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Dad's 'Mad, The no longer hibernating 1957 Nomad.

It's too bad those beautiful rims are 14". 14" tires are a real bear to find anymore, and selection is very limited.

I can't remember all your options, but I think if it were me I'd replace the rear springs and then re-evaluate. You've already mentioned fitment problems and know those springs are sacked. See how it sits with that problem fixed first, then go from there.
 
tRustyK5 said:
It's too bad those beautiful rims are 14". 14" tires are a real bear to find anymore, and selection is very limited.

I can't remember all your options, but I think if it were me I'd replace the rear springs and then re-evaluate. You've already mentioned fitment problems and know those springs are sacked. See how it sits with that problem fixed first, then go from there.
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Cooper did have some options. I was really close to pulling the trigger on some Diamondback redline tires. They do have 14" options. I didn't want to dump a bunch of money on the redlines if there was any rubbing issues. The coopers were fairly cheap to get through work.

I'll get it road worthy and see if the rubbing is an issue or not.
 
Any chance of some kind of Timbren or other bump stop replacement?
 
AJMBLAZER said:
Any chance of some kind of Timbren or other bump stop replacement?
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It’s been a long time since I’ve had a good look under any ‘57 much less this one. I don’t remember there being any type of a bump stop on the rear suspension.

I think the replacement springs I already have should address the squat and not go to far.

They may go on sooner than later if the fuel tank wont clean up. I have to drop the axle out of the way to replace the tank. That could be done by just dropping the rear of the springs at the shackles and leaving the axle attached to the springs and just swing it out to access the tank. But if I’m going that far I’ll just pull the springs and the driveshaft, pull the axle out of the way and do the tank and reinstall with the fresh springs.
 
Babaganoosh said:
You could shackle flip the rear to bring it up….




















Obviously I’m joking but couldn’t help myself.
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Well, smart ass tri-fives are flipped from the factory. :haha:


I dug around and found the single fill port on the shocks. It’s under the back seat btw.

Adding air brought it up an inch. Tops of the fins are just about level now. It almost exposes the top of the wheel in the wheel opening.

It’s better but not quite enough.

Oh and yes, there is a bump stop. It was about 5” from the frame.

IMG_6637.jpeg
 
ZooMad75 said:
Well, smart ass tri-fives are flipped from the factory. :haha:


I dug around and found the single fill port on the shocks. It’s under the back seat btw.

Adding air brought it up an inch. Tops of the fins are just about level now. It almost exposes the top of the wheel in the wheel opening.

It’s better but not quite enough.

Oh and yes, there is a bump stop. It was about 5” from the frame.

View attachment 473224
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I thought there was a chance they were but figured it would just make it that much better.

Car looks good up in the rear
 
Is that the factory paint colour for that car in 57?

I’ve never seen one like it… I’m old seen a few. It’s awesome.

I’d pick a silver, pewter, or whatever they call it in that shading over any other colour, if I had the choice.
 
max 02 said:
Is that the factory paint colour for that car in 57?

I’ve never seen one like it… I’m old seen a few. It’s awesome.

I’d pick a silver, pewter, or whatever they call it in that shading over any other colour, if I had the choice.
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The factory colors on the car was actually India ivory over Inca silver. The previous owner repainted the entire car Inca silver.

You can see the white in the door jambs on the front and with the lift glass open in the back.

At most right now as far as the body is concerned, I’m going to lightly polish the paint out and try to bring some shine back. I have to be really careful though. The hand laid pinstriping is very delicate now that it’s 50+ years since it was applied. I don’t want to loose that. Plus the silver on top is pretty thin. During its life as a shelf in the garage a bottle of bleache-white white wall cleaner leaked onto the roof and ate through the silver. Dad was beside himself when he found it. He had a buddy that performed some magic that erased the damage. So getting aggressive with a da polisher would not end well.

I’m not against using something like sweet patina to give some shine back but I don’t want to screw it up. I have to look into that more.
 
My sister broke the other ‘57 out of classic car jail today. It’s been at this shop since October but it’s just been a “fill-in” between other projects. The owner of the place and his right hand man were the only guys to touch it. They took great care of it and knocked out a bunch of stuff to get it roadworthy.

They even fixed the damage to the paint on the right door and fender where it leaned into the bricks when the tires went flat in the garage. You can't tell where the damage was.

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She picked up the car with her daughter and hubby.
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Unknown to me, she was on her way to where I work to surprise me. However, it wasn't to be. The mileage on the Odometer when it stalled out was 74057. Why that makes any difference is something me and my sisters have noticed since our Dad passed. We've had significant numbers come up over the last year and the odd factor was the fact that many of them ended in 57 like this one. For obvious reasons, that was our Dad's favorite number. An insurance payout ended in 57, all the coins my Dad had saved up as a collection had a value that ended in 57 and many more like that. It's odd enough we all picked up on it. No other explanation other than it's some kind of wink from him that he's watching.

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She made it within about a few miles from our shop but it just wasn't having it.
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It got picked up after she called the shop and explained what went down. She's not upset at all as she's been around them enough to know it's going to have some teething issues getting back to being roadworthy.

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Sounds like it always did. Sneaky quiet. The Nomad's glasspacks carry a lot more bark than stock three foot long mufflers on the white car.

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In another odd twist that links back to our Dad, when the car stalled out the last time in an intersection there was a group working nearby on the street setting up cones and stuff for some work to be done. Dad being an engineer with the state highway department worked a lot with this same company called Colorado Barricade. The crew saw them trying to push the car to safety and rushed in to help. It's another crazy coincidence that ties in with our Dad.

I'm bummed they didn't make it to my shop but I'm happy it's almost ready to roll. Not gonna lie, had they made it I probably would have bawled like a baby seeing it driving again.
 
Man thats cool Rob. Great looking car(s)!
what engine in the sedan?
 
“Ooops, whats the difference between a 2 dr hardtop, and a 2 dr sedan?
 
Sedans are known as “post” cars, hardtops lack any “B” pillar or frame around the window on the door.

The white car is a factory dual four barrel 283, 270hp. Solid lifter Duntov cam and dual point distributor. All stock.

In the meantime I couldn’t be the only one in the family without a running ‘57. So up it went onto jackstands.
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I got home from work and drained the oil and gas. There was a little over 3 gallons of fuel.



IMG_6653.jpeg
 
The oil still had some color to it. Got some fresh oil in it and a fiver of fuel in the tank.

I primed the oil and got things set to run. Fresh battery installed and a twist of the key and it kicked right over. Using the vice grip garage water bottle fuel feed I filled the fuel bowls on the Holley.

I hit the key again and it barked to life. It’s louder than I remember. But it ran for almost a minute until it ran out of fuel. Oil pressure settled in at 60psi.

IMG_6663.mov


I repeated the cycle four or five times in order to try and get the fuel pump to start pulling fuel. It didn’t yet. So I pulled the line off at the inlet of the fuel filter to runs some fuel down to the pump in an effort to soften up the rubber.

I shut down the fun at 9:00 as the pipes are at neighbor hater level volume. It’s supposed to be crappy all weekend so I can actually work on it in the garage.

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All in all a good session in the garage.
 
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