1933 Terraplane 8 followed me home

faustmb

*** This thread will be regularly updated with progress on this project ***

Sometime before 1966 for unknown reasons, someone removed the factory engine and transmission from this car and replaced it with a Chevy inline 6 with a manual transmission. My dad purchased the car this way from long time HET member Chuck Rogers, who bought this sedan for its factory Majestic 66 radio. My dad promptly removed the Chevy 6 and started collecting parts.

Fast forward to summer of 2012. I loaded up this Terraplane along with the parts he had collected and brought them to my house in TN.

I'll document progress in this thread.

**** Parts needed as of 1/2014
- interior door handle
-fan blade
-pop out map light (or any parts of one)
-speedometer cable
-crank handle

*** Original post
My latest project is a 1933 Terraplane 8 sedan that my dad bought in 1966 from a HET member in the Pittsburg area. Currently the drivetrain is out and the motor needs to be rebuilt. It is a very solid mostly original car, last PA registration 1964-65.

Fresh off the trailer, with hood & grill set back on


after a nice bath




I'm completely stoked to get this project moving. I will have plenty of questions, and still need a few odds & ends to get it together.

The plan is to stay as close to stock as possible. For now, the paint and interior will remain original as it's presentable.

faustmb

Here is me, my brothers, and dad after spending two 12+ hour days hauling and sorting HET parts

Tiring and grubby work but fun

faustmb

A few things I Still need;

Shift knob
Hood retainer clip that mounts top and center of the grill
Fuel pump
Pressure plate & clutch assembly
Fan blade

I'm sure I'll come up with other things as I go, but that's what I found so far.

A few questions;

Would the wheels have been silver from the factory? The yellow is an obvious repaint.
What material is best for the soft part of the roof? The original disintegrated during the trip home

oldhudsons

yes, the wheels would be silver.
yep, a very presentable & restorable project. Is it a Deluxe model as I see it has the front horns, does it have dual taillights too?
I'm sure the Faust clan will be at Gettysburg?

faustmb

It is a deluxe KT, which I understand is dual horns, taillights, and ashtrays. We are planning on being at the national at least part of time. I'm planning on bringing some of my dads parts, another post to come on that.

hudsontech

faustmb - there is, in the online library, a couple of tech bulletins on the 1933 model.
TS 98-02, 1933 Essex-Terraplane Options and Color Options and TS 98-03, 1933 Hudson and Essex-Terraplane Wheel Options. These are bulletins I made up from material I had in my files following WTN Editor Art Adams tech bulletin format.

These bulletins can be found in the "Other Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Literature" section, "Hudson Technical Bulletins - Volume II". The Online Library is at:
http://hetclub.org/burr/lithomepage.htm

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

terraplane8

Nice car! This model seems to be very well-built, at least judging by my similar one. They drive very well too. As the last year of Essex, certainly a great way to go out in style.

oldhudsons

t8 - there is a '30 Hudson coach, restored, for sale in Germany

faustmb

T8 , I loves the lines of these cars and can't wait to have it drivable. I have to be patient though, I agreed to work on the honey do list as part of the negotiations to bring it home:)

SuperDave

Yep, I know what you mean, My convertible is gonna coast me a cruise to the carrabean !

Terraplane33

Nice to see the pictures of your car Matt !!

essexcoupe3131

Cool car, but aren't those horns upside down, as they would hold water every time it rains and rust all the workings out
Mike

faustmb

Haha, yes they are. I hung them quickly to have a place for them. They need reconditioning before being mounted for good however.

Terraplane33

Oops ! at first sight, I thought this were pre-WWI headlights...!

33kc1989

Nice looking ride. I just picked up 33 2dr sedan and was wondering if you are going to use the wheels and or front seat just asking. John 314 922 0041

faustmb

This car if going to stay original, sorry, no extra parts at this time. Where are you located John?

Browniepetersen

There is another post on 33 Terraplane. I added a post on hubcaps that I have if you want to check it out.

commodorecollector

Beautiful car, that is going to be one sweet project. There is actually a 33 Essex Terraplane curently at the California Automotive Museum in Sacramento if you are near by you could check out.
I just have a question... Do 33 Hudson's use the same hood ornament as Terraplanes or is the Griffin only on Terraplanes?

Unknown

Both the Hudsons and Terraplanes used the Griffin in '33, just had different emblem holders

Jon B

I am going to move this discussion to the Hudson Forum. I'm not sure how it found its way to the "All Makes" forum last summer, but a lot of Hudson people don't venture outside the Hudson forum much, so are not seeing this. Thought I'd give some warning before moving it, so those who are following this discussion will know where it's going, before I move it.

faustmb

I figure it's about time to resurrect this thread. I've been making slow progress on the 33 this year. I'm hoping to take it to French Lick this summer in one form or other, so I have lots of work ahead. Back in spring, I finished cleaning the block and assorted engine parts. I loaded them into a van and delivered them to Randy Maas who is currently rebuilding it



I found it interesting that once I got all the gunk off of the oil pan, there is what appears to be original black paint. There was almost no other traces of paint on the engine. Lucky for me that gunk kept the rust away too.




Meanwhile, I'm rebuilding the waterpump, starter, generator, carburetor, brakes etc. I learned that the starter I have is not correct, but should work well once its freshened up.

faustmb

Also started working on the worst fender, the passenger rear. After a bit of stripping using the strip wheels on a mini grinder, I found this.



With the help from a friend, we hammered some of this out and removed the old solder. Another friend patched the holes and welded up the broken wire for me. I'll post some pictures once I wrap up the filler work.

hudsontech

According to my research the correct starter should be MAB-4051, but may use MAB-4052.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

faustmb

I started cleaning and sorting some trim parts too. A few of my hubcaps have this red detailing. I don't think its original but I like it.

oldhudsons

the '33 Hudson hood ornament is exactly like the '33 T exc. it's about 25% bigger

oldhudsons

the correct starter has a lever on the top to which the wire pull from the dash is attached

oldhudsons

you can see the lever on the top of the "solenoid" facing toward the front of the engine (I was in the process of installing new wiring loom, hadn't run the wire thru the dash yet)

bent metal

I'm a little surprised to see the dipper tray painted. I wouldn't think you would want paint inside the engine like that. But, it looks original, and it looks like it did stick pretty good. So can you tell what color the block and head is? Or was?

Clutchguy

We have all the clutch parts you need Matt. We would love to see this car in French Lick 2014 !

faustmb

I'll be in touch on the clutch soon Doug:). I'd like to have the flywheel in hand to make sure that I have the correct pressure plate. Is there a good way to ID the pressure plate?

I thought it was odd that the dipper tray was painted too, and the pan was black. I've always heard that these engines were green and some say all silver. I'm pretty sure this black is original. My dad owned the engine for the last 40 years, and it was pulled from a junkyard then. Someone painted the water jacket and valve covers red with a brush , and the spark plug wire tube blue with a brush. This blank paint was very clean and well done, as opposed to the red and blue. I actually didn't know there was any paint on it until I spent a few hours scrubbing. This was supposed to be a very low mileage engine, and by the looks of it that was the case. The cylinder walls had no detectable wear. I found no paint on the block or head, aside from the red brush on job.

Clutchguy

Matt, can you email me a picture of what you have now?. Is the trans input shaft 6 spline?. If it is,this should indicate what you will need. If it has a 10 spline trans,the clutch parts,and flywheel are all different.