We Met Jeff Jordan At The 2004 Texas Street Machine Nationals, Held At Lady Bird Johnson Park Outside The City Limits Of Picturesque Fredericksburg, Texas. Jeff And His Torch Red ’56 Chevrolet Stepside Pickup Were Attending The Event, Along With His Brother, Rick, Who Owns A Similarly Hued Pro Street ’83 Chevrolet Silverado. 

We quite logically assumed that both Jeff and Rick were from Texas, but the reality was that brother Jeff had towed his ’56 all the way from Gilbert, Arizona, to attend the event and hang out with his brother, who lives in Harlingen, Texas. Not only would both Jeff and Rick’s Chevys win spots on the Texas Nationals Top 10 Truck list, but Jeff’s immaculate ’56 big-window also won the C&C Productions Long Distance award. Now let’s take a look at this beautiful half-ton hauler.

“I built this truck with my son, Jeff Jr., as a father-and-son project, and it took 10 years to complete,” says Jeff Sr. Ten years? “In 1994, we rescued the truck from a field in Southern California at a cost of $1,400. It wasn’t running and it was painted three shades of blue. We loaded the truck onto a trailer and brought it home to El Cajon, California, where the buildup began in earnest.” Over the next 10 years, the Jordan family would move three times. 

“We moved the truck a total of three times. Every time we moved, we carefully moved the ’56 and its assorted and sundry boxes of parts to it’s new home. Last year, we finally drove the truck under its own power in Gilbert, Arizona,” Jeff Sr. said.

In the process, “Team Jordan” invested $40,000 in the project, as this highly modified ’56 chassis features an ’82 Camaro front frame clip, which obviously updates the old hauler to power steering, power front disc brakes and independent front suspension along with a pair of gas-charged Monroe shock absorbers. The rear framerails on the ’56 were C-notched prior to the installation of a 3.86:1-geared ’91 Camaro 10-bolt Positraction live rear axle, and this setup also features a pair of Monroe gas-charged shocks. Chassis modifications include a custom-built 27-gallon gas tank, which has been dropped in between the framerails. Wheels and tires on the truck consist of a set of 18×8-inch front and 20×8-inch rear Intro billet-aluminum wheels rolling on P245/50xR18 and P205/40xR20-inch Nitto Extreme radial rubber.

Powering this beauty is a John Lingenfelter Engineering race-prepped 350 Chevy small block that has been stroked out to 406 cid. The Jordans’ rather large-inch mouse motor utilizes a Lingenfelter steel billet stroker crank, a set of 9.5:1 compression Lingenfelter/SLP hypereutectic pistons, a Cam Dynamics solid lifter camshaft, TRW multiple index timing chain, ARP engine fasteners, Clevite 77 engine bearings and a Melling oil pump. Bolted up top is a pair of Lingenfelter-prepped Racing Bow Tie cylinder heads, outfitted with a Manley stainless-steel 2.02-inch intake and Manley stainless-steel 1.65-inch exhaust valves along with Cam Dynamics valvetrain hardware. Chrome and aluminum dress-up items include a Street & Performance engine dress-up kit, along with a polished aluminum Edelbrock Performer 4V intake and K&N filtered 750cfm Holley. The ignition system is GM HEI, while the exhaust system consists of a set of ceramic-coated Hooker Super Comp headers spinning the spent gases back through a 2-1/2-inch system hooked up to a pair of Flowmaster three-chamber mufflers. Backing all of this up is a Cottman Transmissions-prepared 700R4, equipped with a Cottman Transmissions 2,800-stall-speed torque converter. The final link in the truck’s powertrain comes in the form of a Mesa Drive Lines-fabricated custom driveshaft.

With the exception of filling the body seams, dechroming and adding a Chevrolet Bow Tie rear back-up light below the rear window, the exterior of the Jordan family’s ’56 is essentially stock. Credit for the aforementioned custom treatments along with smoothing out the sheetmetal goes to Bob Owens of Santee, California. Once Owens finished, he sprayed the pickup in PPG Torch Red.

Inside, the upgrades include the addition of late-model GM power windows and tinted glass and a Chevy Malibu tilt steering column with leather-wrapped LeCarra steering wheel. They smoothed and filled the dash and upgraded the gauges to VDO instrumentation. They also added a McGaughy’s billet-aluminum dash bezel, installed a Kenwood tuner, CD changer and power booster, and a pair of ’91 Chevrolet pickup seats upholstered in soft tan Katzkin leather (with tan wool carpeting) by “Tooter” Weaver from Mesa, Arizona. All of the wiring on the ’56 was done by Jeff’s brother, Rick. Out in the bed, you’ll find a urethane-covered oak floor along with Golden State Parts chrome bed runners. Virtually nothing on this truck has been overlooked.

Since completion, the Jordans’ ’56 big-window has won Top 10 Truck at both  Fredericksburg and the Goodguys Arizona events along with winning class at the Truckin’ Nationals and the Super Chevy Show in Phoenix, Arizona. However, those awards pale in comparison to the real satisfaction Jeff has received from working hands-on with members of his family.

Jeff Sr. says, “As I reflect back on this project, I am often reminded that I was not only building a truck, more importantly, I was raising a son. We spent thousands of hours together in the garage, at swap meets, at car shows and online, as we gathered parts, worked on the truck and exchanged ideas. And as the project evolved, other family members became involved like my brother, Rick, and my 80-year-old father, Herb, who is known to family and friends as Opa. These are priceless memories!”