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Thread: Nomad final assembly

  1. #321
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BamaNomad View Post
    I've got an NOS GM B/U light assembly in the box for a '56. I'd be glad to photograph the parts? or scan/post the instruction sheet if it would help you? Let me know...
    Like I said, I figured it out and after looking at them again, the issue was the way I was looking at the instructions. And I really wonder why they didn't make the socket retainer like the original part. I really don't care, and it works fine, but if you're going to make a reproduction part it should look like the stock part. IMO. And you should INCLUDE THE DAMN SCREWS!

    I also have several sets of NOS tailgate bars that I could check for the backside notations...?
    I have a full set of NOS/NORS tailgate bars that I bought in the late 70's, but only 2 are out of the GM package and I don't want to open them up. The packages are like the 60's or 70's GM blue and white packages, not the older yellow and black ones from the 50's. I also have a set of original tailgate bars that were on my Nomad when I bought it. I looked at all the originals and all but one have "CAV. 2" on them.....the other is "CAV. 1". NONE of the original bars have the defects I'm seeing on the NORS or Trim Parts bars. Here's what I think.....the molds were in good shape during normal production in the 50's. I think a lot of parts were made later for replacement stock aka NORS parts. It looks to me like when they ran the NORS parts the molds were damaged or worn out, or they had defects that had to be buffed out by the plater. The thing is, the defects all look exactly the same so I doubt they're from plating/buffing. My understanding is Trim Parts bought the GM molds and their parts even have the GM part number on them and all the same casting marks as the NORS and original parts.

    I'm just really disappointed in the quality of the Trim Parts bars after looking at them more closely and spending $350 on them. They look like badly re-chromed parts, but everyone was raving about how good they were and that they used original molds so that's what I bought. The bad Danchuk door handles also influenced my decision. They all look good on the right side, but they all look bad on the left side. And the sharp detail is gone on all the lower edges. Plus the retainer riveting sucks and 2 were fallen off. I would really like to see a set of Danchuk bars to see if they're better but don't relish the thought of putting out another $425 for them if they're the same.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  2. #322
    Registered Member Tabasco's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by chevynut View Post



    I have a full set of NOS/NORS tailgate bars that I bought in the late 70's, but only 2 are out of the GM package and I don't want to open them up. The packages are like the 60's or 70's GM blue and white packages, not the older yellow and black ones from the 50's.
    In 1977 when I bought my first nomad, a guy who worked at a Pontiac dealer said they had a new set of 6 tailgate bars for Safari wagon in their parts department. I bought them. They were in blue and white GM plastic packages. I put them away and didn't open them.

    In about 2000 I was building another Nomad. I opened the tailgate bar packages and three of the bars had big bubbles in the chrome. Later, I was at a swap meet and a guy had six NOS tailgate bars in older unopened GM boxes he said he bought in 1969. I wanted to see the bars before I bought them. He refused to let me open the boxes. I got him to agree that I would buy them and open them and if there were at least 3 good ones I would not ask for a refund. But if there were not at least 3 good ones I expected my money back. He took the deal because he was sure that since they had never been opened that they were perfect. When we opened the boxes 3 of the bars had big bubbles in the chrome.

    So from 2 sets I had enough good ones to put on my car. I used 6 good ones and I now have 6 "new" bars with big bubbles.

    So if you have NOS or NORS tailgate bars in unopened packages you might want to open them and see how they look.

  3. #323
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    this seems like a good item for a MadMooks solution....

    how hard would it be to CNC/mill a set of these from solid stainless barstock, then drill and tap each for several short pieces of allthread on the back side...then maybe a washer and locknut to hold each on...
    Last edited by WagonCrazy; 10-24-2019 at 06:47 AM.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  4. #324
    Registered Member NickP's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WagonCrazy View Post
    this seems like a good item for a MadMooks solution....

    how hard would it be to CNC/mill a set of these from solid stainless barstock, then drill and tap each for several short pieces of allthread on the back side...then maybe a washer and locknut to hold each on...
    Machine time, not a great deal, design time, expensive. Obtaining all of the dimensional data, doing the tool paths, fixturing and final part approval, long and expensive. Final smoothing, shaping and polishing, grueling. I guess if the market would bear the expense it might be worth the investment.
    Last edited by NickP; 10-24-2019 at 07:29 AM.

  5. #325
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by WagonCrazy View Post
    this seems like a good item for a MadMooks solution....

    how hard would it be to CNC/mill a set of these from solid stainless barstock, then drill and tap each for several short pieces of allthread on the back side...then maybe a washer and locknut to hold each on...
    I talked to him about these bars yesterday, and he's considered doing that but has too much on his plate and he said some of the nuts would be very difficult to reach. One problem is they wouldn't be the same color as the center bar, since stainless is more "yellow" and chrome is more "blue". The center bar would be a lot more complicated to cut from billet stainless, but it could be done. I'm betting he'd have to get over $1000 per set to make it worthwhile. But they sure would be nice.

    What bars do you have on your Nomad? I've tried to take pics of these defects but they don't come out. You can see them in video better.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  6. #326
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    Nomad tailgate bars are NOT straight; there's a curvature, so the bar stock would need to be LARGER to accommodate the curve, or could the machined bar be 'bent' consistently??

    PS. I think some of you fellas think each part of a custom automobile has to be *perfect*... I learned long ago that *nothing* is perfect!~ As a young engineer right out of school, I was a perfectionist, but I soon realized that 'good enough' had to be the rule, as unlimited time/$$ are never available and wouldn't be approved by management even if it were.. . I learned from that ... schedule and budget dictate how 'perfect' one's designs could be...

  7. #327
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BamaNomad View Post
    PS. I think some of you fellas think each part of a custom automobile has to be *perfect*... I learned long ago that *nothing* is perfect!~ As a young engineer right out of school, I was a perfectionist, but I soon realized that 'good enough' had to be the rule, as unlimited time/$$ are never available and wouldn't be approved by management even if it were.. . I learned from that ... schedule and budget dictate how 'perfect' one's designs could be...
    Yeah that's a problem for me . However, I think my complaints about most of these parts are reasonable. The angled screws in the Danchuk door handles shouldn't be that way, and I believe they would dent the door if tightened....they deny it's a problem and it's not a hard fix for them. There's no reason a hood seal can't be reproduced to be like the stock one instead of "similar". I had already accepted the fact that these bars aren't perfect, but I went to install the last one and started realizing that they just look bad to a discriminating car guy. If the Danchuk ones aren't any better, I'll have to accept these as being as good as they get. I don't want anyone saying "Oh, I see you used those crappy Trim Parts tailgate bars" later . I don't think there's anything wrong with looking for the "best" parts on the market but I'm tired of having to buy two of everything. I have all re-chromed tailgate parts that I had chromed decades ago. I decided to go with Madmooks parts because they're stronger and look better. I can sell the re-chromed stuff. Oh, and I'm not "designing" any of these parts but I noticed this thread is 2 1/2 years old already.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  8. #328
    Registered Member BamaNomad's Avatar
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    CN: I totally agree with you re the 'crappiness' of aftermarket/reproduction parts and YES they should at least be functional but aren't always so! I lean strongly towards GM parts wherever possible - at least they did go thru a design process with design and manufacturing engineering involved, whereas the aftermarket parts are 99% just 'poor copies' of an old part - performed by people who don't know $hit from $hinola...

  9. #329
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    Reproduction parts are just that, not engineered and tested and debugged as original manufactured equipment was done. But there are some parts out there that are well made fit and function as the originals. Sadly there are just as many parts that fall short of the traits of the originals. I find most often that the reproduction requires some “hand rework” to satisfy me. I expect the reproduction part to need some form of modification to satisfy me. And because I come to expect less I’m not disappointed when receiving said part. We tend to not talk about the stuff that does fit and perform as required.

    Parts that are as the chrome trim bars, and knowing what I’d receive, I would rechrome my originals. Another good example of this type part is a 57 hood bar that would be the wrong shape to fit the hood correctly.

    Stock restorations are more prone to these troublesome miss-fitting parts. Restomods and customs are less tied to bad reproduction parts by the numbers. But even then upgrade steering kits and suspension stuff has been sucky, and poor performing too.

  10. #330
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gmvette View Post
    Parts that are as the chrome trim bars, and knowing what I’d receive, I would rechrome my originals. Another good example of this type part is a 57 hood bar that would be the wrong shape to fit the hood correctly.
    That's not always the case. My repro hood bar and hood bar extensions actually fit better than the original parts did. The chrome plating on NOS parts is actually pretty bad, so you have to re-chrome them anyhow. And have you had anything chromed lately? It costs a fortune. My Nomad script is going to be $200 just for the chrome plating. I had a chrome NEW A/C bracket re-chromed and it cost me $400. I'd bet re-chroming a set of tailgate bars would run around $1000 and then the question is whether they turn out like they're supposed to look. It would be really easy to buff away the detail at the bottom of the bars next to the tailgate skin. That's especially true with pitted bars that have to be copper plated several times. Then you have the big issue of getting thick copper on the retainers, and the clips don't fit. I've talked to a guy who had his tailgate bars re-chromed and he said there were little "balls" of copper on the bottomside that he had to chip off, and he'd never do it again. If I had my NORS bars re-chromed they'd look as bad or worse than the Trim Parts bars.

    While it's frustrating to get parts that don't meet our expectations, it's better than not being able to get parts at all. And for many parts, we have more than one choice.

    Everyone was telling me how good the Trim Parts tailgate bars were because they used the original GM tooling....I think that's actually what makes them bad. It's worn out 65 year old tooling. That's why I wonder if the Danchuk bars would be better since I believe they use new tooling of their own.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

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