Eckler's Camaro World

As previously announced Eckler’s Camaro and General Motors Corporation will host the 40th Anniversary of the Camaro & Firebird in Detroit, Michigan. If you plan to attend this “once in a life time event”, it’s extremely important that you PRE-REGISTER to avoid the long registration lines at the host hotel (Best Western Sterling). We know that Scott Settlemire wants a 1,000 F-Bodies at F-Body events and he should not be disappointed at the number of F-Bodies in attendance at this event. Camaro & Firebird enthusiast from across the country are planning to converge on Detroit to celebrate the car we all love, so make plans to be a part of this great event and REGISTER EARLY!

GM recently released a bulletin #05513 for all 2000-2002 Camaro & Firebirds equipped with the 5.7 LS1 engines (VIN Code G) stating that owner of these vehicles may experience a failure of the left or right catalytic converter. This special warranty coverage covers the condition described above for a period of 10 years or 120,000 miles, or whichever occurs first from the date the vehicle was originally placed in service regardless of ownership. The repairs will be made at no charge to the customer.

This information was provided by our NH State Rep, Ken Howe Sr.

As car guys we are probably some of the most informed people of any type of hobbist. Automotive information is available thru various sources such as; books, TV, other automotive enthusiast and of course the internet. I feel that the internet is the best source of information available to us today. Just this morning I was reading one of the Camaro forums and a individual was looking for a clutch fluid cover for his car. Another informed individual quickly replied that he saw one at a auto parts store in the help section. This kind of information just 10 years ago was not available and numerous phone calls were required before you located your part. Camaro guys continue to rebuild cars and although most parts are available for the 1st generation Camaros, the later generations still require a lot of searching for most of their parts. This is where the internet becomes an invaluable tool for locating parts. Some of the best web sites are CAMARO Z28.COM, LS1.COM, CHIRPTHIRD.COM and if you're into drag racing; RACEJUNK.COM. There are many more excellent web sites out there, and everyone knows about YAHOO.COM which you can use to find car parts, bikes, cars and much more. Each morning I answer e-mails from customers requesting parts information, and believe me I really enjoy this quick and easy method of replying to the customers needs. Although I'm still old school and still like to use the telephone, there's only so many hours in a day, and the internet makes much better use of my time. So for those of us that are changing with the times, this computer age has really been an asset and I still wonder how I was able to live all those past years without one!

The Daytona Beach Florida Turkey Rod Run Show was the place to be if you're a car guy or girl. This area was full of some of the finest early model cars in the country and many of them were for sale. I spoke to several guys who purchased cars for members of their family, and there were great deals to be had at this event. I saw a beautiful 69 Hugger Orange Camaro that was well worth the asking price of 36,000 and this car probably could command much more at a Barrett Jackson auction. Not far from the Daytona Speedway was a large car show on A1A which (not affiliated with the Turkey Rod Run) with mostly hot rods, street cars and a few full blown race cars in attendance. There were cars in excess of $200,000 which really wowed the crowd of hot rod enthusiast and the only bad part of this event was some of the show attendees lack of knowledge about car shows; such as not leaning or touching cars on display, parking in front of show cars and simply being bad sports. I saw lots of lack of common sense, which could have clearly lead to fights, and I quickly came to the conclusion many of the people attending this show simply had consumed too much alcohol. One idiot even managed to hit a very high dollar street machine and although he caused only minor damage this could have been avoided if he used some common sense. This being said, the car show was still a
great event, and the Turkey Rod Run was even better, with all the automotive vendors bringing out the best deals for this end of the year event. I also had to opportunity to meet several new Camaro enthusiast and I provided details about our club. It was a fun event!

This is a special time of the year were we should give thanks for the freedoms we are privileged to have as well as the special bonds with friends, family and co-workers. I personally would like to thank each and every member and customer of Worldwide Camaro Club and Eckler’s Camaro Parts for our successes this year. I would also like request that everyone thinks “SAFETY” during these holidays and remember that SEATBELTS really do save lives. I know that I don’t need to remind Camaro enthusiast about drinking and driving but I will say these few words “DON’T DO IT”. Have a safe Thanksgiving!

Just when you thought that new parts for Camaros would slow down someone comes up with new suspension designs that truly enhance the steering and handling of 1st generation Camaros. Heidt’s Hot Rod Shop introduced a new bolt-in 4-like kit that allows suspension tuning with adjustable 4 link mounts. Detroit Speed introduced a complete front end sub-frame kit with tubular A-Arms, coil over shocks and rack & pinion all completely installed in a nice sub-frame package. Now you can purchase a complete 69 Camaro body, install a new sub-frame and rear end package, purchase a new LS7 505 horsepower engine and have a car that not only looks good, but will out handle most new cars built by the big three. These are exciting times for car enthusiast in the U.S., since it no longer necessary to purchase a very well used body, and spend years on a never ending project. The SEMA show was full of early model Camaros with late model engines from LS1 to the monster 572 cubic inch motors which really make these cars more desirable to own. Exciting times are here…….

Many who are Camaro enthusiast tend to be Camaro loners, declining to join local or regional Camaro clubs for various personal reasons. I personally think that they are missing half the fun of owning such a wonderful vehicle because they miss out on the wonderful friendships that can be made as a member of a Camaro club. There are hundreds of Camaro clubs throughout the U.S., some as small as five members and others with more than a hundred members. With each club the common goal is to put on fun events as well as fund raisers that benefit various charity groups. Many Camaro clubs like; Classic Camaro Club of Central Florida, Western & Eastern Michigan Camaro Clubs, Northwest Jersey Camaro Club, Delaware Valley Riverfront Camaro Club, River City Camaro Club, Jacksonville, Florida, Riverfront Camaro Club of Maryland and many other Camaro clubs sponsor fund raisers, participate in parade for veterans, travel on sightseeing trips, assists fellow members with their project cars and many, many other activities. For Camaro owners who have young sons and daughters this can only enhance their feelings about these cars because they see the passion display by their fathers and mothers. I truly enjoy seeing these young people at our national and international events walking around looking at these beautiful cars. We someday must pass the Camaro torch on to our young people and they are very capable of continuing the passion……

Veterans Day was celebrated last Saturday, and across the country many Americans gave thanks to our country's service men and women. One of the nicest tributes in Central Florida was the Veterans day parade held in Orlando. The Camaro Club of Central Florida participated in this parade with numerous Camaros crusing in the parade as their way of saying thanks to our nations veterans. This was a very nice jesture, and we appreciate it guys! We often get wrapped up in our day to day activities, forgetting that our citizens are still dying in foreign countries. Although we may not agree with the war we must support our troops who are sent in harms way. Recently while on a trip to Las Vegas, I saw two young Marines in the hotel and I inquired about their duty station, and I was informed that in three days they were being shipped out to Iraq. I thanked them for their service to our great nation, and also let them know that I was also a war veteran but due to the unpopular Vietnam war no one thanked me, and bid I them farewell. Let's keep our men and women Soldiers, Sailor, Marines and Airmen in our prayers.......

Well we've had another great show season, and I've had the opportunity to meet many new Camaro enthusiast this year. We've travelled from Florida to Sacramento California, Springfield Missouri and on to St. Paul, MN, Detroit, Michigan,and other wonderful places around the US. One of the best comments I've heard this year came from individual who was relunctent to enter his car in the judging event because he felt his car was not as nice as the others in his class. After the judging was over and the awards were handed our he came over to me an said "I don't believe this" my car scored a 990, I'm thrilled! People place a lot of importance on how well their cars do at our shows, forgetting that the main theme of our shows is "fun". Most learn the hard way that they are often to worst critics of their cars and when a group of judges screen their cars it's a lot nicers than they thought possible. Where was the hottest show? That's easy, Springfield, Missouri where it was in the high 90's all weekend, with one day reaching the 100 degree mark. I thought it was hot in Florida, but Missouri was unbelieveable! After returning from what I call our "fun show" SEMA in Las Vegas, we prepare for our last local show in Daytona Beach Florida the "Turkey Rod Nationals" and we'll have approximately two months of "Down Time" before the 2007 Winter Nationals in Kissimmee, Florida.

Well another SEMA Year has come and gone and my legs are sore from walking the million square feet of the Los Vegas Convention Center. This years show was better than last year, and I thought it would be hard to top last years event. The vendor spaces seemed more organized this year, and although the crowds were extremely large the lines to various facilities went fast. One thing I noticed was the quality of cars at the show. Some individuals spared no expense when it came to building a car for display at this years event. There were cars from the mild restoration to the very wild restoration including one car which had a 57 Chevy front end, a 1958 mid section and a 1959 trunk all combined on a 2006 Corvette chassis. I'm sure that this car will be featured in many upcoming car magazines, it was truly wild. Outside in the parking lot Ford Mustangs driven by women outfitted for autocross racing were speeding and sliding around with precision. I was amazed at these ladies skill levels. These drivers would take passengers for rides around the specially coned off area at very fast speeds while manuvering between cones without hitting any. It was a great show! The great thing about this event is attendees have the opportunity to speak directly with members of the technical staff, and I brought several questions to this show, and they were quickly answered by the experts. There were many new parts on display, some of them still in the production stages, but many are ready for the wholesellers to introduce to catalogs and web sites. If there were one new invention I'd like to see, it would be mobile side walks that could make it easy on the feet. I've gotten more exercise this week, than I have the entire year, and yes these old legs are sore. It was fun, and I'm looking forward to SEMA next year.