Bitchin' Rides: Road to the Ridler

Dave and the crew start the Ridler build by creating a fiberglass buck, which will then be transferred to aluminum, one of the most difficult metals to use in fabrication. But once they finish the buck, Dave realizes there may be a problem with the roof.

The fabrication process begins, and the team begins to see how difficult building a car out of aluminum by hand will be. Each panel needs to be hand crafted to perfection, and some of the lines in Dave's drawings look virtually impossible to replicate.

After almost a year of fabrication, the team starts assembling panels into the shape of a car. The chassis is also made of aluminum, and after a painstaking frame-design process, the two wild shapes are melded together for the first and last time.

The team passes a huge milestone in the Ridler build, as the body and chassis are merged with mock-ups of the other major elements of the car. For the next major step, the body shop matches every panel, gaps the car seamlessly, and fixes any flaws.

Fabrication is done for the Ridler build, and the client is amazed by their progress. Dave agonizes over the color, since that's the first thing most people notice. The previous five winners were all yellow, but Dave decides to go in another direction.

The Ridler car's engine and transmission are married for the last time and installed, and the team moves on to the wiring and other systems. As the car is prepped to fire up for the first time, a dent threatens to stop the whole build in its tracks.

The team fires up the Ridler build for the first time, and surprisingly all goes according to plan. After they finish a seemingly endless list of details and appointments, the car is loaded and sent off to Detroit, where the Autorama's tech test awaits

The Ridler build arrives at the Autorama, and at the initial drive test, Dave and Kev scramble to fix a transmission problem. The next day, the show opens to the public and the judging begins. It's also their first chance to size up the competition.