January 2010 COTM Winner!

Turbo Mopar's Car of the Month - January 2010

Bill Gamalski's 1985 Omni GLH #48 ITA race car

Our January 2010 "Car of the Month" has many "firsts" ...

First N/A GLH COTM, although it is still a "Shelby GLH" - and could spank most turbo cars with Bill behind the wheel!
First from a non Turbo-Mopar.com member - Bill was an AVID SDAC member, just not online much
First in memorium of a great member of our community!

Bill loved Shelby Dodges, in fact he LIVED Shelby Dodges, the biggest enthusiast I've known. He had many mopars including several turbo-mopars, however, his favorite was his #48 ITA road race Omni. This carb'ed GLH could set the pace for many a turbo car. It has a built bottom end, aluminum rods, big valve ported G head, 12.5:1 compression, MP cam etc, etc. and revved to an 8,000rpm redline! To stay within class rules it even ran the A525 transaxle, however it had been gone through, Shelby LSD, heim joint shift rods, etc. Full suspension and brake mods completed the package!

Bill Gamalski Memorium Discussion thread HERE and some exerpt stories below... Bill my friend, you will be missed by all!

Quote:

Originally Posted by shelbyconcepts

When I heard Bill Gamalski passed away I was just taken back. I joined the Shelby Dodge Club in 1998 and one of my first memories of Bill was when he invited me over to his old house to get a part for my Lebaron (K-car). When I got there, I realized that he had a MAJOR car addition. At the time I had no idea how much of an addiction he had but the Maserati motor in his kitchen should have been a clue? Hum… As I got to hang out with him I learned a lot. Sometimes more than I really needed to know. LOL He had the knack for talking to people everywhere he went. It was cool and scary all at the same time. He was a walking encyclopedia of Shelby Dodge information.

In 2001-2002 Bill became the VP of the SDAC Great Lakes Chapter with a lot of discussion we decided to build a chapter car. Craig St. Pierre donated the car and Bill provided a place to work. I was so surprised Bill’s wife Marra and the neighbors didn’t complain for dragging that POS into his driveway. With tons of donated parts and help we created a piece of SDAC history. The car was successful even though it wasn’t the fastest. It was cool building a car with a group.

Bill was always active with Waterford Hills Raceway as well. Nate Greer called me up one day and asked if I wanted to race with the Neon club. I didn’t have a car to race but Randy Salk borrowed me one that he and Bill built just for track days. Bill stuffed me in the driver’s seat and showed me the line of the track. As we made it around the track I found the curbs quickly and I “mama I was go’n fast”. Well maybe not as fast as Bill but fast. Speaking of that, at SDAC 18 Bill gave Holly Vogelsong a ride in his Omni. You should have seen her face! LOL.

Another one of Bill’s favorite events was the Mopar Nats. Every year Bill and Gary Lorenz set up on the manufactures midway next to the SDAC tent. Joe Yurgaites, Craig St. Pierre and I would always wander around the swap meet trying to find things before Bill. LOL.. Bill had a blood hound’s nose finding NOS parts. No matter what event we attended, Bill always seemed to find the best deals.

One last one…About two years ago a friend called me and said he thought he found the old DC Shadow (Yellowbird) sitting in a lot at CTC. The bad part is it was scheduled to be scrapped at 8am the next morning. Apparently, someone at the museum decided it wasn’t worth keeping and since it didn’t run. I called a couple buddy’s up at Chrysler and sure enough it was the car. I called everyone I knew at Chrysler trying to save the car with no luck. Then I called Bill to see if we someone that he might could help us. Believe it or not, Bill made it all the way up to the Director of Mopar Performance David Hakim. We were told that it would be saved but alas the scrap truck came early and we missed it. It was the one that got away but I was really impressed that Bill made it that far!

I’m going to miss Bill…Good bye my friend…Hope your making laps around the race track in heaven….

Life is short gents… I’m happy Bill was a part of my life and I’m happy to be part of the Shelby Dodge Family

Tim

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonnyb

Here's my last good memory of Bill:

At SDAC this year, I got an early call from Bill Baker in a panic. He told me that he locked the doors on his rampage before he went to bed, and now both door locks seemed to have stopped working and he couldn't get into the car. I went down to the parking lot and sure enough, you turned the key in the lock and nothing happened (both doors!). We spent about an hour trying to use antennas, coat hangers, anything we could find to try to slide in the window and unlock the doors. Then Bill G. comes over and with his usual smile and asks, "What's the problem?". Baker tells him the problem and then shows him how when you turn the key in the door lock, nothing happens. Well, Bill G. grabs the key, sticks it into the drivers side lock and turns it, and bingo - the lock turns and the door is unlocked! Then he proceeds to turn the key the other way and the door locks. We all freak out and go "whoah, whoah...don't lock it - what if it doesn't unlock!" With his usual Bill smile, he turns the key again and unlocks the door. Then he walks over to the passenger door and unlocks that side with the key too!!! Baker, myself and several other people tried and tried to lock/unlock the door with the key after that, and not one of us could do it.

To this day I'm not sure how the heck he did it, but I have to say that really left an impression on me about how talented Bill could be when it came to cars.

RIP Bill - your talent, willingness to help and endless stories will be missed.

Jon

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdac guy

That's a good story of Bill, Jon. It reminded me of Bill at SDAC-13. After the car show & swap on Sunday, the Great Lakes chapter crew was sitting there waiting for folks to leave the lot, and for the vendors to tear down their set-ups so we could do a final clean up of the lot before we left.

While we sat there we spotted Bill digging through one of the trash barrels out in the middle of the lot. He had a small pile of things set off to the side that he was saving from the trash. We laughed at him (making fun of him) and even took a couple pics of him sifting through the trash. Bill spotted us, waved, and went about what he was doing.

On drag day the GL crew was getting the Chapter Challenge car ready and it wasn't running right. Bill found the problem, went over to his truck, got a couple things and fixed the problem with the vacuum harness. After the car was right, he looked at all the GL guys and said, "Yeah, the part to fix it came off the harness I dug out of the trash barrel." He was nice and gracious about it, and didn't really say it to set anyone straight, but that was the exact result. We didn't laugh anymore about him dumpster diving as he saved our butts that day!

Barry

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgeman87

Bill will be missed by many. Always willing to help anybody, answer questions, give advice, or even get under your car and get dirty. And boy could he come up with the parts if you needed something. When Reeves broke his oil pump shaft last year Bill was there with one at the Mopar Nats. When Clark broke his shaft on his Spirit RT, Bill was there again helping him at SDAC.
I am happy I got to know Bill. He made you laugh and enjoy life. At the last SDAC I offered him a room on the last night of SDAC. He will be missed.
Bill, will see ya at the big swap meet in heaven !!

Jim

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reeves

Bill and I always had a great relationship. He liked to hear about my drag racing stories and I always liked to listen to his road racing stories. Years and years ago he handed me an oil pan baffle kit that he had made for me. Just out of the blue. That really caught me off guard and we became great friends. Then about 5 years ago or so he told me that he needed to find me a better steering wheel, as mine was all weathered. Sure enough, at either the very next SDAC event, or the next Mopar Nats, he handed me a red L-body steering wheel that was like brand new!

At SDAC 18, I busted an axle on my first pass at Milan. We busted (3) 1/2" breaker bars trying to get the axle nut loose. Bill came thru, saw us struggling, knew we were running short on time as Quick 8 qualifying was already on there 2nd round, and ran over to his truck and got a air impact. Then he helped us limp the car over to the track air, rig up the impact, and finally get the axle nut loose.

At SDAC 19 this year, Bill told me he was looking for set of 4 lug wheels for a van project he was working on. I was looking at a turbo G-head he had. We dug the 4-lug swiss cheese wheels I was hording out of our barn and I swapped them to Bill for the g-head.

At Mopar Nats this year, I stripped the teeth off my oil pump and intermediate shaft during a burnout in qualifying. Bill already knew what engines were where in the swap meet and helped us go pick one out after haggling the price down. We took it back to the pits, stripped it down, took out the needed intermediate shaft, put in another pump, and got my car back on the track. I gave the rest of the engine to Bill for his generosity!

I really loved Bill and will miss him dearly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdac guy

Bill & I drove down together to Cinci for SDAC-19. We got to the motel without incident, but when I got my truck around to the parking area, I couldn't get it to go into Park. The lot there was not level and I turned the truck off without thinking. But then I had to sit there with my foot on the brake to keep it from rolling backwards (parking brake rusted up years ago). Without the engine running I lost vacuum and it took pretty good pedal pressure to keep it from rolling.

Bill was still checking in but I knew he would be by there in a few minutes. So I sat there holding the truck in place. When he drove around I told him what happened and asked if he had anything in his truck to block the wheels. He had a chunk of 4x4 that he put behind the rear tire.

We popped the hood and he saw the problem immediately. A shield on my exhaust slid down and the trans linkage was hitting it, keeping it from moving far enough to go into Park.

We let it cool for a bit and he got a blanket to lay on and a big screwdriver to pry with and in less than 5 minutes he had the pesky shield off and the gear shift lever moved like new. That was so typical of Bill, absolutely eager to help! :thumb:

Barry

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twisted Noodle

I was shocked to learn this. Bill was one of my roommates at SDAC-19. He was a great guy and just from following him around all weekend I had learned a lot from him. In the end he gave me some Original OEM decals, "lancer" mud flaps, and a radio to replace the one that didn't work in my SL. He was a great guy. My other roommate broke his Spirit R/T and Bill worked with him as long as it took to get the job done.

He will be missed..

Quote:

Originally Posted by 30 PSI SHADOW

I’m going to miss Bill…Good bye my friend…Hope your making laps around the race track in heaven….

Life is short gents… I’m happy Bill was a part of my life and I’m happy to be part of the Shelby Dodge Family

AMEN! Im in shock. Ive known bill since the day i came to this group, SDAC 5 to be exact. If there is anyone in the club that deserves the "Spirit of SDAC" award, it was Bill. You will be missed my friend!

from this day on, there always be something missing during future SDACs, or any time else for that matter..............................

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdac guy

I've had some inquiries as to "what really happened" and I thought I had posted it here, but I guess not.

It appears Bill may have had a heart attack while driving. He had his kids with him (2 boys age 9 & 7) and the oldest one was riding in the back seat. He said he saw his dad's head go back and his eyes were closed. Shortly after that they ran into the car ahead of them. Nobody suffered any injury from the accident and the car wasn't damaged all that bad either.

In the previous couple weeks, Bill's arm went numb while at work and at a friends house working on a car. Both times he was encouraged to go to emergency but Bill just brushed it off. I don't believe he had any health insurance and he may have wanted to avoid any financial burden to his family. But we will never be sure ....

Barry