WHEN you want something this bad, you put you in the work for it. Jeff Wallace, who joined the U.S. Navy at 23, worked his ass off in overtime to make his lifelong dream of building and owning a one of a kind squarebody. So much so that when talking about the build with Ronnie Wetch from C10 Talk, Ronnie dubbed this 1976 Chevrolet Bonanza, ‘Time n’ Half’.
Jeff has owned a few sqaurebody’s in his day but none as cool as this. When he was 10 years old, he rode in his family friends 1977 step side for the first time. The truck was loud, fast, and low to the ground, and from that very moment, it was in his blood. His high school friend would build one that they would cruise around in all the time but Jeff wouldn’t own his first square until he was 18. A blue 1984 Chevy Scottsdale that would be lowered with 17” Crager’s but he would regrettably sell it when he left for bootcamp. Being a family man, he wouldn’t buy another squarebody until 5 years ago, they picked up a 1983 Silverado and rebuilt it for his kids to drive in High School.
It was finally Jeff’s turn and he picked up this 1976 Bonanza. Initially his plan was simple, a 5/7 drop and some wheels and it would have been a cool truck but when he took it down to Choice Chassis to talk to them about getting the work done, owner Nick Muros said “We need to bag this thing,” and from that moment on the build entered a whole new level.
Jeff ordered a full Choppin’ Block Extreme air ride chassis told Nick it would be there in September and he wanted to debut it at the Northwest Super Show in June. Nick agreed to help. Him and his team did a lot of work on the truck and helped Jeff manage the project by lining up the right people and the parts to keep the job on track. To go with the chassis Jeff photoshopped many choices of wheel on the truck until he finally settled on a set of 22”x10.5” in the back and 22”x8.5” in the front, Corsart Kingpin wheels from Patrick Gibellina from Mr. G’s Classic Trucks. They were wrapped in Pirelli P Zero’s 295/30 and 255/35’s respectively. Then to make sure the chassis did what it was designed to do, Jeff met Derek Shaefer, sales manager at Accuair, and ordered his Accuair E Level system which Derek even helped install. Air ride was inflated with a set of Viair compressors.
The truck moves with a 5.3l LS built by Easy EFI Solutions with flat top pistons, Corvette heads, and a Truck Norris Stage Three cam. The LS was paired with a 4l60e and was tuned by Brady Davis of Dak Tuning and Performance. Magnaflow exhaust by Punk’s Muffler and Willwood brakes wraps up the chassis.
John the Butcher tackled the bed floor and cut it down from a longbed donor and made it bolt in like factory. Slosh Tubz inner fenders and filler panels competed the engine bay with hood hinging on CVF hood hinges. The bed, tubz and any touch ups were painted by Coderojo.
Phil Cato of Cato’s Custom Upholstery put just enough flash into the interior of the Bonanza with a custom bench seat, door panels, carpet, floor mats, and dash. Stereo was supplied by Streamline Audio and includes a 12” Sony subwoofer. Final touch in the interior is of course the Dakota Digital Squarebody Syndicate Series gauges.
“I would like to thank my wife Bonnie and my two sons, Aj and Austin. They have been extremely patient during the build and have supported me since day one, I couldn’t have done it without them. And my brother John for always listening to me complaining and wanting to give up on the build. My buddy and Choice Chassis owner Nick Muros and Derek Schaefer of Accuair. Without this group of people this truck would never have come out the way it did. Also, Brett Macadam… the dude is next level. At the C10 Intervention last year he took one picture of my truck and used his platform to get it out into the world. He really helped get my truck noticed.” Says Jeff. He also wanted to make sure he thanks John ‘The Butcher’ for tackling the bed. He says he would do anything for the guys that helped him put this truck together.
‘Time n’ Half’ was debuted at the Northwest Super Show in June of 2023 as originally planned and took Best in Show for custom truck build. It also took Best in Show at C10’s in the Capital, and Best in Show 73-87 at C10 Intervention. At Dino’s Git Down it was a Top 100 pick, Dino’s top 10 pick, and was chosen as Louie’s Top Pick. The truck was also a VIP pick for the 25 year anniversary party for the C10 Club and was parked on the front steps of the Utah State Capital for the event.
In the future Jeff wants to upgrade the air intake, and add Vintage Air. He would also love to do another build with a squarebody service truck. You can follow along with Jeff and ‘Time n’ Half’ on Instagram @jwall1244.
Words by Brian Holzli
Photos by Brett MacAdam @mac.in.motion
