Photo Gallery : Automotive

Sick Fish is one of those spectacular machines of this new age of hot rodding

Built by Troy Trepanier of Rad Rides by Troy, and designed by Chip Foose of Foose Design, this stunning machine easily lays claim to being the most beautiful 'Cuda street machine ever crafted. Trepanier of no newcomer to the industry. A multiple award winner and hod-rod celebrity, Trepanier possesses a passion for building cars that employ the best aftermarket pieces with the highest level of craftsmanship. Designer and builder Foose has built no less than two Ridler award-winning show cars. More recently, Foose has risen to household name status by virtue of his team captain role on The Learning Channel's "Overhaulin" TV show.

When asked how the entire Sick Fish project came about, Foose explained, "Joe saw the pilot episode of 'Rides', which showed the building of my Thunderbird, the SpeedBird. He also saw the show with Chris Titus building his '56 Chevy, so Joe told [Overhaulin' producer] Bud Brutzman that he wanted me to build him a car. I said that I had a three-year backlog, so I couldn't touch it. Then I said, "Why don't we go to Troy? I'll design it, and Troy can build it." When Joe saw the Fast Forward Fastback 'Rides' episode, he was all over the idea of Troy building the car.

Trepanier talked about the thinking behind doing a HEMI 'Cuda for Rogan: "The '70 'Cuda was what Joe had growing up in New Jersey, so that was an obvious choice. The HEMI was the big deal in those cars, and was had experienced HEMI power while building the 2000 HEMI Dakota for Mopar. The raucous nature of the motor fit the wild personality of Joe. I didn't really think of anything else but a HEMI 'Cuda for Joe; it just fit him perfectly."

 

Sick Fish Meets Gorilla Powdercoating...

Jack Trepanier thinks highly of Gorilla Powdercoating, and Troy agrees with his dad, and adds that, "Gorilla has a big oven."

After having sprayed the material on the car at Gorilla's shop, the entire unibody shell was rolled into the oven and baked overnight.

The result is the ultimate preparation for long-term protection.

 

    

 

Back from Gorilla, here's the beauty of being able to powdercoat an entire interior:

Rather than trying to get into every nook and cranny underneath that dashboard with paint, Gorilla is able to apply its baked-on coating, and it covered everywhere!

 

Here, the adapted Magnumforce K-member and rearend housing are hot out of the oven. The powdercoating on such a part is unbeatable for durability and ease of cleaning from driving. Trepanier had a range of eight shades of gray to choose from for his color choices from just this one color.

     

The valve covers, manifold, and any other part is coated silver for the 'Cuda's engine. Although the decision was made later to paint them, a base of powdercoating gave the painting a bullet-proof base with no worries of oil stains coming through.

 

With IB Mix Mineral Blasting and Gorilla Powdercoating completed, the S-60 rearend (by Strange Engineering) returns to Rad Rides to await installation as the next part in Sick Fish. The S-60 looks trick with a Panhard bar mount, four-link brackets, and support bar with tow tabs all dressed in satin black. Looks ready to handle HEMI power!

 

HEMI power!
The manifold, valve covers, radiator and body frame's finish were all done by Gorilla Powdercoating.