The American Giants team takes down the Mortons Gap Muffler Man – Photo Luke Short

The statue at its current location in Illinois undergoing repairs

I just want to give a huge thank you to everyone who pitched in to help us reach our Kickstarter goal of $1,575 to restore the Mortons Gap Muffler Man.  I was thrilled to discover on Friday, that Kickstarter had made this the Project of the Day!  I would also like to thank Luke Short from The Messenger newspaper in Madisonville, KY who covered this project. His great article came Friday morning. Luke was there to document the removal of the statue and he’ll be back for the unveiling when the statue is reinstalled.

Michael applying fiberglass to repair the statue’s right foot

We have 15 days left to raise additional funds for this project.  Therefore, I am setting some new goals and raising the bar to $2,000. The fiberglass materials are costing more than we thought.  Before we even started this Kickstarter campaign, we had already spent $800 in travel and replacement parts (the statue’s head and arms).  With additional funding from you, we can soda blast the giant and also do more thorough fiberglass repairs and provide the statue with a better coat of paint.  In addition, I’d like to take a quick trip to Oak Grove, KY to find out more about the statue’s history at Pistol Pete’s Pawn Shop.  We might find some vintage photos of him and find out what became of his head and arms.  We will be sharing any information that we can dig up in our upcoming video documentary which will cover this project from start to finish.

Many thanks to those of you who have already pledged your support.  I hope we can reach this new goal with your help to give this statue a thorough restoration which will last for many years to come. You can visit the Kickstarter by clicking here.