YOUR HUBCA-A-A-A-A-A-P! was a refrain I heard this month, as two of them decided to take leave of my ’95 Mustang. I think it was the result of a recent brake job. Since I was already in Mission Valley I went ahead to Charlie’s Hub Caps on Magnolia in El Cajon. No luck there – but he put me on the waiting list. Back home, I went online. Every Website assured me they had what I wanted – until it turned out they didn’t have what I needed. I stopped by PB Certified and Steve gave me the number for Andy’s Hub Caps. “Don’t have them,” said Andy, “Did you try Charlie’s?” Hmmmm. I called Nan’s Hubcaps on University and learned they haven’t carried hubcaps for several years. Roger’s Auto Body suggested Mossy Ford. “No problem,” said Mossy. “We have five different kinds.” Drove down there and waited while they checked the computer. “Nope. We don’t have any, but if we did they’d be $150 each.”   “I thought you had five different kinds!” I said, trying not to shout. “Five different kinds of ’95 Mustangs,” he reminded me. I got to thinking someone could make money producing after-market hubcaps and called Kragen. “We got ’em,” I was told. I went to the Kragen on Midway since I was already at the main post office. They had a great selection and they were less than $50. I showed them off the next day at Starbucks and Scrooge McWilding said, “I hope you got them at Wal-Mart.  They’re $14.95 for a full set.” Oh, by the way, they’re now known as wheel covers. THE VERY SUCCESSFUL PACIFIC BEACHFEST always takes me back to the very first PB Block Party, which was also held on the beachfront, south of Crystal Pier, back when it was Ocean Boulevard, and in the 700 block of Garnet Avenue. Two memories stand out. My job was to get the permission of the business owners on Garnet and Ocean Boulevard. In order to get the signature of the owner of the Stage Door bar at Crystal Pier I ended up going in there at 8 a.m. The morning sun was at my back as I opened the door. I figured the place would be empty. Shows what I know. I felt like I’d stumbled on a cave full of whisky-drinking bats. “Shut the damn door,” someone said. The other memory? Well, it was more like a lesson learned. Don’t put the cakewalk downstream from the pony rides. “Downstream” is the key phrase. LOOKS LIKE THE NEW TACO BELL, on the site of the old Jack-in-the-Box on Mission and Grand, is ready to open. He didn’t give his name, or I don’t remember it, but a fellow took the trouble to bicycle up to my office at Starbucks and let me know he had the answer to the question posed in my last column: What business gave way to the Jack-in-the-Box in 1976? The Gulf Oil gas station. John Fry may be reached at 272-6655 or [email protected]