[Heavy D] As you all know, the world is changing.
Our diesel dreams are under attack.
We are fighting to maintain not only our place at the to
but extinction itself.
Diesel power. Those words should have new meaning to us here today.
What is going on?
We can no longer be concerned about the petty differences
between large diesel trucks and small diesel cars,
between heavy equipment and fuel-efficient daily drivers.
We must be united by badass builds.
[all cheering]
That's why in three months' time,
ten of the greatest diesel vehicles from all over the country
will be coming here to our shop to be completely transforme
in preparation for the greatest, the most unique
diesel-only auction in all of diesel history.
Together, we will declare with one voice,
we will not go quietly together into your compact hybrid vehicles...
[all] Yeah!
...and we will not give in to your spark plugs.
[all cheering]
Today, we will celebrate our total diesel domination.
[all cheering]
What in the world is he talking about?
I don't know, man. It sounds awesome.
Everyone back to work. Let's go.
Keep going. Let's go.
Move it. Hey, don't-- Check your attitude there.
Hey, are you seriously telling me you want to buy a bunch of vehicles, fix them up,
just to hold the biggest diesel auction in the history of auctions or diesels?
Do you also realize how much buzz that's going to create
by taking some of the coolest and most rare diesel vehicles of all time
and putting on the biggest diesel event,
probably within the last decade?
We gotta stay one step ahead of everybody, and stay at the top.
We gotta up the ante.
We made a name for ourselves...
[people screaming]
...by doing these big, cool, crazy, over-the-top diesel truck giveaways
[men cheering]
...and by posting viral content on the Internet.
[man screams]
However, the space, it's gotten a little bit crowded.
It's time for us to raise the bar one more time.
That's why over the next 14 weeks,
we're going to be compiling the most eclectic list
of iconic, rare, cult-classic, just super cool, super diesel-powered vehicles.
The diesel-only auction idea is perfect,
because it gives us the ability to build a variety of different diesel vehicles
that we never would've done otherwise.
And sinking that much money into one big event,
that's a huge risk that I think other people might be afraid of.
We're not gonna make a dime for months.
We're still going to do all of our regular builds, all the giveaways.
This is just a little extra splash on top, little cherry.
You know what I mean? Little spice.
You know, I thought I had gotten used to Heavy D's crazy ideas,
but this one takes the cake,
and, you know, there's no sense in trying to stop him.
I mean, that's pointless.
This one's supposed to be like a quick flip.
You said it was easy.
I won't spend any more money on this build.
Was that so hard?
Well, I have to be the bad guy to make sure we're going to make our money back
after we finally sell these trucks three months from now.
Next time, before you have a big group employee meeting, loop me in.
♪ Welcome to the show ♪
♪ Well this time we're going all out ♪
♪ And we'll break 'em till they crawl out ♪
♪ This Betty Crocker rocker shake 'em bake 'em until they fall out... ♪
♪ Well if you ain't tame the bank and throw down ♪
♪ Help 'em turn the dough ♪
♪ Let's get this party started right Welcome to the show ♪
So are you going to tell us where we're going and what we're getting?
[Heavy D] The first vehicle we pick to build for this auction
has to be something completely unexpected.
It's gotta be rare, it's got to have a certain air of nostalgia attached to it,
and it's gotta be something that we can put our personal stamp on.
I think I found the perfect vehicle.
I'm just going to give you guys some noodles, see if you can make the pasta.
Debuted in 1980 in response to skyrocketing gas prices in the 70s and 80s.
Length, 17 feet overall.
Six-foot truck bed.
-It's a Rabbit. I knew that. -How could you know that?
Supposedly there's a Golf there as well, but I don't know.
We're gonna see.
They're both diesel.
The Rabbit supposedly is like a clean whistle. Ready to go.
-[Heavy D] What's up, Jake? -[Jake] How's it going, guys?
Good, man. How are you doing?
I'm doing fantastic.
So these are your crown jewels, huh?
Yeah, you could say that.
[Heavy D] Volkswagen made some of the very first diesel-power passenger cars
that were available here in America.
But what most people don't know
is that they also made a diesel-powered truck here for the States.
The VW Rabbit, aka the VW Caddy in most other countries,
weren't an immediate hit when they first hit the mark
here in the States from 1978 to 1984.
However, this lightweight, low-lying, front wheel drive pickup
with a miniscule 1.6 liter diesel engine developed a cult following,
with people continuing to use them as efficient daily drivers
or tricking them out as weekend cruisers.
The VW Rabbit is not what people would expect to see rolling out of our shop.
However, I do believe that it has its own following.
So what year is it?
'82.
The paint's not great, but it looks like the body is actually fairly straight.
I'd say the majority of the rust is all on the surface.
-[Heavy D] Yeah. -Like, underneath is actually pretty clean.
[Heavy D] Let's take a look under the hood.
[chuckles]
-I've seen flashlights with bigger motors. -[Jake] Yeah.
[Heavy D] That is the smallest, most little, petite engine
I've ever seen in my entire life.
-[engine starts] -Whoa!
My curiosity is just killing me. I just got to drive it.
All I'll say, good luck getting it in first gear.
Where is first?
I got it.
[chuckles]
Whoa!
[gear box creaking]
[laughing]
[laughs hysterically]
I may have stalled it.
-[Dave chuckles] -Ah! Ah-a! Ow!
Oh, hey!
[Heavy D] She runs good.
This almost forgotten little gem is honestly the perfect fit
for one of our first auction builds
to be able to take this 80s nostalgia, weird looking vehicle,
and bring it up to date, and get a lot of people excited about it.
So obviously, Jake, this motor is pretty simple.
Probably speaks for itself.
-[Jake] Yeah. -[Heavy D] Ran pretty good.
Tell me about the Golf.
[Jake] So this has the exact same motor as this one.
Yeah.
Honestly, it was parked under a tree,
and I had to drag it out of the bushes.
[Heavy D] So what you're saying is if I buy it,
I got to roll the dice a little bit.
Little bit, yeah.
[Muscle] Can we have a discussion before we make any calls here?
-[Heavy D] Let's meet at the back of the car. -Let's meet at the back.
What in the hell would we do with this one?
Somersault vehicle.
A few years back, we made a truck do a full summersault
in front of a crowd full of people.
[people cheering]
It was honestly one of our most memorable
and greatest stunts we've ever done.
To advertise the auction, we somersault it.
And we make it better than the last somersault truck
because we make it actually go multiple somersaults.
-[Muscle] Nothing is better than last time. -Yes, it is. This is.
I want to take this little unassuming VW golf...
We're basically going to tak that ball-shaped car,
put it inside of two giant steel rings,
somersaults for days.
How are we gonna do that?
You know, I don't know yet.
So we're going to really have to pull together
if we want to make this thing not only crazy and over the top,
but actually function to be able to get people's attention to get them to the auction.
What were you asking for the pair?
I was asking $4,500.
-[Muscle] Holy Moly. -[Jake] Yeah.
$3,100.
You got it. It's yours.
[Muscle] Got it!
That's a deal.
[Muscle chuckling]
1982 VW Rabbit diesel.
There's a lot of cool history behind it,
and there's a lot of people that love these things.
What's your goal here?
To be able to sell this at the auction in like-new condition?
Problem is, this is kind of a bastard.
Front wheel drive, five-speed diesel with zero power.
So since the VW Rabbit already has a huge cult following,
we don't really want to change its really super iconic look that much
because we want it to be recognizable as a Rabbit.
First, we'll tear off and replace any old rusty panels
to make sure the iconic silhouette stands strong.
Then we'll boost up the powe of the 1.6 liter diesel engi with a custom turbo
and exhaust system that will keep it cool
while allowing it to run on higher speeds.
We'll make sure the power reaches the ground by rebuilding the shifter linka
and replacing the OEM suspension with newer parts
Finally, we'll replace the interior, add a fresh coat of paint,
new wheels, tires, and lights all around.
I'm trying to figure out how to not spend an arm and a leg on this thing,
but I'd like to see this thing sell for seven to ten grand.
If we can figure out a way to sell this truck
for more than it costs when it was brand new, literally 30 years later,
I'll be very impressed.
[Heavy D] That's the goal of this auction.
To get people excited about old diesel vehicles that are kind of like icons.
First thing we got to do, as usual, assess the damage.
Get this thing ready to turn from basically forgotten about junkyard pile of crap
to a rare relic that's going to bring unique, tasteful buyers
from all over the world to our auction.
Meanwhile, I got to get with Morgan to pick his brain a little bit,
figure out what we got to do to turn this Golf into a rolling masterpiece.
So, this is kind of the dimensions we're looking at
with the full size car.
That's a 14-foot diameter ring.
[Heavy D] In order to make the steel rings big enough,
well, that leaves a huge gaping hole.
[Morgan] That's going to put a lot of weight toward the bottom.
It's going to be hard to sling up and around.
Unless we put weight up at the top.
Which is... [chuckles]
Yeah! Tell me that one isn't sweet.
Come on. Come on!
Adding the second Golf on to not only balances the circle
but it keeps both cars in contact with the rings at all times.
So when it goes upside down, the bottom drive car is being supported by the top car.
You know, gut the engine out of that one,
make the top one as light as possible.
You just put a bunch of tube framing between the two cars.
As dumb as this looks, this is actually almost the easiest one.
I'm in, man. I think it's a great idea.
Look, this diesel double by-wheel,
it's incredibly difficult to pull off.
But that's why I think it's gonna be the perfect vehicle
to announce our auction,
because it's one of those things we're probably never gonna see
this thing anywhere else,
so you're gonna come to us to get your eyes on it.
The first thing Morgan has to do
is remove any suspension travel in the vehicles by taking out the springs
and locking the struts so they'll stay locked in formation.
Then he can build the rest of tube supports off the struts
to permanently tie the vehicles together,
increase the wheel offset so the wheel sits outside the body,
allowing the 14-foot steel rings,
which we will have to build two pieces for transport to clear the vehicles.
The bottom car will drive to push the wheels forward, and bam!
you've got yourself a double diesel bi-wheel.
Hey, what in [bleep] sake is going on?
[chuckles]
That's what you said. You told me to say the F word.
-[grunts] -[chuckling]
[laughing] Want me to face i
Is my neck still on?
[all laughing]
This is a fashion statement.
Okay, so we're talking about doing two cars.
-So it looks like-- -[Muscle] Oh, you're doing two cars.
[Morgan] It would take a 14-foot diameter ring.
That seems a little dangerous.
14 feet high at 36 miles an hour.
What's the problem?
What if it crushes?
It doesn't matter if the sphere crushes as long as the two cars are fixed--
That's my problem. Did you hear how he started the sentence?
-"It doesn't matter if the sphere crushes..." -[chuckles]
[Muscle] How long is this going to take you?
Is it like a one, two week project?
[Morgan] Yes.
You think this is going to take two weeks?
I might look like a silly goose with my nipples out...
[both chuckling]
...but you are out of your whole beard right now,
because you are not building that in two weeks.
[Heavy D] You go find another four door Golf.
Go Golf shopping.
All right. I'm gonna go Golf shopping.
And your time starts now.
Oh, boy!
[Dave] Damon and I are removing all the old body parts
from this 1982 VW Rabbit,
and then we're going to start digging into the rusty body panels that we need to fix.
You're doing a great job.
Exactly how I'd do it if I was doing it.
[Damon] Oh!
No wonder it rusted out right there.
Oh, my gosh.
So imagine, like, all of this massive amounts of stuff,
when it gets wet, how does it dry out?
-Never. -[Damon] It doesn't.
Nowadays, a lot of cars use spray foam to soundproof vehicles.
Well, back in 1982, it was common to use standar insulation inside caps.
Well, let me tell you, that handles exposure to water
about as well as a gremlin does.
[sighs]
This isn't good.
So this is not something that Morgan is gonna be able to hop in there and easily fix.
[Dave] Rust inside the cab is a much bigger deal than body rust.
We can't just sheet metal over it and call it a day.
It's going to require a major fix that we weren't planning for.
This is worst case scenario.
Hands down, worst case scenario.
[Morgan] I wouldn't stay in there, Diesel.
Oh, jeez.
I feel like the ceiling's a little shorter than it used to be.
-Well, we got some bad news, buddy. -We're nervous.
You're like a couple of bad guys who just got caught.
You want to tell him? You want me to tell him?
Oh, come on.
[Heavy D] We're putting on the biggest and coolest diesel-only auction
here at our shop in just a few months.
And to announce it to the world,
we're building an insane stunt vehicle.
Talking about doing two cars.
[Morgan] It would take a 14-foot diameter ring.
That seems a little dangerous.
Now that the Muscle is off searching for another Volkswagen Golf
that we can use for the stunt vehicle...
This thing is running.
Yeah, buddy. This thing runs way better than the other one.
...I am going to turn my attention to our first auction vehicle purchase,
which is the VW Rabbit truck.
-[Damon] All right. -Nice!
[Dave] That's actually heavier than I thought.
Speaking of heavy, let's hurry up and get this other door off before Heavy D comes in here.
I think this build is kind of gonna make or break
the viability of our diesel-only auction concept.
What's happening?
-I was-- We're nervous. -We got some bad news, buddy.
You're like a couple of bad guys who just got caught.
You want to tell him? You want me to tell him?
Oh, come on.
[Damon] We dug in a little deeper and found some serious issues, so.
-Very deep we dug in. -Very deep we dug in,
-and now, you have no cab structure at all. -[Dave] We dug in--
[Damon] But hear me out. We came up with a solution, though.
Hold on.
-So it's bad news what I found... -Oh, I'm so excited.
...but I'm pretty sure that you're going to like the news
that we came up with to fix it.
So, on the count of three, we're gonna turn this around. Ready?
[both] One, two, convertible!
-Yes! -[all cheering]
Oh, man!
Does it get bolder than chopping off the entire top half of a vehicle?
[Heavy D] I came into this whole program thinking we're gonna be responsible.
We're not gonna do anything stupid,
we're not gonna get carried away.
[Damon] But it did the stupid stuff for us.
[Heavy D] I mean, you guys know me.
I'm a little bit of a risk taker.
So we're gonna go a completely different direction,
while still, I think, maintaining some of that Volkswagen integrity.
So when people see it, they're like, "Oh, my gosh, is that a Rabbit?
First, we'll cut the roof off the VW
and transform this 80s class into a topless summer cruise
Then we'll go through and smooth out all the body lines
so it looks like a factory convertible.
Then replace any remaining rust spots with new body panels
and install matching twin roll bars behind the seats for extra safety.
On top of that, new struts, new A-arms
and spacers in the front rea to give it just a little extra lift.
Then we'll fix the shifter linkage to get it into first gear easier.
Take off the old trim, full repaint in yellow,
new wheels and tires, and it's pretty much ready for the auction block.
Let her fly.
Yee-hoo!
[Dave] Woo-hoo!
Yes!
That's the best haircut I ever got.
Those might be the ugliest body lines on any convertible ever.
As of right now, this current moment,
the VW Rabbit truck is really kind of a whole lot of nothing.
Okay.
New door handles. Don't want to lose those.
So we're working with nothing but potential and dreams.
[Dave] Wee-hoo!
See ya!
However, I'm pretty confident that if we're able to pull this off...
[Dave chuckles]
[Heavy D] I think we've got ourselves a really unique piece
that's gonna bring in buyer that never in a million year
would have paid any attention to this auction.
[Dave] Woo-hoo!
-[car screeching] -[Dave] Nailed it!
-[Damon] That was it. -Yeah!
-That's how it's done. -That was the one.
Morgan and I picked up an even better VW Rabbit diesel.
Where are we at on price?
I think the bottom dollar would probably be $1,800.
We got a deal at $1,800.
The guys back at the shop are working on the original VW.
They're taking out the trans, the motor,
pretty much everything that has to do with weight reduction
that will not change the shape of this vehicle.
So that Heavy D can now see once we put these things together,
how much actual work is going to go into this little stunt we're pulling.
Jeez!
Look at that.
Dude, where did everything go?
-Uh... -[Morgan] Behind you.
[Heavy D] That was a dumb question.
That the inside of a Volkswagen Golf.
I've seen Red Beard wear this jacket.
-Well, something tells me-- -[all chuckling]
[Heavy D] Is that Red Beard's jacket though?
Yeah, it is. Same color and everything.
I don't know why his jacket was in here.
He wears that when he goes dancing.
Right now, I have no idea what's gonna happen
when we flip this Golf upside down and set it on top of the other one.
-Oh, jeez! -My side's heavier.
Vehicles were not meant to ride upside down,
let alone on top of each other,
let alone inside a giant spinning ring of death.
Let's grab the forklift, let's put this on top of that car,
strap it on, and see how she handles.
Just slowly roll it over onto the forks,
try to save the body as much as we can.
Come back up.
[Morgan] I wouldn't stand there, Diesel.
Yeah, right there.
[all chuckling]
That's awesome.
So thankfully, right now, there's no damage.
Now we got to figure out
whether there's actually enough strength in the bottom car
to be able to drive with the weight of the top car sitting on top of it.
Oh, jeez.
-[men laughing] -[Heavy D] Is this sinking on me?
I feel like the ceiling's a little shorter than it used to be.
-[man] Yeah. -Oh, man.
[Dave chuckles]
-[Justin] Oh, no. -Oh, yeah, you got to go on the road.
[Justin] No!
[Justin] There's something crunching back here.
If this thing looks ridiculous driving down the road...
Don't act like you're not impressed.
...just imagine how crazy it's gonna look
while stuck inside this spinning ring and driving around in the bi-wheel.
[Dave chuckles] Wow!
I feel good about it.
[Morgan] Right on.
See that? We got your attention.
It's exactly why we do this stuff.
You may think it's crazy, it might not make any sense, but guess what?
We got millions of people that are going to be like,
"Oh, what is this? What's happening?
How can I participate in that?"
Bam! You're at our auction. You're spending money. We win.
[Dave] Turning this VW Rabbi into a summer cruising truc
is going to go a long way with solving our rust issues
You know what you're doing?
Not at all.
Me neither.
[Dave] We still have our wor cut out for us, matching up the body lines
and getting it ready for the diesel auction.
Because since we don't have a back window anymore,
we need to cap that piece off.
We want it to come up and fold over kind of like a bedside into here,
and then attach it to this.
So what we'll do is we'll just take the cut off wheel,
cut it right along that line.
[Dave] You want me to stay inside the lines?
Yes. All of your kindergarten training comes in handy right now.
All of it.
Not only does the bulkhead have some rust on it,
but it's sitting higher than the bedside, now that we cut the top off
So we're gonna have to take off the back piece that's rusted,
clean up the bodylines so that it's flush with the bedsides,
and then cap it off with a new piece.
[Muscle] Take her off.
-Look at that. -[Muscle] Whoa! Back piece.
-[Dave] You get outta here! Yeah! -[Muscle] Ah!
-[Dave] See ya. -[Muscle] Oh, the GoPro was on it, man.
Oh, man!
Look at how-- Oh, my God!
-[Muscle] Oh, my. -Why does it just keep getting worse?
Took this off thinking, "Oh, we'll just get this out of the way.
It shouldn't be bad."
Well, now the back panel's rusted.
Let's just cut it down here.
-Cut it right on this body line. -[Dave] Okay.
Because then we can just make it and we'll go from the inside and bring it up.
More rust...
which means more time.
And time, as we all know, means more money.
This VW Rabbit,
this insane vehicle that I'm starting to kind of not fully regret,
but there is some remorse there,
it better turn into something awesome and pay off big at the auction.
Why did we buy another Volkswagen?
Ah, I hate this stupid auction.
[Dave] In order to promote our huge diesel-powered auction,
we're planning on a huge diesel-powered stunt.
Two vehicles stacked inside a bi-wheel, doing multiple somersaults.
So we got the top car gutted stacked on top of the other
But before we can start building the outer rings,
we need to see how these two cars are going to stay fit together.
[Morgan] I need to make both cars not have suspension anymore.
-Imagine if they had suspension inside that ring, -Mmm-hmm.
you know, you have this possibility of it bouncing out of the ring
and a tire coming out and the ring coming out.
So first thing I was going to do, I was going to pull the struts,
take the springs off,
and just put a fixed pipe in the spring.
After I get the struts locked in, my plan is to cut some holes in the hood.
And I want to actually take pipes from the top of the strut mount
-[Dave] Okay. -[Morgan] to the top of that strut mount.
[Dave] Show me your strut.
[Morgan] You want to see my strut?
[Dave] Smile, raise your eyebrows.
Now, stop smiling and leave your eyebrows up.
That's your model face. Now strut.
There it is. There's the strut.
Oh, nice.
Oh, yeah! Come here baby.
This is gonna have to withstand a lot of weight.
This is two-inch 120" wall DOM tube.
This can withstand at least three times the weight we're going to put on it.
[Dave] This piece of DOM tub will go over the top of the strut
where the spring is,
will be welded to the piston rod with an end c on top and bottom,
so that the suspension can no longer compress,
no matter how much pressure is applied above.
But the original brackets for the wheels
and for the steering components will stay exactly the same
so that the bottom car can still drive.
-[Dave] Bam. -Thank you, ma'am.
-[Morgan] Then that goes on. -Bam.
-We no longer have suspension. -Solved.
Now that we have the pieces cut,
Morgan's welding them to the front struts,
so that we get them reinstalled on the front end
[blows]
All right, Diesel Dave, you can come down.
[Dave] Let's do it.
[Morgan] All right. That's good.
17-and-a-half.
[Dave] That is not going to be fun to ride in.
[Morgan] All right, so we got the front struts done.
Now we gotta take all six struts off.
Then I can start putting the pipes in,
and actually start fixing these two vehicles together.
The shop has been crazy busy getting the Volkswagen summer cruiser
ready for the big diesel auction.
Me and Morgan made a new piece for the bulkhead, welded it up,
and now we have a nice, clea transition to the bed rail.
We cut the rust off the rocker panel and patched in a new piece.
That looks great.
Then the guys capped off the bedsides and the front windshield.
But all that slicing and dicing has left us with one small problem.
[grunts]
Holy cow!
[Morgan] That thing is super crooked.
There's a big gap between the cab and the door when we close it.
[Morgan] You can see this car is a unibody obviously.
Normally, you have a body and a chassis.
-Well, a unibody is the body and the chassis... are one. -Are one.
Our idol Heavy D,
he decided to cut the roof off of this vehicle.
Maybe or maybe not, really thought it out.
If we don't add some structure to this thing,
the doors aren't even going to shut properly
and this car might fold in half as we're going down the road.
Do you remember when this was supposed to just be a small project?
Yeah.
[Morgan] In order to make this truck more stable,
I'm going to have to reinforce the body with an additional subframe...
That's what I'm talking about.
-[Dave] Ooh! Get it out of the way. -Look at that.
So that I can add more structure and make it a lot stiffer.
Oh!
Ah!
-[continues screaming] -[Morgan] Faster, faster, faster, faster.
[growls] Build the Volkswagen.
[vocalizing] Death metal!
Good work, everyone.
Let's call it a day and get out of here.
That was terrifying.
These two by four steel tubes, I'm going to run as far as I can,
so I'm going from all the way from the front fender to all the way to the rear.
Going to be a lot longer, which will give it a lot more support.
-Does it look good? -Yeah, it looks great, man.
I can guarantee the steel tube is going to be a lot stronger
than the 40-year-old metal that was in there before.
There's really nothing like this out there as far as I've seen.
Bring that baby in.
[chuckles]
Don't be surprised if he's bidding at the auction.
The guys in the shop are going hard on this VW truck
to get it ready for the diesel auction.
The new subframe kept the body together
and let us slide the door back on like butter
We welded everything back up
so that it was super strong.
Mosh pit. Rock party now. Let's do this.
[Dave grunts]
555 pounds, I'm feeling comfortable with that.
[Dave] Then we got to work on installing the new Cobra style rollbar hoops
that not only look good,
but they're going to protec your noggin in case this convertible topples ove
Then they worked overtime on the front end to upgrade the struts, the A-arms,
and put in the one-inch leveling kit.
Hey, Morgan, think fast.
[chuckles] That catch. What's clutch?
Just got one more mechanical issue to solve.
You remember, earlier this episode
when Heavy D had an embarrassing moment and stalled it out?
Hold on. You call yourself a friend?
You know, every time you say that, they show it.
[engine stalling]
-[chuckles] -I may have stalled it.
I'm going to fix the shifter so that it never happens again.
You won't have to worry about stalling it.
You son of a...
[laughing hysterically]
Grab that shifter and you can obviously see why we need to fix this shift linkage.
Before we get it up in the air, let's get those bolts out.
And I think that will probably drop all the way through.
[Dave] The shift linkage connects the shifter to the transmission,
which lets the driver shift gears to drive the wheels.
Now, it's a pretty simple concept,
but there's a lot of differe pivot points along the way
that lets you go in and out of different gears,
which are all held together by bushings,
which tend to wear down over time.
[Morgan] That bushing's completely missing.
Like, there are bushings under here that are just completely gone.
40 years of just dry rot, deterioration and movement, they just fell apart.
[Morgan] Okay, that's free, Diesel.
[Dave] Good.
The issue we're having with the shifter
Is a great example of what it's like restoring these older cars.
It's not always the engine or the transmission that goes bad,
but you got bolts, washers, bushings, et cetera,
that get old and lose function over time, and they need to be replaced.
This right here is supposed to be tight.
And this movement is called slop.
So you don't want slop.
You want to be right, get it tight, so you can shift it perfectly.
[Morgan] Coming out. Look at all that.
Oh, man. What a mess.
Before we install the new bushings...
This is just years and years of muck.
...we're going to clean all the grime off the old linkag parts that we're reusing.
-Oh, yeah, baby. Look how smooth that is now. -[Dave] Ooh.
All right, that takes care of that one.
Let's get some of these other bushings done.
Then we can get it all back assembled and get it back in the car.
Montage.
There, we have it.
Okay.
I feel like that got everything it needed to get.
Did you get everything you needed to get?
[groaning]
Ooh! Is that first gear?
Are you guys even down there anymore?
I'm having a celebratory moment.
Ah, look how smooth it's going in now.
[Dave] It's so smooth. That's tight.
And it's just smooth into each gear.
[mimicking a car revving]
♪ Little devil on my shoulder ♪
♪ Telling me to hold on ♪
♪ Telling me to go strong ♪
♪ The decisions that I'm going on ♪
[Dave] Morgan's almost got the double decker bi-wheel stunt car together.
The suspension is fixed, the bodies are tied together
I mean, we've got about 18 steel tubes on this doubl diesel bi-wheel
to keep the vehicle supporte
Now we just need to figure out how to make the wheels and tires drive
those giant 14 foot steel rings we still need to build.
We need to make the track width wider on both of these cars.
The top car is actually two inches wider than the bottom.
So these are two different cars,
so the track width is a little bit different.
So not only do these tires have to be the same width o the top and bottom vehicles
they also have to be able to stick out away from the vehicle.
In order for that big wheel ring to clear this fender,
instead of being zero offset like that,
gonna chuck these up in the lathe and cut this mounting surface out,
and literally just flip that around,
and make them out like this.
[Dave] The first thing we have to do:
Cut a perfect circle right in the center of this wheel at a 90-degree angle.
Hammer time.
...Bolts!
So this used to be like this.
So now... and I got a nice flat surface for an open corner weld,
so it'll be nice and strong.
Now we're going to mount it just like that.
And look how that keeps that centered.
[Dave] So, while Morgan cleans up the cuts and weld the wheels back together...
[growls]
Hey, Justin!
...Justin and I get to work
putting the new heavy duty trailer tires on the finished wheels.
That was already broke when I found it.
[Dave] Party time.
[Morgan] Now all I got to do is start on the ring,
get that ring on there, and we'll be ready to roll, baby.
[Josh] Of course, Heavy D couldn't just play it safe.
Now we have no idea how much this thing could be worth.
Ready for the appraisal number we're putting on for your diesel auction is...
Do you or someone you know drive a unibody truck or car?
Ah! Ow.
[distorted voice] Unibody.
Is the entire support system of your vehicle tied into one seamless piece?
Did someone come along and chop the structural integrity...
[distorted voice] Heavy D.
[Muscle] ...to make it look like a cool convertible?
[distorted voice] So cool.
[Muscle] But now the entire structure could collapse
and you could end up on the pavement like Diesel Dave.
[distorted voice] Not cool.
You don't have to live with those sagging, dangerous floorboards
or those lopsided fenders on your once cool 80s icon.
-Call Diesel, Diesel... -And Muscle...
because you deserve a solid ride.
[Heavy D] After some big and pretty aggressive changes,
our very first diesel auction build, the 1982 VW Rabbit, is really coming along.
It's got new paint, new wheels and tires, new OEM grille,
and we even added some light
I think people are going to love it.
However, there's really nothing like this out there as far as I've seen,
so I have no idea what kind of money it's going to bring.
You know, we've built this really unusual vehicle,
and we're going to be sending it through our diesel auction here soon.
Of course, Heavy D couldn't just play it safe
and build this Rabbit for the VW enthusiasts
who we know would pay big money for it.
No, he had to go chop it in half.
Now we have no idea how much this thing could be worth.
And if I'm going to keep us from going broke
before it even hits the auction block,
I need to know how far in the hole we are.
I had Mat and Shane come down from MAT'S Restoration.
These guys are legit.
They've had a restoration business for like 38 years.
They're the biggest, best restoration appraisal company in Salt Lake.
[Muscle] Obviously, the work is great,
but it's such a weird demographic of a vehicle.
Getting any kind of value from you guys is going to be really valuable for us.
Weird is good, man. Weird is good.
We're excited to see what you guys come up with.
Diesel Dave, you bring that baby in.
[chuckles]
-[Mat] That's pretty cool. -Oh, nice!
-They chopped it. -Yeah.
[Mat] Oh, that's cool!
Yeah, buddy!
[Dave] Yeah, boys.
[Shane] I haven't seen one of these since high school.
So what all did you guys do to this thing?
Well, it didn't always look this pretty, okay?
When we found it, it was a complete rust bucket.
Fenders were rusted out, rocker panels rusted out.
So we started by replacing the rocker panels,
replacing the fenders,
and then we came to the B pillar,
and it was rusted all the wa through into the cab.
So what better way to do it than a cab delete.
Got a new grille, new headlights.
But since it's a unibody, we had to really beef up the subframe,
so it's really strong reinforced underneath.
Did you put a lift kit on this thing?
I was getting to that.
We had to redo the entire front suspension.
New struts, new A-arms,
new aluminum wheels, new tires.
Front had a big bumper there. We took it off.
We did a nice roller panel style in the front.
And my personal favorite:
The cobra style hoops.
Oh, yeah, no. That adds to it.
And to top it off, that nice yellow paint job with the blue pinstripe.
We have spared no expense.
How much are you in it?
We're in it $6,300.
[Mat] Well, you know, sitting here, it looks pretty good.
We know it drove in here,
but I think we need to take it for a little ride.
Driving it, I was giggling the whole way.
Oh, the shifter's tight.
-Really? -Yeah. Usually these things are all floppy.
It's fun. It's like a street legal go-kart.
You know, it's solid and safe. You feel confident in it.
[Mat] I think it's awesome.
Do you know how many people would love to take this down to the beach or something?
One of the things I was surprised was the craftsmanship on it.
You know, it's not over the top,
but every inch that I looked at looked good and solid.
Moment of truth.
[Dave] Moment of truth.
-[Muscle] And? -[Dave] And?
I really like it. It's really nice. It's really nice.
[Josh] All right, so can you finally give us the number?
Um, what do you think?
The truck, just in stock condition, can go ten easy,
and then you build up from there.
You've got suspension done,
you've got paint done.
The engine, you know, is going to run right 'cause it's the Diesel Brothers.
They removed the top, and now it's some wild, crazy build,
but it's built well.
All right, guys are ready for the appraisal number
-Yes! Yeah, yeah, yeah. -we're putting on for your diesel auction is $17,500.
[all cheering]
17.5!
That's what I'm talking about.
-[Dave] It was all worth it. -[Muscle] I knew this was gonna work.
I was shocked at the $17,500 appraisal.
I'm really glad and kind of impressed
that Heavy D was able to put this thing together
and not spend a lot of money on it.
[Shane] Honestly, it's a really nice little truck.
Don't be surprised if he's bidding at the auction.
The cash isn't in the bank until auction day,
so it's still going to be a long uphill battle.
Do you know, I haven't seen Red Beard that happy in a while.
Let's hope his good mood lasts,
because the double diesel bi-wheel of death,
it's gotta be ready in about a week or so,
because we can't announce the auction until it's done.
United.
[narrator] This season on Diesel Brothers.
[Muscle] Well, how did it turn out, Dave?
It's a hot item right now.
It's a very hot item.
[Heavy D] I want this auction...
[Dave] I didn't know Cadilla had a diesel.
[Heavy D] I want the people to look at these vehicles and be like,
"Where did they find that?"
[Dave] A Gama Goat?
Just when I thought the lineup couldn't get any more weird.
It gets weirder.
[all screaming]
[both yelling] It's giveaway time!
[Heavy D] An old 50s Chevy with a Cummins in it.
You got her stuffed in there good, huh?
[Muscle] 2021 GMC Denali.
The theme? Big.
[screaming]
Dave, save yourself!