I’m the one, take me home!

JD and Dana Stevens, CA

I spent my early teen years living in Hereford, Texas, a little cow town in the Texas Panhandle. Yeah, the town was named after a cow breed and when the wind blew, which was almost daily, you didn’t want to be downwind of the feed lots.

In 1958, I got my driver’s license at the young age of fourteen and my parents gave me a green 1953 four-door Desoto for my birthday. Shortly after that I traded the not “cool” Desoto for a 1953 Ford Custom two-door that needed some engine work. I quickly found a ‘57 Olds Rocket 88 engine and Hydromatic in a friend’s wrecking yard and he helped me with my first engine transplant. The combination was wicked for a while and the Ford was the car to beat on Saturday night. It didn’t take long before I had to surrender my license after too many tickets. I also wrecked the Ford.
 
I parted out the Ford and bought my first Chevy. It was a very tired ‘57 turquoise and white two-door hardtop. It had a 283 motor with used-up valve guides and three-speed on the column. Without a driver’s license, I just got to look at and work on it for six months. I got rides with friends and my favorite of the bunch was Dennis Rickman’s ‘56 two-door Bel Air. My most intense attraction to a ’56 was a red and white ‘56 Nomad in town. I was almost numbed by the beauty of that car. However, I had to keep those feelings to myself because at that time no teenager would be caught dead in a station wagon.
 
Well, one Friday evening a few of us were hanging out on Virgil Strange’s porch and that Nomad was parked across the street in a neighbor’s driveway. I’m mentally seeing it with the nose down, big and little tires, raised white letters on a set of five spokes and just blurted out “wouldn’t that Nomad make a great hot rod”? There was a moment of dead silence then my pals all looked at me and simultaneously broke out into uncontrolled laughter and howling. The boys just wrote me off as having had too many beers. I never mentioned it again, but would still see that car around town and think, “Someday...when I’m a little older I’ll have one.”
 
At seventeen and still a bit out of control, I was given a choice by the local Juvenile Judge; youth camp or the military. On April 1, 1962, I heard the words, “Welcome to Camp Pendleton, California, private.” Uncle Sam let me serve my country in the U.S.M.C.
 
After my stint in the military, I got a job in Oceanside , California at a Union 76 station and in 1970 took over the station. Then, from 1974-76, I also operated JD’s Automotive also in Oceanside. I built several cars, mostly Corvettes, during that period.
 
In 1976, the country was in the grips of a gas shortage and mechanical work wasn’t paying enough so I decided it was time to switch gears. I enrolled in a community college to enhance my education. Then I joined the San Diego Police Department in February 1977 and worked various assignments during my career. I met my soon-to-be wife, Dana, in 1985 who was also a Patrol Officer at the time. Shortly after we began dating, we were in my garage and I was rebuilding a couple of Holley 600's off my jet boat. Dana patiently watched for a while then said, “I want to help.” I grinned and set her up with the other carb. She quietly followed my step by step instructions and when finished, hers didn’t leak! I knew then she was a keeper and wedding bells were close at hand.
 
I started going to the local street scenes in the early 90s and noticed the explosion of the custom car craze. On one occasion, I saw a red and white ‘55 Nomad and explained to Dana how much I liked the ‘56 model year better. “What’s the difference?” she asked. That was when her Chevy Tri-Five education began. Being the quick study she is, it only took about five fun-filled years of “No, that’s a ’55, no, honey, that’s a ‘57.” Suddenly, the light came on for her and she got it. Now, overflowing with all this Chevy knowledge and aware of my teenage Nomad story, she casually asked one day, “Just how much older are you going to get before you find a Nomad to build?” Holy Harley Earl! Have I died and gone to Bowtie heaven with an angel by my side or what?
 
The next few years were spent preparing for our ’55 Nomad project; the space, equipment, tools and other necessary items needed to complete a frame-off restoration in our garage. We were both still working at the time and vowed it would be a retirement project. The car we found was located in a field in La Mesa, CA. just a few miles from our house. It was complete, but very rough having sat open and unprotected for about ten years. Why this car you ask? Oh, I don’t know, maybe the black on yellow ‘56 CA license plate JDT523 had some influence on me. My initials are JD and I was 53 at the time. It was a twilight zone moment that screamed,”I’m the one, take me home!”
 
On October 18, 1998, I’m looking at a dirty, weathered, much neglected 1956 Nomad in my driveway and thinking, ‘Dana, what have we done?’ Knowing I had to build this car and fulfill a lifelong dream was going to take total commitment, a whole lot of time, a ton of money, more patience than a preacher and people to help us in all of the areas where I lacked the knowledge, talent or desire to handle.
 
The first step was planning, planning and more planning. Research describes the next several years. Looking at cars everywhere, taking pictures, getting to know Tri-Five and Nomad owners, asking questions and searching out the information needed. We joined two local clubs: The Heartbeat Classic Chevys Club and Classic Chevys of San Diego. We paid membership into The Chevrolet Nomad Association and Classic Chevy International. I bought every restoration book I could get my hands on. Numerous decisions were made and this is what we agreed on.
 
The theme of the car project would simply be that 60s style of my youth coupled with modern technology and filled with creature comforts. The car would maintain its original look, including all the chrome, stainless, emblems, etc. The engine compartment would be a balance of old and new. We had no intention of building a “show” car; we just wanted a clean, reliable, slightly modified restoration of the most beautiful station wagon ever built as a driver we could enjoy and take anywhere. This is how we did it.
 
After retiring in 2001, the first of many parts were bought off the big red CCI truck in September 2002 at the Paradise Convention in San Diego. In November, 2002, our friend Jerry Cabunoc came down from Anaheim and squared up the lift gate. In October, 2003, we had a tech day at our garage and a bunch of guys and gals from the Heartbeat club came over and we blew the car apart in less than five hours. Dana and I pulled the dog house and then the engine and transmission followed. The bumpers and other chrome were sent out for plating.
 
We had the car media blasted in June, 2004. In primer and looking like a big piece of Swiss cheese, we hauled it to Gary Jensen our soon-to-be body man. “Yes, I can fix it. Bring it back in November with several months of your pension checks and I’ll make it right.” He did. We took it home as promised in March 2005. Dana and I pulled the body off the frame and put it on a rotisserie. The stock frame went to Steve Spirkoff, who welded-in side engine mounts, a transmission crossmember and rear shock bar. Then he fabricated stainless brake and fuel lines, a custom rear anti-sway bar for the Earl Williams prepared 9"Ford (3.50 Positraction gears) rear end and traction bar mounts. The frame and other parts were sent out and powder coated in gloss and satin black.
 
Next, we put the body on an old frame I borrowed from Gary Jensen and in June, 2005, it went to Braun Mollenhauer just up the hill in Alpine, CA for paint. A combination of PPG single stage Zinc Yellow and Arctic white was applied. In the interim, I prepared the chassis with Heidt’s tubular upper and lower control arms, 2" dropped spindles and I installed GM disc brakes. I added a new steering gear box and ididit steering column. Williams front anti-sway bar and 2" lowered rear springs were complemented by Bilstein shocks at the corners.
 
The engine is a mild mannered GM Performance Parts 383ci crate with 1.6 roller rockers and Comp Cam LS1 beehive springs. A Demon 750 cfm carb on an Edelbrock performer air gap manifold handles the breathing while an MSD distributor and ignition box fire through a set of Jacobs plug wires with ceramic boots. Sanderson supplied the ceramic coated QP1OOO headers. Kevin, at Ed Hanson’s in Spring Valley, built the custom-fit 2-∏ inch aluminized exhaust system that flows through a pair of Dynomax mufflers. The transmission is a TH700R4 topped with a  Lokar floor shifter and transfers power through an aluminum driveshaft. Keeping the engine temperature down is a pair of 14" Spal fans attached to the back side of a polished aluminum Be Cool cross flow radiator, custom overflow tank and A/C condenser. Vintage Air and a Front Runner accessory drive system and in-dash components keep the inside cool when needed. The entire underbody and wheel wells were coated with Line X to help minimize road damage. Cool Car ceramic insulation and a bunch of R-blox on the inside to keep things quiet. Raingear wipers, Specialty power windows, Halogen headlights, custom instrument panel by Hampton Engineering, American Auto Wire kit all patiently and meticulously modified and installed with the tireless and dedicated help of Bob Bishop. Special thanks to Wayne Hartwig for final assembly help with windows, doors and rubber moldings, Leon Smythe for his upholstery skills, Mike Reineccius for the custom black and white steering wheel and John at Audio Plus for the cool, thumping stereo stuff. I hope I didn’t forget anybody.
 
With over 4,000 hours of my own time, often behind closed garage doors and nearly four years of blood, sweat and tears, the last few nuts and bolts were set in place. Was the car finished, you ask? Kinda, but not yet being road worthy, with zero miles on the odometer, it had to be strapped on a trailer and hauled to Sedona, AZ for the Chevrolet Nomad Association celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Nomad in July, 2006. What a sight to see our car surrounded with all those other Nomads. Happy Birthday and welcome to a new beginning.
 
It’s been a fast-paced trek since that initial unveiling. Following a bunch of fine tuning and getting a comfortable feel for and trust in the car, we headed to the July 2007 CNA convention held in San Antonio, TX; our first, but certainly not last, long distance jaunt. Leaving the convention, we drove 501 miles to visit my mother in Hereford. We entered Hereford from the south on Highway 385 at sunset on Friday. I drove three blocks and turned right and a couple more blocks just past Lee street I parked next to the curb. I said to Dana, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” We got out of the car and walked to an old house across the street. I knocked, but with no response at the door, took Dana by the hand and guided her around to the side porch. Tightly squeezing her hand we looked across the street through slightly tearful eyes at a beautiful 1956 Nomad, slightly down in the front, with big and little raised white letter tires on a set of chrome five spokes. No taunting laughter this time, just an overwhelming sense of pride and accomplishment. It felt good to be home.
 
Since the Nomad has been completed, we’ve entered it in many more shows. Our first CCI convention was the 2007 Western National in Temecula, CA. The car took 1st Place 1956 Custom Junior and it received a Platinum Certificate with 999 points and a Best of Show award.

To back those awards up, we drove to the 2008 Winter Nationals in Kissimmee, FL and it won 2nd Place 1956 Custom Senior and a Platinum Certificate with 995 points and the Long Distance award. For our third showing, we attended the 2008 Western National Convention in Albuquerque, NM where we won a 1st Place 1956 Custom Senior and a Platinum Certificate with 998 points and a Best of Show award. We recently attended the Annual Nomad Convention in Charleston, WV and our Nomad won the 1st Place 1956 Modified Class award.
 
Final update: The Nomad just clocked 14,000 miles and it’s still ticking.