TMCP #630: SEMA 2025 Show Spectacular Finale – Centerforce Clutch Tech, Holley’s LT-Swapped 4th Gen Camaro, and Meguiar’s Pro-Level Detailing for Real-World Builders

The Muscle Car Place, online podcast, episode number 630.

This week it's our fourth and final show right from the SEMA show floor.

Trent McGee with Center Force will kick us off with the latest and greatest street strip

and track clutches for muscle cars and more.

Then Mark Gerhardt with Holley will be on, and Holley makes everything you need to swap

anything into anything.

And Mark brought a 4th Gen F body with an LT swap kit, and so helped me, he made

it cool.

I'm Mike Pennington on from McGuire's, and McGuire's is here to release their, what I'm

going to call their pro-sumer line, it's pro-grade products made for the consumer that wants

the best.

Now back when it comes to Mark at Holley, they really do make about everything under

the sun.

I mean, wheels, brakes, EFI systems, and they brought that 4th Gen Cat Eye Camaro

to SEMA and so helped me, it was cool.

They may have to go into the body kit business when this is all done, because this

thing was awesome and they brought it for a reason.

People will find something new to modify, but I still go back that people are going to

go buy the cars that they always thought were cool when they were in high school that they

were couldn't afford it.

Now they're going to go back and buy that car and build it how they want now because

they're going to afford to do it.

Yes, indeed I am Rob Gibby and welcome to the Muscle Car Place podcast.

Well here we are, the 4th and final show from SEMA 2025.

And now the Thanksgiving is officially over.

It is Friday morning.

It is Black Friday.

That means that Christmas season is upon us.

So here you go.

That's right.

I'm going to watch Elf 5,000 times.

We got more of that came from.

And right now, if this works to timing, I'm in Kansas City.

We bought tickets to go to, I think it's the Kansas City Symphony.

They're showing Elf on the big screen with the symphony playing the soundtrack.

And I've never been to anything like this before, but I'm excited to do it.

And it's how me and my family are kicking off the Christmas season here.

So I hope you're kicking off your Christmas season some way fun.

So help me though.

If you are out in the mess known as Black Friday sales, or even worse, standing

in line at like 4 a.m. for a cheap deal on a TV or something.

I hope this show helps you pass the time and gives you some education here.

Maybe it'll help you figure out what you want to stick in your Christmas list.

So three interviews to round things out.

We have Trent McGee on with Center Force and I know Trent.

I like Trent.

This is probably one of the more technical interviews and it's awesome.

It's a lot of meat and potatoes.

It has to do with all sorts of disc types, single, dual, triple.

What works for Ultimate Streetcar?

What you need for track day?

What you need to live with?

What you can't even got stuff from the whole Miata market.

It's really good.

He gives a great description on how segmented clutches work, like when they

have a solid side and a segmented side on the other and why you do that.

It's really cool.

And we have Mark Gearhart with Holly on Holly is the sponsor of the

Kibbe and Friends show has been for years and they brought a fourth

gen F body to the show like a cat eye one.

And I'm telling you that car was really cool.

Out of all the Camaros ever made, it's my least favorite body style.

But that one was awesome.

And it turns out if you just readdress the chin spoiler and the tail

on that car and put the right wheels on it, it can have the right look.

It appeared to be lower to me.

It had a full LT swap kit in it.

It was a very simple car, but it had a lot of punch there.

While the fourth gen F bodies aren't my favorite to look at,

they are a great platform.

Every new platform of a Corvette is better than the last one.

Same goes with F bodies.

That's true.

This thing was cool and Mark gave a great really testament to the

the powerhouse of the aftermarket industry in general, but they were

intentional and they brought that fourth gen on purpose.

Fourth gens are now at the age where somebody who's in their mid 40s,

that was the car sitting there in the high school lot that maybe

they find after.

So now it's time to build those cars.

And then we'll close with a recurring guess.

We usually have McGuire's on every SEMA and Mike Pennington came on.

Mike does a great job walking through with details on how to use their

prosumer line.

So if you are a hands on person who details your car specifically,

there's a lot of tools of the trade you might want to have in your arsenal.

And McGuire's has a lot and he gives application notes in here.

Really fun, really interesting.

I have a lot of McGuire's products in my garage.

Just did my kids nine forty four with McGuire's products as well.

So you will hear that.

Fun show.

I don't know what to tell you.

I hope that this gets you through Black Friday.

It wasn't my intent that this be the Black Friday show,

but it might be appropriate that it is.

Go buy yourself something from one of these guys.

It's probably what you want.

Anyway, something else I'd like you to buy and I'm asking you to buy this.

Would you please buy a T-shirt from us?

So if you go to www.themosocarplace.com, we have for the

first time ever released a very high quality shopping page.

We currently have four T-shirts for sale.

They're all in the Dukes of Hazard theme.

They're kind of more on the lines of our Kibbe and Friends show theme.

But between now and December 5th, we're trying to finish out our Toys for Tots campaign.

We're trying to raise three thousand dollars by December 5th to give to Toys for Tots.

All profits that go from those sales were go there.

Where we really do well is if you join us on Patreon, Patreon.com.

Slice KF show, we have a very supportive Patreon audience.

And that is where we raise money.

So the Patreon audience is how we raise money for Toys for Tots.

But just to supplement that, we are selling shirts as well to the general public.

If you're not able to join us on Patreon, we get it.

Go buy yourself a shirt.

You can wrap that up and give it as a gift.

All profits from shirt sales will also go to the Toys for Tots campaign.

But Patreon.com Slice KF shows where we'd love for you to go as well

in addition to buying yourself a shirt.

Again, if you can just sign up for one month, we'll take it.

Hopefully sign up to stay.

But if you can only sign up for one month, this is the month to do it.

We're given our proceeds to Toys for Tots.

We need your money by December 5th.

We've raised even more money than this in the past.

We're setting a reasonable number this year with a very early date.

That December 5th date is on purpose.

We want to give it to Toys for Tots where they still have the time to use it

for this year and they can.

So get yourself a shirt or visit us on Patreon.

We would love for you to do both.

Alrighty, with that said, let's go ahead and get to our feature interviews.

Don't forget, though, once per month, we do have Mr.

Rich from National Parts Depot on to talk all things National Parts Depot.

You can ask him anything you like.

Send any questions to me, Robert, at themusclecarplace.com.

And of course, visit nationalpartsdepot.com to proves for all your

muscle car parts needs because they find the source.

They expect the best.

There is a difference than they've got the goods you can send in your questions

to me for that January show.

That's right, January.

The December one's already done and in the can.

All right, here's the interviews.

Tremigay with Center Force, Mark Gehrhardt with Holly and then Mike

Pennington with McGuire's.

This will round out our SEMA coverage from 2025.

Enjoy.

Back again.

It's been a few years with Tremigay at Center Force.

Yeah, how's life?

Not bad.

Just, you know, another day, another SEMA show.

So here we are.

Still have cool hair.

Hopefully, it's not terrible.

It has been a while.

It has.

A couple, three years.

And I think between us, we couldn't even remember exactly when.

What has happened in the last three or four years since we last

talked for Center Force?

Yeah.

This is 43 years for us.

That we've been around as a company.

We specialize in clutches.

Everything from mild to wild.

Basically, step up from a stock replacement clutch that you could

get at your local parts store all the way up to full-blown race stuff.

So we try and cover all the bases.

Our segment is classic muscle cars, 60s and 70s.

Actually 80s now.

That's all part of the same mix.

Sure.

What do most people need?

Well, it's an interesting question.

And that is just inevitably going to lead to, you know,

that is just inevitably going to lead to more questions.

What do you want to do?

Yeah.

What do you want to do?

Because clutches are a balancing act.

So a lot of times you need to sacrifice something in order to

gain something somewhere else.

So in the case of a lot of holding capacity, let's say,

you know, so you're north of 500, 600 horsepower or whatever.

That's when you might need more holding capacity,

but that might come at the sacrifice of a little bit of either

pedal effort or how smooth or aggressive the clutch is.

And that's based on a bunch of different factors,

not only the design of the disc, also the friction materials.

And then if we get into like single versus twin discs,

that's a whole separate conversation.

OK.

Let me just throw a few scenarios at you then.

OK.

So 69 Camaro with a 396, just 325 horse.

Very nice restored vehicle.

It might drag race for funsies.

Sure.

It doesn't autocross.

Sure.

Somebody built this, restored it, what would they want?

So I would say in that specific scenario,

what I'd probably go with is one of our dual friction.

So a dual friction clutch is a single disc clutch,

very simple, straightforward, but it's a full face,

organic friction material on one side.

And then there's segmented friction material on the other side.

Both of those, of course, are organic.

I don't know if I mentioned that or not.

Basically, the full face allows for very gradual,

smooth engagement.

The segmented side is where you bump up the holding capacity.

And it's kind of a difficult concept

to wrap your head around.

And the best way I've ever had to explain to me

is when you're looking at like a full face disc

versus a segmented one, imagine the difference

between somebody standing on your chest

in sneakers versus high heels.

With sneakers, the weight is distributed

along a greater area, whereas in high heels,

all that pressure is on just one tiny little point.

And so the same principles apply.

By segmenting the material, you're ramping up the PSI

in a much smaller, more concentrated area.

And so that's where you get the increased holding capacity.

That is still a single disc clutch in the application,

but it's a little different on either side.

Correct, yeah.

So it's kind of the best of both worlds.

So you've got the smooth engagement of the full facing

on one side, but you have the upper end holding capacity

of a segmented or paddled style clutch.

OK, let's try another one.

This is going to be fun.

Optima Invitational cars are outside.

Yes.

Let's say pick a car, but it's 800 horse.

Violent application.

Sure.

But it is the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational.

Yes.

It's a car that has to be driven on the street.

It's got to survive a road rally

in addition to all those segments.

What would you do there?

So interesting that you bring up that scenario

because we actually have several competitors

in the Optima series that are running our clutches.

An 800 horse application.

So at that level, I guess I should say,

once you get north of about 650 foot pounds of torque,

you're really in twin territory.

OK, so you're just beyond what a traditional single disc can handle.

So say an 800 horse level, especially let's just say

spirited driving application that those guys use,

I would probably go straight to our dyad.

That is our high end twin disc.

Lots of high quality components in there.

Super strong.

Good for 1300 foot pounds of holding capacity,

depending on the application.

But still organic friction material because by using a twin,

you've doubled the amount of friction surface that's available.

So we've doubled the theoretical holding capacity of said clutch.

By using organic, you still have some street ability to it.

So you do have the ability to pull away from a stoplight

during the road portion of said competition.

It's not like an on off switch, right?

And so most of those competitors are running our dyad DS,

which is, again, twin disc, all high end components,

but it uses organic friction material.

There are a couple of the guys that are less concerned

about the street ability and really are more focused

on the track portions of that series.

And so those guys will go to our XDS.

The only difference between the two

is the type of friction material that we use.

So with the XDS, that's serometallic material.

It's a much more aggressive material,

much higher holding capacity,

and that friction material specifically,

the hotter it gets, the harder it grabs.

But the trade-off is it's very aggressive,

so it's very on off switch.

You really got to kind of finesse it away from a light.

It's not something you're going to want to use

on a daily driver, certainly.

But even something, yeah, you're not going to be super

want to jump in it and go for ice cream on a Sunday

and stuff like that.

Real-world examples are so helpful,

I think, for a lot of listeners.

So let's do one more.

Let's do a drag racer.

Somebody that, by their choice,

loves to row gears.

They're sticking with a factory four speed,

but they might have built a traditional big block

or small block.

So it might be a 500-horse, 500-foot-pound torque.

I don't really know.

Where would you mix that?

I don't know what they want for drivability.

I know they want to launch hard.

Sure. In that scenario,

at the 500 level,

you would be probably still in a single disc,

dual friction.

If you're on the upper end,

now we're getting 600,

I'd probably lean more towards a DFX.

So a DFX, and I actually haven't talked about that,

DFX is a single disc clutch,

but it's a true paddle style.

We've all seen those racing clutches

that are just, it's like six paddles

and there's just a puck of friction material on it.

That's what our DFXs look like.

But the critical difference, once again,

is the dual friction has organic friction material.

That DFX is that serometallic material

that I was talking about a minute ago

that's going to be very aggressive.

Obviously, if any street use is in the mix

with this theoretical drag racer we're talking about,

probably go with dual friction with the idea.

You might, I mean, brakes, let's face it,

clutches are like brakes.

It's a wear item.

So you might be replacing it a little bit more often

with a DFX.

Yeah, you'll have that holding capacity

and probably get plenty of longevity out of it as well.

They can handle the violence of, like,

those super hard launches and things like that.

But the sacrifice is, once again,

very aggressive, not something that you'd really

want to have a lot of fun with on the street,

on a 100 mile drive, let's say.

Okay.

And I mean, these are all fun applications,

just while we do have a muscle car audience.

Sure.

While we were goofing over here,

you were showing me like Miata clutches

and stuff like that.

Yeah.

So for the everybody else crowd who maybe

doesn't, shocking, drive their 60s muscle car

on a daily basis.

Heresy.

Yeah, it happens.

People like heated seats.

Sure.

I get it.

What do you have more for the everyday driver?

Well, let's talk Miata's.

Okay.

Miata's.

Why would you focus on an older platform

like a Miata?

Well, believe it or not, they're still extremely popular.

I mean, now, I mean, they've been around

since the late 80s in some cases.

So now they're on their sixth or seventh owner.

They're cheap budget racers.

And so by the time they've gotten to that level,

they're toys.

And so there's something you can go,

hit an autocross on the weekends or,

you know, go to Button Willow or something like that

on an open course day or something like that.

And so they're still very, very popular.

And so we offer everything from,

once again, just a step or two above

a stock replacement clutch that you could buy

at a parts store to that DFX that I was talking about,

that's a very, very popular platform.

Cerro Metallic, very aggressive,

dedicated track car.

The thing doesn't even have plates on it.

It's not even registered.

Yeah.

You know, that kind of thing.

For a two liter Miata.

Yeah.

And so we have, but we've gone back

and we've relaunched our line for the 1.6 and 1.8.

Those are the older and let's say medium generation.

And then we're working on the two liter.

So we'll probably have the two liter,

which is going to be 2005 and up.

We'll have that out probably in the next 60 days or so.

All right.

So the base is covered.

I mean, they're fun little cars.

They're very popular cars.

And you know, bang for the buck.

I don't know that you could get a whole lot better.

Do you have one?

I don't.

What do you have?

I am actually an off-road guy.

Are you really?

Yeah.

I have a bunch of jeeps and rock buggies

and I have a scout that's on 38s.

That's awesome.

And a rock buggy that's on 38s

and stuff like that.

So I just added two cylinders to the rock buggy.

I put a 5.3 LS in it.

It had an inline four liter in it.

Completely changed that car.

I've never had an off-road vehicle

that actually has some power.

And I am addicted now.

Are off-road use clutches super different

from high performance clutches for the street?

So not really.

So the dual friction that I was talking about earlier,

that's what's in my buggy.

It's a manual.

It's an AX15.

But it's just a dual friction clutch.

And the motor's not crazy.

It's a cammed 5.3.

So it maybe makes 330 horse, something like that.

It's a great clutch.

And it works well in that application.

It works well on a guy that, you know,

your weekend driver or whatever,

that goes to the occasional drag race,

wants to, you know, go to do an open track night

or something like that.

They're very versatile in that.

I think that's why they're so popular.

It's a super versatile clutch

because it has that holding capacity you need.

It can handle the abuse that you occasionally give it.

But it's still pretty streetable.

You know, you can still run around town.

So if people just need help making a decision

and this amazing interview hasn't solved that for them yet.

What do you want them to do?

Just go to centerforce.com.

Give us a call.

Like I said, it always have in mind,

you know, we're always asking all of our tech guys

the question, you know, what clutch do I need?

What are you doing with the car?

You know, what kind of power levels?

That's the kind of information that we need

because really the answers to those questions

are really going to lead to the best clutch

for your specific.

TaylorMade.

Exactly.

There's a ton of product knowledge available on our website,

which is centerforce.com.

We also have a YouTube channel.

You can check that out.

It's got some informational videos on there as well.

Like I said, just give us a call.

Appreciate it.

See you next year.

Mark, thank you for the seat at Holley.

Absolutely.

It's nice to sit every once in a while.

Thank you for taking the time to do an interview.

You've probably been interviewed out.

And we come from the age of media

where it was our idea to do things online.

Yes.

This will be the new fad.

Yeah.

We are Gen 1 digital man.

Yes.

Men of the aftermarket.

Now there's no such thing as the other version.

Barely.

Yeah.

So it's our own fault that this is nothing

but interviews door to door with people

with high grade consumer equipment.

That's right.

But here we are.

So we've crossed paths for a long time,

you know, here and there,

and it's a small role.

It all comes around.

I thought you were originally brought into Holley

to do marketing.

I'm not sure if that's what you do now at all.

What do you do at Holley?

I'm essentially like a business unit director.

So like I'm responsible for a whole wide range

of product lines.

So like I was in marketing for the first four years

at Holley and then I went

and I ran the EFI Ignition Business Unit

for about six, seven, eight months.

And I'm like, hey, now what did you do over here?

So then I went to what we call

internally engines fob solutions.

But it's the easiest way to explain

everything that bolts to an engine

that is not an electronic or a carburetor.

Okay.

So fuel injectors, throttle body,

intake manifold, swimming stretcher drives,

oil pans, all the swap systems,

all the swap related exhaust systems.

Yeah.

Restoration, plumbing,

about every kind of fuel system.

No demand.

Yeah, everything.

Just focusing on swaps.

A swap is a nose to tail application

and it needs to be thought of that way

and that's why you have developed

all these swap kits.

Most of our audience is 60s, 70s,

now 80s muscle.

But I didn't know if this was your

fourth gen Camaro or not.

It's not, but you brain-childed this

fourth gen Camaro.

I think what's an LT swap?

The Holley-owned Camaro built in-house

from our fine engineers

back in Bowling, Green, Kentucky

in a risk-full 34 days.

34 days.

Yeah.

We're like, hey, we should have a C-Macar.

You're like, yeah, guys, it's September.

We had a nice to-have version

and we wanted a once-to-have version of this car

and then we had a nice to-have version of this car.

So we landed on this.

The need to have version.

Yeah, the need to have.

We kind of were in the middle.

The original premise of this car

was like make it very trans-am vibes,

like cut the fenders up, many tub it,

put some like 18 by 13s on it,

make it look like a trans-am,

mid-90s era trans-am street car.

Yeah.

So we had to kind of back off that

due to the amount of fabrication,

obviously, that would require.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out,

all things considered.

I think it looks great and I will openly admit,

I've never loved the fourth gen platform.

It just was never for me.

Yeah.

This car is fantastic looking and it's not that modded.

It doesn't look that way.

The funny thing is, literally, like everybody at the office

says the same thing.

They look at it and they go,

I hate these cars, but I also really like it.

I don't know if it's the DuckTales boiler or what,

but like something about it,

it instantly is, it looks a lot more classic,

for some reason.

Maybe that's what it is.

Style can inspire a different mindset.

I mean, it's not that no one hated it,

but they're like, oh, where's the cat eye?

Why didn't he get a cat eye?

And I'm like, ah, come on.

Let's start with an enemic LT1 and not an LS

and take the LS out to put in an LT, right?

So that's why we started with the 95.

But kind of the premise of the vehicle is like,

if you like a fifth or sixth gen ZL1 1LE

and a fortune-comer ahead of baby,

this would be its child.

Right.

So it's got the heart of a ZL1 1LE with LT4 in it.

It's got modern suspension in it

from our friends from QA1 and DSC.

Factory front-cave member, but FN988,

we're in center section.

Well, have you ever heard of the FN988HS?

Which is, those things are amazing.

Like nine-inch housing, eight-eight gear set.

So it's nice and quiet.

You know, it's got R engine mount or trans mount.

It's got QA1 prototype torque arm in it.

Cool.

Literally bolts into the car.

They're like, oh, did you have to cut the tunnel?

It's got 6L80 and they're like, oh, you had to cut the tunnel?

6L80 cleared nice in there.

Great.

We've got some prototype headers that we have on it.

And we try to develop some parts along the way.

We were in a time constraint, obviously, with 34 days.

We're like, OK, what can we do?

Kind of some quick things.

And we'll come back to it later.

So we're going to develop a fortune-specific harness link.

So in ECU mount, just to make it easier for people,

like, hey, mount it here.

The harness will literally run right to it.

We're going to tell you how to connect it to the factory gate cluster

if you want to.

We did this with the Fox body.

People love that kit.

And they're like, it's easy.

That ECU mounts underneath the seat.

It's got something on the little bracket.

If I want to wire over to the gauge cluster or the fuel pump

or whatever, Holly tells me how to do it.

Yeah, and for the more modern flair on the inside,

it's pretty much stock-looking inside it.

It has our new Simpson seats in it,

but then it has our 12.3 Pro Dash.

But what's really cool, I'll send you a photo of it,

is we replicated exactly what a 4th gen F-body gauge

cluster looks like on the 12.3 Pro Dash.

Oh, really?

That's pretty neat.

I'll show you one around the corner we did on the Fox body, too.

So we're starting to do that.

So it's kind of like...

It's kind of like new Mustangs when you get it.

Yeah, yeah.

They can flip through the gauges.

There you go.

I'm glad you get it.

So it's kind of like the end of the story

is what people expect their daily drivers to be,

like their trucks.

This thing had 280 horsepower, 285 horsepower, right?

Which was 75, 80 more horsepower than a Fox body.

But there's nothing that comes with that little horsepower.

Your 7,000-pound truck doesn't come with that little horsepower.

So we're trying to say,

we're going to make your car that you've always wanted to build

more fun, has more horsepower,

has some of the minis that you would expect

your daily driver to be with the digital gauge cluster

and nice, smooth shifting 6L80 in it.

I think if you can kind of draw that parallel closer

between the expectations of a daily driver and the fun car,

then people will have more fun in the fun car.

I think so too.

And I mean, it's interesting that this is now,

it's an old car, you know.

It's a 90s-era old car because we got old.

Yeah.

But is this a sign of things to come?

I mean, fifth-gen Camarillos,

I mean, they were awesome out of the factory, brand new.

But I'm sure they'll be the next thing.

But it was always, what was that car

when you were a broke high school kid, right?

So like peak spending years for people,

45 to 55 years old.

I'm 44 years old, right?

So like I graduated in 99.

So I'm like maybe on the higher end of that,

but like that's why like third-gen's are popular

because you're getting the 45 to 55s in that third-gen.

Fox bodies are super popular.

We're going to get into these.

Like we're kind of, not earlier adopters,

but like earlier adopters, right?

Like you see like Roaster shops got a Bolton chassis

for third-gen's and a Bolton chassis for a Fox body

on display here at the SEMA show.

Super awesome.

So like clearly we're not the only ones

that are crazy.

Everyone else is like seeing it now

when you see Fox bodies for sale for $30,000.

You're like what, like used to buy this for four grand

like 15 years ago, you know?

Yeah, those days are over.

Yeah, completely over.

But like anything, right?

Like imagine like how C10s were 10 years ago.

Now like they're too expensive.

So people are now going to OBS trucks

and eventually they'll get too expensive.

And then the people go to like mid 90s,

you know, S10s and the Dakotas

and stuff like that.

And like people will find something new

to modify, but I still go back

that people are going to go buy the cars

that they always thought were cool

when they were in high school

that they were couldn't afford.

Now they're going to go back and buy

that car and build how they want now

because they can afford to do it.

For Holley in general, I mean,

it's a dynamic company with a lot of brands in it.

That's a blessing and a curse

because you got so much to offer at times,

I'm sure, but from a pure EFI

Bolton perspective, I assume

that's a lot of bread and butter

of the Holley traditional name brand.

You know, it's carburetors and EFI.

Is that how you feel about it?

Yeah.

Okay.

You know, that's definitely a thing,

you know, that like a front accessory drives

are killing it.

You know, that's like, those are awesome

because it's on the LS, we have like a,

you know, a high mount and a mid mount,

a low mount version depending on your frame rail

set up and it like that.

So it makes it easy.

But then we came out with a small buck Chevy

for a front accessory drive,

a big block Chevy, small block Ford.

The small block Ford I really like

because it's not deck height dependent.

Like literally the front cover is the backbone

and as a matter of, if you had an A2 deck

or a 92 deck or an I5 deck, doesn't matter.

It all is all located off the front cover

and there's no brackets.

It's bracket, let's put your alternator in

and put a bolt in to go.

So people love it because it's a very

simple and OE appearing.

I think there was a point in time

and there still is where people like

the billet look and billet brackets

and stuff like that.

But I think people like that more

and moderation more than like,

let's have everything being billet.

The whole engine bay is billet.

It's like, I want a billet intake manifold

but I want that to be the kind

of centerpiece of it or maybe

valve cover or so whatever.

I don't let people want the whole engine

made to be.

I don't feel like it.

At least as I walk around here,

I'm not seeing the billet like,

you know, we all used to see it back

like the 90s and early 2000s as much.

Less is more anymore.

The older you get, the more you like

function with nice form.

It needs to look good but

everything here, soup to nuts,

like nose to tail like we were talking about

is part of a swap system

all the way back to the fuel tank.

I have one of the tanks in my charger.

Awesome.

Yeah.

But it does take a system.

So most of your swap kits

include what?

Regardless of make model

of what you're swapping.

We are introducing

what we're going to be calling

our swap essentials package next year.

So we have a very comprehensive

selection of engine and trans mounts

for like version Camaro's

and your Mustangs

and your C10s

and Gen3 Hemi

and the Dakota Swaps

say Gen3 Hemi and the D100 Swaps

which people love those things

and Ford LS swap kits

and blah blah blah.

But they're all kind of pieces.

Now we're developing these into a package.

So it's like we're starting with the GM

because it's where the most breath

product selection is.

And so it's like a swap one essentials kit.

There'll be an automatic kit,

the manual kit.

Whatever automatic manuals we support

all the adapter brackets are in that box.

Okay.

And then if you want the level two

in some instances

an oil pan is required.

Oil pan is optional.

Level three is headers

or exhaust manifolds

depending on the application.

Full cab back to level four.

Level five is foreign accessory drive

that's designed for that engine bay.

So if someone just like

I want to stick in the LS

into my 67 Camaro

we can give you like a single part number

that is full exhaust,

your oil pan,

your foreign accessory drive,

engines in the car.

All right.

And then now from there you go

what do you want to do

for fuel system or induction?

That's where there's a little bit more

choice, right?

Like you just kind of have to

matter of faculty

get an engine in an engine bay.

Like you're like, oh, it's got long tubes.

They're stainless.

I don't care, right?

And there's some subjectivity

on what the exhaust sounds like,

which is why we put that

like as a stage four package

because like, yeah,

maybe you like our exhaust

but if you want dumps

or some other muffler or whatever

you can kind of stop at level three

and then adapt,

you know, your cab back from there.

We're going to have top-end kits

that will kind of be separate from that

but they'll be,

we'll kind of link the experiences together

but not try to like

super complicated

or like get you really into a niche

requirement.

Like we want people to feel like they want to

buy what they know what they want

but that's going to help

guide them towards something,

a package that makes sense for them

and we really learn that honestly

with the sniper kits.

Like we have the

Hyperspar bundles

and a small block,

big block Chevrolet

and a small block Ford kits

and those things are awesome.

So one click buy,

it's got all your ignition you need,

everything you need,

fuel systems and everything

to put, like do a

carb to EFI conversion

and those people love it.

Are you thinking the next big thing

is an EV?

No.

I have owned EVs.

I'm an equal opportunity enthusiast.

Well, so it's sort of an unfair

loaded question but

Holley is a dynamic company

which serves a lot of brands.

You help people with EVs.

We're always here to support

whatever kind of enthusiast you are.

Yeah.

The EV market is hard

because it's like,

there's no one trend.

Someone's like,

I'm going to put a

Tesla motor into a Volkswagen

bus and then there's got like,

I want to put Tesla motor in a Ferrari

and you're just like,

how do you react to that?

Like you can't go build

like a SKU for something to sell

like one of a year.

One of one, yeah.

So like, you know,

AMSIL exists as kind of more

of a universal platform

for the control support, right?

Primarily servicing like

the traditional P85

big drive units

and I think that

in some of the small drive units,

they actually have the ability to control

the lightning motor

because they just sell

Ford sells that as a crate motor

not a crate engine.

Crate motor.

You can buy it?

Really?

They're like a standalone

for an electric motor

and then you're like,

okay, well, then, you know,

sky's the limit on battery packs, right?

That's where really like

where you're really going to

invest heavily.

And obviously you can have

everything from

12 or 15 kilowatt battery pack

that gets you at

20 miles range to

80 or 90 kilowatt battery pack

that will get you

a couple hundred miles range.

Yeah.

I think we all know like

the normal enthusiast

is less comfortable

with wiring

and that's all that is.

It's all.

Everyone's like,

I can bolt an intake manifold on

I can put an exhaust on

because it's a bolt.

But like when you got to get into

wiring and like you get into

like a little bit more

like uncertainty,

especially with high voltage

and things that can kill you

pretty easily.

That's where I think

it gets a little more niche.

Well, I'm just kind of curious

to see the day

when you have a swap kit

for a 2026 Dodge Charger.

That's hilarious.

But the other thing that

I think would be even more awesome

and I like was jokingly serious

about it.

I'm like,

what if we built like a C5

e-ray

or a C6 e-ray

where it still has

to go backwards to generate.

Okay.

Yeah.

That would be kind of cool.

Performance enhancing

electric drive,

not an EV conversion.

Yeah.

So like e-rays,

right?

It's an all wheel drive

Corvette.

It still has its ice motor.

It gets all of its

regeneration from breaking

and the engine breaking

and stuff like that.

But it's a performance hybrid.

So it's got a small

battery pack

and it adds 150 horsepower.

So you got 495,

you know,

560 whatever.

So you got to combine 650 horsepower

or they get your LT2

and then you go,

but imagine if you had like

a C6 Z06

with a 160 horsepower

electric drive motor.

Yeah.

You can have

650,

660 horsepower

naturally aspirated

Z06.

This guy's the limit.

Yeah.

And it'd be like,

you're crazy.

Yeah.

You're going to cut up a Z06.

I don't know.

Honestly,

it's a place

if anyone wants to go

build a full EV cool.

It's our job to inspire, right?

Yeah.

But we have to inspire

like realistically,

which is why it's probably good

that this isn't like a

Trans Am Vibe car

because it's much more

obtainable.

Yeah.

But I think every once in a while

you got to do something

like, wow, like get people's

wheels turning and go,

okay, I get the whole

restless car,

but then you did that

and you're like,

okay, that's interesting.

Santa Claus just walked by

by the way.

Did he?

Yeah.

I should have asked him

for a C6 Z06

but he hears you.

Mark, I appreciate it.

Thank you for your continued

support of our show and

network.

We ask the listeners

to tell you all the time,

thank you in person

because it's the best way

to do it.

So in person for me

to you.

Thank you.

Yeah.

I just let everyone know

we're a bunch of car

enthusiasts hanging out in

Bowling Green

trying to dream up cool

things.

So we're approachable.

Come buy and buy

and be really cool

if you do this

and you never know

it might show up one day.

Yep.

Back again.

I don't think

I did this one last year.

I think Scott did this one.

Mike Pennington is here

with McGuire's.

Hello, Mike.

Great to see you this year.

Yes.

We have a lot of people

going a lot of places

this year but I'm

glad to get back.

We'll go through some

new McGuire's products.

We're going to have

some stuff that kind of

brings pro products

to the amateur level.

Perfect way to say it.

Something that's not

here, something that

I use on my kids' car

though and I did tell you

it.

One of the cool

teenagers is

they have a very

How long we can talk

because that's a whole

long show right there.

A very, very short

attention span

and like, look dude

you got to wax this car

for prom.

I said, alright

I will do it.

But the problem

is you need to

polish the car first

it's dirty.

He goes, I'm not

going to do it.

So I

That's true.

I just went to

the auto parts store

and I bought a

McGuire's cleaning wax.

Perfect.

That honestly worked

great and it's an

old Porsche with

a kid.

My dad made me

use compound and wax.

That's how you did it.

I assume that's

not the case anymore.

For the average Joe?

Average Joe you're

spot on.

That's all where

we'll ask people in

their head.

There's that group

of people that will

do whatever it takes

and some if you're

trying to restore

an old classic

it may need that

but there's also

a large percentage

and we're seeing

keep it simple

keep it easy.

One step is

all I want to do.

The cleaner wax

is probably in a

new model.

Was it?

That was our first DIY

product when we launched

it in the consumer market

called cleaner wax

and we still make it.

It's got a couple

formulation changes

but that's a great

product for exactly

what you described.

Quick, easy and gives

pretty darn good results

for what it is.

Oh and it did

and I mean so for

anybody that drives

something older

even fuel injected

you'll typically have

a lot of exhaust soak

and stuff like that.

On the rear

100%

And you can't

just put

schmutz over the top

of that.

That's a great one

step if you don't want

to spend the time

to do multiple steps.

I mean every person

is different,

every car

is it a daily driver

that you want to spend

less time

or is it a weekend toy

or hobby car

you're getting ready

to take to a show

you might want to

pull a bit more time

and that's up to you.

McGuire says

consumer stuff.

I mean that's

how I know it

but was it

prior a pro only?

It was

and that's a great

question so prior

to 73 in fact

January of this year

January 2026

anniversary

we started in 1901

believe it or not

Isn't that crazy?

It was furniture polish

and then we jumped in

to the automotive

body shop

professional painters

and really grew up with

in Southern California

moved to Pasadena in 1913

and really grew up

with the hobby

so those body shop

those painters

all those formulations

that we deem as pro

that's really

made us who we are today

and again it wasn't

until 73

that we simplified

made it easier to use

the consumer line

but to your initial question

we still make those pro items

for shops

professionals today

well let's talk about the

we'll call them prosumer

stuff here

That's a great word

2026 new products

I assume that's what

our top shelf is

are these all

polishes and compounds

that you would use

with a DA?

That is exactly

what we do

we took kind of our

top 8 sellers

because we kept

getting calls

by those prosumers

and asking us

hey

I can buy it in a gallon

that's a lot of money

and I will never go through a gallon

in my little

I have one car in my garage

I want to take care of

I do my neighbor's car

so we said

let's take our top

8 items in our pro

put them in a 16 ounce bottle

so they're single use

maybe 2 time use

so you get

the exact same formulas

and you can use them

on your personal car

as an enthusiast

as a DIY enthusiast

so whether that's

our pro speed compound

we grab 2 compounds

and 2 polishes

that can be used by hand

it can be used by DA

polisher

whether you're with

an 8 millimeter

a 15 or 21

all fantastic

and then some of our top

concentrates

like the wash

all purpose cleaner

super degreaser

hyper dressing

our top sellers

that the pros love

make them ready

for you to use

as a prosumer

I guess you could say

great term by the way

I don't think

I invented it

but I've definitely

heard it like

where you're right

that's exactly

we could drive away detailers

there's all kinds of fun words

for it

and those will work on

whether that's your daily

or if you're working on

your other car

you have great

have at it

scenarios are helpful

so for listeners

with a single stage

original paint car

this is not a daily driver

needs to look good

at a show

what would you use

from the prosumer

line of product

we would grab

either a pro speed polish

or a ultra pro speed polish

that has

just a little bit

of an abrasive in it

not a lot

so it looks good

already your vehicle

but you want to take it

to that next level

of gloss

and reflection

and slight

towel scratch

removal

so that could be used

in combination

if you don't drive

the vehicle a lot

there's no wax in those

because they're really

designed for the pros

so you either want

to top it with

some type of protection

or leave it as is

if it sits in the garage

you're going to

trailer it

set it out

and put it back in the garage

technically you don't

need protection at that point

but if you're going to

be enjoying going on

a rally

going on a cruise

going to a multi-state

event

for several weeks

we're going to say

top that with your favorite

wax protection

and you'll be just fine

okay and then

in between you

use the wash

in between you

use the washes

on a regular wash

or a waterless

wash comes into play

but those are going to

be determined

probably when you get back

or you have enough

road debris

grime

that you're going to

need to rinse

and literally use a hose

and begin to remove

some of that debris

that might have accumulated

or

again back to a waterless

or something like that

so in your arsenal

of tools

that's going to be the

wash

detailer

waterless

pick what that vehicle

needs at any specific time

what are the pads

there's new pads

sure

and Mike when I go

I'm not a detailer

actually we have a kid

that listens to our show

that's 15

he's called the detail kid

he's like

world famous

he understands all these

but I do not

I buy them at the store

based on what I think

is about

the right one

there you go

I never know

well it's actually pretty easy

so think of the pad

as another tool

that's helping you

get the job done

so you've got your liquid

compounds

polishes

waxes

and with pads

that's just another tool

that's going to adjust

how aggressive

you need to get on that

paint

for example a compounding

pad

is going to be aggressive

to use with the compound

to remove

defects

and debris

a polishing pad

is going to be used

with polishes

to bring up

luster

and gloss

so it's going to be a little

bit softer

and less aggressive

and then

finishing pads

are going to be the softest

because you're really just

doing that

final finish

just to make it

glisten if you will

think of pads

as just another tool

that's mixed with

compounds

polishes

waxes

to get the job done

quicker and faster

there used to be

a fear burning through paint

oh that still should be

a fear

so what do you do

to address that right now

so back to our

single stage paint guy

he genuinely

does not want to do that

yeah

that's where the machine

technology has come

so far these days

back in the old days

they were rotary buffers

they weighed a lot

they spun

in one direction

like a grinder

they generate

a lot of heat

and with pads

and combos

in a split second

you can burn through

that single stage

because there's not a

lot of material there

of course

five to ten years

there's been a proliferation

of what's called

dual action polishers

that really oscillate

and orbit

and rotate at the same time

great brands have

many different kinds

it's virtually impossible

to burn through

because of the way

they work

can you do it

yes

but anybody that

doesn't have experience

can grab a

eight millimeter

a fifteen millimeter

put on a soft pad

and get

pretty significant results

with next to zero

chance of burning the paint

to be honest with you

so for those

that are still using

the stuff like

from their dad's garage

from thirty years ago

you do need to pay

attention to what you're using

100%

they're safer

you actually get better results

no swirls with DA's

rotaries would give you

swirl marks

and you really have to

start chasing that

so DA's

have really

changed the game

across the board

for all brands

whatever you're using

liquid-wise

they're amazing

absolutely amazing

what do we have

funsy stuff on the interior

what is the total

total interior cleanser

it looks like milk

that's a new one

you can buy that by itself

or with a kit

and the concept behind that

is through the years

most people will grab

whether that's an OE carpet

in your

muscle car

maybe your brand new daily

that's got a

carpet stain from your kids

you grab an all-purpose cleaner

scrub it down

dry it

and move on

well the challenge

with a lot of all-purpose cleaners

is their higher pH

so you really are supposed to

come back with those

and use damp water

wipe it down

clean off some of that

all-purpose cleaner

so you don't get those

let's call them carpet crunchies

where that carpet gets hard

when it dries

this is a whole different

direction

one it's a pH neutral product

which means

it's safe on

all kinds of

leather

cloth

carpet

just about anything

and it's really designed

to go after

makeup

sunscreen

has been a big challenge

for most people to remove

and it's such a different, unique

formula that the R&D team

we have at Irvine created

it's pretty amazing to watch that

you can do it by hand

soft brush

or if you have a drill attachment

like we put together

our quick solutions

carpet and cloth cleaning kit

that's available

if you need a whole kit

with a brush in it

so there's a couple of ways

that can be used

but safe

crazy-coolly effective

on all those surfaces

so the crunchies

are not there

because it's a pH

balancing

that's correct

that's exactly right

it's not a high pH product

so you don't ever have to rinse it

don't have to come back

and remove that

or vacuum it

or that's correct

that's exactly right

normally let's think

you think some of those

prosumers

high pH product

clean it

they'll come back with

sometimes an extractor

and just rinse

with plain water

and pull all that out

the reason they're doing that

is to clean up that APC

that's how you're supposed

to do it

so we still sell those

we still make them

and they're great

people use them

that's why this is kind of revolutionary

from a concept of pH

and what it actually works on

sunscreen's a big one especially

it is amazing

to see what it does

most people including myself

when the laps are talking about it

it's like ok let's see what you got

and boom here we are at SEMA

with Go-Class Total

Interior Cleanser

and that's why we called it

a cleanser

not an all-purpose cleaner

how hard is it

in this day and age

in your California company

to continue to innovate new stuff

that is different

that is eco-compliant

sure

I was going to say friendly

but we all got to play by the rules

that were given

it's hard to sometimes make products

that don't have a lot of chemical bite to them

do the things that it used to take

a chemical bite to do

and the good news is

you're spot on

you hit something interesting

for many years

we've always wanted to take that a road of

we don't want to use harsh chemicals

to get the job done

we're all VOC compliant

so whether you're in California, AQMD

or anywhere else

these products are all going to fall compliant

and that was our choice

before the laws even ever started to come in

bottling moved away from PVC

all that kind of fun stuff

so is it easy?

no

are there some companies that deliver products

more power to them

that to your point become

like super degreaser

and engine degreaser

and wheel cleaners are a great example

there are ways to make them much hotter

and much stronger

but we choose to not do that

so we'll come in and say

two fold one that's probably not safe

to use

or rush down the drain

and or it's probably not going to be safe on your

wheel

so we'll preach

safer liquid

use the proper wheel brush

use a pressure washer

and you're going to get the wheel clean

without damaging it

causing any effect to the

you know yourself

you don't need gloves, goggles, etc

there's some ways around that for sure

but there's some things we just can't do

and we're okay with that

I think that's a good thing for people in our stand

we've all done it

where you choose to save a little time

and you spray the stuff on there

and then like

oh crap

I ate the clear coat off that

we get those calls

not as frequent as

you know not every day

but we do get those calls

and it just knowledges all of this

people for example

they walk to their neighbor

who's a car guy

hey what's your favorite product

and you got to use this wheel cleaner

well they'll buy that wheel cleaner

go to their wheel

and it's a different material

they don't know any better

and it actually ends up damaging it

it torches it

you know polished aluminum

I thought it was chrome

torched it

so then they'll reach out to us

and we got to walk them through that process

here's what happened

here's why it happened

here's what can be fixed

let's get you back on track

and before you do it again

on any other service

just call us

we're here

email us, live chat us

call us

let's not make that mistake

in the future

let's end with this

the world's most painful problem

my kids' cars have these issues

glossed over headlights

and used to be like

everybody had something

they'd work for like an hour

then everybody used toothpaste

for a while

this'll do it

is there a true fix

I know you guys have a product

it's quite good

yes thank you

I think that true fix

is to touch on that

is the key word

it's very similar to paint

you got to remove all that layer of

oxidized brown material

then you can do that by sanding

that's what most pros do

but that's confusing

mean some confidence

so it's part of our quick solutions kit this year

we created a heavy duty headlight kit

it's a specialized adapter

that goes on to a drill

and it has a specialized brush on it

or pad I should say

that takes the place of sanding

you combine that

with a solution we've had

for cleaning plastics for many years

that combination

safe effective

you don't have to sand

that removes the layer

the most important part about

when you do headlights

you remove all the protection

so you need to put protection back on

so this coating here

our past one was 12 months

we bumped it up

gave it a quick tune

turned up the boost

whatever you want to call it

and you'll get 18 months out of this one

so between

not having to worry about sanding

nabbing the paint

scratching your grill

you can do it with this great little pad

cleaning solution

and put on your 18 month

just wash it as normal when you're done

let it sit for a week

but it'll be good

do you have to re-clean it

and buff it at 18 months?

yes, that's correct

you want to take it all back off

with that same process

and then reapply

pretty simple

you can do both headlights

real easy

and with confidence

because you don't have to worry about

a lot of people just concern

about sanding

which one do I use

what if I happen to hit

the corner of the paint

and they're still going to do that

and that's great

but we want to take that little

ease of use

and confidence builder

and build the quick solutions

heavy duty headlight kit

cool

awesome, yeah

I think we've covered all the fun stuff here

I did

great, I appreciate you guys coming

stopping by

always good to talk shop

what is the best part about SEMA

for you every year?

oh, no, no

forget that, forget that

what's the worst part

about SEMA for you every year?

just the traffic getting home

I will say that

you're on the show all day

there's great shoes out there

so you used to be walking with bad shoes

that's gone

getting in Uber

pretty easy

but then you're stuck in traffic

so then you're like

oh, let's catch the shuttle bus

but they're in the same traffic you're in

so I think it's just that traffic

to get back to the hotel

when you're done

because the last thing you want to do

is sit for 30, 45

you just want to get home

you want to eat

you want to relax

try to shower

whatever you want to do

so I'm going to vote for

just the traffic

I'm going to vote hotel

this is the first year we gave up

on a hotel

we just got a VRBO

that's the way to go man

that is smart

it's our hotel

I will add

we go to a hotel

that has no casino in it

by design

oh yeah

makes it a little

right over there by chance

it's right over there by

yeah

it's actually that direction

but it kind of makes it nice

because that's also

walking through the casino

etc etc

we just want to go

so that softens a little bit

but VRBO is a good way to go I think

turns out the older you get

you really just want some coffee

in the morning

and you don't want to smell like

something like that

I will second that

we're stoked to where we stay

Maguire's.com

back of every bottle

has our phone number

and we are turning

125 years old

in January

so uh

happy anniversary to everybody

thanks for your support

see you around at some show

well there you go

that is the fourth

and final from SEMA 2025

for what it's worth

this was our best time at SEMA

in years

really enjoyed it

had a good time

I think we gained a lot

if you gain something from these interviews

we would love to know it

please let me know which one

worked for you best

if you called the company

if they helped you out

I would love to know that

we make these shows for you

we pick the guests on that

we think are the best for you

we avoid the ones that

we don't think are for you

without naming names

we are picky

because

you know what

we trust you

and we know that you trust us

so

trying to meet each other halfway here

alrighty

that is it

we'll be back next week

for our first show for December

between now and then

hit me up on Facebook

or Instagram anytime

be sure to sign up

for our weekly email newsletter

you can do all that

on the home page

themusclecarplace.com website

and as always

don't forget to keep chasing

your dreams

like you have let me chase my

what's that

is that Santa Claus right here

I thought so

thanks for listening everybody

bye-bye

our sponsors often

they make it all possible

see you soon

at the muscle car place

TMCP #630: SEMA 2025 Show Spectacular Finale – Centerforce Clutch Tech, Holley’s LT-Swapped 4th Gen Camaro, and Meguiar’s Pro-Level Detailing for Real-World Builders

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