i have begun collecting parts...

Unknown
edited November -1 in Street Rods
picked up my rover v8 friday for my 31 essex. i have my 3.55 sure grip 8 3/4 rear, have to get a bellhousing and see what i can do for a trans i originally wanted to go with the s-10 t5 tail on a v8 camaro t5 trans. in reality id like to go with a tremec tko so i know it will take a good beating but its a lot more money. i want a 5 spd and i want the foward mounted shifter. im going to continue collecting all the parts and i might consider selling it before i dig in. it is a running driving car, but the motor could use an overhaul. looks decent too. i will be able to use all the parts on any hot rod i chose, and a lot of people are always crying for me not to chop the car up. leave it as is. ill give the purists a chance to save it from the hot rod doom for the right price.

Comments

  • What is the right price in your eyes? I have a 29 Essex with a 1985 3.8 Buick V6 in it, 3 speed Auto tranny because the rebuild price for the original engine was a little high for me, as I have talked to some Essex gentlemen here in Canada, and it was a little over my head, with what they ended up spending. Had a ride in a Model A with the same setup, engine wise and did it ever go. No wheel spinning, Just normal acceleration. The engine just fit right in, with the two engine , one tranny mount and a modified drive shaft, rearend is original and have had it around the nieghbourhood no problem sofar
  • You can email me at ptraxler@cogeco.ca, with some pics if you would like
  • yeah i have no intrest in dumping the amount of money required to rebuild the flat head 6. especially for price vs power and effifiencey. i didnt really give a price a whole lot of thought. there really isnt much else out there to go by. its an older paint job and interior redone, looks good from a few feet away. when i bought the car i didnt think id ever get it running, the prev owner pulled the motor all apart and didnt really know what anything was and broke every bolt. i bought ti with every intention of building amild hot rod out of it. i got it back together and got it running. drove it for almost a year. picked up a spare engine, spare trans, axle, and some other stuff. i have found all the things i liek and dont like about it the way it is.
  • Hi,

    I've owned my 29 Essex coupe for 20 years now and really enjoy it. Especially since I updated the running gear in it. I really haven't chopped it up other than removing the original mounts. It sat in my garage for the better part of 15 years. It got driven 3 or 4 times a year. Now I drive it daily in the summer and very often in the winter if there's no ice.

    I've got pictures on my website www.nucwa.com/page2.html

    I've done a few more upgrades to it that I haven't posted yet. I'll get them on when I get a chance.

    Don't let anyone talk you out of doing what you want with your car.



    Gary B

    HTRDSX
  • ahh yeah ive come across your site a few times doing searches. cool stuff.
  • faustmb
    faustmb Senior Contributor
    htrdhudson wrote:
    picked up my rover v8 friday for my 31 essex. i have my 3.55 sure grip 8 3/4 rear, have to get a bellhousing and see what i can do for a trans i originally wanted to go with the s-10 t5 tail on a v8 camaro t5 trans. in reality id like to go with a tremec tko so i know it will take a good beating but its a lot more money. i want a 5 spd and i want the foward mounted shifter. im going to continue collecting all the parts and i might consider selling it before i dig in. it is a running driving car, but the motor could use an overhaul. looks decent too. i will be able to use all the parts on any hot rod i chose, and a lot of people are always crying for me not to chop the car up. leave it as is. ill give the purists a chance to save it from the hot rod doom for the right price.



    From what I remember of your plans, it didn't sound to me like you were "chopping" up your car. A drivetrain upgrade would make your car very drivable. Motor mounts and stuff like that can be reversed pretty easily. It sounds like you picked up some good parts. If I happen to win the lottery, I will send a offer for your car as is though:)



    You've got a very unique and cool car that could be appreciated in either form.
  • yeah part of me would feel guilty modifying it, its a cool car i kind of like the engine and its simplicity. i dont like the lack of parts available for it, and i just cant see spending the cash to overhaul it and have something like the oil pump go south on me. well see, if i was to sell it, id be looking for another essex. a 2 dr coach.
  • picked up my t5 tranny today
  • Ol racer
    Ol racer Senior Contributor
    Do what ever you want powering your own car. Perhaps consider updating to reliable 'Hornet powerplant' coupled to the 5 Spd...



    Regardless, Its always nice to leave a Hudson vehicle original looking (as possible) to reveal its unique qualities....
  • sure id like to put a 308 or something with some decent power in my car, but there really isnt much out there that will actually fit with chopping out the firewall. to me that really isnt an option when there are engines out there that will fit without cutting up my nice solid body. my first thought was a later hudson engine, until i looked at a few and realized just how big they are. just looking at them you can tell they have some wieght too. this engine is approx. 350 lbs fully dressed, the only other thing even close would have been a late model 4 cylinder like a gm ecotech or quad4 which were my other thoughts, but i didnt want to deal with efi and funky ignitions.
  • essexcoupe3131
    essexcoupe3131 Senior Contributor
    Hey James, if you chopped that, the roof would be soo low inside your hair would alwys be rubbing on the hood lining, the guys that were working on mine awhile ago did a mockup in a pic, I looked at it and decided against it for that reason , lower it in the suspension and you would get a simialar effect, as these already look like they have been chopped

    Mike
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