HELP NEEDED!! Hot Rod'n a 37 Hudson 8 cly

I have heard that a free flowing exhaust manifold makes a very significant difference to the performance, even with one carb. I also know that one of the Railton Club members has made a free flowing cast iron manifold in similar style to the original. I don't have any contacts though just right now but will find out whether they are available.



As far as the basic pedigree of the engine is concerned, let's not forget that a stock 1937 H8 sedan travelled 1,000 miles at top speed 88.9mph and 24hrs at 87.67mph at Utah to set several closed car records in 1937. And the '33 T8 did a flying mile in February 1933 at 62.521 mph in SECOND gear to set a record!! I hate to think what rpm that would work out to be - 5,200? Rolls-Royce tested the T8 engine to 5,800 rpm with stronger valve springs, with the engine being "remarkably smooth, a slight clatter appearing at the maximum speed obtained equivalent to 70mph in second gear"



According to Stuart Baits the Hudson chief engineer, who was interviewed in 1929 by MoToR magazine the "fully developed splash system" had several advantages over pressure oiling: immediate feed to bearings on start-up, no grit forced through bearings, one loose bigend would not affect oil supply to other crank bearings, oil-mist transferred heat better so that the engine ran 30-40 degrees cooler and any fuel in the oil was evaporated by the mist action. He assured Reid Railton (the consultant to the successful Railton Cars which used H8 chassis and running gear with English body from 1933-1939) that the H8 engine would sustainedly turn 5000 rpm without problem which it did. Reid Railton was quoted in Hudson and Terraplane News as saying "So far as I know, there is no engine in the world that can match it". The Rolls-Royce Chief Engineer reported Railton as being "tremendously impressed by the qualities of the engine". Railton was highly respected at the time for his work on designing and building LSR cars in particular and as a brilliant engineer.



There is a plan around showing how to modify the water distributor on the side of the block to allow cooler water to be directed by way of tubes straight at the exhaust seat area of the block, an overheated point in these engines.



All in all a worthy subject, it just needs all the diverse knowledge of the decades to be brought together so it can be used by today's flathead H8 tuners! For myself, as soon as I locate a '37-on big port block I will start building up a strong H8 engine. Not to develop huge power, but to work as well as is possible and reliably within its design limitations. Something with basic elements like 8.5:1 compression, twin Edmonds inlet, aluminium head, free-flow exhaust manifold, ported and port-matched, optimised valve profiles and seats, optimised combustion chambers, modified cam followers and cam grind, modified water distributor, suitable distributor/magneto, fully balanced etc. I have a '36 H8 chassis that is ideal to form a basis for building a Railton LST (Light Sports Tourer) Replica. These were real hotrods of their day (LST was only made in 1935) with 0-60 in 8.8 secs and a top speed of around 108 mph, both on a 3.3:1 axle and a car weight of 2,100 lbs. And as well it could be driven in circles on full lock in top gear!! Those engines were the standard small port ones, but with 7.75:1 compression, Zenith carb instead of the Carter, a Scintilla Vertex magneto and probably a few other minor items like stronger valve springs and polished ports and a low restriction exhaust pipe

A friend of mine in the HET club, Bill Hill is looking to take a '47 Hudson straight 8 block and make a period-correct '35 H race car. The parts may be old but it can be done. Besides I think it would be more interesting to see a souped up Hudson 8 under the hood. Everyone and their grandma has a V8 under the hood every time you go to a show, I don't even give those engine compartments a second glance they're so common.

Brian:



Here is a copy of an email from Fren Lorentz who has a pressurized H8 in his '49 I believe. You will also find the name and contact info of the guy who did Fred's 8. The factory did a couple of pressurized 8s but there were scrapped. I will send you a copy of the article tonight:



It wasn't easy, but as I said the guy is good. Builds

race engines for the likes of Earnhart Jr. et al.

Drilled out the crank from mains to rods for

lubrication, (1/2 degree off and he would have ruined

the crank) machined engine for Massey Ferguson main

inserts and Chrysler Rod inserts. Welded crank and

reground all mains to one size (for line boring)

installed .040 over pistons. Machined block to accept

Chevy small block rear main seal. Ran internal oil

lines to all main bearings and external lines to all

camshaft bearings. Installed segmented racing oil pump

off front pulley with cogged belt. Installed external

lines to full flow oil filter and dry sump oil pickup

in crankcase. Installed stellite valve seats and new

valves.

The person that did the work is:

Dale Francis Engineering

14233 Route 86

Leroy Twp. Ohio 44077

Phone # 440-254-4046

He can be slow as if there is a race somewhere that he

has a car or engine in all effort goes to that job.

At the same time he figured out how to do all the work

mentioned above, so he's not all bad.

I don't want to discourage you but it did take a

couple of years to get it done. I have no idea what he

would charge as he did mine about 8 years ago. It's

still going strong.

Sincerely

Fred Lorenz

Mark:



I don't think Fred is using Chrysler Rods, just reworking the H8 Rods to accept the Chrysler Rod inserts, getting rid of the babbitted bearings

I can confirm the comments on benefits of a more open exhaust system. I ran a home-made split (dual) exhaust manifold on my '38 H8 back in '53, starting from when I first got the engine from the rebuilder (who ran a splasher 6 '38T coupe and a splasher 8 37H coach on our local track). In the 3300 lb. '38 sedan I had, it ran 17 second quarters at 84 mph and would beat any new Olds 88 from a traffic light or on the strip. I never realized how much of its performance was from the dual exhaust setup until I had an occasion to temporarily replace it with a single. The difference was dramatic. I've not seen any mention of "re-profiling" the coutour of the bottom of the lifters. That was a trick known by Jack Clifford as well as my engine builder in '53. The idea is that you flatten out the curvature quite a bit. Makes a notable improvement in power. Of course a 3/4 grind of the camshaft would be even better. By the way, at the drag strip (near Chicago) we disconnected the regular exhaust pipes at the manifold outlets and connected a couple of short flex sections that emerged under the RF fender, just behind the wheel. Sounded damned fierce, I'll tell you!

Brian here is an idea for you. Why not make a 4x2 side draft manifold for the 8. Side draft manifolds are pretty simple in construction compared to most of the other designs, basically one throat per intake. Weber even makes a kit to use the DCOE bodies as fuel injection throttle bodies! Boy that would look cool!

A few open wheel race cars used Hudson's straight 8 closer to '30. I've seen what a '33 Terraplane 8 coupe will do on accelleration! Left my almost 20-years newer '50 Pacemaker in the dust!