Eckler's Camaro World

Well I just returned from the Atlanta F-Body Gathering and once again Andy Archer and his group rolled out the red carpet for everyone. Although it rained briefly Friday the remainder of the weekend was great. Plenty of events were scheduled such as cruises, a road rally, slow drags and other events to keep everyone busy. Matt Murphy of GMMG brought several display vehicles to the show including Dale Earnhart Jr’s former race car and Scott Settlemire brought numerous specialty vehicles. For those that simply chose to relax by the pool or sit under shade trees and talk cars this was the place to be. There were a few hard luck stories such as an alternator failure, water pump failure and flat tires and all repairs were made prior to the end of the event. The most exciting part of the event was the arrival of the Camaro concept car. Just seeing this Camaro rumbling down the parking lot with Camaro enthusiast from all parts of the country standing and applauding was awesome. Once the Camaro was parked by Scott Settlemire the crowd surrounded the car for a closer look with cameras in hand for photos. This car was more impressive in the sun light than during the unveiling at Detroit. When Scott Settlemire was asked if the car would be built he replied “that decision has not been made yet but the response has been overwhelming”.
There’s so much more to a gathering such as this that I could continue writing for hours, but unless you’ve attended an f-body gather in the pass you’ll never know what you’ve missed. It was a fun filled weekend for everyone!

According to Product Chief Robert Lutz, he thinks General Motors can sell more than 100,000 units of the Chevrolet Camaro. Mr. Lutz said that’s the number required by GM to build a production version of the concept which was unveiled at the Detroit auto show. Mr. Lutz also said that approval for the Camaro is still not finalized by GM, although GM executives have strongly hinted they will build the Camaro. The Camaro would be aimed at the Ford Mustang, which sold 160,975 units last year. The Camaro would be part of GM’s coming lineup of midpriced to premium-priced cars on a new rear-drive architecture developed by Holden. North American production of those vehicles is expected in 2008 or 2009.

• The source of this information comes from Crain Automotive News.

Back in 1969 Chevrolet release sixty-nine ZL1 all-aluminum 427 equipped Camaros for NHRA racing. Many of these ZL1’s were found roaming the streets instead of being on the race tracks. Chevrolet rated these engines at 425 horsepower, but in reality they produced nearly 600 horsepower. In the early 70’s GM sole the engine rights for the ZL1 to Yenko Performance, which was owned by Don Yenko. He only produced a mere handful of “authentic” ZL1 Yenko 427 engines. How rare would a fine like this be? Well an extremely rare Yenko ZL1 was found on e-bay and the auction wars began. On April 3rd the auction ended for this extremely rare engine personally owned by Don Yenko as a backup engine which sat in his trailer unused. The numbers on the heads, intake manifold, and water pump on this engine are listed at “COPO Connection” under ZL1 engine parts. There were 93 bidders trying to obtain a piece of Yenko history with the highest bid being $43,101, however the reserve was not met and the engine remains unsold today.

* Thanks to Jim Tomkoswki for supplying the North Eastern Ohio Camaro Club with this interesting fact.

What a weekend! Car shows were held throughout Central Florida with some of the larger shows drawing the crowds. One such show was held in Apopka Florida and there was a mixture of vehicles Mustangs, Camaros, Chevelles, Novas, GTO’s, and the list continues. Although the weather was hot people enjoyed themselves under the numerous shade trees in the park.
One thing that holds true at every car show is “car talk” and there certainly was no lack of that at this show. This type of car show were the kids can come out look at the cars then go to the play area was perfect for the parents.
I can tell from my conversations with Camaro owners that the upcoming Atlanta show is the place that everyone is headed. A look at the upcoming schedule of events list everything from Dyno Testing, Road Rally, dinner with Scott Settlemire and of course the main course; The Car Show. I will be leaving for the show Thursday morning and will try to update everyone after the show ends.

Only 7 days remaining until the 10th F-Body Gathering in Atlanta Georgia and my excitement is building. I normally don’t get excited about car shows because this is the business I’m in and I attend car shows throughout the country every year but this show is different. This show seems to me to be a more relaxing show with some of the finest Camaros in the Southeast present and it gets bigger and better each year. I’ve been invited to travel to the show with members of the Classic Camaros of Central Florida and this year there will be a caravan of more than 10 cars in our group. Hopefully, we will take the time in our travel schedule to visit the new Summit Racing facility. From what I’m told this facility is a sight to behold and a high performance enthusiast dream. This years F-Body Gathering will be really special since the Concept Camaro will present for all Camaro enthusiast to closely view. If you have not had the opportunity to see this car now is time to make plans to visit the show, it’s awesome! So last minute details are in the works with a Thursday morning travel day and we’re rolling, rolling, rolling! See you there!

At least once a week I receive a call or e-mail stating that Eckler’s Camaro never has the parts our customers need. Since I always keep an open mind when reading the e-mails or speaking on the telephone, I made an inquiry as to the parts our customers were requesting. As I made my list I quickly determined that the majority of the requested parts were “drop ship” items that we will never stock. Items such as full quarter panels, complete floors from the toe board to the trunk and others must be shipped truck freight. All truck freight items require crating prior to shipment. Most companies that sell restoration parts “drop ship” their parts to save warehouse space and to avoid “back orders”. Now I certainly agree that we should never be out of tail light lenses, wiring harnesses, various gaskets, and other small parts and we are doing a much better job of keeping these items in stock. Yesterday I reviewed a report indicating all items costing $10.00 or less that I feel should always be in stock, items such as dash light bulbs, console lenses, and other small parts will be in stock when you call. Our web site has really improved and sales of Camaro parts continue to rise, so we are trying to meet the needs of our customers in this highly competitive business. If you call our sales department and you’re informed that we don’t have the part you’re requesting ask you sales representative to inform the Camaro Brand Manager. I can take the time to research the requested part to determine if the part is made or if we’ve had several requests for a part that’s not reproduced we may manufacture the part. So please keep me informed I’m here to assist you. My e-mail address is thomas.stricklin@ecklers.net

A few weeks ago while attending a racing event; I saw a Ford 9” center section on the back of a pickup truck for sale. After a close inspection I purchased the part and felt that I had just gotten the deal of the month.
This weekend I cleaned and oiled the gears in preparation for installation. This 9” unit has posi traction and 4:10 gears, perfect for my application. Now the fun comes, after completely disassembling my rear end and installing the used third member and reinstalling the axles and other components I was ready for a test drive. The trip down the road was a complete disappointment, the gears made a howling noise during acceleration. Once back at my friends shop, we disassembled the read end and closely inspected the ring and pinion and determined that the ring gear had three different wear patterns on it, which is an indication that someone did not know how to properly set up the gears. Since I have several gears available there was no excuse for not installing the newer gears set, so once again while trying to save money, it cost more time and aggravation buying used parts. So my lesson for this week is simple “Stay Away From Used Parts”, unless you know their history.

GM is requesting our support in its time of need to help turn things around. Some suggestions are:
1. Get the word out and let your enthusiasm be known – Using “free” blog sites telling everyone how much you enjoy your GM product.
2. Show off your GM vehicle by taking photos and sharing with others.
3. Follow GM motorsports and root for your favorite driver and discuss this in your blog.
4. Support GM’s best efforts when you buy – Of course the most obvious way to support GM is to purchase a car or truck. Not all of us can afford to do this on an annual basis, or even every three years. If you are planning to purchase a GM vehicle and your dealer does not have a flex fuel vehicle force them to order one for you.
5. Personalize or customize your ride – Purchase customized wheels, or do something to set your GM vehicle apart from others.
6. Display your enthusiasm – Purchase die cast cars, wear Chevrolet shirts and jackets, put your favorite GM product on your coffee cup, and purchase GM clocks.

This rally is going to take help for all of us who are fans of General Motors and I personally only own Chevrolet products, i.e. a Tahoe, Camaro and Cavalier. I going to do my part, now if GM would simply speed up the time table for the new Camaro I believe the ship can be righted!

Last week I received an e-mail from a woman who previously requested information form our tech web site. She did not leave her name with the request, and I sent a message back addressed to “sir”. She informed me that I should never assume that people writing to our tech web site are always men. I responded back to her in complete agreement and pointed out it’s extremely difficult to tell the gender of a person from an e-mail address alone. I certainly understand her point and I try hard to ensure that I don’t offend anyone while responding to their questions. I get many e-mails, and always try to provide the best information I possibly can to the requestor. During the last eight years that I’ve been with this company I’ve attended car shows across the country and have noticed the increased involvement by women. I see more and more women racing when I attend local drags too. Female drag racers this year have risen to the top in Top Alcohol Dragster, Top Fuel, and Pro Stock Bike winning championships in each class. Gender has little to do with winning championships; these women are simply good racers who displayed the ability to win. I also have that competitive spirit and when I race during an event I pump myself up more when there’s a woman in the other lane. I’ll admit that I am “old school” – I just don’t want a woman to beat me!! While attending a performance trade show last fall I met a female Pro Stock racer named Erica Enders and we talked briefly about what it was like to drive a 1200 horsepower race car. What impressed me during our conversation was how polite she was to someone she had never met, and how much she loved racing. Since our meeting I’ve become a fan of her team and I’ve tracked her team’s progress. Erica is currently ranked number three in the points standing and just missed winning her first event last weekend. I’m glad that our sport is growing and that men and women can compete equally. There’s nothing like a good day at the track.

Each week I receive Camaro Club News Letters from various clubs all over the United States informing me of the upcoming events. I still don’t understand why more enthusiasts don’t join clubs like these and participate in the fun events. The total number of Camaros is in the hundreds of thousands but it will be difficult to find Camaro club rosters with more than 200 members. A true Camaro enthusiast should have the strong desire to learn more about his vehicles inner workings and share the knowledge he has with others. One point in a club news letter that caught my attention was club meeting places. Each month the club meets at a different location such as a Steakhouse, or seafood restaurant rather than holding meetings at a member’s house. Each month this same club has scheduled outings to a zoo or other fun places, as well as benefit cruises. These events are fun places the entire family can enjoy and look forward to on a monthly basis. Car clubs have a variety of people from all walks of life, and once you’re a member you form bonds for life. Your children will remember riding in your Camaro to a particular event and they too will grow up and hopefully become Camaro enthusiast too!

With only 17 days remaining until the F-Body Gathering in Atlanta Georgia my time is spent sprucing up my Camaro for the show. Since my car has spent many weekends on the drag strip, I noticed that I’ve acquired shoe polish specks from writing numbers on the glass. These specks as well as other paint imperfections needed to be removed. Now is where the fun comes in! The clay bar is fantastic for removing paint overspray, tree sap, bug stuff and other things imbedded in the paint. Using the clay bar is labor intensive, meaning it requires rubbing, rubbing and more rubbing to remove all the paint imperfections. The body must be kept wet using either a detailers spray or car wash soap and water. I chose the latter, and this made my task simple. After clay baring the car, you must wash the vehicle again and dry it thoroughly then immediately wax the car. Now I’m a Zaino user and that’s my choice, I just like the way the product give the black paint on my Camaro that deep dark mirror like shine. I’m certain that other waxes will work, but I have my preference and it happens to be Zaino products. Now under the car is bad, real bad and I used a purple cleaning agent that you simply spray on let it set for a few minutes and hose it off. No rubbing and your undercarriage looks great. This week I will be polishing the wheels and I’m going to try using a drill with a buffing wheel. Since I’ve never used one of these before I can’t comment on it’s effectiveness but I’m sure that it will save time.

During this preparation phase I also must make sure that my tow vehicle and trailer is road worthy. Last week I removed my trailer wheels repacked the wheel bearings and adjusted the trailer brakes. I also replaced the tires since I did not want any problems with them and I wanted to upgrade to a better eight ply trailer tire. My “to do” list is getting shorter and shorter, and my completion date is set for the 21st of May. Lube and oil change on both vehicles will be completed by next week and there should only be a few items remaining. The hardest part about getting ready for the F-Body gathering is not being able to drive my car because I don’t want to redo the entire cleaning process again. So there you have it, my weekend in a nut shell. See you at the Gathering!

Sometimes I receive questions as to which power adder a customer should run on his or her pride and joy. Nitrous, Blower, or Turbo are the most common power adders. The first question I ask is what is the intended purpose for the vehicle? Is it a street/strip vehicle? A road race vehicle? Or street only vehicle? If the vehicle is a street/strip vehicle where money is an object, I advise the customer to install a simple Nitrous kit keeping the horsepower level at 150 or less depending upon engine components. If the customer has installed major engine components such as; forged pistons, good rods, and steel crank then the horsepower levels can go much higher. The down side of nitrous is refilling the bottle, which I as a nitrous user have four bottles at my disposal so that’s not a problem for me. Since I’m on the subject of nitrous I will always caution any user of this power adder by informing them to always monitor the fuel pressure. If your fuel pressure is low and your motor injects too much nitrous, things tend to go “BOOM”! When I first built my motor, it was built with the intentions of using nitrous at the track. I installed the best components I could afford such as; forged pistons, big rods with 7/16 rod bolts and of course a forged crank. Being an old NHRA stock racer where power adders could not be used, this was my first experience with nitrous. I read everything I could get my hands on about nitrous and I paid attention to the safety aspects of this gas. On thing I learned quickly is that nitrous works best under pressure. If you raise the pressure (using an electric bottle heater kit) to 950-1000 psi your performance will greatly improve. Now again I say with caution, you may break some other parts i.e. rear end or transmission but if all these parts are in good working order, your car will fly. When I say that you may break something else I’m speaking from experience. During one of my quarter mile Saturday night elimination runs I made one last check of my bottle pressure and it was at 975 psi. As I staged and made the pass I noticed a loud clunk when I shifted to second gear and once in third gear the car felt sluggish. My time slip read 1.41 60 foot, 10.41 e.t. at only 126.10 and my mile per hour had dropped more than 2 mph. (I lost, the car ran too fast, and I ran faster than my e.t. dial). On the way back to my trailer I tested the transmission and discovered that I had no second gear. Nitrous as well as other power adders have a way of finding the weakest link in your drive train and mine was the sprag in the transmission. After a complete rebuild of the transmission I was back at the track testing both the transmission and several tire compounds and my miles per hour was back and the smile on my face returned. To me that’s what it’s all about “having fun”! So for the money I like nitrous. Blowers and Turbos are excellent power adders but they are expensive and require lots of parts to function properly. Turbos make lots of power and if given the choice and money was not a factor, I probably would change my power adder to a Turbo, no two turbos, remember I work on the “more is better” theory! No matter what you chose take the time to investigate the pros and cons about your system of choice, you’ll be glad you did.

I hear from customers weekly about the new Concept Camaro and why GM won’t simply build a Camaro like the original 1st generation car.
I have a better understanding as to what it takes to build cars since I’ve been in the automotive business. Times have really changed and the best part of the 21st century is the availability of restoration parts. If a car enthusiast is interested in owning a new 69 Camaro, he can simply order a complete body that comes with new sheet metal from the firewall back. Just think a completely new body with new doors, trunk lid, quarters, floors, and rocker panels completely welded together and delivered at your house. Gone are the days of searching for doors, deck lids and other body parts for your project. I think it would be exciting to drive your Camaro knowing that you put this project in motion by ordering a complete body. You can have air conditioning, small or big block, and a decent paint job and not be at the mercy of GM to build what your heart desired. Now that’s what I call “having it your way”!

Well the votes are in and I wish I could sugar coated the various opinions about the Concept Camaro. One writer really made his dislike for the Concept Camaro known by saying that GM should get rid of the current design team and hire people that actually owned Camaros. Another writer stated that GM should build the Concept Camaro right now and stop wasting time. On the other side of the coin, the new Concept Challenger R/T has the overwhelming response from Mopar fans that can’t wait to own one of these new cars. At a recent unveiling at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit people chanted “We will buy! We will buy! The Challenger will most likely come to market first and there are some reports that the car will arrive at dealerships in early 2008 as a 2009 model. The biggest complaint people have with the Camaro is the fact that they can’t see enough “retro” in the car to satisfy the “retro itch”. I personally feel that the Concept Car could have been a little more retro, but I understand GM’s look towards the future. The only problem I have with this is I; like so many other “baby boomers” grew up with these early Camaros and I think it would be cool to resurrect all these early Mustangs, Challengers and Camaros for our last fling, prior to hitting the rocking chairs. My two cents worth!

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, General Motors Corp, has not announced plans to build the Chevrolet Camaro, but that’s a mere technicality for a local Chevy dealer. Les Stanford Chevrolet in Dearborn Michigan has solicited deposits from enthusiasts who want to order the Camaro. In the May edition of the national car-enthusiast magazine DuPont Registry, Stanford published an ad that says “the new Camaro is coming,” advising readers to “reserve yours today.”

The dealership took five deposits of about $1,000 each after placing the ad, owner Paul Stanford said. After hearing from GM on Thursday, Stanford said he will discontinue the advertisement. The ad will run in the June edition, but Stanford says he’s pulled the ad from July. “I have agreed to take the (Camaro) picture out of the ad.” Stanford says. “It will be removed, and any language about the new Camaro coming will be removed.”

Stanford sold 350 Corvettes last year, and many of those owners fervently hope GM builds the Camaro. “Customers can reclaim their Camaro deposits it they wish Stanford says.”

Chevrolet hopes to announce its plans for the Camaro this summer according to Chevrolet spokesman Mike Albano.

This new Camaro is starting to turn the public into a buying frenzy but I personally don’t see the new Camaro hitting the streets until late 2009. It’s a shame because so many people fell in love with this vehicle after seeing it for the first time. We will simply have to wait a little longer to own our new 5th generation Camaro.

Having read the various car magazines on the market today, it always appears to me that most of these magazines are searching for stories. Our industry is full of “how to” articles, but most magazines forget that the average Joe does not have a full shop at this disposal. How often have you read a tech article that says “once you have the car in the air check for exhaust leaks”? They always assume that you have a lift available in your garage and although they are becoming more and more popular most of us don’t have one.

I always said that if a magazine really wanted a story simply go the local weekend car show and interview the owners of the various hot rods at these shows. I know that many of the hot rodders and street performance guys like to inflate the horsepower rating of their particular engine and this is something that’s hard to dispute unless you’ve seen the car at the track. I like stories like “I found this car behind an old barn” because there is always a story within a story once you speak to the car owner. I’ve heard stories like “A 1969 Camaro owner purchased his car prior to leaving for Vietnam, and he never returned. The mother had such an attachment to this car that she refused to sell it so it was stored in a barn for decades until she passed then it was sold by another family member”. There’s a more recent story about a gentleman who stored several limited edition Camaros and motors in a shipping container and welded up the doors. He passed away and the shipping container was open only to discover these cars and motors in a time capsule.

Another good source for magazine articles is the local drag strip where beautiful original Chevelles, Camaros, Novas and others can be found pounding the race track. Many of these cars also have a long history and I’ve personally spoken to a few Camaro owners that purchased these “one owner” cars in the late 60’s and 70’s and have race their cars throughout the years. Another source of good reading to me is father and son stories where the father is helping his son get involved in the show car circuit. So you see there are numerous human interest stories out there and if no one else will provide this information you’ll be able to read it in the Camaro World magazine.