buying a hudson

Unknown

I am looking to buy a 1930's Hudson. I found a 1936 Hudson 4 door that has been setup for a Ford 302V8 & Ford rear end. How hard would it be to switch this back to a stock setup & were would be a good place to find a factory Hudson engine & trans for this car from the 1930's? An what should I look for as far as problems these cars have?

Jon B

Welcome to the Hudson Forum! It shouldn't be too hard to convert back to an original drive train, so long as the previous owner hasn't cut or modified the body or frame. You can go the ''reverse'' direction, by keeping an eye on the street rod pages of websites and magazines; possibly someone's rodding an old Hudson and will be glad to get rid of the engine and transmission.

If you're intent on a Hudson -- even if this '36 Hudson isn't the one you end up with -- you might want to join the Hudson club. See the webpage http://www.hetclub.org/ . There are a lot of parts advertised in the Club magazine, the White Triangle News. Also, if you get to know other Hudson owners, they can advise you of people who may have the drive train parts you need. This stuff isn't heavily advertised to the general public, but once you get into "the network", stuff comes out of the woodwork.

The only real problems will be that no 1930's car was built to cruise at 75 miles an hour, so you will have to get a bit creative in order to upgrade your Hudson for highway driving without going the street rod route. For example, I have a 1937 but have installed a (non original) overdrive transmission in it, which allows me to cruise at 60 mph all day. Others have replaced rear axles from newer cars with more highway-friendly ratios. The biggest thing about older cars is, that they require a lot more maintenance than modern cars do. You'll have to learn to change the oil and lube them fairly regularly, and become proficient with timing and adjusting points. And you'll have to carry lots of spare parts in the trunk, since this stuff is no longer available at the local AutoZone. Still, the parts ARE out there and it's all worth it when you're cruising down the road in your great old Hudson!

By the way, you might also want to post the same note in the "regular" (non-streetrod) Hudson forum, as someone there might just have the parts you need.

Unknown

ok thanks the one I am looking at the guy has a Ford 8" in it so I should be good there. An I quit dealing with new modern vehicles a few years back. I have a 1974 Ford F250 Crew 2wd & 1966 Mustang convertible & 1977 Datsun 280Z. I am going to sell the 280Z which was going to be a daily driver to the truck & make the Hudson a daily driver an the truck on the weekends. The Mustsng is a 2 year project plan to have it done by the 50th anniversary of the Mustang in summer 2014. I am planing to keep the Hudson mainly stock with the factory options added an chrome an add a/c to it & things like that. You dont see any of these cars anymore I have heard of a Hudson but never seen one in person always heard so much bout them when my grandpa was living he raced Studebakers back in the day an stuff.

35Terra

There is a 36 Terraplane on the Cincinnati craigslist. All original. Has been restored.

Jim

Browniepetersen

Kal,
Since you are a car guy, you know all the discussions of making your car a daily driver. What might be of interest to you is the love that the HET folks have for their cars and the love that they have for other folks who drive a Hudson. In most old car gatherings there is a rif between those who drive a hot rod and those who drive a stock car--not so much with the Hudson folks. You might want to pick up the 36 with the Ford engine and drive it for a while as you look for parts to convert back ot original. You will find that Hudson folks will get excited about anything that is Hudson. By the way, there are quite a lot of 36/37 Hudsons out there so as Sam said, parts are availlable for your conversion. Also, in the National publication you will find a number of parts available but even better than that is attending a meet where you can pick up parts from owners of cars like yours. By the way, welcome aboard--from a 36 owner...