Late night thrash session with the help of good people...

[Steve1968LS2]

It's funny, I tell my wife all the time about how "car people are the best people out there" and times like this prove me right.

We have been thrashing and working on Penny pretty hard for the last two weeks in hopes of having her at the Good Guys Del Mar show. This was especially important for the shop, Best of Show, Coachworks in San Marcos since it's thier home turf.

We had two main issues (besides the crappy electrical guy). The first was low oil pressure. I'm pretty sure it's a bad o-ring on the pickup tube. I dropped in two extra quarts and the oil pressure went from 8psi to 25-30 psi. The car can be driven slowly, at low RPM, so it should be good to go for hitting the show. (I'm inside so I only need to park the car and leave it).

The other problem was an inop clutch. The first issue we found with it was the wrong size clutch, so it wouldn't release. Dick at Best of Show dropped the trans and replaced the clutch. When back together late yesterday it was still inop. I got the call and got out there last night (and I was sorta sick for too much sun covering the Super Chevy Show).

Anyways, Jeff Mortenson of Classic Chevy 5-speed and his VP of product development, Jim Goodlad (aka GM Jim), came by the shop at 8pm last night to take a look. Jim is a tranny wiz and knew right away that something was wrong. Next thing I know Dick, Jeff and Jim say "lets pull it out and fix it". We pulled the trans, found the issue and put the trans back in. Finish time was midnight. All three had tons of work to do the next day yet they stayed to try and make my junk work. Hell, Jim still had jet-lag from coming from the east coast.

I've always said that this hobby isn't about cars, it's about people. Nights like that show me that the statement is as true today as it has ever been.

Thanks to Dick of "Best of Show Coachworks", GM Jim and Jeff of "Classic Chevy 5-speed" for going the extra mile to help me out.

Here are three very good people helping me out:

[mazspeed]

:thumbsup: That is awesome Steve. I had issues with my Keisler TKO and Jeff came in and answered my questions for me that Keisler didn't do without many phone calls before I spoke to Jeff. I told people then that the next time I buy and tranny it's from Jeff. You can't beat his customer service and knowledge. I didn't even buy that tranny from him, but the next time, and there will be a next time, Jeff get's ALL of my business hands down. That's cool that they came in and helped.

[4mm]

I have yet to buy anything from them yet they are ready and willing to answer any questions I may have. Very friendly and they never try to "peddle" something you don't need. When I am in the market, these guys will get my business.

This says alot for the company. :thumbsup:

[Rick Dorion]

Wow - great feedback, Steve. I agree 100%.

What was the clutch issue?

[J2SpeedandCustom]

That right there is why this "hobby" is the greatest in the world. People will drop everything to help, and even give you parts no questions asked to fix an issue!

Sounds like your going to make the show Steve can wait to see pics... :thumbsup:

[Steve1968LS2]

Wow - great feedback, Steve. I agree 100%.

What was the clutch issue?

First was that the clutch was a 12-inch unit.. too big and wouldn't release. Switched to an 11-inch.

Second was that I didn't properly trim the backing plate on the SFI scattershield. This caused it to bow out and interfer with the spinning flywheel. I should have known, then again there were no instructions included with it. Oh well, live and learn.

[Payton King]

a hand. People in this hobby really are the best. Another strange thing about this hobby. Time. Whether you were trying to make a show this weekend or a month from now...you would still be thrashing up to the time you rolled it out. Does anyone, including myself, finish a car a month before any show or event that you want to attend?

Did you get the wiring issues handled? Was that all that was left to do?

[Ummgawa]

First was that the clutch was a 12-inch unit.. too big and wouldn't release. Switched to an 11-inch.

Finally!! Somewhere when an extra inch in absolutely no good to dude.


Awesome Steve, The thing about the hobby I like the most is just that...good guys that will help at the drop of a hat.

[RedRyder]

Steve, I know exactly what you are talking about. Carguys are the absolute best. I am so grateful for everyone that I work and deal with. They have offered up their time, their homes, and their garages to my family and I.

Me, my brother, and my dad were on a family trip out to the west coast in the 65 Parisienne when we spun a rod bearing west of Calgary. We got towed back in to town at 4:30 on a Friday and were dropped off at a local shop. The shop wanted $2400 and 7-10 days to fix it, but couldn't start until monday. That would have wrecked our holiday and put a serious dent in our wallets. A guy (Les) at the shop came up to us and started talking to us about the car and asked how everything was going. Well, when we told him the story of us being from out of town and not having a whole lot of options other than having it flatbedded home, he got on the phone, located a 283 to drop in, and told us of a U-Wrench-it nearby. At 8 in the morning the next day, we started unhooking everything and by 10 Les showed up to help us out. By 12, the 283 arrived which was lent to us for free by another guy. Long story short, by 6 pm Sunday, the Pontiac had a new motor, we had 2 new friends, and we went on to finish our trip. Also, Les dropped us off at a hotel saturday night, picked us up sunday morning, and worked with us that whole second day. We all couldn't believe how they went out of their way to help us out. They saved our trip and gave us a terrific story to tell.

Along those same lines, we're now working on a69 Charger R/T turning it into a mild pro-tourer. This is my first project near this magnitude and it's even tougher because I am a student living in a 2nd floor condo. My parts are in a friends attic and basement, and the car body occupies another friends garage in the summer where we work on it. These guys continue to amaze me and make me so grateful for the friends I have. I couldn't do it otherwise. Means even more to me because the car started as a father son project but dad passed in 2005, so we're finishing it to honour him, as well as have something fun to tool around in.

Car guys really are the absolute best. Bless you all

long post, but I've seen amazing things in my life....meant a lot to me