Finnegan's Garage Ep.257: I CUT UP A $20,000 TUBE CHASSIS!

In this episode of Mike Finnegan's Garage, I get back to work on my 1961 Cadillac Coupe DeVille, which was a beautifully stock luxury car until I decided to cut it up and make it faster. The original x-frame chassis was removed and replaced with a custom, mandrel bent frame from MRC Fab in Kernersville, North Carolina. The car rides on Weld Racing Wheels, Mickey Thompson tires and Viking coilover dampers now. In this video, I cut into the chassis to make room for a massive radiator, aluminum shroud and dual brushless electric fans from Delta PAG. This video also marks the end of the contest for the Miller Welders Millermatic 142 MIG welder. Watch the very end of this video to see if you are taking it home!
Want to support this channel? Visit www.fsmgarage.com and score some new hats, hoodies, shirts and stickers from Finnegan Speed and Marine.
Want more info on the Motion Raceworks 102mm throttle body? Go here: www.motionrace...
Want more info on the cooling system I show off in this video? Go here: deltapag.com
Want more info on the Millermatic 142 MIG welder? Go here: www.millerweld...
Get behind-the-scenes content by following me on Instagram @finnegan999 or Facebook @mike.finnegan/news
Thanks for watching!
-Finnegan

[@fireman1294]

I’m proud to say that I have a FSM flat bill hat and a t shirt “degree in duct tape ology” long before the channel existed. Love everything you do Finn.

[@danyo492]

MIG welding in no show socks. You’re a brave man 😂

[@jimkillen1065]

Yea i got brave one day and welded a projoct using some 7018 and wore a pair of docker sandles ..i seen those guys over seas do that . I welded at a power plant for a long time . Never in sandles . They are tougher than me . Never again . Back to boots .. A few marks on my foot lol ..yea i got plenty of scars from ark gouging and other things to remind me what ppe is for lol

[@aserta]

@@jimkillen1065 Those guys are tough as nails. Gotta respect a guy who welds stick in essentially bare feet, and you rarely see them flinch. I scream like Tom from Tom and Jerry every time a bead lands in the crook of my arm, i don't even wanna know what it's like to have a hot blob land between your toes.

[@ClumsyCars]

@@aserta I was welding above myself one day and had a booger fall down my jacket sleeve. left a nasty burn on my arm

[@Scoots1994]

No pain no gain. Really hurts for about a week.

[@eliteman7685]

Flip side I was welding on my Gran Torino Sport years ago…going good until I hit a bit of rust and bead popped on me. Damn metal fell into my sock and burned the web skin on my ankle. Hurt like a mofo!!

[@ForeverNeverwhere1]

I never knew I had anything Finnegan wanted, I have many hundreds of feet of that oval tube, I use it for all sorts of stuff as I bought it for scrap metal price.

[@mattespinosa1147]

I paused the video to go outside to see what my dogs were barking at. Came back in and realized it was your dogs. 😂

[@adamtheninjasmith2985]

😂

[@dustydon6419]

Congrats to the man that won the welder. I hope his plan comes to fruition. Finnegan, you’re my hero! I enjoy your channel and the builds you do. I love you and Fried Burger on Roadkill. How about a Roadkill motion picture? Mike you’re a quality human, very humble, awesome sense of humor and a family man to be envied. Keep the content coming.

[@DesertHack]

I really like the parts of the video where you’re instructing your new cohost to do it the way you want it done. Whether he already knew how to do it or not, it makes me feel like I’m working with you on your car and I get to learn from you as you teach me how to do this stuff. Can’t emphasize this enough. A real nice addition to the channel for me.

[@erikpace336]

Gotta admit, it's a little weird the guy helping fab and work the camera isn't Newbern, but I'm getting to like Joe a lot and I'm massively stoked for you that you have a buddy back in the shop with you and you're not going lone wolf the majority of the time anymore. I can only imagine how much longer producing a video must have taken with all the various equipment setups and tear downs and then trying to one-hand stuff while shooting a moving shot a la ol' Derek at Vice Grip. Already noticing a marked difference in project accomplishment during the videos vs going it alone. Can't wait to see how the dynamic grows and evolves between you and Joe. Still miss David, but grateful for you that Joe joined the team. Keep up the awesome work. God Bless!!!!

[@SoftiesTruck]

Awesome giveaway choice Fin! Somebody’s got a stick up for our stay at home Dads

[@dorfsteen]

I used hockey pucks to remount my bed back on my Stepside they work great and you can stack them set the height the way you like it and they last a long time.

[@mthedemonhunter]

Lucky guy... Didn't figure I'd win, never won anything yet I doubt it's possible...lol. Still love the channel and one day I will be able to teach my son welding! Keep up the good work Finnegan.

[@TKsGarage405]

Congrats to the winner and good on miller for helping this guy out!

[@Jazz3006]

The Caddy is back! Also, Mike, something to think about for the dual injection system vs constantly swapping injectors is the safety factor of having fuel in the open under the hood every time you do that. Sounds like an increased chance to start a fire for sure. In terms on maintenance, if you put your gas injectors on the inside and alcohol injectors on the outside, it'll be much easier because the gas injectors are less likely to fail. Just some food for thought if you happen to see this. Love this build! (Even if it hurt a bit to watch a Caddy that was that clean get cut up 😅)

[@64CHEVYTWO248]

HI THANK YOU AGAIN !!! YOUR CAR IS LOOKING BETTER ALL THE TIME !!! TODD FROM MICHIGAN .

[@johnpyle9422]

Thank You for all the yrs of tech tips and inspiration Mike. All the while doing it in such an entertaining way. I'm Canadian. ( I like to say North American).. and your fans run world wide. You rock

[@mrbigw100]

The guy from australia here who always watches these videos when they drop at 1am at work and everyone’s says don’t get fired we’ll got fired so I started my own diesel mechanic business so can watch them when I want still 😂 keep ‘em coming mike

[@tylerbarrett6652]

This Caddy build is what brought me to your channel... I mean, you do a lot of crazy stuff that really isn't my cup of tea, but THIS build is awesome. I have been so eagerly anticipating you finishing this up, so I'm very pleased to know that you are really focusing on this CADDY for the foreseeable future. Thanks for sharing this... I'm gonna be loving your progress from upload to upload.

[@garyfrost238]

Ok Dave it’s time to spend some money on your garage with some serious 3/4 inch fire retarded gyproc to protect your family. You have got to do this and make your beautiful family safe. Love your work and channel

[@jeffbowman7017]

Another great update on the Caddy! I hope that the dry sump bolted to the engine is just a dummy pump for mock-up purposes (with the ports left open).

[@UncleManuel]

Fabricating that radiator support was...... wait for it...... top notch! 😁😁😁

[@noro4185]

I think it's funny how you started the video talking about how nothing is in the garage but jet skies to district you and at the end the 67 C10 is sitting there.

[@lilorbielilorbie2496]

noro4185 And Mike also turned the Caddy around.

[@scottimusgarrett15]

Damn, Fin, your self-taught fabrication skills have become next-level! Very nice work done in this episode; the Caddy's coming together! Thanks, bud; have a good week! 🤘❤️😊🇨🇦

[@BIllMcCambridge]

Ya know you can tell Finn has a real passion for his caddy. He is particular about every detail. The way its going this will be a 111 episode build!! And know what I will be looking forward to every detail. Mike don't you dare work on this car with out sharing the details!! Thanks for sharing your talents and adventures. By the by credit to the edit video was great!!!

[@MrGixxer1300r]

That is the Mile I remember from the early RoadKill days. Mike would always battle with Friburger about doing stuff right and Friburger would say "just make it work it don't have to be right" I hate it when I see a guy with Mikes skills doing shitty work no matter how crappy the project. I like the Caddy project because Mike is doing his best on it, and using n=his way above average skill set.

[@monkeyfoodgarden]

Congrats to the winner of the welder. Can't wait to see the caddy flying down the strip. Y'all no sock welding all I saw was ouch ouch ouch and red ankles lol

[@scotthultin7769]

1.2K+ 👍's up Finnegan thank you for sharing 😎

[@lilnatedawg817]

This is gonna kill it at SEMA

[@christopherpoole506]

It’s nice knowing that ole cleeter ownes part of motion the guys there are freaking awesome and there service is the best I’ve ever seen from parts people and mike keep up the good work I learn something new from you every time I watch and episode even if I just rewatching an old one

[@JohnnyAFG81]

Measure, cut, re weld! This is the way!

[@Ron_Masterjohn]

Always awesome day when Finn drops a new video. Some use the oval tubing for stairs and the railing. I used it to make my strut tower braces on my BMW that I tied to the firewall front and rear. Very stiff great stuff.

[@RexCars1]

Well Done Mike.. REALLY Love the direction you are going with the 61...

[@makaylaslater5247]

The Caddy is gonna be wicked.

[@Eagle_65]

Great episode my friend.

[@johnbehneman1546]

GREAT VIDEO MIKE AND GREAT BUILD. THANKS FOR SHARING. I LEARNED SO MUCH.

[@myopinion69420]

you have miles of room up front and heaps of room around the radiator for piping, I would go an intercooler (a cool double decker one). It will make the engine bay a little more messy but will keep your temps down when you are doing a drag and drive and not using the meth for the drive part. you could make up 2 sets of piping if you really wanted and when you switch over to the race setup, put the 'right angle' pipes in, but for the drive setup you could run with the intercooler. the left turbo would end up going into the right side of the intake and vice versa. also, if you put the street injectors on the inside, you will probably never have to touch them, atleast not before the intake will have to come off for some other reason, that way you can leave the big race injectors on the outside meaning you don't have to swap fuel rails over on a hot engine. you will just have to 'flush' the big injectors to get the meth out of them after the race. you really don't want to go spilling fuel on a hot engine or spilling some, then taking it down the strip at full power before its all evaporated away if you can avoid it.

[@stephenlea5765]

Check out Steve Morris’ duel fuel setup. Seems to work well for everyone using his engines.

[@scottohara2210]

Hey, I live in Michigan tonight never been to roadkill nights. I’d like to go next year and see you hopefully thank you for all your contacts. I love your videos.

[@Mikki_Tu]

I just started teaching my 16 yr old how to stick weld this afternoon, once he has a handle on that it's on to tig then mig, welding is such a great skill for anyone to learn.

[@MixedGarage]

I love the look of the radiator mount. I can’t wait to see the caddy on the track

[@brandaneakright6082]

Man that caddy is freaking awesome, can’t wait to see it finished honestly. Keep up the great work.

[@innervisionsOD1]

When I was young and living in the Bronx, my father owned a white '61 Caddy, but it was a Sedan Deville (4 door). All your content on your Coupe Deville brings back many memories of my hard working, blue collar hero who was so proud of his car. I sure wish he was still here to enjoy seeing what a sweet racing/cruising machine that you are beautifully and skillfully creating! Cheers to you Mike, and thank you for years of wonderful content. PS. I do have a fuzzy image of his car in a background of a pic taken from an 8mm film that I'll try to send via email.

[@4speed3pedals]

For threaded frame bolts, a steel rivet nut would be ideal. They also come in stainless steel and aluminum. I will mount my electric fuel pump with vibration dampening sandwich mounts (rubber cushions with studs on both sides, MSD boxes are mounted with smaller ones) and rivet nuts.

[@CSP513]

Congrats Michael 🎉

[@kable698]

Thanks for your inspiration. It really keeps my passion and obviously alot of other people's passion for love of fabrication and cars alive. Keep it up.

[@ben68442]

Great job Finnegan. Nice to see you supporting your peeps that come back time and again to watch you work your magic. Welding is a great little thing to pick up if you can. I am learning as well and its nice to see you do it so well. Just built my first Olds 455 and engine test stand and about to fire it up and break in the cam. Wish me luck.

[@stevenraymer6682]

Looking good brother

[@user-de1fe8if3p]

Dude , I need that welder , got 2 fabricate a Lotta metal work , for my 55 Willy’s wagon , running blown 454 👍👍😂😂😂😂

[@tomdwyer5270]

Jesus dude tape over the open holes in the dry sump pump. Killer build love it

[@ummduhgmail]

Basically everything here is empty mock up parts.

[@whichgodofthousandsmeansno5306]

That car is behemoth on every level. I love it. As far as the ball end Allen tools they come in very handy for adjusting the truss rods on some vintage spec guitars that have the adjustment on the heel of the neck. With a notch in the pickguard we can adjust the neck tension on the fly without removing the pick guard. Of course this means little to anyone without a vintage or vintage spec guitar I do wonder if the tool was invented for guitars first then adapted to automotive or the other way around.

[@tonymorse7178]

And those "fireproof" socks you have are awesome😅. Nice to see decent PPE in use for proper safety......

[@mikemarshall1394]

The Mac caddy attack is prepping nicely. Mike I am always amazed at your talent. 😊

[@dorfsteen]

Don't know if you guys have seen the grooming tool you can buy that they use at the professional dog grooming place? I got mine a docRok, also comes with a comb and the brush will take the undercoat shedded undercoat of your dog and pull it right out the things are amazing you need one, I'm telling you. You'll see if you get one or if you already have one them I wouldn't know but you definitely need one your dog will love you even more. And you'll find less shed everywhere and you can make a sweater out of the mountains of fur you brush out of your dog you will be amazed

[@alvinpowell6189]

That Cadillac is going to be something else!!! I don’t know much but I do like your approach to makin stuff!!!

[@ZombieWarningStation]

aww man i need to get my first career going lety along him with a second.. cheers finn

[@michaelguinn5736]

Mike, $20K for your chassis? I should have taken my 65 Mustang there, I spent a heck of a lot more than that here in Michigan, but, I feel Joe Peters @ Race Car Specialties is the best chassis builder in the country! You're doing a fantastic job Mike!

[@jasonhovey815]

Congratulations Mike. Love this car. Hope that’s not the oil pump you’re using if so it’s gunna need a good cleaning. Not sure if I agree with only one set of injectors if you’re going to drag and drive it

[@cruzn4bruzn339]

Congrats Michael! So happy for ya brother! glad you are making a positive change and I wish you the best of luck going forward!

[@ronr6450]

Been watching a LONG time, the CAddy is easily my favorite project. Keep on, keep'n on.

[@wimwildenberg3715]

I really like the way you just build what you want to build. Its also what meand that you dont build with the aim of soneday selling it on. I see a lot of people thinking vout value, when i try to just build what i want. And i see it in this project as well and i like it. Thanks for showing it to all of us.

[@crazyd1377]

I bet your taking the caddy to rmrw or sick week! Just a guess!

[@speeddemon2262]

Tbh quad fuel rails is gonna be worth it down the road. Only. Annoying if you need to remove the intake/head etc.

[@rolokyber]

Look forward to Sunday mornings.

[@angelmarcano6747]

Excellent show as usual. 👍👍👍👏👏👏👏

[@jasonfox6013]

Congratulations to the winner hopefully everything works out for you much love from New Zealand Mike

[@austindickinson212]

Sweet! Definitely glad the new video is Caddie related

[@jcole4512]

If this makes it to Sick week at the end of January I'll definitely be there! It would be tons of fun to drive the route as a spectator.

[@garywynegarsvikingrc843]

Wow you’re such a good dude Finnegan love how your always thinking of the little guy. Much love brother!

[@daleanderson7629]

2 x air to water inter-coolers mounted on those roll cage bars may fit nicely and take the edge off on a hot day. A mad scientist could even take advantage of the AC and put an evaporator coil in the inter-cooler water system so you don't have to ice or maybe even need a water to air heat exchanger at all. Keep up the awesome work mate.

[@Radiowild]

I like the "Flux Capacitor" on the rad front.

[@SightsNjunk]

Sounds like you chose the right winner! The possibilities are endless for side jobs/ businesses.

[@HayAuto]

A++ on the shock-n-awe thumbnail and title! 😂

[@benroweben]

As hard as it is to hear your take on its just so true. Thanks for the eye opener

[@robfranke1]

I'm gonna pass on a trick for drilling steel a old guy showed me years ago..dawn dish soap and water..I put it in a spray bottle..try it! It will blow you mind. I'm not cooking near as Many bits now. Love th car!

[@nathanharper3446]

Cool to hear you mention a local boy from the 417!!! But we actually lost Shane Aka Crusty Nova this year in an accident! Definitely a local legend!! He will be missed!!!

[@tombrenes2411]

Awesome build series Great content Love all the hard work

[@alandumitrescu6597]

Hot tip, I see you use tap sockets in this video. Get three flute taps and use them on the impact. I make temporary tooling for prototype use for a living. They run fairly straight and the impact saves time. Especially on thinner materials like that box tube. 2 flutes go crooked easily even without the impact 4 flutes don't have enough chip clearance for most steel applications. Also spiral taps. Generally come in three flute and they clear the chip better for a speed trap like that. Hope this helps. Keep on living the dream we all have.

[@Ron_Masterjohn]

I was wondering if you were leaving enough room for the rad rubber.

[@MrGixxer1300r]

Miller is a great company even though I own two Lincolns (a 50 year old 225 amp stick welder, and a very well used 15 year old Lincoln 140HD mig). I used to work for a three differant customers in my area all thre had old Miller 300s that were setup to sick and mig, and one that was tig and mig. I loved using those old welders. I am stuck with what I have because I have stage for bladder cancer and am on disability, but I have a small shop where for yeears I built custom bikes. I hope to come up with the money for a better welder than I have, and if and when that happens I want to start a you tube channel. I maybe pretty damn sick some days, but the days I feel good I love to build and tinker. Awesome content and contest Mike. May God Bless you.

[@pearlguy6351]

Got a nice pair of electric fans there sir 😂

[@bkdauto]

Love your channel

[@ummduhgmail]

What would be really cool is figuring out how to pour custom urathane/silicone mounts for those rad isolators. Do a small wrap around the frame for locating reasons, pour 4 or 6 for some spares.

[@glamiskid50]

Right on Mike Dig the Caddy it’s going to be a bad ass drag and drive car Love y’all

[@BeatUpBuilds]

Congrats Michael on winning the welder!

[@davidfriedline7525]

Your living the high life Mike , well you were ! Bye bye Miller the banquet of welders! Lol! Peace and love ! Caddy looks awesome !

[@nasnosrace]

Thanks for another awesome video! Always a learning experience!

[@eliteman7685]

The tone of your voice is highly dubious on the “it’s fine!” 🤣

[@s30blazer]

Great build. I really dig the CADDY!!

[@shanewright6958]

Looking good 👍👍

[@RoninDosho]

Nice One!

[@johnkranz4004]

Coming along every week looking good

[@drbobwoolery]

Before you do the hot side tubing, get some Solar Flux. Mix with isopropyl alcohol or water, paint the inside of each weld area. This allows full strength welds on stainless without having to Argon purge the inside. You will love it. Standard practice in many chemical plants. $35 (last I knew) worth of Solar Flux will save much Argon and eliminate the black sugaring on the inside.

[@douglasreynolds1394]

Congrats to the winner, Great episode Mike that Caddy is looking mighty sweet.

[@FTY6150]

love your fab work taking your time to figure it all out !!

[@bigturclakelife8980]

Wow you guys did good that looks awesome

[@rizzoid]

Goal in six months? Maybe Sick Week or Southeast Street-N-Yeet? Those would both be great places to see it come out.

[@dumbestoyster]

That's funny. When you cut the piece of the frame for the radiator, first thing I thought was flip it over, and reinsert it as a prefit gusset

[@flakesinyershoe8137]

I learned to mig weld with a little millermatic and flux core. I don't miss the flux core, but I do miss the Miller. It really was smooth.

[@scottbarnes3011]

Sick new shirts

[@zackeriedawson4336]

What’s good? caddy is turning out very nice. I grew up in a welding shop that my grandmother owned in WVa. She passed away before I could take over the hydraulic shop. My step grandfather ripped the will up and family bible and put it into the fire. I never got a chance to grab one of my grandmothers millers or anything other. Every time I see a Miller I just think of her. Never had enough to even buy one. Now my kid takes priority and just pushes the miller dream farther away.

[@davidjohnson8474]

I was soooo waiting for a spark to go down your shoe! It seems to happen to me always! Lol 😂!

[@bigtimegearhead]

Just a thought, make that top radiator mount bracket a little taller and install bushings or isolaters so the top has a rubber mount as well or maybe a strip of that floor mat under it. Just a thought , love your Channel and all forms of roadkill. I’ve been a super fan since the sailor Jerry ratrod vs the rented lambo lol😂😂😂 “Best day at work ever!!”

[@Thorus010]

I would put the big incejtors in too and simply use the one existing harness by unplugging from the street set. For the fuel some quick connector or unscrewing the an fitting from one rail to the other.

[@cringram1003]

Bro you've got to introduce yourself to "Rivnutz" no more welding nuts behind a hole to create threads. RivNutz are dope.

[@spferguson1981]

Congrats Michael!