My '52 Hudson Wasp Hollywood has arrived at last! Twin H power and Ally head questions...

Monkeyspinner

My car arrived yesterday evening and i'm absolutely over the moon with it! it's now in my garage where I'm starting to empty it out of crap and parts and clean it up. I have found lots of parts so far that I thought may be missing. 

I was told there would be a Twin H Power set up included and there certainly is. The carbs look like they have been cleaned and rebuilt with rebuild kits. 

There is also an Aluminium head included which i knew nothing about, Its a Super Power Dome head for a 232ci. can anyone tell me if this is a Hudson or aftermarket head, will it fit a 262ci and is it worth fitting? 

Thanks

Tim 

 

cchancel

The 232 head is a drop-on fit to the wide-block 262 of the Wasp.  Installing the 232 head on the 262 engine will increase your compression resulting in better performance.  Your trunk came with a nice performance kit upgrade between the Twin-H gear and the 232 head.

Monkeyspinner

cchancel said:

The 232 head is a drop-on fit to the wide-block 262 of the Wasp.  Installing the 232 head on the 262 engine will increase your compression resulting in better performance.  Your trunk came with a nice performance kit upgrade between the Twin-H gear and the 232 head.

Thank you very much for the info. Do you know the best place to buy Gaskets for this conversion? 

Also, does anyone have photos of the thottle linkage(pedal to engine) on an automatic with the Twin H Carbs on? 

Glowplug

Being in England, import them from Dale Cooper.  His contact information is on my website.  https://hudsonrestoration1948-54.com/  There are linkage pictures on the website showing the twin H linkage for your car.  Good luck  Ken Cates

cchancel

The 232/262 wide-block (1951-1954) head gasket is harder to find.  I would start with Dale Cooper and if not  follow up with Wildrick and Maas.  Rarely, they show up on ebay.

ratlee2

Here is a picture of the twin H linage on my Super Wasp.  The rod attached at the lower fulcrum below the distributor attaches to the transmission kickdown and the other end attaches to the gas pedal rod.  

ratlee2

Looking at the linkage you have in your trunk, it appears to be for a long wheelbase car rather than the Wasp.  Unless they changed it in 1954.  I am guessing the linkage is off a 54 since the exhaust manifold in your trunk is painted red.

Ol racer

You have a nice project Car to begin with and a lot of rare parts.  Take your time, look everything over and this is the right place to ask questions.

ratlee2

Before you sell off your twin H parts, you should verify that it doesn't already have a 308 installed in it.

Monkeyspinner

Thanks for your replies, The engine is the original numbers matching 262ci. I have it on good authority that these carbs will work perfectly well on the engine with modifications to the exhaust down pipe and linkage.
I had the engine spinning over and it had reasonable compression on 5 cylinders. I have just removed the cylinder head and the bores look near perfect. I think any lack of compression is down to cruddy valves/valve seats. hopefully with a good de-coke and valve lapping all will be well. Next to do is remove the sump, clean it out and check the bottom end over. 

I have stripped all of the brakes except one rear, I'm really struggling to pull the drum off the L/H rear. trying to find someone local that i can borrow a hydraulic hub puller from. 

Uncle Josh

Hang the aluminum head on the wall.  More trouble than worth.

Monkeyspinner

Uncle Josh said:

Hang the aluminum head on the wall.  More trouble than worth.

I was just looking at it and thinking how shallow the combustion chambers are, especially where the exhaust valves are. I was going to have it skimmed before putting it on but concerned that the valve may hit. I placed it on the block and turned the engine over by hand. You can hear the exhaust valves touch the head when they come up. there is no head gasket so that would probably solve it... a bit close for comfort though! maybe it has been skimmed more than once already. 

So yes, I think you may be right, a nice wall ornament it will make 

Kdancy

Measure the head on both ends and in the middle with a mic. Hudson minimum spec is 1.94". The biggest thing is finding one in spec, even iron heads are not easy to find in spec.

How does the combustion side look? Corrosion?  use distilled water and run at least once a month to help prevent corrosion. When installing make sure you torque to spec and retorque after run in. Many people have run these for years with no problems but finding an "in spec" head is almost impossible.

Monkeyspinner

Kdancy said:

Measure the head on both ends and in the middle with a mic. Hudson minimum spec is 1.94". The biggest thing is finding one in spec, even iron heads are not easy to find in spec.

How does the combustion side look? Corrosion?  use distilled water and run at least once a month to help prevent corrosion. When installing make sure you torque to spec and retorque after run in. Many people have run these for years with no problems but finding an "in spec" head is almost impossible.

Thanks for the info, I will check the spec. 

Combustion side doesn't look to bed at all, corrosion wise. 

HUDSONBROTHER1

I've been running a 55 twin H carbs and manifold on the 262 in my 46 2 door since I put it together in 1981. It runs fine. I did drop the metering rods down a little on the carbs. With 3 speed overdrive and 4.10 gears and headers with dual exhaust. I've gotten as good as 20 mpg on the road and when split shifting it the car moves out pretty well. If it were me I would rebuild the carbs and put it on. The only problem I can foresee is if you don't have the exhaust manifold that match's the intake as 55 have a different exhaust pipe location but if it fits in the car use it or put on a set of headers.