Rod & Custom Feature Car
Allen Blackmore
Rancho Santa Fe, California
1956 Chevy Nomad
Owner contact info: ajb@theblackmorecompany.com
Chassis
The Corvette-like ride was provided by the steel tube GT Sport chassis from Art Morrison Enterprises, designed specifically for Tri-Five applications. Components include Mustang II front spindles dropped two inches, Aldan front and rear coilover shocks, 12-inch Wilwood disc brakes, and triangulated four-link in the rear.
Drivetrain
The factory 265 was replaced with a Chevy crate ZZ4, fed by a single Edelbock 4-barrel carb on an Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold, covered by an air cleaner designed and hand-fabricated specially for the car by HR&CS. The valve covers are from Mooneyes and the Mattson's crossflow radiator features an integral AC condensor. The Positraction rearend runs 3.70:1 gears.
Wheels & Tires
The right choice of rims were these up-to-date 17-inch five-spokes from Budnik's Teardrop S series, The low-profile tires are P245/45R17 and P275/40R17 BFGoodrich G-Force T/A KDW radials.
Body & Paint
Allen wanted to maintain the factory proportions and--except for the shopping cart incident--the Nomad had never suffered any damage, so no radical body reconfiguring was required. Even so, after 50 years, there was rust damage to be repaired during the course of the body-off rebuild, especially in the rear where the tailgate had leaked. HR&CS remedied the problem with new floors from C.A.R.S. Inc. The windows were replaced with tinted glass and, once every ripple was smoothed, the wagon was finished in the original colors: Sierra Gold and Adobe Beige.
Interior
HR&CS filled the interior with lots of new spins on old styling. The original '56 seat end caps were adapted to the new Glide Engineering front seat. The backs of the split bench seat were lowered and covered to look like the original '56 upholstery pattern, but in leather instead of cloth, and with a custom center armrest. Dan Crook's restored steering wheel sits on top a Flaming River tilt column with shifter. The dash was extended and a glove box door added which flips open to reveal the oil, water temp, and voltage gauges from Dakota Digital as well as the stereo controls for the Alpine 6-disc CD changer and satellite radio. Wiring was done using a Painless Performance kit. Cool air is pumped through a Vintage Air Gen II Front Runner system.