New Hudson Hornet Owner

dyurko

Hello everyone

I love old cars and trucks and I've always been a
collector.   I'm not a brand loyalist as I own and work on everything
from a 57 Ford school bus to a first generation Honda civic, to a 1964
Century Resorter.

I first found out about the hudson hornet
through me and my wife's love of racing.   We saw one for the first time
down in the museam at the Darlington Raceway.    Well one thing led to
another and eventually I bought a 1951 Hornet Hollywood hardtop I found
for sale online.   Its going to need a total restore and I am looking
forward to getting any advice and help that I can to get it back on the
road.  

Browniepetersen

Welcome to the forum.  I expect that you are living in Florida?  But, anyway, where ever you are there are a lot of Hudson folks around you.  This forum will help you alot, but I would suggest that you check out the Hudson Essex Terraplane Club and get in contact with some local folks that can help you locate what you will need for your project.  This looks like a very nice project...

46HudsonPU

Welcome aboard! 

Good to have you.  I'm sure you'll find a wealth of information here.

You may also want to visit the Hudson Essex Terraplane Club website, and consider joining that Club - Members come for the cars, and stick around because of the great folks there!

We hope you enjoy your time here at the Hudson Essex Terraplane 'Open Forum' -

Kdancy

Dyurko,
where is your location? May be some club members near by.
How is the parameter on the Hornet? Looks like a lot of work ahead, there's a lot of good help on tis board. I'd start out by joining the HET club and getting the Hudson maintenance and parts manuals for 51. Hudsons are different then many cars of the era so don't be afraid to ask questions.

ski4life65

That car looks very familiar. Where did you get it?

dyurko

I am located in Thomasville,  North Carolina

The parameter on the hornet is in pretty good shape,   there isn't any serious rust through anywhere that I've found yet,   there are a few pin holes in the rocker panel  and the sill plates will need to be replaced,  the bottom of the doors, fenders and trunk are all in really good shape.

The most serious issue the car has is the drivers floorboard,  which the center transmission tunnel seems to have problems.

I found this car on Teds Tuna boats online,  so you've may had seen it there.

Kdancy

lance Walker is right down the road from you near Concord.

Jon B

Regarding rust, just be sure to get on your back and thoroughly examine the perimeter frame in the vicinity of the wheel wells.  If there are any rust issues on a Hudson, this is where they will manifest themselves.  If you find any problems it's not the end of the world, but you will need to go in there and reinforce the area.  (Fortunately, the quarter panels are removable and they exposes the entire area of the frame, so access is not an issue.)  All Hudsons are not fated to eventually have rusty frames, but IF a Hudson has led a hard life, this is where it rusts.  Once you fix it, it won't come back (providing you don't drive on salty roads, and leave your Hudson outside all year in the mud).

(Floorboard rust is a minor problem, people are making replacement panels that can be made to fit, if they don't already.) 

Just wanted to warn you of this potential problem so you can go into this restoration with your eyes open!

hudsontech

Welcome aboard to a great car club.  You'll find we're a family that loves Hudsons.  The Hudson club has two library's with lots of helpful material.  John O'Halloran runs the virtual library and I'm building an on-line library.  You can find that @ http://hetclub.org/burr/lithomepage.htm
At the moment I'm about 3/4 of the way thru a 1951 shop manual - will let everybody know when that is done.
Enjoy your Hollywood - they are scarce items. 

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

Lance

This car is one of the lowest production numbers that Hudson built. Alex  likely can tell you when it was made but the 51 Hollywoods came out very late in the model year . Not many were produced before the 52 model season was upon them. 

hudsontech

Yes, with the serial number I can tell you what month the car was produced in.  There were 43,666 Hornet models produced in 1951.  Sarah Young, on her Home of the Hudson Jet web site, has the following figures:
1100 Model 5A Super Six
  819 Model 6A Commodore Six
 669 Model 7A Hornet
2102 Model 8A Commodore 8
Total Hollywood production 1951 - 4,690  (approx. 10% of Hornet production)

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

dyurko

My serial number is 120073,   I got to look at the parameter frame around the rear wheel wells,   they look in really good shape,  I couldn't find any rust issues on it.   The car originally came from Oklahoma  and I have the title that was issued in 1958.

I've already joined the HET club,  just haven't gotten around to introducing myself on that forum yet. It looks like a great club. 

I want to fully restore this car, so the first step will be to take it apart and stop what rust is there,   Is there any suggestions on what isn't worth takeing apart of taking off the car?     Also,  what are the best lift points for a car like this?  Can I just lift it from the parameter frame?

hudsontech

120073 - Late production run - August 1951 (119453-122517).  They were intro'd late in the 1951 season, as was mentioned in a previous post.  In total there were 3,065 units produced in August 1951.

I made an error in my previous post - should have said Hollywoods in '51 took up approx 10% of total 1951 production, not just Hornet.

Kdancy

Be very careful and patient if you remove any of the body trim. Hudson used full length clips that the trim pops on and over the years it gets rusty and makes removing the trim without bending it difficult.
Wildricks sells stainless clip lengths to replace the original. I've had some on order for a few months so can't report how well it fits.
Here is a former post on trim removal-
http://openforum.hetclub.org/discussion/165739/chrome-trim-removal-help-54-jet/p1

RL Chilton

Anyone know what became of this poster or the car?  

RichardD

I just talked to the poster. He still has the car--it is not for sale. He has yet to build a garage to work on it in. He basically has done nothing to the car. The car is sitting outside; said it was sitting outside since 1963 before he bought it--has that tag on it.  Anyway, asked him to let me know if he wants to sell the car sometime in the future; I am NOT interested--too old, but will let the club know.  Anyway, he and it exists.

RL Chilton

Thanks, Richard.  

dyurko

I'm  still alive,  I just had some setbacks that prevented me from focusing on the car since I purchased it,   I have a building built, and was working on finishing the interior but the building materials for that are currently sitting where the car should be right now.

I plan on finishing that up this summer and getting it inside before winter.

RichardD

Didn't understand that you just had the interior to do, David. You are closer than I realized.  God speed with the Hollywood~~

RL Chilton

I think he meant the interior of the building . . .

hudsn47

These things take time, sounds like you have a plan. Stick to it and don't get discouraged, well you will get discouraged but when you do back off, give it a break. Good to see you still have the car, there are many who would take it off your hands as you probably know by now. The restorable coupes are very sought after. Keep it and enjoy the journey restoring it in your new garage. Just offering this as encouragement as many have encouraged me over my 40 years plus of Hudson ownership.  Happy trails. Doug

RichardD

You can't build a building with a car interior?

50ClubCoupe

Dyurko - I'm down in Mooresville so not too far from you. Let me know if you need help moving it around. I just picked up a '50 commodore in February and I've done a lot of motor/drivetrain work to it. I'm still breaking the engine in but a trip to Lexington could be a good road test. Scott

RichardD

He is outside Thomasville; I am in Greensboro !!

50ClubCoupe

Looks like I'll have to add a couple more miles to the test run!

Park_W

50Club, I'm in Rock Hill.  Maybe we should arrange a visit to Dyurko and have a look at that gem!

50ClubCoupe

Good to know there are so many Hudson folks in the vicinity! 

dyurko

It would be fun to have you all over here to look at it. Hopefully I get it put in the building before winter sets in again. 

Im currently putting up osb board on the walls inside the building and putting in the insulation.

Thanks for the words of encouragement.