Austin Chronicles Part 2

Friday 4/4

Up bright and early at 10:30 am, head to Austin hippie chow redoubt Magnolia Cafe for French toast then up South Congress so Tammi Jo and teenage Hawkette can engage in a clothes-shopping mission.  Funny thing about South Congress; when I first visited here in the 80's this was the neighborhood one went to when in need of handguns or crack or transvestite prostitutes.  Over the past twenty years  it has transformed into a chi-chi row of boho boutiques and bistros, chockablock with Vespa-riding eco shaggies who refer to it as (ugh) "SoCo."  Traces of old South Congress remain, tho, like the "GUNS" sign on the tropical fish store that once housed "JUST GUNS." To avoid purse-holding duty 12-year old Hawkspawn and I drop off the girls and head back to the Big Top candy store, a terrific joint that stocks all kinds of hard-to-find confections like Fizzies and gummi haggis (I am not making this up). The store is also a showcase for the steampunk projects of owner Brandon Hodge, who gives us a brief tour including his crazy steam-powered gear drive guitar. Hawkspawn picks out 30 bucks of tooth-rotting goodies, including a few packs of candy cigarettes.

Afterwards Hawkspawn and I boogie off to the Travis County Expo Center where day 1 of the Lonestar Round Up car show is already underway.  We run into our old Illinois pal Aaron "Plowboy" Grote, whose "Atomic Punk" bubbletop is one of the star attractions. It's parked next to his previous project, the "Lunar Lander" roadster, which is now owned by a Louisiana physician.

There's a swap meet going on inside the Livestock hall, so we head up to scout for junk bargains and hear the strange lilt of lawn mower engines. Minibike races! We grab a fence rail and enjoy the mayhem.

Down in the outdoor vendor area we run into a couple more Bolus contributors -- Ryan Cochran of the Jalopy Journal and Coby Gewertz of Church Magazine, who we last saw at 2007 Bonneville Speed Week. We also run into our Chicago paisano Kevin Tully from Hot Rod Chassis and Cycle and his lovely bride Megan. They've made the 1200 mile journey here on motorcycles, and Megan relates her near death experience after a semi crosswind nearly pushed her Sportster into an I-55 ditch south of Joliet. Yipes.

Along vendor row we chat with a few more hot rod building & artist types like Jimmy White from Circle City, Brian Bass, Keith Weesner and recent California-to-Austin transplant Von Franco, plus my Illinois buddy Gordy Cushman who, in addition to building the 389 Pontiac in my '31 Ford Coupe, is bass player for the Cheap Trick cover band Budokan 78.  Gordy's latest project is repopping vintage Harrell heads for 59 AB Ford flat motors, which might go on my next project.

At the Austin Speed Shop booth we chatted a few minutes with Sean Johnstun, king of crazy  60's  style custom upholstery. Some of his handiwork:

Hawkspawn veers off with a couple of buddies to ogle cars and I hear a familiar call:

"Sapo!"

It's Michael Lightbourn and his crew of crazies from El Paso, the same guys who rescued  me from a certain beatdown in Juarez last fall while following the trail of Ed "Big Daddy" Roth's Orbitron. During that same trip they made me an honorary Mexican, alias 'Sapo' ('Toad'). We hoist a beer in celebration and make plans for dinner. Since we are dining with Mexicans in Texas, we make the logical cuisine choice: Indian. 

Hawkspawn and I hook back up with Tammi Jo and Hawkette after the show, and reconvene with the El Pasoans for curry and tandoori at a cozy table for 20.  Lightbourn's wife Tina pulls out a surprise for me: a handsome stuffed toad from the mercado in Juarez, wrapped in a pink gift bag. *Sniff*.

After numerous toasts it's time to get the family back to the hotel for shuteye. I've got enough energy for a nightcap so I head back to Trophy's on South Congress to catch the late show of Lil' Bobby Bleed.  Run into some friends and enjoy some good cruise action outside. We end up closing the place down, and I head back to the hotel and sack out for the big day tomorrow.

Comments

[notebooms]

oh yeah.... i wanna hear some more about these Harrell heads for the 59AB. Would look really nice on my wifes pickup (which i promised i wouldnt "hot rod", by the way....)

-scott noteboom

[iowahawk]

Gordy got the original Harrell molds from a guy in California, with the original 1946 or 47 brass tags & all. He's going to recast the heads as well as the 2x2 and 3x2 Harrell slingshot-style 2 piece intake manifolds, same one used on Bernardini Bros roadster. Machining will be done at his shop (Ultra Stamping and Assembly in Rockford IL) on high-end CNC machines so they will be high quality. I'll be doing a piece about 'em for the next Garage.

By the way, the guy Gordy got 'em from popped 4 or 5 pairs a few years ago, and Joe & Jason Kennedy used em on a 32 roadster they built for Jim Jard.