Brent Shipman’s ’56 Chev was never intended to be this good. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the success of his wife June’s Chev Cameo, the build may not have even happened. We’re not saying he was out to one-up his wife, not at all, it’s just that he did such a good job building her pickup that there was no way he could ever be happy with how bad the ’56 drove in comparison.
The key to the Cameo’s driveability was the Art Morrison chassis that was used, so Brent came up with a plan to purchase another one for the ’56. We’re unsure if he was kidding himself, or trying to convince June when he says he was thinking of sliding the chassis under the car and just leaving the rest untouched. Obviously, that theory didn’t last, and before long a full build was underway, and Brent soon became determined to make it his best yet.
While placing the chassis order, a four-link rear end was requested along with a double A-arm front end, and rack and pinion steering assembly. These items would ensure the car handled as well as June’s pickup, but while hers has a supercharged small block in it, for this build he had different ideas.
Brent actually credits his son Aaron with the idea of fitting a turbocharged combination, and the mention of this to Carl Jensen at C&M Performance was enough to set the wheels in motion. Carl works closely with well-known engine builder Reece Fish and between them they are responsible for a lot of the toughest street car engine packages in the country.
The trio decided that a six-litre LS3 with a pair of BorgWarner S300 63mm turbos was the way to go. Reece started the build with a cast iron block and filled it with JE pistons, along with a Comp Cams cam, and screwed it all together with ARP head and main studs.
A pair of aluminium heads were sourced and fitted with Comp Cams roller rockers. All of these bits were specifically chosen to make sure they could endure the pressure they would be under from the turbo setup. For this, custom exhaust manifolds were fabricated by the C&M team along with piping to join the PWR intercooler and flow through to the sheet metal intake manifold. Supporting the setup is a Holley Dominator ECU, with a Holley belt drive assembly and braided lines galore.
This is a teaser of the full story on this build, which is about three times as long as this. For the entire story, including multiple other great writeups, you can grab the full magazine here.
