Been a long time....

[Jim Nilsen]

It has been a long time since I posted some pics. Here's whats going on. What do you all think?

Jim Nilsen

[Ralph LoGrasso]

Looks good, Jim! Getting close?

[dropit69]

very nice!!!!...but those the wheels you gonna run on it?..

[Jim Nilsen]

To start out they will be the wheels I set up the car with. I bought them 10 yrs ago to set up the suspension and put new Comp T/As on them. They date the car to the suspension and will be replaced with something either very new 17in and 18 in and up to date or something vintage that comes in 17in. Vintage Wheel Works still doesn't make a 17in. V48 wheel and 16in tires don't have any selection anymore. I really like the Team III wheelst that look close to the V48's and will have to wait and see what new wheels come out.

The wheels will be the last thing to be done when the tires are fried and almost bald from setting it up for the suspension. It probably won't take long to turn them into slicks.

Jim Nilsen

[F70t/a]

Damn that is sweet!!! How far back did you move the motor Jim?

[Jim Nilsen]

6in. is the amount I have come up with from measuring but it could be a bit more. It is also down 2in. from stock but it doesn't show because the body is somewhat channel down.

Jim Nilsen

[Jim Nilsen]

Hi Ralph, It's getting down to the final decisions on things and then full speed ahead. Most of the parts are bought and it's things like wiring,brake lines ,fuel lines and interior touches that are left. i have to also repaint the hood and a new rear spoiler and if I get time I will put some side skirts on, just don't know if I will go with sidepipes or out the rear with the exhaust yet. I had the exhaust all figured out in the begining 10yrs ago and now things have changed sooo much that it is a tough decision and there is room to go anyway I want.

I am looking at next spring to mid summer to hit the road if life allows. Sometimes life has slowed me down for longer than I care to admit. John Parsons and I were neck and neck 2yrs ago and then I bought a house and he decided to change his whole suspension. Now we are both really close again. Go figure that out? He will still probably beat me done. He has a few more things already done from his mock up than I do.

One of the best things I did was wait on doing some of the mockup stuff because of the new parts that have come out. Best example is the fuel lines, I am now using a Racepumps Fuel pump instead of the Areomotive electric style pump. Less noise, less weight ,less plumbing and more saftey all in one decision and I don't have to redo anything since I waited till I was really ready to install it all.

Jim Nilsen

[Steve Chryssos]

Way to go Jim. I'm so glad to see that there's light at the end of the tunnel. I expect you'll be cursing the engine setback while buttoning up the underdash details.
Can we see a pic of the tunnel/console?
/Steevo

[Jim Nilsen]

Here ya go Steve. The tunnel is as big as you can go and still get seats in and have foot room, for aerodynamic purpose the bigger the tunnel the better ground effects from what I have studied from the pros. We can only hope that they are right. It makes it easy to do the clutch, tranny and shifter work for sure.

I won't be putting in a cd/radio and the heat will be electric so room is still pretty good but you are right about it making for some tight packaging. Got any ideas and I am listening :dunno: :secret: :rolleyes5



Jim Nilsen

[yody]

looks good, whats up with the roof/interior? can we get a rundown on all the mods of the car?

[Jim Nilsen]

The headliner is something I have been working on for a long time. It is perforated aluminum. Overall weight is about the same as a stock headliner and will be fireproof . I should never have to think about removing it to race if it ever gets that far in a racing class and it is also a good heat barrier. I will use ceramic foil faced insulation in between the roof and the headliner.

There are so many mods on the car that I don't know where to begin. it is more 85 Corvette than it is Camaro and the rest is all handmade by me. I started this car when there were no other parts available like there are now. It is truly one of a kind like II Much is and it has as many hrs in it. John Parsons and I have been paving the way in a each a different spotlight. I have remained kind of hidden and he has been in the limelight all the way. I really respect him for letting everyone go through the mistakes he has thought he made and I have just kind of kept quiet about mine. I can only hope that things turn out like we both want them to since there is so much labor involved.

If you go to the site with my car be sure to use the navigation bar at the bottom to get all of the pics to come up. Angelfire is free but it is also popup alley. I need to update it but it has a bunch of good details and pics for you. Look under Jim Nilsen's 67 Camaro in the cars section.

Jim Nilsen

[Steve Chryssos]

Got any ideas and I am listening
Jim Nilsen

Ideas?
-Filler panel from top of ashtray opening to tunnel. Wraps around.
-Fixed rear quarter windows. There's actually quite a bit of room back there once you ditch the rear window regulator. (That's where I mounted my stereo. You've got the wirinng channel in the driver's side rocker
-No back seat? Build a raised shelf with access panels. I built mine at tunnel height. I wish it were even higher. (10"? to increase storage capacity and make it easier to reach back there and grab stuff lying on shelf)
-Prewire everything outside of the car and use weatherpaks to connect to harness. Mount pre-wired components to panels so that you need only install the panels
-My MSD HVC coil is mounted under the dash. It's very noisy. Sounds like one of Grandpa Munster's experiments. If you can shieled it for sound but not retain heat--do it.
-Find a good chiropracter. I curse my cage whenever working under dash.

Tell me about your electric heater?

[Jim Nilsen]

For the stereo I am planning on just a satellite radio setup.I don't ever like to carry music around or pick something to hear, give me a music style choice and entertain me with something I may not have ever heard. it cost way too much time and $$$$ to keep up with new music these days. Speakers in the door panels or kick panels ,rear package tray,smaller ones in the sail panel area to help hold the sail panels in and if needed small accent tweeter mount on the front bars of the cage is all I really need. Just loud enough to drown out he car car if needed and and enought to enjoy when the car is parked. 40 watts is enough to do that. I can remember when 20 watts was a big car stereo. Rule of thumb is it takes 5 times the power to raise the db level double of where your max volume is. Start out at 2 watt and do the math and it doesn't need to go past 250 to get rediculous on power.
I have talked to a couple of people about the Accel coil making noise and they say it is not noisy at all. but if it is I can use the hole that the MSD thru the fire wall coil wire bulkhead is and just put the wires and a grommet or mil spec connector to put it in the engine compartment, either way it can use the same holes for mounting if I do it right. You make me want to make sure I mount it that way now.

The electric heat is fairly easy since it is mostly several of the small auxillary defroster heaters that you can find in JC Whitney or autozone. They put out enough to clear a window and will mount right in the spot where the vents for the factory defrosters go. The ones I keep spying are 5 in. long and about 1.5to 1.75 in dia.. For the rest of the heat I plan on putting in 12v outlet from the rear and making a mount for one of those larger removable electric rv heaters or have it blow in like the rear window defrosters did in the originals to begin with.Recycling the heat in the car works pretty good, we did it in a Jeep once and it really makes a difference reheating the same air rather than trying to heat the cold stuff to start. To make sure I don't run out of power I am running a 160 amp MSD alternator. I really don't care if it makes me hot in the car I am mostly looking to take the chill out and make sure that on those cool april and september morns and nights I can still see thru the windows. I can wear a jacket for the rest.If the windows do fog I know that rolling down the windows will clear things up no problem. Years ago when the heater in my other 67 went out in January and I didn't get time for a whole week to fix it I wore coveralls and opened the vent windows and it really does the trick to clear the windows. I will have a racing suit in my future so the coveralls can go and I will look like I am practicing for a race instead of going to a construction job. Where I live people ride snowmobiles and don't get cold so who needs a heater to stay warm anyway.

The glove box door is going to be just a way to access the fuse panel and the Accel DFI box computer connection and the Nexus gauges , both have to hook up to the laptop to upload and download info. I will have a console big enough to hold gloves.

I have planned on making a console that is 2 pieces so that part of it is quick removal and will ditch some weight and give way to the fire extinguisher which is to be mounted right between the seats. I am planning a filler panel as you call it which will be part of the console that will hold a series of gauges that can be hidden or exposed with a door. The idea is that you don't always need to see some of the 11 gauges that I plan on having. Trans temp,head temp,exhaust temp,differential temp and who knows what else don't need to be read all of the time and with the Nexus gauges you can monitor them later if you have problems and you can flip the door down when at the track and have the red warning light let you know you better stop and check it. You have to love what those Nexus gauges are supposed to do. I hope they work like they say.

The back seat is going to be a foam/fiberglass removable 3 piece setup like in the 2nd gens in a way that it be dual purpose. If I don't have passengers I will take out the blowup air cushions that have the adjustable lumbar support that you see available for making your bad seats in a truck more livable for the over the road guys, lightweight and easy to remove is what I am looking at.Velcro will be my friend when it comes to making it easy

Keep asking questions and giving me ideas. You keep letting me know that what I have planned is on the right track. Reassurance about what I am doing helps me a lot since most of the ideas I have are still new to most but have been utilized here and there for years in many different vehicle situations but have never been put to use in one car. The testing for most items was done 50 yrs ago and then abondoned for obvious reasons of spoiled occupants that needed more and more and more. I remember when radio and heater delete covers were a col thing and meant your car was stricly business not comfort.

Talk to you more later.

Jim Nilsen

[Steve Chryssos]

Talk to you more later.
Jim Nilsen

Looking forward to it. And I'll be sure to look you up on my next trip to Illinois. Thanks for the tip on the heater.
/Steevo

[parsonsj]

Hey Jim,

I'm liking what I see on the car. I remember well our initial conversations as we discovered that we were doing the same project, just hundreds of miles away. Keep at it, and keep us posted.

The electric heaters and Racepumps fuel pump sound very interesting. Can you post a link?

jp

[Jim Nilsen]

Heres the link for the Race Pumps. You will be impressed with how simple it is. I still get amazed everytime I look at it ,wondering why something so simple didn't happen a long time ago. Technology sometimes has to try to keep taking the same space sometimes instead of using something remote that comes from another type of utility like the electric fuel pump did.

The electric heaters can be found in JC Whitney. They always seem to have the best selection to shop at and they always have the dimensions. There are so many different ones that you have to be careful about which ones have the better blowers vs the high wattts of heat. I have looked into some of the 12v hair blow dryers for rv's too but the selection of those has gone down since inverters have taken over with all of the video equipment that is being put in vehicles now . Which leads to being able to go that route and put in one of those ceramic heaters that can heat a room in your house and not take up any more space than a 7x7x7 cube these days and only weigh about 5lbs. with the weight of the inverter it might be 10lbs total and it could all be made to be quick removal at the track to loose the weight. I have considered possibly making the rear aux heater this way and then I would have AC power in the car to plug the laptop into just in case the batteries ever go dead. After seeing that truck with the home window air conditioner in the back window I know it can be done. Who needs to have hot water boiler type heat in a car with technology like it is today.

Thanks for the support, II Much is looking awesome !!! I actually think we might be able to see the end of looking at our cars on jack stands pretty soon.

http://www.racepumps.com

[primate]

jim, your camaro is awesome!

[yody]

jim, your camaro is awesome!
I agree time for some new and better pics!