A good project car brings people together. Driving the rare Lincoln Blackwood into Ohio Technical College (OTC) turned heads. And once Babcox Media’s Joe Keene, an ASE-certified technician, and the technicians-in-training at OTC got to pop the hood and slide under it on a creeper to get their hands in it, its service needs raised eyebrows.

The devil is in the details—from marking the drive shaft to ensuring there’s no unwanted vibration to dealing with cooler lines and bypass tubes. Joe knows what it’s like to be stranded on the side of the road with car troubles thanks to a 33-year-old Cadillac Brougham from last year’s Road to AAPEX.

But it’s not all tension and torque wrenches. We get glimpses of camaraderie and learning opportunities working with the professionals and students at OTC.

“Every car is a learning experience,” said Dave Hritsko, technical product specialist, Transtar Industries. “You can have done it 10 times. The 11th time, the same thing is gonna bite you, and you’re gonna learn something new. You’re gonna learn something new every day.”

Sure enough, every bolt turned and sensor swapped was a valuable lesson for the OTC technicians-in-training and one step closer to making the dream of an uneventful drive from Akron, Ohio, to Las Vegas a reality for Joe. But there’s one big speed bump in the road ahead: The transmission.

Watch the video above to see how the band of Blackwood service techs tackle the shifting challenges the truck presents.

This episode of Road to AAPEX is presented by Transtar Industries.