Planning an episode of Two Guys Garage takes a lot of coordination. This week, we thought we’d give you a quick look at how it all comes together.

“Overall, planning an episode is a fun, challenging, and occasionally chaotic process,” says Two Guys Garage producer, director, and editor Justin Carter. “It takes a village from the planning perspective; there are over half a dozen other people that help get everything together, ready, and prepped for each taping.”

Choosing Vehicles

Two Guys Garage likes to feature a variety of cars, trucks, Jeeps, and SUVs. It gives the hosts a chance to show a range of how-to projects – from repairs and maintenance on a high-mileage or daily driver vehicle, to power and performance upgrades on modern muscle cars, to restoring classics and collectibles.

“Not only do we select projects from options that are hopefully fun, entertaining and informative for the viewer,” says Justin, “but we also try to select relevant vehicles that match up with aftermarket product releases, cover common problems, have work steps that we feel can provide good information to educate a viewer…and, of course, some projects are just simply too good to pass up!”

Pre-Production Planning

The three episodes that are being planned right now won’t be taped until August. One of the reasons the Brenton team plans a few months in advance is to give suppliers and brand partners plenty of time to ship items to the studio.

“COVID has really put a damper on shipping and distribution networks,” says Justin, “This is when the chaos comes in to play, as we eagerly await parts to be delivered for a given episode.”

Of course, there’s always something that comes down to the last minute, or an unexpected issue that comes up, but that’s the nature of working in television…and working on cars.

“I work with Technical Producers who have all the technical knowledge to help me understand the process and timeframes involved when doing certain types of work on a vehicle,” says Justin. “We then plan the content and the work to be done within each scene, as well as allot time to each of these scenes to create a hopefully well-rounded episode for the viewer.”

Here’s a look at the upcoming episode projects Justin and the team are planning for Two Guys Garage:

“Sleeper SUV”

The 2008 Saab 9-7x that will be featured in this episode has actually been in the shop before.

“We did a displacement on demand (DOD) delete and replaced several different parts of the engine including the lifters, valley plate and camshaft on this vehicle,” says Justin. “The owner had originally tried his hand at doing most of this himself and got in over his head, so he reached out to the Kevin and Willie for a helping hand.

“Well, this season it’s back in the shop, and this time around the engine’s age is showing and it has started to simply have too many issues. So, Kevin and Willie will do some fixes, upgrades, and of course – give it a power boost!”

For a full list of prospective parts and upgrades for this project, visit the Episode Summary Page here.

“Luxury Engine Fix”

In this episode, Kevin and Willie will bring a 2007 Cadillac CTS into the shop that isn’t running but looks to be in decent shape… until they check under the hood. With the engine knocking on death’s door, they’ll diagnose it to see if it’s salvageable. If not, they’ll need to replace it along with some other failed or failing parts. Can they get this American luxury vehicle running and looking good once again?

For a full list of prospective parts and upgrades for this project, visit the Episode Summary Page here.

“Drop-In Subframe”

Subframes are ideal for quickly bolting on a superior new suspension, and the guys will do exactly that to a 70s-era Camaro for this episode. They’ll also demonstrate some of the weaknesses inherent in subframes and show you how to rectify them.

For a full list of prospective parts and upgrades, visit the Episode Summary Page here.

(Please note that the vehicles pictured above may not be actual project vehicles that will be used on set; all vehicles are subject to change.)