Roy Schmidt from Boyd's

I'll admitt to watching American Hot rod from time to time and I was saddened to see Roy has passed away. He was old school and really knew his stuff. Probably one of the best parts of the show. very sad....

 

He was about the only guy left there I liked.

 

He had some serious talent also. Boyd is still an idiot. Roy will have way more fun where he's at now.

 

I thought it was sad that they dedicated the Corvette to him...better to waited until they could do a true custom, with lots of metal work.

But, yeah, he was one of the good 'uns, I think.

Tucker

 

I thought it was odd that they dedicated a fiberglass car to a sheetmetal fabricator....Boyd's a moron

 

The Vette Was The Last Car He Worked On..............

 

Why should anyone be surprised about the car they dedicated to Roy. Doesn't it make just about as much sense as a lot of things that go on there?

Frank

 

I liked watching that guy. I guess everything they build will be fiberglass from here on out?

 

Roy was the only craftsman in that shop, and the reason I watched. It would be interesting to know were he worked and what he built before working for Boyd. Roy was a class act and I'll miss him.

 

According to the show, Roy was only 64 when he died. He looked 64 years old 15 years ago. He hadn't changed a bit over the years. He was a true craftsman.

I noticed that he gave his tool box & tools to Lee. I think that says a lot about the kind of guy Roy was. What an amazing gift and vote of confidence in Lee's talent as a metal worker.

I bet all the $$ in world couldn't buy those tools from Lee.

JH

 

Same Roy passed he was the only reason I watched the show.

 

I hope not.

 

I can't stand Boyd, but I liked Roy's grumpy old fart additude. I grew up around a lot of older people and came to love that kind of personality. In fact, at 53 I'm well on my way to becoming a grumpy old fart myself. The guy was a true old school craftsman, metal working master, and coffee cup bomber. And he groused and complained the whole time! My kind of guy! LOL

 

The following text is reposted from another website I frequent, but I thought some of you might find the information interesting.
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Roy Schmidt, 64, of Sun City, formerly of Anaheim Hills, a retired auto-body fabricator, died Nov. 27, 2005, of lung cancer. Services: 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Holy Sepulcher Cemetery, Orange. Arrangements by Evans-Brown Mortuary, Sun City.
Daughter, Lori Metz; son, Allen; stepson, Jim Vanderpool; mother, Leonore McGraw; six grandchildren.
I think they listed him as roy johnson or some crap on the show. He was always paid cash in an envelope, due to some legal stuff from his old bussiness. The only thing more amazing then his skill- which the show did not really showcase was his liver. Roy started work buzzed- left for his break and lunch like a clock and was always happier after he got back. He always stuck around Boyd cause of there arangments. If you go back and look at all the cars Boyd built before the bankruptcy they were all roys work. He did it all out of a 70's craftsmen(entry level type) box with about 30 tools. Other asshats came and went with huge roll aways and no skill. He knew metal and how it could be worked like only a select few. He learned to mig and would use it to tack but he was a gas welder till the end. He kept trying to feed the rod into the tungstein of tig which will make you remember not to do that. What's really odd he drove about a 74 ranchero he bought from some school auction. After about 6 years he had it repainted- and continued to just drive it. Roy's only other interest was collecting really old craftsmen tools that he would buy from the other dead folks in sun city. Marcel drives a toyota tacoma stripped model- no other cars except his wifes tbird. Kinda weired they want nothing to do with cars.
I don't have time for the show- but are you guys talking about gregory? He's pretty deep in the custom kulture seen which is hard when your dads the king gold chainer. Boyds other son runs the wheel shop i think -chris and he has an older son named boyd jr from another marriage who i think is envolved in the crazy biz schemes. Diane is one italian you steer way clear of and is the book keeper so Boyds stuck with her cause they got a closet full of skeletons like no other.
In the prime of Boyd he had about a block an a half in stanton- cars took about a year and a half from scratch. They did not use plastic bodies or mail order. What you see now is not what his name was made from.
The show makes the crazy schedule and deadlines- nobody could watch what really goes into a well built car. Ther was always deadlines though- Things like oakland and other big shows were the pushes back then, and he operated the same way in reguards to the knuckleheads who worked for him.Oh and after about four months of metal work very little bondo was every used.
He was always fair to me though and gave me a chance to work with folks like roy during my summers.
danny

 

Danny, Thanks for the personel insite on Roy. He was truly a craftsman I admire.

I did notice on the show Roy's boxes were REM or some low level brand like that. The show will no longer have an appeal for me to watch it now that Roy is gone

 

I don't usually watch the show, but I just happened to see the last 15 minutes of it last night. Roy was just like the the older guys I know (i'm 41). They act grumpy, but if they didn't, they'd have to admit they were having fun doing what they love to do... Nobody gets paid to have fun.

If you like people, and you are a grumpy old fart, people can tell. If you don't like people and you're a grumpy old fart, you are just gonna look like an asshole.

 

Roy was a crabby old fu#@, but you could tell he had a big heart and lots of skill. He was the highlight of the show. I like the episode were Roy and one of Boyd's younger guys went and mooned the train. He like to have just like the rest of us!

 

Danny was the original author of the post, which was copy/pasted from another website, but I'll pass it on.

Alan

 

There was a thread on Roy back in November when he passed on and it was a mirror of this one as I remember it. The one thing that hasn't been mentioned (or I missed it in this thread) was that Roy's wife passed on just a week or two before he did.

Really a sad event in relation to the show as he added a nice fun and skill aspect to counter the phony drama.

I saw last night's episode and was really impressed with the tribute they did to Roy. No matter how you feel about Boyd or the drama of the show, you had to be moved by Roy's talent and losing him. I'm sure he's up there welcoming Johnny Chop to the big garage in the sky.

R.I.P Roy

Dennis

 

"If you like people, and you are a grumpy old fart, people can tell. If you don't like people and you're a grumpy old fart, you are just gonna look like an asshole."

More true words have never been writen! I am lucky enough to work with several old farts that like people. If I'm half as cool as any one of them when I'm in my 70's, I'll be happy. Just the other day, I was treated to the following gem:

"Most of what they call wisdom doesn't come from age as much as it comes from learning to work with the world's dumbshits and assholes - cause there are lots of them."