'57 El Nomado

[customline]

9 minutes ago, LennyB said:

Jim, nice work on the distributor. You still running points??

I am. I'm a traditionalist and I won't apologize for it. I still have my little hex key on a flex handle to adjust my points with a dwell meter ?.

[espo]

19 hours ago, customline said:

Nope. No shame whatsoever, David. You are always here helping everybody on this forum and I know we all appreciate you. I think most everyone knows I don't take myself (or my building skills) very seriously. Especially those coils I made. ?  (Mongram didn't provide the springs so they're better than nuthin' ☺️.)  I am interested to see what you were talking about so post it here! 

This is what I was suggesting for future builds where there aren't any coil springs. I think these could also work as lowering springs on rear coil spring suspensions as well. 

[customline]

3 hours ago, espo said:

This is what I was suggesting for future builds where there aren't any coil springs. I think these could also work as lowering springs on rear coil spring suspensions as well. 

Ah ha. If you only use one pair you got your money's worth. ? .  Thanks Dave!

[customline]

I spent some time on the engine today, mostly tedious, neck-ache stuff like re-locating the "new" generator and ignition wiring.  Threading the wires through PE looms...you know the drill. Anyway...

One thing that hits you as odd is the way the heads locate the exhaust manifolds so that they may end up lining up the molded in  pipes on the "chassis".

I drilled holes and pinned them. Easy ?.  Next I noticed the generator was not in the right place. In fact it looked like it would interfere with the air cleaner/intake duct so I decided the prudent thing would be to locate it where all my reference pics show.  

I continued to add an oil filter cannister of my own design, and a coil, and a oil filler. Then the dis..... well you know.

there's a few more little things I want to add but my neck is killing me ? 

[LennyB]

A definite improvement over the kit stuff.?

I don't think any Monogram '57 NOMAD ever got so much love. ? I hope wifey doesn't find out about this.

 

[customline]

7 hours ago, LennyB said:

A definite improvement over the kit stuff.?

I don't think any Monogram '57 NOMAD ever got so much love. ? I hope wifey doesn't find out about this.

 

Thanks, Len, but that ain't sayin' much.  It was pretty bad. 

The body mods are the important thing with this one (for me at least) but I just can't put the rest of it together as is. Let's face it, the kit is pretty poor quality. I'm sure that's common knowledge. 

? Not worried.  Wifey is busy spending the grocery money on paper craft equipment and couldn't care less what I do.  It a symbiotic relationship ?.

Edited August 24, 2024 by customline
Added more cynicism

[customline]

One thing that reeeeeeeeeeeeeealy bothers me about this kit (and all of it's siblings) is the idiotic firewall which is no firewall at all. They put the emphasis on hinging the hood but that rendered the firewall as...well...observe?

And it looks unfinished; there's a void between the thing that serves as a firewall and the interior tub. ? the bell housing and transmission, I guess, is supposed to hide the emptiness. Not to worry. I have plenty of Evergreen in my drawer. 

The floor/ toeboard/transmission tunnel is easy enough to close up with some sheet and CA.

The firewall is a bit more complicated. I had decided to just go with the kit hinge and maybe try to cover the weird thing and to try closing the hinge openings....nah.  It was time to make a wire hinge. That allowed  much smaller slots and a smooth "custom" firewall.

I added pieces of strip to build out the low sections and cut slots in some .015 sheet for a veneer. It's not perfect by any means but I can add a few details to a flat wall now and still have an opening, hinged hood.

I cannot imagine building this kit straight out of the box.  

That's it for now, thanks for stopping by ?

 

[JNordgren42]

Fantastic work!

 

I have the same case of NSBS (No Stock Builds Syndrome ?), I spent the day scratch building a new detailed rear cabin bulkhead (that will barely be visible) on my '64 El Camino.

[Sam I Am]

Another one of my ideas that I want to build. You are doing a beautiful job.

[customline]

20 hours ago, JNordgren42 said:

Fantastic work!

 

I have the same case of NSBS (No Stock Builds Syndrome ?), I spent the day scratch building a new detailed rear cabin bulkhead (that will barely be visible) on my '64 El Camino.

Thanks, Jason, "fantastic" might be a bit strong but I do appreciate your interest.

[rv1963]

Engine is really coming along, nice details.

[customline]

9 hours ago, Sam I Am said:

Another one of my ideas that I want to build. You are doing a beautiful job.

Sam, I don't know if there's another '57 'Mad you can build but this one from  Monogram is pure ??.  Thanks.

Edited August 26, 2024 by customline

[Sam I Am]

12 minutes ago, customline said:

Sam, I don't know if there's another '57 'Mad you can build but this one from  Monogram is pure ??.  Thanks.

It might be sacrilege, but there is this. 

[customline]

Today was somewhat productive. I felt like I should make a more serious effort on the rear suspension. This was triggered by realizing it would be quite difficult to paint the pipes under the rear end.  I grabbed my chisel blade and removed the rear end unit and gaffed up some new mountings for the rear of the springs. I would call it a deep fake.  It's not great but it actually looks like the shackle mounts. I was able to keep the lowered stance by maintaining the spring angle I had.  Now, at least, it doesn't look like a total hack job.  Also the shocks needed new, more functional mountings so I cobbled up the lower mounts that would hold the kit's optional coil-augmented shocks. The kit floor was a horrible, weird thing where the upper ends of the shocks would go.  That had to go so I grabbed my favorite cutting tool and removed the offending plastic.  I covered the holes with .010 sheet and added a length of .060 thick strip, sanded all around on one side to look like a reinforced section of the floor for the upper ends of the shocks and drilled holes to accept them. I also added strengthening beads to be more convincing. 

I don't have many options for wheels/tires.  I have a set of rally wheels from some kit from years ago that I detailed but ended up not using. And then there's the kit wheels. Still undecided.

Then it was time to finish the hood hinge install. 

The new firewall needed more attention so I got that out of the way.

While mocking up to check some things I noticed my upper radiator hose may be in peril.

Such is the nature of this kit  

I may have actually improved the stance as a result of the mods I made to the rear suspension today.

I keep wondering why the kit includes a roll bar, a dual-quad tunnel ram manifold but no slicks. ?

Thanks for coming by and sharing my nightmare 

[customline]

1 hour ago, Sam I Am said:

It might be sacrilege, but there is this. 

IMHO, if that's a rare, valuable kit just leave it be and pick up the newer one to butcher.

[David G.]

I know I'm late to the game on this one but now I'm all caught up and all I have to say is... Wow!

What a delightfully ambitious project, you seem to have things well in hand Jim! I really like all the mods and improvements you've made so far. 

One point on the suspension. You seem to think that the rear sits a little too high. Wouldn't there be reduction in weight over the rear axle with the removal of all the sedan or wagon bodywork and glass? And maybe the rear springs would be a little stiffer in anticipation of possible cargo?

Any combination of these and a couple of other factors could be used to rationalize *ahem* explain the little bunny-lift in the back. Honestly though, the stance looks good and natural to me.

Keep up the awesome work Jim!

David G.

[customline]

1 hour ago, David G. said:

I know I'm late to the game on this one but now I'm all caught up and all I have to say is... Wow!

What a delightfully ambitious project, you seem to have things well in hand Jim! I really like all the mods and improvements you've made so far. 

One point on the suspension. You seem to think that the rear sits a little too high. Wouldn't there be reduction in weight over the rear axle with the removal of all the sedan or wagon bodywork and glass? And maybe the rear springs would be a little stiffer in anticipation of possible cargo?

Any combination of these and a couple of other factors could be used to rationalize *ahem* explain the little bunny-lift in the back. Honestly though, the stance looks good and natural to me.

Keep up the awesome work Jim!

David G.

Thanks, Dave, I'm glad you're here now so welcome to the fun!  The very first photo was not the trigger for the build. The idea of keeping the B pillar as the defining element was in my head before I found that photo. Seeing that 1:1 validated what I was thinking. Making it happen in 1/24 styrene didn't seem too difficult. But this kit has been fighting me at every turn. The lightweight Galaxy was a walk in the park compared to this one. The ride height is an important element and when a kit is an accurate representation in scale, the stance can usually be adjusted by the normal means. I know how to make that happen. The only way to get this puppy in the weeds was just way more than I wanted to do. But I now have a ride height and stance I can live with but the main thing is the overall impact of the phantom Nomad pick-up. All I need now is a good paint job and I'm going with non-metallic colors. I don't need another paint disaster, thank you very much. Paint is not my favorite thing.

Stick around, Dave, I've got a ways to go and your attention and comments are appreciated. 

[customline]

That little issue with the fan slicing through my top radiator hose was an easy one to fix.  Monogram could have worked around it with an electric fan. That's okay, I did. And while I was at it, I figured a new aluminum radiator would be nice too.  

Here's the kit radiator ?

Notice the molded-in horn and the half-a-pressure-cap. ? 

The electric fan I found in my "engine parts" drawer is a beauty. Not a clue where it came from but I'm sure glad I was able to find it. It fit the spot almost perfectly.  The splash pan (?) had to be opened up a bit, enter Mr. Moto ?

 

 For the radiator, a little work with Mr. Moto and some scraps of Evergreen and I'm on my way to a nice new custom aluminum radiator! I removed the horn and air intake screen from the front side and veneered the support with .010 sheet to clean it up. I added a .040 x .040 strip across the top  and some .060 angle for esthetics. Then I sliced off a piece of 7/32" tube and grafted it to a scrap of sheet that I cross-hatched with my #11.  I glued some scrap strip pieces over the kit radiator tank and fashioned it to look like a custom aluminum item. I still have a can of MM Metalizer with a bit left in it so I'll hit it with that and buff up. An octagon cap will finish it off.

oh... yeah.... and I cut the fan off the engine ? . Thanks for checking my work!

 

 

Edited August 27, 2024 by customline

[rv1963]

I like the new rad setup looks better this way.

[customline]

26 minutes ago, rv1963 said:

I like the new rad setup looks better this way.

Thanks, Robert. It's pretty standard these days for a vehicle of this nature. I'm in so deep now a few more fixes like this one are inevitable. It never ends with this kit. 

[Bills72sj]

I am late to the party but have read the whole thread. I shall now follow. I saw a 1:1 of this back in the late 80's in Omaha, Nebraska. It was a work in progress as evidenced by the Bondo and primer. I thought it was a cool concept. Your build progression feels a lot like my Pro Street 70 El Camino endeavor. It turned into quite kit bash. There was a lot of problem solving. Most, but not all of my goals were met with that one.

[customline]

 Glad you made it, Bill, welcome to my mess. It's easier if you start with a decent kit.  I didn't.  More fun this way. ?

[David G.]

A tremendous improvement on the radiator Jim!

David G.

[Zippi]

That business end is starting to take shape.  Looking pretty good there Jim.  

[customline]

7 hours ago, David G. said:

A tremendous improvement on the radiator Jim!

David G.

Thanks, David. When I realized I had another thing to fix, I became a little despondent.  And then I had a EUREKA! moment with my right palm smacking me square on my forehead. You had to be there ?.