Our second stop today was to visit Texas Trucks n Stuff in Bastrop, TX, again on Rt 71 - devasted by the fires just after Labor Day, he lost most of his cars from the 30s tot he 60s, much in the way of parts, and lost 3 out of 4 buildings. You can see some of the effects of the fires, melting windshields, aluminum, pot metals, etc, into globs of unuseable lumps. With 80% of his cars destroyed, most have been cleared out and crushed. He's trying to bounce back but understands that it will take time to recoop what he has lost. I must say, he had a great attitude and has vowed to get back to work doing what he loves to do....
Friday's run to Autin was really car "uneventful" - no runs, no hits, no errors as they say and we've learned to live with and work around the slipping clutch. BTW, we will be swapping that out come Sunday - thanks to Ryan getting me hooked up with the Austin Speed Shop, Rocco at the shop has made arrangements for us to be there on Sunday to make the switch. Thank you very much for helping me out with this probelm guys ..... After checking into our B&B and had some dinner at a great Bar and Grill, we made our way over the kickoff party @ Austin Speed Shop. The place is just unreal as you can imagine, and they couldn't be nicer folks to deal with. A Sweet Sickness was shown and there was plenty of suds, soda, and food for all. As for the cars, others I'm sure will take better pics than I but here is what I have just to get your juices flowing ..... I met Dave from Ohio and his awesome 34, Mike from Pittsburgh, a couple brothers from Houston with a really cool 39 Ford Deluxe - man, it's going to be a KILLER show tomorrow ....
I`m glad the `ol coupe got `dad` to the show Tom, I reckon you must be grinning big time. Just a thought on the slipping clutch, I`m sure you did it right first time anyway, but could the clutch pedal/linkage be adjusted up too far?. Have great time at the show .... looking forward to the pics...
Thanks, it made it there and it will make it back - no, the clutch has been in there for 9 years - about time I would say .....
Well, the show went on and it was great - just one problem - it was COLD!!! The wind didn't stop blowing all day and you just had to keep moving in order to keep warm. Sit down somewhere adn you got cold all over again. all that aside, the show was super! We met Ohio Dave, Andy from Arkansas, Mike from Pittsburgh, adn countless others. Despite the weather the turnout was excellent and some reported it better than last year. I heard from others Jesse James did show up but incognito, Vern Tardel was there as well and I believe presented an award abd I unfortunately did not catrch up w/Ryan all day. Again, my pics are not the best but here ya go - enjoy!
I also found some stuff to buy while there as well - found a nice column mount for my 40 p-up project, got a vintage set of seat belts for my roadster - can you say SCORE?? And, I found a guide viewer for my roadster as well, especially needed when the top is on, for a good price ..... Here are more pics ......
And so tomorrow we start our way home - we still hope to meet up with more HAMBers - we'll keep you posted as to our where abouts. As to the clutch swap, we could not work out on a date - Sunday was out for them and Monday would have had to be it and that would have brought us home too late. So we are going to take our chances and baby it. We have a clutch disk in hand just in case .... It's been a hellova great trip so far and it ain't over yet .... these last pics are just me fooling around with a "photo opp" with the artillery gun, pics for my Dad actually. He was in the anti-tank division in WWII and came back a one-arm amputee having lost his left arm. You would never have known it though as he could do everything and anything - my Mom never let him get away with the 1-liner, "come on Hun, I've only got one arm!". He built decks, hung wallpaper, finished basements, and did all of the odd jobs any other Dad could do around the house and more. He taught me how to use my hands, be resourceful, be self-reliant and above all, use your head first, then your brawn. At nearly 88 he's as fit as a fiddle and can run rings around most of us. But, although I digress, I just had to think of him and his sacrifice as we visited Camp Mabry today ..... thanks, Dad .....
Hey, I saw you taking pictures I think... I was wondering if you had a picture of the redish coupe with a black grill that was two over from the gold coupe you have a picture from here. Also, do you have a picture of yourself, I really think I saw you, and I saw your car. Oh my god that thing looks good.
One of the most skilled restorers I ever knew had one arm. Used his foot to hold a chisel. You are only handicapped if you want to be. Sounds like you had an exceptional father and thanks for all the pictures. "It's been a hellova great trip so far and it ain't over yet .... these last pics are just me fooling around with a "photo opp" with the artillery gun, pics for my Dad actually. He was in the anti-tank division in WWII and came back a one-arm amputee having lost his left arm. You would never have known it though as he could do everything and anything - my Mom never let him get away with the 1-liner, "come on Hun, I've only got one arm!". He built decks, hung wallpaper, finished basements, and did all of the odd jobs any other Dad could do around the house and more. He taught me how to use my hands, be resourceful, be self-reliant and above all, use your head first, then your brawn. At nearly 88 he's as fit as a fiddle and can run rings around most of us. But, although I digress, I just had to think of him and his sacrifice as we visited Camp Mabry today ..... thanks, Dad .....[/QUOTE]"
Glad you made it to Austin OK and the clutch held up. It was good to meet you and hang out. Drive careful heading back and let us know if you pass back through central AL.
Well, we took off from Austin heading north on I35 - can't believe the HRR is over and we're heading back. Too quick, it went by way too quick .... We met McPhail at our first stop - he's got some updates planned for his great looking slope back and I personally hope he does a build thread .... Once we hit Waco we turned right on to Rt 31 all the way up/through Tyler, Texas -ya gotta take some back roads on a road trip, right? Great looking country but we all have to pray these folks get some rain soon. Very, very dry through this area .... We then hit I20 and ended up in Ruston, LA for the night. We're shooting for Atlanta via I20 to I85 tomorrow, and, if all goes well, we'll be there sometime around 5-6 PM. Any Atlanta area HAMBers out that way that would like to meet up - PM me with your number and I'll give you a jingle .... we'll be off of I85 about 12 miles north of where I20 hits I85, at the Hello B&B ..... I was playing with the camera again - this is what happens when you are a passenger in your own car - taking pictures of my "shadow" as we were going down the road - nothing like Peter Pan hot rod style, right? Trouble uploading pics again - I'll try again tomorrow night ....
Hey Tom thanks for the pics!! Randy here with the 39 deluxe sedan,You have nice car for sure,it was great meeting u! keep in touch.....
Well, we made it home last night around 7:30 PM. Weather was great, the clutch held up and other than having to add some brake fluid, no problems what-so-ever. Unfortunately we were not able to meet upw/any HAMBers in Atlanta but it was last minute as we really did not know times and places beforehand. next time I will plan things better. We did stop in at the Iron Lords shop in Cocord, NC, where we met up wtih Skipper and Jerry as they were working on a few projects. I just love that shop - really a great setup. Thanks for taking the time, guys - we thoroughly enjoyed it. So, we went around 3500 miles, travelled through 6 states, using a little over 200 gallons of gas averaging 15-16 miles to the gallon running 65-75 with a 4-speed and 2:79 rear (not the best setup as we lost alot of umph going up some of the steeper grades - the 5-speed is going back in w/3:40 gears for Billetproof in Florida in March). But the little flathead just kept on ticking and used less than 3 qts of oil on the whole trip. The ride, the people, the show - just fantastic. Thanks for riding along with us as it's been one hellova great ride.
Hey, Bluesman, we enjoyed meeting you as well. Your 39 is awesome- maybe we'll see you at Billetproof in Florida, this March? All the best ....
Rocco, you never left me hanging - you were helping and I appreciate it. Call me crazy, but all things happen for a reason, all good deeds never go unanswered, and somehow you helped to get me home. Dinner is on me should you ever get to Williamsburg, or, on my next trip to Austin. Take care of yourself and thanks ....
The Jalopy Journal
