V12 LS1 CAMARO

The pipes are also new and a major improvement, and with Haltech pressing the buttons on the tune-up, the engine should be well up on its 717hp test runs

“The suspension arms are standard, except I cut them up and re-welded them to make them look like they’re factory – the camber only moves 10 thousandths of an inch the whole way through the five inches of travel,” he says. “We also cut the subframe and took four inches out of the centre of it so we could get the turning clearance when it’s all the way down. I wanted to people to be able to walk up to this car, look at it and say: ‘We could do this.’ We build tube-chassis cars and people can’t relate to them because they’re too over the top.”

V12 Camaro engine detailWhile the airbags go a long way to getting this car on the ground, there are a few other tricks that have been employed to give it that ground-scraping stance. “We cut the body off the floor of the car and dropped it down – channelled it – three inches, which is nothing anybody does on a monocoque car. We also took off the sills, which is another four-and-a-half inches. The one question we get the most is: ‘How far did you stretch the front end?’ We didn’t stretch it all, it just looks that way because we cut the four-and-a-half inches off the bottom of the fender. The key was, we put another bend in the fender to make a body line so it would look like it was all factory.”

V12 Camaro side viewThe car hasn’t been lengthened, it’s just an illusion from the body modifications and those extra four cylinders on the engine! Wheels are a set of Monocoque lightweight racing rims that Mike has had squirrelled away for over 20 years. They’re an aluminium-magnesium alloy and measure up at 15x10 out back and 15x5 up front

The car also copped a roof chop, with 1.25 inches taken out of the front pillars only, giving it a wedge chop to accentuate the rake even more. The front and rear glass has also been flush-mounted for a more modern look, and the suicide doors are actuated via the stock mirrors, which pull forward to release the door latch.

Chevrolet Camaro strutEven with all of those crazy body mods, getting a car to stand out amongst the thousands of displays at SEMA is a tough ask, so that’s why the engine now sports that wild 12-pack injection set-up and lime green paint. “I built the intake because I really wanted to show off that it was a V12, and the best way to do that was to do 12 singles,” Mike says. “The entire idea of painting the motor green was to stand out. We painted the car dark so that the motor would definitely grab your attention. Our job was to make the car as wild as the motor so that it would be in a great platform to see.”

V12 Chevrolet CamaroThe engine has certainly had people speculating as to where it’s come from, with guesses ranging from Bugatti to Dodge Viper, until they finally asked what it was out of. “I said: ‘It’s not out of anything, yet. This is the first one.’ Then they’d look at it and I’d say it’s an LS and they’d go crazy!”

V12 Chevrolet Camaro gearstickCurrently, the cross-ram intake set-up has been shipped back to Oz, with Matt working with Dandy Engines in Melbourne to create a tuning map for it, as Mike has big plans to drive the wheels off the Camaro. What better way to prove the concept and get the word out about the V12 LS?

Mike Heim's Chevrolet CamaroMike Heim from Quality Custom Rides has owned his ’67 Camaro for over 30 years. It’s been chopped, channelled and customised like no other Camaro and is the perfect recipient for the wild V12 engine

If you want to find out more about the engine, visit V12LS.com.
SPECIFICATIONS

MIKE HEIM
1967 CHEVROLET CAMARO
Colour: PPG custom Graphite body; Acid Green engine

DONK
Type: V12 LS 519ci
Inlet: Modified OBX cross-ram
Induction: Individual throttlebodies
Heads: Cathedral-port
Valves: LS1
Cam: Clive Cams hydraulic-roller, 223/238@50, .589 lift
Pistons: LS1
Crank: Custom billet
Conrods: LS1
Radiator: DeWitts
Exhaust: 6-into-1 headers, 3in side-exit pipes
Ignition: LS3 coils
ECU: Haltech Elite 750

SHIFT
Box: ATI Turbo 400
Converter: ATI high-stall
Diff: GM 12-bolt, Eaton Truetrac

BENEATH
Front end: Narrowed 4in

Steering: Rack-and-pinion