How I met Jay SteelMy close friend, Jay Steel, owner of Taylor Engine Rebuilding, died on January 14, 2009. I would first like to introduce myself, I am Tony Albanese. For those who do not know me, I once worked for Jay Steel in the late 70's when I was 19 years old.
It was 1969 or so and my parent's car needed some engine work on their 1965 Mustang. They had found a mechanic close to where we lived in Whittier, at Virginia Auto Repair, the mechanic's name was Craig. I went with my dad when he brought the car in for its rebuild and that's when I met the guy who was going to do the machine work on the car. I asked him if he had anything I could have to take apart. He told me that he could find an old carburetor for me and to come back tomorrow. The next day a friend and I road our bicycles over to Virginia Auto to see my new friend and bring home a carburetor to take apart. As I road up to the bay door where I knew my friend would be, I entered the bay door and my new friend yelled at me to get that bike the hell out of here. I felt so bad that this guy who I thought was really nice yelling at me. So we got on our bikes and rode home with a broken heart and no carburetor. I never wanted to go back to that place again once the car was finished being repaired. It would be several years later before I was interested in cars. In high school I found auto shop and auto shop found me. I would spend as much of my free time in auto shop, learning and working on some of the teacher's cars.At my parents home I did work for my friends on their cars. One of my friends wanted me to rebuild his engine in a 1969 Chevelle with a big block. Needing a machine shop, I remembered seeing Taylor Engine Rebuilding on Whittier Blvd. I loaded the block and heads into the truck to take it to this new place. I parked and as soon as I walked into Taylor's I saw the guy that had yelled at me some years earlier. He greeted me as if we were old friends. I could not believe it was the same guy who I knew just a few years ago. Once all the machine work was done and had the engine running, it was time to see my old friend about a job. Jay told me that he did not need any one at the time but to check back in a couple of months. So I did check back, and then he told me the same and to talk to him in another couple of months, now by this time I thought he was just trying to tell me that he really did not want me working there. Then the day came when I could start working at Taylor's, I could not believe after all he wanted to hire me. I started out taking engines apart that came in for rebuild. It was such a dirty job but loved taking those old dirty engines and making them clean again. I did this dirty job for about 6 months or so, then came the day Jay needed a guy in the cylinder head department. I knew nothing about the machine work that needed to be done. Jay took the time to carefully teach me how to do a valve job, install new valve guides and resurface cylinder heads. By now I was up to 3 dollars an hour, but Jay always through in a couple of hours overtime to make up for it. My car was a 1969 Chevy Nova with a small block and 4 speed. Not too long the engine was out and at Taylor's for work. I had made a bet with Jay that my car with the new engine would run 11 seconds, he thought I was nuts to think my everyday street driven car could do that. Once the car was running with its new engine we drove down to the drag strip at Orange County. We took the mufflers off and put on a set of street slicks and got in line. The first couple of runs were in the low 12's and before the night was over I had my time slip, 11.98 @ 115.56. 
All of this would not have been possible if Jay had not helped me. He taught me so much that even today I think about. Jay was a mentor, my boss and a very good friend. We stayed in touch through the years always bringing whatever engine I was working on to Taylor's. In 2004 I was in a very bad accident that left me in a wheelchair, but during the year and a half I spent in the hospital, Jay and Barbara would visit me once a week, it meant so much to me that they would take the time to visit me. I now live in Las Vegas with my parents. I miss Jay very much and wish the best to Barbara and all the guys at Taylor's.
Keep up to date with my website, http://www.friendsoftony.com Tony Albanese |
