Sept 2009 Zoom Bama Zuk

Congratulations for winning the Sept 2009 Zuwharrie Owner Of the Month.
How does it feel being honored along with the past winners?

I am overwhelmed! I never thought of myself or any of my rigs to be of
the caliber of ZOOM material.Thank you very much!!

Before we start the interview,tell us who you are,where you live and a little about your family.

My name is Richard Fountain and I'm 34 years old.
I live in Blount County Alabama (about as close to the center of Alabama as you can get).
I have been married to my high school sweet heart April for going on 13 years now.
We have 4 beautiful children, Courtney age 11,Cassidy age 9, John David age 7 and Charla age 5.

How long have you had Zuks?Is it mathematically possible to build a zuk longer than you have owned one?
Project DIY LWB is the 6th samurai I have owned along with the 4 door tracker being the 2nd one of those. I got my 1st samurai 6-7 years ago and the LWB build is almost 4 years old in its self, LOL
And yes I have been building it longer than I have owned it. I started gathering parts & building the yota axles way before I had a samurai tub with title to go on it. Lol.

Now that the Lwb is finished,whats next?

We all know nothing is ever "finished",but the only other build plans I
have are to make the 4 door tracker more capable offroad so that the
wife and youngans will have something to follow along in.

What else do you do for fun?

Heck, where do I start? I love spending time with my family so I coach Baseball,Softball,Girls
& Boys basket ball, along with youth Football.

So what makes a Samurai special to you?

I love the small size and the ability. Plus I just love showing the "Big Boys" with major $$$$ tied up in
their rigs what a small rig with heart can do.

With all the kids extracurricular activity how do you find time to wrench and wheel?

As you can tell from the 3 plus year build it is very hard. You just have to be patient and in no hurry to finish. Lol

How many Zu events have you made it to?

I have only made it up to 1 event so far.Uwharrie forest is over 500 miles and over 8hrs from me, but I hope to make more in the years to come including the Fall 09 event.

What is your best Zu event memory?

Dane(shrek) got hi centered coming off this long hill climb, Jim(powerstroken) was going to pull him on over the hump. But when he got Dane free he did not stop. Instead Jim just stomped on the gas & came on down the rest of the hill wideopen with Dane in-tow at about 60 mph !
The whole time Dane was yelling to the top of his lungs" stop,stop,stop, Everyone move,everyone move,everyone move, stop Jim,stop Jim,stop Jim"!

What other 4x4 or zuk events have you attended?

I go to the local offroad park (www.grayrockorv.com) about 4-5 times a
year.

Now for a hard one,what about the Zuwharrie event would you like to see
changed?

I don't know , I had a blast in every aspect of my trip.The only thing I can think of would be a more announced schedule of when & where to be for guided trail rides.

What is it about the Zuwharrie.com BBS that brings you back for more?

You guys and galls are like family!!!

Any words of wisdom for us as we end this interview?

If you can dream it you can build it . If and only if you are willing to stick with it for as long as it takes.

Contact.Information:
Name: Richard Fountain
Zuwharrie user name:Bama Zuk / phone man

Nick name: Bama, John Boy
E-mail: bamazuk@aol.com

Main Vehicle specs:87 Samurai
Motor: Jasper engine 1.3,header, weber
Drive line: 6.5:1 t-case gears
Axles 79 yotas with 4:10 r&p's locked front and rear.
Steering:Trailgear hi-steer
Suspension:Sky YJ kit front and rear
Tires/wheels: 35x12.5x15 swamper's on 15x10 aluminum rims,2in wheel spacers.
Armor:Custom front & rear bumpers,custom sliders,custom cage
Interior: Racing seats,5pt harnesses,console & trail basket.
Exterior: 410 grill on stretched samurai body with Custom paint by Chris(shmack)
Recovery gear: 8000lb Ramsey winch,snatch block and hi-lift jack.
Best modification:The extra 18"s of wheel base
Worse modification: Attempting to put duel cases(yota and samurai) then
having to cut all the mounts out and re work for stock samurai t-case
mounts.