Another road trip and more RT 66 & back road iron found

Another mini vacation and time to run some back roads looking for old iron. Starting from Northern Kentucky and heading for Houston TX.
I always liked this building in TN.
Bad pic though.


I've done a lot of driving in my life and I figure that this state is the most boring!


We made it in to Houston and hot the hotel. The next morning we ran around Houston and talk to a few people about junkyards and such. Even emailed some other clubs in the Houston area to ask. NOTHING! I was told the only thing you will find in Houston are Tempo's sitting in yards.
A little thought and we headed north/west towards Austin.

On the way we ran into this hanging on a garage. Yeah it's real.


This guy had some cool stuff but would come off anything.

Like I said he would not get rid of anything. Strike 1

Moving on into Austin TX city limits we stopped in at Austin Speed Shop.


This is just the stuff outside.

We walked in the shop and ask for a shop tour He grinned and said sure. He was showing us the Merc they built. All I can say is wow. The inside was killer(Fat Lucky job) and the engine blew me away. I'd say it was one of if not the best Merc I've ever seen. I ask if I could take a few pics and he said yeah but don't post 'em. So sorry guys. I'm sure it will be spread on the pages of a ton of mags real soon.

Looking around the shop was like being in a candy store when you were a kid. I looked out in the shop and seen an old car? I looked a little more and seen a couple guys working on another car and ask is that Bob Bleed? "Yeah". We walked on in the shop to check out his old rod in person. It is cool. I ask him if I could snap a pics and he said " Yeah but it's got a flat. lol.. flat or not I dig the car.

Walking around this place and just looking at the stuff they are building was worth the run. I wish I would have taken more pics but I'm funny about snapping pics of project cars in shops. They may want to keep thing under wraps until they are done so I didn't shoot much. Von Franco's car was in the middle of a chop. Very nice. As well as a very cool 50? Chevy truck. The truck was used to carry bricks to build the garage we were in, years and years ago. The truck was handed down and now the truck went to a wild hot rod being built in the garage that it helped build.
more from outside

More pics when I get time.

Man, that was quick!

I love that 55 been a while scince i saw lace used

The cars were coming out of the woodwork now. I was glad we went to Austin. We were headed for Mexico after there wasn't anything around Houston but we had side arms in the truck and didn't want to take the chance of getting stuck at the border and having Jaun for a room mate in a Mexican jail. This fall will be the time to hit old Mexico's back roads past TJ for some parts. Want to go?


Anyway we headed north into Oklahoma. It would freak you out at all the iron I took pics of and not posted here and the ones we just looked at from the truck. Back roads and trying to stay on what was left of old RT 66 was the plan.
This one got me going. At 60 + mph I was for sure that it was a T sedan. Getting the truck turned around and headed back already had me trying to figure out how to buy it from the old farmer. How rough is it?? man I seen myself driving it down the street with a wicked tall cab channeled over the frame 7".
.
.
Strike 2!
It ended up being a angle iron frame with a little box in front of it that I thought was the cowl. lol...

Someone before we left was talking about this and we found out it wasn't really a strip bar with a pole.(inside joke)

Rt 66 brought us to this little place with some cool goodies outside.


Some really cool signs were laying in the back, Rt 66 Drive In was one (yeah it was real!) that I would have loved to get my hands on. If you look hard you will see the early Ford Wire wheels sitting on the ground.


We walked into the shop next to it which had some cool stuff. This thing had hot rod painted on it and was some type of old pedal car or bike.


I asked about the wheels first and the really nice lady turned into a witch before my eyes. That wasn't her stuff and she knows nothing about what anything cost. She went SHE DEVIL in 15 seconds. We found out that it was a flea market that closed down. The stuff was left there. We called a couple of numbers that we found on the building but no luck. It would seem that it was stuff left over that they didn't care to take with them. Stuff was all around the building. The wheels had a for sale tag on it and I pulled it off and kept trying to figure out what the price was. We were there for a while trying to figure out how to get some of this stuff. The thought was to leave the money for the rims under another piece that was there but without even being able to see the price from the sun baked tag I didn't know how much.

We left them and the old Rt 66 Drive In sign behind. At first it looked like an old disply like they set up but after seeing the for sale sign and talking to the lady She Devil I figure that this stuff was left behind. I'm just not one to snatch something so I guess
STRIKE 3!

Leaving there and heading on through 66 we came across this garage with some cool stuff.

COE anyone

Well where was I at strike 3?
Strike 4 coming up.
I'm building a tub so now I have stuff bidded to high on Ebay because I wasn't going to be in town to wait for a last day bid. Every time I talked to the ol' lady she would tell me I got out bidded on my front end stuff. So how would you like to find a 40 Ford with the front end (minus drums) laying on the ground? Yeah flathead and all was still in it.

No one is in the garage so we get the number and call. I'm at lunch he says and I'm not there.?? Yeah I know I'm here looking at this Ford front end on the ground do you want to sell it? HUH, nooo. There is a guy that want the hubs off it and I told him he could have them. The hubs are gone. OHH he must have already gotten them. Yeah. Do you want to sell the rest of it? HUH nah he may want something else. What do you need ? I need the spindles, backing plates and the bones. HMM.. no he may need something else. I can buy it. I'll buy the whole front end if you give me a price. No he may need something else off that old car. (silence for a second and then) Give me $850.00. For the front end?? For the whole car. I don't need the whole car just the front end. NO he may need something off that old car. :!: So with a confused okay then I hang up. I made it to the truck door and hear my phone ring. Hello. It's my wife and few words and she lets me know I just got outbidded on my backing plates
So yeap! Strike 4!

Ya only get 3 strikes!

on up the road


across the street

fully optioned grabber

There were tons of cool stuff laying around but yes you guesed it they were closed.

I was messing around and looked at Austin Speed Shops website and found an ol' Mercury they'd been building. This one is owned by some guy named Jesse James? Here is a link -> http://www.austinspeedshop.com/gallery/jesse-james-51-merc/
Let me know if its the car your talking about.

RustyKarr wrote:I was messing around and looked at Austin Speed Shops website and found an ol' Mercury they'd been building. This one is owned by some guy named Jesse James? Here is a link -> http://www.austinspeedshop.com/gallery/jesse-james-51-merc/
Let me know if its the car your talking about.

That would be the one. I have a killer engine shot that is not on there, most wicked valve covers I've ever seen.

saw plenty of f bodies in the back ground the entire time bet u didnt get me a single part now did ya homie