billybaloneey
11-18-2008, 10:46 PM
About a month ago I learned I would be going to the Chicago area...Schaumburg...for business. While planning my trip, just for grins I took a look at the map and discovered Haibeck Automotive Technology was only about a 30 minute drive from where I would be staying. I emailed Marc Haibeck and asked him if I could come by and visit his shop. He replied, "Your visit would be quite welcome."
I flew into O'Hare yesterday, got a rental car and made a beeline to Marc's shop. I've never seen so many stinking toll booths in my life.
I called before getting there to make sure it was still alright to stop by and visit. He greeted me at the back door wiping ZR-1 grease off of his hands. He had 4 or 5 ZR-1's in various stages of repairs, some with engines in and some with engines out. Marc showed me around the cars he was working on, answered all my questions, gave me some tips and pointers he'd learned from experience. It was the cleanest and most orderly shop I've ever seen, even will all the cars being worked on.
While talking about cleaning up my plenum and cam covers, I asked him if he knew where I could get a couple of cam cover emblems...one of mine is missing and the other is badly dis-colored. He told me I was in luck, he just received a supply of emblems a few days earlier. They are very nice reproductions. He showed me an original, and when compared to the reproductions, I couldn't tell the difference until I picked one up...the repo's are slightly heavier.
We talked windshields, radiators, ECM chips, plenums, porting, headers, engines, etc. I never felt rushed or pressured to rap it up and leave. Marc's son was there working in the shop also. When I asked him if he had a ZR-1, he proudly said he had a Trans Am :icon_scra I even learned the story of when and how Marc became a ZR-1 wizard.
I left with a chip, two cam cover emblems and a couple of other items. Marc is really a great guy, and I hope everyone that is truly passionate about ZR-1's, their history, how they work, how to fix them, etc, has an opportunity to talk and/or meet with him.
I flew into O'Hare yesterday, got a rental car and made a beeline to Marc's shop. I've never seen so many stinking toll booths in my life.
I called before getting there to make sure it was still alright to stop by and visit. He greeted me at the back door wiping ZR-1 grease off of his hands. He had 4 or 5 ZR-1's in various stages of repairs, some with engines in and some with engines out. Marc showed me around the cars he was working on, answered all my questions, gave me some tips and pointers he'd learned from experience. It was the cleanest and most orderly shop I've ever seen, even will all the cars being worked on.
While talking about cleaning up my plenum and cam covers, I asked him if he knew where I could get a couple of cam cover emblems...one of mine is missing and the other is badly dis-colored. He told me I was in luck, he just received a supply of emblems a few days earlier. They are very nice reproductions. He showed me an original, and when compared to the reproductions, I couldn't tell the difference until I picked one up...the repo's are slightly heavier.
We talked windshields, radiators, ECM chips, plenums, porting, headers, engines, etc. I never felt rushed or pressured to rap it up and leave. Marc's son was there working in the shop also. When I asked him if he had a ZR-1, he proudly said he had a Trans Am :icon_scra I even learned the story of when and how Marc became a ZR-1 wizard.
I left with a chip, two cam cover emblems and a couple of other items. Marc is really a great guy, and I hope everyone that is truly passionate about ZR-1's, their history, how they work, how to fix them, etc, has an opportunity to talk and/or meet with him.