commodore 8 engines

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
Is the oiling system on a commodore 8 (often referred to as a splasher type) the same as on pre 1954 chevys? do they have babitt rods instead of rod bearings? is the commodore 8's reliable at turnpike speeds?

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  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    The oiling system is similar to chevy, but uses a circulating pump with troughs for the oil and dippers on the rods and feed channels for the mains, as against a spray system as used in the Chev. The rods are babbited, and the 8 cylinder engine is a solid reliable unit.

    Geoff.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    The "splasher" or "dipper" Hudson 8 was a non-pressure oil feed type of engine produced by Hudson until 1952. The 254 ci engine was known for good reliable performance and behaved quite well at modern highway speeds. It had babbited bearings as you suggested the pre 54 chevies did. Hudson had actually produced a pressurized 6 cyl engine in 1948 and it subsequently was modified and finally became the 308 Hornet engine of 1951. I believe the Chevy engine was a 216 which became the 235 when shell bearings were produced for it. Hudson used shell bearings in all their stepdown era cars with the exception of the 8. Small triva dept. The leftover 1952 pistons of the 8cyl were utilized when Hudson came with the Jet in 1953
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    Driving Hudsons at turnpike speeds is better when the car's equipped with an overdrive transmission and / or a more advantageous axle ratio. My 1937-era six, will cruise very nicely at 60 mph all day long (on level ground), due to its overdrive tranny, but an eight is even better mated with overdrive because its low end torque allows it to cruise effortlessly up hills in 4th gear.
  • 50C8DAN
    50C8DAN Senior Contributor
    Bill, I hope to have my '50 C8 on the road this summer and I like the fact it does have an 8. Don't get me wrong nothing wrong with the 6 ( I have a '55 308 stuck away for a future project) the 8 has something that the 6 just does not have. Once you hear (or do not hear since it is so quiet) a finely tuned H8 running you will be amazed. In the 30's and 40's the H8 was quite a racer and was used in the Railton sports cars made in the UK and some made there way to the US. The Hudson 8 is nothing to be worried about on crusing along the freeway at all.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    One major difference between Hudson's splashers and the Chevys was that the latter had pressure to the mains, whereas the Hudsons used a gravity-fed system on the mains.
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