Engine Problems on my Hudson Continue

BigSky

I would love to have an aluminum intake but haven’t found one.  I’d actually like a175 head as well to raise compression or an Aluminum Head I could polish up!   What are the 501 carbs off of?  I would like to up this one to a larger one too. 

If anyone has something let me know.

Jon B

Yes, if you continue with this engine (and get it running right), do consider Allan's suggestion.  The 501 is the same carb as yours but improved.  Bolts right in, but I had to transplant the cross shaft from my old '37 carb, in order to use the 1937 linkage on my car.  Consider having the 501 rebuilt by a pro (I had it done by Daytona, down in Florida).  When you install, use an adequate number of fiber spacers (I used 4, then the metal air deflector, then 4 more spacers.  This will help to avoid vapor lock.  The car has run so nicely since I put the 501 in (probably 10+ years ago).  

By the way, you DID say you plugged the threaded hole in the underside of the intake manifold, didn't you?  (When your car came from the factory there was a one-way valve in that hole, with a brass tube that extended down from it.  It was used to drain any excess gas from the manifold when the car was flooded.)

BigSky

Yes, that actually was my intake leak from a couple years ago which caused me to disassemble the intake & exhaust manifolds.  I’d tried the spray of WD40 around the intake before then & got nothing.  Once I pulled the manifolds I discovered that one way ball valve was missing. I also just checked to make sure it hadn’t worked itself loose & thankfully she’s still there where she belongs.  

Val

I have the original carb on my 39. Carter 430S I did have to replace the float in it once. Dr Doug suggest I go with a Carter WDO 502. Off the 1942 cars. He said it is a better carb and eliminated the dash pot. 

Jon B

I thought the Carter 501 was for the 6-cyl., and 502 for the 8-cyl?  Big Sky has a six.

Val

Right Jon B  I hit the wrong number key. 

allan

I am running the 175 head on all 3 of my 3X5 engines with the 501S (41 thru 476 cyl).  Near as I can figure, the head is a 10 horse power increase.  The aluminum intake is on the 46 and 47 212 engines.  I'm not sure about which manifold is on the 41's though.  Start asking around for someone with one of those just hanging around, I have not had a problem getting them.

speedyb

About 15 years ago my friend Bob and I purchased a nice 51 mercury from its 2nd owner, the car had sat over the years quite a bit because of drivability problems. inside the trunk were about 9 fuel pumps new and used! we removed the tank, cleaned it, ran new fuel line added a electric pump just for good measure, checked the pickup line, put on a know good carb off another car we owned, the car would crap out just around the time we would shift from low range to high with the overdrive, we were convinced that the car had to have some sort of electrical short with the ignition and the overdrive, well after 2 weeks of fighting this problem we decided to re track  our steps, starting with the fuel tank we remove it, than removed the pickup line again and low and behold just by chance in the right sunlight there were a few very small rust holes at the very top of the pickup line where it exited the tank causing it suck air under a load. how we missed it the first time around i don't know, but every time we go thru a fuel system since than we start by fabricating a new Pickup, Good luck, don't give up

BigSky

Oddly enough, I remember that my pickup tube was originally a little lose so I soldered it back up real good before I began the reassembly of the tank.  I’ll have to add it to my check list.

BigSky

FOUND THE PROBLEM!

My Mechanic friend came over & we bypassed the key ignition then grounded each spark plug to the head, so it wouldn’t fire as it idled.  When this was done, one could tell a difference in the idle by elimination of that cylinder firing.  We noticed #1 & 2when grounded didn’t change how it ran.  Then at a second round of grounding each plug we noticed different plugs not effecting the idle, we noticed #5 & #1.  The third time grounding each plug gave us 1, 4 & 6 not changing the way it ran when grounding the plug to the head.  Weird, but my friend thought at least between #1&2 there maybe a leak in the gasket.  Not enough of a leak to get radiator fluid in the wrong place but enough to leak compression, etc to the other cylinder next to it.  So pulling off the head would be the next step.

As those who’ve followed my adventures with this coupe recall, a few days ago a bolt came out of the radiator and sprayed radiator fluid everywhere.   Well not only did I receive damage during that episode but the radiator was also damaged and now is leaking.  Since I have to once again pull the radiator out for a 3rd time in 2 years, I drained the fluid from the radiator & the block and we proceeded to pull the head off. Thankfully nothing & no one was damaged in the process however, we soon found the problem.  Cylinders were indeed leaking back & forth between each other.  In the photos you should be able to see the black between each cylinder; 1&2, 2&3, 4&5, 5&6!  

Having trouble uploading the images but will try again soon. 

Val

Well congrats! Glad you have it under control now. I know it can be frustrating. Looking forward to the pics and you having her running good again. Keep us posted 

keithfullmeryahoocom

Be careful!  Proceed with extreme caution!

Uncle Josh

That would do it

BigSky

Pictures....





Question: will there be a stamp on the pistons to if they are an oversized? 

BigSky

I guess I’ll pose the elephant in the room....
”how far do I go with a re-fresh/rebuilding on the engine?

Since she needs a clutch and the radiator needs fixing again, I am thinking of just pulling the engine & trans together that way I can do engine & trans work outside the car.  

The engine; I could feel a little play in the rings on at least one cylinder and figured I probably need to do a valve job, so I was thinking “as long as I’m this far.....”.   Which can lead to a lot of $$$ & time not getting it done.  Naturally I won’t know the condition of other things until the engine is pulled out & further disassembled.  However, just looking at a valve job brings up a lot of options... do I just check um & hand lap & done, or do I start replacing things?   If new valves are needed is there a modern way to go & what’s all involved with that change?   Does the block need to go to a machine shop?  I don’t want to have to redo bearings for the $$ alone so that may dictate a lot.  Do I change to an aluminum timing gear if I don’t have one?  

I guess the list list can go on for quite a while with all the “if’s”, but since this is my first time ever having to do internal work on an engine I’d love some feedback.  One last thing, if changing valves, has anyone gone with bigger valves or done porting work in & around the valve area & is there benefits to these things?   Thanks!

MikeSheridan

You certainly need to mill the head and the top of the block to make sure everything is flat so you can seal it when redone. Getting the studs out of the block are one of the harder things to do. I don't know of any changes to the valves to do. Yes rings and pistons if needed due to wear in the bore. Yes, it will all be relatively expensive, but you really have no choice. Get the engine to someone who really knows doing Hudson engines like Doug Wildrick or Randy Maas. I've heard many horror stories from your local machine shop not knowing and not doing the job needed. Yes it is going to be inconvienent to get the engine to one of those guys. It also won't get done overnight. But it will be done right in the end. There may be other Hudson folks who can do a good job that I am just not thinking of. Al Saffaran just came to mind. 

Val

Mike, I agree 100%! BigSky you will want it done right. From you location I would guess Randy Maas would be the closest. I took my car to Doug. Great service and great work done! I'm sure Randy does as well I just cant speak from experience on that. But I have bought parts from Randy and have had great service in that.  

BigSky

Thanks for the input and I know those guys recommended do fabulous work.  However, I’ve got someone here who knows what he’s doing with old Hudson’s so I’ve got that covered. 

barrysweet52

I lapped a set of valves in recently. Next time I will have no hesitation to get a machine shop to do it as it doesnt cost a lot. Its simple and easy to lap valves but time consuming. New valve guides dont cost a lot. Not hard to do. Guides can get very brittle with heat and age. If you get someone to show you how to remove a guide, and how to remove a piston to fit rings, I would be very surprised if you couldnt do the rest of them.