MODEL A STUDENTS HIGH SCHOOL KIDS RESTORE CLASSIC FORD.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

FILLMORE - Soon Fillmore High School's auto restoration students will be on the road again.

The students in Lin Thomas' auto mechanic classes have turned heaps of old rusty parts into a shiny royal and navy blue 1928 Ford Model A truck they plan to drive in the 18th annual Great Race from Boston to Sacramento in June.

``It's been amazing,'' said 15-year-old Curtis French, a sophomore who will be one of the eight team members to compete in the transcontinental race. ``In September this was just a pile of junk, but to look at it now it's hard to realize that these are all the same parts.''

The truck's bed came from Idaho, the doors from Mexico. The right front fender came from a swap meet in Turlock and the wheels came from San Luis Obispo.

Finding the parts was one challenge. Putting them together was another.

The project began in September. The engine was built during winter break. The chassis was completed in January. Then each piece - down to the smallest nut and bolt - was cleaned, restored, painted assembled on a mock chassis, disassembled and finally attached to the truck's frame.

About 100 students have helped to build the truck during two classes since fall. Four students, along with four adults, were chosen for the school team.

Although no one knows how or when it happened, the header - between the roof line and the windshield - was scarred with bullet holes and had to repaired. Two different parts of completely separate frames had to be welded together. And the secondary eight-gallon gas tank was made from a tank in an old stove oil heater.

``It's a tough situation just keeping the buttons on my shirt, I'm so proud of these kids,'' said Thomas, who two years ago started the nation's only high-school level auto restoration class. ``I'm thankful to the Lord for helping this all come together.''

This week students worked on attaching the tailgate, fitting the steering wheel into the steering column, putting the finishing touches on the windshield and hanging the doors.

``Hopefully everything will be done by the end of the week,'' 18-year-old senior Sam Noriega said while he worked on the tailgate. ``Maybe. Possibly. We've all got our fingers crossed.''

The two-week race will run from June 11 to 24 and will cover about 4,000 miles. Last year the high school's inaugural team came in fifth place in their division with a 1930 truck which the students also built from the ground up. That truck was later sold for $8,000 and donated back to the Fillmore Historical Society to remain in the community's museum.

The money was used to purchase the parts for this year's labor of love. However, the team is struggling to raise $13,000 to pay for food, lodging and other expenses during the trip.

This year's race will feature nearly 100 vehicles dating from before 1960. Fillmore's team will compete in the X-cup division - created four years ago as a way to recruit youth into what has become a graying hobby - against seven other high school teams.

``Through the X-cup, students get a hands-on introduction into America's automotive past,'' race founder Tom McRae said. ``Once kids get their hands on an old car they're usually hooked.''

This year's team is made up of four student navigators and four adult drivers. They are Lin Thomas; Curtis French and his father Gene French; sophomore Robert Contreras; freshman Teala Mattey and her mother Kelley Mattey; senior Shawntel Salazar and longtime Fillmore resident and bookkeeper Beverly Gage.

Fourteen-year-old Mattey - the only girl in the class this semester - said it was an honor to be chosen for the team.

``I've just always been into cars,'' she said. ``I don't mind being the only girl. This year I played on the boys JV football team and was the only girl there too but I don't mind. I just wanted to try something new and this has been a lot of fun.''

Donations for the can be made at Fillmore High School, 555 Central Ave., Fillmore, CA 93015, or call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1) Fillmore High auto shop teacher Lin Thomas, right, and his students put the finishing touches on a 1928 Ford Model A truck.

(2) Fillmore High students, from left to right, Chris Rodriguez, Daniel Garcia and Juan Garcia, work to get a 1928 Ford Model A truck finished, hoping to have it drivable by the weekend.

(3) Fillmore High auto shop students with the Model A truck as it looked when they got it. Parts for the truck came from all over North America. The students plan to enter the truck in a cross-country race in June.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer