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Hi All

I am a vehicle inspector in South Australia although I originally come from Scotland, I arrived in Australia in 1998.

I have just had the pleasure of working on a 1930 Great Eight which belongs to Heidi Hetzer who is driving it around the world and as I needed some info you guys were the obvious choice

RL Chilton

Welcome to the forum robm!  I have made you a full member and you are free to all of the privileges of such.  I'm sure you can get all of your questions answered here.  I'm glad you had the opportunity to help Heidi in her mighty endeavor.  

Jon B

Go ahead, ask your questions!  We will be happy to help!

I'm glad to hear that Heidi has contacted a good mechanic.  I am afraid that many of the mechanics she encountered, were trying to patch the car together using components that were never meant for it.  Like that whole episode with the generator shaft not having a flexible coupling.

As you may know, there is an active Hudson club in Australia and you may be able to obtain good used (or even new) parts without having to send to America for them.,

ken1962

Heidi has been in contact with the Victorian club sourcing replacement wheels as her wooden spokes were failing which I believe have being found and should be sent to her soon Her engine is failing quite bad using 5 liters per day however a new recon engine is being air freighted from Germany to nz as the car just needs to get to sydney for the ship date cannot be changed.
Go Heidi :-)

ESSX28-1

Here in NZ we have an excellent re-builder of wooden spoked wheels. While I don't know current pricing or timing, these could be ascertained easily if wanted.

ken1962

Thanks I believe she has the help/assistance of Australia's most senior HET members the last few days so i daresay Geoff of nz will probably will already be informed by the het grapevine and her problems will either be fixed enough to get her to New South Wales or resolved when time permits in NZ

Jon B

I hope she will take the opportunity to stock up on "spares", in anticipation of possible future difficulties.  These would include bearings (like wheel bearings), ignition parts, maybe an extra wood-spoke wheel and tire, headlight bulb (those new halogen ones that pop right in!), maybe even a spare generator.  And a service manual in the event that she finds a good mechanic but he's not acquainted with Hudsons!  Also: since she's a race driver, has she perhaps been driving the car at a speed at which it's not comfortable?

Geoff

 A quick and easy method to tighten up the wheels is to  dismantle, insert  steel shims between end of spokes and felloe, and re-assemble, keeping everything in  the  same  relative positions.  I have done this on several occasions.   The shims have to be punched out so that they have a conical shape to fit over the spoke ends. Can be punched out of jam  or paint tins, or similar.

Geoff 

Per

Heidi's companion for the first couple of months of the trip indicated that she is likes to drive quite fast, and was tending to go quite fast while he was with her.

Perhaps in New Zealand an overdrive could be installed by cutting out the middle of the driveshaft.  The overdrive is attached to the frame with brackets, and there is a short driveshaft from the back of the transmission to the front of the overdrive, and another short driveshaft from the back of the overdrive to the differential.  A 1924 Hudson belonging to Tom Brintnall in Massachusetts has this.  He says it works nicely, and allows the car to be driven on the highway with normal engine speed.

Per

Geoff

You are talking major mechanical engineering here, probably not likely to happen in the short time frame the car will be in N.Z.  I believe Tom's car has a Borg Warner unit that has been  fitted to the rear of the transmission.  The  one people use here is a Laycock, which is 20% step-down in revs, the Borg Warner is 30%.  A better option I think if the car is to be thrashed the way it appears to have been would be to fit a 5 speed Toyota transmission an clutch, which has fifth gear overdriven. 

Jon B

Another solution would be to replace the entire rear axle with something a bit newer (and with a better highway ratio).  The problem would be in finding a modern rear axle that would accommodate the old style wheels of Heidi's car.

ken1962

I think Heidi just needs too slow down and drive within the limits this car can do - it's cheaper in the long run :-)

ken1962

Turns out Heidi's engine is no more

She wrote:

"Das Risiko mit dem kaputten Motor weiterzufahren ist zu groß,es gibt unterwegs keine Werkstätten mehr. Also jetzt sofort aufmachen und da haben wir den Kolbensalat."

don't understand German - but the word Kaputten" I do know

I think she's stuck in South Australia

 

Jon B

She seems to say (loose translation):

There are no shops [capable of dealing with this old Hudson engine] along the route ahead.  There is too much risk; if we continue with this broken engine [in its present condition] the spit [or a similar word] will hit the fan.  ("haben wir den Kolben Salat", or "to have a piston salad" apparently is a German idiom similar to the English phrase dealing with sewage striking the proverbial apparatus with rotating blades).

However, I cannot help thinking that she has broken down in the one country that is (apart from the United States and New Zealand) a gold mine of parts and expertise for 1920's Hudsons.

Jon B

Heidi is apparently safely in capable Hudson hands, in Adelaide, Australia.

I cannot seem to import links to various photos on Heidi's website, so I'll refer you all to the website itself.  You can look at the thumbnails on the right side and select, to see large versions.

Many of these photos are apparently taken at the car restoration shop that is now bringing Heidi's 1930 Hudson Eight back from the dead.  It had suffered a number of seat-of-the-pants fixes in countries where "1930" and "Hudson" are completely foreign concepts!  Anyway, here is her "english" website:

http://heidi-um-die-welt.com/information-in-english/

ken1962

German adventurer Heidi Hetzer's round-the-world vintage car trip in a 1930 Hudson stalls in Adelaide

891 ABC Adelaide By Brett Williamson yesterday at 3:09pm

   

Photo Heidi Hetzer in front of her 1930 Hudson during a brief break for repairs in Adelaide. 891 ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson

Two broken pistons and the need for a new engine may have slowed Germany's Heidi Hetzer's driving trip around the world, but nothing will stop the 77-year-old from continuing her journey.

Ms Hetzer loaded "Hudo", a 1930 Hudson, with her belongings and five car-shaped handbags and left Berlin on August 1, 2014.

Photo A partial map of Ms Hetzer's planned route around the world.

891 ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson

She has since driven through Europe, the Middle East, China, Laos, Malaysia and Singapore before shipping the vehicle to Perth and driving to Adelaide.

Half way across the Nullarbor Ms Hetzer noticed the car had begun to blow smoke and use a lot of oil.

By the time she had arrive in Adelaide she was burning about five litres of oil per day and knew her treasured car was in a little trouble.

"So far I have driven about 30,000 kilometres – this is a lot for one old engine," Ms Hetzer said as she stood next to the Hudson, resting in an Adelaide mechanical workshop.

Both are now temporarily halted in Adelaide until the car is transported to Melbourne where a new engine will be fitted.

Honouring a German pioneer

Ms Hetzer, a former automobile dealer and rally car driver from Berlin, retired at the age of 75 and decided to retrace and extend the 1920s journey of Clarenore Stinnes.

Photo The 1930 Hudson at a standstill, waiting for engine repairs after cracks were found on two piston heads.

891 ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson

"You can only do this either when you are very young or very old," Ms Hetzer said.

When Ms Stinnes set off on her journey she was 27 years old.

Ms Hetzer said she thought she would stay with that era of vehicle to keep true to the original journey.

Along the way "Hudo" has had a piston and clutch replaced in Uzbekistan, with several running repairs made to keep the vintage vehicle running until its terminal cracking of two piston heads in Australia.

The vehicle's original wooden-spoke rear wheel had also been damaged and poorly repaired. Mechanics in Adelaide have been able to create an entirely new replica for her.

Apart from modern, racing-styled seats to make the drive more comfortable, Ms Hetzer's 1930 Hudson remains in its original condition.

"I want to have that feeling, like Clarenore Stinnes had," Ms Hetzer said.

Photo One of the Hudson's wooden-spoked wheels was rebuilt by mechanics in Adelaide.

891 ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson

With the speed of the Hudson much slower than modern vehicles, Ms Hetzer's patience has also grown thanks to the recreation.

"At home I was a race car driver and I always wanted to be first, now I have to learn that everybody passes me," she said.

"Now, in one day, if I pass three cars I go 'yay!' and have to write it in my book.

"It's a different life, but at 77 I think now I want to live different; now I think it is my time."

Ms Hetzel will continue onto Melbourne, New Zealand, USA, South America and Cape Horn in South Africa before heading home for her 80th birthday.

"Then I make the next plan."

She is contemplating planning another trip, taking 10 companions, on a similar journey.

"I don't think this will be the end, no."

Photo Ms Hetzer's love of automotive handbags is visible through the rear window of her 1930 Hudson.

891 ABC Adelaide: Brett Williamson

ken1962

Heidi is now in my home state of Victoria and the car engine has been transplanted for a new one from Germany

see link for photos http://heidi-um-die-welt.com/information-in-english/

I daresay she'll be in Sydney or New South Wales at least before the week is out - Interesting that the new clutch plate from Germany isn't cork - I see that she has new USA flags ready for the trip over the pond after New Zealand's joy ride :-)

Geoff

I don't want to be a harbinger of doom, but there is going to be nothign trouble if that clutch plate is installed. 

Jon B

Geoff:  well, she's headed your way so you'll have a chance to tell her that!  Practice your German!

ken1962

Heidi has the 1930 Hudson back on the road yesterday and tested the car driving to the village of Sassafras in the lush black forest of the Dandenong mountain ranges as a test of the new engine (and to lunch at the Australia's best German restaurant "The Cuckoo") . Boy, she's brave!!. The gradient of the road climb to Olinda and Sassafras is really, really, extreme with a few devil elbow bends thrown in for good measure. I would love to take my 36 Terra along the same route, but placing 100% stress on the engine drive train and braking would be temping fate too much for my 36 I think :-)

Jon B

I hope she's following the factory instructions for breaking it in.  I understand that, as a race driver, she is not (shall we say) "nursing" that Hudson along!

Fortunately she'll soon be in the U.S. where (along with Australia and a few other places) "Hudson" is spoken, and we still have some spares for her car, "just in case".

ken1962

Looks like its "all ahead full steam"

She Left Melbourne today by the looks of things and is travelling "The Great Australian Coast Road"  to Warrnambool - which is a lovely scenic drive of 4 hours or so - A trip I'd love to do in the Terra in the next few months

  

ken1962

G'day All,

Heidi Hetzer left Melbourne, Australia this morning for New Zealand on the "Spirit of Singapore" heading for New Zealand with her 1930 Hudson packed in a shipping container. The ship is in the Tasman Seas soon to be passing Flinders Island  

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0d41tMeR3k9Q93Vlz4U0ZDZYed2evRjN3

cheers Ken

Spencer Yarrow

Look out Geoff here she comes

ken1962

Good to see that Geoff has met "Hudo" and Heidi in NZ - Hope all was ok Geoff? The gear seal didn't look too hot cheers Ken

Geoff

Yes, she's checked in!   Oil leaking badly out the accessory housing flanges - no gaskets!   Fixed that,  greased all chassis fittings, and sent her on her way.  She phoned up 100 miles away, car had just stopped.  she wanted to know what to look for.   There are so many modifications I could not really advise her - Electronic ignition, strange vacuum tank system, electric fuel pump,  12 volt electrics with alternator, etc.   I told her to ring the .A.A as she was only 10 minutes from her destination. 

ken1962

G'day Geoff,

Thanks for letting us know what's happening with the vintage hudson. It must be nice for Heidi to have real advise and help when needed by experts like yourself and others yet to help her throughout the USA later this year

Have been really enjoying following her travels and really impressed with what the car has been able to achieve driving thru Russia and then China & Austalia

As an owner of my 36Terra for under 2 years im still just a learner - I'm yet to have it break down thankfully.(did run out of petrol but was my fault not the terraplane) I'm not a mechanic but one day id love to take a few months off and travel around Australia but sence tells me my car is a Sunday driver only at present - I'd need to rewire a new loom as a first step before I'd risk my luck traveling vast distances across the outback of Aussie-land

Probalby if I was in her situation I'd maybe check the fuel flow, confirm if I have a spark and then assume it was mechanical and find the closest bar and drown my sorrows :-) hope Heidi has luck finding the problem quickly.

Glad the hudson community like yourself are so interested in helping Heidi complete her dream,

Your bloods worth bottling mate :-)

Cheers ken

Uncle Josh

I googled Heidi's comments and translated to English.  Humorous I thot

Jon B

Frustrating to want to help, but to know that so many mods have been made.  If it was all "factory" under the hood, many people would know what problems to look for, how to fix it, and they might even have parts.  It's a "known commodity".   But with such a miss-mosh of components, one is left totally clueless.

Geoff

 She's on her way again!   Currently driving South between Westport and Greymouth. For a shriveled little 78 year-old she shows incredible stamina.  The car  is holding up pretty well.  I found the back wheel axle nuts loose, and the brakes took twenty notches to bring up to an acceptable standard. So far the engine has been replaced, the radiator rodded out, and she is using a bit of water.  Only an electric fan which is a mistake I think, doesn't shift enough air.

Jon B

Spunky lady, indeed!  Wish more of our Hudson "stay at homes" would just get their Hudsons out to a show or two....let alone drive around the world.  I'm hoping that when Heidi hits the U.S., we can arrange little "meet and greets" amongst Hudson enthusiasts, all along her circuitous route around the country.