67 Camaro "The Victim"

[Spiffav8]

At the end of my last post I stated it was time to address a few things. Honestly there are things that are over due. The car is so much fun to drive, even with the issues and it was hard for me to take it off the road. I am very thankful to have been able to drive it this past summer with all the restrictions and COVID B.S.

A couple of months ago I called Chris Holstrom and asked if he would be willing to take the car in and address a few pesky issues, rework a couple of things I decided I wanted changed and button up a few small items. Chris was very receptive and setup a conference call with him and his shop manager. During the call we talked through every little item on my list, my expectations, time frame, etc. It wasn't a "yeah, yeah, yeah" kind of call either. They actually talked options and approach on every items with me. They took the time to explain how they approach any build, the documentation process, billing, etc. It was much more professional than I have experienced anywhere and extremely impressive! With a tentative delivery date of just before Christmas and an expectation that the car wouldn't be started on until after the new year, I arranged for Transport.

During my visit to Scottsdale I learned that Gwen Weld had sold her home there and was returning to the Seattle area and just happened to be moving about the same time as my car was headed that way. Oddly, the transporter lives in Scottsdale and was able to not only move Gregs truck and Gwens car, but also all of her house hold goods. JRods is storing Gregs truck and the car for Gwen till she is unpacked and ready for them. That was perfect as the driver needed to pick up a Mustang at JRods and haul it back to AZ. Kinda weird... even stranger was getting a text from Craig Morrison (who recommended the driver) saying he had just spent a long weekend at the cabin and upon reaching the first stop light on his way home... looked over and was next to the truck hauling all the cars and Gwens stuff. Crazy. I'm taking it all as good sign that the lotto tickets I bought on the way back from Scottsdale are going to be a big winner. LMAO

All clean and ready to go:


In good company:


All locked down and ready to go:


JRods gave me VIP parking during the stop over:


When she finally arrived at Chris Holstroms Concepts (CHC) they didn't waste anytime getting her in documenting and inventorying everything. I had over 100 photos within a few hours.



I actually really dig some of the pictures they took. Jim really killed it on the paint and body work. It's art.

[Spiffav8]

One thing that wasn't on my list was a new Transmission. A few weeks ago while "driving" on the freeway next to a Mercedes AMX GT-R at 130 mph, "in Mexico" (I won) the rear seal decided to give up the ghost. It wasn't gushing gushing thankfully and I hadn't noticed anything wrong until I exited the freeway and spotted a bit of smoke coming out from under the hood. Figured she may have puked a little oil out of the breather tank and pulled over to check. I was and wasn't surprised to find that one of the fitting on lines to the AC compressor had broken and the hose was against the header. No big, those where on the list of things for CHC to address anyways. I secured the hose, mopped up the AC oil best I could and pressed on to meet friends for lunch. Still had a little smoke coming out the back of the car, but figured it was residue burning off. Hitting the freeway on the return trip and shifting into 5th resulted in a crazy vibration. I slowed and pulled off at the next exit expecting to find something stuck in a rear tire. Instead I found the rear of the car covered in transmission fluid. I limped a few blocks home at a 20 mph, cleaned her up and got her up on jack stands.











Thankfully the bottom of the car is coated with UPOL Raptor and all the rear end/suspension parts are powder coated. This made clean up easy. A bit of simple green and a mountain of rags did the job. The Ricks Stainless tank took a bit more work, but it wasn't bad.

With the car set to leave for CHC i was pressed to get it fixed and started looking at how to address the issue. Jody pointed out that the rear seal is a known defect and that basically the fluid get trapped in the tail housing and builds pressure till the seal pops. There is a fix and it's possible the tail housing would be covered under a recall, but that would take time. After adding up all the possible costs, time, etc. the smart money seemed to be upgrading to the new T56 Magnum-F. It's a direct replacement for my old school T56, so no shifter relocation or cutting required. Plus it will hold a lot more TQ and it should shift a lot nicer from what I've heard. I called the guys over at American Powertrain and had them ship one to CHC. Great guys. Helpful and easy to deal with. The new trans arrived yesterday, which is the day after the car arrived.

I didn't expect any work to start until after the new year, but CHC jump right on it today and made quick work of swapping out the transmission. Chris was nice enough to send photos.



It's a bummer having to swap the trans, but I have to say that working with American Powertrain and Chris Holstroms has made what could have been a major thorn, painless.

There will be more to come.

Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas!!

[WSSix]

Your seal didn't let loose. Your tail shaft bearing moved. That's the dull gray part sitting between your slip yoke and the seal.

Regardless, the car's in good hands. Hope it returns to you very soon.

[Spiffav8]

Originally Posted by WSSix

Your seal didn't let loose. Your tail shaft bearing moved. That's the dull gray part sitting between your slip yoke and the seal.

Regardless, the car's in good hands. Hope it returns to you very soon.

Thanks for the correction Trey. Shouldn’t be an issue with the new Magnum.

[WSSix]

I believe this is the walk condition that the no walk bearings are supposed to prevent. I really don't know much about it though as it's never been a problem I've encountered.

What are you going to do with this T56?

[Spiffav8]

I’ll have to read up on that as I’ve never heard of it. Learning a lot about transmissions these days.

I’ll sell it as is. It’s not a total lose.

[waynieZ]

Sorry to hear about the problems, but glad to see them getting fixed so soon.

[Spiffav8]

Originally Posted by waynieZ

Sorry to hear about the problems, but glad to see them getting fixed so soon.

In the big picture of life.... it's not a bad thing to have happen. Gotta keep it all in perspective. All part of the adventure.

Trey set me on an interesting path and I've learned something new... so it has it's sliver lining.

[cjfirstgen]

Car is looking great. It is certainly in good hands to get the issues sorted. What trans ratio did you go with?

[Spiffav8]

Originally Posted by cjfirstgen

Car is looking great. It is certainly in good hands to get the issues sorted. What trans ratio did you go with?

It’s a 2.66... same as the old one. It’s worked well and I didn’t feel any need to change it. What are you running?