Introduction

InlineEric

Hello, my name is Eric and after trying off and on for a month, it seems I am finally able to join! Every time I would try and sign up, I'd get to the pic captcha and get a message saying that it could not contact the captcha people. I looked for a help email, but could not find anything... oh well, it finally worked!!
I bought my first Hudson about a month ago and I love it!... I have this forum to thank for that as this is where I found it. A week or so after I got it home, I attended a local car show and just out of pure luck, met and had lunch with the local Hudson Club:

My main residence is MI, but as of right now I am in FL (where the pic was taken) for the winter. 
I kind of fell in love with the Hudson step downs 4 or 5 years ago while watching an episode of chasing classic cars with Wayne Carrini, and have occasionally been looking for one ever since. I just happened to be looking one day when I thought, I wonder if there are any Hudson forums... well, as you know, there is and right on the front page was a beautifully restored 1952 Pacemaker. I called the owner Brandon and after talking to him, I knew it would be perfect for me. It was just a days drive away, so I drove to Atlanta on a Sat, hung out with Brandon talking about Hudsons and test driving the Car on Sun, then drove to MI to get plates, reg, Insurance taken care of... then drove back to FL.  I had a trip planned for Las Vegas and thought this would be the perfect car to drive as it was perfect mechanically. The trip to Vegas was cancelled due to obvious reasons, but I would have bought the Hudson anyway. 
Before I bought this one, I had been eyeballing another one local to me, but it seemed a little pricey for what it was and I needed one in better condition if I had any hope of making it to Vegas. After driving the Pacemaker though, I was hooked and just for fun, I decided to go look at the one I had seen a month earlier. I ended up offering them a price a lot lower than they were asking and they accepted... I was happy and a little sad, as I probably don't need another at the moment, but mostly happy, lol. It is a 1954 Super Wasp:

Kdancy

Welcome aboard!

Glad to see someone new get such a nice car. Brandon did a great job on that Pacemaker and did it the right way.

 

Glowplug

Eric, thank you for the update.  Brandon is a friend who shared his build with me over the time of its restoration. I got to ride in your car while he visited a meet here in Texas.  Your Hudson journey can be helped by those who visit here as well as the HET Club members. 

Ken Cates - visit my website for information and contacts to assist in maintaining your Hudson. 

https://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com/

Jon B

Welcome aboard, Eric!  Thanks with your "capcha persistence", and I'm sorry it gave you so much trouble.

InlineEric

@Kdancy Thank You! Yes he did.

InlineEric

@Glowplug Thank You! … Yes, I plan on signing up to the HET Club soon. 
I have already been doing some reading on your site... Thanks for maintaining it. I'm sure it will be a valuable resource for maintaining my Pacemaker and for when I start restoring the Super Wasp.

InlineEric

@Jon B No problem… I only get internet through my phone as I live in the woods, so it is pretty slow... I'm guessing it times out before getting a response from the captcha servers.

InlineEric

 I was worried that a car this old would not be a good daily driver, but after talking to Brandon on the phone and learning that it was his daily driver and how meticulously he rebuilt and set everything up, I was convinced this was simply not true and he was definitely right. Until I bought the Pacemaker from Brandon, I had never driven a car or truck older than maybe 1972. The first few days of driving a 1952 vehicle with skinny Bias ply tires was a little scary, but every day I drove it, I felt more and more comfortable and after 2 weeks, I don't want to drive anything else, lol. I drive it almost every day and I will for sure never drive a so called modern car again if I can help it. I have driven it in all kinds of traffic and on the interstate (it cruises at 70 effortlessly). Brandon kept it original with the 232 and if I had one complaint it would be that I wish I had a tad more power as I have to push the 232 pretty hard to keep up with traffic around here, but other than that it is perfect and the Super Wasp has the 262. I bought some parts from Brandon that will wake up the 262 a little more as well. I move pretty slow though, so that is a ways down the road.
Eric

Jon B

Using my magical powers, I moved this discussion to the "Hudson" category.  It certainly doesn't deserve to be in "Off Topic" as far as I can see!

VicTor Z

Glowplug posted this Hudson early. You got a great BUY!
https://openforum.hetclub.org/discussion/173012/1952-pacemaker-for-sale-restored-by-brandon-wight-11-500-obo#latest

Kdancy

Eric, there are some things to keep an eye on that are not so much necessary on late model vehicles. Try to use non ethanol gas always. The "whiskey gas" does not like carburetors at all!

Remember to adjust the valves, this will depend on how much you drive it, I do them every 10,000 miles or so, the gas quality will affect the time and mileage between adjustments.

Of course, grease lubing will be on a regular basis, not like modern vehicles.  Make sure you learn where all the grease fitting locations are and don't forget to check the steering box grease level. I use John Deere corn head grease for the box. The short wheel base models are not as sturdy as the lwb models so checking that box is imperative.  

InlineEric

It has been a while since I have been around. I am currently in MI and the Pacemaker is still in FL. The rearend developed a leak and I was afraid to drive it after that. Also, vaporlock was an issue in FL, but probably won't be near as bad once I get it to MI.

Anyway, I do hope to get back to FL next month and bring it back and get out to some car shows once I find someone to replace the seal in the rearend. (I don't have a shop and I don't want to attempt it in the sand.)

Hope everyone is doing ok... I took a break from automotive endeavors to work on my property and to start work on a garden.

Eric

InlineEric

I made it back to FL at the very beginning of Feb, and had plans to start driving my Hudson. I knew it needed a new rearend seal, and my plan was to fill the rearend with lube and then start taking it on short trips to figure out how much is leaking and try to get an idea of how far I could drive without running to low, until I could get it fixed. I could not do that as the battery was dead. I ordered a 6 v battery charger and could not get the battery charged fully. After a week, I installed it and it had plenty of juice to turn the 232 over easily, but it won't start. I tried a little starting fluid, but can't get it to fire. Since then I bought a little thingy that goes between the plug wire and plug to check for fire. I have not had time to mess with it, but plan to in the next week. I'm guessing the points are corroded from the FL humidity? or maybe a condenser? Anyway I miss driving it and hopefully I'll be back on the road soon. I'll also be joining the club soon and look forward to getting out to some events.

Jon B

Welcome back, Eric.  Glad you'll be joining the Club and I would definitely join the Orange Blossom chapter in Florida, if only to tap into the Hudson network down there.  Generally, Hudson owners are a "giving" bunch and with any luck you'll get to know one in your area who could perhaps give you some hands-on information on how to keep yours running smoothly.  And give you the names of some good reliable shops that work on older cars.  Having nearby Hudson friends is well worth the cost of a chapter membership!

How long has it been since your car last ran?  If it's been awhile, that gasoline could have gone stale.  First, check for spark and shine up the mating surfaces of the points. If that doesn't help, then get a  can full of gas and run a rubber hose from it to the fuel pump (i.e. bypass the car's gas tank and fuel line).  If the gas level in the can doesn't go down, you know the pump's bad!  Still no luck?  Try a new condenser.  (Rule #1: it's always the condenser!)  Keep a bunch of new condensers in your glove box.

InlineEric

It sat for approx 8 months. I wanted to make it back in Aug, but that did not happen obviously. I never put anything in it except for alcohol free, so I hope that helps.

Need to order a points file... my auto arts store did not have them.

I will do that as a few NOS came with the car.

Thanks

2manyprojects

where in michigan do you live? there are  a group of club members around grand rapids.

InlineEric

2manyprojects said:

where in michigan do you live? there are  a group of club members around grand rapids.

I am in the lower part of the thumb and I am in the Detroit area quite often as well. GR is not that far away. I would like to bring it with me, but I don't have a garage to park it in when in MI at the moment, and I do in FL. I will eventually stay in MI all year so I will be around one of these days.

Val

Welcome Eric, love the 54s

Hans

There are many members in the Michigan.  The  Hudson Home Chapter has  a meeting in Harper Woods Mi, on May the 8th. 

Contact me for more info in Adrian MI
Hans  517-2  six  3 - 3  six  six  6

InlineEric

Val said:

Welcome Eric, love the 54s

Thanks!

InlineEric

Hans said:

There are many members in the Michigan.  The  Hudson Home Chapter has  a meeting in Harper Woods Mi, on May the 8th. 

Contact me for more info in Adrian MI
Hans  517-2  six  3 - 3  six  six  6I

 I won't be back in time and if I can't get it running I probably won't be bringing it back to Michigan with me this year... thank you very much for the invitation and I for sure will be in contact when I get the car back to Michigan

InlineEric

I finally had time to mess around with the pacemaker today... was not sure how to replace the condenser as the screws for the wires did not seem accessible as they are recessed inside the distributor... I found a New Old Stock coil in my parts so I swapped it out instead... I also cleaned up the points but no luck yet.

Is it generally easier to just remove the distributor before changing out points and condenser... I don't think my back could take being bent over the Fender to replace points and condenser for that long lol... not to mention I would probably drop all of these small washers and screws

Are the pertronix units reliable nowadays?

Thanks in advance I did look at my procedure manual but it is not very detailed... I was also wondering has anyone made videos on the mechanical aspects of a Hudson... I'd buy them if someone did

Jon B

I think the later Hudson engines had a distributor shaft that was keyed, so there is only one way to replace it.  So I would recommend removing the distributor to work on it.

You say the manual isn't detailed: are you looking at the factory shop manual?  There's a wealth of downloadable manuals and tech sheets at the main H-E-T website, within the online library.

Val

You asked about pertronix. I had one in my 39 six. It burnt out. Reasoning is that the pertronix will NOT work with solid core plug wires. It ran good for about a 8 months before it died out. I think it's good otherwise. Just don't b use solid core wire.

InlineEric

Thanks Jon... going to head out and mess with it this afternoon
Yes I have the factory manual... it tells you how to test the condenser but not how to replace it. Maybe there is another section I missed.

InlineEric

Val said:

You asked about pertronix. I had one in my 39 six. It burnt out. Reasoning is that the pertronix will NOT work with solid core plug wires. It ran good for about a 8 months before it died out. I think it's good otherwise. Just don't b use solid core wireThanks for the reply... it seems that half of the reviews are good and half are bad as far as pertronix goes

InlineEric

After spending some time tinkering I went out and bought a new battery today and that fixed everything... never thought that a battery that had enough juice to turn the engine over would not have enough for the ignition system... I was apparently wrong lol... wasted some time but also learned something

InlineEric

 this morning I was able to get the rear end jacked up and checked the rear end fluid... the level was only slightly below the plug. Using a funnel with a flexible hose I was able to get a little more fluid in it before taking it out on a long drive... it was fun!