I've played with this quite a bit. Heat shields don't help much because there's not much space. Air space is the buffer you need, and we just don't have it.
I've found that blowing air IN through the cowl doors doesn't help much either (usually becuase it's hot air, too), but taking air OUT does. Here's a post for the "I don't mind a little modifying" crowd.
I have taken this system out, becuase it's winter and the cowl vents get used a bit, but it was great this summer. The '56 and '57 have fiberglass fittings that go through the itside body to the vent doors. I put small pipe duct fans in those fittings, and removed the plastic duct between the door and the cabin. Hit a switch under the dash, fans come on, suck heat out from under the dash, and blow it out under the car.
In winter, I put the duct back because it's more beneficial to move cold air in than to evacuate the warm, and this works better from outside the car than between the skins.
Cheap. Easy. Effective.
This could be done in a '55 pretty easily, I'd imagine.
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