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Thread: Another Nomad project... :)

  1. #281
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    Rick: No I haven't tried that (only tried the fit with the aftermarket wheel tonight and the IDIDIT is new). I have an NOS '57 wheel I can try tomorrow! Thanks for the suggestion!

  2. #282
    Registered Member Tabasco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BamaNomad View Post

    The '57 Nomad you referenced appears EXACTLY like the first Nomad that ever 'grabbed' my eyes, and led to my affinity for Nomads even today over 50 yrs later! That one was owned by an airman from Nebraska and I wanted it so badly!
    The Nomad that caught my eye was in 1966. I was sitting at the root beer stand having a frosty mug of root beer. A red/white 55 Nomad with mag wheels pulled in and I fell in love. I was driving my 55 hardtop at the time. I asked if he wanted to trade but he said no. My friends thought I was crazy for wanting to trade a 2 door hardtop for a station wagon.

    Later that year I left for the Air Force and my 55 hardtop was sold. I didn't get another Trifive until 1977 and it was a 56 Nomad. In the early 80s I bought a second 56 Nomad. When I decided to sell my house and move to my place in the country I sold one Nomad to pay for my new shop. I later sold the other one so I could get out of debt before I retired.

    I still have my 57 Townsman wagon and my wife's two 56 convertibles, but I sure miss having a Nomad. Maybe I'll get another one someday.

  3. #283
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    Great story Tabasco! Maybe your wife will be willing to trade one of her convertibles for you another Nomad? (If you really want one... it will happen that you will get one)..

    PS. you also made me want a frosty A&W root beer!!


    Rick: I was going to try my NOS steering wheel on the column when I took it over to the other shop to paint it, but someone had suggested using a triangular file on the splines where the wheel first engages the column, so I did that before going to the shop and it worked... although I could only get the wheel engaged maybe Half of the splines? I kept trying to the point that I then couldn't get the wheel back off of the column! So I removed the column from the car complete with the wheel and took the assembly to my paint shop and at least got epoxy primer on it late this afternoon. Depending on the weather the next day or two (and whether we get lots of rain from Delta... hopefully I can make them RED soon. In the meantime I've got lots of other problems to work on the car..

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    Last edited by BamaNomad; 10-08-2020 at 02:49 PM.

  4. #284
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    This afternoon I trucked over to the old shop and paint booth, mixed up my single stage urethane and some clear urethane to begin incubating, then quickly sanded the sw and column with some 600, then cleaned it with oil/wax remover and dried it, and then proceeded to making the column and small diameter '60 steering wheel RED... It looked pretty good to me when I finished, but I'll let it cure a day or two before mounting it back in the car again...

    In attempting to get a little more 'room' between me and the steering wheel, i'm considering cutting off 1/4 to 1/2" of the instrument panel protrusion ala ACardon, but I need to confirm from he or someone that it does the job without causing other issues?

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    Last edited by BamaNomad; 10-08-2020 at 02:47 PM.

  5. #285
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    I never tried painting a steering wheel. It looks good! Steve

  6. #286
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    It was a pain fleetside (My first one also). Very difficult to get to all the angles and nooks/crannies both top and bottom and all around. The inside of the hoop was particularly difficult as was attempting to get paint on all parts of the little 'trip nubs' on the bottom of the hoop.

    I think an appropriate ''stand" would make it easier and with only the steering wheel on it... Later today or tomorrow, I'll go over and check it out and see how well (or poorly) I did..

  7. #287
    Registered Member Belair-o's Avatar
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    Hi Bama,
    That looks real good! I thought my first effort on a steering wheel looked pretty good, and I got it all installed. A buddy was later looking at my car, and said, say, you know there is a run there on the steering wheel? Pulled the wheel, sanded it down, and painted it again mounted on a shaft that I could rotate as I painted. I think I documented my 2nd paint effort on this site.
    Regards, Doug

  8. #288
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    Thanks Belair-o,

    I went over to that shop and removed the masking tape from the wheel/column yesterday, but I'm going to leave it there to totally cure since I may need to repaint my instrument cluster if I decide to cut off a bit from the 'snout' or protrusion ...

    Your second approach (rotation method) seems like it would be the best way to do a steering wheel, BelairO... I will try to rig up something like that if I ever have to do another one.. but for this one, it's going on the way it is... runs, or dry, or whatever..

  9. #289
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    For the past week or so, I've been 'scattered', working on several different items on my Nomad.

    - Steering Column/wheel: I let the paint cure for several days, then removed the tape and brought it back to my shop here at the house, but I don't want to install it until I've got the instrument cluster populated with gauges and back in the dash, so in the meantime I have to find a better place to 'store it' until I can install it finally~ IMG_2517.JPG
    Obviously this isn't a great place... and it's only temporary until I can install the gates...

    - Instrument Cluster: I cut off ~ 1/4" from the instrument cluster snout, hoping to get another 1/4" of 'room' between seat and wheel, and also get a little more clearance for the shifter lever to clear the custom firewall plate I made. IMG_1331 (Copy).JPG

    I initially planned to have the two primary instruments adjacent to the speedometer to be 'Oil Pressure' and 'Water Temp', but for both of those instruments I chose 'mechanical gauges' (with hardline connections for fluids from the engine), and I'm thinking it might make wiring the car a bit easier if those were in the underdash instrument pod. It would mean that the most important gauges IMO (oil pressure and temp) would be farther away from my eyes, and fuel and Volts would be the electrically wired gauges in the cluster. What do you fellas think? I need to decide this and install them and the cluster into the dash before I reinstall the steering column and wheel.

    - Liftgate: I've painted the cast piece for the bottom of the liftgate, and the rain gutter at the top of the liftgate, and assembled the liftgate with all the parts except the 'stopper rubbers' (which I had a difficult time getting into the holes yesterday). The stopper rubbers I have were purchased from Classic Parts (perhaps too long ago)...? I also received the bracket that was missing from my shipment from Mook and now have the brackets for the gas lifts on the liftgate and the body in preparation for mounting the liftgate. The polished stainless anti-rattle plate from Mook is also installed.
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    Tailgate: I gave up on removing the old pins/bushings from the tailgate hinges and decided to just install them as they were (after repainting). I've have felt better wtih new pins/bushings but unfortunately I'm too far from MPC (Robert)'s shop...

    In attempting to reinstall the hinges in the tailgate, I found that the prior owner had 'redrilled' the hinges from the original 5/16-24 bolt threads to 3/8-24, so the restoration bolt kit I had purchased from CARS wouldn't work. I tried some 3/8-24 bolts I had but had problems with each (hex heads were too large to get a socket thru the opening to tighten, and the heads on the cap bolts I had were too tall for the little covers to go on... so I've ordered some 3/8-24 button head screws which will probably take a week to get here before I can install the tailgate. In the meantime, I *may* install the tailgate bars and emblem etc so it will be finished before installation.

    I have a half dozen *incomplete tasks* on this project (with parts scattered everywhere in the shop). These tasks are waiting until I receive correct parts, or waiting on 'additional hands' to help, OR for me to get smarter about installation!

    Speaking of Fasteners: The latest fastener episode with the tailgate hinges to tailgate bolts are just the 'latest' in a long series of wasted time ... trying to figure out what fasteners I need, finding a source, ordering them, waiting on delivery! Over this project I've spent what must be months of total time just on *fasteners*...

  10. #290
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    You're making progress Bama. Stay at it.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

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