Author Topic: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build  (Read 40516 times)

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #280 on: October 02, 2024, 05:45:57 AM »
Thanks! I'm hoping that the shifts are just more firm with the kit and one other benefit is that it's supposed to hold the line pressure longer in all the gears as well as providing a dual feed for third gear which is supposed to be a fail point in these transmissions. I think the converter will also make a big difference. If I get a chance, I hope to button up the trans re-install today at lunch. Then the last thing will be adding a hanger for the exhaust. There's a car show on Saturday right in town that I hope to attend so I need to get it back together soon.

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

rkellerjr

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #281 on: October 02, 2024, 07:43:33 AM »
I think your gonna like those changes.

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #282 on: October 16, 2024, 06:29:56 AM »
Was finally able to upload the pictures and get this thread updated. After my last post, I finished up the exhaust hanger and buttoned up the rest of the car to get it out to see if the new converter made any difference. I thought on how I wanted to built the exhaust hanger for quite a while. I bought a kit with the rods like I welded to the tailpipe, but wasn't happy with how much slack there was. The isolator hole was about twice the diameter of the rod, so I found a bolt in my bin that had a tighter fit in the isolator, then turned it down to make a shoulder bolt that would tighten down on a factory exhaust hanger.



Then after a bunch of test fits, I got the curvature right on the rod and welded it to the tail pipe. I had some high temp aluminum paint that matched almost perfectly with the aluminized coating on the tail pipe. 



It's got a nice snug fit with the slightest amount of upward pre-load to take the pressure off the manifolds. Really happy with how it turned out.



The new transmission pan hangs a bit lower than I would have liked, but my car isn't slammed, so it should be fine. I'm just more aware of it now over bumps and whatnot.



After the tailpipe was finished, the car was ready to get off of the wheel stands and out for a test drive. I topped the transmission off with 10 quarts, but it wanted another 2 to get to the hot full line. I let the car idle in the driveway for a little while at first making sure to be in each gear for about 30 seconds so that the fluid could get all throughout the trans. Put it back in park and it was down about 2 quarts, so I topped it off and took the car out. The engine ran the same, but what I noticed immediately is that the throttle response was much better and the trans wasn't lazy going from forward to reverse. Took it down the road and when I was easy on the throttle, it drove pretty much the same. However, when I got on the throttle it was significantly more responsive and drove like a car instead of a truck! The car is way more fun to drive and feels much faster when you go WOT. It was a lot of work to get that transmission in and out, but it was worth it once I got behind the wheel. One other thing worth mentioning is that when I put the new transmission pan back on I used a Lube-Locker gasket. I've heard good things about them, and wanted to give it a try myself because my old pan wept fluid on my new concrete floor which irritated me. I'm happy to report after putting a few hundred miles on it, there isn't a drop on the cardboard I put under it.

My in-laws were coming in town shortly after I got the car back up and running and they wanted to go on a few rides. We went to a really nice winery up the road from us, Barboursville Vineyards, and had a great time.





While we were driving around though, I started to smell gas fumes faintly. I wasn't sure what was going on because it was running so well. But after troubleshooting for a while, I think I found the cause. I was getting a significant amount of oil pooling in the intake, and the #8 cylinder looked to be fouled out. I'm not sure if the oil fouled it out, but it's certainly not great. I had another spare set of plugs so I swapped them in and it ran better without the fumes. I'm now in the market for a catch can and leaning towards an Elite Engineering unit.



While my father-in-law was here we decided to tackle the rear wood floor for the wagon. I found a template online and we got to work.



I got busy and didn't take many pictures of the during process, but here's how it turned out. I'm very happy with how it turned out.





Looks great, but really highlights the need for me to replace the carpet pieces on the upper and lower seats. The carpet kit I bought came with those pieces just need to find the time to replace them.



Feels good to have the car a little more complete, and up and running again. Hoping to figure out the PCV/oil issue, but I think that will be solved by adding a catch can.

Cheers,
Ryan

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

rkellerjr

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #283 on: October 16, 2024, 06:54:47 AM »
As always, great job!

roadking77

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #284 on: October 16, 2024, 02:54:58 PM »
Looks great Ryan, I am glad the transmission work made a difference.
Finished!
77 T/A - I will Call this one DONE!
79 TATA 4sp-Next Project?
79 TATA - Lost to Fire!
86 Grand Prix - Sold
85 T/A - Sold
85 Fiero - Sold
82 Firebird - Sold
'38-CZ 250
'39-BSA Gold Star
'49-Triumph 350
'52-Ariel Red Hunter
'66-BSA Lightning
'01-HD RoadKing

Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #284 on: October 16, 2024, 02:54:58 PM »

5th T/A

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #285 on: October 20, 2024, 08:18:24 AM »
Ryan,

This Nomad has come a long way in about two years. Even though it's not finished, you have a nice balance of taking it out for cruises and still making good progress.

Also, nice job posting all the details with pictures!

I am surprised TAC has been so quiet the last couple days. Maybe people are enjoying the mild fall weather!
1980 T/A with a Pontiac 461

Gone but not forgotten;
1973 T/A 455
1975 T/A 400
1978 T/A W72
1982 T/A cross fire injected

Two wheel toys;
2014 Harley Ultra Classic Limited
2013 Honda CB1100
2010 Yamaha Vmax
1982 Yamaha Seca 750

FormTA

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #286 on: October 22, 2024, 09:59:34 AM »

Great to hear tye trans is working well. I really love the exhaust hanger!
79 Trans am low buck LS swapped
79 Formula 301 (Work in progress)
67 RS Camaro (waiting it's turn)
69 Dodge charger on late model charger chassis
49 Ford F1 on a 2003 Chevy ZR2 Chassis (current project)
Names, Luke. If I hear anyone telling me they're my father....

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #287 on: October 23, 2024, 09:02:28 AM »
Thanks guys! I'm stoked that the transmission is working so well now. It's a very fun car to just cruise around.

Not much on the car other than driving it, but I did order some rear speakers and temporarily hooked up an old radio I had with some zip ties. The engine sounds great, but I do like some tunes while cruising and I know my family will appreciate it.



It's a cheap Android based radio, and has a lot of cool bells/whistles. There's even an option to hook up a rear mounted camera. I need a new background photo too.



Grabbed some super cheap 6x9 boxes that I was hoping would fit under the rear seat, but there's not a chance at all they will fit.



They fit here pretty nicely, and I can always remove them quickly if I need to fold the rear seats down.



The other sort of car related update was the Lego that my son built for me to take to car shows. He looked a few pictures and came out with this after about an hour building. Very impressed!





Hoping to get to some nice fall car shows over the next month or so.

Cheers,
Ryan

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

roadking77

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #288 on: October 24, 2024, 06:54:09 AM »
I love the lego car. Tell your son it gets TAC approval :lol:
Now you need to build a console for the stereo. When I was a young fellow I always had one of the best stereos you could buy in my car. I would upgrade every 6 months or so with something different or nicer, selling the old units to friends. I had disposable income :-o Now, I dont really listen to anything other than the shop radio. I suppose its because my hearing is bad. Have never got the radio hooked up in the 77, but I do want to have it working in the 79. My grandson is obsessed with computers. One thing  he insisted on when I first started working on the 79 was a large screen in the dash ala Tesla. I joked and said yes it will have one. I hope hes not too disappointed!
Finished!
77 T/A - I will Call this one DONE!
79 TATA 4sp-Next Project?
79 TATA - Lost to Fire!
86 Grand Prix - Sold
85 T/A - Sold
85 Fiero - Sold
82 Firebird - Sold
'38-CZ 250
'39-BSA Gold Star
'49-Triumph 350
'52-Ariel Red Hunter
'66-BSA Lightning
'01-HD RoadKing

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #289 on: October 25, 2024, 05:55:32 AM »
I approve of the large screen stereo as long as you don't cut the dash! :)

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

76455sd

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #290 on: October 25, 2024, 08:18:58 AM »
Great job on the Lego car. I like that he’s got the hood ornament on there.  :D
Steve D
'76 LE 455/4speed/solid roof - SOLD
'02 WS6 T/A convertible

langss

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #291 on: October 26, 2024, 07:45:07 PM »
Thanks for the "Inspiration" I have a Pioneer AM/FM 8 Track Player with 2 Speakers. I have been looking for something to put in the dash of my Chevelle. I'll just put the AM radio back in and put the above back under the dash were it was installed in 1971....Problem Solved. Probably never hear it anyway....lol.... 

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #292 on: November 07, 2024, 01:14:43 PM »
The car has been running great since I got it up and running, but recently I've been having the car run a little rich. The tune looked good to me, and I didn't see where it was adding more fuel. I did some troubleshooting and noticed cylinder #8 was running cooler and when I pulled the plug it was damp. After a little more troubleshooting I confirmed I had a dead coil. A buddy of mine let me borrow some extra coils so that I could confirm, and sure enough that was the issue. I found some low mile coils online and should have those soon. For now he's letting me use these coils so I can keep running the car.



When I was logging the car after the coil was swapped out, the learn table started pulling about 5% fuel out of the car so I think that it was running better. Then as I was reviewing the log data, I noticed that the AFR was bouncing around a ton. Something else is definitely going on. It should fluctuate, but not like this.



I also noticed that when I pulled a few plugs to see what the motor was doing, and I had quite a bit of oil on the threads. This generally means that there is oil being pulled into the engine either through valve seals or another method. It's pretty common for LS motors to pull oil from the valve covers, so I was pretty confident that was my issue. I pulled the intake and found a lot of oil. I'm thinking the combination of the PCV oil and a dead coil was the reason for the fuel smell.





I have been running the DOD delete valley cover since I first got the engine together, but always thought I may need to swap it out for one with a built in PCV since this design pulls much less oil. Wow, didn't realize how high these had gotten in the used market! Last time I bought one it was in the $100 range, but now they are $250-300 now. I shopped around for a while and found a guy on LS1tech who sold me one for $100 bucks shipped. So I was stoked about that.



Pulled the intake again so that I could get to the valley cover.



While it was all apart, I inspected everything I could and it looked great. One thing I noticed though was all of the intake valves had pools of oil in them! Not sure why it all of a sudden started consuming oil, but that was surprising.



Pulled the old one and swapped the new one, then torqued it back up. Very simple swap since the LS motors are all gasketed. While the intake was off I cleaned out all of the oil with parts cleaner.



After I got the intake back on, I took the path of least resistance and reused the old PCV line that was on the intake originally. I was able to rotate 180* and just ran a hose down to the new valley cover. I didn't get a picture, but the tube that goes into the intake was tapered away from airflow so when I flipped it around it would have actually caught air into the tube. I back cut the taper in 180* so that it acted just like the stock piece. I'll likely change this tube anyway since I will be upgrading to a Holley intake at some point in the future. For now it works perfect and didn't cost a dime!





All back together. I did some WOT pulls so that I could get all of the oil out, and then did a datalog to see if the updates I made changed the AFR. Now the AFR isn't changing so rapidly, and I think is more inline with how it should be operating. I'm sure that there is still a bit of oil being pulled out of the intake, but I'm much happier with those curves.



Hoping to get some more miles on and read the plugs to see if that makes a difference in the longer term.

Cheers,
Ryan

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #293 on: November 07, 2024, 04:13:33 PM »
I have a few parts updates too. I picked up some inner fenders in great condition locally a few weeks ago. I've been slowly cleaning them up and hoping to get them installed very soon so that I can finish the wiring. The fan wiring is just looped on the battery and it drives me nuts when I open the hood. I recruited some help to get them disassembled.





I got the driver's side all cleaned up with a wire wheel and found a few spots that need to be repaired, but overall in great condition. I love using original parts when I can even if it takes a little more effort.





Browsing on eBay I found a guy who sells blemished parts and had a set of CPP C5 drop spindles and C7 hubs for a significant discount. I couldn't pass them up and pulled the trigger. Ever since I put the car together I wanted to drop the front, and this also solves my wheel stud issue as well since this comes with longer wheel studs. I've heard that the hubs that come with the CPP C5 kit are low quality, but these are the upgraded HD C7 version which are meant for autox. I haven't seen any reviews on those yet, so I figured I'd try them out. The parts look brand new and never installed so maybe they were display pieces or something. Hoping to collect more steering parts and get these installed soon with a pair of cheap tubular A-Arms.









Lastly, I decided to swap out the janky DIY shackles that came on my car. I thought they would be a quick install, but I was way wrong. This were a huge PITA. I thought I could just force them on and pop them down, but I ended up needing to pull the ubolts to give me enough room to swing the spring over and pop it on the shackle.

What I started with:





I bought some of the poly stock style shackles and made sure to lubricate them well.



What a mess. The stock bushings were toast, and there was quite a bit of rust in the leaf spring.



After fighting with the spring for an hour or so I had to just walk away. Came back and realized that I just needed to remove the ubolts to give me enough room to swing it over. Worked like a charm, just ruined the ubolts in the process since they had been installed for a long time. I put the shackle in the top hanger, swung it down, then with the leaf spring loose, popped it on and installed the outer shackle and the two nuts. Sometimes you just have to walk away.









Very happy with the fitment, and the bonus was that it gave me roughly a 2" drop since the stock springs are so worn. Eventually I'll grab some drop springs, but for now, these will articulate much better and not clunk when I go around a corner.



Very pleased with the improvement in ride quality. The rear end definitely feels smoother when going around a corner or over bumps.

Cheers,
Ryan

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

N PRGRES

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #294 on: November 08, 2024, 09:30:21 AM »
If only there was a side photo to show the stance...... lol
Dave

81 Trans Am w/73 400.

Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #294 on: November 08, 2024, 09:30:21 AM »

ryeguy2006a

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #295 on: November 08, 2024, 09:45:35 AM »
I only took it out once afterwards on my lunch break and haven't had it out since. Right now it likely has a "Carolina Lean" because it's higher in the front than the back. Once I get the drop spindles installed it should have a pretty killer stance.

1976 Trans Am LS1 and much more...SOLD
1968 Camaro LSA, T56 Magnum, and much more...SOLD

Current Project: 1955 Nomad LC9, 4L80e, C5 brakes and etc...

roadking77

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #296 on: November 08, 2024, 02:33:13 PM »
I only took it out once afterwards on my lunch break and haven't had it out since. Right now it likely has a "Carolina Lean" because it's higher in the front than the back. Once I get the drop spindles installed it should have a pretty killer stance.
Look what happens to you when you move to the mountains of Virginia :lol: :lol:
Finished!
77 T/A - I will Call this one DONE!
79 TATA 4sp-Next Project?
79 TATA - Lost to Fire!
86 Grand Prix - Sold
85 T/A - Sold
85 Fiero - Sold
82 Firebird - Sold
'38-CZ 250
'39-BSA Gold Star
'49-Triumph 350
'52-Ariel Red Hunter
'66-BSA Lightning
'01-HD RoadKing

rkellerjr

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Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #297 on: November 09, 2024, 07:07:35 AM »
I only took it out once afterwards on my lunch break and haven't had it out since. Right now it likely has a "Carolina Lean" because it's higher in the front than the back. Once I get the drop spindles installed it should have a pretty killer stance.
Look what happens to you when you move to the mountains of Virginia :lol: :lol:

LOL

Re: Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build
« Reply #297 on: November 09, 2024, 07:07:35 AM »
You can help support TAC!