Here's a quick story of how much of a good guy Eric was. I bought one of his hi-po units from him. Shortly after that, I broke the motor in the car. Nine months later, when I fixed the motor, I went to the track. The tranny was flaring 2nd gear. I called Eric up and He said "Bring it back and I'll check it out. He then proceeded to rebuild it right there while I waited. He only charged me for the fluids and filter. NINE MONTHS LATER!! Thats not the end of the story. I got to take it to the track about a month later and it was flaring again. I was afraid to call him back but I did. He said bring it back up. He rebuilt it AGAIN and found that some washer part was made incorrectly by the supplier. It was .001 thousandth off or something. He didnt charge me anything the second time. Totally stand up and helpful guy. He will be missed!!
You've nailed Eric 110%! He always went out of his way for people!
Every once in a while when a customer would finally break him down and force him to go against his ideas on a tranny or a project Eric would say..."If the guy wants a red suit sometimes you gotta sell him a red suit!" He would toss in something extra like and sometimes just not charge for it all. Joe might disagree with me a little but that little extra time finessing a channel plate casting or hunting down a special part was enough to make that difference.
Eric knew what he wanted to grow Dynotech into yet was patient enough to drive over 4 hours each day back and forth to Manville for over 3 years until he took the financial plunge and invested in Long Island. Liz supported him with this business and was very proud of her husband's talents.
Joe Romeo was right there by his side and they both worked tirelessly with me in Island Park while we setup Eric's dream shop. "Soup to Nuts"... Eric would tell us..."We're gonna give the customer better service than before and have fun doing it. This place will be
ready before we turn one wrench!" We stripped the interior of a 50 year old mechanics garage to the block, scrubbed, hammered, blasted floors, epoxied floors, gutted wiring, ran wiring, and Eric pummeled himself bouncing back between Manville and Long Island. We pulled all nighters and got up for more the next day. I got my first taste of Nathan's down the street and Eric would tell tales of glorious cruise nights destined to come right there in the parking lot!
Eric thought more of my abilities than I thought of my own I sometimes felt. He was kind like that, making others feel good about themselves while showing his confident self without the huge ego that many of us get when we're good at something in this business. You felt if a guy this good thinks
you're good then you've arrived as somebody!
He'd give you the shirt off of his back, parts off of his own car and his precious time. Customers cars, even shabby ones were given that extra once over and I never heard him say a car wasn't worthy of Dynotech! He'd bring em' back from the dead and make the customer once again proud of his baby!
This was a man who adored his wife and kids and thought of nothing more than trying to get Dynotech Long Island setup and running so he could be with them more. He understood when I ran back home to be with my own family and never uttered a harsh word when I couldn't see my way clear to relocate to NY. I regretted not being a part of his future and yet he was proud when I landed my job at Autolite. Joe stayed right there with him though and with this economy you just have to know things aren't always a piece of cake in the performance business.
I hope that Rick Jensen is reading this thread and will kindly remember Eric in the pages of GM-HITECH.
I'm just not sure I will keep modding without Eric around to discuss my plans for a new project. We have all lost so much, but dear sweet Liz and those boys have lost so much more.
ERIC EXPLAINING HIS VISION TO OUR GOOD FRIEND JOHN TSIMARAS