Jorge Torres’ Custom 1969 Chevy Pickup

When Jorge Torres was young he would help his father around his shop. Named after the senior Torres, Armando’s Custom Upholstery in San Jacinto, California, opened in 1989 when Jorge was still in high school. In 1992, he began working full time with his father and brother, Armando Jr. He stared doing old cars and went to a few shows to promote their work. During this time he mentioned to his dad that he wanted to build a 1969 Chevy pickup. It turned out that his dad had a friend who owned one, but he was told that the truck was in pretty rough shape. All Jorge heard was that the price, at $1,500, was in his range.

Suspension and Handling Upgrades

Jorge figured he would start with first things first, and to him that meant getting the truck to sit at the right ride height. Because he wanted his ride to use all the handling capabilities that it could, Jorge decided that instead of airbags he would use springs. Even though the Chevy came with IFS, he wanted true performance, so he pulled out the stock stuff and went with a No Limit Engineering Wide Glide system. The No Limit unit not only utilizes the latest in geometry, but it also uses larger components than a usual Mustang II-based unit. That meant the pickup would have larger spindles (2-inch dropped, to be precise), springs, a rack-and-pinion steering system and other related pieces, along with larger Chevy-inspired disc brakes. Being a family man, this last piece of the puzzle was the one that Jorge definitely wanted his truck to have.

Rear Suspension

With the frontend in good hands mechanically, it was time to address the rear. The Chevy was equipped with trailing arms in the rear, and Jorge thought that if the trailing arm setup is good enough for the NASCAR guys to go nearly 200 mph, it’s good enough for his truck. So rather than installing another type of suspension system, he simply added a set of lowered springs to the trailing arms. As with the front, he turned to Rob MacGregor, the owner of No Limit, to purchase the springs. The result is that the large truck handles with the best of them and steers and stops like a sports car as well. Of course, to get the truck to ride nice and low, while still having the suspension travel unimpeded, a little modifying was needed. To this end he had the crew at 777 Customs in San Bernardino, California, C-notch the rear framerails while installing the No Limit pieces. The result is that the 12-bolt posi-equipped rearend can swing up through its arc without coming to a banging halt.

Wheels and Tires

With the size of the wheels Jorge wanted to run on his truck, he needed a good deal of room. Even vintage trucks run huge wheels nowadays, so he went with 20-inch units from Eagle. But he also wanted his ride to look right, so that meant the style Jorge decided on was a classic spoke. In the case of the Eagles, that meant Star wheels. While looks are important, Jorge never lost sight of the performance aspect, so that is why the Eagles were equipped with high-performance, low-profile Goodyear Eagle tires. The combination of looks and ability that the wheels and tires give Jorge is everything he was going for.

Engine and Exhaust

Rather than have a shop build him an engine, Jorge called the local Chevy dealership and ordered a new crate motor. His choice was the 330hp, 350ci engine. Of course, Jorge figured that there was a little room for improvement, so he installed what may be the perfect match for the crate: an Edelbrock carburetor and intake manifold. This combination of Edelbrock intake and carb has become nearly as popular as the Chevy crate engine itself, and the power that the combination provides can’t be ignored. Getting spark to the engine is a Chevy HEI unit, while getting the burnt fuel out is a set of Summit-provided headers. A set of Flowmaster mufflers has been connected to the headers with coated 2-inch exhaust tubing. Connecting the engine to the rearend is easy, thanks to the Tranny John (in Bloomington, California)-built 700R4 transmission.

Body and Paint

Jorge says that when he bought the Chevy he got a good deal, but it was in very poor condition. Knowing that he would transform the interior into something special, he needed to have someone do not only the much-needed bodywork and dent pulling, but also to have it display a few tricks. That is why he again had the guys at 777 Customs work their magic on the Chevy. When they were done, the Chevy not only was smooth and straight, but it also had shaved door handles and a No Limit roll pan (with LED lights) and was the perfect palette for the paint job to come.

Custom Paint and Pinstriping

Jorge wanted his truck to stand out because he uses it when he works a show and it was going to be his personal ride as well. When the Paintershack folks asked about the colors, he said that he wanted it to be orange, but not too orange and not too red. Okay, no problem, they said. But when they asked Jorge what style of flames he wanted, he said he wanted long flames really long flames. He figured that the longbed Chevy was a big truck, and flames ending around the cab would simply make the longbed look all the longer. The San Jacinto, California-based Paintershack crew took him at his word, and they gave the truck enough purple and silver flames to scorch! One other trick that Jorge wanted was for the outlining pinstriping to be more than just lines. Again, the Paintershack folks outdid themselves, as the lime green stripes outline the flames and also cross the lines. The effect is that the flames almost seem to bulge out of the body. Not wanting any of his samples to fly out of the bed on the way to a show, Torres installed a Stylin Concepts soft tonneau cover.

Interior Design

Jorge left the interior for last, as he wanted the rest of the truck to be completed so that he could work his own brand of magic, knowing that it wouldn’t be damaged by another workman. He used a pair of seats out of a 1991 Chevy truck and wrapped them with tan leather. He also included a tan suede insert that itself has an insert. The color of the insert is called citrine, and the style of leather is called Deco. He used this same combination of colors while building the door panels as well. With the dash, Jorge completely covered the steel in suede and citrine leather. He also covered the Colorado Custom steering wheel in citrine Deco. The headliner is a flame-infused number that Jorge did using the tan suede, while the carpeting is a darker shade of gray. A Pioneer head unit sits in the leather-bound dash. It is pumped up with a set of twin Pioneer amps before the wattage is sent off to the two 6×9-inch and two 5-1/4-inch Pioneer speakers and a pair of 10-inch Rockford Fosgate woofers.

Conclusion

The work and talent that Jorge put into the interior, as well as the rest of the truck, is amazing. He is justly proud of the way the truck came out, but it needed to be really nice. You see, this truck was built for many reasons, and one of them was because Jorge uses it as a rolling business card when he attends shows. Of course, it is not as if this is the only interior that the folks at Armando’s can use. They did the interior for the 2005 F-100 Truck of the Year, as well as many other award winners pickups and hot rods. We can’t wait to see what Jorge and crew come up with next.