The Rebuild of Bill Kuhns #62 Blown Gas Flat Porky Pig

[Clank123]

There’s some old black & white footage on YouTube of a blown flat claimed to be Porky Pig doing a 75 yard kite flight before crashing. Same guy, same boat?

Same guy, I’m guessing 2 boats later.
This is another Hondo was first called a “Trick” bottom.
They called them XH-511
His next boat was an XH-511-T
T stands for T deck. That’s what they called a Cut Out deck.

 

[Clank123]

Thanks Dave, that pic could be it. There was a Blue metal flake one with a white cap line this does not appear to be the blue one thinking the pic is the green boat! Yes I'll post some more detailed pics! Tim

So here are some pictures of the blue and white #62 (kahn’s boat?).
Would have thought this boat was after the green boat because the last picture is of Kuhns in a Chute Jacket going to the hold rope in Long Beach which would have made it 1972 or so?
The Hondo that he crashed would in theory come after this?
I just can’t see him not wearing a chute jacket if he had one in the green boat, also the Zoomies and hydraulic throttle on the green boat look more 60’s than 70’s.
Maybe he had a Sanger before the green Hondo?
He definitely jumped between Sanger and Hondo over the years.

 

[sintax]

Very common in the 60’s.
I have a couple throttle pedals made for them.
Even the dragsters used to run them.
This is a 63 AA/FD I restored a few years back.
View attachment 1179455 View attachment 1179459

Never knew that was a thing!
Thanks for history lesson

 

[wash11]

The flake, the tach, the gauge panel- fuck me..... I think this might be the coolest flat I've ever seen.

 

[The REAL Prop Duster 281]

Same guy, I’m guessing 2 boats later.
This is another Hondo was first called a “Trick” bottom.
They called them XH-511
His next boat was an XH-511-T
T stands for T deck. That’s what they called a

Same guy, I’m guessing 2 boats later.
This is another Hondo was first called a “Trick” bottom.
They called them XH-511
His next boat was an XH-511-T
T stands for T deck. That’s what they called a Cut Out deck.
View attachment 1179484

Hey Dave, this crash at Long Beach mite be Bob Fulgham driving Bills boat!

 

[Clank123]

Hey Dave, this crash at Long Beach mite be Bob Fulgham driving Bills boat!

That’s what I love about these types of threads!
1…actually boating related
2…I learned something!

I know Mr. Kuhns had other drivers over the years (Bob Fulgham, Nick Seftku, Mike Mueller, etc.) but I have always thought that he was in the straight deck when it crashed(I was there).
But after your comment I went into the archives and pulled a couple pictures of the Hillbilly BGH and it sure enough looks to be Fulgham’s helmet!
Thanks for learnin me somethin this morning!

 

[timstoy]

The flake, the tach, the gauge panel- fuck me..... I think this might be the coolest flat I've ever seen.

All pretty common in that era.

 

[timstoy]

Hey Dave, this crash at Long Beach mite be Bob Fulgham driving Bills boat!

That’s what I love about these types of threads!
1…actually boating related
2…I learned something!

I know Mr. Kuhns had other drivers over the years (Bob Fulgham, Nick Seftku, Mike Mueller, etc.) but I have always thought that he was in the straight deck when it crashed(I was there).
But after your comment I went into the archives and pulled a couple pictures of the Hillbilly BGH and it sure enough looks to be Fulgham’s helmet!
Thanks for learnin me somethin this morning!
View attachment 1179661
View attachment 1179662
View attachment 1179663

Loved the Hillbilly Hydros!

 

[wash11]

All pretty common in that era.

Agreed, but uncommon today. The build quality and attention to detail is absolutely on point. Everything about this boat makes me smile.

 

[Clank123]

Loved the Hillbilly Hydros!

Couple more for you.
Those DiMarcos worked really well in the gas classes…the No Problem boat with the unblown Landy Dodge was tough to beat in UGH as well.

 

[timstoy]

Couple more for you.
Those DiMarcos worked really well in the gas classes…the No Problem boat with the unblown Landy Dodge was tough to beat in UGH as well.
View attachment 1179700

Jerry Hanger K17 is close friends with the Fulgham‘s. The Hillbilly was at Jerry’s Christmas party/ Boat and Car show for many years. Good time’s!

 

[The REAL Prop Duster 281]

 

[Clank123]

She sure is coming along nice!
I feel like I’m looking at the Panic Mouse all over again!
When Billy B and I restored the PM, the boat had been capped like the PP.
We debated back and forth about putting the rub rail back on.
But because we were shooting for absolute period correct (I even had my doctor write me out a prescription for Phisohex so I’d have the proper squirt bottle!) we had to put the rub rail on!
Billy found a clapped out Hondo rotted away out in the desert and got the rub rail off of it.
Had it polished and brought it down to me as I was rigging the boat.
So he spent the night and after a day and a half (and more than a couple cocktails) we finally got the rub rail mounted.
Your boat would really look cool with it on there, but it is very nerve wracking work!

 

[oldschool]

Sweet Baby Jesus, these resto projects are so awesome! Absolutely love the flake, my new 3D(Hondo) is all flake as well, and the period correct detail. The time, patience, skill and money these projects require is incredible. I’m planning to one day restore my Dad’s 64’Hallett w/ 427 Holman Moody back to its OG full red metal flake.

 

[92562]

Sweet Baby Jesus, these resto projects are so awesome! Absolutely love the flake, my new 3D(Hondo) is all flake as well, and the period correct detail. The time, patience, skill and money these projects require is incredible. I’m planning to one day restore my Dad’s 64’Hallett w/ 427 Holman Moody back to its OG full red metal flake.

Just reading, "427 Holman Moody" made me happy! Pics please!

 

[oldschool]

 

[Clank123]

Sweet Baby Jesus, these resto projects are so awesome! Absolutely love the flake, my new 3D(Hondo) is all flake as well, and the period correct detail. The time, patience, skill and money these projects require is incredible. I’m planning to one day restore my Dad’s 64’Hallett w/ 427 Holman Moody back to its OG full red metal flake.

I’ve got a 64 Hallett that I’m re-rigging for a customer now.
It’s getting an FE Ford as well.
Nothing too over the top.
Just a river Ski Boat.
Been on Parker Strip most of its life

 

[Clank123]

View attachment 1180164 View attachment 1180165 View attachment 1180166

That H/M FE has all the “Right Stuff”!

 

[rivermobster]

Just reading, "427 Holman Moody" made me happy! Pics please!

X1000!

 

[oldschool]

I’ve got a 64 Hallett that I’m re-rigging for a customer now.
It’s getting an FE Ford as well.
Nothing too over the top.
Just a river Ski Boat.
Been on Parker Strip most of its life

Would love to see pics of that.

 

[Dkahnjob]

Blue metal flake with a white cap line #62 ?

It was blue, but not metalflake, had a qhite and red cap. I will get a picture tonight, sorry, I forgot.
Yes, the number on the boat was 62.

 

[oldschool]

That H/M FE has all the “Right Stuff”!

Story goes: My Mom bought the boat for my Dad for his birthday, back in ‘63 or ‘64, so my Dad went to H/M and bought the engine for my mom’s birthday. They used to tow it to Parker with a Galaxie 500.

 

[oldschool]

 

[oldschool]

Sorry for the thread high jack, these threads getting me fired up.

 

[Dkahnjob]

So here are some pictures of the blue and white #62 (kahn’s boat?).
Would have thought this boat was after the green boat because the last picture is of Kuhns in a Chute Jacket going to the hold rope in Long Beach which would have made it 1972 or so?
The Hondo that he crashed would in theory come after this?
I just can’t see him not wearing a chute jacket if he had one in the green boat, also the Zoomies and hydraulic throttle on the green boat look more 60’s than 70’s.
Maybe he had a Sanger before the green Hondo?
He definitely jumped between Sanger and Hondo over the years.

View attachment 1179493 View attachment 1179494 View attachment 1179495 View attachment 1179496

YES! That is the boat that I owned, I bought it from Sanger Boat Co. in 1972 so it was raced in the 71 season by Kuhn's. I picked the boat up from Gino Scottie's house in L.A. but paid Swabby at Sanger for the boat. I believe that McIntyre supplied the engine, although I bought it with no engine and put a 426 Hemi in it.

 

[warpt71]

Hydraulic throttle?

 

[warpt71]

She sure is coming along nice!
I feel like I’m looking at the Panic Mouse all over again!
When Billy B and I restored the PM, the boat had been capped like the PP.
We debated back and forth about putting the rub rail back on.
But because we were shooting for absolute period correct (I even had my doctor write me out a prescription for Phisohex so I’d have the proper squirt bottle!) we had to put the rub rail on!
Billy found a clapped out Hondo rotted away out in the desert and got the rub rail off of it.
Had it polished and brought it down to me as I was rigging the boat.
So he spent the night and after a day and a half (and more than a couple cocktails) we finally got the rub rail mounted.
Your boat would really look cool with it on there, but it is very nerve wracking work!

My first Hondo still has the rub rail on it but it's been used, couple kinks and dents here and there. Is there a way to restore it? I know it's aluminum. Also, is the mounting hardware still available? It's been a while since I've looked at that boat but I want to say that the rail accepts a T style stud..... I love old Hondo history

 

[The REAL Prop Duster 281]

She sure is coming along nice!
I feel like I’m looking at the Panic Mouse all over again!
When Billy B and I restored the PM, the boat had been capped like the PP.
We debated back and forth about putting the rub rail back on.
But because we were shooting for absolute period correct (I even had my doctor write me out a prescription for Phisohex so I’d have the proper squirt bottle!) we had to put the rub rail on!
Billy found a clapped out Hondo rotted away out in the desert and got the rub rail off of it.
Had it polished and brought it down to me as I was rigging the boat.
So he spent the night and after a day and a half (and more than a couple cocktails) we finally got the rub rail mounted.
Your boat would really look cool with it on there, but it is very nerve wracking work!


View attachment 1180153 View attachment 1180154 View attachment 1180155 View attachment 1180156

Dave you guys did a awesome job with PM, not sure the customer would want the rub rail on PP!

 

[Vamodsquad]

She sure is coming along nice!
I feel like I’m looking at the Panic Mouse all over again!
When Billy B and I restored the PM, the boat had been capped like the PP.
We debated back and forth about putting the rub rail back on.
But because we were shooting for absolute period correct (I even had my doctor write me out a prescription for Phisohex so I’d have the proper squirt bottle!) we had to put the rub rail on!
Billy found a clapped out Hondo rotted away out in the desert and got the rub rail off of it.
Had it polished and brought it down to me as I was rigging the boat.
So he spent the night and after a day and a half (and more than a couple cocktails) we finally got the rub rail mounted.
Your boat would really look cool with it on there, but it is very nerve wracking work!


View attachment 1180153 View attachment 1180154 View attachment 1180155 View attachment 1180156

Wow... As many times as I have looked at pictures of this Boat, I never noticed the rub rail. I thought it was an accent stripe !

 

[Clank123]

Sorry for the thread high jack, these threads getting me fired up.

Hey it’s all about Hondos and Flake.
Not much any cooler than that!

 

[Clank123]

My first Hondo still has the rub rail on it but it's been used, couple kinks and dents here and there. Is there a way to restore it? I know it's aluminum. Also, is the mounting hardware still available? It's been a while since I've looked at that boat but I want to say that the rail accepts a T style stud..... I love old Hondo history

Only way to restore is to love on it to get it as straight as possible.
Kinks and dents you have to sand and polish to get as close as ya can.
I may still have a few of the T style studs.

 

[Clank123]

Dave you guys did an awesome job with PM, not sure the customer would want the rub rail on PP!

Yeah I get it. Sure looks good the way it is.
That green flake is so cool!
Ya shoulda seen me and Billy arguing over who was gonna drill the holes for the rail in that beautiful paint.
I said, you’re the painter you should drill them! He says you’re the rigger you drill them!
I’ll let you guess who drilled 30 plus holes in the cap
Funny stuff!

 

[Dkahnjob]

Here is a picture of a picture of the boat right after I got it running with the hemi.
It was a 17'10" Sanger flat, super light weight. you couldn't go on the deck it was so thin.
After 5 years of skiing and lake racing I was getting worried that it might come apart and I would lose my engine, so I took it apart and put the engine in a DiMarco 21' Day Cruiser which I ran for another 14 years. Fun times!

 

[oldschool]

Hey it’s all about Hondos and Flake.
Not much any cooler than that!

Here’s a new one. It’s a 3D, but a Hondo at heart.

 

[The REAL Prop Duster 281]

Here's another pic!

 

[dryhoze1]

Here is a picture of a picture of the boat right after I got it running with the hemi.
It was a 17'10" Sanger flat, super light weight. you couldn't go on the deck it was so thin.
After 5 years of skiing and lake racing I was getting worried that it might come apart and I would lose my engine, so I took it apart and put the engine in a DiMarco 21' Day Cruiser which I ran for another 14 years. Fun times!

Hmmm

I‘m pretty sure I have this Sanger. I got it from Danny Araujo who owned Competitive trailers. Someone owed him money and gave it to him in lieu of payment. It was out of registration in AZ when I got it. I did a title search & it was previously registered in California (I’m 99% positive it had your name in the search)
Tach on the deck ~same location
very light lay up
Im currently restoring it. New stringers etc.
I honestly purchased the boat for the Vance trailer that was under it.

 

[dryhoze1]

Contd

I had spoke to and sent pictures years ago to Phil Bergeron.
The boat was mostly white when I got it. I remember him saying if / when you sand it back if it’s the light lay up boat it will have light blue original lay up from Sanger.
‘And it was

 

[warpt71]

Contd

I had spoke to and sent pictures years ago to Phil Bergeron.
The boat was mostly white when I got it. I remember him saying if / when you sand it back if it’s the light lay up boat it will have light blue original lay up from Sanger.
‘And it was View attachment 1181225

If this all checks out, you have one hell of a restoration ahead of you to create another Porky Pig

 

[Dkahnjob]

Contd

I had spoke to and sent pictures years ago to Phil Bergeron.
The boat was mostly white when I got it. I remember him saying if / when you sand it back if it’s the light lay up boat it will have light blue original lay up from Sanger.
‘And it was View attachment 1181225

That boat is a lighter blue color than what I remember mine to be, but may be because of sanding it, looks that way. I think I had a Competitive trailer under it, but can't remember for sure. When I sold the boat I pulled my hemi out and sold it less engine to a guy that was Paraplegic (in a wheel chair). He was going to rig it with hand controls, not sure if he ever completed it or not, never heard from him again, but always thought that it would be a handful on hand controls.
Good luck with the project.

 

[The REAL Prop Duster 281]

Here's todays progress! Oil sender adapter for sender and mech. gauge! Plus S.S. water temp sender adapter!

 

[Clank123]

Contd

I had spoke to and sent pictures years ago to Phil Bergeron.
The boat was mostly white when I got it. I remember him saying if / when you sand it back if it’s the light lay up boat it will have light blue original lay up from Sanger.
‘And it was View attachment 1181225

Very cool.
Looks like the rub marks are still there from the Back to back bench seat that appears to be in the boat when Dave had it.
Sure be cool if it was.
I’ll bet there is some clues in the rigging as well if it was the Pig.
Be fun to analyze.

One of the interesting things I’ve been thinking about is…why the number change?
Most racers tend to stay with their “number” for their whole career on their personally owned boats and cars.
Why did he switch from 62 to 282?
My guess is like many of the early NDBA racers, when membership numbers were issued in 1965 or so, many members just used their membership number for their boat number. Also around this time the NDBA started preferring to see permanent numbers on the boats instead of tape or shoe polish.
(When I restored the BFH Banzai, it never had a permanent number and I saw pictures of different temporary numbers on the boat. He was done running in 1966.)
Meaning Kuhns could have been the 62nd registered member of the NDBA.
All of John Annin’s Whisker Biscuit’s were number 63. Probably his membership number.
So why the switch?
It interesting that there are a couple of early racers that that ran 2-2 numbers.
Arlen Kurtis’ 60’s/70’s personal drag boats were all 272.
Ray Capaldi’s boats were 292.
Dale Sonnabend, an early longtime racer was 222.
Just for a dragboat racing history Nerd like me, it’d be cool to know why he changed to 282.
Maybe his son knows?

 

[lenmann]

Here's todays progress! Oil sender adapter for sender and mech. gauge! Plus S.S. water temp sender adapter! View attachment 1181335 View attachment 1181336 View attachment 1181337 View attachment 1181338 View attachment 1181339 View attachment 1181340 View attachment 1181344 View attachment 1181345 View attachment 1181346

Beautiful work and your attention to detail on even the smallest things like SS fittings is inspirational.

What brand of control cables do you use? I have seen similar cables with the spiral wound rib in other boats but had no luck finding a source.

Thanks of bringing us along on this adventure by the way. Your work and the history lessons that get chipped in make for great winter time reading.

 

[dryhoze1]

That boat is a lighter blue color than what I remember mine to be, but may be because of sanding it, looks that way. I think I had a Competitive trailer under it, but can't remember for sure. When I sold the boat I pulled my hemi out and sold it less engine to a guy that was Paraplegic (in a wheel chair). He was going to rig it with hand controls, not sure if he ever completed it or not, never heard from him again, but always thought that it would be a handful on hand controls.
Good luck with the project.

Very cool.
Looks like the rub marks are still there from the Back to back bench seat that appears to be in the boat when Dave had it.
Sure be cool if it was.
I’ll bet there is some clues in the rigging as well if it was the Pig.
Be fun to analyze.

One of the interesting things I’ve been thinking about is…why the number change?
Most racers tend to stay with their “number” for their whole career on their personally owned boats and cars.
Why did he switch from 62 to 282?
My guess is like many of the early NDBA racers, when membership numbers were issued in 1965 or so, many members just used their membership number for their boat number. Also around this time the NDBA started preferring to see permanent numbers on the boats instead of tape or shoe polish.
(When I restored the BFH Banzai, it never had a permanent number and I saw pictures of different temporary numbers on the boat. He was done running in 1966.)
Meaning Kuhns could have been the 62nd registered member of the NDBA.
All of John Annin’s Whisker Biscuit’s were number 63. Probably his membership number.
So why the switch?
It interesting that there are a couple of early racers that that ran 2-2 numbers.
Arlen Kurtis’ 60’s/70’s personal drag boats were all 272.
Ray Capaldi’s boats were 292.
Dale Sonnabend, an early longtime racer was 222.
Just for a dragboat racing history Nerd like me, it’d be cool to know why he changed to 282.
Maybe his son knows?

When I sanded I went thru a few layers of paint. A darker blue was certainly there. Dave I noticed the rub marks as well and another thing I had to go double check on was ~
In the pictures posted of the pig running I noticed the water dumps out the left side. While that’s not uncommon but I thought to myself on a few occasions that they were pretty far back. Like even with or behind the backrest of the seat.
‘This boat has the dump in the exact location.
The stringers looked like swiss cheese when I got the boat. Certainly had a few different power plants over the years.

I pulled out the rigging years ago. Nothing really caught my eye, but I’d probably not know otherwise. Lol

It did have a 8* Caselli 007 strut.
Is that something the Pig would of had ?

This thing is incredibly light lay up. I think 4 of us lifted it off the trailer onto the dolly



Heres a touch of that darker blue

 

[Clank123]

When I sanded I went thru a few layers of paint. A darker blue was certainly there. Dave I noticed the rub marks as well and another thing I had to go double check on was ~
In the pictures posted of the pig running I noticed the water dumps out the left side. While that’s not uncommon but I thought to myself on a few occasions that they were pretty far back. Like even with or behind the backrest of the seat.
‘This boat has the dump in the exact location.
The stringers looked like swiss cheese when I got the boat. Certainly had a few different power plants over the years.

I pulled out the rigging years ago. Nothing really caught my eye, but I’d probably not know otherwise. Lol

It did have a 8* Caselli 007 strut.
Is that something the Pig would of had ?

This thing is incredibly light lay up. I think 4 of us lifted it off the trailer onto the dolly

Ah,
That’s some good info there.
The light layup, Swiss Cheese stringers and the 007 strut are pretty good clues that this boat was a race boat.
There weren’t many ski boats with an 8 degree strut in them in those days, add in the fact that it was in a Sanger with a 007 strut sure suggests that the owner was rigging this boat to go racing.
The water dump is another clue that probably confirms the heritage of this boat.
I noticed the same thing on the Hondo #62 in the bottom picture.
I’m not sure who did the engines for him but along with the water dumps on both sides I also have noticed that all his engines the builder preferred to run 2 breathers on each valve cover(be cool to add a couple to the restoration of the green boat as a tribute!).
Don’t forget at nearly every race course of that day you had to drive down to the holding rope. Knowing you had water flowing in the block is not a bad idea(pretty standard even back then on circle boats to have a side dump)
Also I think that there’s a good chance him and Fulham shared the same builder for a while. If you look at the 282 boat and the Hillbilly, they both run an upright dry sump tank. Interesting.
All in all I think with the rigging clues and Phil’s comments, I’d bet you’ve got the Sanger Porky Pig!

 

[warpt71]

@Clank123 my first Hondo has a 007 strut in it, always thought that was cool.

 

[Clank123]

When I sanded I went thru a few layers of paint. A darker blue was certainly there. Dave I noticed the rub marks as well and another thing I had to go double check on was ~
In the pictures posted of the pig running I noticed the water dumps out the left side. While that’s not uncommon but I thought to myself on a few occasions that they were pretty far back. Like even with or behind the backrest of the seat.
‘This boat has the dump in the exact location.
The stringers looked like swiss cheese when I got the boat. Certainly had a few different power plants over the years.

I pulled out the rigging years ago. Nothing really caught my eye, but I’d probably not know otherwise. Lol

It did have a 8* Caselli 007 strut.
Is that something the Pig would of had ?

This thing is incredibly light lay up. I think 4 of us lifted it off the trailer onto the dolly



Heres a touch of that darker blue View attachment 1181382

Very little doubt in my mind.

 

[dryhoze1]

View attachment 1181389
Very little doubt in my mind.

Dave,
Just noticed as well.
the pic you just posted sure looks like there was some red at the cap.
I certainly had that as well During the sanding.

 

[Boat Anchor]

Here's todays progress! Oil sender adapter for sender and mech. gauge! Plus S.S. water temp sender adapter! View attachment 1181335 View attachment 1181336 View attachment 1181337 View attachment 1181338 View attachment 1181339 View attachment 1181340 View attachment 1181344 View attachment 1181345 View attachment 1181346

Looks like those stainless steel fittings may have come from discount hydraulic hose.com with the China markings on them.

 

[timstoy]

Contd

I had spoke to and sent pictures years ago to Phil Bergeron.
The boat was mostly white when I got it. I remember him saying if / when you sand it back if it’s the light lay up boat it will have light blue original lay up from Sanger.
‘And it was View attachment 1181225

Here's todays progress! Oil sender adapter for sender and mech. gauge! Plus S.S. water temp sender adapter! View attachment 1181335 View attachment 1181336 View attachment 1181337 View attachment 1181338 View attachment 1181339 View attachment 1181340 View attachment 1181344 View attachment 1181345 View attachment 1181346

Is Kirk going to tune the motor?

 

[Dkahnjob]

When I sanded I went thru a few layers of paint. A darker blue was certainly there. Dave I noticed the rub marks as well and another thing I had to go double check on was ~
In the pictures posted of the pig running I noticed the water dumps out the left side. While that’s not uncommon but I thought to myself on a few occasions that they were pretty far back. Like even with or behind the backrest of the seat.
‘This boat has the dump in the exact location.
The stringers looked like swiss cheese when I got the boat. Certainly had a few different power plants over the years.

I pulled out the rigging years ago. Nothing really caught my eye, but I’d probably not know otherwise. Lol

It did have a 8* Caselli 007 strut.
Is that something the Pig would of had ?

This thing is incredibly light lay up. I think 4 of us lifted it off the trailer onto the dolly



Heres a touch of that darker blue View attachment 1181382

That red does look correct for the color on the target. and yes, the water from the engine did come out on the left side, I used to put my hand down to feel the temperature of the engine. The boat had a Big Hallcraft V-drive and it always leaked oil because the keyway on the output shaft was cut all the way past the oil seal and then they attempted to shove a rubber plug in to seal it which didn't work very well.