And some dealers say they are girding for a hellish weekend with a lucrative twist. At Galpin Ford in Los Angeles, where huge banners promised 'Big ca$h for your clunker,' the showroom was packed with people. 'I've never worked so hard,' said Galpin salesman Brian Fraleigh, who said he worked selling cars until 3:30 a.m. Friday and was back at his post before noon. Car dealers said they have seen a healthy increase in customers all week, but things took off Thursday night when reports surfaced that the program was running out of money. At Scott Robinson Honda in Torrance, Thursday night had been a madhouse. Customers jammed the dealership and sales manager Aaron Bell had stayed until 1:45 a.m. processing the 26 cash for clunkers deals. Customers waited for nearly two hours each for their turn, ordering take out dinners and arranging for others to pick up their children. 'We were understaffed and didn't know we'd have a rush until it hit,' he said. 'Yesterday was a huge day. It was a salesperson's dream.' Early Friday, managers at Glendale Dodge put the brakes on making any more clunker deals for fear the dealership wouldn't be reimbursed by Washington for the thousands of dollars in rebates they were giving customers under the program. They got back in the game, though, after the Obama administration pledged to keep the program running at least through the weekend. The House approved $2 billion in additional funding for the program Friday, but there was no guarantee the Senate will go along next week. The program was designed to run until Nov. 1 or until its $1 billion budget ran out, whichever came first. But government officials are worried that the program is already running out of money due to the overwhelming consumer response. (Optional add end) Bell said about 15 customers had brought in non-qualifying clunkers since July 27, but about a third of ended up buying a new car anyway. One problem that has contributed to the drop in car sales over the past year -- tight credit -- is still an issue with the clunkers program. At Felix Chevrolet in Los Angeles, general manager Kenneth Kang said that only three of the 15 customers who brought in trade-ins Thursday night that qualified for the program had acceptable credit. Times staff writer Martin Zimmerman contributed to this report. 