55 56 57 gmc

[a/gass]

is their any way to get hood and grills?

[Carmikeman]

Scott Carpenter is the only thing i have found and i haven't been able to get ahold of him. i talked to, i guess, his wife the other day and he never has called me back. his email has also changed according to the woman i spoke with. his new email is supposed to be scarpenter396@cox.net, i believe. i've been looking for a 55 GMC grille forever to make a dumptruck like my Dad had when i was a kid. anyways, you can find a link to his stuff at this site: http://socalcarculture.com/modelcarlinks.html

hope this helps, and maybe you can get an answer from him. if you do, please let me know.

Jim

[a/gass]

Scott Carpenter is the only thing i have found and i haven't been able to get ahold of him. i talked to, i guess, his wife the other day and he never has called me back. his email has also changed according to the woman i spoke with. his new email is supposed to be scarpenter396@cox.net, i believe. i've been looking for a 55 GMC grille forever to make a dumptruck like my Dad had when i was a kid. anyways, you can find a link to his stuff at this site: http://socalcarculture.com/modelcarlinks.html

hope this helps, and maybe you can get an answer from him. if you do, please let me know.

Jim

cool thanks now if i can get 1?thanks for info never looked their befor.

[Longbox55]

The kits from Shawn Carpenter will be a good start, if you're looking to do a factory stock '55-'57 GMC, there will be other alterations to the AMT Chevy kits to make them accurate. From the description, the transkits have all the external differences covered, hood, grille, dash, tailgate, but there are noticable mechanical differences as well. GMC did not use the same engines as Chevrolet, they had their own 6 cylinder, and used Pontiac engines for the V8 trucks. The Pontiac engine shouldn't be an issue, pretty much any of the many Pontiac V8s can be used, though an early one would be most accurate (there's a difference in the water pump and bellhousing). For the 6, you may be out of luck, as there was never a GMC 6 produced in scale to my knowledge. There are also some underhood differences, the radiator is slightly farther forward due to the longer engine, and there was pair of support bars from the dash to the core support (the Chevy Suburban also used these). The rear axle on 1/2 tons was a Spicer 45, a Spicer/Dana 44 is pretty close in appearance.

The above information applies to U.S. spec trucks, Canadian GMCs did use Chevrolet engines.

[larrygre]

Scott Carpenter is the only thing i have found and i haven't been able to get ahold of him. i talked to, i guess, his wife the other day and he never has called me back. his email has also changed according to the woman i spoke with. his new email is supposed to be scarpenter396@cox.net, i believe. i've been looking for a 55 GMC grille forever to make a dumptruck like my Dad had when i was a kid. anyways, you can find a link to his stuff at this site: http://socalcarculture.com/modelcarlinks.html

hope this helps, and maybe you can get an answer from him. if you do, please let me know.

Jim

Jim, its SHAWN Carpenter, not SCOTT Carpenter. Name aside, his resin work has always been consistently among the best, including his GMC conversions.

[Carmikeman]

appreciate the input Longbox. speaking of the engines, our ton and a half dumptruck had a 248 6 cyl. we found that out the hard way when it dropped a valve. dad thought it was a 270 6 cyl. anyways, it popped the top on 1 piston and scarred the head a little bit. dad ordered a 270 piston and a gasket kit. piston was way too big. the chiltons he had didn't show a reference for the 248. got it fixed finally and ran great.

my project will mostly be a partsbox build.

my bad on the name

Edited March 29, 2011 by Carmikeman

[Longbox55]

I know it's a little late for this, but there's a neat trick to figuring out what size a '41-'59 GMC 6 cylinder engine is without pulling it apart and measuring things or decoding serial numbers. On the engine unit number (stamped next to the distributor), the first 3 digits are the engine displacement (228, 248, 270, 302).

[Carmikeman]

geez, i wish you woulda told us that back in 1986! lol course there was no internet back then. thanks for the info.

[Carmikeman]

well, i just tried Mr. Carpenters email and it didn't work. guess i'll call again.

[a/gass]

well, i just tried Mr. Carpenters email and it didn't work. guess i'll call again.

wow!thanks for all the info.knew about the power trains but not the core supports or the cowl braces.i just like the look of the gmc better im gonna make a pannl delivery gasser so it aint got to be perfect but im gonna check out how the cowl braces run.thanks agin for all the info.happy modling to all.

[Danno]

Jim, its SHAWN Carpenter, not SCOTT Carpenter. Name aside, his resin work has always been consistently among the best, including his GMC conversions.

Gee, wonder if that's why Mr. Carpenter never called back?

Just kiddin', Jim!

[Carmikeman]

lol. i wouldn't doubt it. too much resin dust or maybe, my spraybooth isn't venting right

Edited March 30, 2011 by Carmikeman

[Longbox55]

wow!thanks for all the info.knew about the power trains but not the core supports or the cowl braces.i just like the look of the gmc better im gonna make a pannl delivery gasser so it aint got to be perfect but im gonna check out how the cowl braces run.thanks agin for all the info.happy modling to all.

Underhood pic from shop manual.It's not the best shot, but it's the first I could find.

BTW, if you need a panel body, Jimmy Flintstone has both a very nice Panel and Suburban in resin. They're not perfect, the rear fenders need some work to be correct, but they are a very good starting point.

[a/gass]

Underhood pic from shop manual.It's not the best shot, but it's the first I could find.

BTW, if you need a panel body, Jimmy Flintstone has both a very nice Panel and Suburban in resin. They're not perfect, the rear fenders need some work to be correct, but they are a very good starting point.

thaks for pic`s just got the JF pannel today my first resion.lots of work like it was dobble stamped?very thick & heavy i have 2 interior roofs ill have to sand 1 out so u dont see it through the window is this normal?maby thats why they dont cost a mint?ha ha!