I would have put this under the restoration section, but since I've been under serious time constraints and I forgot the USB cable for my camera, I haven't been taking many pics of progress.

In the last 7 days, I got the car stripped of all paint, rust sections under control and coated (man, Eastwood encapsulator is seriously thick!), and was just dealing with my number 1 problem--the serious rust that I found waiting for me under the back window, in spite of it being a southwest car. Holes all the way through the back of the window channel. While not ideal (i'd obviously rather have it replaced with metal), due to time limitations and the fact it won't be seen, I decided to go the fiberglass route. I'm hoping it works, cause that stuff is BRUTAL to work with! I feel seriously sorry for Corvette restorers. Not only is it incredibly messy, the smell of the resin is absolutely atrocious. Think a combination of chemicals and fish. Just terrible. However, that was my #1 problem 'til today.

One day about a year back, I was looking for a bench seat for the 442 and placed an ad on 442.com. A super nice guy named Dick Bybee contacted me and stated he had one. To make a long story short, I found out that Dick was incredibly knowledgeable about Olds' and actually rebuilt engines on his free time. So, Dick was rebuilding my engine for me. Amongst MANY other things. He helped me a TON, from not only finding the car I am now restoring after the 442 swiss-cheese incident ( https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ion-begin.html ), to finding rare parts for real cheap, and just in general doing things he didn't have to do.

Well, last night around 8:30, I talked to him and he, my father and I planned on going out to the BOP event at the Pavillions in Scottsdale this AM. I was to drive to his house, drop some stuff off, and then head to the show together. He told me to give him a ring when I was on my was, as per was custom when I went out there. Well, while I was on my way, I called and got his voicemail. Odd, I thought. He usually answers, Further into the 40 min drive, I tried again. Still no answer. So, I drove on, arriving at his house 10 min later. This time, I call his home line. His wife answered and told me she had bad news.

Last night around 10:30, Dick was rushed to the hospital after having a heart attack. He died a few hours later. After she told me the news, I was in such shock, the first thing I said was "You're kidding me?" I felt like a moron, but I was really in shock. I still am.

Needless, to say, at times like this my concern is for his family and the loss of a truly great guy and friend. However, I am in the middle of this restoration, and have only so many days to work on it. My engine isn't rebuilt--he was working on it, and I now have the unenviable task of bothering his wife during a terrible time and going and pick up my block, transmission, etc. I'll also need to find someone reliable to put the engine back together (it's been machined, valve springs done, etc.) And as I said, he was helping with so many other things, I'm kind of lost at the moment.

Anyway, I really haven't been able to accomplish much today other than get fiberglass all over my hands. I feel like an ostrich.

Dick, you'll be missed brother. I'll keep carrying on the Olds spirit in your honor by getting this car finished hell or high water.

Tom

 

Wow Tom.....what can you say to that?...Very sorry to hear about your friend ....also about the unenviable position you are now in.....good luck!

 

Tom,

I am very sorry about the loss of your friend... What bad news that is - I wish I knew what to say... The nice things are that he passed on doing what he enjoyed working on cars and helping a friend. Also it is good he is not not suffering from anything. He will be missed i am sure. Life is fragile and unpredictable - we all must cherish it as much as we can.

At his grave site, along with the typical flowers and stuffed toys, be sure to place an old piston from an Olds 455 there as a reminder of what he enjoyed doing in his last days.

Most of all, do not give up withthis project - get it done and even script a small "in memory" message on it somewhere. He would have wanted you to be proud of this machine, so you must keep your spirits up and get it finished.

Feel free to hit me off-list if you want /need to.

 

Thanks guys. It's almost the end of a pretty surreal day. I hope to pick up the pieces and get an early start tomorrow.

 

Sorry about your friend, you never know.

I had a good friend pass away that was helping me out on the Vista, I really miss the nasty SOB.

I don't mean to be insensitive but I would get my stuff back as fast as I could. If he didn't have a will and it goes to probate you can't touch a thing by court order and it can be a long time before the court date. If there is no identifying paperwork the stuff belong to the estate and they will tag and record it as so if the coroner's office goes in. Anybody could say the stuff is theirs otherwise. Even if he had a will it still can't be touched until the estate is settled "legally", does his wife know the situation and what is what? People can be really funny in these situations.

 

That is a tough deal there. I'm sorry for your loss

 

BUMMER! Sorry for your loss! Our thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

Sorry to hear, I met Dick about 15 years ago, I bought sold and traded parts with Dick a few times.

 

Sorry for your loss

"With rue my heart is laden,
for golden friends I had,
For man a rose lipy maiden
and with many a lightfoot lad.

By brooks to broad for leaping,
the lightfoot boys are laid;
The rose lipt girls are sleeping
in fields where roses fade"

A.E. Housman

 

Shocking to hear, even second hand. We all lose when one of the Olds community passes.
Reminds me of when another Olds fan passed a few years ago. His daughter contacted me and asked for permission to use a pic of my '67 convert for a model to engrave his headstone. I was flattered, of course, and gladly said yes.

 

Sorry to here that news, Mentors in or lives a few and far between and the loss of one stays with us forever. I still think fondly of my best mentor and he died 20 years ago and yes he was a motor head as well

 

Thanks all for your well-wishes.

Well, I'm back in NYC and I'm trying to comprehend what happened over the last 10 days. It's all pretty surreal.

On Monday, I went out to Dick's house to pick up my belongings. His sons were extremely helpful in helping me get "most" of my stuff. You see, Dick kept things scattered everywhere, so it was not easy. We think we got most of it.

However, upon dropping the engine pieces to the new engine shop I found, I realized that I did not have the timing chain cover or the harmonic balancer. So if anyone has either part, I think I might be in the market for them. I additionally forgot to get my driveshaft. So if someone has one in good shape they'd like to sell for a reasonable price, I might just go that route instead of bothering them again.

After scraping and sanding for far too many days, I never got to the painting stage. Luckily, Dick had got me in contact with his body guy prior to this trip, so he is going to be finishing the body and paint work for me, and also helping pick up the task Dick was going to help me with. So, although it'll cost me more, at least it's getting done.

In the end, a car is just a car. I'm gonna miss the guy. He was one of the good ones out there, and his personality and Olds knowledge will be sorely missed by many. The funeral is in Mesa this AM. Sadly, I am missing it but my father is going on my behalf.

 

Oh, by the way, for those of you with Hurst shifters out there that are a little ragged, I can't say enough about the quality of work they do rebuilding the shifters. While it's not cheap, the shifter unit comes back looking BRAND new. They even rechrome the arm for you. Pretty amazing work. The packaging is even cool.

 

Tom, I am very sorry to hear your story. I know how it is to loose a friend and mentor.

In your last post you mention someone who does shifter rebuilding but do not mention their name. Could you pass their contact info along. Thanks

 

Oh, my bad. I was speaking of Hurst themselves. Here's the link:
http://www.hurst-shifters.com/c.7230...4Pa38Ta38ObNr0

The process is a little strange--faxing in the form, them sending you a number, then you sending the shifter, but it's definitely legit. Turnaround time was somewhere around 4-5 weeks or so.

 

My sympathies go out for your friend and you as well...It's such a loss when someone passes that all their knowledge is lost...what we need is a super blotter that sucks it all up so we can pass it along

 

Sorry to hear about your newest Olds buddy , especially as he was helping you out so much. There are too few of those Quality guys left around , that do it cause they love what they are doing and helping another guy out is just a by-product. My dad was like that and after he got sick a couple of years ago my mom decided to build a new house that was wheelchair friendly. my dad passed away 2 weeks before they were to move in and mom had arranged for a lot of the estate to be auctioned off. I tried to delay it but she had a set time so I went through the garage and sheds and old barn looking for the old parts I knew he had all over the place. I gathered some stuff and brought it to my place and the rest I put in one area of the barn. I met with the auctioneer and told him that these were not to be on the auction list and all went well i thought but I was out of town when it happened so when I went back to the barn it had been cleaned out. Lost parts for the 52 Chev and the 29 model A when I tracked down the guy who bought the contents he paid 500 bucks for everything in the barn and took all the metal parts to scrap , so he says. If you don't have your stuff back yet you may want to talk to the widow as soon as possible before she mistakenly sells his old stuff and tools and your motor disappears.