General Information
Year
1956
Make
Chevy
Model
Nomad
I bought this car in 1974 after a 55 with a 427 BBC that I built was stolen in Kansas City. It has gone through a couple of attempted builds, but never finished. The car hasn't been on the road since I drove it home in 1974, and has been stored only indoors.
In late 2001 I began making plans to rebuild the car again, with a clean slate in front of me. This time, I decided on a C4 Corvette suspension front and rear conversion of my own design and many other modifications.
The chassis includes a narrowed aluminum Dana Super 44 IRS, a 1991 C4 aluminum front suspension, Aldan adjustable coilover shocks on all 4 corners, Baer front calipers with 13" Eradispeed rotors, 12" Baer rear Eradispeed rotors, and an electric/hydraulic brake booster with a remote reservoir and Wilwood proportioning valve. The C4 Corvette power rack and pinion steering is retained along with a Z-51 30mm front swaybar and a custom 1" rear swaybar. I currently have 295/35-18 tires on 18x10.5 wheels in the rear and 245/45-17 tires on 17x8.5 wheels in the front. Plans are to get custom wheels in the future and go to a 315 or 335 tire in the rear.
Power comes in the form of a new GMPP Ramjet 502 with Holley Commander 950 electronics and larger 42 lb/hr injectors and 1000 CFM Holley dual 58mm throttle body, a computer-controlled GMPP distributor firing an MSD Blaster coil, and is backed by an 11" Centerforce clutch with hydraulic linkage, a new Viper T56 6-speed transmission with a Hurst BilletPlus shifter, and a 3.5" aluminum MMC Denny's driveshaft with 1350 u-joints and a 30-spline Hemi yoke. Earle Williams 2" primary headers, 3 1/2" DMH Performance electric cutouts, stainless 3" Magnaflow mufflers and all stainless mandrel bent 3.5" and 3" tailpipes round out the exhaust. Engine accessories and serpentine drive pulleys and brackets are all chrome and come from Street and Performance. Cooling is via an Edelbrock water pump, a custom aluminum PRC cross-flow radiator of my own design on a custom radiator support with dual 12" Derale fans. The engine is fed from a home-built custom stainless 23 gallon fuel tank with a Walbro High Pressure 255 LPH in-tank fuel pump. All fuel and brake plumbing is stainless steel.
There are several body mods including 4" custom rear tubs, raised transmission tunnel with new floors, custom one-off firewall, custom inner fenders and radiator cover, custom stainless hood hinges, custom hood latch with remote electric release, spare tire delete and new cargo floor, and filled dash seams. Both quarter panels and rocker panels have been replaced and all gaps corrected. The radiator cover houses the air filter and has a custom intake airbox attached to it. The original front and rear 3-piece bumpers have been welded together and smoothed with the bumper guards eliminated.
The wiring is custom built from scratch and includes Hella E-code H4 headlights and Hella horns, a Viper alarm system and keyless entry, power windows with one-touch up/down, power door locks, automatic headlights and dome light fading, and a late model dimming rearview mirror with temperature and compass display.
The leather interior will feature re-shaped and re-covered 2001 Cadillac Eldorado 12-way power seats in front with custom bucket seats in the rear separated by a console that will extend from the dash to the cargo area. It has 3-point seatbelts in front and lap belts in the rear. Vintage Air A/C will keep the interior cool on hot days. A Flaming River tilt column, and a Colorado Custom "Classic" billet steering wheel will turn Borgeson stainless u-joints and a stainless steering shaft connected to the Corvette rack and pinion.
The exterior of the car will appear mostly stock, with the exception of 3" front and 2" rear suspension lowering, all new smoked gray glass, and custom wheels. Paint will be PPG in the original 2-tone scheme and all stock trim, emblems, and scripts will be retained.
100% of the work including design, fabrication, and welding has been done by me so far. My oldest son did help me a little with the welding of the stainless exhaust pipes.
In late 2001 I began making plans to rebuild the car again, with a clean slate in front of me. This time, I decided on a C4 Corvette suspension front and rear conversion of my own design and many other modifications.
The chassis includes a narrowed aluminum Dana Super 44 IRS, a 1991 C4 aluminum front suspension, Aldan adjustable coilover shocks on all 4 corners, Baer front calipers with 13" Eradispeed rotors, 12" Baer rear Eradispeed rotors, and an electric/hydraulic brake booster with a remote reservoir and Wilwood proportioning valve. The C4 Corvette power rack and pinion steering is retained along with a Z-51 30mm front swaybar and a custom 1" rear swaybar. I currently have 295/35-18 tires on 18x10.5 wheels in the rear and 245/45-17 tires on 17x8.5 wheels in the front. Plans are to get custom wheels in the future and go to a 315 or 335 tire in the rear.
Power comes in the form of a new GMPP Ramjet 502 with Holley Commander 950 electronics and larger 42 lb/hr injectors and 1000 CFM Holley dual 58mm throttle body, a computer-controlled GMPP distributor firing an MSD Blaster coil, and is backed by an 11" Centerforce clutch with hydraulic linkage, a new Viper T56 6-speed transmission with a Hurst BilletPlus shifter, and a 3.5" aluminum MMC Denny's driveshaft with 1350 u-joints and a 30-spline Hemi yoke. Earle Williams 2" primary headers, 3 1/2" DMH Performance electric cutouts, stainless 3" Magnaflow mufflers and all stainless mandrel bent 3.5" and 3" tailpipes round out the exhaust. Engine accessories and serpentine drive pulleys and brackets are all chrome and come from Street and Performance. Cooling is via an Edelbrock water pump, a custom aluminum PRC cross-flow radiator of my own design on a custom radiator support with dual 12" Derale fans. The engine is fed from a home-built custom stainless 23 gallon fuel tank with a Walbro High Pressure 255 LPH in-tank fuel pump. All fuel and brake plumbing is stainless steel.
There are several body mods including 4" custom rear tubs, raised transmission tunnel with new floors, custom one-off firewall, custom inner fenders and radiator cover, custom stainless hood hinges, custom hood latch with remote electric release, spare tire delete and new cargo floor, and filled dash seams. Both quarter panels and rocker panels have been replaced and all gaps corrected. The radiator cover houses the air filter and has a custom intake airbox attached to it. The original front and rear 3-piece bumpers have been welded together and smoothed with the bumper guards eliminated.
The wiring is custom built from scratch and includes Hella E-code H4 headlights and Hella horns, a Viper alarm system and keyless entry, power windows with one-touch up/down, power door locks, automatic headlights and dome light fading, and a late model dimming rearview mirror with temperature and compass display.
The leather interior will feature re-shaped and re-covered 2001 Cadillac Eldorado 12-way power seats in front with custom bucket seats in the rear separated by a console that will extend from the dash to the cargo area. It has 3-point seatbelts in front and lap belts in the rear. Vintage Air A/C will keep the interior cool on hot days. A Flaming River tilt column, and a Colorado Custom "Classic" billet steering wheel will turn Borgeson stainless u-joints and a stainless steering shaft connected to the Corvette rack and pinion.
The exterior of the car will appear mostly stock, with the exception of 3" front and 2" rear suspension lowering, all new smoked gray glass, and custom wheels. Paint will be PPG in the original 2-tone scheme and all stock trim, emblems, and scripts will be retained.
100% of the work including design, fabrication, and welding has been done by me so far. My oldest son did help me a little with the welding of the stainless exhaust pipes.