Getting closer........

[Jim Nilsen]

The weekend went well and I got to give a lot of rides and enjoy the car for what it is. The tune was good enough to have some fun and make smiles.

Did some tuning this afternoon and made some good progress. I did some blending in of the high and low spots and got the timing somewhat set for now. Tommorow will tell if the changes make it smoother.

Went to a small car show to look at some cars and ended up with a crowd around my car. It got rained out in the end but it was fun while it lasted. Had a guy lookin at it ask me if it was a trackday car? He loved it and had a Mustang he runs at events. I guess it is noticable as to what it is if you know what you are lookin at.

I'm getting anxious to get to Gingerman and have some fun. The car should make the trip no problem and it's up to me to know when it's had more than it can handle. It seems strong and rides great.

[wmhjr]

Jim, I'm jealous! I can only try to run AutoX courses as I don't have rollover protection for my convertible. So, no Gingerman or MWMCC for me :(

Isn't it enjoyable to have guys who know what they're talking about come up and notice little things you've done - you know - the ones that nobody else notices but you probably spent hours thinking about before doing?

[Jim Nilsen]

Jim, I'm jealous! I can only try to run AutoX courses as I don't have rollover protection for my convertible. So, no Gingerman or MWMCC for me :(

Isn't it enjoyable to have guys who know what they're talking about come up and notice little things you've done - you know - the ones that nobody else notices but you probably spent hours thinking about before doing?

You don't have to be jealous of blowing up engines and breaking stuff, it is a lot of fun then.

You will have all of the fun you can handle with just autox but you can still get to do novice parade type track to stuff to stretch it a little if you want at some places.

The great thing about people who know cars and see what has been done is that they just keep looking and looking and wishing they had the time to do all of the trick things to a car. It puts a smile on my face to know that all of the patience I have had to have to get where I am has finally paid off.

I worked on the Racepak today and got everything working except the fuel level and that may require a different fuel sending unit quite possibly? As long as I have a trip odometer it really isn't a big thing but it would be nice to have it work.

I now have acceleration and cornering g's to let me know how well things are progressing and it is going to help a lot.

I have 2 more weeks to get ready for Gingerman and I think I will be prepared for it for the most part, 1 year later,LOL.

[Jim Nilsen]

Here are a couple of recent pics I just unloaded from my camera.


Heres proof that it gets driven and cleaned. The front inner fenders are in now and a pic of the hinges if you look, the material is on the table waiting to be milled for the final design. Lots of details to finish but driving it is more fun and keeping me from thinking too much about them,lol.

[Jim Nilsen]

Here are a couple of pics of the headliner progress and the cowl induction air cleaner setup. I'm wating on a new product from Second Skin to finish off the headliner, they don't make Damplifier light anymore because they make something better to replace it. I have to thank them for getting me taken care of so well.
I now have a template for the better aluminum to finish the air cleaner so it matches the hood piece.

Lots of little things and a couple others that I would like to get done before next weekend , so we will see what the priorities are?

[John Wright]

Looking good Jim. Air cleaner template looks like it was made for the car...LOL(I know...it was)

[Motown 454]

Very nice .

[Jim Nilsen]

Got the air cleaner done except for the sealing foam in the back. It doesn't shake the hood and it seems to be giving me a bit more power with the cool air but it will be more apparent when I get it tuned real well and then take it off and see. You can feel the air go in through the cowl vent even at idle.

Here are a couple of pics

[68firebird]

that came out great!

[John Wright]

that came out great!

+1...came out looking great Jim.

[Motown 454]

It looks great Jim.

[NOT A TA]

Air cleaner setup looks good Jim!

[dusterbd13]

thats the most pictures ive ever seen of this car. looks great, and id love to see some more.

and is that a golf club handle as a hood prop rod?

one suggestion about the air cleaner piece: looks great, but i think a brushed finish would match the purpose look unde the hood a bit better. just my opinion.

and im trying to figure out whats going on with the headliner. looks like screening material with a flange in the center, correct?


lastly, i have to thank you for all the hope youve given me. im fighting EFI issues with my engine swap right now, and seeing how youve preservered and kept your spirits up really helps me. hopefully i can take some of your attitude with me and my laptop when i work on my truck. any pointers for a guy thats teaching himself on the fly? (and no, its not asshell efi, either. its all GM mix n match)

keep up the great work and inspiration.
michael

[Jim Nilsen]

thats the most pictures ive ever seen of this car. looks great, and id love to see some more.

and is that a golf club handle as a hood prop rod?

one suggestion about the air cleaner piece: looks great, but i think a brushed finish would match the purpose look unde the hood a bit better. just my opinion.

and im trying to figure out whats going on with the headliner. looks like screening material with a flange in the center, correct?


lastly, i have to thank you for all the hope youve given me. im fighting EFI issues with my engine swap right now, and seeing how youve preservered and kept your spirits up really helps me. hopefully i can take some of your attitude with me and my laptop when i work on my truck. any pointers for a guy thats teaching himself on the fly? (and no, its not asshell efi, either. its all GM mix n match)

keep up the great work and inspiration.
michael

Ah yes the golf club handle? A friend had some carbon fiber clubs he picked up for $2 each at a sale. One of them had a tag of $359 on it. It is lighter than the stainless tubing I was using and I threw a cragar sticker on it to cover up the golf name stuff. I think I might paint the shaft silver or the color of the car? The real cool thing is that the handle says "Pro-Tour " right on it so I couldn't resist. I may go with a hinged and swiveled prop rod that clips in a spot when closed once I know how the rest of the engine bay gets done.

I am already working on the air cleaner lid. I started to not like the black one the second I put the seal in. I have a gold anodized one that I can remove the anodizing or leave it gold? The gold kind of goes with the color of the car in a shiny way. I would really like to find a spun aluminum one that has the right profile and height and a reasonable price. The removal of the anodizing can sometimes leave a stain but I can always paint it if I have to until I find a spun aluminum piece.

The headliner is perforated aluminum I got through Metal Express. There are all kinds of hole sizes and spacing to choose from, it was hard to pic the one I liked and almost went with even smaller holes and spacing but it gets real fragile at that point. It hardly wieghs anything and is strong as heck.It is about $10 sq.ft. I used Damplifier on the back side of it to dampen any noise and give it some mass, it also makes the holes black and not able to see through it.The piece in the middle of it all is 2" x .125 aluminum that is screwed to the roof bracing. It is working very well so far and the car is much quieter than any all aluminum interior car I have rode in. It's darn near quieter riding than most any car you will drive in except the exhaust note when you get on it.

I'm glad that going through the EFI problems someone learned from it !! I have had to stay with many machines and make them work with no new parts unless I made them and keep production going and it taught me that when it is bad parts your frustration can only be stopped with new ones. If it is something you are doing wrong and don't know what to do, you are going to have to learn the hard way. With EFI you just have to keep trying to understand it all as a whole. I wish I knew more about the GM systems but thats a whole other ballpark to play in. You can find more people who tune what you have online than those that tune the Accel.

Keep on keepin on and learn something from everyone who leaks it out about EFI.

Thanks for the compliments.

[Jim Nilsen]

What a weekend!!!!!!!

I was having problems on wednesday with a driveline vibration that would vary and was at higher rpm. I couldn't find what it was and almost didn't go to the Motorstate Challenge. The car was running good and it would cruise just fine and had plenty of power with no vibration at less than 4000 rpm. I decided to drive to meet with everyone in Elgin and se then what to do? It made with no problems and I had plenty of help and a trailer if needed so I took the trip and it all went well.

I found I really need some new tires. I just don't have the grip to keep up. The car pushes and needs to possibly have a rear sway bar to help it out. The car car drove great on the track and was a blast. The autox proved to be a bigger challenge for the tires and it really hurt me there. It would have been a bit better if I could have had another 3000 rpm at my disposal but it was fun.

The cause of the vibration was discussed when I got to Michigan and the problem is the Centerforce pressure plate. the weights are obviously not returning to the middle exactly and causing the vibration. Other people have had the same problems so it is time to take the weights off and hope for the best.

It was really nice to meet with everyone again and the cars at the vent were awesome. I met a lot of new people and learned a lot.

Bad Penny wasn't there and I really missed seeing Dave Pozzi. i also was looking for a few others that didn't make it. The event is getting better and I can't wait for next year!!!

Now I have a trans to pull and some weight to take off the car. It might only be a 1/2 pound but it the most important to lose because it will add 3000 rpm and who knows how much more power. it makes me wonder how we all keep these cars together sometimes.

[Jim Nilsen]

I have been working on the closeout panel and have it pretty well done for now. I will have to modify it a bit for the final hinges when I get there but for now here it is.

Next on the list is pulling the clutch out and getting to the problem it is having, what ever it is. I am interested in if it will be the weights on the pressure plate causing the vibration or if it is something else ?

[NOT A TA]

Panels look good Jim! And nice pic in the Motorstate pic thread!

[TitoJones]

Jim-

It's been about 8 years since we first spoke and I have to hand it to you. You built one hell of a car in your garage and you stuck to your guns while all sorts of new products were exploding onto the market. That's tough to do.
If ever there was a good car that deserved a new set of wheels and tires it is this bad boy. The wheel combo is sleeper for sure, but I think the visual look of the car is lost in those C4 wheels.

Congrats on running at the track; I hope to be there one day along side you.

Tyler

[trapin]

Jim I am totally bummed I didn't get a better look at your car when I saw you at Motorstate. I agree, you've done a terrific job with it.

Hey, you need a rear sway bar for your car? Tell you what, I have a Helwig Rear Sway bar for a first gen that has never seen the road, I have all the parts for it too; it's practically brand new. You send me the money for shipping and it's yours. Of course I'll have to find some kind of box to put it in. Let me know. (586)872-0135

Or better yet, grab Matt and get your asses over here for Woodward in August and you can take it back with you.

[GregWeld]

Jim ---

Did you dial in the bellhousing to less than .005?