This is the final update episode in the Chief Bagnell Restoration Series. After 5 months of hard work the restoration comes to an end on August 12, 2016 when the Chief was set back up on his former footprints on the Bagnell strip. This update covers the moving of the giant to the airbrush show and we get to meet Kurt Robinson who did all the detail work on the Indian. The update covers the packing for the trip home and finally the set up and unveiling of the giant. We also dug up some old pictures of the Muffler Man over the years that he has stood at Two Bit Town. A big thank you to everyone who helped with the restoration, the local community who was such a support to us, and Iguana who has just been great to work with on this restoration. Hope you all enjoy the final update!

Update #5 covers the final priming of the giant as we lay down 2 coats of primer on the entire indian. We hung the giant from the roof of the shop so we could get around and under him better without having to move him during priming and painting. After the primer dried and was wet sanded we started laying down the base coat colors on the shoes, legs, torso and head dress. The head dress took the most work with all the different colors that needed to be layed down. This took a lot of prep time to tape off each section before and after painting. In the end we put down the clear coat and took the giant down to be moved to the detail shop for his final detail work, all the shadows, highlights and details to the face, head dress and eyes. Update #6 will cover this detail process and Update #7 will be the final update and will be about his return to Lake of the Ozarks and setting him back up. This has been a ton of hard work but a very rewarding restoration for the American Giants team!

We are approaching the end of this restoration in the update #4 video. We have completed the sanding process and moved to the internal structure assembly phase of the restoration. While Joel has been working on wet sanding the primed torso the rest of the team have been installing in internal structure into the giant. It is important that the Indian can free stand when he returns to the lake without using cables. Small imperfections in the surface are also fixed in this update. We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

We have been busy here at American Giants plugging away on the restoration of Chief Bagnell. As always with these restorations, the more you restore, the more you find that needs restoring. The extent of restoration on this one has been greater then we first anticipated when we first got him but we have rolled with his punches and the extra patching is almost complete. As this update explains, he had more spider cracks in him then we ever could have imagined. We have completely resurfaced his back to cover them up and will also have to do the same for large portions of his upper legs before we put down the first coats of primer. The huge job of sanding down his face and head dress is over and this coming week our focus will be on building the internal support structure so he can free stand when we take him back home. Our next update #4 will cover the details of installing the internal structure.

Week 2 has been a busy one and we are happy with the progress we are making. Although not completely done sanding, we are nearing the end of that process. This week saw the completion of sanding the front side of the indian. It was a bit of a challenge pulling him apart and getting him flipped over but everything went well. The pants were almost completely sanded during the week and more then half of the giants back was finished. The end of the week saw us starting to repair cracks and body damage and work on paint colors. Our graphics department kicked it into high gear sketching out the indian so we can plug in any color we want to test out different color schemes. Hope you enjoy our second update of the  Chief Bagnell Restoration!

American Giants is happy to release the first video update of our current restoration of the Lake of the Ozarks Indian Muffler Man. We are one week in on this restoration, and already have a large portion of the indian sanded down to the first layer of paint and gel coat. Next weeks video update will feature the completion of the sanding process, and also the disassembling of the Indian. We want to thank everyone for your support and encourage you to follow us on Instagram and Facebook for more updates as we help restore a piece of Missouri and American history! – Joel

For 5 years now, American Giants has been tracking down Muffler Men, and bringing you their history. We started out with the website, and then the youtube episodes, depicting our adventures. Last year, after completing the Mortons Gap Restoration, we decided to continue doing restorations, to help keep roadside americana alive and well. We thought it fitting, that our first project of the year turned out to be the Indian that has stood for almost 50 years in Lake of the Ozarks, MO.

Chief Bagnell or Injun Joe, is one of many fiberglass giants made by the International Fiberglass Company from 1964-1972. Today these giants are known as Muffler Men, and almost 200 still stand across America today. The International Fiberglass Company started out making the Classic Paul Bunyan version in 1964, and over time they started modifying the mold to make Indians, Pirates, Cowboys and a goofy country bumpkin looking character, that we now call a half wit. The Indian version came in two different versions, a indian brave with a feather or two, and the war chief that had a full head dress. Many of the first Indians made were purchased by Pontiac dealerships across the country. The giants were shipped out on trailers and set up at the various dealerships to promote the new cars and promotions.

Around the mid 60s, DogPatch found out about International Fiberglass and ordered one of their half wit versions to stand in front, and advertise the mini golf. He was a unique half wit because he was ordered special with a unique arm position. Most muffler men have both arms down and are designed to hold an axe or some other tool. The DogPatch halfwit had one standard arm that held a golf club but the other arm was raised to greet the visitors. He is the only half wit known to exist with this unique arm configuration. Shortly after his arrival the owners of Two Bit Town decided they also needed a giant and opted for the Indian version. He was a good match because he also had a raised right arm, and he was placed directly across the street from the half wit.

The two Muffler Men stood for the next 40 some years greeting residents and visitors, until the half wit was taken down in 2013 because the internal support structure was coming apart and a wind storm might bring the giant down. Chief Banell managed to hang on a few more years until recently purchased by the Iguana Group and taken down for restoration in early 2016. American Giants got involved shortly after and we are super excited to be working with Iguana Group on this project. Not only is the chief an original Muffler Man, but he is also a special and historic icon of Lake of the Ozarks, and nothing could make us happier then to see this giant restored and set back up for visitors to enjoy once more.

The Indian arrived at American Giants Restorations in March and we have moved him into our shop for sanding and disassemble. As soon as he got off the truck we realized we needed to take his right arm off in order to fit him in the door. Thankfully the bolts were not entirely rusted and we were able to send one of our guys up his leg and into the torso area to unbolt the arm from the inside. Now that we have him safe inside, work will begin. We have broken this project down into 10 stages that include, sanding, fiberglass repair, painting, airbrush and art work as well as an internal structure that will support the Indian so he can free stand at his new location.

We hope to upload videos each week marking our progress and adventures as we restore this roadside attraction, and we are just as excited as all of you, to see what the final product looks like! Keep an eye on this website, Facebook and Instagram feeds, for the latest news and pictures.

It seems that Muffler Men have been on the move recently, and sometimes its hard to keep track of them as they migrate around America. Some Muffler Men have remained virtually unmoved since being shipped 50 years ago from International Fiberglass, while others have been moved so many times, no one knows for sure where they started out. It seems 2015 and early 2016, saw more movement then normal and at least 10 muffler men were either sold or moved.

One of the most sought after Muffler Men is the rare Uniroyal Gal made for the Uniroyal Tire Company in 1966. Over 20 of these giant ladies made rounds across the country that year, advertising at auto repair shops and tire centers. Today around 13 remain and it isn’t very often that one comes up for sale. 2015 saw not one but two Uniroyal Gals up for sale. Roadside America mentioned that one stood in Chinqoteague VA back in the 90s but no one was every able to verify the tip. Thats because some farmers from Kingsville Maryland who were trying to buy the viking in town and bought her instead. She has been secretly living in Kingsville Maryland for the last 20 years off the charts. Her owners found our website this year and posted that they were interested in selling and she was sold within a day or two. She is currently undergoing a full restoration and will appear this spring in Illinois. The other sale of a Uniroyal Gal was to Bruce Kennedy in Hayward CA. He purchased the Uniroyal in Mt Vernon IL that had stood at Stan the Tire Man’s since the late 60s. American Giants was actually able to help take her down and prepare her for shipping to California.

A bunch of the male Muffler Men were also sold in 2015 and our website was responsible for a handful of those sales. We always try to post Muffler Men when they come up for sale. That part of our website has been helpful to those looking to purchase one of their own. Our for sale page was responsible for the El Monte, CA Muffler Man finding a new home at Four Way Muffler in Gallatin TN as well as a long lost Muffler Man being rescued from the woods of South Carolina and being moved to Grove, OK.

Other Muffler Men sold and moved in 2015 include the Havre De Grace MD army guy. We don’t know who bought him or where he is headed but we do know that he was taken down on Dec 2 and hauled away on a trailer. BigGeorge who used to stand in Warrenton TX at the Sterling McCall Old Car Museum until he fell over in 2010, was also sold recently to VintageRoadside of Portland OR, and has just arrived there after the long haul from Texas. Vintage Roadside also purchased a bunyan Muffler Man head earlier in the year from a seller in Brimfield, NJ. Lake of the Ozarks MO also saw some big changes recently when the Indian was taken down. Thankfully he wasn’t moved far and his new owners plan to have him restored and set back up nearby. The halfwit that once stood across the street is also being restored and will be set up again hopefully sometime in 2016. The half wit was purchased before the indian and stood at Dogpatch in front of Mortimer Snerd Golf.

American Giants was also happy to be of help to Kevin Cummings, president of Cummings Plumbing Heating and Cooling, by advertising the auction of the Muffler Man in Rapid City South Dakota. He won the auction for the miner/cowboy and waisted no time in moving him to his business in Tucson, AZ. Kevin first learned about Muffler Men by watching American Giants episodes on youtube and realized he really wanted to own one of the giants. He kept checking our for sale section until the auction popped up and won the bid a few months later. Although the Muffler Man looked almost brand new in the pictures, Kevin told us that he actually needed a full restoration to fix the many cracks and paint job. He was fully restored and set up dressed as Santa, just in time for Christmas alongside interstate 10 in Tucson. Kevin displays his cowboy with the University of Arizona logo on his hat, the Muffler Man is Arizonans biggest fan.

Special thanks to Kevin, Vintage Roadside and others, for the use of their pictures displayed here. 

American Giants recently visited Atlanta, IL where Episode #3 was shot back in 2012. The Atlanta Library and Museum hosts a series of “Dinner Programs at the Palms Grill Cafe” from October 2015 though March 2016.  The Dinner Programs feature speakers who present a 60 minute program following dinner. This is the fifth year the Library and Museum has sponsoring the dinner program and American Giants was honored to speak for one of the evening events.

Neto and I had a great trip back up to Atlanta and were able to visit Tall Paul once more.  I also gave a talk for the dinner evening program at the Palms Cafe. I covered Muffler Men and their history in detail and showed about 180 pictures throughout the talk. We had fun chatting with everyone afterwards and sharing some of our collection. In addition to some post cards and DVD’s we also brought along a Mr Bendo head and arm for people to check out up close. We were housed in the Colaw Rooming House for the night, a great experience I would highly recommend! It was also fun to meet some of our Instagram and website followers who attended the event.

If your interested in American Giants speaking for one of your events, please contact us at info@usagiants.com

Courtesy of RainbowSign.com

Since starting this interesting hobby of Muffler Man tracking, I feel that interest has grown in the giants. I often get emails and tips about possibly “undiscovered” Muffler Men, or memories of where they once stood. Roadside America does a great job of sharing the latest tips that people

The American Giants Team discovers a muffler man in the woods.

send in, but for the most part, they are not new discoveries. So I was surprised last week, when they posted a picture of a Muffler Man, that has been in Salt Lake City since the 70s! It just goes to show, that even with all the spotters out there, there literally could be an undetected Muffler Man on main street of a town or city in America.

Courtesy of RainbowSign.com

The giant is owned by Vince Coley, owner of the Rainbow Neon Sign Company. He has had the statue since the mid 80s, when a customer brought the giant in for repair and never picked it up. Vince repaired the Muffler Man, and then set him up on the roof of his business. Shortly after, Vince decided to use the Muffler Man in parades

Courtesy of RainbowSign.com

and dress the giant up for different holidays and events. The statue has been in many parades in Salt Lake City, and Vince always dresses him as something different. To date how long he has been doing this, he told me that the giant was once made to look like Gorbachev, when the Berlin wall came down in 1989.

Courtesy of RainbowSign.com

Over the years the giant has posed as many different people and characters, although he never seems to be in one piece. Vince has kept all the pieces of the giant, and normally displays the torso and head, although he has displayed the legs as well. Vince says the Muffler Man was originally one of the rare Mobil Gas Station versions and he still has the hat to prove it!

An early picture of a Mobil Man with the distinct hat

Today you will find the giant made to look like Spock, in honor of Leonard Nimoy who passed in February, 2015. Vince was aware of this website and others like it, but seemed unaware that the majority of Muffler Men followers knew nothing of his giant.

Special thanks to Vince for letting me use his pictures. RainbowSign.com Also Terry Nelson for the use of his 1960s Mobil Man picture.