Then.... The second part of the story...... I had a Ridetech 4 link with coil-overs installed …….. after installation I noticed that when jacking the car up to get a rear tire off, I had to deflate the tire and squeeze it down towards the rim to get it out of the wheel well...….Put it back on the same way then inflate...…. Humm….. So.... Another thing that needed some attention...…. I assumed that the shocks were at their travel limit and not letting the rear drop enough to cause the tire issue...… So, After checking with Ridetech the shocks were mounted O.K...…. But I had room to raise the shock mount on the housing up another Inch without any issues as this would give me another inch of downward travel to get the tire out...….. LOL..... So, After the changes I go to put a tire off and the same situation.….. WTF !!!!……… Can't be...…..So....As I'm looking around under the car...… I see the real Issue.....The car has a 9" Ford rear in the car (lower Pinion position than a Chevy) and I see that the driveshaft it hitting on the cross bar attached to the supplied 4 Link assy...…
Cut the contact area out and lowered it 1.5" and everything is good again...….. Now if something happens on the Road Tour it will be a little easier to change a tire...… LOL..... This Car stuff is Hard !!!!

It's a never ending story! It'll definitely keep your mind busy. Glad you figured it out.

well, if u need to plug a tire on the road tour, I've got your kit. but ill be in the west :lol:

LOL...…..No worries...…. She got me another one for Christmas !!!!!!

I'm convinced this build is possessed! You have fought tooth and nail on almost every facet!

I admire your persistence!

Does it ever end...…. I've had 2 different Ring and Pinions gears installed in the car (9" Ford) ...… The first one howled really bad...…. Had another set put in and it was quiet until it heated up and then it had the back ground Howl...….. Can't imagine driving on the Good-Guys Road Tour and having to listen to that for a week...… Ordered a Quiet Zone Unit from Johns Industries...… Should be here next week...… Hope it's what they say it is...….. The car is getting very close ………(those Famous last words..... LOL)

I hope the new one fixes it.

Are you using synthetic gear lube? Try dino on the next fill usually quieter in my experience.

Don.

Dang son! that's wall to wall engine in that compartment. I bet working on it is a mess... Looks really good though.

Non-synthetic is what I was told to use

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...e0c40e61e7.jpg


Wow. Talk about service. Ordered the unit last Thursday and it showed up today


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I got the new Ford 9" Quiet Zone third member from Johns Industries installed yesterday and broke it in following the Instructions...…. All I can say is "Wow" !!!...… Not a sound...… Enough of dealing with Local "Experts" !!!!! Finally ……. You get what you pay for, What a concept !!!!!!!...… LOL
I also installed Front QA1 shocks a while back and figured out that the spring rate was a little stiff...….. Called the Tech line and was told my thoughts were correct.... Had #450lb springs and they recommended #400lb...…. Those are now on also and it rides much better...….. This "Beater" is almost ready for the Good-Guys Road Tour

Not asking you to quote actual prices, but was the quiet zone that much more expensive...?


Jeff-

Ken, just curious. Which model center section did you get?

Quiet Zone charge was $85 more....

I bought the John's cast iron unit with the True Trac Posi unit along with the Quiet Zone option...….More than I wanted to spend but in retrospect..... Worth ever Penny !!!!

I have been driving the car in a manner to extend the Rear end break-in procedure...…. The Instructions said to drive normal for 10 miles (3 times) and then let the car sit for a minimum of 30 minutes to let everything cool down...… After that procedure I have now been doubling the miles driven and parking it to cool down...… So, yesterday I decided to make a run on the highway at 70 mph to see if things stayed quiet...…. Get on the Highway and get up to speed and again...… Dead Quiet...…

Again..... Thanks to John's Industries for a Quality product that makes this "Beater" enjoyable to drive...….

http://www.johnsindustries.com/index.htm

Sweet sound of silence! glad it's fixed.

The process continues...…. LOL..... Another one of the things that bothered me while driving was that I could feel every Tar strip and pebble on the road.... Had a talk with another 57 owner and asked how his rode..... After listening to his experience I ended up removing the heavy Ridetech front sway bar with the spherical end link connectors and replaced that set-up with a stock sway bar and stock rubber bushed links from the bar to the lower control arms...….. Bingo...…. The Heavy stuff is good for Cone Racing but...….LOL....

Another update...…. LOL.... Does it ever end ????? LOL...… We left in the Nomad for the Good-Guys Road Tour last Thursday..... Driving from Kenosha Wisconsin to Brighton, Michigan for the start...…. Got about 80 miles from Brighton and I noticed that the Alternator quit charging...….Darn..... Turned off the A/C and Radio and crossed my fingers …… Made it about two miles from the Hotel before the car started stuttering..... Had a Jumper Battery box in the car and the Battery was in the back so I hooked it up and used the power from the box to make it to the Hotel...… Darn.... Called Power Master to try and get a Alternator next day Aired to the Hotel..... Long story but it wasn't going to happen...… Luckily Mark Stielow lived about 10 miles away and after Freaking out I decided the most Stress free solution to this problem was to basically take a Uber to the Detroit Airport..... Get a Flight back to Chicago.... Uber to the house in Kenosha..... Get a couple hours sleep and get the Chevelle on the road back to Michigan...….. Mark and Lillard got the Nomad into Marks garage till I could get the proper Alternator for repair...…. So.... Basically Gordon and Mark will get the new alternator on and get the Nomad shipped back to Kenosha...… Great to have friends to help out...… A lot of stress and anxiety in the beginning but I knew by taking the Hard Road it would end up the best with the Chevelle making the trip...…. Thanks Again for the Help from Mark, Gordon, And Charley.....

Oh man sorry to hear this, but glad you got to finish the tour. So nice that car guys still stick together.

Agreed!

So...….We were sitting around the cars last night talking and the subject of the 57 Alternator came up...…. I was asked how I had it wired up.... I explained how I had everything wired and was told...… You Idiot !!!... You can't do that.....LOL..... I ARE Smart !!!!…… Sometimes you do things without thinking it thru and once it's done you forget about it...… LOL...… I had the 6 Ga power feed to the Battery OK...… But … Then came the Stupid...… I ran another wire from the positive alternator stud to the Connect and Cruise Fuse panel to supply it with power...…. DUHHHHHHH !!! …….. Not the Alternators fault but mine...….. Think about it..... The alternator was feeding all the Power rather than the Battery...… So... It burnt up...…. If I would have put a new alternator on in Michigan I would have just burnt it up also …… Nice to talk to car guys a lot smarter than me...….. Duhhhhhhhhh !!!

I don’t think that would fry your alternator. Electricity just doesn’t flow quite like that. You have two voltage sources in parallel connected by a low resistance 6 gauge wire. Where are your fans connected? To the Connect and Cruise fuse panel or to the battery?

It won’t hurt to rewire it but I am doubtful that killed your alternator. The alternator should be supplying the power when the car is running. Otherwise the battery is losing charge rather than charging.

Maybe your alternator was undersized for your load.

Don

Fans were powered thru the connect and cruise fuse box...…..170 AMP alternator

GMPP fan control is simple on/off if I remember right. That could generate some big current spikes so maybe it would help to move the GMPP fuse block to the battery to help buffer those spikes. If you lose another alternator I would consider a better method of fan control. Even a simple two speed controller can reduce the current spikes and average fan current.

This kit adds two speed fan control to the GMPP fuse box. A great upgrade imho.

http://www.pcmofnc.com/product/gmpp-...ric-fan-kit-3/

I am assuming you have dual fans which are needed to use the above kit.

Don

I think Don is right. Your alternator should be able to support everything. I was seeing my volt meter jump a little and did a few basic tests. I was fearful the alternator wasn't charging the battery.

Put everything on, Lights, ac, hot engine to trigger the fans, blinkers, radio, wipers then put a multimeter at the alternator stud it should support all that with no hiccups in my case it was a 13.6v with no fluctuation . Also with everything on check the battery mine was seeing 13.06v again with no fluctuation. your values may be different but at least you'll know.

Also a flir thermal image gun is great. they can be had for a couple hundred dollars and are super helpful. you can check the alternator and battery temps along with any lines.

Good luck.

This car stuff is hard !!!!!....…. I know just enough about Electricity to get myself in trouble...….. When the car gets home I will change the wiring around and put the new Alternator on ……… The bigger problem will be getting my confidence back in driving the car any distance...… Again..... Thanks to Stielow and Gordon for Baby sitting my problem child,,,, LOL...… Then I get to cross my fingers...

Maybe carry a spare alternator until you get confidence in the car. You can always use it on your next build... :)

Don

Powermaster sent out a new Alternator...… But.... I have since found out that the alternator body is based of a GM DR44 body (thanks Donnie)… I wish they would have told me that when it failed, instead of telling I wouldn't be able to find a local replacement...…… So As I remember in the front drive kit there was a adaptor harness to make the 1 wire hookup work..... I'm going to find a stock GM alternator and install that and eliminate the 1 wire function…..

And like Don and Nick said...…. After thinking about it, the way I have it wired might not be book correct... But, if the battery went dead and the alternator was working, the car should still run and function supplied by the unit...….. So... we will go back to Basic's..... If it's good enough for Gm, Well..... LOL....

I’ve read some negative stuff about using the 1 wire method on alternators but don’t have any experience with them...


Jeff-

Update...…. First of all Thanks again to Mark and Gordon for helping me out getting the car shipped back home…..So... PowerMaster shipped a new alternator to Gordon and he and Mark were going to put it on for me..... But after having concerns about the way I had the GM Connect and Cruise Fusepanel wired up I asked them not to install it as I didn't want to take a chance on ruining it if the wiring was a problem...…

So...…. I get the car home and when I tried to install the new alternator I found out they sent the wrong one...…..So.... I went out and bought a "Original" GM internally regulated alternator...…. Getting back to basic's....Got it installed and although it bolted right in I had to get a longer belt as it wasn't the same dimension from the mounting holes to the pulley C/L...……. Then I changed the wiring around to the Correct way of doing it...Took me a while to find the alternator plug in the GM harness as originally I didn't need it so I taped it up and moved it out of the way.....LOL...… Anyhow...… Originally when I would start the car up the Voltmeter would always be right at 15 Volts Never moved..... Humm !!! I didn't like that but I didn't understand why that was..... Now that I have everything wired correctly, when I start the car for the first second or two the Voltmeter is at Battery voltage then the ECM starts talking to the Alternator and it go's to between 13.5 and 14 volts...….. Just like GM designed it...…… So.....In retrospect , the way I had it wired sure didn't help the Powermaster unit...….. After driving the car most of the day yesterday I now have a greater degree of Trust in the car...…..(and I got a Edumacation)….LOL

Update on this old issue from last fall...... After the stock GM alternator install I thought everything was OK....... After driving the car for a while.... I noticed that after starting, the alternator (Hooked up with the stock Connect and Cruise wiring) wouldn't start charging until I stepped on the gas...... ?????..... So, in the mean time I received the correct alternator from PowerMaster........ and since the GM alt wasn't powdercoated black..... It looked sort of out of place...… So I installed the Black Powermaster unit (wired correctly) and it's happy again...….LOL...… For now...Looking good again...…… Just need the weather....

https://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a...B8E868979F.jpg

Bought some new wheels for the Nomad from Billet Specialties...…… Just wanted to change it up a little...….. LOL

https://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a...E26D3FF586.jpg

Update........This car stuff is hard....LOL..... So....After getting the car pretty much sorted out, I started driving it more and everything was back to normal.....except for one thing.......In driving the car on the Highway in a straight line, if I had to correct the steering at all the car never came back to center on its own.......so when i corrected it continued in that direction.......so back and forth it went.......so I had to drive the car without the pleasure of riding in the car......LOL.....A couple of years ago I had it at a car show and was talking to a guy sitting next to me......he asked me how I liked the car and I told him about the steering issue......He told me the ball joints were bad....I figured he didn't know what he was talking about as everything was new and greased regularly.......So this spring I was looking for something to do and I ordered a set of Moog ball joints and took the front end apart and when I took the spindles off and tried to move the upper ball joints.....LOL....They were so galled I had to get a pipe on the uppers to move them........and the lowers had about a 1/16" of slop in them.......WOW!!!!........put the new Moog parts in and took it for a ride......LOL.......Drives like a regular car now.....How could I allow that to be a problem for years as I am smart.......LOL.....

Glad you got it sorted out!

Andrew

What brand were the bad ball joints ?

They were the ball joints that were supplied with the Ridetech arms......

Thank you for sharing this as my buddy has been complaining about this on his car and yes they are RideTech arms.

That's the beauty of these car sites......Posting issues that we all experience and helping others out !!!!!.....

Ken