1958 Nomad Wagon

It has a lot of potential,I will be watching this!

Somewhere vaguely back in my memory banks I seem to recall that there was a Nomad in 58. I don't recall any models of them at all. Interesting.

Oldermodelguy:

         There was a Nomad in 58, But it was just a Trim Level on the regular wagon run. the nomads came with all the Bells and Whistles that My "Anniversary Edition" Impala had then some. The only difference really, Mine was a 2dr hdtp!

Tanker-Builder

Oldermodelguy:

         There was a Nomad in 58, But it was just a Trim Level on the regular wagon run. the nomads came with all the Bells and Whistles that My "Anniversary Edition" Impala had then some. The only difference really, Mine was a 2dr hdtp!

 

The picture of the Nomad at the top of this thread was the one I owned when we got married in '81. The number of people over the years that told me there was no such thing as a '58 Nomad is very high. 

It was really just the name they gave to the top (Belair) level wagon. The side trim was from the Impala, the interior Belair, and they differed from the other wagons by having chrome stripes on the tail gate. All that made mine a Nomad at all was the exterior trim, Belair dash, bench seat pattern and the name plate. Even then you could mix and match options in a manner that would be out of the question today. My Nomad was a 235 six, 3 on the tree, no power anything car. It was so base it still had vacuum powered wipers that were a real treat when they stopped every time you accelerated and the went at light speed when you took your foot off the gas. I think that most of the survivors you see around now are higher optioned V8s because they were either held onto longer or engine swapped at some point in their life. 

Well as I said I seem to vaguely remember a nomad for 58. I recall the 55 and 56 very well, course as pointed out they stood out with obvious trim.I'm certainly not disputing the existance of 58 Nomads.

I owned a 55 Chevy wagon but not a Nomad. I changed the 235 six out to a 64 327 with 202 heads, small solid lifter cam etc. In 55 with the 235 stick the wagons rear gear was 4.10 which I left in place. That car with the 327 and mild work over, 4bbl, dual exhaust hauled serious  butt, it would definitately sit you back in the seat when those secondaries came in..

Hello!

This is a very ambitious project! I'll be watching with anticipation and good luck with it!

Paweł

oldermodelguy

Well as I said I seem to vaguely remember a nomad for 58. I recall the 55 and 56 very well, course as pointed out they stood out with obvious trim.I'm certainly not disputing the existance of 58 Nomads.

I owned a 55 Chevy wagon but not a Nomad. I changed the 235 six out to a 64 327 with 202 heads, small solid lifter cam etc. In 55 with the 235 stick the wagons rear gear was 4.10 which I left in place. That car with the 327 and mild work over, 4bbl, dual exhaust hauled serious  butt, it would definitately sit you back in the seat when those secondaries came in..

 

Sorry, wasn't really directing the comment about unbelievers at you just the general public that don't know Nomads existed right up to 1961 (and various other years for Chevelles, vans and even a Vega). I have had "car guys" tell me it was faked although I actually agree with many of the purists that the name should have been for the 3 years of the 2 door sport wagon only.

My mother had a '55 210 wagon back in the mid sixties. She got rear-ended in it by a transport truck. She fell to the floor and a step ladder that was in the back went straight through the car and took the steering wheel with it. She walked away with a broken wrist. The remains of that car sat out in our back field for years. 

Pawel

Hello!

This is a very ambitious project! I'll be watching with anticipation and good luck with it!

Paweł

 

Well it took at bit of a turn!

I found out on another forum that these dealer promo models are made of acetate not styrene plastic. The warpage is not from something sitting on it but from the plastic itself shrinking as the solvents evaporated over the years. That means that this body will never be straight enough for my project. The good news is that with some clean up and repairs it will be worth far more than I paid for it (and cool to have on it's own rights anyway) so it is not a total loss.

The guys on the model forum did point me in the direction of a resin body for a 58 sedan delivery that can be converted to a Nomad 4 door wagon with just a bit of work.

While shopping for that I also found what I thought would be an impossible body to get.
My 64 Econoline shortbox, hard side, van!

Since these were two of the four most important old cars in my life and were never made in mainstream kits I was so excited to find them that I was shaking!

Then I tried to order. NOT SHIPPED TO CANADA.

Luckily I have a buddy in the US that could, and did, order them for me. So they will be traveling from Wisconsin to Vancouver Washington and then back across the continent to Canada.

Since I had already bought the kits for the chassis and engine I was pretty much committed!

Engine complete

This is going to be a great project to watch. Good save with the resin body(s). The Chevy conversion should be a piece of "fruit cake", after the fat guy brings. 

DUSTER

This is going to be a great project to watch. Good save with the resin body(s). The Chevy conversion should be a piece of "fruit cake", after the fat guy brings. 

 

DUSTER

This is going to be a great project to watch. Good save with the resin body(s). The Chevy conversion should be a piece of "fruit cake", after the fat guy brings. 

 

Yep gonna' be a delay now while the body travels half way around the continent and then back. Can build the chassis but that is not very interesting.