Madaguy 1955 Nomad Build

[ryeguy2006a]

After what feels like a long time (for me) without a car, I'm happy to be able to post a project update. My family and I moved from Upstate, NY to Charlotteville, VA in June for better weather and schools among many other things. Prior to moving, I sold my long time project car some of you may remember called the "Penny Pincher Camaro". It was a 1968 Camaro with LSA supercharged 6.2, 6 speed and full pro-touring suspension. I loved that car, but came to the realization that if I wanted to regularly cruise to car shows and Sunday drives with the family it was increasingly getting cramped with two growing boys. The catalyst for selling the car came when we decided to take steps towards moving south, which we have been talking about for years. We moved at the end of June and I had been casually looking for a new project ever since. I knew that I wanted something with more interior space and something that had more utility. Two door wagons were my first choice and I wasn't just looking at Nomads. There were Ranch Wagons from the 50s that were cool, 64-65 Chevelle 300 wagons came in a two door variant, 59-60 Biscayne/Brookwood's came in a two door wagon, and a few others like Nova's and Falcons. At the end of the day I kept coming back to a 55-56 Nomad. The trouble is I didn't want to spend Nomad money. Then I stumbled on this car, but it was in Cape Cod which was about 10 hours from me, and knew that it was too far. I saw it posted for a several weeks, then I reached out to the guy and the rest is history.

We negotiated a little bit, and then I made arrangements to have the car shipped to me with a guy he does business with on a very regular basis. The shipper was from the west coast and kept getting delayed "a few more days", then after two and a half weeks of back and forth I decided that I was just going to make the trip. I did a ton of background digging on the guy and his business but truthfully, I was just getting nervous that I may be getting scammed. I've only ever bought cars in person with cash. Then I made the decision to just do it. GPS said it was 9.5 hours from my house, but that didn't include traffic delays or pit stops. I really thought that I'd be able to make the trip in one day. In my mind I thought that 19 hours total drive time will be hard, but doable...

Here's a few pictures along the way.

Started out at 3:30 AM and made it through DC with no traffic, then to NYC pretty quick on I95. I was slowed down, but not bad traffic considering. This was Maryland crossing the Susquehanna River



Parts of NYC.





Crossing the George Washington





I knew that I would forget to take a picture once I got to the guys house, so when I was picking up the U-Haul I snapped a picture of my status. I was about 40 mins from his house, so I was really making great time and almost 21 MPG's! Not too bad for my 5.0 2015 F150. After NYC I didn't hit any traffic to speak of and it was really smooth sailing.



Now, onto the car! It's a 1955 Chevy Nomad. In it's current form it's mostly stock with a 327, turbo 350 transmission, manual steering and 4 wheel manual drum brakes. The body is in great shape, but overall needs some TLC and panel fitment. It's missing some of the trim, but is mostly there. At one point in it's life it was a pro-street car and still has the giant rear wheel tubs, but thankfully the exterior was left alone and will be straightforward to remove them and reinstall stock metal and adding a few inches to stock tubs. The interior is mostly gone, but that is really ok as it will give me an opportunity to start from scratch and maybe do something more custom. It was really hard to find an "in between" Nomad for a reasonable price as a project, that won't need a complete restoration as a rusted out POS. Or on the other side of the spectrum a show car that's $80k+.











Pro-Street Wheel tubs...





After I took a few photos and talked with the guy a bit, we got it loaded on the trailer and heading back home!



My 7 YO made the Magikarp decoration for my truck haha





Took this as I was walking into a Starbucks to grab a powerful coffee around dusk.



The coffee didn't work as long as I would have hoped. I made it another two hours and called it quits around 8pm and found a hotel in Norwalk, CT. I was about 6.5 hours from home at that point.



Drove through Bel Air somewhere on the way home. Thought that was pretty cool.



I figured I'd pull up FB Marketplace to see if there was anything interesting and sure enough there was a Gen5 L83 5.3 motor right on my way home in DC. I messaged the guy and met him right on the way home! The guy said his customer wanted it removed because it had a slight knocking, but I'm assuming that it was a DOD lifter as it's super common in those motors. But for an almost complete motor, I was willing to take the risk for $400 bucks!



I didn't have the right straps to safely drive with the motor in the back so I ran quick to get some ratchet straps and found this guy checking out my car. He was asking all about the motor too. Lost track of how many people beeped and/or gave thumbs up on the way home.



I knew that I was getting close when I could start to see the Blue Ridge mountains again.



Then, home sweet home!





I'm so excited and still in a little disbelief that I found one of my dream cars. One of the first model cars that I ever bought as a kit was a 1955 Bel Air. My boys are both really excited and when my youngest son (3) was telling me about how he can't wait to work on it with me he called it a Madaguy. We loved it and it stood out to me immediately as the new name for the car. My plans/goals for this car are going to be similar but different than my Camaro. First, the car won't be caught up on jack stands for long periods of time aside from the initial effort I will need to put into the car to get it roadworthy again. Anything I do will need to be done within a few weekends at most. Next is that the car needs to ride really smooth, not necessarily perform well on an autox. Comfort is the name of the game. As you saw by the engine, I'll also be swapping it somewhere down the road, but I'll need to collect a bunch of parts between now and then.

Cheers,
Ryan

[FormTA]

Wow! Great story and car! I didn't know you ended up just going to get it. That's awesome! Car looks great!

[5th T/A]

Ryan, congratulations on your new to you Nomad. Like a lot of people my age I like tri-five Chevys and love Nomads. After all the work you put into your home you deserve some R&R working on the car of your dreams.

[roadking77]

All I can say is WOW! What a find. Great car and it really looks like its in great condition. Looking forward to seeing your build. I know you were in a hurry but I could have offered you a cup of coffee. I am literally 5 minutes off of 95 as soon as you cross the Susky. Bel Air is another town I frequent all too often. Glad you made the trip safely.

[jonathonar89]

Glad you finally got this thing home man.  You’ll have this thing whipped into shape before next summer.

I still have my vote for using the Gen 1 5.3 haha

[FormTA]

I'm not up to date on my LS engines. What is the benefit of one or the other? I assume the gen 1 is drive by normal cable and the gen 5 drive by wire. Are the internals stronger in one over the other?

[Jack]

Congrats and thank you for posting.

[jonathonar89]

I'm not up to date on my LS engines. What is the benefit of one or the other? I assume the gen 1 is drive by normal cable and the gen 5 drive by wire. Are the internals stronger in one over the other?

This was a little joke by me.

Gen 1 5.3 = SBC 327ci
Gen 5 5.3 = LT 325ci

Numerous differences haha

[76455sd]

Nice find and thanks for posting.  I’ve always loved the tri-5 checvys and especially the nomad.  I’ll be following this for sure.  I’m just outside of Boston.  You could’ve crashed here for the night.  Whereabouts down the cape was the car.

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks for all the compliments! I'm really excited to start the new build. I'm still getting to know my new project and doing a lot of research.

All I can say is WOW! What a find. Great car and it really looks like its in great condition. Looking forward to seeing your build. I know you were in a hurry but I could have offered you a cup of coffee. I am literally 5 minutes off of 95 as soon as you cross the Susky. Bel Air is another town I frequent all too often. Glad you made the trip safely.

Dang, for some reason I thought you were in PA? Maybe because we were going to meet up at Carlisle.

I'm not up to date on my LS engines. What is the benefit of one or the other? I assume the gen 1 is drive by normal cable and the gen 5 drive by wire. Are the internals stronger in one over the other?

This was a little joke by me.

Gen 1 5.3 = SBC 327ci
Gen 5 5.3 = LT 325ci

Numerous differences haha

You have to watch out for Jon haha. All Gen 1 motors are DBC (Drive by Carbs) The LS/LT swaps are tricky because you can get a good deal on a motor or transmission, but all of the swap items are what become so expensive. Oil pans, headers, ECU's, fuel pumps, and etc. My main focus is going to be getting the interior back to stock and keeping the car running/driving.

Nice find and thanks for posting.  I’ve always loved the tri-5 checvys and especially the nomad.  I’ll be following this for sure.  I’m just outside of Boston.  You could’ve crashed here for the night.  Whereabouts down the cape was the car.

I'm glad that I didn't have to drive through Boston too! I had to go through NYC and DC which because of the times that I was going through didn't catch too much traffic. The car was located in Plymouth, and was in a very rural part of that town. I was surprised how close to the Ocean it was.

[ryeguy2006a]

I finally got a chance to check out the car in detail a few times and really inspect what I got. I'm very pleased with the car overall. It's a really solid car that only needs a little TLC to get it where I want it. I wished that the car came with the original trim tag, but it's missing. I was able to contact the guy who I bought it from, bought it from haha. He was a really nice guy and told me that the guy he bought it from had if for about 30 years in the Kentucky area, and is pretty sure that he has the trim tag somewhere. I'm going to call him again to see if I can get a name and hopefully I can track him down and see if the tag is maybe in a drawer somewhere. Upon inspection, I am pretty confident that the car was a light blue with a white top. I found a few traces of color in hard to find spots.





These pictures are more for my record keeping, but some pictures of the overall condition of the car when I got it.





I was told that it was a 327 motor and 350 auto trans. I visually confirmed it was a 350 trans, but the motor was a mystery to me. So I snapped some pictures of the engine block casting numbers and the suffix code on the front passenger side of the block. Turns out the block is a 1968 only block, and shares the same block as a Z/28 of that year! The suffix code is HJ, which comes back to a full size body, 327 and powerglide with 250 HP and a 4 barrel. Pretty interesting.





But then found out that it's topped with some poor flowing heads (3986388) with 1.72 intake valves and 1.5 exhaust that were made in the emissions era.



Interior pictures.







Love this dash! I'm hoping that I can get the gauges all working.



Could be an original 4 speed car?









Engine bay shot. Nothing special, but I do need to strip what's there and want to spray it semi-gloss black and fill unnecessary holes. Also need to upgrade the MC to something power and modern.





Decent Perma-cool Aluminum radiator with built in fan and temp sensor.



Missing the lower chrome trim pieces, but the grill is decent enough.



I haven't done anything to really speak of, but I did remove and sell those racing bucket seats as they aren't anything I'm interested in. My youngest loves helping me in the garage so we removed the plywood floor that someone installed. Very happy to see that someone left the floor braces, so I'll just need the filler piece in the middle. I'm not sure if I'm going to delete the spare tire well yet or not.



I also moved some panels around to help with the fitment of the hood and tried to play with the rear liftgate. I called one of the two guys in the country that will straighten the liftgates to see if mine was twisted and sure enough it is. It's very common with Nomads/Safari's as the tension rods tweak them over time. I'm going to remove mine in favor of some gas struts.





Here you can see where it's not even close to lining up. I'm going to try and see if I can make it any better with adjustment, but I'll likely have to sent it off to MadMooks to get it straightened.



Next up is ordering some sheet metal, tracking down seats and any missing interior pieces. I'm also going to order a fuel tank and modify it now for EFI so it will be that much easier for future me down the road. I have a lead on a local guy who has hundreds of old cars, and I'm hoping maybe there's a chance that I can grab some seats and other misc. parts I need.

Cheers,
Ryan

[rkellerjr]

Wow!  Congrats and thanks for sharing with all the pics.

[5th T/A]

Looks like this car has good bones. It’s exciting to see working on a new project. Are you thinking of repainting in the original blue and white?

[ryeguy2006a]

I'd like to eventually. The paint is good enough for a driver, (which is what I want) but the roof does have some bubbling so I want to address that sooner than later. When I do, I'll paint the top and I'm thinking about a dark gray or charcoal. 17" steel wheels painted the same color as the top and a red or cowhide interior.

[JDMopar]

Great story and thread! When I saw the first pic of the car, the first thing that popped into my mind was "LS Swap!" lol. Then you found one on the way home. That's too cool. My buddy at work has a 56 Nomad and another friend has a 56 Nomad also. I know another guy who owns a 56 Pomad (Pontiac Safari) with a 455/700R4. I saw a 56 Pontiac Safari sitting in the wild in SC a month or two ago, but it's bound to be one of those "I'm a gonna fix it up someday" cars. It sits beside one of the busiest roads in SC, and there has bound to be a million people stopped and asked about it.
  Congrats on the find, and I'm looking forward to watching the changes!

[ryeguy2006a]

Just mostly been researching what parts I need and how I want to approach the project. I started tinkering on the car here and there. I moved some of the front metal around to get the hood to open and close much better and fit a little nicer. I started to adjust the fitment on the rear tailgate and realized the hinges needed to be rebuild badly. I pulled the tailgate off and realized that the bolts holding the hinges to the body were completely frozen in place and likely been there since 1955... Also, the hinge pockets need some attention. So first I had to carefully drill out the hardware.



Pockets are gone on the backside and need to have a patch panel installed too.





Glad that I pulled the hinges off, looks pretty bad under here... Nothing that can't be fixed though.



I found this local junkyard that was full of cars and many of them had been there for decades. I found that he has a 56 4 door wagon, so I grabbed these spring pockets from the car. They are a little pitted, but much better shape than what I've got and appear to be solid. I'm going to clean them up and see how they clean up.



Once I got the hardware drilled out it allowed me to get to the plates that sandwhich between the body and the hinge. I got them on my mill and drilled out the centers of the bolts. Since I had a good amount of the bolt on the backside, I was actually able to get a vice grip and spin them out! I want to clean them up, paint, build new cages, and get them reinstalled.





I also picked up a steering wheel because it was cheap and I don't like the one that came with the car.



That's it from a car standpoint, but I also have some cool parts updates. I was checking around on FB marketplace and found a guy through another guy who had some 2wd 4L80e's for a good price. They came from a fleet of express vans that had the drivelines pulled for low engine oil pressure. He had a few to choose from, and this one looks like a newer Jasper Trans so that's what I got.





He also had a complete set of engine accessories from an LS motor, so I'm going to see if I can adapt them to the GenV motor. I saw there was a Holley accessory kit, that you could use on gen 3/4 or gen 5 with the right spacers. Got them for free so worst case they don't work and I'm not out anything.



I needed a new intake for the L83 motor as I found it had a crack in it, so I figured since I need a new one I'll upgrade! I was reading about the LT1 guys who were swapping LT2 intakes on their cars and picking up 20+ HP, so I thought that would be the one that I should go with. I won't see that kind of gain especially with my stock cam, but I'll be upgrading down the road so it's a good upgrade. I picked it up on a Corvette forum and the guy threw in the Throttlebody, PVC hoses and hardware too!







I put it on the motor just to see what it looked like. Since the LT2 has the intake 180* out, their will need to be some ribbing removed on the rear side of the intake to clear the high pressure fuel pump.

[FormTA]

Cool update. Good luck witht the hinges. I know what it's like working with rusted stuff. I don't understand the intake stuff buy I'll learn!

[ryeguy2006a]

Cool update. Good luck witht the hinges. I know what it's like working with rusted stuff. I don't understand the intake stuff buy I'll learn!

LS and LT motors have a very handy and unique ability to have the intakes install in either direction due to having the ports being symmetrical. The LT2 engine only comes in a C8 Corvette (for now as they may put it in the '23 Camaro). The C8 engine is now a mid-engine setup, so they come factory with the intake inlet is pointed towards the bellhousing and wasn't meant to point towards the engine accessories. I'll pull off the intake and take a picture, but the high pressure fuel pump for the Direct Injection is driven off of a tri-lobe on the rear of the camshaft and won't allow the intake to be fully installed. There are some ribs on the bottom side that have to be shaved down for it to sit flush. Very easy modification and should be a nice little bump in HP.

[FormTA]

I know know nothing of engines 2002 and newer, it was a miracle o got my LS1 in and running.  So these newer engines are direct injection? Not a typical fuel pump then? Do they take special spark plugs? I any ask because the newer DI snowmobiles take expensive plugs because the injected fuel will wash out the spark of regular plugs. Man these engines are changing!

[scarebird]

You may want to rethink the accessory drive.  My L84 came with the center pump so I was able to run a manual thermo fan.



Issue is the intake - your LT style unit points down and runs into bunch of stuff.  I have my build here:

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=856636

Had to do more than I thought, ie. new lifters (take off the heads for those) and LT style cam.

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks for the input SB, I'm definitely going to rethink the engine accessories and I'm not sure how I want to approach them. Holley sells a 21-5 accessory spacer kit that allows you to run LS accessories, so that's another option I may consider. I was also looking at the L84/L8T water pump like you have. What PS bracket is that, ICT? I'll have to check out your build.

I'm planning to run the Holley Gen5 ECU that will allow me to keep VVT and run the DI, so that's what my plan is right now. It was going to cost me about the same if I converted the engine to port injection, delete VVT, buy all the block offs for DI and etc.

Also SB, what options for brakes do you have for the 55-57 Chevy's?

[scarebird]

Thanks for the input SB, I'm definitely going to rethink the engine accessories and I'm not sure how I want to approach them. Holley sells a 21-5 accessory spacer kit that allows you to run LS accessories, so that's another option I may consider. I was also looking at the L84/L8T water pump like you have. What PS bracket is that, ICT? I'll have to check out your build.

This is the PS unit I would use now:

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6365626&postcount=82

I would really rethink the LT to LS setup; really a kludge. 

I'm planning to run the Holley Gen5 ECU that will allow me to keep VVT and run the DI, so that's what my plan is right now. It was going to cost me about the same if I converted the engine to port injection, delete VVT, buy all the block offs for DI and etc.

I would delete the DOD, but why the VVT and DI?  It makes this motor far superior to a Gen 4!
 We are talking 400+ horses stock and better mileage.  The DOD lifters are problematic hence my removal and cam change.  Also, where would you put the injectors?  Your LT2 manifold does not have them...

Also SB, what options for brakes do you have for the 55-57 Chevy's?

None, we never came up with a solution to my satisfaction for those.

ps: those wheels can't die fast enough for me 

[ryeguy2006a]

This is the PS unit I would use now:

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6365626&postcount=82

I would really rethink the LT to LS setup; really a kludge. 




I read through your thread this morning, very informative. I'll definitely be reading and re-reading that. That bracket is a really nice option to add PS later. My car has manual steering and I'll keep that for now to keep my costs down. Not ideal, but I'd rather be driving it than saving up for parts.

I'm planning to run the Holley Gen5 ECU that will allow me to keep VVT and run the DI, so that's what my plan is right now. It was going to cost me about the same if I converted the engine to port injection, delete VVT, buy all the block offs for DI and etc.

I would delete the DOD, but why the VVT and DI?  It makes this motor far superior to a Gen 4!
 We are talking 400+ horses stock and better mileage.  The DOD lifters are problematic hence my removal and cam change.  Also, where would you put the injectors?  Your LT2 manifold does not have them...

There are adapters that will allow you to install an LS3 or LS7 intake on the Gen5 motors, so I'd go that direction. But by the time you buy a new intake, adapters, delete VVT and the DI plugs it doesn't make sense. I'm going to run Terminator X Max regardless, so I'm just going to run their Gen5 kit which is really cool.

Also SB, what options for brakes do you have for the 55-57 Chevy's?

None, we never came up with a solution to my satisfaction for those.

ps: those wheels can't die fast enough for me 

I hated the wheels at first, but they really are growing on me. Maybe I'll keep them for a while because that's always the first thing people say they hate haha. I'm probably going to pick up some C5 wheels and then I'll get the big front brakes. My 2 year plan is to buy the DIY frame kit from NerdRods that will allow me to run C4 front and rear suspsension, so I don't want to spend money on the suspension or steering now. There are kits to run C5 front brakes on the C4 spindles so I'll carry those over to the new frame eventually.

[scarebird]

I'm planning to run the Holley Gen5 ECU that will allow me to keep VVT and run the DI, so that's what my plan is right now. It was going to cost me about the same if I converted the engine to port injection, delete VVT, buy all the block offs for DI and etc.

I thought of doing that too, but the cost was thrice of the GM 2014-18 ECU and harness.
 
Only issue so far is the VSS; Gen 5's run Hall Effect (3 wire) and Gens 2-4 use 2 wire pulse type.

I wonder if the Holley setup allows either?

[ryeguy2006a]

Not sure exactly, but I do know that you can customize the outputs for the transmissions. With Holley though, you can only use a 4L80e or 4L60e. I picked up a nice used 4L80e transmission, so that's what I'm planning to use for the time being.

I've been thinking more and more about the swap and I think that I'm going to save the L83 for phase 2 of the build and pick up a stock gen3 5.3. I have a bunch of 0411 ECU's and a stock engine harness, so I'm just going to put together a cheap LS swap to get the car up and running.

[scarebird]

...With Holley though, you can only use a 4L80e or 4L60e...

That is a huge limitation!  Especially given that neither have the Gen 5 bellhousing bolt pattern.  I was looking at the 6L80E but would have required huge floor pan butchering and still hangs almost 2" below the crossmember.

The TKX should do fine here.

[ryeguy2006a]

...With Holley though, you can only use a 4L80e or 4L60e...

That is a huge limitation!  Especially given that neither have the Gen 5 bellhousing bolt pattern.  I was looking at the 6L80E but would have required huge floor pan butchering and still hangs almost 2" below the crossmember.

The TKX should do fine here.

It would be great if they could control the 6/8/10 speed transmissions, but right now that's not an option. If I had to guess though, it's something that they are working on. I'm sure it's a matter of time before they have the logic to control them.

My last car was a stick, but I want an automatic this go around. The TKX is a great transmission though, and would be a contender if I went manual.

[jonathonar89]

...With Holley though, you can only use a 4L80e or 4L60e...

That is a huge limitation!  Especially given that neither have the Gen 5 bellhousing bolt pattern.  I was looking at the 6L80E but would have required huge floor pan butchering and still hangs almost 2" below the crossmember.

The TKX should do fine here.

The bolt pattern is generally the same between BBC, SBC, LS and LT.  It’s just the top bolt being slightly offset on the LT.  A lot of people have interchanged LS and traditional Chevy for years with the bolt pattern difference on the other bolt.  Lakewood even makes one bellhousing that covers all of them.

[scarebird]

The offset is also different between the pre-LS and later.

Also, the mid passenger hole in the engine is missing.  So at most 5 bolts would retain.  My thought is this would be adequate.

[TATurbo]

Congrats on the new car!  Very cool. 

[ryeguy2006a]

Thanks Tom!

Not a huge update as I've been mostly just collecting parts at this point. I have been slowly working on the what started as a simple tailgate hinge rebuild, into needing a whole new tail panel and rear cargo floor extension panel. After wire wheeling some of the section that looked a little odd, I found bondo on that rear section...



And bondo over rust...



Whole panel was unfortunately pitted pretty badly.



Luckily I need to do surgery in that area anyway when I replace the wheel tubs, so I placed an order to Real Deal Steel and have the new cargo extension panel, but waiting on the tail panel and hardware kit. I also, finally got a chance to get one of the pins removed from the stock hinges. Wow, were they stuck in there and rusted away on the inside. Since apparently no one makes the replacement door pins right now, the door pins that I ordered were for a 55ish truck and were about 3/4" too short. So I opted to order a set from Dorman that are way too long, but I can turn them on my lathe to the right length.





Next part is a huge thanks to GTO Jack! He was tired of looking at some oil pans and posted them up in the for free section of the for sale! I messaged him about the knock off 302-2 pan and he shipped it right out to me. While they have a few sections cut out for tie rod clearance, it makes the perfect project for me to use my new TIG welder! So I'm hoping to practice up and get some panels buzzed in. Now some sharp eyed LS guru's may notice that this is an LS pan. Well after pricing out all that it will take to get the Gen5 motor installed in the car with the Holley Terminator X Max kit, I've decided to leave that swap for phase 2. I'm going to hang onto the motor and collect parts when they pop up, but I'm going to pick up a cheap Gen3 LS motor and use some spare parts I have to get it up and running sooner than later.









Since I made the decision to go LS right now, I started looking around for a good candidate engine. After searching around for a few weeks, I found a 2011 5.3 for cheap and it came with a bunch of parts. So I'll either be swapping the reluctor rings to 24x to keep my budget on track, or horse trading the long block for a gen3 motor and keep all the parts that it came with.



I feel like I'm starting to have a problem haha. It's also kinda cool that in my garage I have a gen 1 SBC 327, Gen 4 5.3(327) and gen 5 5.3(327).



Last one is probably my most exciting post. I found a smoking deal on a split front bench seat! It's in rough shape, but nothing a little TLC can't take care of. Most of these are selling for around $600-800 and I found this for $50 bucks! It came out of a 55 Chevy, but is supposed to be a 57 Pontiac seat pattern.



Cheers,
Ryan

[FormTA]

Wow, quit a bit going on here! I hope your tail panel instalation goes smoothly.  You ate becoming quite the collector there.

[ryeguy2006a]

After a long struggle with rebuilding the tailgate hinges, I was finally able to get them torn down, cleaned up and rebuilt. I'll say that was a huge PITA! I thought that I'd be able to drive the pins out after drilling out the heads, but they were frozen in place. The second one was even more stubborn as it was frozen in both side of the hinge. The hinges aren't perfect, but they will function as they should now. I'm planning to get an upgraded billet aluminum pair from MadMooks down the road, but these will get the tailgate back on.



I used Dorman #38400 and it was a perfect fit other than being a touch too long. I cut them down to 3.125" under head length and chamfered the sides. Had the perfect amount of stick out and looked really original to me. Just what I wanted.



This was the first attempt at 3.25" and was going to be too long once I drove it in.



Primed pair of rebuilt original tailgate hinges.



My next project was a huge win for me as well as a really cool hot rodding adventure. This super cool old school salvage yard near me is full of old cars. I went back yesterday and got permission from the guy to cut out the rear floor section on this 56 Wagon. The floor pans on it were in great shape for sitting for so long, and the rear wheel wells are really solid in all the spots that I need them to be. Here's a few pictures of the entrance into the junk yard. Just soo cool, and I love that it's only 25 mins from my house!





I didn't get any pictures from when I first got there because I had to get right to work. He's only open from 8-12 and after that he let's his dogs out! But here's the car after I carefully removed the one quarter panel. I did that same thing on the other side then just cut the pillars.



After hitting several obstacles and not knowing where two body bolts were, I finally was able to get it out in one piece. What was simply amazing to me was that I removed at least a dozen bolts, and only broke or had to cut three. The rest came out with my impact driver! Just amazing to me, so glad we moved down south!





And here's where the Hot Rodding adventure comes in. This place is about 100 acres, and this car was almost in the back corner of the property. Here's what I had to get this out with! Up and down hills on little tractor paths. Needless to say, I was exhausted when I finally got this back to the front shop! What I thought was really cool about what I did, is that was something that guys have been doing for so long in hot rodding, before you could go into a catalogue and buy what you need and get it two days later. I love to use original metal where I can, and this was in great shape considering how old it is, as well as sitting in that field for 40 years!



I put everything back together and thanked the '56 9 passenger wagon for donating the parts to repair my Nomad.



Once I got it back to my house, I got it up on some saw horses and inspected more thoroughly what I worked so hard to get.





Too bad it's rusted here on both sides... I guess I'll just have to cut it out and add in a 2.75" strip. This is a pro-touring site after all. And the biggest regret that I have about building my Camaro was not putting in mini-tubs when I had the chance.



It was getting late, but I ground down the seam with a wire wheel and started drilling out the spot welds. I'm going to separate the panels first, then prep them for installation/modification. I had a spot weld drill bit, but can't find it since the move so I ordered a new one.



I also grabbed a column shift steering column and the cargo pan/wheel well sections came with some other parts attached that I've stripped off. I'm going to convert the column and indicator to a 4 speed PRND321 pattern.



With that purchase, I've not got a ton of work ahead of me!

Cheers,
Ryan

[FormTA]

Man, you are really getting after it! That yard is awesome! I wish I had one of those here. I did find a 67 Camaro in one yard here, I got thw seat frames and some other parts out of it but it was pretty much picked over.

[5th T/A]

Great find on the 56 wagon sheet metal, almost like someone was saving it for you.

[ryeguy2006a]

Man, you are really getting after it! That yard is awesome! I wish I had one of those here. I did find a 67 Camaro in one yard here, I got thw seat frames and some other parts out of it but it was pretty much picked over.

I've been stressing about where to get the metal from since buying it all new was over $2k! But now that the 56 donated some sheet metal, I can start on getting my floor pans back together. I've got all of the parts now to get some real progress done now.

Great find on the 56 wagon sheet metal, almost like someone was saving it for you.

It really does seem that way. And it really didn't take me all that long to get it removed!

[ryeguy2006a]

I haven't done any work on the Nomad, but I do have some updates. First off, unfortunately that cargo/floor pan section that I bought with the wheel wells will not work quite like I had hoped. Fortunately the wheel wells will work perfectly, however I was informed by a tri5 guru that the floor pan section that I bought is something of a unicorn as it was from a 56-57 only 9 Passenger Wagon, which has a very unique and "rare" floor/cargo section. It's different enough that I didn't want to mess with cutting/modifying it so I'll be selling it and hoping that maybe there's some guy out there that has been looking for this section of floor since it's not and like will never be re-popped.

With that news I had to start over on my search for the rear floor pan section, but still needed to separate all of my metal to get it out of my driveway and also store it easier. I drilled out all the spotwelds carefully and removed the two wheel well sections. Then I was left with the middle piece. It went pretty quick once I got in a rhythm.

Looks pretty rusty, but are really solid in the spots that I need them to be.







Here you can see where it's drastically different than the typical cargo/floor pan area with the shock mounts and added brace for the extra weight of 9 passengers.



Since I need so many parts to get this car back together I'm constantly parts shopping, and then I saw Andrew's post about the iBooster followed shortly after by many others. Brakes are where I need a serious upgrade as my car has 4 wheel drum brakes on a single pot MC. I got to shopping around and found a good deal from a Tesla disassembler. He sold me the iBooster, wiring and brake line sections off of a Model S. I still need to get some brackets to mount it to the firewall, but I think this will make a huge difference. I'm planning to pick up a pair of 5th Gen Camaro front Brembo calipers and make my own mounts. Not sure on what rotor I'll run, but it will likely be the stock 5th Gen too.



I was also crunching numbers on what it would take to get the L83 into my car and at this time, it's more than I want to spend. So that had me on the hunt for a Gen4 5.3, and I really wanted to get one with an aluminum block. Then I stumbled on a guy who was selling a L76 with forged pistons. After I contacted him he mentioned that he had a tuning error that lead to a bent rod. After talking to him on the phone, I wanted to check it out to see things more closely. I looked it all over and there weren't any cracks in that cylinder and all the other rods were straight so I wanted the motor. To my surprise, he was willing to trade me straight for the L83, so I'm very pleased with that deal. I just need to find a new Gen4 rod, have the small end honed to .945" and I'll put it all back together.





After a little research I was able to find out that all 5.3, 6.0 and 6.2 gen4 motors share the same rods, and since I had picked up that 5.3 a few weeks earlier decided it was going to donate some parts. Time to tear that down and see why it was pulled in the first place. I assumed the normal DOD lifter failure, but it's fun to find out. Got the motor on my hoist and got to work on the teardown.



It's a miracle, no broken exhaust manifold bolts!



Really clean on the inside. Motor is supposed to have 190k on it, so I'm impressed so far.





Pulled the rockers off and I think I found out why it was pulled. "one of these things is not like the others"





I didn't get any pictures, but I pulled both heads off and the cylinder walls all look good with visible cross-hatching and no metal in the cylinders. Cylinder 8 exhaust is the one with the bent pushrod, and in the cylinder looked great. So, looks like they were able to get it shut off in time before any damage occurred. I still want to flip it over and see what the bottom end looks like, but I'm thinking this may be a good short-block. Now I'm not sure what I want to do. I was able to get all the lifters removed but the one with the bent push rod. It wouldn't pull out from the top, so it's probably mushroomed on the bottom side. It should fall out once the cam is out, then I'll know for sure what I want to do. For now though I'm thinking I'm going to find someone who has a single gen4 rod.

Since I know the 4 wheel drums aren't going to work, I've been keeping an eye out for some 17"+ wheels that would work with the Nomad. I found a guy on FB marketplace who had a 2001 740i with M Parallel wheels who was selling the car for cheap and decided to ask him if he would sell just the wheels. To my surprise, he said he would sell them for $400 bucks and they have tires. Earlier that day I sold the rear wheels that came off my car for $200, so I was only into the wheels for $200 bucks! For those that don't remember, these were the same wheels that I ran on my 68 Camaro "Penny Pincher". Unlike my Camaro, these wheels are temporary as I really want a set of Salt Flat wheels from American Racing. But they look ok and will allow me to upgrade my front disks, so I'm stoked. The M Parallel wheel (BMW Style 37) is a 1 piece forged wheel and is a staggered setup 18x8 fronts and 18x9.5 rear. The front backspacing is perfect for muscle cars, and the rear requires a 1" spacer. I've got a set of spacers on order, but for now I put a front wheel on the rear just to see what it looked like. Much better than the 90s American Racing wheels!!







And lastly I was able to go to the salvage yard early this morning and get the floor pan that I had partially pulled before I found that 9 passenger wagon. This is the section that I need, but it a little rusty in a few spots. This section is in ok shape, and will clean up pretty nicely. I just can't justify buying a full floor pan (or two half pans) only to cut off the rear section, with shipping so high. Now that I have this piece I'll be able to trim this down and get the wheel wells fit up. It will be nice to make some real progress to the body since I haven't been able to do much without this key piece. I basically need to build everything off of this section.



I also grabbed an automatic cluster since I'll be converting over to a column shift. I will need to get the 4 speed OD lense and detent kit, but this will work great to get me the mechanism I need. My cluster is in much better shape, so I'll just use the shifting guts from this one.



Hopefully my next update will be cutting out out the Pro-Street tubs and test fitting my floor section/mini-tub wheel wells.

Cheers,
Ryan

[ryeguy2006a]

I've been patiently collecting parts and waiting until I had everything before I started cutting out the wheel tubs. I finally got my chance and now's the time. I started by unscrewing (yes that's what was holding the middle portion down), the center hump, and cutting away a few spot welds. I was very surprised that this is how someone built this wheel tub section. On the outside it appeared that they did an ok job on the fabrication side, but turns out that wasn't the case. Not confident that sheet metal screws are a great way to secure floor pan sections...





While I'm in here, I plan to fully butt weld the two floor pan halves together. Some of the spot welds missed and aren't connecting the two together. Then I made my first big cut. I wanted to get down to the original floor pans to see what I had left to work with. Thankfully they left me more than I had anticipated, so that is great news. That floor section I got from the salvage yard is rusty in the spots that are solid on my car, so I'll have a really clean repair.



Then I cut out the other side to see what that looked like. As I was cutting I tapped the side of the wheel tub with a hammer and this happened! Why did you take the time to add that much filler, but not to fully weld the panels together??





This section had no spot welds at all. The only thing holding it together was body filler.



Once I cut away these sections, I was left with this opening. Overall, I'm pleased with the amount of the original floor that they left since it gives me a really good base to built back. As I was going over how I wanted to proceed with the repairs, it became very clear that I'll need to have the cargo panel in order to get the right height since I'll be splicing the two panels together. I ordered the cargo panel with the braces separate as I was informed that they don't coat the inner braces before they install them. I wanted to spray something behind to protect them, but I'm going to narrow it for the wider wheel tubs so that should make my job easier not having to drill out spot welds.



I also grabbed some parts to get my engine back together. VVT Delete timing cover, new oil pump and 4x 3 bolt timing gear.



I also found a single 8" M Parallel wheel on eBay shipped for $100 bucks, so I jumped on that. Since the wheels that I had came with 1 8" and 3 9.5" this will give me a complete staggered set.



I wasn't sure what to do with the front seat since it was taking up a lot of real estate on the floor of my garage, so I decided to test fit it in the car. I still have plenty of room to work on the rear floor pan, so that's where it'll stay for the foreseeable future. It looks good in there, but the sliders are not from a Chevy. They must be from a Pontiac or something similar. I can modify the brackets to work with my floor, and then get a new seat cover for it. It needs some rust repair and reinforcement on the passenger side where you can see it's drooping down. Overall I'm happy with the placement of it. Looks right at home.

[FormTA]

That bondo on the inner wheel well is nuts! You are really getting in deep now! It can pretty much only get better front here on out!

[ryeguy2006a]

Not a huge update, but I'm plugging away. I got the spot weld drill bit out and started separating some of the panels for the rear floor pan section that were welded to it. When I cut the section out, I cut everything around it much larger than I'd need knowing that I would have to cut and trim it down. Way easier to cut it too big than too small.



Once it was trimmed down, it was clear that I needed to cut more of the wheel wells away to get an initial test fit. What was amazing to me is how these wheel wells were put together in the first place. These welds were so cold that many of the spot welds didn't have enough penetration and were breaking off. It made the removal process very easy, but honestly a little scary that people put together panels like this.





This was a very rough fitment, but this panel will work perfectly! I also realized that the back side of the panel I got has a brace for the driveshaft bumper and my car was missing that too, so that's another win. I need to find some body mounts, or get a whole new kit, before I can go much further. I need to get the height set properly before I can burn it in for good. For now, I'll get the panel trimmed up for a much tighter fitment.



I was also able to get the wheel wells trimmed up as well. The wells had all of the inner structures attached as well as the outer wheel houses. I had to cut out the inner structures I didn't need, then drill out the spot welds for the outer wheel house panels. Most of the wheel house panels are in really good shape, and I may or may not need them so I carefully removed them. If I don't end up needing them, I'll try and sell them to recoup some funds. The factory undercoating did a great job of keeping most of the metal in fantastic shape.



I had my garage helper with me too.



It felt great to get these panels trimmed down and much closer to being installed. As you can see they still need a few patches, but they shouldn't take long to fix.



I'm still trying to think through how I want to install the wheel tubs and widen them. I should have the cargo panel and braces in the next week or so which will help me to locate the rear floor and wheel wells. Initially I'm thinking it may be best to install all the panels with screws or clecos, then narrow the cargo panel by the amount I want and bring all of the panels in to the modified cargo panel. I can't wait to get through the sheet metal phase, and into the more fun things like LS swapping the car!

Ryan