69VetteFla

I did get mine but I know a few others did as well as I remember seeing some other posters somewhere saying so. Really not acceptable that you guys keep waiting like this w/o any clear color on when. You should call the owner (he posted somewhere earlier on this thread or on the original thread).

Bullseye83

My driveshaft has been shipped, although not received as its shipping to Norway

Shark Racer

I feel the same way.

69VetteFla

This is bullsh_t. This is the posting from one of the AP owners from a while back on this thread. Reach out to him and see if that helps.
I am one of the owners of American Powertrain and I thought it would be a good idea for me to come in and post. I hope you will all read my post with the understanding that I love being in this business and would never do anything to screw with you or your cars. My staff feels the same way.

That said, you need to understand that there is absolutely no advantage for us if we delay your order or lie to you about our circumstances. We have over a half million dollars ($500,000) worth of gearboxes on order with TREMEC. Since the first of the year the Big 3 have been white hot and have been keeping TREMEC very busy, so much so that they have been behind on aftermarket production. Yes, we have gearboxes coming in the door, but we never know which models are coming next and every 5-speed that has come through the door in 2012 has been pre-sold. If you compare that to last year in April we had over 130 TKOs in stock. The good news is that TREMEC is finally catching up and God willing we will be buried in mountains of transmissions over the next few weeks.

When this group buy began we decided to step up and offer you folks the biggest discount we have ever offered to a group. And I mean EVER! This was offered with the understanding that we were in a back order situation and that we would get you fixed up as soon as possible. Thanks to you and others, we have had a record quarter. Couple that with an early spring and short supply on TKOs and we find ourselves in a perfect storm for frustration at all levels. Trust me, we get it!

Your orders have not gone to the back of the line, nor have they gone to the front of the line. You are receiving your orders in the order they were received assuming we have the 5-speed model you ordered coming through the door. If we get TKO500 models first, those orders get filled first. Whatever TREMEC sends, we build and ship by order date. The TKO600.64 has been the most popular model ordered and the shortest on supply.

I eat, drink, live and breathe transmission systems. Those of you who know me know that this company exists solely for the customer because I am driven to offer killer products to fellow enthusiasts; products I would be proud to have in my own car. That is why we offer group buys, 24-hour tech support and why we are not ignoring your absolutely justifiable desire for quicker order fulfillment. I lay awake at night trying to figure out how to get you your gearboxes faster, but as driven as we are we do not have the ability to conjure up a gearbox. We get them from TREMEC and sometimes we just don't get them fast enough. It is the main subject around our water cooler.

When a company offers a group buy they are looking for forum praise for big discounts, great products and loyalty to the Corvette community. So, here we are offering a great deal exclusively to Corvette Forum members on a great product and getting kicked in the stones for it. I would respectfully ask for your support. These negative posts last forever and do not accurately reflect our desire to serve.

If you want to e-mail me to discuss your angst, let ‘er rip. Send your concerns (or complements) to gray@americanpowertrain.com. If you want to call me, dial us up and hit extension 101 and tell the receptionist to come find me. Chances are I will be out in the shop helping to get stuff out the door. If you want to cancel your order, I understand and will help you do so; but please don’t cancel because you feel you have been dealt with unfairly. We are not perfect, but we are busting out butts to get you taken care of and we care more than most about you and your patronage. You are our lifeblood and we never, ever forget that.

In return for your patience I promise you will get your system as quickly as we can receive your transmission, build it to Corvette specs and get it on the truck and that when you do receive your system it will be everything we promised and more.

Again, and I can't say this enough: Thank you very much for your business, your patience and your order!!!! You folks make us what we are and drive us to excel. I look forward to hearing your feedback when you hit the road with your new 5-speed.

Respectfully,
Gray G. Fredrick
American Powertrain

HamadUP

I tried contacting the other two vendors to get a price quote for a 5 sp. conversion, one vendor gave a very high price, and the other did not even respond to emails (sent him a request for quotation 3 times!), only AP who responded almost instantly, and offered me the best price, they helped me a lot during the installation (their 24/7 tech. line is awesome!) and treated me well ever since, if you are waiting your TKO from AP, I think it will be well worth, its a very good product with a very good customer care.

flyeri

I have my driveshaft. It arrived on Wed. I have not had any problem getting someone on the phone the times I have called. Paul, Josh, Daniel, and Gray have been very helpful and provide realtively accurate information. I think there were a few weeks they were not sure of when things would happen and spoke on best guesses and they turned out to be optimistic, but I have done that myself before. If you are missing something call and ask the receptionist to go find Paul or Gray for you. If they are on the phone call back in half an hour or let her put you on hold for a bit. They will come to the phone, or at least that has been my experience.

C6Matt

Overall I am still happy with AP, I would recommend their trans, caution about the lead time, and would tell people to avoid the clutch/flywheel. I have no doubt paul is a stand up guy, and wants to make everyone 100% satisfied. I will be stopping in to say hi on Power Tour

69VetteFla

Very well said

71scgc

I did not participate in the group buy, and ordered my trans kit in very early May. I recieved a call from Lori (I think) earlier this week. She said my trans kit should be shipping in about two weeks. We'll see.
Regarding the clutch/flywheel. Does AP offer some alternative/upgrade?
Thanks,
Carter

C6Matt

they have a couple flavors of clutch, but I would get a proven brand like hayes, mcload, centercorce ect.. just too much drama and issues for me to bother with their stuff.

qwank

I left another message for Daniel and again heard nothing back. I know they are trying to get their Edsel Wagon ready for the Power Tour, so maybe everyone over there is too busy with that to worry about the people who are putting the money up so they can build their toys.

C6Matt

they left for power tour with the wagon 14hrs ago, per their facebook..

pauldana

FWIW..... took the vette out to a clear road to check 1/4 mile times... BAD...just under 14sec... like WTF i thought... then i looked at the readout of the runs...i lost a full second between each shift...3 shifts...3 seconds. just can not make it shift any faster from 5000-6500 rpm's i should be in the mid to low 12's. my elevation is 3000' outside temp 95*.

think i will start another thread on this...maybe someone has a fix... i could shift my super T-10 in a fraction of a second...this transmission.... a full second and i am not even into it 100%,not even close...... more like 80-85% because i have a run in 2 weeks and i dont want to break her yet...

Billysvette

Did they notify you in any way that the drive shaft was coming or did it just show up?

Shark Racer

Which trans did you order? 500? 600/.64 or 600/.82?

flyeri

PM sent

69VetteFla

I got a call from Daniel today telling me that he received my clutch and that it was a manufacturer defect and that he will give me a refund next week. I must say that this part of the process went a lot smoother than I expected.

PaulDana- There is no doubt that the shift speed of the TKO is really bad compared to my old Muncie. I haven't done any aggressive shifting yet and am not using the car for racing or anything like that. For me, the low rpm highway driving is more important, but it would be nice if the shifting was more aggressive like my Muncie. If there is a fix for it I would go for it so will look for the thread you started on that topic.

qwank

Just like that huh? Jeez, and they want me to pay to have my parts sent out and checked.

qwank

I called and got some good information from Daniel at AP today. Seems like they got a batch of bad clutch discs, and this is what caused my chatter/vibration/flywheel overheat problem.

So it looks like I'll be getting a refund finally

69VetteFla

Great news. Also, you don't have to pay $500 to have the tranny pulled again to replace the bad clutch.