Return To Glory
Fred Vosk
A Return to Glory:
Restoring a Classic Dragster
By Fred Vosk
A Return to Glory:
Restoring a Classic Dragster
Copyright 2011
Created by: Fred Vosk
Written by: Fred Vosk
Pictures by: Fred Vosk
Publishing and Editing Assistance by: Jack Troy
Copyright Notice:
Copyright 2011 by Fred E. Vosk
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this manuscript may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any human or computer language, in any form or by any means whatsoever, for any commercial purpose, without the express written permission of Fred E. Vosk
PO BOX 393
Carnation, WA 98014
This free ebook may be copied, distributed, reposted, reprinted and shared, provided it appears in its entirety without alteration, and the reader is not charged to access it.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to Pete "Pit Crew" Starrett whom without the restoration of the Fuller would not have been possible, and Thank you as well to Kent Fuller, who originally created the Western Manufacture Special. Without either of you this would not have been possible.
Western Mfg. Special
Here we are in 1965 or '66.... Now lets move forward to the year 2000.... Hmmmmmmm.... or is it back to the year 2000---Oh well, back from now, forward from now...Back To The Future"?? (Disclaimer) The following photos and text are by me-and I can't resist going for the cheap laugh when the opportunity presents itself...So live with it... Fred Vosk
The Naked Fuller
Here's 'The Fuller' - fresh from the media blaster - - hangin out with his Italian 'roomie' - - the very exotic, Gina Ferrari ... ... Next, The Naked Fuller and Barbara Bugatti ... a shocking expose! PS: Gina is a 59 Super America 4.9 liter ... a very rare chick indeed...
The Naked Fuller Returns
As you can see, the Naked Fuller has acquired a new escort over the week end ... former 'close friend' Gina sulks in the background
More Fuller & Frenchie
A little more of The Fuller and the French chick
Bottom's Up
The Fuller snuggles up with the French Chick
Fuller & "Bab's"
Upsidedown and Backwards ... ... The Naked Fuller showes off for the French Chick..............
Right Side Up
The blood was rushing to his rollbar ... is a 62 FULLER a piece of art - - Or What!!!
Got Ya' Beat
The Fuller and the girls compare booties...
I'll Bring it Back "Honest"
The Naked Fuller hustles 'The Naked Bugatti' for her engine - - She's French ... She's goin' for it ... ... To quote Johnny Cochran, "Your never late - with a straight 8" PS: Barbara is a 1938 type 57C (supercharged)
Chassis Paint Prep
Passed down since the days of Ben-Hur ... ... Chassis painting continues to be one of the sacred arts... Handling the gun today will be the well-known spraygunoligest - - Eric J. Hayes. As you can see in this first photo, Mr. Hayes is sanding the still naked Fuller with 100 grit... well you can't really tell that it's 100 grit - but trust me it is... this takes off any surface rust that was left after being media blasted, (media blasting doesn't take off rust very well)). Hmmm.... Must have the settings a little off on this Digi Thing ... Eric's photographing kinda dark
More Prep
Here we see Eric scrubbing the Fuller with one of those red scotch-brite scrubber things ... and Lacquer thinner ... This not only gets the little spots that were missed by the sand paper - and removes any grease, etc ... but also in the process can get you quite stoned, (note the smile on Mr. Hayes's face). I recommend a fast thinner for this job....
FullerPoxy
OK ... now we get down to the real stuff ... Here you see Mr. Hayes deftly handling the spray gun - as he sprays (the rapidly becoming former) naked Fuller with (PPG) DP 90 epoxy primer, (I recommend the fast 402 catalyst), note the very special Mickey Mouse type white gloves Eric's wearing... a very 'in' style. These kids today Man! ... gloves - masks - - you'd think they were robbing a 7-11 - not just paintin' somethin' ... in my day we didn't use any of that sissy stuff ... ... Yaaaaah - now if I could just get my lungs to work again...
The Un-naked Fuller
Onward ... Here we see our faithful Indian companion spraying the color - basic black - we use PPG - DBU 9700 base coat ... I could put a pic on here of Eric spraying the clear Urethane top coat over the black ... but it would look much the same, (and yeah - it's true, clear is my favorite color) ... OK - - Powder Coating is tougher - - but this one gets paint ... hey - - didn't have no powder coating in 62...
The Hanging Fuller
Here we see the re-newed Fuller just hangin' around ... or as Eric say's ... "He's showin' off his shine"
The Future
Pit Crew Pete and Eric contemplate the future as they fit the body panels to the car
How's it fit
The Fuller slips the ol' tailpiece on for the first time in a few years... note - He's also trying on a couple of SuperBike's spare tires to see how they fit too... Gina is flashed...
The Fuller Makes a Move
The Fuller shows 'Gina Ferrari' His new 'Big Tires' and designer chute pack. "10 inch tires? ... I use them on my trailer", say's the Fuller ... Gina is impressed!
"BAD"
"Am I BAD - or what?" ... thinks The Fuller as he shows off his perfect fit body panels - "35 years and they still fit just right - I haven't gained a pound, and these slicks are too cool - - I mean. is this a look!, or what" Gina is starting to get just a little tired of listening to 'The Fuller' talk about himself............
The Sordid Tale Continues...
Gina shows him her engine, "Hmmmm....." thinks The Fuller, "I need an engine - looks like a 671 will bolt right on there..."
Hummmmmmmmm...
The Fuller looks towards the future... and has his eye on a likely push car candidate... Time to turn on the charm again...
Wanna Race?????
The Fuller closes off with a 'rice-burner' ... ... "Don't even need an engine for this", say's the Fuller, as he prepares to dust off his Asian friend...
An Evening At Home
Here we see The Fuller and his girls spending a quite evening at home ... note The Fuller in the background - while the French chick seems to have removed most of her body parts, (how French) ... and Gina Ferrari is all dressed up and ready to come off the jack stands for a night on the town...
Before-N-After "Space Magic"
Tell ya what I'm gonna do... Ya say yer Mag Wheels are old and cruddy - Ya say they're gray and flaky... maybe they been settin' under the workbench in your shop for 35 years ... ... Well bring'em to Eric J Hayes - 'The Polishing Wizard' Hey!!! If ya need 'Super Polishing'... it's [email protected] (shameless plug)
See Ya'
Don't let the door hit ya in the taillights - yells The Fuller as Gina storms out after a rather nasty tiff ... Geez, "all I asked her was to get me a beer" thinks The Fuller as he returns to staring at his newly polished wheels ... "Besides, I am not vain"!!!
"Don't Need None of Ya'"
'The Fuller' turns to look ... and the French chick is headin' out the door too - - goin' to LA to party with the 'Bigs' ... "Go ahead" say's The Fuller ... I don't need you guys any way ... ya' ain't even Drag Racers.........
Gone But Not Forgotten
All Frenchie left him with was a picture of her backing plate.... She did have a nice Backing Plate - - sigh's The Fuller
"Party Down"
"Taking time out to drink a little beer and watch the ball game will help me forget those 'third world' chicks", thinks The Fuller
New Roomie
The Fuller compares noses with new room mate Elvira ELVA ... After putting up with the volatile Gina Ferrari, and having the French chick take off for LA ... It's nice to have another racer around ... and she's English - They speak the same language, (sorta) ... Hey! at least she's gotta V8 ... even if it is just one of those little 215 deals - - and ya know - I don't care what those 'limey's say - - it's a GM....
A Bugatti Bedtime Story
Barbra Bugatti, (38 Bugatti Atlanti), has a very interesting history. Besides being a unique car in the fact that it's one of the few Bugatti's ever built with hydraulic brakes and shocks... The old man (Ettore Bugatti) didn't believe in such things... most of the cars had these strange adjustable with cables (from inside the car) friction shocks... and of course, good old mechanical brakes. But for a very brief period, Bugatti's son ran the engineering department and went modern... His son was killed in a testing accident - trying out some of his new-fangled ideas... and Bugatti quickly went back to the old ways, and stuck with them... It's also the only Atlanti with 'Vintu' fenders, (Pontoon style)... However the real story comes after the car was created. When the Germans over ran France in the war... one of the first things they did was begin gathering up art and trucking it off - back to the 'Fatherland', (spoils of war, ya know). Bugatti's are, (and always have been) considered works of art by the French Government; you still have to get government permission to take one out of the country. The French may have pretty much rolled over for the Germans, but they went to great lengths to hide their art... especially the Bugatti's... this particular car has perhaps the best story of all. The people of the village where this car was... disassembled the body, wrapped all the pieces in oil cloth... and buried them in several different farm yards... Then they put a beat up old truck body on the chassis and used it as a farm truck all through the war... If you've ever heard a blown Bugatti run ... you can imagine them trying to pass that deal off - make a great movie. They pulled it off... And after the war, they dug up the body pieces... put 'em in the back of the beat up farm truck... and drove the whole works back to the Bugatti Factory, where it was restored, and reassembled... The original front fenders were the only things lost in the war... so they built the 'Vintu' fenders at the factory - just for this car, (far better looking then the originals... The car lived in a private museum in France since the mid 50's... and was brought over here last year by the present owner who is having her restored. The guy who owns it is kinda interesting too ... besides having made a whole bunch of bucks in the semi-conductor business... He's an old time hot-rodder went to high school with M/T and worked for Evans Equipment in the early 50's building flatheads ... was a Drag Racer ... and held the overall record for a couple of days with a car that he built with Potvin. He's gonna dig in his old stuff... he's pretty sure there's pictures from those days in there someplace, Fred. Here's a shot of the car apart that fender is a killer piece of metal work - eh? Guess maybe those French guy's aren't all bad...
Nose in DP
after taking any paint off the body pieces with chemical stripper, then sanding and cleaning the aluminum to the freak out point - - as in - you could eat off it' - (if FULLER would make you a chrome-molly knife and fork), they get a coat of Zink-Chromate ... and then a couple of heavy coats of DP (epoxy primer) ... looks sorta bad in black - huh?
Yellow Fellow
Let the DP catalyze good (dry) and pile on a bunch of urethane primer, (lotsa brands to chose from). I always go over the DP with one of those scotch-brite scrubber things just to make sure the primer sticks.... I learned to paint back in the 'olden' (Lacquer) days - and I find that these catalyzing type paints sometimes don't stick to each other - where as with Lacquer the coats just melt into each other - - I like Lacquer - sorry
Block it
Here we see Eric in the 'block sanding mode'... the primer on The Fullers tail is that yellow urethane stuff. The camera just decided to make it look white), the black speckles are a guide coat to show the low areas We use all different sizes and hardness of blocks... it's pretty much - what works best for the area your doing at the moment
The Never-ending Blocking
Ugh!! This block sanding deal goes on for ever - - and ya' gotta' do every piece two or three times to get it just right... Here's Mr. Hayes using a thin block that he can bend to the contour of the nose... 'The Fuller' will settle for nothing less then 'The Perfect Look'!!!
Blocking Done Captain
Finally - after much blocking, it's time to apply the last DP, and then it's onward - - to color... "Bout time" say's Eric...
"Badder in Black"
The nose is lookin' pretty crisp... and ready for color...
"Hi-ho Silver"
Nose in silver base coat - - still lookin' pretty Bad! ... (That's BAD - - as in good 'n' BAD!!!)
"Flake it"
Now on goes the flake... we're doing the digger in candy over flake so we're just using silver, no colored flake... I like to start out with a couple coats of fine flake - Then a coat or two of the coarsest (biggest) stuff possible, then a bit of Diamond Dust, (cut glass), on the top to give it that extra kick. Hey if ya' wanna be subtle what are ya' doin' with Metal Flake! Immediately get all the clear over the flake that you can Do Not touch or sand, ect. the flake ... We just use a clear that's part of the Base coat - Clear coat system - - (we use PPG) ... after the clear has dried (catalyzed) completely ... sand it fairly smooth - and clear it again - and again , giving it plenty of time in between times to do all it's shrinking always being very careful not to sand down to the flake that'll leave spots... Lotta work Huh!... This is of course with 'REAL' Metal Flake (saved a bunch of it since the 60's) ... it's not that coarse metallic crap the sell at the paint store and call Metal Flake... Anyway, after a bunch of clearing and sanding - you'll end up with perfect finish (like glass) Metal Flake
One Last Look
At (UGH) sanding the clear... (just so ya' don't forget)
Graduation Day
Here's Eric with his completed Master's thesis in' Metalflakeoligy'... Do these pieces look slick - or What!!! Now their ready for a light sanding #600 grit ... and taping out the graphics (design).
I "Donno"
I just like this shot... FULLER ... thanks for creating the shapes that all this is ... I've been painting these things since 60 and still marvell at it ... ... Actually Eric Hayes did all the painting on this one ... I'm just helping him out, (kinda teaching Metal Flake 101)... ... The kids are OK. - - Eric's a natural...
Tapen'it Up
Pullin' tape ... A man's job.......... yeah
Gotta' Get Loose-man
Pete say's that bottom line is just a little to fancy ... huh! Racers!!! To tell ya the truth - this whole deal of putting a design that's already been done once on a piece - leaves me sorta cold - - I kinda like to wing it ... every thing should be different then before - - move ahead, that's the deal ... I lost most of my interest in painting race cars the first time somebody showed up at my shop with a digger and a set of drawings from their sponsor's PR department of the paint design ... I said Hey! Take it down the street to the body shop - they can paint inside the lines. I sure can't. When I paint a racecar - the only thing I ask the owner is, "What color do you not like - and ya only get one." Then I get half the money up front, (like a hit man), and he goes away till it's done, but this one was for Pete and for FULLER, so I bit the bullet...
Pals'n'Paint
