Lee's Speed Shop 1967 camaro transmission worst then when I took it to Lee's wrightsville, Pennsylvania
I took my 67 Camaro to Lee's to get my transmission repaired. reverse, 1st and 3rd gear worked fine. I took it to him to rebuild it because 2nd gear was slipping really bad sometimes not working at all. Lee called me and said it was all fixed and ready to go.(HA HA). I picked up the car but when I went to leave the car would not go or turn corners at all.
I called Lee he said bring it back to him. He put car on lift and began to use bad words and yelling at his son throwing my car parts around as if they did'nt mean nothing to him. These were Brand New rim and lugs. All of this was in front of my wife and I. I told him we were going that it was no big hurry just make the Transmission right. I already paid you this is all that I aks. What right is right.
So he called me told me it was ready to go AGAIN. So we picked up the car and I drove it home. Transmission was so tight as if it had no power to go. This is a 396 engine W/400 trans. Sop I called him again and he said this is because you have all new parts that it would break in after a while. I told him ok but if it don't work I willbe calling you.A couple of days later stopped to get some gas. Went to pull out and something left lose car then took off like a rocket. But it had no 2nd gear just like when I took it to him to fix in the 1st place.
So I called him once again and this time he got a really bad attatuide with me and said I don't have time for this because the Streetrod Nationals were coming to town and he had to ready for the show. So I said that's ok I will call you afterwords to get the car fixed. But now Lee would not talk to me anymore he now has his son calling me. I could her him in the background but he would'nt get on the phone.
So now my car was in his shop (AGAIN). His son began calling me coming up with Excuses that the drive shaft is to big (LONG) . Remember Reverse and 3rd still work but not 2nd gear. Same as what I took in in for in the 1st place. He wanted to get it cut. This shft cost 369.00 to replace it if cut wrong. I told him no way!!!! So then his son called again telling me that the rear Brakes were also making the trans not work (WHAT?) I said I told him I want my car back now. His son Scott called me and said we need to go over my NEW bill I said what Bill this was to be fixed from the other 3 time that it was wrong.
Now Scott calls me and says If I don't pay ($600.00 ) more I can not get the Car. So I tiold him I was contacting my lawyer ( who ever thought this would come to this over a transmissin that was never fixed to begin with ad paid for $1956.00 ) So I told Scott not LEE again That I will not give another penny I already paid Lee for something that was never fixed. I then tell him My lawyer will now take care of this matter. So Scott calls once more telling me I would only have to pay (300.00) to get the car that Lee was taking the brakes back off the car that he put without even contacting me.. (What ever ) he still wasn't getting more money. That the car can sty where it is and my Lawyer can handle the matter. So 1hour later I get yet another call from Scott that my car willbe outside and I can pick it up anytime that I now have no boo. But I need to use a trailer to bring it home. So I go to get the car I see Lee running to close his shop door to AVOID me.
So I get ready to move the car to my trailer but Car won't go forward only reverse. As if did something deliberately to my car.
I finally got the car on the trailer and brought it home now MY car is in worse runnig shape then when I took it to Honest LEE'S HA HA what a joke this Guy turned out to be Can't even face you MAN TO MAN to admit the he cannot be and honnest man. So now I have to Let my lawyer go after him for the total mess thaT HE HAS DONE TO MY CAR AND KEPT EVERY DOLLAR THAT I PAID HIM FOR A JOB THAT HAS NEVER GOTTEN DONE RIGHT.
anYONE WHO NEEDS WORK DONE ON YOUR CAR. don't call lee's speed shop !!!!!
YOU WILL LEAVE BROKE AND WITH OUT YOUR MONEY AN GET A NINE YARD RUNAROUND. He says that he don't belive in ripp off people. He is the most DIS-HONEST PERSON THAT I HAVE SEE IN A LONG TIME DON"T USE HIM I WARN YOU!!!!!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Lee''''s Speed Shop
Wrightsville,Pennsylvania,
USA
1967 Camaro
#2UPDATE Employee
Thu, September 02, 2010
Joe called our shop about getting the transmission and rear differential fixed on the 1967 Camaro he had bought recently. We rebuilt both, and the car freewheeled perfectly on our lift. So we called the customer and sent him on his way.
45 minutes later, he called back saying the car felt like it locked up after filling up at the bottom of the hill. So we brought it back in and checked it out. A close inspection revealed a clearance issue in the tail of the transmission. We fixed this, checked it out on the lift again, and it worked like a dream. We did this at no charge, despite the transmission having no warranty as it was not a stock unit, but a race unit. We also informed him that if it still had a problem, we would replace the case itself and he would have to pay for the case, as well as half the labor.
A week later he called back with a problem again, but at this point we had another vehicle on our lift, and were working on several projects to get ready for the Street Rod Show. We brought him in as soon as we had the lift free.
At this point, it was starting to seem like the transmission itself was not the root cause of the problem, so when we took the driveshaft out this time we started checking to find the source of the resistance. The tail of the transmission turned properly, but the rear end could barely be turned by hand. Once we took the brake drums off however, the rear turned with ease. Turns out, the e-brake cables were seized. So the seizing up he was complaining about was likely due to dragging the rear brakes all the time. Additionally, the rear brake hose was cracked, so the regular rear brakes were non-functional. If these were working, they might have helped the e-brake to disengage. The rear brakes would not pass Pennsylvania safety inspection.
The wheels did not fit the rear axles properly, and were jury-rigged with washers to try and improve the fit; which could contribute to the problems the vehicle experienced, and would also not pass Pennsylvania safety inspection.
The driveshaft issue became more apparent when we swapped out the case for him, as the new one hadn't been worn away and impacted internally. At this point, the driveshaft was even more difficult to install. Driveshafts have slip-yokes for a reason; as the rear differential moves, the distance between the tail of the transmission and the yoke of the rear changes. www.musclemotorparts.com/driveshaft_measure.htm. Between this and the brake problems, the transmission was being subjected to more strain than it could handle.
We fixed the brake issues, and notified him that his driveshaft was the wrong length. He decided to go to one of his friends for a replacement driveshaft. The next day, he called back saying none of his friends had ever heard of driveshaft length being an issue. He then said he wanted his car back, so I went over his bill with him. He became upset and started threatening legal action, despite having told us to go ahead when we said that we were going to fix whatever we found wrong, and that he would be paying for it.
So we put his old, defunct brake hardware back on and only charged him for the transmission work, as we'd agreed on the last time around. He was still upset. At this point, we had had enough of dealing with both him and his vehicle. So I called him back again, told him we'd back the car out, there would be no bill, and he should trailer the car home and get the brakes fixed as soon as possible.
We do our best to be honest and fair to the customer, but unfortunately it's a fact of life in this business that we regularly get blamed for problems that were caused long before we had any dealings with the vehicle. We tried to make his car right, even though the mistakes were not ours. We cannot do this for free and remain in business, nor should we have to.
The problems on this car were all the result of the transmission being between a high performance motor, over-length driveshaft, and dragging rear brakes. A $900 TH-400 with a shift kit won't stand up to all of that normally, let alone when it's being driven as hard as the rubber in the wheel wells suggested.