How hard is it to....

Unknown

..Put a different chassis under a '48-'53 Hudson? I mean, totally remove the stock chassis, and put in a different one. I know they're welded to the body, but has anyone ever done this before?

Unknown

they're unibody construction. I think your best bet is to subframe and change rear, adapt, or do some sort of quasi swap, where you make room for the frame of your choosing. I don't think it is quite as simple as cutting some supports out, and laying the car on a frame. Interesting question...

vmike

In one of the Tex Smith books I have there is an article showing the setting of a 50 or there abouts merc body on a 70's vintage gm unibody pan of the same wheelbase. This is probably the route one would have to take in the case of a stepdown. It looked like the same amount of work as everything else, twice as much as one would think.



mike

rambos_ride

Well - the "easiest" route is to replace the sub-frame with the Fatman Stub Kit or a newer model subframe or cradle and redo the rear end as mentioned by others.

Even though the Hudson is unibody constructed you can section out the areas and build pockets to drop the tub down over a full frame with mounting points - it's a ton more work but can be done...check out this cool Hudson - although I believe they built their own frame, the principle is the same.

http://www.carpoint.com.au/Tig/Minisite/Minisite.aspx?alias=carpointau&id=7338

You'd have to do some research to see what modern frame replacement would provide the 124" wheel base and track width to match the Hudson.

Honestly though - if I were to build a Hudson that I wanted to put air-ride on and spank it to the ground - and I didn't care about cutting up the floor that's exactly what I'd do.

The sectioning alone could easily drop the body 2-4" going from a stock ride height of 8" to 4" without any suspension drop :cool:

If you chose the correct installation buying and setting up the air-ride would be about 1/2 the cost of a custom system and essentially would be a bolt on affair at that point.

As with all things custom - it's all about time, money, and resources.

Unknown

Hey Turbopacman, I see you are from Salina Kansas, one of the best all time custom car towns.If you look around there you will no doubt find alot of lead sled Mercs with their bodies sitting on 80's something GM chassis, which was and is a pretty good fix.

I have a friend putting a 41 Cad sedanet on a 96 Chev cop car, with the LT1This is going to be a good fit. The thing is, it takes out buying alot of high price parts and substitutes cutting and fitting a body to a chassis and using the engineering that Gm put in their car. I have ridden in that cop car at 130mph and it's not a slouch.

Barry

Unknown

the one possible problem is the rear wheel width of the hudson is really narrow---even if you narrow the new axle

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you will have to cut off and reposition the the cool new suspension components you just welded on----better to do subframe clip on the front and alter the rear original frame to match your new narrowed axle---bob

Unknown

barry wrote:

Hey Turbopacman, I see you are from Salina Kansas, one of the best all time custom car towns.If you look around there you will no doubt find alot of lead sled Mercs with their bodies sitting on 80's something GM chassis, which was and is a pretty good fix.

I have a friend putting a 41 Cad sedanet on a 96 Chev cop car, with the LT1This is going to be a good fit. The thing is, it takes out buying alot of high price parts and substitutes cutting and fitting a body to a chassis and using the engineering that Gm put in their car. I have ridden in that cop car at 130mph and it's not a slouch.

Barry

Actually, we just moved to Wichita, on the 1st, so thanks for reminding me to change my profile!!



As for the frame matching the wheelbase, I'm not too concerned about that with the plan I have in mind, if I can just find a '48-'53 Hudson coupe body, and I don't care what the floors look like, they'll be gone. All I need is the glass, and the shell, the whole interior can be gone, including the dash and steering column.



Here's why:



I recently bought a '56 Patrician parts car, and now I have this nice Torsion Level chassis laying around.... I got's ta thinkin', wow, wouldn't it be real neat to find an old '48-'53 Hudson coupe and put that body on the Packard chassis? Oh yeah, the thing's a Stepdown Monobuilt, I'm up a creek now.... Well, wait a minute, maybe I can find a real rusty one that is real cheap, that I can cut the frame out of, build new floors, and drop on? Hmm, that's a good idea!!..... Wait, the Packard chassis is a 127" WB, and the Hudson is 124"..... Hmmm, I wonder what the Stepdown Hudson would look like with a '56 Packard Senior front end on it? Lengthen the front fenders and hood to take up the space needed.... Hey, might as well add the dash and most of the interior trim, too! So, I'm now on the lookout for a '48-'53 Stepdown coupe to do some measuring on, to compare with the Packard to see if it could even be done....





So, there you have it, the cat's out of the bag. I figured if I can find a cheap enough coupe body, I could combine my two favorite auto manufacturers into one unique automobile!



Let the slaying begin!!

Unknown

savoy64 wrote:

the one possible problem is the rear wheel width of the hudson is really narrow---even if you narrow the new axle

---

you will have to cut off and reposition the the cool new suspension components you just welded on----better to do subframe clip on the front and alter the rear original frame to match your new narrowed axle---bob

As for the rear end problem, it's no problem, a '96 Cougar independent rear is what I'll use, I've put them in there before.

rambos_ride

Turbopackman wrote:

Actually, we just moved to Wichita, on the 1st, so thanks for reminding me to change my profile!!

As for the frame matching the wheelbase, I'm not too concerned about that with the plan I have in mind, if I can just find a '48-'53 Hudson coupe body, and I don't care what the floors look like, they'll be gone. All I need is the glass, and the shell, the whole interior can be gone, including the dash and steering column.

Here's why:

I recently bought a '56 Patrician parts car, and now I have this nice Torsion Level chassis laying around.... I got's ta thinkin', wow, wouldn't it be real neat to find an old '48-'53 Hudson coupe and put that body on the Packard chassis? Oh yeah, the thing's a Stepdown Monobuilt, I'm up a creek now.... Well, wait a minute, maybe I can find a real rusty one that is real cheap, that I can cut the frame out of, build new floors, and drop on? Hmm, that's a good idea!!..... Wait, the Packard chassis is a 127" WB, and the Hudson is 124"..... Hmmm, I wonder what the Stepdown Hudson would look like with a '56 Packard Senior front end on it? Lengthen the front fenders and hood to take up the space needed.... Hey, might as well add the dash and most of the interior trim, too! So, I'm now on the lookout for a '48-'53 Stepdown coupe to do some measuring on, to compare with the Packard to see if it could even be done....


So, there you have it, the cat's out of the bag. I figured if I can find a cheap enough coupe body, I could combine my two favorite auto manufacturers into one unique automobile!

Let the slaying begin!!

Are you set on a 2dr? There was a perfect body only 2dr on CL in my area no floors - sold for 600-800 I think.

I've always thought a streched 4 door Stepdown - so the front door is as wide as the back would look just different enough AND be more functional as a driver.

This would be easy (well easy as it can be) - 2 coupe doors 2 original rear doors and split it right down the center to add the needed length.

Unknown

Yeah, I'm set on a coupe, I've had 4 doors all my life, and I want something a little more "sporty". Besides, I think this'll be a good home for the 374 and T56 combo I'm working on. I may have to retire my Patrician after this is done and use the "Packson" as a daily, while I restore the '56 Patrician to stock condition. Too many options, too many ideas, and most importiantly, too many projects!! This is why this is in the "idea" stage, to feel out what could/can be done. And a Stepdown coupe in the condition I want will be a heck of a lot cheaper and more available that the '56 Packard 400 I've been looking for.

[Deleted User]

find a shell that has at least most of the floor left, boots (trunk to you lot) rust out on these babies so that makes a good excuse to replace the rear subframe with a notched one while you replace that. not keen on that? shorten the patrician wheel base and axle down a bit and channel the body over that thing

Unknown

There is no shortening of the wheelbase on a Torsion Level chassis. I can cut a little off of the front frame horns, and a little off the rear end, but the main chassis and the wheelbase stays the same.



Since this is sounding like a heck of a lot of work, I think I might try doing a '46-'47 Hudson 2 door sedan that I have laying around. I do love the looks of the stepdown body, though!

[Deleted User]

Don't give up on the stepdown coupe Turbo. Watch the WTN or just ask around and someone might just have one. My extra coupe body is missing the doorposts, doors, rear fenders, trunk lid, glass and interior, so probably wouldn't be good for you. But one may come along.

I'm going the Fatmans front route and undecided on the rear yet. But the rear will be modified to whatever has to be done to bag it.

Good luck on your search.

Jay

Unknown

I may do what others had suggested on the 'Ol Skool Rodz forum, and just find a Packard coupe to drop on, something like a '48-'50. It'd be a wee bit easier.

Unknown

we all talk about matching the wheelbase----but how about matching the track width? front and rear are way different on a stepdown. that means whatever modern platform you use you will have to narrow the rear

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that may open a whole new can of worms---bob