Season One of Monster Garage Canada was an exciting one.  We started the project in May 2005 with the goal of finishing in September 2006.  Everything worked out as planned and we went from 2 junk cars to a sweet low rider. The car preformed perfectly for the wedding and is ready for Season 2.  Check out all the links from Season 1:

Season 1 Photo Gallery

Season 1 Video Gallery

The Wedding Story

Season 1 Budget

Season 1 Crew

With all the knowledge gained from the roofchop, Matt has started to work over a 67 standard beetle.  We are expecting some big results, and so far we haven't been disappointed.  A big thank to Fred at Westside for all the support on this project so far.

 Monster Garage: Canada
Season  Two: The Details

Season Two of Monster Garage Canada is all about the Details.  Every Wednesday that the temp reaches 0°C we will be out in the Garage working on the details.  We were able to sneak one in before the Edmonton winter freeze up:

Dual Carbs
To give our lowrider a little juice we dropped a modest pair of carbs onto our dual port heads.  After scouring the internet we found a great deal on a pair just outside the city.  Details coming soon.

Ghost flames
What hotrod is complete with out a killer flame job.  In this episode we brought in a guest artist to layout the flames and  airbrush them in.  Details coming soon.

Hardtop
Not happy with the beach buggy style soft top, we have designed a removable, movable hardtop, to give us the best of both worlds.  Details coming soon.

New Wheels

After finding a sweet deal on a set of 'Gas Burner' wheels at a local VW show, the roofchop got new rims.  Wrapped in the smart car tires purchased last season they make a big difference in the look of the ride. Photo shoot.

The Tall Shifter (11mb .wmv)

For added cool factor in this episode we swap out the stock beetle shifter for a tall bus shifter.  This however is not a straight bolt on modification.

Raising the Rear End (11mb .wmv)

In season 1 we dropped the front as low as we could on a pair of adjust-a-struts and dropped the back 2 notches on the torsion bar.  After the engine tranny and speakers were in, the back of the car was slightly "backended" (lower in the back than front).  Our exhaust took a lot of abuse last fall, so until we can get that front end lower we moved up the back end up a notch.  More Details.

Rear Windows (11mb .wmv)

We finally got the new rear windows in.  Last season, we bought plexiglass from the local home store and tinted it with window film.  This time we got some tinted plexiglass and put it in the right way.  More Details.

Scroll down to see what is slated for the rest of the season and check out the details of each project.  Have an idea? Let us know by signing the guestbook!

Monster Garage Blog

November 23rd, 2007

     Winter is here in Edmonton, Christmas is fast approaching, and the end of Season 2 of "The beetle roofchop" is here.  There is still some big changes that are going to happen here.  We are launching are going to launch a new site.  Discovery Channel has been threatening to sue for ripping off their title, so it is going to take some work.  Stay tuned.

Check out the progress from the end of
season 1 to the end of season 2.
vs

Upcoming Shows & Projects

Custom amp rack- Next Season!
Not happy with our current piece of OSB, Matthew will show us how a little creativity can result in a killer amp rack. Details coming soon.

Shaved Door Handles-Next Season!
Removing the door handles should really clean up the lines of our lowrider, the trick is finding an alternative way to open the doors.  In this episode we will weld in new metal where the handles were and install electronic door poppers to open the doors.  Details coming soon.

Flame thrower exhaust- Next Season!
Strictly for show purposes of course.  In this episode we will show you how to make flames come out the exhaust. Details.

Just to show our viewers our skills aren't limited to aircooled VWs, we hooked Dave's Nissan Sentra with a new exhaust and tail pipe.  Check out the install on:

Monster Minute:
The Fast and Furious
 

Monster Garage: Canada
Music

The music in the new videos is all by Pinned,
Check out their myspace site!
www.myspace.com/pinnedmusic

Thanks to companies helping us out:

2) Decrease the headroom 4 inches Achieved !

3) Drive a sweet ride to Matt's wedding Sept. 2. Achieved!

Guide:

A 3 part magazine article from Volksworld, 1998.

Season 1 Crew Bios:
(alphabetical)

Clayton was one of the founding participants of Monster Garage: Canada, shown here welding in the first bracing inside the car preparing for the removal of the roof.   Clayton has taught us all some important lessons about monster garaging: Don't weld in shorts, sandals, especially in enclosed places. Watch Clayton's championship performances at the Hacksaw Races.  Clayton took 9 months off in the middle of the project but returned a month before the wedding for the glory.

Colin makes an appearance on Monster Garage: Canada almost every week, either as part of the crew, or just stopping by showing off some of his more specialized skills.  Colin is currently in a Phd program at the University of Alberta studying relationships between beetles, trees and past disturbance history.  Pictured here to the left he is doing some finishing work at the end of the big seam that transects the roof of the car.

Dave signed up for Monster Garage: Canada early on in the project.  Back then he was still trying to figure out how to change a tire, now he there is no task too small for Dave to tackle.  Trained in chemical engineering, Dave is currently employed at the Esso plant.  Dave is was also kind enough to donate a vintage stereo for the project, check out Monster Minute I for all the details.

Ian is the newest addition to the Monster Garage: Canada crew.  Employed as an financial planner, Ian was originally brought on to help manage the finances, but Ian quickly proved his metal working skills and became a permanent addition to the full time crew.  Take a look at Ian's first appearance on Monster Minute in Monster Minute III . 

Josh was another founding member of Monster Garage: Canada and, as most things in the garage are done by trial and error, Josh usually gets the first trial and often the first error too.  Employed as a full time Entomologist at the University of Alberta, it is fitting that he is working on a beetle.  Shown here, Josh is giving a special guest star, Kylee, some instructions on the operation of MIG welder used in the shop. 

Matthew is really the muscle behind this hotrod.  There has yet to be job to remedial for this go getter.  Coming on to the project in the second week, Matt shows the rest of the crew what hard work can accomplish.  Matt supplies lots of the motivation for this project, and it paid off when he and Josh showed up at his wedding in a sweet roofchop lowrider.  See the whole story of the days leading up to the wedding here.

Stephane came on to the project after most of the major cuts to the roof were completed.  After finishing his MSc studing beetles (the insects) in agricultural systems, he now works with the Canadian Forest Service on Mountain Pine Beetle. Stephane quickly figured out how to work with metal beetles, and started replacing rust spots.  Soon he was adding some extra custom details to the roofchop (check out the lack of pee shooter holes). Stephane is always willing to help out and is quick to add some perspective "we are all working towards the same goal" when things get hectic in the garage.