My 60 Catalina had the high beam that lit the Indian head up in red. Great memories. Glad your pulling everything together to get it out and drive. It's the best way to preserve and enjoy.
CK5
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Dad's 'Mad, The no longer hibernating 1957 Nomad.
- Thread starter ZooMad75
- Start date
I like good headlights.
Not a fan of some of the super bright interior lights now-a-days.
Not a fan of some of the super bright interior lights now-a-days.
Since the thing works, another easy solution is to add a voltage regulator. You can't really do that with (only 2) AA cells because there isn't enough voltage drop to get to 2.7V. Runing from switched ignition would require another wire to enter the case, but since the coil connection has power most of the time you could steal power from there. 4-5 small components should do the job, including something like 1N5223B.
You could run it off Energizer lithium AA's and put a schottky diode in series to bring the voltage down. Those have a pretty flat discharge curve and they last about forever:
Another simple idea is to mix AA cells to make the reading closer, like 1 Alkaline and 1 NiMh. As already noted, alkaline has a constantly changing voltage (below), so the tach reading would slowly skew down over the years, but like you said it's probably good enough.
You could run it off Energizer lithium AA's and put a schottky diode in series to bring the voltage down. Those have a pretty flat discharge curve and they last about forever:
Another simple idea is to mix AA cells to make the reading closer, like 1 Alkaline and 1 NiMh. As already noted, alkaline has a constantly changing voltage (below), so the tach reading would slowly skew down over the years, but like you said it's probably good enough.
My Dad put euro spec Cibie headlights on the car many moons ago. As sealed beams go they were pretty good. About all I could do to improve it would be add a pair of relays into the mix and pull power directly from the battery for the lights.
Though I’m not sure how much night driving this car is going to get.
I like the looks of some of those newer LED 7” lights that don’t look like robot parts. All the light.
Retro Brights?
Yeah.
Quake Led actually has some stock looking 7” round LED lights that look right. They have real glass fluted lenses.
Quake is a local Denver company we buy direct from. That’s probably the route I’ll go when I get to that point.
Quake is a local Denver company we buy direct from. That’s probably the route I’ll go when I get to that point.
Got a link? I don't mind the look of the Retro Brights, but GD they are spendy!!
$319 ea for 5 3/4" didn't see 7" offered
quakeled.com
Classic Tech Series 5.75” Replacement LED Headlight with RGB Accent - Pair
CLASSIC VEHICLE OWNERS! Upgrade the front of your classic ride with these Classic Tech Authentic Glass Lens LED Headlights with RGB Accenting!
quakeled.com
Classic Tech Series 7” Replacement LED Headlight with RGB Accent - Single
MOTORCYCLE and CLASSIC VEHICLE OWNERS! Upgrade the front of your motorcycle or classic ride with these Classic Tech Authentic Glass Lens LED Headlights with RGB Accenting!
quakeled.com
Cheaper than the Retro Brights...
That's them.
Watching youtube this morning I figured I'd drop some pics of guys cars from the Mile High Nomad Club that had an influence on my car/Nomad addiction. In no particular order, here we go.
Rick's '55 has gone through a couple of cool engines, but for the longest time he was running a 302 GMC 6-banger. Later he pulled the 302 for a 502 GM crate big block and a Tremec 5-speed. He passed away a while ago, but his wife still has the car and her grand daughter takes it out for special occasions. Rick had his own repair shop not to far from where I'm at in Englewood. He also did local circle track stuff back in the 50's and 60's. Cool dude.
Larry in this pic is a NUT. Hanging out with him was always a riot. He had won the NNC traveling trophy for best restored original after this car was finished. This guy had a previous '55 that got stolen. He eventually found the car getting chopped up and provided all the details to the cops and they didn't do anything about it. So he took it upon himself to inflict a clandestine reign of terror on the perps so that they didn't have a running car for a while. One of which was dumping some aviation fuel to a Cadillac that ran like a scalded dog for a few blocks before melting down. He ruined a few cars of the perps in the process. For the longest time he was a thorn in the side of the NNC club officers. The next year's convention location was always a secret and yet every year he seemed to figure it out before it was announced. So they put him on the board so he was in the loop and he wouldn't bother the rest of the club officers. He was a graphic artist with the USFS and did a lot of the Smokey Bear artwork for their ads. He also designed the NNC club logo. He sold his Nomad probably 20 years ago, but still was a integral part of the club. Sadly he developed Alzheimers and passed away a year after going to a nursing home. The Nomad was a 265 Power pack car and when not being judged he ran some insanely rare and cool Kelsye Hays spoke mag wheels.
This is Bob and his '55 Nomad. This car to both the NNC and CNA clubs was the LAST Nomad still owned by the person who bought it new. He bought it new from a little Chevy dealer on the eastern plains of Colorado. Like many Nomads the dealers would order them loaded with options which put the price well over that of a Convertible of the same year. His has power brakes, power steering along with many other creature comforts. But when he bought it the car was just a family vehicle, nothing expected of being cool or valuable years later. He took his wife and three kids on trips along with runs to the grocery store and back and forth to work. He actually didn't join the local club until in the 80's as he wasn't a normal "car guy". He was a banker. He found the club when he was looking for help with the car. One of the other club members helped him rebuild the 265 and gave it a new lease on life and he started to enjoy the car again with the club. He and his wife were the sweetest people that got along well with my folks. His wife passed away first and Bob stayed with the club, driving it to his last convention in Rapid City SD. He traveled with us to that event and it was just a treat to see it out then. He also passed away a few years back and I think the car was sold as his kids weren't interested in it at all.
Joe was the president of the NNC forever. Another old school racer, this time drag racing. He's in the Colorado Motorsports hall of fame for his time with the ChevRuns club where they campaigned a rail dragster with a Wayne head 302 GMC six. He was legendary. His day job was in the parts room at the old Craig Chevrolet in Arvada and most likely knew the guy my Dad bought our car from. He was a hell of an engine builder and at one time had one Nomad from every year plus a '56 Sedan delivery and '56 convertible and a '57 Cameo pickup. His main drivers were the '57 Nomad and his wife's '56. Both of which he had my Mom do some glass etching artwork on the back glass and wing windows to both the '56 and '57 Nomads. The back glass was stressful as the glass was too wide for our blast cabinet. So it took Dad and I to hold a trash bag over the end of the glass to seal it to the cabinet so we didn't lose all the sand.
The '56 was always a favorite of mine. I love the two tone combo.
Joe's delivery was a neat car with a truckload of history to the Denver hotrod scene.
The engine was another 302 Jimmy six but it's running a GMC roots supercharger from a kit made by John Bandimere Sr, out of the speed shop he had before the track came about. He only made a handful of these kits and this is the only surviving complete running unit. John Jr and Dave Bandimere bought the delivery from Joe in the 90's to keep the history with the Bandimere family.
Joe passed away and his wife moved to Wisconsin after selling the Nomads.
This is Leon's '56. Leon was one of the founding Members of the MHNC and the NNC. I remember the '55 he had when I was growing up was nicknamed GreenBean, for the non-stock color it had on it. He sold that car to build this one. Sadly, the reason why I was able to take this pic is the club organized a run to his house as he was really sick and under home hospice care. We wanted to bring some cars over and give him a little pick me up with a visit. While there he gave me 1:16 scale die cast '55 Nomad that he had forever as he knew I had a thing for the collectible stuff. He passed shortly after our visit. His daughters were absolutely overjoyed how the visit picked up their dad's sprits.
This is Nelson's '56 seen with his wife and daughter. Nelson was the other co-founder of the MHNC with Leon. He was a paint and body guy, a really good one too. His shop was known for some cool work that they did. They built a '57 Buick Cabalerro wagon (Buick's cousin to the Nomad except they are a 4 dr hardtop wagon) Nelson's crew chopped the top on the wagon (which was insane due to the even much rarer they are than a Nomad). Nelson is still around, but he kind of ostracized himself from the club after his wife passed from cancer and immediately remarried a gold digger. As all the wives in the club were really tight and been around each other for 30-40 years it was quite the shock when he remarried so quickly. The new gal influenced him to sell all the cars including the Nomad out from under his own son and move to Laughlin NV. His son kept the body shop and has made a name for himself as an exceptional body/paint guy, but last I heard wasn't speaking to his dad much if at all. Sad deal at the end, but Nelson and his original wife were really good people when I was a kid.
Last but not least is Wayne's '57 Wayne was another charter member of the MHNC and a resident of Englewood. He, Joe and Nelson even published a book titled How to Restore your 1957 Chevy. Through the NNC ties with GM back in the 70's they were able to obtain many factory photos along with bulletins and special tech that they compiled into the book. The pic is from '21 at the Englewood cruise when I last saw him. He had finished the paint job on the car the year before. Last time I saw the car it was in primer when he trailered it over to Leon's for the visit. He's still around and I need to hook up with him once I get mine back on the road.
There's this week's run down memory lane for the Nomad stuff.
Watching youtube this morning I figured I'd drop some pics of guys cars from the Mile High Nomad Club that had an influence on my car/Nomad addiction. In no particular order, here we go.
Rick's '55 has gone through a couple of cool engines, but for the longest time he was running a 302 GMC 6-banger. Later he pulled the 302 for a 502 GM crate big block and a Tremec 5-speed. He passed away a while ago, but his wife still has the car and her grand daughter takes it out for special occasions. Rick had his own repair shop not to far from where I'm at in Englewood. He also did local circle track stuff back in the 50's and 60's. Cool dude.
Larry in this pic is a NUT. Hanging out with him was always a riot. He had won the NNC traveling trophy for best restored original after this car was finished. This guy had a previous '55 that got stolen. He eventually found the car getting chopped up and provided all the details to the cops and they didn't do anything about it. So he took it upon himself to inflict a clandestine reign of terror on the perps so that they didn't have a running car for a while. One of which was dumping some aviation fuel to a Cadillac that ran like a scalded dog for a few blocks before melting down. He ruined a few cars of the perps in the process. For the longest time he was a thorn in the side of the NNC club officers. The next year's convention location was always a secret and yet every year he seemed to figure it out before it was announced. So they put him on the board so he was in the loop and he wouldn't bother the rest of the club officers. He was a graphic artist with the USFS and did a lot of the Smokey Bear artwork for their ads. He also designed the NNC club logo. He sold his Nomad probably 20 years ago, but still was a integral part of the club. Sadly he developed Alzheimers and passed away a year after going to a nursing home. The Nomad was a 265 Power pack car and when not being judged he ran some insanely rare and cool Kelsye Hays spoke mag wheels.
This is Bob and his '55 Nomad. This car to both the NNC and CNA clubs was the LAST Nomad still owned by the person who bought it new. He bought it new from a little Chevy dealer on the eastern plains of Colorado. Like many Nomads the dealers would order them loaded with options which put the price well over that of a Convertible of the same year. His has power brakes, power steering along with many other creature comforts. But when he bought it the car was just a family vehicle, nothing expected of being cool or valuable years later. He took his wife and three kids on trips along with runs to the grocery store and back and forth to work. He actually didn't join the local club until in the 80's as he wasn't a normal "car guy". He was a banker. He found the club when he was looking for help with the car. One of the other club members helped him rebuild the 265 and gave it a new lease on life and he started to enjoy the car again with the club. He and his wife were the sweetest people that got along well with my folks. His wife passed away first and Bob stayed with the club, driving it to his last convention in Rapid City SD. He traveled with us to that event and it was just a treat to see it out then. He also passed away a few years back and I think the car was sold as his kids weren't interested in it at all.
Joe was the president of the NNC forever. Another old school racer, this time drag racing. He's in the Colorado Motorsports hall of fame for his time with the ChevRuns club where they campaigned a rail dragster with a Wayne head 302 GMC six. He was legendary. His day job was in the parts room at the old Craig Chevrolet in Arvada and most likely knew the guy my Dad bought our car from. He was a hell of an engine builder and at one time had one Nomad from every year plus a '56 Sedan delivery and '56 convertible and a '57 Cameo pickup. His main drivers were the '57 Nomad and his wife's '56. Both of which he had my Mom do some glass etching artwork on the back glass and wing windows to both the '56 and '57 Nomads. The back glass was stressful as the glass was too wide for our blast cabinet. So it took Dad and I to hold a trash bag over the end of the glass to seal it to the cabinet so we didn't lose all the sand.
The '56 was always a favorite of mine. I love the two tone combo.
Joe's delivery was a neat car with a truckload of history to the Denver hotrod scene.
The engine was another 302 Jimmy six but it's running a GMC roots supercharger from a kit made by John Bandimere Sr, out of the speed shop he had before the track came about. He only made a handful of these kits and this is the only surviving complete running unit. John Jr and Dave Bandimere bought the delivery from Joe in the 90's to keep the history with the Bandimere family.
Joe passed away and his wife moved to Wisconsin after selling the Nomads.
This is Leon's '56. Leon was one of the founding Members of the MHNC and the NNC. I remember the '55 he had when I was growing up was nicknamed GreenBean, for the non-stock color it had on it. He sold that car to build this one. Sadly, the reason why I was able to take this pic is the club organized a run to his house as he was really sick and under home hospice care. We wanted to bring some cars over and give him a little pick me up with a visit. While there he gave me 1:16 scale die cast '55 Nomad that he had forever as he knew I had a thing for the collectible stuff. He passed shortly after our visit. His daughters were absolutely overjoyed how the visit picked up their dad's sprits.
This is Nelson's '56 seen with his wife and daughter. Nelson was the other co-founder of the MHNC with Leon. He was a paint and body guy, a really good one too. His shop was known for some cool work that they did. They built a '57 Buick Cabalerro wagon (Buick's cousin to the Nomad except they are a 4 dr hardtop wagon) Nelson's crew chopped the top on the wagon (which was insane due to the even much rarer they are than a Nomad). Nelson is still around, but he kind of ostracized himself from the club after his wife passed from cancer and immediately remarried a gold digger. As all the wives in the club were really tight and been around each other for 30-40 years it was quite the shock when he remarried so quickly. The new gal influenced him to sell all the cars including the Nomad out from under his own son and move to Laughlin NV. His son kept the body shop and has made a name for himself as an exceptional body/paint guy, but last I heard wasn't speaking to his dad much if at all. Sad deal at the end, but Nelson and his original wife were really good people when I was a kid.
Last but not least is Wayne's '57 Wayne was another charter member of the MHNC and a resident of Englewood. He, Joe and Nelson even published a book titled How to Restore your 1957 Chevy. Through the NNC ties with GM back in the 70's they were able to obtain many factory photos along with bulletins and special tech that they compiled into the book. The pic is from '21 at the Englewood cruise when I last saw him. He had finished the paint job on the car the year before. Last time I saw the car it was in primer when he trailered it over to Leon's for the visit. He's still around and I need to hook up with him once I get mine back on the road.
There's this week's run down memory lane for the Nomad stuff.
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Because it was the present when you were in high school.
Because it was the present when you were in high school.
It's my history for sure. I lived it. These guys were like the coolest uncles to me. They all had Nomads and other cool rides that we went to shows, or cruise nights or club outings. We've talked about bringing in the younger kids to the hobby and these guys sure helped bring me in along with my Dad. I soaked in all the conversations like a sponge when they were talking about the cars. It was really cool growing up in the club for sure. It is sad to know most of these guys are gone now. The knowledge went with them.
All the more reason to reach out to the guys that are left.
Damn that is cool Rob!!
Bob's 55 nomad sure looks a lot like the 55 Nomad Dan at DD speed shop recently got. I think he is selling that 55 soon...and keeping his black 55 Nomad.
Bob's 55 nomad sure looks a lot like the 55 Nomad Dan at DD speed shop recently got. I think he is selling that 55 soon...and keeping his black 55 Nomad.
It does. Bob's was original and un-restored. He took great care of it.
I had Robbie come over this morning to surprise him with the car running. He only knows of the car what he saw in the garage at my folks place. He’s never sat in it or heard it run, much less take a ride around the block in it.
We knocked two out of three off the list today. He got to hear it fire up and run and sat down in it for the first time today.
His reaction was great, he didn’t have a clue I got it running. He just blurted out “NO WAY!” And started laughing. I let it run toe warm up and he noticed the choppiness of the idle right away. He gave me a pat on the back and thanked me for getting it running. Then he proceeded to take videos of it and send them to his buddies.
We spent an hour going over the car and pointing stuff out. At one point we were both sitting inside with the car running and I turned the radio on to show him it worked. He has never heard an old tube style AM radio warm up and come on. As luck would have it whatever station I had it tuned into was playing oldies this morning and all the sudden Little Richard came screaming out of the speaker. I couldn’t have planned it any better and it surprised both of us to the point we were laughing.
With the coolant changed out yesterday I’m just a little bit away from its maiden voyage. Brake check, grease the front end and fluid check the trans and rear axle.
Back to bumper paint for the K5.
We knocked two out of three off the list today. He got to hear it fire up and run and sat down in it for the first time today.
His reaction was great, he didn’t have a clue I got it running. He just blurted out “NO WAY!” And started laughing. I let it run toe warm up and he noticed the choppiness of the idle right away. He gave me a pat on the back and thanked me for getting it running. Then he proceeded to take videos of it and send them to his buddies.
We spent an hour going over the car and pointing stuff out. At one point we were both sitting inside with the car running and I turned the radio on to show him it worked. He has never heard an old tube style AM radio warm up and come on. As luck would have it whatever station I had it tuned into was playing oldies this morning and all the sudden Little Richard came screaming out of the speaker. I couldn’t have planned it any better and it surprised both of us to the point we were laughing.
With the coolant changed out yesterday I’m just a little bit away from its maiden voyage. Brake check, grease the front end and fluid check the trans and rear axle.
Back to bumper paint for the K5.
