Traveling from Apopka FL to Elkton, MD in a '54 Hornet

50C8DAN

Finally, after 3 months I finally got down to Joe Stinnett's to pick up the Red/Black '54 Hornet coupe I bought from him in December.  My 81 year old Dad, and my 15 year old son are making the trip with me.  Of course nothing is ever as you plan it when driving an older vehicle, even one in really great shape.  We pulled out of Joe's driveway and took off down the road. About a mile later I remembered I wanted to get a picture of Joe with us and the car.  We made a Uey and as we pulled back into his drive a horribly scrapping sound came from the left front wheel well.  We pulled off the wheel and found that the disk part of the drum had sheared off from the outer rim (see pic).  This was really strange as I nor Joe had ever seen this happen.   Joe did try to make a front drum from a rear but that did not look like a good idea.  So we made the two hour journey to Bill Labud's place for a good used drum.  Bill is quite a character by the way.  We got back and after some more effort finally got onto the road, 6 hrs later than planned.  The good news is that the car so far has run great even at 70+mph and 90 degree heat today.  Made it to Charleston tonight.

Glowplug

Great summary! We Hudson drivers get to see a lot of maintenance.  Thanks for sharing.

bull_islander

It all makes for a better story, Dan.  Coming up 17 and staying off 95?

50C8DAN

Yes driving 17 most of the way yesterday, but need to get on 95 time is getting short and need to be back in MD by Thurs early afternoon. The car has air and yesterday it was struggling a bit to keep really cool, then we found out that it hit 90 here between FL and SC!

iceblade10

90?  Jeez... it's in the 30s in SE PA today...

RichardD

Come along little doggy !! Keep coming. Here is what happened to my '53 in SC while bringing my car back from Fla to NC.  Yes, a rollback carry for 200+ miles. This is the water pump pulley (double for A/C) that is made from 1/16" thick metal

Frankvintagefullflowcom

Good thing the fan stays put when that happens! I'd guess it just makes a lot of racket.

F

RichardD

What irritates me is the 1/16" thickness. .

50C8DAN

Ken what you see is the area under the disk where the disk and rim rubbed against each other when it let go.  This is not the top that would be against the KH wheel.

Jon B

Dan, are you carrying a Roster with you?  I'm sure there are some helpful Hudsonites along your route, who can reach out to you, should you encounter further difficulties. If you don't have a roster, just tell us where you are and we can maybe research the nearest helpful Club member!

50C8DAN

Ken, will inspect each wheel and drum now that i am back.  I need to adjust each one anyway.  Jon, I did have a Roster with me and although I did not need it, it was good to have it.

50C8DAN

Here are some pics from our trip of course featuring the '54 Hornet: 1) Joe and his Hudson helper, 2) My Dad, myself, son and Joe, 3) My Dad and son at South of the Border tourist trap.

duncan

Beautiful pictures of you and your car. Hudson must of had a real good deal on red paint when they were made. Hudsonly  Ray

50C8DAN

Mileage ranged from a low of just under 15 to a high of just over 18.  The best was when I happened on a station that sold alcohol-free gas.  It was pretty amazing the difference in how the engine ran, I still think it was my imagination.

Glowplug

Dan I recently learned that our newly minted WALMART gas station sold alcohol free unleaded gas.  I filled both of my Hudsons and ran them out of town and back.  The difference in engine idle and smoothness of the engine at speed was noticeable in both cars!  I am convinced the water that is attracted to the alcohol gas is the culprit in poor engine performance.

50C8DAN

I agree with the smoothness.  It was like night and day as we were on the interstate and the engine smoothness was very noticeable.