CRG Discussion Forum

Model Specific Discussions => Trans-Am Camaros => Topic started by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:00:39 PM

Title: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:00:39 PM
Below is an in-depth interview with Gary Morgan, former Kodak employee and Trans-Am racer. His car was the 17th Z-28 built and was sold through Heinrich Chevrolet, Rochester, NY. Gary raced very successfully in a '63 Z06 Corvette prior to stepping into a Z-28 in '67.


Gary Morgan’s Z-28 Road Racer
[as told by Gary Morgan to Jon Mello]

   In the fall of 1966 there was discussion about the Trans-Am racing series in the SCCA Sportscar publication. It appeared that SCCA was finally going to pay purses for racing. As we had spent considerable dollars in the past, we thought it would be a good idea to try to recover some or at least try to reduce our out of the pocket expenses. We had heard about the Camaro and talked to Heinrich Chevrolet [Rochester, NY] about how maybe this was a car we could use, so Jon Heinrich talked to his contacts at GM and we were invited to visit the Tech Center in Warren, Mich.

    I believe it must have been about November when my Father, Jon Heinrich and I went there and met with Vince Piggins. We also met with Gib Hufstader and David Martins (who I believe were engineers), a guy we were we told to contact for parts named Barney Krass, and with Joe Pike who was at an office downtown someplace. Vince Piggins gave me a three page Technical News Release (that I still have today) on a special Z-28 model that was being released for SCCA racing. It was assumed right then that we were getting one of these cars as Vince gave us info on what aftermarket cam to use (Engle HL 26), spring rates, spring cutting for lowering the car, sway bar diameter, part numbers for American mag wheels that were to be available from GM (I still have a wooden shipping crate the wheels came in) and various other bits of info he thought we could use. The engineers were to be our contacts for any technical assistance and we were to call Barney for any special parts. I also still have the notes I took from that visit. Boy do I wish I had the forethought to have Vince Piggins sign that Tech Release!

    Upon our return to Rochester, Heinrich was told to order the car through the Zone Manager named Bill Dunne. We did not know what modifications SCCA would allow so we ordered high back bucket seats for additional support, the console package for the additional gages that were in it and the tilt steering wheel to aid getting in and out of the car when climbing over rollcage supports. We ordered a red car with black stripes, however it came with white stripes and they looked better anyway.

    Prior to delivery of the car in January 1967, Heinrich received a phone call from GM asking if we were going to race the car in Daytona or Sebring. If we were, they would make an early delivery so we would have time for preparation. We were in no way going to be able to make either race due to time and money constraints.

    The car came into Heinrich’s about the second or third week of January and I was called to pick it up with the loan of a dealer plate. Heinrich Chevrolet was about fifteen miles from my father’s garage where we worked on the cars. Seeing as though there was only light snow on the ground and the roads were only wet, I took it for a blistering ride on some of my favorite roads. WOW, this thing sure had plenty of power to start with, but with the wet roads, it was a handful to keep straight. I even went to the garage and put some left over rain tires from the Vette on the rear and took it out again with an old race buddy as a passenger. It was still too wild to do anything but go sideways, so as sanity crept in we decided we should take it to the garage before we wrecked it.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/MorganCamaroearlypic.jpg)
Brand new car after a wintery joy ride.                                                                                                    Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:04:54 PM
    The car was delivered without the rear spoiler and front valance. We were told they were not available when the car was delivered and they did not want to hold up the car for them. It's a good thing they didn't because I think it must have been May or June before we got them. We set to work on the car immediately, removing the engine, tearing it down, my father porting the heads and taking it all to Jess Haelen Engines for balancing, blue-printing, etc. The good GM “140” cam was not yet available so we installed the Engle HL26 cam. About this time we received a GM nodular iron light flywheel and 10.5 inch HD clutch along with some HD chassis parts from GM [HD front springs (864 lb rate), rear (356 lb rate), HD rear axles, tie rod ends, and ball joints]. We lowered the car two inches by cutting the front coils and using lowering blocks at the rear, we made our own body mounts out of aluminum using very thin ones at the front and gradually thicker ones as we went toward the back intending to put some rake in the front of the car. My father made bronze bushings for the upper and lower A-frames as well as the rear spring eyes. We made a panhard bar for the rear and installed a second rear axle locating arm on the left hand side to match the factory installed one on the right. We built a bolt in roll cage as we were not sure what Heinrich was going to do with the car after we were done racing it. Everything bolted in as units or subassemblies. We initially did use the factory seats as we had no definition as to what was legal. We ran the single Holley carb and the headers. The exhaust was supplied by a GM subcontractor (Bill Thomas or Jere Stahl, I think). The car was ready for the spring Trans-Am race at Lime Rock, Conn. ----- so we thought.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/MorganCamaroindriveway.jpg)
Prepped to go racing.                                                                                Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:08:17 PM
LIME ROCK TRANS-AM --- We thought we were ready for Lime Rock. When we went through inspection it was very thorough. They even weighed all four corners of the car with old grain scales and checked for FIA homologation papers, which we didn't have until a later date, but that was OK because I don't believe anyone had them (I still do). The Penske car was by far the best prepared Camaro. They even had a removable transmission panel to aid in getting access to the transmission.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorgan3.jpg)
In the Lime Rock Trans-Am paddock, May 1967                                                                                        Photo: Gary Morgan Collection

    Practice and qualifying was a disaster for us. The car would overheat badly after about two laps at speed and the handling was a disappointment as well. We thought we should try to stop the overheating and then worry about the handling. We took the carb apart and checked it, rechecked the timing, radiator circulation, water pump, temp gage, etc. etc. I think we qualified second last and, as we were in fear of destroying the engine, we decided not to race and loaded up and went home.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/MorganLimeRock1967.jpg)
Lime Rock Trans-Am practice lap, May '67

    When we got home, we called our friends at GM and told them of our problem. They told us we needed a larger capacity radiator (pt#3016688) so we ordered one and installed it. While we were on the phone we ask them to verify the carb jet size, and I am right now looking at the notes from that conversation. They said .072 for the primary and .077 for the secondary. We opened the jets to these numbers and thought we were ready for the Mid-Ohio Trans-Am. We also were told the rear spring rates were too stiff and we should remove one leaf from each rear spring.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Morganarticle1.jpg)
Lime Rock Trans-Am report                                                                                                            Courtesy of Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:11:06 PM
Off to MID-OHIO.  Penske with George Follmer driving, Jerry Titus with Mustang, Bud Moore with two Cougars and a bunch of other slugs like us. The Bud Moore Cougars were probably the most radically modified cars from the viewpoint of visible changes; fenders cut for tire clearance and stripped of most everything that didn't rotate. The difference between the factory cars and private cars was significant.
    Practice and qualifying for us was not much different than Lime Rock had been, engine still overheating but now we had also picked up a very significant push in the front end. We had left the rear spring leaves that GM had told us to take out at home so we changed the front sway bar and hoped that would help the handling to some degree. I went to the Penske pits to see if they had any suggestions for the overheating problem. The only person there was Follmer and he would not even talk to me. After practice when we were leaving the track, Roger Penske walked up to our tow car and suggested we use softer springs in the front because he said it looked like the front was out of sync with the rear. He also suggested an aluminum radiator might help with the heating problem.
    Race day, the hell with it! Let's run it and see what happens. I don't remember how long we lasted but we ran it and at one time I think we must have been in the first ten or so cars and all of a sudden, she blew up. I coasted over to the side, stopped and walked back to the pits. A spectator gave me a cold beer to drink on my long walk back. So much for Trans-Am.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Morgan55Petersenarchives.jpg)
Mid-Ohio Trans-Am, June 1967                                                                                                                    photo: Petersen Publishing
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:14:02 PM
    Yes, no more Trans-Am races. We found out that it was foolish to race the car when the overheating problem had not really been solved. We had melted two pistons and had to tear the engine down and take it back to Jess Haelen for a rebuild. This is when we put the 140 cam in. We got it back fairly soon and took it to Watkins Glen for the Glen 500. I believe this may have been when we changed the springs as well, fronts from 864lb/in. down to 615lb/in. and rear down from 356 to 300lb/in. rate. Once we got to the Glen, the car handled very well. All of the handling problems were gone, but the car was still overheating badly. My old Cobra friend, Hal Keck, came by to visit and we told him of the problem. He asked if we wanted his mechanic, Red, to take a look at the carb as Red had a lot of Holley carburetor experience. Red came over and in no time at all had the carb apart and found that the info we had received from GM on the jet sizes was wrong! Instead of .072 primary and .077 secondary, they should have told us #72 and #77 jet sizes. We had a set of small drills and my father and Red drilled out the jets to as close as they could guess they should be and out on the track I went. What a difference, no overheating and it handled!

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Morganarticle2.jpg)
Watkins Glen 500 article, August 1967                                                                                              Courtesy of Gary Morgan Collection

    On race day we felt real good about the car. The race was 500k or 310.5mi. for AP, BP, and A, B Sedans. We started 9th behind several Cobras, big block Vettes etc and moved up to 6th OA and 1st in A-Sedan by lap 32. We were then 5th OA and still 1st in A-Sedan on lap 37 and held that position until lap 62 when the water pump let go. It must have been damaged by all the overheating at Lime Rock and Mid-Ohio, and we never thought to change it. We went to one more event in 1967. It was at Watkins Glen and there were three races over the weekend. We won all three and set a new lap record for A-Sedan on the Watkins Glen course. We previously had the B production record with the Vette.

    Over the winter we converted the car from a 1967 to a 1968 by changing everything that was obvious (Heinrich paid for this) and added the cross ram intake. We did not change the brakes (didn’t add 4-wheel discs – JM) as I felt we really did not have a brake problem. It would have been at our expense, and money was still a problem.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/MorganCamaro.jpg)
Updated to look like a '68 for the '68 racing season.                                                                                 Photo: Gary Morgan Collection

    One day, in very early spring, my wife Sue called me at Kodak and said she had received a phone call from a guy named Chic Blood who worked for Young and Rubican advertising in N.Y. City. She said they wanted to talk to me about doing a TV commercial. I thought she was kidding me because I couldn't believe my luck was changing. She said this guy would call me back at 8:00 PM that evening to discuss the deal. Meanwhile, I contacted a friend that was in local advertising and asked what he thought I should charge for my services. He gave me a number that he thought would be appropriate. Mr. Blood called right at 8:00PM and told me the commercial was for Gulf gasoline and would be filmed at the Bridgehampton race course. I was to spend three days doing the commercial and would have to bring a crew and a track safety person.  Now the difficult part, he asked “how much?”. I didn't want to go too cheap, but I also didn't want to lose the opportunity, so I thought, well I can always come down. I took a deep breath and tripled what my friend had told me. I said $2500.00 plus expenses. His answer was he was authorized to approve $2000.00 and if I really had to have $2500.00 he would have to call his boss and get approval to do it. He called back within the hour and said I would be receiving a contract within a week and would have a week to sign and return it.

    The advertising agency got my name from Brock Yates who was, and I think is still, a member of the same SCCA region that I am. I had loaned Brock a trailer when he had the Ray Nichols Dodge Dart and needed to take it somewhere down south. Later, when he had the CAR & DRIVER Mustang, I gave him a new Goodyear race tire after they had ruined one in practice. I guess giving the ad agency my name was his way of paying me back. It was very gracious of him to do this for me as the expenses for the Camaro were far more than anything we raced before and these dollars would sure help.
We got all of the arrangements worked out with Gulf and, as this was early in the year and we had freshly rebuilt the engine over the winter, we left for Bridgehampton, Long Island to make the commercial. We had to be there on Monday and were supposed to finish on Wednesday. We had drained all of the Sunoco concentrate out of the tank and there was a Gulf station just down the road from the track that we were supposed to use for our fuel. This worked out great as we had 10 gallon cans that we would fill up and we made sure we always got enough to add a can or two to the Chevy wagon tow car. (Later when I got my last check, there was a $70.00 dollar deduction for gas for the tow car. I guess we didn't fool anyone. I sure felt like an ass).

    During the making of the commercial I had to guarantee that the car went at least 140MPH so they could state that in the ad. The film people were very good to work with and we had to start at 6AM every day. They would have a big catered lunch each day and treat us to dinner in the evening. On the second day, they had a sound man there who had to lie on the floor of the car so he would not be seen in the film. This guy thought he was a real hot shot and made some comment to me that I thought was a put down. I think he said something like "you don't even look like a race driver". Well, I mean to say I gave this guy a ride that was far more than necessary for what we were trying to accomplish. When we were done with the segment he got out of the car with his hands shaking and a very pale complexion, mumbling something about his wife and kids. The next day we got a late start with the filming because we had to wait for a new sound man. Seems the smart ass had quit for some reason! Well, this was the third day and we were supposed to finish up but the gremlins were at it again. The Camaro started overheating and my father diagnosed it as a cracked cylinder wall. By the contract we had to finish the commercial, so Dad went to an auto parts store and found some block sealer that was intended for diesel truck engines. He put in enough to seal a small fleet of trucks, loosened the radiator cap and by noon we were ready to restart. We had to carry over the finish until Thursday, but we made the car last, loaded up, and headed back for the long drive home to Rochester.

    It is now early in the 1968 season. We tear the engine down and find old Dad was right. We had a cracked cylinder wall in the engine that had just been rebuilt before the trip to Bridgehampton. A call was placed to Barney Krass (our contact at GM for a new short block) and we got a response that there would be a wait, as short blocks were not available at this time. We waited several weeks and called again. Same answer. Finally we recalled that when we visited the Tech Center in 1966, Barney had said he used a lot of Kodak 16mm movie film. Since all four of us that were working on the car were Kodak employees, we put out the feelers for some test film and shipped off about ten rolls to Barney. Son of a gun, within about a week we had a new short block! Later that year, after we had found some more test film and sent it off, I started getting phone calls whenever there were new items available from GM. I had a friend that had raced solid axle Vettes when I was racing the Stingray. His name was Steve Elfenbien and he had switched to racing Camaros. At a race in 1969 at Lime Rock we were talking about the cars and I asked him if he had any trouble getting parts. He said he did for a while but once he started sending something called "Red Herring" to the same address I sent film to, things got better! We had a good laugh about this and wondered what kind of a deal some of the other racers must have made to get their parts, but we decided not to pursue it any further for fear of losing what we had.
By the time we got the new block and had it prepared, it was getting late in the season. Money was low and so were our spirits. We made it to two regional races at the Glen, set another lap record, won three races at the two events and hung it up for the year.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Morganenginecirca1968.jpg)
Engine shot shows the 2x4 crossram and super rare cowl plenum duct.              Photo: Gary Morgan Collection

    1969, off we go again. At the Glen 100, we won 1st OA on both the Saturday and Sunday races. We came in 2nd at the Glen National, 1st at Lime Rock National after a three car wreck going into the first turn that flattened our right door and quarter panel, (I caught and passed everybody), 2nd at Pocono National with a real bad handling problem that showed up on race day. I later found out one of my competitors had adjusted my toe-in the night before the race. I also found out he was running a 350 CI engine with the block ID changed to look like 302 ID. This was the car that I came in 2nd to at the Glen and Pocono. One of his crew members later told me the preceding information. The last race of the year was a regional at the Glen and we were 1st in both the Saturday and Sunday races.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorgan6.jpg)
On the track at Watkins Glen.                                                                                                                  Photo: Gary Morgan Collection

    After the last race I did some thinking. I was thirty-three years old and had raced for fourteen years. I had a wife that had dedicated her total ten years of marriage to racing, always helping and sacrificing without complaining. I had two young sons, one five and one three. My father was fifty-nine years old and was still working around the clock on the cars if necessary. On top of that, people at Kodak were asking when I was going to stop racing.

    One afternoon in the late fall of 1969 while at work, I picked up the phone and called Jon Heinrich. I thanked him for all the help he had given us and told him I had decided to stop racing. Jon said he was disappointed but he understood. He also offered me two new cars for the next year. He said he had been thinking it would be nice to race both a Camaro and a Corvette out of his dealership. I said thanks but I had made up my mind. Jon, always being a gentleman, said he would sell the Camaro and split the money with me as he was aware we had a significant investment in it. He asked what I thought it would be worth as a race car and I told him I would guess it would be worth six to seven thousand dollars at that time. He agreed and said I would be hearing from him. In a short time I heard through the grapevine that a local racer named Kent Fellows had bought the car. I called Heinrich’s and found out Jon was out of town and one of his salesmen had sold the car for thirty-five hundred dollars without checking with Jon. What a deal! That meant I would be getting seventeen-fifty instead of the three thousand I had been hoping for. All during the time we were racing after I got married, my wife Sue had paid the bills. She robbed one account to pay another and shuffled things so we could keep going and never complained. She now came to me in tears and asked that since we were not racing anymore, could I take over paying the bills as she just could not do it anymore. The check for seventeen-fifty came and we sat down to figure our bills. When we were done we found we had one hundred dollars to our name. Well, at least we weren't broke!
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on February 28, 2011, 10:17:29 PM
TIRE STORIES, ETC:

    It was very difficult to walk away from racing. It was 10 or 12 years before I was able to go to a race again. I still miss it to this day, but early on I made two rules for myself, (1) Never drive an open wheel car and (2) Once I quit I will never race again. The thoughts behind this were, in my opinion open wheel cars were just too dangerous. There had been way too many of my hero circle track drivers that got wiped out because of tangles with wheels of other cars. I also had seen too many guys quit and then go back for one more race, only to have the same thing to happen to them. I also felt a great responsibility to not only my wife and kids, but also to my father who had sacrificed countless time and money for my racing.
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    I remember we had something like twelve or fourteen American Racing genuine magnesium wheels mounted with various size tires. These were mainly for the rear, as well as rain tires. I think we always ran 8" on the rear and 7" on the front, but I just finished looking thru the piles of info and could not find the specific sizes. I recall trying Firestones and ending up with Goodyears primarily because you could always count on the Goodyear people being at the track and not the Firestone guys. The guy that handled the Goodyears was named Bill Baldwin. He always took real good care of us. I remember one time we took the car over to his truck for tires and as usual we waited until the last minute to do it. He must have had six or seven cars ahead of us. It looked like we would probably miss a lot of practice time as I think he only had two tire machines. Well you see, all during high school I had worked in a gas station and there were no such things as tire machines in a small town gas station. We changed them all by hand. When the first day of snow came, I would work all day mounting snow tires with tire irons and a big hard rubber hammer, with my boss on my tail every minute. So I asked Bill if he had any tire irons and a big rubber hammer and sure enough he did. I borrowed the tools and Bill got out the new tires and you can believe it or not but I changed four tires faster than Bills' guys using the machines, and made it to practice with minutes to spare. Bill used to kid me about this and would offer me a job every time I saw him, but I had better things to do!
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    After the first two races we had to do a rebuild so we switched to the 140 cam and it seemed to work just fine, even after we went to the cross-ram manifold in ‘68. We never were aware of any suspension bind, but maybe we were just not smart enough to notice it. Also, I forgot to mention that we staggered the rear shocks and yes, the suspension stayed that way until we gave it back to Heinrich at the end of ‘69. I do remember that it was later recommended not to use the factory traction arms, but we were not unhappy with the handling so we left them both on.
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    I recall we had received new calipers and I remember the originals hanging around for quite some time and then my father gave them away. All someone had to do was come in the garage and see something they would like to have and my father would give it to them. Would you believe one time he gave a complete set of our solid body and suspension bushings to a competitor who later sabotaged our car during the night before a race at Pocono? I think on our car we drilled the rear backing plates and made small air scoops that attached to the backing plate. If there were automatic adjusters on it I am sure we removed them. We never had any brake problems other than replacing pads and shoes frequently. I believe it cost about $100.00 per race for brakes.
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    After I went to bed last night I realized that I never did completely answer your question about the numbers. Let me pick up where I left off. I was telling about the progression starting with #53. We first used #53 on the Austin-Healey and #54 on the Crosley special once they started letting us request numbers. I believe that was about 1958. There were still events that would assign numbers of their choice. I don't know the reasons, but they did. We then attempted to carry the #53 over to the Daimler SP250 and the #54 to the Morgan-Abarth and when we got the Vette we tried to use #55 as we still had the other two cars. When we got the Camaro we attempted to use the #55 as a carry over from the Vette, but initially we had such bad luck we changed to #56 and things went better. We have pictures of the cars with several other assigned numbers, but it looks like on the Camaro all I could find was 55, 56, 57, and 59.
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    Yes, we used the stock Z28 carb. I don't know if the three-barrel would have been legal as I don't believe it was homologated in the FIA papers or as an option for SCCA. We installed a 22 gal. fuel cell right off the bat, however I do remember talking to the GM engineers and they did tell me to install two stock GM tanks just as you described. We did not have trunk pins that I can remember and we also used the key for the ignition. We also had the headliner in as I think the rules may not have allowed removal of it and, yes the cars were much closer to stock initially. The two most noticeable mods I remember were the Bud Moore Cougars with the fender lips completely trimmed away and the Penske car with the transmission hump in the floor cut for access to the transmission (the sheetmetal was removable).
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    Watkins Glen was by far my favorite track. I also liked Lime Rock as far as the shorter tracks went. I would have liked to have gone to VIR with the car as I took the Vette there once and did quite well with it.
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    Yes, we did run electric fuel pump or pumps. I don't remember but we may have had one in the rear and one in the front. As far as the fuel pressure, if I told you a number it would only be a guess. The oil cooler we ran looked similar to the one you have in your picture [the factory Harrison style-JM] but I think we used an army surplus one that came from a tank. We had it mounted directly behind the lower grill opening on the right hand side and had it shielded by a fancy screen. We had installed a remote oil filter set up by using an adapter where the original filter was.
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On LeMans-style starts…… The very first race I was in at Harewood Acres in Canada was a Lemans start. I mean to tell you, it was not bad enough to be in a race with D type Jags and all other kinds of modified cars with a little Crosley special but to have to run across the track and jump in, start the car, fasten the seat belt and drive away all while shaking like a leaf in a wind storm, it was an experience! The next startling moment was after a few laps running all by myself at the rear. I looked in my mirror and saw a car quite a long way behind me on his way to lap me. HOLY SMOKES, I was so startled I actually jumped as this car all of a sudden passed me just a few feet away with an ear splitting exhaust off his side by side dual pipes blasting right at my face. That was 50 years ago and I can still feel it. By the way, it was a D Jag driven by a guy from Buffalo, N.Y.
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On Towing…… I guess the strangest thing that happened was one time when we stopped for gas and I was towing one car, my father was towing the other and we had pulled into a gas station with our entourage (two station wagons with trailers and two other cars without). My father always was the lead car and we had CB radios in all the cars. He also directed all communication. Somehow we all filled up and pulled away about the same time (it definitely was confusing) and about two blocks down the road we got a message over the CB radio, "Has anyone seen Bertha?" (my mother). He then said "I noticed no-one was telling me how to drive so I looked over and Bertha wasn't there." In all of the confusion, she had gone to the ladies room and he had left her there. We were on our way home from Canada and he later said that was the quietest ride home he ever had.
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On Hotels/Motels…… We always stayed in hotels/motels and we had favorites for each race track. We would usually leave for the races after work on Friday and drive for six or seven hours, stay over night and finish the drive on Saturday morning. Saturday was inspection and practice and sometimes a preliminary race. We would leave the track at five or six PM and go to a nearby favorite motel, clean up and go out to a nice diner and get to bed about ten or so.  We did not do much partying. Up early on Sunday and off to the races. We would leave for home as soon as we could as we now had to make the drive all the way home Sunday night. We had jobs to go to on Monday morning. Sometimes we would end up with two to three hours sleep. One time I must have fallen asleep driving as I went passed the first thruway exit for Rochester and had to get off on the second and drive about twenty miles out of my way. I remember many Mondays going into the men’s room at work and trying to sleep on the can with my head on the toilet paper roll. I'd do it all again if I could.
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(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorgan2005.jpg)
Gary and an old friend, 2005.                                                                                                                  Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Ron C. on March 24, 2011, 05:51:46 PM
thanks for the story on such a neat car and driver Jon. And the car still looks good!!
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on April 22, 2011, 04:06:18 PM
You're welcome, Ron. Glad you enjoyed the read. Here's more from Gary...

"Me with the car bogged down on a standing start at The Glen. It was almost impossible to get a good start with the
light flywheel and all of the carburetor flow from the cross ram. I was still 1st at the end of lap #1."

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorganWatkinsGlen68.jpg)
Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on April 23, 2011, 05:46:41 AM
Gary Morgan on pit road at Watkins Glen, 1969.
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorganWatkinsGlen69.jpg)
Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on April 23, 2011, 05:50:25 AM
Gary on the grid at Watkins Glen, 1969 for an A&B/Production and A-Sedan race.
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorganongrid.jpg)
Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on April 24, 2011, 06:07:49 AM
2005-era engine compartment photo of Gary's car.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorganZ-28enginecompartment.jpg)
Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on April 24, 2011, 06:14:03 AM
The original cowl plenum duct...
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorganduct.jpg)
Photo: Gary Morgan Collection

... and the original exhaust manifolds.
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/GaryMorganorig67Zmanifolds.jpg)
Photo: Gary Morgan Collection
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on April 27, 2011, 03:07:46 PM
The memo to Barney Krass of GM to help grease the skids for a new 302 short block.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Morganmemo.jpg)
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on May 06, 2011, 02:06:16 AM
Here's a cross ram air cleaner base fabricated by Gary's dad and some original cross ram air filters.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/base2-1.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/base1.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/airfilters1.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/airfilters2.jpg)
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: OCTARD on May 06, 2011, 02:41:03 PM
That fabricated crossram base is very nice.  Gary's dad did a great job with every detail on the part. 

Thanks for posting.

-Chad
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on June 11, 2011, 05:45:51 PM
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Gary55.jpg)
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: yenkomark on January 20, 2012, 10:36:27 PM
  I noticed the Gulf horsehoes  and Gulf emblems on Gary's Camaro.  Because of Gulf's involvement  with Yenko and Stinger development, I had the Gulf horseshoes reproduced fron an original set that I saved. Anyone who would like a pair, email me at yenko037@yahoo.com.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: MO on March 24, 2012, 05:06:57 PM
Short Q&A with Gary Morgan on page 29 of the March Mecum Monthly. The car is being auctioned at Indy in May.

http://www.mecum.com/view_pdf_2012_03.cfm?utm_source=delivra&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mm_2012_03&utm_term=
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: MO on May 20, 2012, 10:16:38 PM
Sold for 160k.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: oldtransamdriver on May 21, 2012, 03:18:24 PM
That's a good price in today's economy for that car - the seller must be a happy guy.

Gary, do you remember what kind of lap times you turned at the Glen and Mid Ohio?

Robert Barg

Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on May 21, 2012, 05:15:18 PM
Thanks for updating us on the selling price, Fred. That's half of what it sold for 5 or so years ago.

Robert, I found these lap times for Gary Morgan in the '69 Watkins Glen Trans-Am program. They
were A/Sedan track records at that time.

"Chicane" course, time: 1:28.0, avg speed: 94.06 mph (set in 1968)
"Loop" course, time: 1:26.6, avg speed: 95.61 mph (set in 1967)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/More%20car%20stuff/Picture12.png)
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/More%20car%20stuff/Picture13.png)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/More%20car%20stuff/Picture14.png)
(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/More%20car%20stuff/Picture15-1.png)
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: oldtransamdriver on May 22, 2012, 12:26:03 AM
I don't remember that "chicane" course in 68-73 - you are referring to the chicane placed in the middle of the uphill esses?  I think that didn't come till the mid-seventies?

I remember qualifying at the 71 T/A race at 1:26 something and my fastest race lap was a 1:24 in our 67 camaro - a very basic A sedan car with about 375 HP.  The factory guys, of course, were way faster.

Robert Barg
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: oldtransamdriver on May 22, 2012, 01:07:58 AM
OK, now I'm looking at my 68 Glen T/A program with the track map, and see the chicane you are referring to - just at the start of the loop after the straight.  That chicane was never used in a T/A unless it was in 69, which I didn't enter - must have been for SCCA racing only.

Robert
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: MO on May 22, 2012, 03:30:23 AM
Jon, the price was lower than I thought it would go for, but compared to some other cars that went across it was actually decent money. The reserve came off at 150 so the seller must have gone in with low expectations. It's a good thing it didn't have a Hemi in it!

Fred

Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: OCTARD on May 22, 2012, 04:28:56 AM
I hope we'll see this car out on a track now, instead of the various auction corrals...

2006 Barrett-Jackson (Palm Beach): $324k
2007 RM (Monterey): No sale at $160k
2012, Mecum (Indianapolis): $160k
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on May 22, 2012, 01:27:49 PM
I feel the same way, Chad.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on October 20, 2012, 04:49:53 PM
Gary Morgan's '67 Z-28 race car is up for auction in this ebay ad (#281003581836) (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Z-28-/281003581836?forcev4exp=true)

The seller's ID is rkmotorscharlotte and more info is available at rkmotorscharlotte.com

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Oct%202012/GaryMorgancar.jpg)

Here are some detail shots of the rear axle and suspension. I noted that, for some reason, previous owner Don Wattie
restored this car using '69 style brake calipers front and rear. This is not the way the car ever ran and it will hopefully
be corrected by a future owner. I see here that the stock, round rear traction arm (as used on early production '67 Zs)
is still present and accounted for and like many Camaros that began road racing in '67, it has a traction arm added to
the LH side. However, this is the later style rectangular (often referred to as "square") traction bar and the snubber has
been left off since the round bar never used that add-on.

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Oct%202012/Picture100.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Oct%202012/Picture101.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Oct%202012/Picture102.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Oct%202012/Picture103.jpg)

(http://i586.photobucket.com/albums/ss309/1967z28/Oct%202012/Picture104.jpg)
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: MO on October 20, 2012, 09:49:04 PM
Jon,

The traction arm body mounts look opposite hand. Is the left side a Firebird bracket?
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on October 20, 2012, 10:11:11 PM
Fred, the driver's side floor brackets would be from a Firebird since Camaros were never available stock with such an item. The LH bracket welded to the axle would be a Camaro piece however. The Firebird axle bracket was a different design.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Pickle on October 23, 2012, 03:02:32 AM
Neat story, love the period color photo's.  Thanks for posting!
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on June 01, 2013, 03:42:36 PM
Here's a little write-up from the Spring 2012 Mecum Auction which shows the past auction history of Gary's car
plus what it sold for in 2012.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: z28z11 on August 20, 2013, 01:37:16 AM
Jon,

Another "thank you" for posting this interview and details on the car, which for me, personally, is the car that started me on the path to Camaro ownership and the years I have enjoyed researching and working on my small collection. I started this whole deal when I saw the Gulf No-Nox commercial so many years ago, and saw the Camaro rounding a corner on the track and fishtailing coming out of the turn; the sound of the small block winding up is still unlike any other sound in my memories. Funny how things stick with you - I have wondered for years if a copy of that commercial still existed - too many years I suppose before video tapes were affordable to save commercials, since most tapes were erased and reused many times.

Regards,
Steve
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on August 20, 2013, 01:16:30 PM
I'm glad you enjoyed reading this. I have looked on youtube to see if anyone has posted a copy of the commercial but so far it hasn't happened. Maybe someday.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: SMKZ28 on January 14, 2018, 05:06:14 AM
I found this picture at the Revs Digital Library.  It shows the Gary Morgan Camaro Z28 parked in the grass with its hood up a few cars above the van with the ladder on its roof.  Is that the air cleaner assembly on the roof?  Click on the link and use the zoom-in tools to get a closer look.

http://library.revsinstitute.org/digital/collection/p17257coll1/id/360386/rec/581
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on January 14, 2018, 05:51:34 AM
Wow, good eye picking out Gary's car, Scott.  I think you may be right about the air cleaner assembly.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: oldtransamdriver on January 15, 2018, 04:29:06 AM
What did Kent Fellows do with this car after he bought it?  Official T/A results show him
T/A racing with Warren Agor, but not till 72 - doesn't say what year camaro.

Is this car still alive somewhere in vintage racing?

Robert
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: SMKZ28 on January 15, 2018, 06:06:15 PM
Robert, I believe it was originally restored as just a show car 25 years ago.  I questioned at the time why it wasn't restored to go vintage racing.  I have never seen it in person at any of the vintage events held at Road America, but that doesn't mean that it isn't racing on the East or West Cost.  I'm sure Jon would know more. 

On a side note, you can currently purchase a GMP produced 1:18th scale version of the car lots of places including Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/1967-Chevy-Camaro-Heinrich-Chevy-Land/dp/B0733LHXK5
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on January 16, 2018, 01:39:26 AM
This Gary Morgan '67 Z-28 was indeed raced by Kent Fellows in the early '70s but I believe he had a '69 Camaro as well.  Don Wattie restored the car and never raced it. It was sold to a few people who also did not race it but a few years ago it was sold to an owner in Europe who raced it over there.  I have heard that the car is now up for sale and the owner would like for it to return to the US.
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Steve Holmes on January 20, 2018, 03:20:34 PM
My wife and I are currently travelling around Europe. I visited Autoworld museum in Brussels yesterday and this was among the cars on display:

(http://i63.tinypic.com/19l0u8.jpg)
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Jon Mello on January 20, 2018, 05:31:43 PM
Timely post, Steve. Thanks!
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: oldtransamdriver on January 21, 2018, 01:38:41 AM
Steve, was there any info about these 2 cars?  Real race cars or replicas?

Robert
Title: Re: Interview with Gary Morgan, Trans-Am racer
Post by: Steve Holmes on January 21, 2018, 09:36:38 AM
Hi Robert there was no info but the Mustang was a replica. I'm certain the Camaro is the original Gary Morgan car.

The museum had an American car theme at the time of my visit. They had a huge collection of American cars on display including a section where they'd created a 1950s diner and drive in theater.

The Camaro and Mustang were among a line up of race cars that included a 289 Cobra, Lola T70 etc.