Wanted--dead Or Alive

Unknown

An overdrive tranny that will work in a 37 Terraplane and still allow the use of the eleftric shift:

Jon B

Give up. No such animal.

Unknown

"WE SHALL NEVER SURRENDER" LOAD YOUR MUSKETS !! Well then , how about a stand alone O.D. unit !!??

Jon B

Stand-alone? You're giving up on Electric Hand, then? Well, I think any of the 41 and up Hudson OD's would be fine (the 40 is rather hard to find). And they are, I believe, synchromesh, so no more crunching of gears. Only drawback: you would have to use the column-mounted Handi-Shift. Which is no drawback, if you've ever tried to floor-shift with three people in the front seat...

Richard E.

Jon is right. If you use a '40 overdrive, you cannot use the Electric Hand, they are not compatible. I have solved this problem by installing the 3:50 rear end gears produced by the Railton Club in England in my just restored '36 T sedan. I still only have a few miles on it, but is seems to work fine and it will give me the ability to drive freeway speeds in the old girl. Ivan Zaremba, an HET member in the SF Bay Area is the agent for the guy who makes them in England. They run about $750 a set, which is less than you can get a good '40 overdrive for. It sounds like you want to keep you Electric Hand, for which I commend you. I am almost finished restoring mine to put in. It is one of the final touches on my restoration. I also plan on adding a right hand sidemount by Christmas. Happy Hudsoning!

Unknown

Well, all that's a no,yes,maybe on this end. The electric hand STAYS, no matter what !! By stand alone I meant that back in the 30"s --40"s there were some units made that you shortened your drive shaft and coupled together, no adapter houseing used,was one on Ebay not long ago but I could'nt compete with a couple other guys that found it, talk about drawin BLOOD, WHEW. Then there's the Laycocks, would have to make an adapter for those cause they don't make one for Terraplane. Yep, I'd go for a better rear ratio, but can't afford $1000 to get it. Then a while back somebody said there was a column shift Hudson unit that worked with some tinkering, can't remember who/ what, got sidetracked, Don't wanna go fast, just ease up on my little ole splasher and not get rear-ended cause goin too durn slow ! And thanks for the get backs, darn good bunch on here.--CLASHIN GEARS ? 55 yrs ago I was makin a livin in a Mack with a tri-plex in it, fer you youngsters that's 3,yup 3, gearshift levers to play with. My old motor home I got only got 2,neither syncoed, behind a little ole 4cyl Detroit Deisel.

Jon B

You might want to talk to Al Muller in Tennessee, he's in the National Roster. Back when he owned a 1938 Hudson convertible, he installed an Electric Hand in it and somehow made it work with a "later" Hudson overdrive transmission. It was a real bear, and I think he's an electrical engineer by profession, so be forewarned. AND, as he warned me, since this is adapted to the later (side lever) transmission, there is no way to "plug in" the emergency floor shift lever, should the power unit fail. (The emergency lever was included when you got the Electric Hand.



On another "front", you might consider the aftermarket overdrives that mount to the rear axle. Some Hudson guys (like Al Brintnall of Mass., and Ken Holmes of NY State) have adapted these to their 1920's cars for a bit more speed, however the last I heard the units were going for, like, $1200!



Some guys have mounted the 60's Mustang and MoPar rear axles in their pre-war Hudsons, to get a better gear ratio. These used to be available fairly cheaply from junkyards. There was even an article about this adaptation in the WTN, several years ago ("Making Your Terraplane into a Turnpike Cruiser" or something). Another possibility (used by my late friend "Pete" Sanders of Pa. on his '37 convertible) was to put in an axle from a StepDown with automatic transmission, this had a really good axle ratio (almost too good, LOL!) but it gave a narrower "track" so Pete had to use spacers to get the wheels back "out" where they belonged.

4Hud

I recommend you check out the "Making the Terraplane a Highway Cruiser" article in the Sept.-Oct. 1996 WTN by Bob Elton is the way to go. I did this mod in 1999 and it has very much improved the roadability of my '37 Terraplane.

[Deleted User]

Sorry, but i beg to differ with a lot of the answers here. The 40 overdrive (semi-electric) will work with the electric hand with some modifications since this is what I am currently involved in on my 37. 40 overdrives are worse than hen's teeth to find, & if you do, the price would overwhelm you as mine did me. I am ashamed to quote the moneys involved so far. I had hunted for many years for that transmission & when one finally became available, I hopped on it right away. If I had it to do over, I would definately go with the rear ratio modification however when I attempted to install the new gears made in England, they would not fit in the 37 rear housing. A word of caution.

Unknown

i second that rick, in 1996 i was playing with a t-bucket. who knew the car i have loved the most and is my keeper till death do us part would be a 37 terrible pain coupe, i don't know how you folks feel, but i got a shock, literally, the first time i saw and touched this girl. i knew it would mine someday. waited four years, lost her and then she came knocking and i have been inlove ever since that first day. sorry to spill my guts here, i blame it on touching/kissing the balarny stone. lol dermott.:eek: :eek:

Unknown

Now that's a'diggen up the info !! Thanks guys !! Gonna punch the PRINT button this time so I don't loose it. Not afraid to get into doin some serious modifications, Grandson says " if it's broke take it to Grampa " The later rear end is probably the most economical route, Hud guy not far from me may have one from some parts cars he stripped ,or the Mustang/ Mopar deal, lot"sa them around. Back in school days,buddy put 2 trannys in his A model, one backwards, shifted like the old Mack but it worked.

Unknown

4 HUD, have you or anyone else got the "highway cruiser" article , That's the good part about this forum, you can access a lot of stuff been tried and sort it out when you want to do what can't be done !! Most times somebody did do it !!

Jon B

I have the article scanned as a jpeg. I'll be happy to e-mail it if you'll send me your e-mail address (I can't use the Classiccar e-mail system as far as I know, because it only allows me to send you a message, not an attachment).



Mine is Xdetailed@verizon.net , delete the "X" first.



Lotta good stuff appears in the WTN, it's worth joining H-E-T if you're not yet a member!

35Terra

My 35 rear end was converted using a 54 Ford rear end. It had a better "highway" gear. Used same Hudson pumpkin/axles.



Bud, either of my trans work for you? I sent you pix awhile ago.



Jim

Unknown

i I HAVE A 40 OVERDRIVE UNIT COMPLETE WITH ALL ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS AND LINKAGE, JUST REMOVED FROM A 40 8 CYL COUNTRY CLUB. WILL TAK 1250.00 FOR IT, BILL ALBRIGHTS VINTAGE COACH, FONTANA, CA.

Geoff

One of our club members here fitted a Toyota 5-speed transmission to his '37 Terraplane coupe. Invilved minor surgery to the X-frame tunnel, but otherwise it was pretty basic surgery. Another fitted a Holden 3.5 ratio complete rear end, which involved re-welding the spring pads. I also know of another make that the owner fitted a second gearbox backwards, as has already been mentioned, which gave a two-speed overdrive, but this didn't last long as the box was not up to constant driving in gear( Ford Prefect box I think) . So there are plenty of options, depending on how fussy you are about originality.

Geoff.

Unknown

Thanks to all you guys,gonna sort it all out and see what's best for me on my budget. Boy , if a guy can't come up with something out of all this he better sell the car!! The old 2 tranny A model did good , not enough beans to tear anything up. Saved on gas too, was 18 cents a gallon !! and big money was makin almost a Dollar an hr., usually about 85 cents.