A Different kind of Tech session

Clutchguy
Clutchguy Senior Contributor
edited November -1 in HUDSON
I am going to try a different type of tech session this year at Auburn-2007.There are always questions about traveling across the country and stories to be told about the things that happen while traveling.I want people to share what would be/might be very helpful information and/or tips that fellow club members should do,or could possibly do before they take off on their trip.I know this sounds kinda goofy,but some people really don't know what to check out or do before leaving.If they are like me,I'll have my "punch list"of things to complete,but somehow get side tracked and always forget to check something,do or bring something-etc.. I believe that a list from within our club could be a very helpful tool.I'm looking for ideas,and they can be broken down into years of vehicles or can be of general info.I am open to comments of how we should go about this and hopefully it will be something that gets updated each year.Waiting to here from you.
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Comments

  • Aaron D. IL
    Aaron D. IL Senior Contributor
    Well Clutch guy if you're looking to make sure no one recieves the hard luck award driving on a road trip to a regional or national I'd agree that there's things particular to different years of Hudson but a few things that are universal to all Hudsons heading out on the open road. Therefore in your tech session you might want one master checklist and then a separate one for particulars on certain years of cars. Certain things are universal...tire inflation, having extra points, caps, and condensor, etc.

    Also not as many pre-war cars attempt long road trip it seems.... I'd attempt such a thing but a lot of other guys I know would tow their 1920's cars to a meet. Most common driven pre-war Hudson cars you see are like '36's - '42's.
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    1. Bring your Club Roster so you can access Tourist Emergencey Help listings.



    2. If you have a splasher, drop the pan and do a "deep maintenance" routine.



    3. Check/repack wheel bearings



    4. When greasing, don't forget throwout bearing



    5. Bring coolant and material to repair a rad hose



    :rolleyes:
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    maybe a pair of old pantyhose and a pair of scissors to make "new" fan belt to get you to the next town(not joking)
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    Far easier and simpler to carry a spare belt!

    Geoff.
  • faustmb
    faustmb Senior Contributor
    Geoff C., N.Z. wrote:
    Far easier and simpler to carry a spare belt!

    Geoff.



    Good point Geoff. I have seen many people buy new spare parts and throw them in the trunk. What makes the most sense to me is to install the new parts and put the used but known good parts in the trunk. Then you know for sure that the spare works, plus you have new parts installed.



    I usually carry some wiring supplies, enough to make a jumper or repair some connections if needed. Also a small coil of bailing wire or something simliar just in case I need to hold something up. A test light is a must also.



    I plan to carry a spare waterpump and ignition coil too.



    When I had my VW Vanagon, I carried a spare for every major component that was not readily available at most auto parts stores. The back seat had a large space underneath that held all of that plus a full set of tools. Over the course of three years of daily driving plus some serious road trips, I replaced the computer, engine compartment wiring harness, and alternator all from my stash under the seat. My wife harassed me for carring too much, but she didn't complain when we were able to get back on the road within 30 minutes of a problem.



    I don't bother carrying spare oil and brake fluid. That can be easily bought about anywhere if you need it.



    I think this kind of tech session is agreat idea.
  • nick s
    nick s Senior Contributor
    Geoff C., N.Z. wrote:
    Far easier and simpler to carry a spare belt!
    Geoff.
    Geoff, sometimes far easier said than done. Before fall hershey, I spent half a day, a couple calls to an experienced vetern of the exact problem and three trips to napa to acquire the correct belt for my spare generator. must have been your buddy Murphy (before getting a job with GM to design their alternators) who decided that there should be two different castings for the "same" generator. As a follower of your writing, I am sure you would agree, that to confidently carry a trunkfull of interchangeable parts, you must truely understand their interchangability.
  • Park_W
    Park_W Senior Contributor
    And maybe a reminder about lubing the oft-forgotten rear wheel bearings.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    Geoff C., N.Z. wrote:
    Far easier and simpler to carry a spare belt!

    Geoff.



    Geoff, this i understand there is a spare in every car i own, but i have seen cases where a rock or other road debris takes out a new belt and after installing the replacement it gets thrown or rolled and they are usually junk at that point. the nylons are the back-up to the back-up and will stay on a bent pulley. sorry i should have been more explicit i just figured most people carried whatever they thought they could have trouble with. i carry anything i can change on the side of the road after i had to pay some crook $110 service charge for bringing me a fuel for my suburban last time i was out in the blackhills(that didn't include the overpriced fuel pump). stranded on the side of road you have to take the gauging you are handed!!
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    Point taken Walt! Just for the record, I carry under and behind the back seat of my '28 Essex coach, two con rods(one of each offset), one valve spring, a spare Bendix spring and studs, coil, complete distributor, head gasket, exhaust gasket rings, a selection of odd bolts, nuts etc, spare bulbs, fuses, tow rope, lengths of wire and terminals, fan belt, exhaust sealant, engine and gearbox oil in plastic bottles, axle shaft, clutch plate, gasket material and sealant. Believe it or not, it all fits! My toolbox , jack, crank handle and wheelbrace fit under the front seats. In the Jet I carry a head gasket, fan belt, axle shaft, distributor, fuel pump, odd bolts etc. and these all fit in the trunk nooks and crannies. Having a continental spare, most of them fit in the recess in the floor. The Hornet I carry basically the same as the Jet. Ironically, I have seldom had to use any of these spares on my own car, but have resuscitated many another cars on rallies, safaries, and tours over the years. I broke an axle on the Jet once, and blew a head gasket in the Essex. One major break I had with the '29 Hudson was the accessory drive sprocket coupling disentegrated, and there was no way I could repair this on the side of the road, even if I had been carrying a spare, so I had to get it trailered 200 miles home. It amazes me how many people still travel on old car runs with no basic equipment at all!

    Geoff.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    AAA towing , cell phone, credit card.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    SamJ,



    What is the "deep maintenance" routine on a splasher? You said to drop the pan - what did you mean by "deep maintenance"?



    BST RGDS

    GARY ( happychris )
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    There you go............If yah break down you break down....Just what I want to do is work on my car on the side of the road..Not!!! If it can't be fixed in 5 minutes I call AAA..........
  • faustmb
    faustmb Senior Contributor
    TOM B wrote:
    There you go............If yah break down you break down....Just what I want to do is work on my car on the side of the road..Not!!! If it can't be fixed in 5 minutes I call AAA..........



    I've never had too good of luck with AAA. Best time was 1 hour wait, worst was 2+ hours before a cop stopped by to help. If I'm going to be stuck for an hour, I might as well spend that hour trying to fix a problem that I will have to fix as soon as I get home anyway. Not the ideal situation, but at least it is in my control.



    Roadside safety is an important thing to consider. I've seen people changing tires with their backside hanging over the white line, no way! If the car has to be that close to highway traffic I'll sit way off the road and wait all day for AAA if I have to.
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    I think this info is great.I think the point that Geoff C.made is a good point.The older your car is,the more parts you need if you are driving it,but when it comes to fixing it in 5 minutes or having it towed??.If you have it towed,you are still going to have to repair it.If you had your shop manual and a supply of a few hard to get essential parts,the chances of getting John Q tech to repair your vehicle is great.I think being prepared is everything.I think that we need to think in a bigger circle.Most will agree,if you are posting an opinion here,you have experienced a problem in the past while traveling,or maybe you had/have resolved all the issues that could have been troublesome before you left..If you look at the percentage of us with experience/knowledge,this number is probably low.This is something some of us take for granted,and some of us don't know.My point is trying to put together a guide that can be useful to members.If the target audience is directed to only those in the know,I think we are forgeting the members with little and/or less mechanical experience,to the back burner.This means that less of our Hudsons will be shown.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Ok I revise that equipment list then..Cell Phone, AAA , Credit Card and a cooler full of yer favorite libation while you wait for AAA
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    Too Funny T.B.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    this thread kinda reminds me of why I wanted to upgrade my drive line to a more modern one.
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    Good point Jimalberta.This is what I'm talking about.If you know what your limitation is,then you can make decisions based off what you might learn at this session.Adding info each year to this list,as parts become availible to make our vehicles more safe and dependible.There can be pros and cons.I was thinking about some of the other info you find in this forum.We can talk about the HEI ignition kits availible,and where to get them.We can talk about the different types of wheels that members have used,and how they have worked out for them.Simple lighting concerns,what to bring on a trip parts wise.One of my own personal experiences with lights-headlights to be exact,was I had a 49C8 sedan,on the way to AACA-Winchester[Docs meet]traveling late at night on US 50.It was raining real bad and 1 of the original headlights went out,I went to high beam,no problem for about 20 miles,then that went out.We stopped to try and find a place open and that had a 6 volt headlight,no where had this.We ended up in K-Mart,and bought a 12volt light thinking something was better than nothing,and found this was useless!!Maintence items often excluded or forgotten.There was some mention in this discussion that if we succeeded in making all the problems fixed or resolved before we left,there wouldn't be any "hard luck"awards.You can tell as a club,we are getting better and better with our cars.In the last few years,I don't believe there have been too many real,real bad stories of mishaps and problems while coming to the Nats.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    TOM B wrote:
    Ok I revise that equipment list then..Cell Phone, AAA , Credit Card and a cooler full of yer favorite libation while you wait for AAA



    Tow a parts car with all above equipment just incase the parts car does not have what you need and extra vacation time if needed :)
  • Aaron D. IL
    Aaron D. IL Senior Contributor
    Jimalberta wrote:
    this thread kinda reminds me of why I wanted to upgrade my drive line to a more modern one.



    Even a modern driveline requires maintainance especially for a long road trip maybe just not as much. The modern driveline is operating in what is still a 50 year old shell when you're talkin about a Hudson. There's still preventative maintainance to be done on a 2007 car before a long road trip even if it's mostly tire inflation and oil ...that's universal. A machine is a machine and there are no perpetual-motion machines. LOL A tech session like that could even benefit those with mods I think.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Ron P wrote:
    AAA towing , cell phone, credit card.



    Speaking of AAA I have a Harley Davidson and got RV/Motorcycle towing on my AAA card that costs a little more a year ( Never used it yet). I thought I heard that you can get AAA towing (extened miles) also for an additional charge. Never thought about old cars as being a special tow as far a AAA is concerned but maybe ??
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Geoff C., N.Z. wrote:
    Far easier and simpler to carry a spare belt!

    Geoff.



    True, but what if you suffer a panty hose failure? Then what?
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    the thing is that pm on a new vehicle can be done at any service station in North America as far as oil, grease and air(by the way we need to talk about nitrogen in tires some time). I have no qualms about jumping into my mini van or pickup and driving a few thousand miles. I don't think my Hudson would make it as it is an original drive train with 100,000 miles. All I have done is keep it running and brakes. I never even knew that you had to grease the throwout bearing until this week. Still don't know how. Some of the gurus like Geoff could keep a Hudson going on a long trip but I daresay that a lot more of us would be busy phoning some one in the roster crying for help. lol So there, add the roster to your list its probably the most important "part"that I could carry...lol
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I usually tow my NEW PT Cruiser behind my Hudson on long trips...It serves two functions: 1. Provides back up should I need it 2. Serves as a place to store the most distracting element of a long trip..The Little Woman...LOL
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    Aaron D. IL wrote:
    Even a modern driveline requires maintainance especially for a long road trip maybe just not as much. The modern driveline is operating in what is still a 50 year old shell when you're talkin about a Hudson. There's still preventative maintainance to be done on a 2007 car before a long road trip even if it's mostly tire inflation and oil ...that's universal. A machine is a machine and there are no perpetual-motion machines. LOL A tech session like that could even benefit those with mods I think.



    I have a friend who has a hot rod shop and he makes a good living, in addition to fabricating, from repairing and maintaining "updated" vehicles. Very few mechanics in the area (Southern California) can be bothered trying to work on a car which has a variety of components not originally meant to go together. Partly because it's time-consuming, partly because it's hard to estimate the cost for the customer, and partly because the customer is seldom satisfied with the cost or the result. His best customers are rich guys who bought completed cars (sometimes mostly home-built) and who don't know what they've got, how or why it was built, and are not themselves mechanically inclined. One project my friend was working on recently had 6 (count 'em six) univeral joints and bushings in the steering gear between the wheel and the front axle as it made it's way around the headers. Another guy brought in a fatfender with a Jag rear end...the whole assembly was attached to the frame with four tack welds. Overheating problems are endemic, some never get fully resolved. Many of the parts used are only available by mail from specialty houses. I'd hate to have my heavily modified ride break down in Upper Rubber Boot, Wisconsin (for example)...finding somebody willing to work on it could be a problem. Any car requiring more than 2 shop manuals to repair is scary. :cool:
  • RL Chilton
    RL Chilton Administrator, Member
    TOM B wrote:
    I usually tow my NEW PT Cruiser behind my Hudson on long trips...It serves two functions: 1. Provides back up should I need it 2. Serves as a place to store the most distracting element of a long trip..The Little Woman...LOL



    Now that's funny, right there. The visual imagery I get is priceless.
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    SamJ wrote:
    I have a friend who has a hot rod shop and he makes a good living, in addition to fabricating, from repairing and maintaining "updated" vehicles. Very few mechanics in the area (Southern California) can be bothered trying to work on a car which has a variety of components not originally meant to go together. Partly because it's time-consuming, partly because it's hard to estimate the cost for the customer, and partly because the customer is seldom satisfied with the cost or the result. His best customers are rich guys who bought completed cars (sometimes mostly home-built) and who don't know what they've got, how or why it was built, and are not themselves mechanically inclined. One project my friend was working on recently had 6 (count 'em six) univeral joints and bushings in the steering gear between the wheel and the front axle as it made it's way around the headers. Another guy brought in a fatfender with a Jag rear end...the whole assembly was attached to the frame with four tack welds. Overheating problems are endemic, some never get fully resolved. Many of the parts used are only available by mail from specialty houses. I'd hate to have my heavily modified ride break down in Upper Rubber Boot, Wisconsin (for example)...finding somebody willing to work on it could be a problem. Any car requiring more than 2 shop manuals to repair is scary. :cool:



    I think Sam makes a very good point here.Having your Mod. or resto-ride checked out by someone ***qualified*** is probably very wise.He points out a few VERY GOOD reasons.
  • hudsonguy
    hudsonguy Senior Contributor
    SamJ wrote:
    I'd hate to have my heavily modified ride break down in Upper Rubber Boot, Wisconsin (for example)...finding somebody willing to work on it could be a problem. Any car requiring more than 2 shop manuals to repair is scary. :cool:



    Sam,



    As long as you have your roster, you'll find a Hudson guy within a couple hours, even in Upper Rubber Boot, Wisconsin. But don't try this in the winter, we're all out on the ice....fishin'!
  • Clutchguy
    Clutchguy Senior Contributor
    nick s wrote:
    Geoff, sometimes far easier said than done. Before fall hershey, I spent half a day, a couple calls to an experienced vetern of the exact problem and three trips to napa to acquire the correct belt for my spare generator. must have been your buddy Murphy (before getting a job with GM to design their alternators) who decided that there should be two different castings for the "same" generator. As a follower of your writing, I am sure you would agree, that to confidently carry a trunkfull of interchangeable parts, you must truely understand their interchangability.



    Nick S.spells out exactly what can happen.I know this put a big crunch on his fun at Hershey/Carlisle.I'm sure I will use this example.I'm also sure that Nick probably won't ever experience this same problem again,thanks for sharing this info.
  • nick s
    nick s Senior Contributor
    Clutch guy wrote:
    Nick S.spells out exactly what can happen.I know this put a big crunch on his fun at Hershey/Carlisle.I'm sure I will use this example.I'm also sure that Nick probably won't ever experience this same problem again,thanks for sharing this info.
    getting there is part of the fun.
    if you can't take a little snag in stride, this is definitely the wrong hobby.
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