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    Assignment One

    Discovery's "Fast N Loud"

    Figured World: A society associated with having a particular set of beliefs, ideas, or actions.The figured world I chose to discuss looks at the concepts and conventions displayed by the

    employees at Gas Monkey Garage, derived from Discovery channel's series "Fast N' Loud."

    Background Info: Discovery's "Fast N Loud" is a reality TV based off the events and practicesthat occur at Gas Monkey Garage, a car garage located in Dallas, Texas, that specializes inrestorations and performance modifications. "Fast N Loud" takes the day to day routine thatwould be expected from successful automotive garage and puts a twist on it, by letting thecharacters be their goofy selves with many comical skits. The comedy portrayed in the show aswell as the desired cars featured on the show has drawn in many viewers. The show firstpremiered in the summer of 2012, and ever since has consistently held high ratings and is stillproducing new episodes week by week. Though the shop was successful before it was televised,the increase in popularity has helped with business, and getting the Gas Monkeyname out topeople. Some customers who appear on the show will talk about how they have seen episodes ofthe show and have seen the quality of work done by Gas Monkey Garage through the TV series.The owner of the garage is Richard Rawlings, an entrepreneur who has a love for cars andmaking them go fast in order to make a profit, who has seen his business grow and the growthcan be seen throughout different seasons of the show. Richard's right-hand man and mastermechanic, Aaron Kaufman, is the shop foreman and is in control of all of the mechanics whowork for Richard, "Gas Monkeys." During a typical show Richard is usually looking for cars foran upcoming build, or he is looking for cars that he can buy cheap and turn for a quick profit.The mechanics usually have a few small tasks they're performing on the side along witheveryone working on a big build headed up by Aaron. Though there is an actual business ran atGas Monkey Garage the atmosphere is exciting and employees are always seen doing comicalshenanigans. The use of sarcasm along with the joking attitudes the from the actors on the show,give the show a more comical appearance and can be an interesting business techniques ofRichard's. With his use of sarcasm and jokes with clientscan provide a less stress environmentfor someone looking to buy a car or have Gas Monkey Garagebuild a car. Less stressedcustomers and clients could lead to closer relationships with the garage, which would keeppeople coming back and help build a good reputation for the company. Just like any otherautomotive garage there are certain safeties that have to be upheld, even with all of the play thatgoes on at the shop.

    Actors: someone who plays a role in a figured world or community of practice, can be someoneof much importance or merely a member of that particular society.

    Richard Rawlings: Owner and operator of Gas Monkey Garage. Richard's role typicallyconsists of only handling the business aspects of the garage, such as finding new cars andhandling cliental and customer relations. He is rarely seen in the shop and its usually just todiscuss something to Aaron or check up on builds. Richard is stingy with his money, but has

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    faith in Aaron's decisions and the work of his team to allow them extra money for a build, oragreeing to do a build with seemingly not enough time. He often gambles with time and moneyfor jobs, but he looks and the risks and rewards and past situations, and typically he comes out ontop. Richard portrays a play boyish type of attitude, which seems inappropriate for an owner of abusiness, but it seems to work for him.

    Aaron Kaufman: Master mechanic at Gas Monkey Garage. He is Richard's right-hand manand is usually with Richard when they go looking for new cars. Aaron is the most skilled of allthe workers at the garage, which rightfully puts him in a position of management and he headsup all the builds. Richard's trust with Aaron using his money shows the confidence he has inAaron and how Aaron has proven himself to be successful.

    K.C. Mathieu: Gas Monkey's skilled painter, and next in command below Aaron. K.C. startedout painting with his dad, out of his backyard paint booth. K.C. built up a well-respectedreputation for doing good work and was able to all of the jobs for Gas Monkey Garage. Afterthe shop expanded and moved locations, Richard added a paint booth for K.C. where he nowalways working at the garage with everyone else.

    Christie Brimberry: The shop secretary. She was hired after the garage started expanding andRichard decided he needed to hire someone to help him run the business. She typically justhandles paperwork and answer phone calls. On rare occasions Richard has Christie go look atpotential cars he wants to buy, look cars up on the internet, or sells cars to customers who comeby the shop.

    Sue Martin: Owner ofASM Upholstery, Gas Monkey Garage'smain source for upholsterywork. A short-tempered Taiwanese woman who always jokes with Richard and they haggleeach other trying to make the most money.

    Dennis Collins: Owner of Collins Brothers Jeepis a long time friend of Richard's. He has

    appeared on Fast N Loud numerous times going with Richard to find cars and they have went intogether to buy multiple cars and share the profits. Dennis has a lot of knowledge of differentcars and their worth and Richard asks for Dennis's opinion on many cars. He and Richard havealso participated in a rally from New York to Los Angeles, called the Cannonball Run, wherethey currently hold the record for the fastest time.

    Artifacts:can be physical items, cultural practices, or similar feelings with in a community of

    practice or figure world that is sacred to that particular group.

    GMG (Gas Monkey Garage): Where and what the show is based off of, typical day to dayevents that occur at Gas Monkey Garage. Located in Dallas, Texas, the heart of a large car scene

    consisting of many automotive garages, race shops, and car enthusiasts.

    Cars built by GMG: The foundation of the business and how it makes money is by buildingcars and selling them to make a profit. Along with the major builds where the team may performan entire restoration of a car, there are also smaller jobs where Richard may find a car that'scheap and do minor work to the car and quickly sell for a profit. Richard uses online sources

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    such as Craigslistto find cars for sell that are in the Dallas area. Sometimes he will go toauctions where he may buy or sell cars.

    Richard's Money: Richard is always stingy with his money, which explains his success as abusiness man, so Richard is always putting a budget on builds and trying to get the most profitout of every sale. Inevitably Richard's money is what pays all the employees at Gas MonkeyGarageand what keeps the garage going.

    Communities of Practice: a branch off of a particular figured world that shares similar socialnorms, ideas, and goals that may be more specific or detailed more so than the vast "figuredworld".

    Employees at GMG: Everyone does their assigned job in order to make business flourish andcontinue operation. Whether it be the mechanics and Aaron working on the vehicles, Richardfinding and selling vehicles, or Christie doing all of the paperwork for the company.

    Car Enthusiasts: A car enthusiast is pretty self-explanatory, but someone who enjoys thetechnicality and complexity of automobiles, are marvels at cars and sees them as a work of art.Most car enthusiasts like to make modifications to their vehicles to make it "theirs" anddistinguish it from someone else's. At Gas Monkey Garagea lot of what they do is modify cars,either for performance or aesthetics, the whole premises behind modifications is to attract morebuyers and make a car more enjoyable. All of the employees at Gas Monkey Garagecan beconsidered car enthusiasts, as well as the clients and customers who deal business with Richard.

    Domain:Is the common goals and interests of the community, the overall goal everyone is

    working towards.Make GMG Money: The main goal of the company is to make money, so that it trickles downto all of the employee's pay checks. In order to make the company money everyone mustperform the tasks assigned to them and perform them to the best of their ability. Employees areencouraged to give opinions and ideas about different builds, but ultimately the decisions aremade by Richard or Aaron. All of the employees understand that in order to uphold the GasMonkeyreputation, they must do all of their work to the best of their ability so the whatever it isthey are working on will be as successful as possible.

    Practices of the Community:specific actions that the actors within a community perform inorder to work towards achieving the common interest, domain.

    Build Cars that attract buyers: Since the company is a garage the main focus and expectationof the business is to build cars, but it doesn't help to build cars that no one wants to buy. SoRichard and Aaron always discuss the direction they plan on taking with a certain type of car toattract a certain type of buyer. A typical build will consist of finding a sporty type of car andmaking it faster and more enjoyable to own.

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    Literacy Practices:different ways people communicate through a figured world or communityof practice

    Business Protocol: Just like any other kind of business there are employees who are hired to do

    a certain job in order to make the business as a whole run smoothly and efficiently, so everyoneis expected to do the job which they are instructed to do. Also it being a garage there are certainsafety protocols the workers must follow that are put in place by organizations such as OSHA.

    Build Sheet: Before each build Richard and Aaron will consult with the rest of the mechanics tosee what direction they want to take with a particular car that will attract a particular buyer.During these pre-build sessions Richard and Aaron will decide on a budget and get a general ideaof what to expect for the final product. In some cases people will come to Richard with an ideafor a car and all Richard and Aaron have to do is make sure it turns out as planned and on time.

    Relevant Car Terms:

    Restoration: Rebuilding an old car to its original or an improved state. A total restoration cancomprise of replacing all nuts and bolts on the car, as well as repainting the entire car.Depending on the make and model and rarity of a certain car, fully restored cars can go be pricedanywhere from $30,000 to $200,000 and beyond.

    Muscle Car: A term used to describe sports car with big motors that produced lots of power.The term was originally used to describe the mid to late 1960's cars such as theMustang,Camaro, and Challenger. The term muscle car is still used today to describe American sportscars that pride themselves in having high horsepower.

    Horsepower: A unit of measure to describe the power output of an engine or car. A stockmuscle car from the dealership in 1969 would have around 300-350 hp. A stock comparablemuscle car of the same kind bought today can have anywhere from 450-700 hp.

    Coilover Suspension: A race inspired suspension setup where the coil sits over the shock. Acoilover setup can be adjusted to the drivers likings, where as a standard suspension setup with aseparate shock and coil spring cannot be adjusted. Coilovers provide a firm, yet comfortableride, while still improving handling in cars.

    Observation 1 "Super Sonic Camaro: Part I":

    (2:22) Richard and Aaron travel 3 hrs to Oklahoma, to the Sonicheadquarters, to talk to ToddSmith, Chief Marketing Officer of Sonic Corporation, because a personal interview is better thana phone call. Richard had heard Sonic was looking for someone to build a muscle car forupcoming commercials. On the way to Sonic, Richard tells Aaron to make sure and let him dothe talking.

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    (5:00) Christie is sent to look at a 1965Cadillac Deville, that Richard is interested in, that will bein an online auction the next day. Christie doesn't know what to look for in the car, so she callsRichard asking what she should be looking for. Kyle Rosen, owner of Rosen systems, is sellingthe car in the auction the next day.

    (8:00) Richard and Aaron arrive at Sonic'sheadquarters and talks to CMO Todd Smith. Toddexplains how Sonic was looking for a new marketing icon, so they polled some online consumersand the consensus said the perfect car for "America's drive-in" is a 1968 Chevrolet Camaro SSconvertible. Richard and Aaron at first think that it will be easy to find a 1968 Camarobecausethey're everywhere, Right? Todd gives Richard a 30 day deadline, Richard plays it off like itmight be difficult to make the deadline to get more money, when in reality he's thinking it will beeasy. Richard's first offer was $200,000 for the build. Todd comes back and says he wasthinking more like $100,000. Richard automatically meets him in the middle at $150,000 andTodd agrees. Todd only agreed to pay Richard $75,000 up front and agreed to pay the rest afterthe 30 day deadline, Richard asks "well what if we don't make the deadline" and Todd answers"well you'll have yourselves a Camaro."

    (10:00) Richard calls Christie and asks her to bid on the Cadillacfor him, since he didn't haveaccess to a computer. The current bid was $9200 and Richard tells Christie to bid $9300 and itwouldn't go through, so he told her to bid $11,400 or something and it still denied. Christie hadjust missed the auction deadline.

    (12:05) Kevin Bowden from Center, TX pulls into Gas Monkey Garagelooking to sell his 1969Ford F-100 pick-up. The truck had been worked on a little with a 351 Windsorengine paired upwith a 4 speed manual transmission. Kevin originally asked $7000 for the truck and Richardsays that $7000 is close to actual retail, but offers him $4500. Kevin strikes back with an offerof $6500 and they decide on a price of $5500 and a ride home. Richard thinks he can easily get$7000-$7500 out of the truck as it sits.

    (17:20) Richard and Aaron go to look at a 1968 Camaro SS conv.just like the one needed for theSonicbuild, but he was already 1 week behind because the car was harder to find than expected.Richard meets John Wohr, owner of Keller Auto, who has the 68 CamaroRichard is looking for.John first saw the car and became interested about 10 years ago, supposedly the car had beenpreviously owned by Jeff Gordon. John says the car runs and drives, but has not been on theroad since 1996. The car is equipped with a big block 396, and Richard finds out the rear-quarterpanels replaced and John said he believed the car was restored in the 80's. John wantedsomewhere around $30,000 for the car, because of its rarity. Richard offered him $25,000. Johnsays if it was only that much he would buy it himself and asked how high Richard would bewilling to go. Richard offers John $27.5K, they ended up settling for $28.5K for the car. Aftersettling on the price they load the car up and head back to the garage. Aaron makes a joke abouthow he'd like a Coney(Sonic'shotdog).

    (19:05) Aaron and Richard tell K.C. and the rest of the "monkeys" the plans for the car. Aaronwants to go for a pro-touring feel with wide 18 inch wheels in front and rear, with a different rearend, and an LS3 motor. Everybody then jumps in the Camaroto head to Sonicfor lunch, butfirst Richard does some burnouts in the parking lot.

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    (21:00) Richard and the guys talk about different ideas for the build. Richard gets the idea to usea Sonicorder button for a push start in the car. He also decides to paint the car a red thatmatches the red used in the Soniclogo. Richard goes over everyone's job for the new build.

    (22:00) The guys start taking the car apart to have K.C. start sand blasting the paint in order toprep it for paint the next day. The shop previously completed 2Firebirdsidentical to theCamaro, so the guys think it will be a piece of cake. Aaron expresses how at first he didn't likethe idea of working with Sonic, but building a modern day pro-touring car out of a 68 muscle carwith a hefty budget made him excited.

    (24:30) 4 hrs. later the "monkeys" have disassembled the car and the body is being pressurewashed to prep for paint. 3 weeks till the deadline and some "monkeys" were saying how theywanted to get the car done early and they were caught playing around and joking in the shop. AsMike Coy, one of K.C.'s paint helpers, was washing the car, paint started flaking off because itwasn't sticking and Mike thought the car had been painted at least 3-4 times. They are nowgoing to have to take all of the paint off the car and strip it down to bare metal so the new paintcan stick to the body. The paint is supposed to only be about 4 millimeters thick, and the paint

    on the car was thicker which never allowed it to fully dry and cure to the body. You could seethe different layers of paint and primer.

    (25:20) FAST FACT: "What was the code name for the Camarowhile it was being developed?"A. Panther, B. Cobra, C. Cougar, D. Stallion. Answer is A. Panther.

    (27:30) They disassembled the sub-frame from the body. K.C. was prepping the paint and bodywhile the other "monkeys" were putting in aRideTechcoilover suspension. The new LS3 engineand the 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive was delivered to the shop. As they wereattaching the motor and transmission, the motor and transmission mounts were off, and wouldrequire some modification.

    (29:25) Aaron walks over to see what the problem was and to see if he could help. Aaron recallsthey order the engine and transmission mounts for a T-56 manual transmission, but they hadalready decided to go with an automatic transmission, because that's what the car had originallycame with. Aaron says he will order the new parts and it should fit, but they only have 19 moredays to complete the build.

    (32:00) Christie called the person who had one the auction for the 1965 Cadillac Devillefromearlier in the show and had them come to Gas Monkey Garagein order to sell the car to Richard.Scott and Kristen Malone were the ones who one the auction for the car, and brought theirdaughter and son in hopes to help sell the car. Scott is a car-flipper like Richard and says hewould sell it for a small profit. Richard offers $10,200 for the car, which is a $1000 profit for

    Scott. Kristen immediately says that's not enough profit and $1000 won't feed their kids.Richard then offers a $3000 profit, Kristen steps up with $4500 profit. Richard offers $4000profit for Scott and he made the deal. After unloading the CadillacRichard does a burnout andjokingly says "It's smoking, I think something's wrong with it."

    (33:00) Richard sees that the sub-frame isn't completed and starts worrying about the deadlineand that there is only 18 more days left.

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    (36:15) Mike is changing out the oil pan for the Camaro's new engine with a new oil pan Aaronordered to fit the car. When he puts the wrong torque setting on the torque wrench, he breaks abolt of into the engine.

    (38:00) Tony Taylor, Gas Monkey's salesman, has some potential buyers for the 69 F-100. Philand Deanna Choma came all the way to Dallas, TX, from Orlando, FL. Phil is buying the truckfor his daughter to drive to school, who currently only has her learner's permit. Phil starts byoffering $5500 for the truck, Tony offers him back $7500, Phil seals the deal at $7000.

    (39:00) After replacing all the new motor parts the engine and transmission is starting to matchup correctly to the subframe. Richard walks up and says he didn't sleep well, because he wasstressed out about the build. The mechanics working on putting the subframe together said itwill be buttoned up in a matter of minutes and should be off to paint right after lunch.

    (40:00) K.C. and his helpers start prepping the car for paint by doing body work and they noticethe wheel tubs haven't been modified to accommodate for larger wheels and tires, which will endup causing a big delay.

    (41:25) At the end of the episode Richard is explaining how the build is getting off to a bumpystart and how he doesn't know if the car will even be completed on time. Richard asks for his"beer assistant" and asks for two beers.

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    Picture from: www.realestate.aol.com

    The Sonic Camaroat the end of Part I

    Observation 2 "Super Sonic Camaro: Part II":

    (2:50) Richard and Aaron provide a recap of the last episode and remind the viewer of theproblems they were faced with at the end of the "Part II of the SonicCamarobuild." Mike Coy,one of the mechanics at Gas Monkey Garage, explains the process and concerns he has in orderto widen the wheel tubs so they can fit larger wheels and tires on the car. Mike gives theassumption that it will take almost a full day to fix the car correctly.

    (4:00) K.C. is ready to begin painting the car, but since he is set back another day he goes ahead

    and begins to mix his paint for the car. The guys decided to paint the car a red that matches theiconic Sonic red. K.C. was able to send the Sonic redpaint to Valspar, the paint supplier for GasMonkey Garage, and they sent him the formula in order to match the paint perfectly. K.C.begins my measuring out different pigments of paint in grams specified, by Valsparand thenmixes them together. K.C. feels pretty confident the paint is perfect for the car.

    (4:50) Richard goes over to check on K.C. and see how the paint is coming. K.C. explains tohim how it should be the same color, and Richard has enough confident in K.C. and tells him topaint it. K.C. and Richard joke around and end up throwing Sonictater tots at each other.

    (8:00) Richard tells how the build is becoming stressful, so he decides to head out theHoustonClassic Auctionto hopefully buy some cars that he can sell for a quick profit. Before the auction

    Richard spots a 1954 Cadillacthat's all original and in pristine shape that he would like to bidon. The number he had in his head was $27,000, towards the end of the auction the bid is at$27,000 precisely with the bid in Richard's favor. At the last second somebody ups his bid andRichard ends up buying the Cadillacfor $29,000. Richard feels like he still got a pretty gooddeal on the car.

    (10:00) 13 days until the deadline and K.C. is finally able to start painting the car, in hopes ofhaving it finished by the end of the day. The temperature in the paint booth was 106 degrees

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    Fahrenheit, which is too hot for K.C. to perform a well job. K.C. consults Richard and tells himthat it's so hot the paint will dry as it comes out of the gun before it even touches the car, andtells him it will be better to wait until morning. Richard is worried because he will be losinganother day as the deadline is rapidly approaching. K.C. says that if he paints it now and itmesses up then it will take more than a day to fix. Richard says that he can just wait another day,

    in order to do the job right and to come out on top with this big build. Richard is worried howthe car will turn out and if it will turn out on time, because if he messes up on this build then hemost likely won't get any more offers.

    (11:30) At 5:09 the next morning K.C. is in the booth preparing to start painting the car, before itgets too hot to paint. Even though it was still 85 degrees Fahrenheit, K.C. says he can addhardeners to the paint that will help slow the drying time, and that it is the most optimal time hehas to paint in Dallas, TX. K.C. is painting the car and says he is worried because the car has tobe perfect and match the Sonic redand the more he paints the better he feels. Towards the endyou see him dancing as he is painting.

    (12:30) There were thunderstorms come through during the morning as Richard's Cadillacthat

    he won at the auction arrives. He also bought a 1972 Corvette Stingraywhich is what a lot ofcollectors are looking for. He was very pleased by getting the car for only $30,000.

    (13:15) Jason Akers, another mechanic at Gas Monkey Garage, explains how they are preppingthe suspension, sub frame, and fire wall assemblies before attaching them all to the freshlypainted body, with only 7 days until the deadline. He says the car is coming along, but is still amillion miles from delivery.

    (15:05) Richard says a car that is going to be this cool on the outside has to be just as cool on theinside, so he prepares to go back to Sue to have her finish the interior of the car. He says he'sbeen putting off seeing Sue, because she got a little mad when she found out he had anotherinterior shop working on one of his cars. Sue asks where Richard's been and was surprised to seehe returned for her business. Richard explains how the guy wanted the previous job and it was aonetime deal, and that he is bringing her something to work on that's not junk. Richard takes Suethe seats for the Camarowith new seat covers and ask her to do the job. She says she's going toneed to replace all of the seat padding and Richard asks how much she's going to charge. Suesays $700 which is a good price and usually Richard tries to low ball her, but accepts in and goeson. When he leaves Sue yells "Goodbye ass monkey."

    (17:10) Richard meets a friend he has that lives in Sweden, Magnus Einarsson, who has a lovefor fixing old Cadillacsand selling them to demanding clients back in Sweden. Magnus and hisson, Christopher, came to see the collection of CadillacsRichard had. The first Cadillacthatstood out to Magnus was the 1954 Cadillacthat Richard one at the auction a few days before.

    Richard is up front and tells Magnus the no-haggle price is $32,500. Magnus knows that$32,500 is still a good price for the car and knows he needs the car, so he asks Richard if he candeposit $12,500 on the car now and the rest at the end of the week. Richard knowing Magnusand having done business with him in the past accepts the offer and they shake hands.

    (19:15) Aaron and Jason have connected the body of the car to the sub frame and have startedbolting things back together. Still being a long ways until finished Richard walks over and asksAaron how things are coming. Richard is stressing because Todd Smith is coming in only 5 days

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    and the car is not close to being finished, but Aaron assures Richard that the car will be finished,but finished right so he doesn't know how much will get finished today.

    (20:30) Sue shows up with the finished seats for the Sonic Camaro, Richard was well pleasedwith the result and Sue had put in extra effort to make sure they were done right and fast. Suewas confident in her product and tells Richard she don't do junk, and asks for his money.

    (21:20) Aaron is explaining how they have a lot still to do for this car and starts by putting themost iconic symbol on the car, the Sonic Push-to-Startbutton. After installing the button Aaronis messing around and acting like he is ordering stuff from Sonic.

    (24:10) Richard was stressed out and forgot he had lined up a potential buyer to view the 1972Corvettehe bought at the auction, so Tony says he has to pick up the slack like usual. Mikeshows up and tells Tony, he thinks he can help him sell the car. The potential buyer is MaryMeyer from Charlotte, NC. After doing some research Tony and Richard found out the car is notworth exactly what they had anticipated and was hoping to get $35,000-$36,000 out of the car,but Tony said they would be lucky to break even. Tony offers Mary the car for $35,000,

    explaining that it's an all original big block 454 CI engine with a 4 speed manual transmissionthat has not been removed from the car. Mary says she was thinking more like $23,000, andTony tells her it's worth more than that. Tony throws out the offer of $30,000 and Mary says shecan maybe come up to $26,000. Tony takes a second to think and offers Mary the car for$28,000 and she says what about $26,500. Tony says if I go below $27,000 then I'll have to callRichard and he doesn't want to have to call Richard, so she takes his offer at $27,000. Tonyexplains how they were in the whole by $3000 on this car, takes to the help of Mike, and Mikesays Richard would have never let that kind of car go for that little. Tony owns up that he has asoft spot for cute redheads and let her have it.

    (26:15) Aaron gets all excited because things start coming together with the Sonic Camaro buildand it's time to start the engine. Aaron pushes the little red button to start the car and it runs alittle rough, but is to be expected for the first start up of a new engine. After restarting the carAaron says the car sounds like it has an exhaust leak and says that's no good. The engine thatthey decided to put in the car has been heavily modified and the computer that controls the carand sets the timing of everything and ensures the car will run at its optimum wasn't set up for themodifications that had been done to the car, so Aaron calls a guy that has experience tuning carso he can make a custom tune for the on board computer. Sam, the tuner, tells Aaron the noisecoming from the engine is something inside the engine, and Aaron has a look of devastation onhis face, because Todd comes in the morning to pick up the car.

    (27:00) FAST FACT: Which movie franchise features Camarosin a starring role?

    A. Mission: Impossible B. Spiderman C. James Bond D. Transformers. Answer is D.Transformers

    (28:20) Richard shows up to the shop early to check on the Camaroand prepare for Todd tocome down from Sonicto pick up his car. Richard walks over to the car and sees the seatshaven't been installed and the car is on the lift with people working on things. Aaron tellsRichard they are remarkably close, but so far away. Richard said that Aaron had called him lastnight telling him they found a knocking coming from the engine, but they weren't going to leave

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    until the problem was figured out. The car wasn't finished by the morning and Aaron says wedon't have a car working right now, everything on the car works as it is supposed to except theengine. Richard goes back to his office accepting defeat, because he had promised a car to Toddand he doesn't have a finished car yet.

    (31:00) Christi walks into Richard's office to let him know that Todd was there. Todd shows uparound 9:30 and is wondering if he can see the car, Richard just says alright well lets go take alook at it. Richard takes on play on Todd's words and they agreed to have a running and drivingcar by that day, and Todd needed the car in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, by that day. Richard andTodd agree that it will work if Richard is able to get the car to Oklahoma City by the end of theday.

    (33:00) Aaron begins to try and fix the engine by pulling it out of the car. The engine is a crateengine which is typically simple, but since the car has been heavily modified, Aaron suspectsthat where the problem will be. After taking the oil pan and the wind age tray, and it was clearthat the crankshaft had been hitting the wind age tray, causing all of the strange noises. Aaronsuspects the wind age tray was first damaged when Mike first put the oil pan on wrong at the

    beginning of the build, so Aaron starts by taking the wind age tray begins removing the dents.Richard comes over stressing about the car and Aaron explains how it was an easy fix and thatthe motor should be back in within an hour and a half.

    (35:00) Richard and Aaron finally get the car put back together and head to Oklahoma City. AsRichard is pulling into Sonic'sheadquarters he gets pulled over by a cop because he didn't use hisblinker when he was changing lanes.

    (41:30) Todd Smith, CMO of Sonic INC., tells Aaron the car looks good and it's running, whichwere the requirements for the build. After taking a test drive Todd was well pleased with the carand the results and said it was better than he had expected. Todd tells Richard the money will beon the way, but that a truck was on the way to pick up the car to take it to a TV shoot for anupcoming commercial. Richard and Aaron close out the episode by talking about all of thethings they had done to the car from the suspension and engine to the interior. While standing ina Sonic Drive-InRichard and Aaron finished the car, pleased the buyer, and got paid; asuccessful first attempt with building a car for a big time corporation.

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    Picture from www.discovery.com

    Finished Sonic Camaro

    Picture from ASM Auto Upholstery Facebook

    Observation 3: "Ford Falcon Racecar":

    (5:00) Richard and Aaron go to meet up Jay Norgstrom, a friend of Richard's, who has a 1963Ford Falconthat was previously a race car built by Jim Hadden. The car is built for racing, justhasn't never been finished. Richard thinks it only needs to be painted and buttoned up with a fewthings here and there. Richard asks Jay to get right down to business and Jay says he waswanting $20,000 for the car. Richard strikes back with $10,000, Jay says he can't do ten-

    thousand, so Richard offers up $12,500. Jay has dealt with Richard before and tells Richard heknows what's coming next, Richard asks if he's thinking $15,000. Jay says he will take $15,000cash for the car and a money back guarantee if the car doesn't make it back to Gas MonkeyGarage, which is only about a mile from Jay's shop. Aaron is already starting to show interestsin the car and drives it back to the shop.

    (6.35) Tom, another mechanic at Gas Monkey Garage, is excited to be able to work on a 1919Nash Healey, Richard had there at the shop. Richard told Tom he wanted the car sold, so he hasto clean it up and make sure it is running. Tom investigates the car and finds that the rotarybutton was broken in the ignition coil, which provides spark to the engine in order to make thecar run. Tom is being Tom and tells the car, Stella, that he's gonna make her run again andthey're gonna dance.

    (7:50) As soon as Aaron gets the car back to the shop, he starts expressing his enthusiasm withthe car. Richard ask him what color they should paint it and Aaron says he thinks it should bepainted white. Aaron points out that the car is setup with an older style, which he respects andsays with a little bit of work and not much rust-repair the car will be as good as gold. Richardthinks he will just paint the car and do some minor work to finish it with a $5000 budget andonly 5 days.

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    (10:00) Aaron and the guys start taking the car apart, and since it was like a backyard racecar thecar came apart really easy, with only basic parts installed on the car. Aaron and the guys start byfinishing and replacing the old race modifications done to the car, making the car seem moreappealing and safer since the intent is for it to still be a racecar. As Aaron is working on theFalcon, he shows his enjoyment and says he's going to have to end up buying the car.

    (13:25) Aaron asks Richard if he can buy theFalconand if he would loan him the money tofinish the car and Aaron will pay him back. Richard decides to provide Aaron with the money tofinish the car and make a 10% profit. Aaron say he can finish the car in the $30,000 budget andhave it finished in the original 5 day deadline.

    (14:00) Aaron is excited to make an awesome racecar that will be envied at the track and one thathe can take home at the end of the day. The guys put theFalconbody on a cart so it can betransported to K.C.'s paint shop to be sandblasted and painted.

    (15:15) Richard goes to check on Tom, whose still working on trying to get the 1919NashHealeyrunning. Tom and his project is slowly coming along, and he jokes about how he won't

    have a job if he doesn't get the car running.

    (17:40) K.C. is at Johnny Ramir's shop,Dust Free Blasters, getting help to get theFalconreadyfor paint quicker with the fast approaching deadline. After getting the car back from Johnny'sK.C. has to get all of the sand out of the car. With the help of blowers and vacuums along withrolling the car around the parking lot, K.C. is able to get the car ready for primer, but doesn'thave much time to spare so the car won't begin to rust. K.C. is put under pressure in order tomake sure the car turns out perfect and on time, since it is for Aaron.

    (20:25) Tom and Jordan are now both working on theNash and after hours of labor andreplacing the spark plug wires, spark plugs, and ignition coils, the car is still not starting. ThenTom notices he didn't connect the starter switch to the power source of the car. After hooking up

    the starter wire, Tom is able to start the car and runs around doing a "victory dance."

    (22:25) After getting the car back from paint Aaron is loving it and is excited to get everythingput together so he can have his race car. Aaron decided to upgrade the suspension, motor,transmission, new wheels, and also an electronic gauge cluster to monitor the car on the track.

    (25:20) Richard is sitting in his office and notices a cool old truck pull up and goes out to meetthe guy. Dan Shanks was the man that drove up with his 1954 Chevroletpickup truck to stop inand meet the guys, while Richard is thinking he would really like to have this old truck. Thetruck has a small block Chevroletengine and a rust looking paint job that was painted on andlooks real. Richard asks Dan if it's for sell and Dan says no, well Richard says you've got to bewilling to sell it and Dan says for the right money. Richard offers him $7500, and Dan turns itdown, but offers up $20,000. Richard says there's no way he can go to $20,000, Richard offershim $15,000 dollars in cash. Dan asks for $15,500 in order to pay for the truck and to get himhome, Richard agrees with hopes that he can take this truck and still make money with it.Richard feels like he made a good deal, especially with an auction coming up the next day.

    (27:15) Aaron and the guys are back working on theFalconand Aaron's brand new enginecomes in, a crate 363 CI engine that should make around 500 HP, instead of the 300HP that the

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    old engine had. The clutch on the car had been burned up, so Aaron has to buy a new clutch andflywheel and looking at a $2000 expenditure.

    (27:45) FAST FACT: Which country still manufacturesFord Falcons?

    A. Japan B. USA C. England D. Australia Answer is D. Australia

    (29:50) While waiting on the clutch and flywheel to come in, Aaron and the guys put the motorin the car but left out the transmission because the clutch and flywheel are needed to hook up theengine with the transmission. Meanwhile Aaron has the guys continuing to add stuff to the carlike windshields and suspension components. Aaron's hope is to have the suspension puttogether and have everything buttoned up except the transmission by the end of the day. Richardcomes in to voice his opinion how they are over budget and the over the deadline. Richardconfronts Aaron about being over budget and how the build is over time, Aaron says the buildshould be completed in four more days and it should be out of the way. Also Richard got a holdof the original builder of the car, Jim Hadden, who is going to fly from Florida to Dallas, TX, tosee what all they are doing to his racecar.

    (32:20) Richard heads to the auction looking to make some money, he had already sold theNashfor $12,100 so he didn't have to take it to the auction, but he still has the 54 Chevroleton theauction block and is excited to see how it's going to go down. The bid for the truck starts tolevel out at $20,000 and Richard thinks it's about time to make a move. Richard offers to buydinner for the winner of the auction and the final bid was sold for $25,000. The buyer wasexcited for his new truck and a dinner at the Gas Monkey Bar and Grill.

    (33:40) Aaron finally got his clutch in and starts to button up the transmission to the motor andhas hopes the car will be completed by the time Jim Hadden comes by to take a look at the carthe next morning. Aaron wants to do all he can to the car running whenever Jim comes by.After getting everything put together it's time to test the new motor. Which cranks right up and

    sounds good, now all Aaron has to do is put some finishing parts on the car such as bumpers,lights, and chrome accents.

    (34:15) Aaron meets up with an old friend who is a tattoo artist, and gets a tattoo on his arm of apitchfork arrow.

    (37:40) The car is now completed and Richard and Aaron take the car out to the race track to testit out. Richard and Aaron begin by explaining all of the modifications done to the car and whathis purpose was for the car. Richard also tells how much he enjoys the car and how nice it iswhile, Aaron is "fan-girling" over his new racecar.

    Back at the shop, it's the day Jim Hadden is supposed to come and see what all Aaron has done

    to his car. Jim Hadden shows up at the shop and jokingly tells Aaron all he had to do was rollthe car out and paint it. Aaron initially thought Jim would love that the car was finished, but hatethe direction Aaron took with it. It turns out Jim like the car and liked how Aaron built it, thenAaron takes him for a ride, and Jim loved it. Jim then sits down with Richard and says howmuch he loves the car, and that he needs it back. Richard feels like he's stuck because he hasalready told Aaron it was his, but Jim immediately offers him $50,000. Richard explains to Jimwhy he can't sell it and how he has to uphold his word. Jim says if he can't buy the car then he

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    will just go and watch Aaron race it. Aaron's final build costs him $55,000 and Aaron's happy ascould be.

    Aaron'sFairlane

    Picture from "Fast N Loud" viewer's pinterest

    Interview:

    Interviewing Ryan Picarieloo, an occasional viewer of "Fast N Loud," who enjoys the show andthe crazy, yet comical events that can be seen in every episode.

    1) Tell me about the series "Fast N Loud"?

    Response: A reality TV show about Gas Monkey Garage, which is owned by Richard Rawlingsand is assisted by Aaron Kaufman and they buy old cars and restore them to meet the interests ofdifferent customers. There is a variety of cars built on the show from family cars to drag cars. Ienjoy the show and find it interesting and funny due to all of the comic relief in all of theepisodes.

    2) What are some of the reoccurring events or themes throughout the series?

    Response: The comic relief between Richard and Aaron, and the common reoccurring theme isthe time crunch they're always put under.

    3) What are some of the social expectations portrayed in the show that affect the quality of theshow?

    Response: Aaron has to build the cars and Richard owns the shop and funds all of the builds, sothey both go hand in hand and create a balance within the shop.

    4) Give an example of some of the accepted and expected behaviors or actions around the GasMonkey Garage.

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    Response: It is expected that Aaron builds cars to the best of his ability and within the deadlinesand budgets he is given, as well as Richard is expected to meet with clients and set up differentevents for Gas Monkey Garage.

    5) How do the regular appearances from other companies and clients complicate the show?

    Response: Certain reoccurring appearances from different clients complicate the show whenRichard will do something bold as to bet on a car and his team, which sometimes ends up costinghim money which upsets time tables and expectations of a entrepreneur.

    Reflection:

    My figured world for assignment one was observing some of the conventions and procedures

    that took place at Gas Monkey Garagethrough episodes of Discovery channel's "Fast N Loud."

    Before this assignment, I regularly watched the shows and have seen most if not all of theepisodes to the series, but after looking deeper into select episodes I have learned new things

    about the show I'm not sure I would have ever noticed if I had not chosen this series for my

    figured world. Having some background knowledge of Gas Monkey Garageand the actors on

    the show, helped me to give detailed, accurate descriptions of the show and actors. Since I

    already enjoyed casually watching the show it didn't seem all that difficult to watch an episode

    and give thorough, detailed observations of what was happening and noticing key things in the

    show, that someone unfamiliar with the show and processes wouldn't pick up on. Though I was

    familiar with the show others who may read my assignment may not be as familiar with the show

    and how the characters act, which could cause them to be confused as to why certain things

    happen the way they happen. For example the actions of Richard and other actors on the show,

    who seem to be sarcastic and don't always appear to be professional when running a business,

    but it's just how they do things and it works in their situation. Also if someone were to read over

    my descriptions and observations they would see that "Fast N Loud" is strictly a show about

    cars, and someone who may not share the same interests would might think the show is not

    interesting and might not be able to connect with the actors and understand a lot of the reasoning

    behind what they do and why they do it.

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    The peer workshops we had in class were really helpful and allowed other people to see my

    work, who had different perspectives and opinions. Others who read over my assignment were

    able to point out things I needed to add or modify, that I might not have picked up on. For

    example one of the comments suggested I give a description for Christie who was referenced

    different times during one of the episodes. I originally didn't provide a description for Christie,

    because she typically doesn't have a large impact on the show with her appearances, but when

    someone who was not familiar with the show kept hearing about Christie and saw there wasn't an

    actor description was confused as to who she was and her role on the show. Also there was a

    comment about Richard's description that said he seemed unprofessional with the description I

    gave him. I described Richard as he appears on TV and thought that adding a comment about

    him liking to drink beer kind of shows how he is laid back and how comedy is mixed in with the

    serious business aspect of the show. Overall I found that my peers reviews were helpful and

    helped me see things that needed to be fixed, and parts of the assignment where I had done well.

    I struggled with the "above and beyond" aspect of the assignment, since I am not typically a very

    creative person. Even though I lack creativity I used my background knowledge of the show to

    provide accurate and more in-depth descriptions off the show and characters. I also took the

    time to provide more in-depth and lengthy observations trying to portray all of the events that

    happen in an episode, that wasn't necessarily required. At the end of my observations I

    incorporated pictures at the conclusion of each episode to show the progress and products from

    the work observed in each of the episodes. The pictures give the reader an idea of the quality of

    work performed at Gas Monkey Garage. A reader who previously had little to no interests in

    cars, hopefully know can see my interests and enjoyment with seeing cars that have been

    neglected for years turn into works of arts.

    Picture or Aaron and Richard from thecarconnection.com