Serial Number and Intake Manifold Hole

dr01a1940

I just noticed that there are very few discussions on the Flathead Forum where I recently posted, so thought I'd repost in this main Hudson section.

Hi everyone: My son-in-law is in the process of ending up with a Hudson Super Six convertible that has belonged to his grandfather since 1979. Unfortunately, his grandfather is now 90 years old and can't help at all with providing any info about the car. I'm more a street rod guy from the 1960's, but am helping him get it going after being in storage for about 5 years or so. It's a cool car and I'm having a ball thus far. The car is titled as a 1947, but the serial number from the title and door post being 3173678 falls into the range that online sources cite as a 1946 Series 51. My first question then, "Is the car really a 1947, or could it be a 1946 that has somehow been titled as a 1947 at some point?" The engine has a casting number of 304539 with head markings of 308 and Power Dome 309121. The block is stamped at the right front as 202797 which online sources would identify as a "late?" 1952 model year engine/SN. We are currently replacing all the electrical tune up parts in hopes of getting it running soon. My question with regard to the engine is that there seems to be a hole in the intake manifold casting just below the carb and facing the fender where perhaps a plug of some type was and should be. It backfired some flame out of this hole when we were initially cranking it. I plan to just use some metal tape over it temporarily, but "Can someone shed some light on this hole/missing plug?" I'm new to this forum and look forward to everyone's expertise as we get this classic back on the road! By the way, the car has been converted to 12V, negative ground in the past.

Jon B

I'm sure our serial number guru, Alex B., will be along shortly to help you with your serial number mystery.

As to the "Flathead Forum", I think that is a "legacy" forum that was part of the old "Classiccar Forum", which was given to us when Classiccar.com was bought out and dissolved.  It used to pertain to all flatheads: Fords, Hudsons, whatever.  And I'm not sure why we continue to have it, here.

If you have questions about Hudsons, this is indeed the correct forum.  I'm sure you'll get plenty of answers, here!

Lee ODell

According to Alex's "General Information Handbook for Hudson Built Automobiles" Your car is a 1946 Super 6 manufactured in Oct 1945. Maybe dealer did not sell it until sometime in 47 and registered as 47. Or maybe years later it changed hands without paperwork and got registered as a 47 by mistake, it happens a lot. That happened to me 35 years ago when I bought a 35 Chevy without papers and was told it was a 34. It wasn't until I registered the car I found out it was really a 35. Both years looked identical except for the frame which I became aware of much latter. Sold it as a 34. Never got around to have the year corrected. Lee O'Dell

Park_W

If the car now has electric wipers, you may be seeing where the original fitting for the vacuum line for the wipers was installed.  The hole will be a pipe thread, so just install the proper size pipe plug.

Ol racer

FYI

It doesnt really matter if '46 or '47 since they are virtually identical, and a nice thing it seems to have a later model more powerful Hornet Motor. Just about everything he may need is available from H.ET Members and Suppliers.  Suggest your Son in Law join the Hudson Club www.hetclub.org forTech advice, interchange Lists, and much more. Couple of Special Parts Suppliers are Dale Cooper Ace Auto www.hudsonmotorcarco.com & 21st Century Hudson www.21stcenturyhudson.net, among others.....

dr01a1940

Thank you all. I may join later. I will be "visiting" the car tomorrow. It is currently residing about 65 miles from my home and even though we are having a great winter temperature wise here in North Texas, I pick and choose my days to work on it right now. I will get some pictures of the "hole." Can I attach pictures in this forum? It's not obvious to me how to do that.

Glowplug

Lots of North Texas Hudson folk. Where are you located? I was in northern TX today, We Hudson folk like to help others get thier Hudsons into good driving condition.

RL Chilton

1940-

Post pics when you get a chance.  There's instructions as "Stickys"  at the top of the Discussion List.  It's really quite easy. Whenever you are typing a post into a thread, at the bottom, there is a link that says, "Attach a picture".  click on that, the rest is almost self-explanatory.  

Welcome to the forum!

dr01a1940

We got the car running yesterday! After some initial roughness and sputtering it settled down and ran extremely smooth. We are definitely excited now. There were a few issues with some purchased parts and I will be posting some questions about those. There also seem to be some issues with the shift linkage that will have to be addressed before we can attempt to drive it around some. That hole I mentioned actually produces some pulsing from the exhaust, not vacuum, so could it be for some type of heat riser purpose? The strange thing to me is that it has rough edges and an irregular shape. I'll post a picture when I get the other questions together. For the old farmer, I'm in Weatherford, TX and the car is located near Gainesville, TX.

Glowplug

Oh- your car used to belong to a Dr.. I have pictures of it at the upholstery shop in Whitesboro Tx circa 1981-2. Hope you have joined the HET. I was in Gainesville yesterday. There are three HET guys in Gainesville- PM me or email. The car had a 308 installed in the 1980s. zzzzzhothudsons@gmail.comzzzz Remove the Zs

dr01a1940

Here is a picture of the hole I referred to in the intake manifold below the carb. There are similar casting marks on what I would call the "back" and "front" sides (toward the back and front of the car) with what seems to be a slightly rounded head of a plug(?) in them.

PaulButler

That's one lovely looking car!

I bet you're looking forward to it hitting the road

dr01a1940

Yes Paul. Working on cars is always fun, but driving them down the road is better! We'll be looking at our shift linkage issues later this week. When we get those sorted out, we can at least do some preliminary moving around and discover what else needs to be done.

Ken, any suggestions on sourcing the expansion plug? Thanks for the input.

dr01a1940

Will do. Thanks Ken.