Gwatney Chevrolet/GPI - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

Blake_GM · 06-30-2015, 10:09 PM

Hey guys,

I know this is a long read but I think it is truly worth your time!

I wanted to share my experience with getting a cam installed (GPI SS2 VVT and Ryan/Mr. L99 tuned) at Gwatney Chevrolet/GPI down near Little Rock, AR.

So, there I was - I knew I wanted a cam. No, I knew I HAD to have a cam. Like many of us I poured over the forums, countless hours of "Where the hell do I start?" to "Wait..the L99 isn't a 'simple' cam swap?? Now what do I do?"

After reading and reading and reading I found that one name came up more often than not regarding cams and L99s..Gwatney Chevrolet/GPI. Every time. There I was thinking that great, another well known shop that is the best at something I have and surely they are in Arizona or something. Luckily, no, they are situated north of Little Rock a 5 hour drive from me. I was pretty excited at this point.

I went about the normal venues of contacting them - they are an EXTREMELY busy shop - there's a reason for that. I finally got ahold of Hamilton2008 (Josh) here on Camaro5 who invited me to call/text him with any questions I had that needed addressing. Josh works for GPI. I did just that. It wasn't but the next day that I decided to go ahead and schedule out a cam install for my car. Why? Well, Josh would listen to anything I had to say and offer true and genuine input. Never pushy, never ignoring of any concern I may have. I was extremely impressed with the level of commitment/attention that he alone was willing to give me in my quest for a cam.

I scheduled the cam install a month out - that part sucked.

The waiting was terrible. Josh contacted me off and on in between that time to make sure the planned date still worked for me and if there was anything I had thought about or if I had more questions. Again, that is pretty awesome for a shop to do that.

So, the waiting period was over, my time had come. I arranged with Josh to drop my car off on Sunday night when I arrived. Yep, Sunday night, he met me at the shop on a Sunday to arrange that they have my car as early as possible on Monday - again awesome.

Monday AM, I get a call and text from Aaron who wanted to go over the parts/things I wanted done. We go over all the stuff and they start the work. He invites me to come over at any time to check on the progress. Very cool. I make it over there near the end of day on Monday just to see how it is all going. I am pointed back to my car where I find Mike working on it. He had already swapped the cam, had the timing chain on and was working on the top end of the motor. Mike was very open, down to earth and enthusiastic about doing the swap, we chatted for a little about cars, my car etc. He invited me to pull up a chair and watch him work if I wanted - unbelievably cool - I turned it down and let him work.

On my way out I came across Aaron who then showed me around the shop/all of the goodies they had laying about. Seriously - if you like Camaros/LS engines..their shop is a gold mine of awesome GM power. Aaron was also very receptive and personable.

Finally Tuesday comes around, I get a text from Josh that my car was making its way to the dyno. I got over there as fast as I could to find Ryan (Rhino79 here on Camaro5) working his magic. It was a hot day, in the shade in the dyno room it was reading 95 degrees, their outside weather station was reading 105, my IATs were somwhere in the 120s-130s. He did a pull of 449 RWHP. He showed me messing around with the dyno software that when he changed the the temp input to the outside it was pulling 460 RWHP..this was on old 91 octane that I had in there. I was very happy with the results. It sounded fantastic. However, the star of this really is Ryan. When people refer to him being the best of the best on here - just believe it. He takes the time to explain anything you want/answer any question or concern you have. He is also very personable and open.

If you have L99/auto questions..he is the man. He did the dyno tune and then we took it out on the street to fine tune some things. He fine tuned the shifting patterns/pressures and some idle stuff. It runs sweet! (Thanks to Mike also!)

All things must come to an end..so at the end of the fine tune..well tune. We were back at GPI, I hung around to watch Mike and Ryan work on a kickass CTS-V. Aaron had also popped in by then - I said goodbye to the guys and went to pay the piper. The piper here is James - James is yet another passionate and open guy at GPI. I enjoyed chatting with him AND paying the bill!

In all, if you get anything out of my long winded post - please visit GPI if you have an L99 or just an LS engine and you need work done. They are every bit as good as you read on the forum. Please be patient with them when contacting them..they really are that busy..because they REALLY are that good. They are a bunch of great guys who enjoy things that go fast. The biggest thing for me is..they treat your ride like their own. Best shop I've dealt with.

P.S. if you got this far..here is a quick and dirty video of the car doing a warm start up finally back at home..LOVE IT!

Click ME for Cammed Awesomeness

hamilton2008 · 06-30-2015, 10:25 PM

Glad your happy with the experience man!!

i2disturbedSS · 07-01-2015, 12:27 AM

Sounds good. Have fun with the new power!

hammdo · 07-01-2015, 12:48 AM

Yep, Ryan is the L99 man! GPI is awesome...

-Don

hrpiii · 07-01-2015, 06:04 AM

Sounds awesome. When I get my cam, it will be with GPI. Like yourself, have heard nothing but rave reviews about their work and communication. Thanks for sharing your experience.

harner · 07-01-2015, 07:58 AM

It was a pleasure working with GPI when they modded my intake and ported my TB. Glad you had a positive experience!

Now get a stall!

Badfinger · 07-01-2015, 08:04 AM

Nice work! Did you do anything with the TC or are you running it stock ??

GretchenGotGrowl · 07-01-2015, 08:29 AM

Batmanntexas · 07-01-2015, 08:36 AM

Sounds great! Awesome to hear about such a great shop. Those are rare finds these days...

AITI · 07-01-2015, 09:44 AM

They know cam grinds better than any on the forums IMHO. All anyone has to do is look at 1/4mile times VS any of the "fancy named" cams that people buy for the lope, and peak dyno #'s and see how dramatic the difference is.

Pro Stock John · 07-01-2015, 11:47 AM

PSJ likes this.

navyblueSS · 07-01-2015, 01:10 PM

Nice, sounds good!

Chevy9534 · 07-01-2015, 01:13 PM

Agreed! Worked with Ryan on my ss2 and stall tune. Been working with him again since installing my ECS kit. He knows his stuff.

Badfinger · 07-01-2015, 01:42 PM

Just got home from work and PM'd Josh at GPI. I immediately get a text and five minutes later his putting my kit together for shipment!

06-30-2015, 10:09 PM	#1
Blake_GM Drives: 2011 Camaro 2SS/RS in IBM Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: MO, USA Posts: 381 View My Garage	Gwatney Chevrolet/GPI Hey guys, I know this is a long read but I think it is truly worth your time! I wanted to share my experience with getting a cam installed (GPI SS2 VVT and Ryan/Mr. L99 tuned) at Gwatney Chevrolet/GPI down near Little Rock, AR. So, there I was - I knew I wanted a cam. No, I knew I HAD to have a cam. Like many of us I poured over the forums, countless hours of "Where the hell do I start?" to "Wait..the L99 isn't a 'simple' cam swap?? Now what do I do?" After reading and reading and reading I found that one name came up more often than not regarding cams and L99s..Gwatney Chevrolet/GPI. Every time. There I was thinking that great, another well known shop that is the best at something I have and surely they are in Arizona or something. Luckily, no, they are situated north of Little Rock a 5 hour drive from me. I was pretty excited at this point. I went about the normal venues of contacting them - they are an EXTREMELY busy shop - there's a reason for that. I finally got ahold of Hamilton2008 (Josh) here on Camaro5 who invited me to call/text him with any questions I had that needed addressing. Josh works for GPI. I did just that. It wasn't but the next day that I decided to go ahead and schedule out a cam install for my car. Why? Well, Josh would listen to anything I had to say and offer true and genuine input. Never pushy, never ignoring of any concern I may have. I was extremely impressed with the level of commitment/attention that he alone was willing to give me in my quest for a cam. I scheduled the cam install a month out - that part sucked. The waiting was terrible. Josh contacted me off and on in between that time to make sure the planned date still worked for me and if there was anything I had thought about or if I had more questions. Again, that is pretty awesome for a shop to do that. So, the waiting period was over, my time had come. I arranged with Josh to drop my car off on Sunday night when I arrived. Yep, Sunday night, he met me at the shop on a Sunday to arrange that they have my car as early as possible on Monday - again awesome. Monday AM, I get a call and text from Aaron who wanted to go over the parts/things I wanted done. We go over all the stuff and they start the work. He invites me to come over at any time to check on the progress. Very cool. I make it over there near the end of day on Monday just to see how it is all going. I am pointed back to my car where I find Mike working on it. He had already swapped the cam, had the timing chain on and was working on the top end of the motor. Mike was very open, down to earth and enthusiastic about doing the swap, we chatted for a little about cars, my car etc. He invited me to pull up a chair and watch him work if I wanted - unbelievably cool - I turned it down and let him work. On my way out I came across Aaron who then showed me around the shop/all of the goodies they had laying about. Seriously - if you like Camaros/LS engines..their shop is a gold mine of awesome GM power. Aaron was also very receptive and personable. Finally Tuesday comes around, I get a text from Josh that my car was making its way to the dyno. I got over there as fast as I could to find Ryan (Rhino79 here on Camaro5) working his magic. It was a hot day, in the shade in the dyno room it was reading 95 degrees, their outside weather station was reading 105, my IATs were somwhere in the 120s-130s. He did a pull of 449 RWHP. He showed me messing around with the dyno software that when he changed the the temp input to the outside it was pulling 460 RWHP..this was on old 91 octane that I had in there. I was very happy with the results. It sounded fantastic. However, the star of this really is Ryan. When people refer to him being the best of the best on here - just believe it. He takes the time to explain anything you want/answer any question or concern you have. He is also very personable and open. If you have L99/auto questions..he is the man. He did the dyno tune and then we took it out on the street to fine tune some things. He fine tuned the shifting patterns/pressures and some idle stuff. It runs sweet! (Thanks to Mike also!) All things must come to an end..so at the end of the fine tune..well tune. We were back at GPI, I hung around to watch Mike and Ryan work on a kickass CTS-V. Aaron had also popped in by then - I said goodbye to the guys and went to pay the piper. The piper here is James - James is yet another passionate and open guy at GPI. I enjoyed chatting with him AND paying the bill! In all, if you get anything out of my long winded post - please visit GPI if you have an L99 or just an LS engine and you need work done. They are every bit as good as you read on the forum. Please be patient with them when contacting them..they really are that busy..because they REALLY are that good. They are a bunch of great guys who enjoy things that go fast. The biggest thing for me is..they treat your ride like their own. Best shop I've dealt with. P.S. if you got this far..here is a quick and dirty video of the car doing a warm start up finally back at home..LOVE IT! Click ME for Cammed Awesomeness __________________ 2011 Camaro 2SS w/RS, Imperial Blue Metallic - Toy. CAI Inc. cold air intake, SOLO axle-back with j-pipes, Kooks 1 7/8" long tube headers with Kooks high flow cats, GPI SS2 VVT cam + engine goodies and dyno tuned by Ryan/Dr. L99/GPI. Last edited by Blake_GM; 06-30-2015 at 10:15 PM. Reason: Added YouTube video.

07-01-2015, 12:27 AM	#3
i2disturbedSS Drives: 2010 SS L99 IOM Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: CA Posts: 1,924	Sounds good. Have fun with the new power! __________________ 369rwhp/392rwtq "Spending money I don't have, to buy parts I don't need, to impress people I don't know!" -Jenkins

07-01-2015, 12:48 AM	#4
hammdo 'It's an experiment' Drives: [COTW 2/09/15] '11 GPI LSA SC Z/LE Join Date: May 2014 Location: Dallas TX Posts: 8,694 View My Garage	Yep, Ryan is the L99 man! GPI is awesome... -Don __________________ 747 RWHP 794 RWTQ "Horsepower sells cars, torque wins races." - Enzo Ferrari See My Build: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=385577

07-01-2015, 07:58 AM	#6
harner Drives: 2018 ZL1 A10 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: NEPA Posts: 450	It was a pleasure working with GPI when they modded my intake and ported my TB. Glad you had a positive experience! Now get a stall! __________________ SOLD! 9/1/2020 2018 ZL1 A10 Hyper Blue - Rotofab CAI, Gibson catback @SurefireDetail OEM ZLE tails/third brake light, Gen5DIY reverse LEDs, front Amber LEDs, SMG laser LED side markers, SMG smoked reflectors 1994 Trans Am LM7/CPT 4L60E/9" 1987 IROC 2006 Silverado

07-01-2015, 08:29 AM	#8
GretchenGotGrowl Drives: 11 F150 EB/13 Sonic RS/15 Z06 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Little Rock, AR Posts: 7,129 View My Garage	__________________ New Ride -- 2015 Z06 2LZ (stock) -- Journal Old Ride -- 2012 Camaro 2LT/RS (647 RWHP & 726 RWTQ) -- Build Thread

06-30-2015, 10:25 PM	#2
hamilton2008 Account Suspended Drives: 2016 CAMARO SS/ gpi built Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Cabot ar Posts: 374	Glad your happy with the experience man!!

07-01-2015, 06:04 AM	#5
hrpiii AKA "Beefcake" Drives: 2023 ZL1 Sharkskin Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Indy Posts: 8,529	Sounds awesome. When I get my cam, it will be with GPI. Like yourself, have heard nothing but rave reviews about their work and communication. Thanks for sharing your experience.

07-01-2015, 08:04 AM	#7
Badfinger Drives: 2010 2SS Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Dayton, Ohio Posts: 387 View My Garage	Nice work! Did you do anything with the TC or are you running it stock ??

07-01-2015, 08:36 AM	#9
Batmanntexas Drives: 2012 Camaro SS (2SS) Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Stafford, VA Posts: 1,374 View My Garage	Sounds great! Awesome to hear about such a great shop. Those are rare finds these days... __________________ 745RWHP/634RWTQ on 93 @ 10psi 806/676 on E85 @ 10psi COTW 9/8/14

07-01-2015, 09:44 AM	#10
AITI Account Suspended Drives: 2015 LFX Auto Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: US of A Posts: 280	They know cam grinds better than any on the forums IMHO. All anyone has to do is look at 1/4mile times VS any of the "fancy named" cams that people buy for the lope, and peak dyno #'s and see how dramatic the difference is.

07-01-2015, 11:47 AM	#11
Pro Stock John Writer Drives: 2010 SS / 1967 Camaro Join Date: May 2009 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 7,216	PSJ likes this. __________________ PROJECT HEAVY CHEVY Camaro Now: Mods for the Masses Part I \| Part II 13.15@106 1.95 \| 100% Stock 12.37@112 1.85 \| + Kooks Headers/Cats + 20" 555R + CAI + BW TB + UDP + Tune 12.06@113 1.70 \| + CD 3200 + 18" NT05R + RCR Intake + NE OTR + GPI Tune 11.84@115 1.59 \| + 3.91s + Race Star 17x7 Fronts 10.90@125 1.47 \| + GPI VVT Cam + BW Ported Heads + CD 3800

07-01-2015, 01:10 PM	#12
navyblueSS Drives: 2002 Camaro SS Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Quitman, LA Posts: 609	Nice, sounds good! __________________ 2015 1LE - CAI intake, TSP longtubes, NPP, Futral Motorsports tuned, BMR 1"lowering springs, BMR trailing arms

07-01-2015, 01:13 PM	#13
Chevy9534 Drives: 2018 ZL1 A10 Join Date: Mar 2013 Location: Plano,TX Posts: 224	Agreed! Worked with Ryan on my ss2 and stall tune. Been working with him again since installing my ECS kit. He knows his stuff. __________________ Work in progress

07-01-2015, 01:42 PM	#14
Badfinger Drives: 2010 2SS Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Dayton, Ohio Posts: 387 View My Garage	Just got home from work and PM'd Josh at GPI. I immediately get a text and five minutes later his putting my kit together for shipment!