Palmy's Winter Projects season 2

Max162

Hello fellow Hudsonites.

It's been a while since I last wrote something on the forum - been a busy and strange summer time up there in Quebec with the virus still stricking just like anywhere else- but since winter is at my door, it is also time for Molly my 54 Hudson Super Wasp to rest in the garage for at least six month, waiting for the good weather to return.



First thing first, I need to give an update regarding my automatic transmission that I worked on last winter.

Even with the tranny's front pump gaskets and O-rings changed, the leak is still present, but I still drove the car for the sake of preventing other potential problems to appear while being stationnary and also because driving it was missing me so much. I still have to keep checking the fluid's level and fill it back up when I have the slightest feel of slip on the tranny.

For this year I'll not touch it as I'm still scratching my head why it's leaking and where it is. The only question I have right now -and it's weird one I admit- is if the auto. transmission fluid's viscosity can affect in a way. Once the winter over, I'll go find an antique car expert that is willing to check it out for sure.

but what would be the projects in store for Molly this winter? There will be a bit smaller than last year.

The first one I want to tackle is the installation of the spotlight and the fog lights too.



As seen on the picture I've already have the spotlight since last winter and I should have everything (yes, I also have the proper template thanks to John Forkner) I need to install it. I just need to do some research to check if the bracket I have is the right one for Molly. If you have any tips or suggestions, feel free to give them . As for the fog lights I still need to buy them, but since I have all the winter, I'll get them once I'm done with the spotlight.

The other projects would be more on the even small size like tidying things up: adding relays for the headlights, replacing some interior escutcheons and moldings, and also some small paintings like the Wasp plate sitting on the car's trunk and the wheel hubcaps too.





As you can see, having a newer paint will make them prettier, and I want to paint them with the origianl colors for them. Any suggestions for this project would be weclome as it would be the first time for me. 

I'll be looking forward for the great advises you will give to me and maybe even inspire other to do the same.

Until next time,

your Autistic Hudsoneer,

Max

54coupe

I would use One Shot sign painters enamel for the white and red on the chrome parts. The blue was a semi transparent color that you will have to play with. You might try to contact Press Kale about the colors, he restores hubcaps, and may be able to lead you in the right direction.

Max162

December 8th

Hello fellow Hudsonites,

One of the small projects is nearly done. The spotlight is installed and looks stunning good on Molly.


When I bought the spotlight last year, I didn't have the template for the car nor the right bracket. Thankfully John Forkner did sent me the template and I've bought the proper bracket for the job.


After the installation, it does look like this:

At first I thought the outside mirrior would be in the way of the spotlight, but it eneded not to be the case as I can easily do a 360 degree turn to the spotlight without touching the mirror at all. Though I might be tempted to try to get Hudson mirrors and see if they are a bit bigger than those I have at the moment. I think Wildrick does have some for sale.


As for the interior side of the spotlight, it's nicely tucked inside with nearly no obstruction except maybe for the wiper switch, but overall I'm happy with the result.

the only step remaining is to plug the cable and for now I may have two options. Option one is to simply plug it to the ignition switch but from what I saw at first glance is that it seems to be already alot of wires on it and I don't know I'll be able to cram another wire on it. 


option two is to plug it to this circuit breaker seen on the picture here sitting next to my flasher unit under the dashboard. There is plenty of space on the bracker to receive it, but I don't know if the spotlight will work on this breaker or if it's safer to simply plug it to the ignition switch. Your expertise on this is welcome.

The next project will be the fog/ driving lights. Just have to buy a set, gather what I need and install them.

Until next time,

Your Autistic Hudsoneer, 

Max

onerare39

Looks good Max!

One thing I'll mention so you don't think something is shorting out.  When the light is on and you rotate the spotlight towards the passenger area, the light will turn off automatically so as not to blind the driver and passengers. Mine is designed that way, yours may be also.

John Forkner

Max162

January 7th 2021

Hello fellow Hudsonites,

Hope you're all doing well as the year 2021 is in march. As for me, I took a bit of my little time tinkering on Molly, preparing her of the next summer time hopefully.

During the holiday I received the driving lights I ordered from Dale Cooper and they look great.

I intalled them on the car, done the wiring and plugged the battery back for testing and... they didn't work.

"Darn it, bugger!"

I'm sure I messed up somewhere in the installation process, but I don't know where. For sure they are pretty on the car, but they need to work.

From this problem comes two questions in my mind: Could it be a bad ground  or could it be a bad wiring? The first one is if the issue comes from a bad gound. As the lights only have one cable comming out from the lights, they should  take it from the supports that are screwed to the car. 


As seen on the picture above, the lights are screwed on the bumper, but as I looked on pictures of other Hudson stepdowns with the driving lights, most of them aren't placed on the bumper itself, but rather between the grille and the bumper and I'm wondering if I installed them at the wrong place.

the other question is related to the wiring I've done for the lights. I followed the wiring instructions that came with the lights but the car is working with the old, yet still reliable 6 Volts electrical system with the ground on the Positive (+) side. I'm wondering if I made a mistake while wiring it. Any suggestion or hypothesis are welcome. I'll look back on the wiring instructions to see where I messed up in the meantime.

I was also looking for some paints for another small project of repainting the hubcaps and the Wasp trunk emblem and while looking for the porper red shade for the emblem I realize that I may have one sitting  near me all this time: the red touch-up paint of my 2015 Dodge Challenger. 


I compared with only red painted part in my car (one of the Twin-H Power air cleaner ) and it seems to be  quite close indeed, with the touch-up paint having a little darker shade ( can't quite see it on the picture, sorry ). I'll be on the lookout for the proper colors before starting this little project. 

Until the next update, take care and have fun with your Hudson.

Your Autistic Hudsoneer,

Max

superwasp

Max, I think you mounted those properly. I was just researching this recently as well. I found numerous installation methods. The issue I've found with attaching those to the splash/filler pan is minor vibration causes major wobble in lighting. Stick with your bumper mounts!
I assume you are sure there is constant power from your wire? My PO had mine on a circuit under the dash that sometimes didn't work for a reason I never identified. I abandoned that circuit and ran a new circuit just for the fogs with a breaker.
On another note, I see you're running H4 headlights. Are those secondary bulbs drilled into the bottom? What do you use those for?

Max162

Those will be driving lights. I haven't adjusted yet as I wanted to ensure that the electrical system will work first. In fact, it also came with a relay along with the wiring instructions. Maybe trying to put a relay made the wiring a bit more complicated than it should be... I'll look on the diagram tomorrow. 

superwasp

Nice. Share a pic of the driving lights when you're done. I'm curious about those.
For what it's worth, I did have a relay recently that gave me issues closing for the very first time. Once it finally closed the first time it worked fine after that. Made cheap in China...