First project car!

Frank (?):

Welcome to the fellowship of crazy Hudson enthusiasts! At $1,000, it sounds like you got a bargain!

Amen to the suggestions you've been given by our goodly crew, including:

1). Drain oil, drop the pan and give it a thorough cleaning before putting in new oil. I am sure you really, really want to get this thing running (I haven't forgotten what it's like to be sixteen!) but you could really ruin the engine if the pan is full of filthy oil with contaminants and junk that could clog the oil passages in the engine.

2). Drain the gas and get some new gas in there (this stuff is so bad now that it can go bad over a winter....let alone three or four years).

3). Join the H-E-T

4). Change the Hudsonite in the clutch (especially if the clutch behaves weirdly once you get the car going). As has been said, the corks in the clutch may stick, but this can be remedied without major surgery -- get back to us if you have a problem. Hudsonite is still available but you can also substitute ATF in a pinch (the folks here can tell you which ATF is best).

5). Remove, examine, gap and clean (if necessary) the spark plugs.

To these ideas I would add a few of my own:

1). Make sure you have a good 6-volt battery. If the starter seems sluggish (and because the car hasn't run in 3 years) the battery may be bad. There are several companies still making 6-volt batteries so don't grab the first one you see. Get one with a good rating for CCA (cold cranking amps). In the high 700's is a very good rating.

2). Be SURE to clean off all the battery connections. Take off the ground strap and battery cable and (using a cable cleaning tool) clean both the battery terminals and the ground / cable clamps. You might want to check where the ground strap attaches to the frame, remove that, clean and sand the connection and replace. And note that there will probably be another ground strap, from engine or transmission to the frame. Clean that too. POSITIVE GROUND on these Hudsons.

3). Tell us roughly where you're located because there may be a Hudson owner in your area who would be happy to talk to you / give advice / let you see his/her car.

4). The brakes would be an important thing to look at. Pulling the rear brake drums is more difficult for older cars than newer ones, but we can help you with that.

5). Before you invest too heavily in this car, look very carefully at the perimeter frame in the area of the rear wheel wells. This is the problem area if the car has been left outside or driven in the salt. It can be very, very expensive and time consuming to rebuild the frame and we don't want to see you discover this fact only after you have poured a lot of time and money into the car. If the frame is in GOOD condition, you don't have to worry that it will eventually rust; you can sand and paint it so it won't (and of course you're going to keep the car under cover....right?)

6). Do NOT immediately start taking the car apart with the idea of restoring it. This is a mistake that a lot of guys make when they have just acquired an old car. Five years later the car is still in pieces, taking up space in the garage, and no closer to getting on the road! Just get it running safely and have fun with it. You can decide how to "improve" it later.

Have fun but don't neglect your studies in favor of the car! (You will need to get good grades to get a good job, so you will make LOTS of money to pour into this Hudson, LOL!)