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Thread: Nomad final assembly

  1. #491
    Registered Member Belair-o's Avatar
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    Hi Chevynut,
    'drive the car'! Exciting times! Getting close.
    Regards, Doug

  2. #492
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Belair-o View Post
    Hi Chevynut,'drive the car'! Exciting times! Getting close.Regards, Doug
    Hopefully soon!

    Got the map lights on the mirror tied into the dome light circuit and I checked the power to the stereo and all is good. I think that's about it for the electrical testing for now.

    I installed the passenger side 3-point seatbelt so we can figure out how to get it behind the headliner on the b-pillar. I'll need to come up with some kind of bezel where it exits the headliner. For some reason I bought a set of "taupe" seatbelts for the car long ago, and I don't even remember why I chose that color. I'm going to order another set of charcoal ones soon to match the accent color in the interior.

    I still need to weld up my A/C condenser lines but first I need to practice welding that tubing with my TIG. I haven't welded much lately and I want to make sure I don't screw up those lines since I worked so hard to make them. Then I can leak check the A/C system. I bought a couple of quick-disconnect A/C gauge adapters for my compressor ports and my son, who is an HVAC tech, has all the rest of the stuff to check it out and charge the system.

    I also need to fill the clutch and brakes and bleed them which I plan to do before I take the car off the blocks. I haven't run the brake pump yet so I hope it works like it's supposed to.

    Hopefully I'll be able to take the maiden voyage down the street sometime this summer.
    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

  3. #493
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    I remember the short video I posted of the first maiden voyage around the block in my Nomad. My wife wasnt thrilled with the crudeness of where the build was at, but I was ready for a drive. Its been a slog of troubleshooting and finnessing stuff ever since, but you too will get there soon.
    Congrats. At least yours is about done and won't be coming back apart for paint and upholstery like mine will.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  4. #494
    Banned
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    Get it on the road, and then go back to the details and the other stuff that always shows up. I'm ready to drive my 55 for the 3rd season after a 6-year build, and it was far from finished when I took the maiden voyage with only a windshield, lights, and a couple of seats. I've been working on it all winter to make improvements over the winter. Replaced the whole front clip with NOS fenders, all new chrome, got everything ready to finish installing the side windows soon, installed a Vintage Air compact heater, fixed a coolant leak, and there is always more to do. But it will be ready when the weather turns back to normal, and I'll find more things to do next winter. I might get the dome light wired up next year.
    Last edited by 55 Rescue Dog; 03-11-2023 at 02:03 PM.

  5. #495
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Today I finally tackled the roof rails. I worked on trimming and fitting them a little a while ago and kind of dreaded trying to install them because I expected as much hassle as I had with the quarter glass. Guys have said they're a pain in the ass too.

    But they weren't as bad as expected. I fit them dry and used 3M strip caulk to install them.

    One thing I found that helped immensely was carefully bending them to fit the opening as exactly as possible before trying to install them. They bend fairly easily and I started at the front and went to the back until they were as close to the opening as I could get them. I also cut the rear bottom off where I thought it should be and sanded the angle on my disc sander.

    I didn't like the fact that you could see the round head screws supplied with them so I replaced them with 10-25 flat head screws and cut slots in the rubber to cover the screws. The screw heads go into the slot and the rubber covers them pretty nicely....at least you can't see them.

    When installing I started at the front and started the front screws, then worked my way back and slowly tightened the screws along the roofline. They need to be pretty tight so the roofrail pulls upward for the b-pillar screws to fit right. I'm pretty happy with the results, but I still wish they were made more like the stock ones.

    IMG_5236.jpeg

    IMG_5240.jpeg



    I also made an aluminum cover for the tailgate to glue the carpet to, so we have a nice smooth surface to work with. I need to make some fillers for the grooves in the tailgate before we install the carpet too. Since the stainless trim is only 1/8" high and the carpet is 3/16" we're trimming the aluminum back about 1/8" from the stainless so the carpet tucks in nicely.

    IMG_5239.jpeg
    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. #496
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Did some more work on the Nomad the past couple of days. I filled the clutch master cylinder under the dash and bled the slave. I'm kinda wishing I used a remote reservoir for easier filling, but I knew it would be a bit of a pain in the ass. It wasn't that bad.

    I didn't bench bleed the master cylinder but I was pretty sure I had all the air out of it after bleeding. I still had too low of a pedal. I made a couple of adjustments of the slave pushrod and the master pushrod under my dash, and it seems better but may need more tweaking. The pedal is stiffer than I would have liked, but the master and slave are just about matched. Slave is metric (20mm/.787" I think) and the master (Wilwood) is 3/4". That should make is slightly softer than with both matched at 3/4". When I designed the clutch system I was more concerned about proper travel than effort. I forgot that the stock z-bar gives some mechanical advantage but I don't know how much. If it's too stiff I can try to address it with a slight change in the master cylinder bore size as Wilwood makes .700" and 5/8" masters of the same design. It depends on how my clutch travel works out. Also, I will probably have to put a small spring on the pedal to bring it back up to the pedal stop.

    I also filled the brake fluid reservoir and fluid just kept going in . I needed to fill the master/booster and the pump. Once I got the reservoir almost full, I noticed a leak below the car on the tire. Apparently I put the front brake hoses on and never tightened them . So I tightened both hoses and bled the front brakes. I then moved to the rear and bled them. They pretty much bled themselves, actually, and only took a pump or two of the pedal to get clean fluid.

    I also found a couple of small leaks on the AN adapters to my ABS Power Brake master/booster. They were tight, but the adapters are made of stainless and the hose ends are steel. So I cranked on them some more and finally got them to seal. It's a lot harder to make steel conform than it is aluminum.

    The next thing was turning on the electric pump. I made sure the reservoir was full again, installed a 10A fuse, and turned on the ignition. Nothing happened. I was worried that sitting so long the pump seized up or something. So I started checking out the electrical connections to the relay and everything looked good. Finally I pulled the fuse and it was blown. I did a little research and found that the pump draws 14A max so I put a 20A fuse in and it started running. I only get 2-3 applications of the pedal before it starts up again so I wonder about the accumulator. I noticed a lot of foaming in the fluid so I think I have air in the high pressure part of the system. I plan to let it sit a while and then run it again. I may have to do that a few times to get the air out, or maybe have to crack a line. I noticed their new systems have a bleeder port on the pump, but mine doesn't.

    I was hesitant to buy 2 quarts of fluid, but I used almost all of both containers counting the fluid that went to waste bleeding it out of the system, maybe 4 ounces. I used Prestone DOT4 Synthetic brakefluid and Autozone had a buy one get one at 1/2 off so that was cool.

    A little more adjusting and bleeding, if needed, and the brake and clutch should be ready to go.
    Last edited by chevynut; 03-20-2023 at 09:38 AM.
    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

  7. #497
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Last night I was pondering how I could change the pedal ratio on my clutch if I needed to. When I designed the system I did a bunch of calculations to get the throwout bearing movement I thought I needed, based on research from multiple places. Novak Conversions is where I got a lot of my information and at the time they used the same Toyota slave cylinder I'm using. They now make their own slave cylinder and are a great resource for this kind of stuff. Changing the master cylinder bore is one way to address the pedal force, but the way I designed it I could also do it mechanically by changing the length of the arm on the clutch shaft. Since I'm using a bellcrank, it won't affect the alignment of the pushrod to the master cylinder. It's always a tradeoff between force required and travel. I'll have to see how I like it before I decide to change anything.

    Attachment 13307

    20170420_019.JPG
    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. #498
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Member #:115
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    Fort Collins, CO
    Posts
    10,835
    I haven't tried to bleed the clutch any more but I'm pretty sure I have a small amount of air in it. I need two people for this job so I will need to recruit my wife to help. I've tried to figure out how to add a spring to the pedal but I can't add the stock clutch spring back. I do need to do something to return the pedal the last inch or so. Otherwise I think the clutch is fine and I'm not going to mess with the master cylinder or linkage until I can drive the car to test the clutch engagement.

    My ABS Power Brake booster seems to work well and I think the brakes are bled fine. The pedal seems firm but I only get two pumps of the pedal before the pump starts up again. A past frame customer of mine has a friend using the same setup and he said he's only getting two pumps before the pump turns on too. ABS Power Brake told him that's normal, but their literature says you should get "up to 10" applications of the pedal before the pump turns on. Some articles claim 10-20 applications before the pump needs to run again. I suspect this is an issue with the accumulator or having air in the high pressure part of the booster, or maybe the pressure switch . I need to call them to discuss this.

    I got the AC condenser lines welded up and installed, so the system is ready for leak-testing. I really can't charge it until I get the heat/AC controls installed in the dash. And I can't really do that until I install the AC and defroster hoses under the dash....and I can't really do that until the windshield is installed....and I can't do that until the headliner and dash are installed...and so on. You know how that goes.

    I still need to install the door and fender stainless so that's my next project to tackle. The trim has been sitting there finished for months now.

    Next I need to install the door weatherstripping. A friend of mine found a guy in TX who still had some T&N door weatherstrips so I traded him the pair of Soffseal ones I had for a pair of T&N. He's selling one of his Nomads so he's going to use the Soffseal weatherstrips on it.

    I think I'm going to go ahead and change my rear coilover springs before I take the car off the blocks. I currently have 500 lb/in springs and they're obviously too stiff. The car is at least 2" above ride height and the rearend natural frequency is too high at about 2.2. I think I have a pair of 300 lb/in springs which gives me a rear frequency of about 1.72 compared to a target of 1.81 (15% higher than the front frequency) so I might try those. Without knowing the exact corner weights it's just an approximation, but 300 is closer than 500.

    A little at a time but I'm itching to get this thing rolling.
    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

  9. #499
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    Mar 2012

    Member #:530
    Location
    Santa Clarita, CA
    Posts
    1,793
    Get that thing rolling. Its 2023 now...
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  10. #500
    Junior Member
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    Jan 2021

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    There's a reason nut&bolt restorations and resto-mods can cost easily $250-500k.

    hours and hours of fiddling, engineering, trial and error.

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