1947 Hudson pickup

bcampbell

Greeting just purchased my Hudson truck ,got it running after 25 years .problem is clutch will not disengage ,think there is linkage missing .wondering if anyone has pictures of clutch linkage thanks

Uncle Josh

47 Pickup Linkage pic attached.  If the shaft going in the to bell housing rotates, it's probably OK.  Should have about 1 1/2 inches of travel at the top of the clutch pedal before resistance.

 Most probably your clutch corks are stuck to the flywheel and/or pressure plate.  Drain it, (plug in front of flywheel) and refill (1/3 pint) with mix of 'Carbochlor' from the hardware store, and tranny fluid.  Prop the pedal down, Turn it a little for a week, and will probably have to shock it.ie jack it up, rev it up and jam the brakes etc.  I got my Jeep truck loose by running (very slowly) into a tree.

After it's loose, refill with fluid from the HET club, Wildrick restorations, or just dexron tranny fluid

If all else fails, I'm afraid she'll have to come apart.

Lee ODell

Congratulations on your 47 PU purchase and getting her running. I had three 47's until a few years ago. Sold two to a young man that is restoring them. I love Hudson PUI's. Better to see them on the road than setting in my yard until some day I get around to them. I'm looking forward to hear about your first ride experience in your truck. I agree, need to release pressure off the clutch disc corks to allow soaking the cork as mentioned.. Please post some pictures of your truck. Also, will you post the serial number of your truck (near passenger side upper door hinge) so Uncle Josh the HET Club Commercial vehicle registrar can inter S/N into club registry. He has been a invaluable help with the list I started putting together of all serial numbers in numerical order to see how many HET commercial vehicles went down the assembly line. Now both of our lists consist of KNOWN serial numbers of HET commercial vehicles from 1921 thru 1953. To date I have found a few pairs of truck serial numbers that traveled the assembly line together. Again congratulations. Lee O'Dell

Jon B

Greetings, and welcome to the Forum!  Glad to hear you got the truck running.

Uncle Josh is right -- after these cars have "set" for months or years, the corks on the clutch bond themselves to the pressure plate.  It's a common problem and usually solved through the procedure described by him.  And don't forget (once you free up the clutch), drain the "solvent" you mixed up, and replace with 1/3 pint of "Hudsonite" or similar clutch compound.

By the way, I don't know if you're familiar with the Hudson club but if you're not a member you might want to join.  The website's at http://www.hetclub.org/

And there are about 40 chapters around the U.S., so there may be some Hudson activity near you.  (You might want to give us your approximate location; you might live close to an upcoming Hudson meet, and we can advise you of that.)

By the way, Uncle Josh is the keeper of a registry on all the surviving Hudson trucks, and I'm sure he'd be grateful if you'd PM him with information on your truck (especially the serial number).  In fact, he might possibly have this truck already registered (by a previous owner) and could fill you in on the names of past owners.