50 You didn't slip the retainer on first.
15:52 [GASP]
15:53 Oh my god.
15:54 Oh, oh.
15:55 In our sleep-deprived stupor, we had the bearing all nice
15:58 and TIG-weld onto the axle.
15:59 We're thinking, oh yeah, that's going to work.
16:01 Until we realized we forgot to put the retainer plate on it
16:04 that holds the axle into the housing.
16:06 Yeah.
16:07 It goes behind the bearing.
16:08 Yeah, it goes right here.
16:11 [SIGH]
16:12 We took the retainer plate and cut a slot in it
16:14 and slid it behind the bearing.
16:16 Ingenuity.
16:18 Appreciate it.
16:20 Thanks a lot.
16:21 You're welcome.
16:22 Yep.
16:23 [SAWING]
16:26 Nobody flat-toes hardly anything anymore,
16:34 other than really small things like Jeeps or small cars
16:38 you see behind motorhomes.
16:39 Flat-toeing a '55 Chevy behind a Ford Ranchero
16:43 is not the smartest thing you can do.
16:44 But we did it.
16:45 We thought, no problem.
16:46 We're badasses.
16:47 We'll get this thing home.
16:48 And as soon as we hit the highway, all hell broke loose.
16:51 The thing was swerving left and right.
16:53 This thing was wagging hard on the freeway.
16:55 I don't care who bought this thing or why.
16:57 It was going back.
16:59 [ENGINE REVVING]
17:02 Hey, I'm Finn again.
17:08 This is Fryburger.
17:09 And today we're in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
17:13 The wheels have officially fallen off this bitch.
17:15 We're going to a happy place.
17:16 We're going to look at a big-ass hole in the ground.
17:18 We're going to the Grand Canyon.
17:19 We're going Thelma and Louise right now.
17:21 Right now.
17:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
17:26 Just outside of Flagstaff, we encountered snow again.
17:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
17:46 At this point, you might think that things
17:49 aren't really going that well.
17:51 But you know what?
17:52 We refuse to be depressed on a road trip.
17:54 And what cheers us up every time is donuts in the snow.
17:57 [ENGINE REVVING]
18:12 Oh!
18:13 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:16 Woo!
18:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:23 Sometimes you have to create your own fun
18:26 when you're out on the road.
18:27 And Finnegan's idea of fun is often
18:29 buying inanimate objects, usually based on animals,
18:32 and strapping them to cars.
18:33 And so we got ourselves an ass and strapped it
18:37 to the roof of the car.
18:38 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:42 Good day.
18:43 [MUSIC PLAYING]
18:45 Between Flagstaff and a big hole in the ground,
18:48 we saw this place called the Roadkill Cafe.
18:50 And how can you not stop at some place with a name like that?
18:53 The opossum blossom, the chicken that almost crossed the road.
18:56 [LAUGHTER]
18:57 I don't know what I ate, but it was dead.
18:59 [LAUGHTER]
19:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:08 [ENGINE REVVING]
19:11 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:14 [ENGINE REVVING]
19:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:20 [ENGINE REVVING]
19:30 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:33 [ENGINE REVVING]
19:42 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:45 There's the river.
19:46 [CHEERING]
19:49 We're at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
19:51 [MUSIC PLAYING]
19:54 You know, sometimes when you hit the road, the road hits back.
20:05 But we refuse to lose and always have fun on Roadkill.
20:09 Oh, dear.
20:10 [LAUGHTER]
20:11 By the way, that was the snow I peed on.
20:14 Dick.
20:17 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:20 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:26 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:29 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:32 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:36 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:40 [MUSIC PLAYING]
20:43 [Music]