In the Garage With EHR: 1957 GMC Cooling System Upgrade

The stock 6 cylinder radiator couldn't keep up with the mild small block in my mom's '57 GMC panel truck. When it sprung a leak we decided to fix it properly. I ordered a radiation that was listed to fit 1955-1959 Chevy AND GMC. It didn't. The Chevys used a different style core support than GMC. Rather than ship the radiator back and pay nearly a grand for one that would fit the GMC core support I called up H&H Truck parts and ordered a 1955 2nd series to 1957 Chevy core support. It bolted right into the GMC inner fenders (they are the same as Chevy) but were missing the frame stanchions. They don't reproduce those so I dabbed up a pair and used hockey pucks for body mounts. This not only gave me a great mount on each frame rail, it also leveled up the nose and made it all fit better. With that done we converted it to a short aluminum pump and used Summit's alternator bracket. I had to run a longer wire for the alternator. With it all done and a better fan the truck now runs right on the thermostat or slightly above. 160-170 degrees. Perfect. We saved hundreds of dollars with a little fabrication and now have abetter setup that is easier to get parts for. We call that a win.