Sorry as well to hear of your friends sudden passing.
as for the hus, the insides are the same so given proper care the HF hubs should last forever. when working on the other projects look to see if he had the dust cap tool, that will come in handy for overhauling the bubs.
beautiful bike
__________________
“One morning you wake up, the girl is gone, the bikes are gone, all that's left behind is a pair of old tires and a tube of tubular glue, all squeezed out"
Sugar "Kane" Kowalczyk