by Fred Vosk
OK so we jump ahead now what can I say, Battery's went dead in the digi-thing? Dog ate the camera? Took a buncha pics, but I was holding the thing backwards? None a that, I just forgot to take pics, so we rejoin the gang with the paint finished. The process I went for on this one being the paint is urethane, was to do the candy just like it was Lacquer so rather then using any of that pre mixed junk at the paint store, or that pre packaged Joe Komiskiwe stuff that he calls 'candy' we did it the old way, Sent Pete to the paint store where he looked at the mixing toners, and found the color he thought it should be, mixed a little toner with some real thin clear and sprayed it on a coat at a time, till the color was right Eric did the spraying and hit it right on, a perfect transparent Candy Red. The red toner we used is Deltron DMD 669 we use PPG DAU 82 clear it's an Acrylic Urethane which is what I prefer it's a softer clear and gives a nice deep luster more like the quality you get from Lacquer, but any clear in the base coat, clear coat urethane systems will work. Here's the Fullers Nose showing off his new look to his 'bud' SuperBike. Hmmmmm, looks like 'Axle Rose' fresh from the chrome shop, in the picture too....
"School's Out"
Here's Eric holding up his Doctoral thesis in candy painting - which went on to win best paint at 'The Grand National Roadster Show', (the show formaly known as 'Oakland'), among many other wins ... I told Eric, "you don't wanna paint any more - it's all downhill from here" - - take it from me
"Eric J. Hayes" Paint-N-Polish
another look at the kind of stuff Eric does... Eric's not just 'The Polishing Guy' now ... ... We just call him ... 'Da CandyMan'
Pete's Baby
Pit Crew - - hangin' body piece's ... ... Man! - - this guy is picky...
"Nose in the Sun"
The Nose decides to take in a little sun ... note the 'original' FULLER Trailer in the background...
Get Outta the Way
Growls 'the fuller as 'Supe' gets in the middle of a profile shot...
"Shapin' Up"
It's about time to call the pin striping - lettering guy I think...
Hanging-Out with "Crazy Rick"
Weird Rick the sign painter works on the silver leaf while Pete and Tim Conder kibitz... Tim's the guy from up the street who's got the two Ogden AA/FD's... BAD!
"SWEET"
This Rick Evans guy does nice work...
"The Visitor"
Hearing the gravel crunch in the driveway and peeking out the window - - 'The Fuller' thinks, "now who could this be ... Hmmmm..... that little car looks somehow familiar - I feel this strange bond to it ... Like somehow we're related"...
"???????"
"Geez!" thinks The Fuller ... "this thing has the same front end as I do ... Hey Man! this is race car stuff ... not for you streeties!!!
"Say What"
"it's ... It's.... "The Creator", at last... He's come to save me from these savages!!!"
"Fullers" in the House
While Pete and Eric slave away on the car ... FULLER visits with 'weird Rick' ... the letterer guy ... who turns out to be from Fuller's old neighborhood in LA ...... Hmmmm.... going by weird Rick - - it musta been an interesting neighborhood.................
Arrrrrrr... Matey
Captain Fuller entertains us with tales of the sea - - 'n' stories of the Drag Races too...
Fuller's Words
"Uh..... Pete", says Fuller ... "I thought you'd have this thing all together by now ... should be out running it this weekend!".... ... "Yeah, well you know, suppliers and things" stutter's Pete...
"Just Do It"
"Enough of this messing around ", say's Fuller, "here's how you make this fit ... hand me that grinder!!!"
Nothin' To It
"There now", says Fuller, "That wasn't so hard, was it?".............
"Moving Along"
Well in the beginning of this saga we've seen chassis painting, and alloy body prep and painting even let loose some of the long held hidden secrets of the forgotten black arts of Metal Flake and candy, plus we learned a little about the secret lives of cool cars and bikes and what they do and say when nobody's around. Now we move on to assembly. Here's where you really get to see the brilliance of KENT FULLER. He is perhaps the father of the ART of chassis/racecar building for maximum acceleration, before FULLER, dragsters were little more then engine stands with big tires on the back and little ones on the front. Take a good look at these next photo's this is a car that was built 42 years ago in it's AA/Gas form, as it has been restored to, it weighed about 900 pounds and probably had 6 or 700 horse power a very efficient perfectly balanced, one purpose vehicle. FULLER didn't put anything on these cars that didn't need to be there for that one purpose, which was to get to the end of the quarter mile as quickly as possible and safely! Each bracket is a work of finesse and efficiency many of the brackets do two or three jobs. Yes Fuller is a practical man - but a crafty one. The word was you didn't have to steer a Fuller car down the strip it just worked... Fred Vosk
"Christmas in Kirkland"
SuperBike looks on excitedly as the package is opened, thinking, "finally my new stroker crank has come ... only been waiting for years"... BUT NOOOO!... it's something else for the new guy ... whats worse - new guy gets neater stuff... Its 'The Fullers' super trick 'ultralite' rear end... 74 pounds ready to bolt in, brake and all, this is most likely the lightest rear end ever in a blown V8 car, it'd based on a 'mag' Halibrand center section - live (chrome molly tube) axle - (so it only needs one brake)... it was originally built by Dave Jeffers... and was down at FULLERS shop being freshened - - FULLER say's it's ready to go now...
"Still in Shape"
"Hmmmm," say's the Fuller, "35 years and it still fits and they say I've let myself go..."
"DONOVANART"
Hmmmmmm............. kinda weird reflections huh! Rear end in - - motor plate in - - now let's see if the can still fit's...
"Oh Yeah"
The Mole
"Drive Line In"
Driveline in ... so where's that motor? All 'of course' polished by Eric Hayes... remember if ya' want to play the game at this level, it's [email protected]
"Hey"
The stuff still all fit's inside there...
"Pete 'N' Doug"
Pit Crew and 'Boat Racer Doug', (our next door neighbor) , check out things while waiting for the engine to be finished ... Doug (Pratt) put in a bunch of hours on this project ... and he does super nice work - - couldn't a done it without him............
"For ME?????"
The Fuller ask's ... but he already knows the answer...
"YUP!!!"
The Fuller guessed right........... Man ... does that Eric put a polish on stuff - - or what!
"Under the Polish"
Cam 'n' stuff from Crane ... thanks to Jim Hill
"The Clutch Wizard"
Hmmm.... sounds like something from 'Tommy' ... ... Looks like a course in pre-101 clutch pack's and management system's......
"Yellow Fever"
There it is ... the latest thing in double disc set up's, (in 1965) ... I won't even tell ya how much lookin' Pete did to find the exact right (65) shade of Schiefer Yellow for this deal ... like I said - - this guy's picky..........
"Plate 'N' Can"
Pit Crew uses 'the convincer' to help line up the jack shaft while Doug looks on...
"Mouse"
And sure enough - just snap your fingers - - and there it is - - Blower and injector on ... ready to go - almost...
"Tall Mouse"
Yeah ! ... pretty cool alright........
"Can't Wait"
"I'm likin' it", say's Pete...
"But First"
The very trick, (fresh off the CNC) ... Dave Benjamin brake caliper bracket... ... (still gotta polish that airhart).........
"Thats the Brakes"
The traditional bleeding of the brakes... Or in this case, (live axle rear end) - - brake...
"HUH?????"
Yeah ... after Eric polished that super set of Halib
rands ... it's decided to switch to American's - - forced by the avalibility of the right size slicks - ect. ... ... So it's back to the polishing room for Eric...
"MANNNN"
"Yer in the way again!", yells The Fuller ... "They came here to see me" "Besides - - your kinda a short little sucker"..........
"Who's Da' Man??????"
Pardon? says 'Supe' to 'The Fuller', but how 'bout hides ... ..." mine's bigger then yours - for sure!" ... "Yeah", answers The Fuller ... "But I got two!!!" ..........
"The Nose Knows"
"I say 'Noses' at 20, paces" ... says The Fuller, (always very proud of his nose)...
Oh Yeah!!!!!
"I'd say I got ya' beat bootie wise too" say's The Fuller ... "Maybe we can combine our talents ... and rule the world", says SuperBike.................
"Ya Know Supe"
Say's The Fuller - hoping a little of his class will rub off on his 'outlaw' friend ... "The secret is to accessorize correctly"...
"Pit Crew" Pete
Pete say's, "My hair turned white about half way thru this deal"...
"Fuller Outside"
The Fuller ventures out into the sun... "Man", he thinks - do I look good - - or what!
"Smooth Lines"
Ya' know ... FULLER designed all these bodies ... sumthin' else - - ain't they...!!! And the guy is still doin' stuff like this...
"Dig It"
It's so nice out - The Fuller desides to take off his body panels and go for a tan... You really can appreciate the FULLER chassis - - eveything there for a purpose... no extra baggage...
Yeaaaahh
"This is the life", thinks The Fuller, "now where is that sun block?" ... "don't wanna tarnish my chrome"...
"Backyard Bakin"
So where's the chicken fried in 50 wt and the cold NitroPop...?
"What Can I Say"
"I'm really a piece - ain't I", thinks The Fuller
"Time to go in"
Note the original (65) FULLER trailer in the background...
"The Fuller and The Rocket"
The FULLER puts his body back on - - and hangs out with RocketBike for the evening ... The Rocket's a lot easier to get along with then SuperBike - who can be a handful...........
Onward
Hey! ... I think maybe we're approaching the finish of this opus ... as you can affirm in the photo - only the period correct FULLER tools were used during this project ... ... So now we move on - to 'The Public Fuller' ... a few photo's of the digger 'out and about' at shows and such ... We've had a lot of fun with this last side of the project - - the car brings back memories of the past for a lot of folks who see the car and grew up in the 60's - - I mean, everybody, (everybody who was young at least), during those times - knew what Drag Racing was... And many were obsessed by it - (Hey, there's worse things) ... Lotta old guy's, show their kids - - and (gulp) grandkids, the car, and explain to them how it works - to let them know what it was like in the 'Olden' Days'. And it brings back the art and beauty of a bygone era for people to once again marvel over ... ... Stimulate the Mind - - Entertain and Educate ... that's what we're here for......... Fred Vosk
Pete 'N' Pam
'The Fuller' allows a few last photo's before loading up to head for Bakersfield for his public debut at the Califorina Hot Rod Reunion. Here you see him posing with 'Pit Crew Pete' and 'Pit Crew Pam'...
Pete 'N' Eric
Eric tells everybody ... "Pete's my Dad"............
See Ya 'round
Supe' and good bud 'The Fuller', talk about old times while Pete frets over last minute details........
"Mouse & Elephant"
SuperBike says 'later' to his shop buddy The Fuller'
"One Last"
race around the block - - for 'old times sake...
Last Night at Home
The Fuller spends his last night at the shop swapping 'road' stories with SuperBike ... and being a little grouchy about the fact that a new guy has already moved into his room ... It's Supe's cousin, 'MegaBike' ... or as the 'family' just calls him - 'BIG AL' ... he's a bit of an animal (to say the least) - - and to tell ya the truth, The Fuller doesn't feel real bad about having to leave town tomorrow...
"Big Day Tomorrow"
One quick 'Artsy' type shot ... "Ya know, I've dealt with just about every kinda car on this long strange, trip ... but there's still nothing that can hold a candle to one of these ... Ferrari's - Bugatti's - Delahaye's - Super Street Rods - messed with em' all ... still none of em' can compare with the cars that drew me into this whole deal in the first place ... DIGGERS!!! ... ... There should be at least one FULLER in every art gallery in the country... ... I spent a few days at the 'today' drags a few months ago ... and it was cool ... lotsa HP, and the cars go fast for sure ... But the cars are like bludgeons ... The delicateness and style are gone ... part of the past I guess.......... Fred
"Goodbye's"
Arricka, (Eric's daughter), say's goodbye to her pal ... take note of the very stylish hat she's wearing - (The Fuller's 'Tony Nancy' injector cover)....
"On the Road"
Is this traditional ... ... Or what!!! Well - - except for the new Tahoe tow car ... but you can pretend it's FULLER's 59 Rancharo.........
First Stop
The first event to go to at the Reunion deal in Bakersfield is the big Standard 1320 gathering at The 'Double Tree Hotel' ... and guess who was parked out front - - The featured 'Guest of Honor'.............
"Fuller in the Shade"
Enjoying an escape from the Bakersfield sun
Hi!!!!!!
I SAID HI!!! ... What - - you never seen a talking car before?
"Fuller Line" at CHRR 00
An early morning photo shoot with Tom West for 'The Fuller' ... and a few of the other FULLER creations in attendance...
"From Another Angle"
Man ... did KENT FULLER create some great stuff ... Or What !!! From this end it's 'The Magicar', 'Vagabond', 'Greer - Black & Prudhomme, and of course, 'The Fuller', (Western Manufacturing Special)
"What a Night"
Man ... is this some kinda family reunion - - or what !!! Far beyond 'Most Cool' ... Here's The Fuller nursing a hangover on Sunday morning after partying the night before with a few of the other 'Fullers' at the reunion, including his 'kinda' crazy drinking buddy from Chicago ...... Geez - - hadn't seen him in years - - forgot what it was like to try and keep up with that guy... I mean he's gotta slow down - - He must be at least 100 years old........
