My Cam Research for the Experts Eye

[Grumpy]

some of the newer camera security systems, can turn themselves on when they sense movement in close vicinity to the vehicle
,and they can record everything, for future download, have you seen how nice the new NISSAN 360 camera system is..
it looks like there's a camera mounted about 50 feet above the vehicle,
it shows everything around the vehicle

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Thread 'have you seen the new nissan truck cameras?'

Feb 1, 2025

Nissan's 360° surround view camera, also known as the Intelligent Around View Monitor (I-AVM), uses four wide-angle cameras to create a virtual bird's-eye view of the vehicle's surroundings. The system uses image processing to identify moving objects and provide guidance for parking and driving.

when inside the truck it gives the impression there's an aerial camera ,
about 50 feet above the truck, so you see completely around the truck,
this video I found does NOT give you the full impression, its even better!
I wonder how difficult it would be to retro-fit to other...

• Grumpy
• Replies: 0
• Forum: trucks

vehicle security systems with 360 degree recording camera - Google Search

www.google.com

 

[TXChevy]

Those are really cool, but out of my budget . The F/R cameras we use are 59 to 79 bucks but work quite well.

 

[TXChevy]

Distributor Advance .....

Before I start on the carpet, meaning that the center electrical will be removed, I wanted to re-tune the engine.
- Checked and adjusted the float bowls (Holley 850 VS)
- Checked and adjusted the accelerator pump arm vs position of the throttle arm at idle.
- Adjusted the idle mix based on highest vacuum reading. It was pretty close actually - engine vacuum is 15-16" at idle which is what I expected with this cam. It's a steady reading, which is good.

Side Note:
The 12v post I added on the firewall is very handy for providing power to my timing light. I'll also carry a 12v led light that can also use this feed.



- I came upon a glitch when I went to check and set the timing.
My initial goal is to set it up for 34-36 degrees of total timing, but subject to tweaking as needed based on what the advance curve graphing looks like and how the engine performs. I also look at the rate of advance and I use the Dave Ray method of limiting the advance cannister arm. It's worked for 30+ years. The current cannister is an old-school Crane adjustable advance cannister with the total advance limiter installed per Dave instructions.
- First checking initial timing, it was slightly retarded with the vacuum hose disconnected. I slightly advanced it to 18 degrees advanced and the engine was noticeably happier. Idle speed came up slightly so I re-adjusted that.
- However, I noticed that when I plugged the (full manifold vacuum) hose to the cannister there was zero difference in anything. No further advancement, no change in the engine speed. I checked the cannister with a MityVac and there was no ability to retain vacuum, so I guess the cannister is shot. No surprise really, it's about 30 years old. I did check it before distributor installation though and it seemed to work fine. But regardless, it's not working now.



However, the problem is that many of the older performance Delco cannisters are NLA.
So I poked around the internet and decided to get a Standard Products cannister that - on paper - seems ok for my application.
I did not want an adjustable style cannister since I'm using a limiter plate on it.

Note! As always I welcome comments and corrections!

I hope I have this right.....
Standard Products VC171 Cannister.
Remembering that this engine produces 15-16"Hg, I picked this cannister that specs to begin pulling at 7-9"Hg, adds a total of 8 (distributor) degrees at max 14-16"Hg. Note distributor degrees are half of what's seen at the crank.
This should correlate with the engine manifold vacuum at idle, but the real test of course is how it actually works.

So the funny thing (I guess) is that I've been running the car on the initial timing plus what the selected weight springs are providing for mechanical advance. It's actually run ok, but overall it's been running on a retarded timing setup so there's room for improvement. Curious to see how the timing curve looks.

 

[TXChevy]

Interior ........

Dash Cam Stuff.....

As mentioned, this was the front/rear dashcam I'll be using.


The front camera has a USB-C cable for power supply and a jack-type cable for AV feed from the rear camera.
I wanted to get these cables in place before messing with carpeting, especially the AV cable running to the rear camera.

There is no good way to get these cables routed to the rearview mirror area without bringing them through the trim. The trim edges fit tightly against the windshield gasket and the headliner strip - you will pinch/break the cables trying to sneak them out the side of the trim. However, there is a small space right above the trim that can accommodate the cables.

So the only choice was to carefully drill through the trim itself.
Using tape and slow drill speed I was able to get a clean hole without chipping the paint.


So the trim now has a grommet and cables.




The camera itself isn't that large - it will mount on the windshield right in front of the rear-view mirror.

The A-pillar had plenty of space to bring the cables down to below the dash.
I then routed the rear camera AV feed cable down along the passenger side wiring tray and to the rear window area.
That's all that was needed for this part of the interior work.

 

[TXChevy]

Interior .....

Removal of center console gauges/electrical/shifter.
More prep work to clean out the floor area.

I took about 2 dozen pictures of how the wiring was routed, connections, etc. so that I can re-install it all after the carpet is in place.

I'll spare you the rest of them, but there's a lot of details that I want to remember later.






Tunnel is now cleared off - using rivet nuts made it go a lot easier. Just loosen any fasteners without having to mess with nuts and bolts going through the sheet metal. I was also able to put the gauge assembly with connected wires up into the dash, so that helped to minimize wire disconnects.

 

[Indycars]

Do you have some kind of protection for the wires that are under the carpet so that they don't get direct pressure from your feet?

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[TXChevy]

Rick, I'll get a picture , but there's a channel along the top of the rocker on each side of the car for wiring. It goes underneath the sill plates. I also added a light gauge steel cover panel for the channels to ensure all wiring is fully enclosed and protected.

 

[Indycars]

How about the wires on tunnel and before they get to the sill plates. I suppose there is not that much traffic on the tunnel so protection probably not needed.

 

[TXChevy]

How about the wires on tunnel and before they get to the sill plates. I suppose there is not that much traffic on the tunnel so protection probably not needed.

There are no wires from tunnel going to the sill plates under the carpet. All tunnel wiring goes to the the front. Then routes wherever it needs to go under the dash.
The tunnel will have a center console built over it, but I needed to clear it so I could first lay the one piece (molded) carpet over the entire interior area. Then I'll weight it into the footwells to let it conform further as I cut it for seat bracket slots, center console shifter etc.
I'll re-attach the temporary center gauges until I figure out shape and design of the center console. My plan is to have seats, door panels, console upholstered but I will make the base console and reshape the configuration of the door panels.

EDIT......
This is the passenger side cover over the wiring channel. Driver side similar.

 

[TXChevy]

Center Console .....

Before getting into the interior carpet, I wanted to use the clear tunnel area to design the center console. There are some blank fiberglass units available, but I want a console that meets my particular requirements and fits exactly like I want it to.

I first made a list of what I wanted to have in the console, like gauges, power outlets, cupholders, armrest, etc.

The next step was to use cardboard to block out the shapes/heights/widths into something that I liked and would fit my needs.
I started with very simple stuff and kept refining as I went along. The beauty of using a cardboard mockup is that it lets you see the unit actually in the space.

Started with some height and width blocks.


I added the console gauge/outlet face.


I then narrowed up the rear part that would go between the seats. Incidentally, I put one seat full forward, the other full rearward to see where a good endpoint would be for the back of the console.


I didn't like that abrupt side transition between the rear and front section - this is the type of thing that you can see in real life and change accordingly.


Next was to block out the rear armrest/storage bin. This started with a very simple height visualization.


I sat in the car and evaluated different heights, in terms of comfort for your arm, overall proportions, etc.
Keep in mind that much of this will be contoured and shaped - the interior dash has great contours and I'm trying to avoid having a homemade looking "box" just sitting there. So I'm looking closely at shapes and contours of the final version, as well as what cues I can take from the dash.
This height and length worked the best, taking into consideration seat positioning from all the way forward to all the way back.


Here's the version that I liked, with a softer width transition, some height variety and good proportions.
Generally (front to rear) the front sides will receive speakers behind mesh, angled gauge/outlet/switch panel, cupholders before the shifter, small tray behind the shifter, then raised armrest. The armrest will get a padded cellphone retainer on the top. Another power outlet will go into the back face and led courtesy lighting for front and rear footwells.
Again, that armrest will be softened a bit with curved ends. And I may reduce it to a low contoured storage bin, not an armrest. I'll let it all simmer in my headfor a while.



This is all I need to do in the car, so next will be the carpeting. I'll next turn this mockup into a .25 in thick particleboard unit that I will place into the car after carpet for final tweaking, anchor points, etc. That version will be rebuilt into a final .5 in paint grade birch unit with all finished raised edges, panel highlights, internal supports, etc. that can then be upholstered and finished. I know you can use MDF too, but I prefer the birch as I think it retains rounded edges better in the long run, sands out smoother and is less prone to moisture. Just my opinion!

The intent is to have my interior upholstery colors selected, but generally this console will be black and gray, with gauge panel and other stuff in either the brushed titanium or similar metal finish. My neighbor has a high quality 3D printer that I can use to make drop in-trays, storage base, accents etc. for a finished look.

 

[TXChevy]

Center Console ........

I let the console design simmer for a few days, then decided that the armrest/storage bin was too high. I didn't like that it was a hard vertical "up" from the console. As mentioned, I want to incorporate some nice contours on the console.

This was version one, as in the previous post. I decided that the transition from the lower surface to the armrest was too boxy. Plus, after some thinking, in this car I really don't see a high armrest as a requirement.



So I re-made the armrest/storage into what I liked a lot better. It's lower, and the built version will have curved front and back edges.
It just seems to work better with the overall look.



Here's the mock-up, now ready to be duplicated in particleboard. I'll place the particleboard version into the car after the carpet is installed, then tweak as needed before making the final unit. I'll also use the particleboard version for accent placements, side-rails, etc to see it all in real life.


The last thing I did at the console area was to relocate the opening for the 12v power cables from the trunk battery to the front. The yellow arrow is the console width - as you can see my original opening was landing outside the console. That rivet nut that you can see to the right is for a power cable clamp, very straightforward routing to the firewall.


So that's it for now on the console.

Another milestone now, I started laying in the insulation/noise matting. After this will be the carpeting.

 

[Grumpy]

Im impressed , very impressed that your putting the thought into the design and actually re-designing it when you see potential "flaws",
in the original concepts, thats shows a great deal of creativity and acquired wisdom, obviously gained through previous less than ideal results from previous projects, that did not turn out "ideally" and your having gained that rather rare skill, of knowing you'll be mentally kicking yourself for a significant while if you fail to make the required changes , that shows a rather rare and valued knowledge, in that you understand that getting a project completed is not AS IMPORTANT as getting it done CORRECTLY!

 

[TXChevy]

Im impressed , very impressed that your putting the thought into the design and actually re-designing it when you see potential "flaws",
in the original concepts, thats shows a great deal of creativity and acquired wisdom, obviously gained through previous less than ideal results from previous projects, that did not turn out "ideally" and your having gained that rather rare skill, of knowing you'll be mentally kicking yourself for a significant while if you fail to make the required changes , that shows a rather rare and valued knowledge, in that you understand that getting a project completed is not AS IMPORTANT as getting it done CORRECTLY!

That's high praise, many thanks.
I think it's related to school of hard knocks - certainly if you don't learn from that you would be destined to fail. I looked at a ton of console pics and videos that were a big help.
Making templates is a big part of this, not only for overall shape and size but also for components. Example is I made templates for both 4" and 5.25" speakers - using the templates made it clear that the 4" were the best fit. I'll have an insert over the speakers and they will be behind a dark mesh.

There will be much more on the console, but for now I want to get the carpeting installed.

 

[Grumpy]

yes "THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS" may be frustrating but it's sure to teach those willing to LEARN, a valued skill!
(knowing that some thought is required, to get what you envision, done correctly is rarely a "ONE AND DONE" process)
it is so rare, as to be impossible to find anyone who can honestly say" there's nothing left to improve on"

 

[TXChevy]

Interior.....

A little more progress.
The plan is to use the matting all over the floor for heat primarily. Other areas get it where it will help sound dampening. I dont see the need to cover every inch of the car in this stuff.

The rear seat area is done.


And the rear floor pan area is done.


Next is to pull the seats and keep working my way to the firewall.

 

[Indycars]

What can I say, but it's very nice work!
.

 

[Indycars]

You might already know about this guy on YouTube. He has great fabrication video for car interiors and sound systems. You might want to search thru his videos to find something you can do without too many custom tools.

Something like below could add a lot of interest to your console.

You said something about using 3D printed parts. Check out the video below to see about adding thread "Heated Inserts".

Will you be doing the 3d Modeling? What software?

.

 

[TXChevy]

Rick, my neighbor has a Bambu Carbon printer. I'll get with him as I figure out what can be 3D printed, plastic selection, etc. Software, I don't know. He's also got a 3D scanner, so I may be able to make a generally close piece, then refine it with the software.

Despite looking at dozens of online videos, etc, I hadn't seen the ones you linked. They have a lot of value for me as they address more refined aspects of interior work, thanks! I want to make a really professional looking unit, not just a "box"

 

[TXChevy]

Interior Carpet .....

Finished installing the sound/insulation matting, turned out nice.
It's been a very long road to get to this point. A LOT of sheet metal modification to get the bucket seats installed properly and safely.
Plus tunnel repair and misc floor reinforcement added. The pics below don't show, but there are two large brackets that run below the new seat track locations. Very strong attachment.
The bolts and plates you see are attachment for the driveshaft safety loop.




The black painted sections are the inside seat track supports - the seat base track bolts to these. I painted them just in case the carpet was going to be too much of a pain to get into these sections. They're in between the seats, but just to make them blend in with the black carpet.




You'll notice that the side panels have the mat applied as simple sound dampening.


New pad initial placement to start figuring out where to trim.
I will "spot glue" it just to keep it in place when I'm happy with the final fit - I don't want it to shift from carpeting installation fiddling.

This padding, like the carpet is cut for this particular make/model, but when you order the one-piece molded carpet, the padding is shipped loose vs attached to the carpet. Most of the one-piece (vs two-piece bound) carpeting is made for more custom applications, such as bucket seats/console, so you want flexibility in where the padding is and where the carpet will be cut.
I'll supplement where needed with additional padding, such as under the seats and at the outer middle sides.



Next is a lot of measuring and trimming for the center console and around the seat bases.
One thing I've learned is that cars like these with flat sill plates that locate under the door closing, you don't run mat or padding out to the edge of the rockers. It winds up being way too thick when the sill plates are installed and will catch on the door bottoms - you sort of blend out everything except the carpet thickness itself as it goes to the sills.

 

[TXChevy]

Interior Carpet ....

I installed those two large pad pieces that were supplied with the ACC carpet.
They actually fit up fairly well, with of course the usual fiddling that's to be expected.

I used some 3M adhesive to spot glue them in place to be sure that they didn't shift, especially as I was trimming edges and adding holes.
The bricks are there simply to help contour the pad, but it is glued down at any changes in height (corners).



You can see that the two pieces leave some open spaces, per what would be the original bench seat.
So for my case, I'll add same thickness/density of pad to fill in those areas to keep everything consistent under the carpet.
I'm also going to put padding down on the rear pan area that's under the back seat.

I used the "melt-holes method" in the pad (like I had done with the carpet trunk) to have access to rivet nuts already in place.
Pretty easy to locate them - I laid the pad into place and used sharp nails from below to pierce the pad, then just marked the locations.