I have a 1954 Chevy panel ,its been an on going project for over 35 yrs now, its my daily driver and takes me anywhere I wanna go, the problem is that in the summer (I'm in central Cal) when the heat gets past 95 it gets hotter than what I like it to be... I am going to pull my 327 that I have had in it for 34 yrs (2 rebuilds) and putting in a 400... I pull a small 1955 Shasta trailer AND have new A/C in it that has not been charged that was put in 8 yrs ago... I want to get the truck cooler so I can tow/ run my A/C and my alumn. 3 core (biggest I can find) just wont do it in high heat especially going up in the hills/mtns... Has anyone modified their radiator support, inner fender wells so a larger radiator could be used... There isnt alot of room for a larger Rad. so I will most probably have to modify, has anyone out there done this sorta thing and gotten any results from doing so, any advise,pictures sure would be a big help...
I had the same problem with my 53 chevy truck. I replaced water pump, flushed out the block. installed a high volume electric fan, replaced radiator, plus a lot of other stuff, nothing worked. Until I won a set of flowmasters. So, I installed a new exhaust, went from 2" TO 2 1/4"... problem accidentially solved. hope this helps
How hot is this "overheating"? Half the time when guys piss on their shoes because their old rig with the new engine is "overheating" the engine temp is barely up to the normal operating temp of that engine in the donor rig it spent years in.
A PO fitted a Tri Chevy rad in my '50 truck. They had welded a couple of pieces of angle steel to the front of the inner fenders. these brackets are just about visible in this photo. The rad is fitted in this photo. A stock Tri Chevy rad may not be a fix for your overheating, but would have thought that the "Desert Cooler" version of this rad should work well.
post pics of your engine - have had more than one '50 Chevy PU with warmed up small block Chevy motors and auto trans with no true overheating problems - last one had Walker radiator/electric puller fan with shroud, 180 "big mouth" thermostat, 50/50 coolant, 16 lb radiator cap, etc - live out near Stockton, so it gets damn hot at times - just trying to stuff in a bigger radiator does not sound like you are addressing other possible problems
I use a desert cooler 4 row from https://www.classicparts.com/Radiator/products/864/ Product : 78-211 in my 1950 3100 with a sbc 283, electric fan and no shroud. I do not have AC (yet) and my truck has never run hot. even sitting in stop and go traffic on the 46 just east of Paso Robles, at the end of July. When I get the AC installed, I'll run a shroud. The radiator will have no problem keeping the temps down. BigMike
when I am towing my trailer up in the mountains it gets up and over 220,I dont like that so I am trying to find a cure, I sure cant run my a/c like that, after all these years putting up with having to pull over/vaporlocking I am tired of it just want to cure it, thanks for your input
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