1933 Hudson splash guards

bent metal

The around the engine splash guards on any of these old cars are usually one of the first things to get lost or damaged.  Very hard to find good examples to even copy, as the originals were also made of thin 24ga (or so) material.  So they bent easy, and rusted out quick.  The customer had some fantastic samples for me to copy!  Which makes my job easier.  I made these new pieces, as original, but out of 18ga.  Which will be easier to paint, stronger, last longer, etc..

jjbubaboy

WOW! The "tin worm" needs to fear you and your work!
Jeff

MikeSheridan

I think these are the splash guards from my 33 which Russ Maas sent you to reproduce. The only reason the originals were even in this good of a shape is that they were filled with about 4 inches of oil saturated dirt, so they had a oil poultice to keep  them from rusting worse. But the new ones you made are superb. I hope you kept a pattern as there are others who may need some one day. As we know, these affect the cooling of the engine.

bent metal

Mr. Sheridan, yes you are right.  I did these for Mr. Maas.  I don't think I did save the patterns.  I used to save patterns.  Then I found they would sit for years, take up space.  Most would never be asked for again.  You would think it would be a good idea to save good patterns for all of this rare stuff that comes through the shop.  But I would need a room for just patterns, most never being used ever again.  Kind of a shame, really.

5433HET

Bent metal ,would you make me this piece behind the '33 Grille?

bent metal

5433HET, I could.  Don't have any '33 stuff in the shop right now to copy.  I would probably need the grill shell too, for fitting of that part.  The waiting list is several months right now.  But the sooner you get in line, and the time passes quickly.

MikeSheridan

We are lucky to have Perry with the tools and skills to make these parts for Hudsons for us.

tombia

  Had one of these for 50 years and knowing how hard it is to find parts.you better be glad

MikeSheridan said:

We are lucky to have Perry with the tools and skills to make these parts for Hudsons for us.

33kc1989

Great work and yes good ones for copy helps. 

barrysweet52

Yes we are lucky to have Bent. Wonder how he started to learn to do magic. Probably having a go, making a few mistakes and learning as you go along. I hope more people will have a go.
I showed my grandson a 1934 badly rusted panel and asked him where I could find another panel. I suggested at Bunnings, a big everything hardware complex. We agreed not likely. I then showed him the new panel I had made. I still remember his doubt that I had made it, and then his respect. 

bent metal

devin said:

Hello Bent. Might you have a lead on a '53 Hornet Sun visor for sale?

I have the brackets, no visors right now.

bent metal

 

The grill shell piece that 5433HET asked about was missing the bottom inch or so.  I had a hard time finding any pictures of an original.  Making a part like this can be tricky.  It's got to fit down in a hole behind the grill and the captured nuts need to line up with the grill.  So he ended up sending me the grill shell too so I could fit it all together. 

bent metal

A few more pics.  The edge trim line on the part is not straight because it goes around the holes for the split rivets that will later hold the grill shell welting.  ...and that's it.  All new metal, 18ga., should last another 80 years.

bent metal

While we were at it.  I did another set of splash guards.  These look the same as the 1933 Hudson ones I posted earlier.  But they are not the same.  If I remember right, the Hudson ones were just over four feet long.  The Terraplane Eight ones are just under four feet long.  But they look the same.  ...I did save the patterns this time.

bent metal

When doing restoration work, I try to copy the original piece "as they were".  You have to add the little details that most people wouldn't know about, but someone familiar with the car would recognize as a reproduction.  That means not improving, or correcting something that I think should have been a certain way, or as I think the engineers intended.  But making the part as it was when it was originally produced.  Notice where this large circle is cut out and a flange overlaps.  The flap extends too far into the round hole that was cut.  ...But that's how they were, so that's how I made the new part.  If you look back at the first set I made for the Hudson.  You can see the same detail, or "flaw" in that original set as well.  I copied that set "as they were" also.

bent metal

The finished parts, in 18ga.

33ET8conv

We are lucky to have such a talented craftsman willing to replicate these old Hudson parts. Beautiful work!

bent metal

This is a set of front fender splash guards that I straightened and fit to the front of a 1933 Terraplane Eight convertible.  Along with a duplicate, new set I made.