'58 Chevy Nomad, or No, I can't leave well enough alone

[ChrisBcritter]

The '58 Nomad arrived safely this afternoon; I gently dismantled it and repaired the damaged headlight eyebrow and straightened the crooked headlights.

Before:

After:

Also worked on the front bumper alignment; had to do some trimming and filing to make it fit better.

The rear bumper was sticking out too far due to the body's shrinkage, so I cut the holes a bit farther back. Notice how I'll also have to narrow it about 3/16" or so.

Finally, from the side, you can see how the rear wheels will have to be moved forward at least 1/8" to get them centered. I have an idea for that; stay tuned and thanks for looking!

Note to SfanGoch: Here's an AMT Impala chassis I checked for fit. It would definitely need trimming at the rear and on the wheel wells.

 

Edited May 11, 2019 by ChrisBcritter

[DumpyDan]

Looking good Chris.

[bisc63]

Interesting project. Might an AMT 59 El Camino chassis be more correct? (Thinking of the fuel tank layout)

[ChrisBcritter]

It might; maybe the tank area could be swapped into the '58 chassis? I have a Jimmy Flintstone '58 sedan delivery body I may try that with; I checked it against the AMT Impala chassis and it's a much better fit than on the promo..

This one is staying curbside with a few improvements; for example, the windshield has an - umm - "interesting" fit issue I think I have figured out.

[ChrisBcritter]

A little update. Got the wheelbase issue fixed by cutting the rear axle mounts out with an extra 1/8" or so on one side, and reversing them - didn't have to remove the wheels from the axle:

That's better:

Narrowed the rear bumper 3/32"by cutting it at the factory joint:

Now it fits - and is a good 5/16" narrower than the bumper in the AMT '58 Impala, by the way 

Added some fillers to the screw holes to make them line up once attached:

And got the glass to fit by cutting it behind the A-pillars and removing about 1/8" of material:

The rear part is attached with Bondic; the windshield is next - had to add a flange to give it something to line up against. Now it no longer hangs down below the roof.

And what did I have to do to the body and windshield to make it fit?

Let's see if I can button it up soon.

 

 

[ChrisBcritter]

Quick update with a few snaps before the batteries died. From the previous shots you can see that, due to shrinkage, the front fenders didn't align with the bumper/grille unit, plus there was a chunk broken off the driver's side fender, so I searched my junk pile for something the same off-white shade as the body. Came up with what was left of a convertible top boot that was a mess on the back (it had a couple of the PO's hairs embedded in the glue ). I  cut a couple filler pieces out and glued them in with DAP CA gel, added braces underneath, and then ground/filed/sanded/polished until they blended in as best as they could:

You could see the seams a bit if I were a better photographer.  I reassembled the car after grinding 3/32 off the rear screws which were bottoming out, and started on the BMF:

 

So far, so good... I may add material to the ends of the rear bumper to tighten the gap, as soon as I settle on a way to get both bumpers rechromed. Also added the chrome posts to the rear windows that were left off the original. (continued below)

Edited June 21, 2019 by ChrisBcritter

[NOBLNG]

Slick fix on that rear axle placement! Good thinking.

[ChrisBcritter]

Thanks Greg! Working on the car is easy compared to trying to post about it with the continuous 404s . To finish the last paragraph:

Also added the chrome window divider posts to the rear doors that were left off the original; I used a piece of door trim from the Trumpeter '60 Bonneville for that. The layer of metal they're chromed with makes them very strong for their thickness, and didn't wear off from handling.

Thanks for looking - should be finished soon.

Edited June 21, 2019 by ChrisBcritter

[1930fordpickup]

Nice save Chris, looks so much better.