Hudson 308 and 4 Carbs?

Unknown

Is it possible to put 4 single barrel carbs on a hudson 308 to increase horse power?

Uncle Josh

You want to talk to Steve Farkaly. farkaly@earthlink.net but his box got a virus so call at (317) 486-0469 He builds Hot Hudsons, and has multi-carb experience with them.

Unknown

You can build an intake manifold, so it is likely possible, but not a good idea. First, the reason old hot rods ran multiple carburetors (four or six two barrels on a V8, for example,) was to get air into the engine. It is easy to get gas in, (just increase the jet size) but air is the problem. Back in the early days, there simply were no large and functional carburetors that flowed enough air, hence hot rodders used lots of small carbs to get power. Modern carburetors can flow a large volume of air, so having four today is without purpose. Plus, you are talking about four one barrel carbs...what is the problem with 2 two barrel carbs as the Twin H Power supplies? Same number of barrels, with much less tuning hassle, because anytime you have more than one carb, you have to carefully balance them to run properly. Futhermore, 308 cubic inches is not a large engine by today's standards. A single modern four barrel, or a good working Twin H setup is the way to go. If you want to experiment, and have something unusual, retrofit one of the modern (such as Edelbrock) fuel injection units...but four one barrels would be a tuning nightmare that would likely underperform a good Twin-H setup.

Unknown

Are you interested in building a nostalgic looking performance engine or do you just happen to have four carburetors? Mooneyes makes an EFI system that replicates the look of multiple carbs, kind of pricey for my taste though:



http://www.mooneyes.com/MISC/drive.html



When it comes to possibilities you can bolt on as many carbs as physically possible but there's a point where you just aren't going to get any horsepower gains. I believe Clifford has (or had) an intake available for sidedraft Webers (basically three large two barrel carbs), even this might be overkill. Personally, I'd be interested in what kind of results could be had from a nostalgic-looking efi system and a paxton supercharger.

Unknown

don't listen to those guys,4 bbl. carbs are BORING,4 1 bbl. carbs are COOL http://www.hotrod.com/0306_hudson/index2.html i like the homemade 3 1 bbl. setup in the first photo.use the search function,they have some other neat Hudson articles too-george

Unknown

and don't forget www.uncommonengineering.com

Unknown

Greetings from Colorado!



Everyone keeps mentioning fuel injection. Is there a "bolt-on" FI system available that has seen proven/reliable use on a 308 Hudson?



I realize that it's a lot of work to upgrade a vehicle to FI, but given the benefits it might be an option. I know that when I tool out to California each spring, towing my teardrop trailer, I cross 8 mountain ranges. And I have to say that I am spoiled by the TBI injecton om my 4.3L Astro. Always starts right now. Idles smoothly. Good power at any elevation and decent fuel mileage all things considered.



If someone has already designed a FI system that can be used on the Hornet, far out! That means that I don't have to.... As they say: "The wheel has already been invented..."



George T

Unknown

In response to George T:



Here is a Rod and Custom article on the Mooneyes EFI:



http://rodandcustommagazine.com/techarticles/135_0406_efi/



This seems to be as close as it gets to "bolt-on" for a Hudson anyway. Depending on how much effort vs money you are willing to part with you could go two other routes. Many people have adapted a later-model vehicles EFI systems to earlier applications, Ford used an EFI 4.9 liter I6 in it's F-series trucks up until 1996 (that's very close to a Hudson 308). You could also go with Megsquirt and fuel inject anything you can think of:



http://www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html



Plenty of choices, good luck.

Unknown

Edelbrock makes a line of excellent 4 barrel carbs. One of these could be adapted to your 308 and you would have much less tuning trouble than you would suffer with 4 1 barrel carbs. I don't know if anyone makes an intake manifold for a 4 barrel so you would probably have to cobble together your own adaptor.

Club Coupe

newhudson wrote:

Edelbrock makes a line of excellent 4 barrel carbs. One of these could be adapted to your 308 and you would have much less tuning trouble than you would suffer with 4 1 barrel carbs. I don't know if anyone makes an intake manifold for a 4 barrel so you would probably have to cobble together your own adaptor.

Clifford ofered a 4 bbl intake for Hudsons at one time. I ever saw only one in use and that was in the early 1970's. I remember the car well; a 1953 Hornet 4 door with Clifford headers, the 4 bbl set up and a Clifford cam. Had a Sun tach mounted on top of the dash and Stewart-Warner oil, temp and amp gauges hanging underneath. Three speed tranny. To say that the car "ran" would be an understatement. The man that owned it (who's name has escaped me ovet the years) was probably in his mid to late 60's at that time. Point is . . . there is (was) a 4 bbl intake made. Now finding one may be a whole 'nudder story.

SuperDave

I have heard of a fellow that installed the Moon eye FI on a Model A Ford for banger! Said it was Awsome! He had a little trouble getting it tuned, but said it was well worth it!

FWIW.. Dave

Unknown

Club Coupe wrote:

Clifford ofered a 4 bbl intake for Hudsons at one time. I ever saw only one in use and that was in the early 1970's. I remember the car well; a 1953 Hornet 4 door with Clifford headers, the 4 bbl set up and a Clifford cam. Had a Sun tach mounted on top of the dash and Stewart-Warner oil, temp and amp gauges hanging underneath. Three speed tranny. To say that the car "ran" would be an understatement. The man that owned it (who's name has escaped me ovet the years) was probably in his mid to late 60's at that time. Point is . . . there is (was) a 4 bbl intake made. Now finding one may be a whole 'nudder story.

The installation of a Clifford aluminum 4BBL intake with an appropriately sized carb is a lot easier than many of the alternatives being discussed. I have had two cars with this set up, both 308 engines. One with and one without headers. They both ran well and gave reasonable gas mileage. The headers definately made a big difference. Both cars also has a Mallory Dual point distributor with high output coil. The Clifford manifold is apparently available again.. see this URL..... http://www.cliffordperformance.com/catalog/hudson_308_205362_products.htm



I am in the process of collecting the parts to restore a 56 Hornet Engine. I have a Clifford 4BBl manifold and 600cfm Edelbrock Carb which will join an electronic coverted Mallory distributor and cast 262 head as elements of my engine.

Good Luck...

Ken

Unknown

Greetings from Colorado Ken!



You talk about "electronic coverted Mallory distributor". Details available?



George T.