53 Hudson 4 Door Sedan

mudroc

Hello,

I'm looking for the LOWER Painted trim for my 53 Hudson 4 door. When I got the car all of the LOWER Painted Trim for the Doors,Qtr Panels and Front Fender looked like someone drove over them. Does anyone have a parts car or have that LOWER Painted Trim available ? Any help you can supply would be Greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Dave

RL Chilton

If you are a stickler for originality, I wish you all the luck.  Trouble with those original parts is that they were made out of cold rolled steel.  Through the decades, they have become extremely brittle.  As far as I know (and I've tried), they can't be welded when they break or develop cracks.  They just about cannot be "worked", either.  Trying to get out bends and dents usually results in breakage.  Used to be NOS sets out there, but I haven't seen any for a long time.  

However, there is a good solution.  Russ and Randy Maas at 21st Century Hudson http://www.21stcenturyhudson.com/ has had sets made up in Stainless steel.  You can either polish, or rough up and paint.  No one is the wiser, and the finish product looks identical to the original pieces.  An easy solution, IMO. I went a different route on the convertible, in that I found an NOS set from a '50, which has the eyebrow shape to it and polished them.  One of the few deviations from stock in which I ventured.

 

bull_islander

I restored a 53 sedan and I went the same route as Russ indicates.  I located a set of stainless from an earlier stepdown and put those on.  My set was rounded though, not the eyebrow.