Question on 54 grills

[Deleted User]
[Deleted User]
edited November -1 in HUDSON
I have quite a few grills and trim for a 54 Hornet. what im finding is two the exact pieces for example (the front marker light trim) is either stainless or i have the exact piece that is steel chromed? is it a med year change? or the diff from wasp grill to hornet? and that carries thru with the centers etc.



Also evryone im looking for a couple or a set of green usable door panels for the 54 Hornet. thanks for looking

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    not sure why this is, but it seems somewhere there was a change, you also find the side gravel shields on certain cars to be either chrome or stainless, as well. what's really weird, is a car can be made up of several different components, on the grille and sides.



    It almost has to be a stock issue, or supply issue, somehow tied to costs.
  • EssexAdv
    EssexAdv Expert Adviser, Member
    Everything I have seen supports the theory that the chrome grills were on the wasp and Hornet Specials and the stainless were on the Hornet.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    what about the side gravel shields?



    we looked at a coupe a few years back that had the upper part was chrome, the lower part was stainless, and the other side I think was a mix as well.



    I'm trying to remember what we might have encountered in the past, we took a few 54's apart, and it seems some of the parts of the hornets were chrome, but alas, I don't have a 54 hornet, yet....
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    thats funny,i have noticed the Hornet special,is that a higher line Hornet? and if so why would it sport wasp chrome? as a hornet should be a higher end car than a wasp im guessing.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    the side gravel shields are stainless that i have and maybe 4-5 sets.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    including the lower part,what i have mainly seen is the grill area, the rear backup light trim and center have all been stainless
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    I have a 54 Hornet Club Coupe, The grill center bars were chrome on one side and stainless on the other. 54 was a transition year for Hudson and the factory was using up all the parts they had. The higher ups at Hudson knew about the merger from the first and instead of ordering new grille parts they used stainless and chrome as necessary to keep from ordering more stock. The Hornet Special was slightly cheaper than the Hornet, But basically was a way to get rid of the overstock of Wasp interiors and the exterior trim parts. One strange fact though is that almost all of the automatic Specials had the dual range Hydro even after the fire in the Hydro plant, but the regular Hornets had Borg Warners in them. I would have thought it would have been the other way around....... Oh Well HUDSON always did do things in their own way! That's why we love them.
    Bob
  • super-six
    super-six Expert Adviser
    I would think that it was a supplier issue as far as the steel or stainless trim, nothing to do with any particular model.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    very interesting,this is easy mix and match..lol its always interesting understanding why? so i wont feel so bad if i have a nice chrome left and a stainless right. thanks guys
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User]
    G'day all, this is an interesting subject. I have always wondered about these grills as I have wrecked a unrestorable 54 Super Wasp about 5 years ago. A couple of years later when I noticed that my fathers 54 Super Wasp had a chromed steel grill fitted and the spare one is stainless but have not questioned anybody about it. Guess no need for this question anymore. All Stepdowns were assembled here so it seems Hudson may have used steel and stainless on all 54 models. I agree with super-six, Hudson just used different suppliers.
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    BJ__TN wrote:
    I have a 54 Hornet Club Coupe, The grill center bars were chrome on one side and stainless on the other. 54 was a transition year for Hudson and the factory was using up all the parts they had. The higher ups at Hudson knew about the merger from the first and instead of ordering new grille parts they used stainless and chrome as necessary to keep from ordering more stock. The Hornet Special was slightly cheaper than the Hornet, But basically was a way to get rid of the overstock of Wasp interiors and the exterior trim parts. One strange fact though is that almost all of the automatic Specials had the dual range Hydro even after the fire in the Hydro plant, but the regular Hornets had Borg Warners in them. I would have thought it would have been the other way around....... Oh Well HUDSON always did do things in their own way! That's why we love them.

    Bob



    I often wonder why you even see any hudsons after the hydramatic plant fire with hydramatics... I bet (and this is my own thought) that perhaps hudson had a decent stock of them leftover from the prior years, as if someone ordered too many or something. You see a lot of 53 and 54 Oldsmobiles as stick, because of the lack of Hydramatics.



    Anyone got any info on what date trannys any of these hydramatics are out of the 54s? I would reason to believe they are 53 dates (pre fire), but Please understand i am only making a guess here. Maybe they are supposed to be dated 53. (pre fire)
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    hudsonkid wrote:
    I often wonder why you even see any hudsons after the hydramatic plant fire with hydramatics... I bet (and this is my own thought) that perhaps hudson had a decent stock of them leftover from the prior years, as if someone ordered too many or something. You see a lot of 53 and 54 Oldsmobiles as stick, because of the lack of Hydramatics.

    Anyone got any info on what date trannys any of these hydramatics are out of the 54s? I would reason to believe they are 53 dates (pre fire), but Please understand i am only making a guess here. Maybe they are supposed to be dated 53. (pre fire)

    I have a '54 Hollywood that, according to the serial number, was built in December of '53, and it has the BW tranny in it.

    My Dad bought the engine and Hydro tranny out of a '54 Hornet Special that was rodded. The car was built late in the model year, and the tranny is stamped that it was built in '54.

    Bill
  • duncan
    duncan Expert Adviser
    gearhead wrote:
    very interesting,this is easy mix and match..lol its always interesting understanding why? so i wont feel so bad if i have a nice chrome left and a stainless right. thanks guys



    I am rebuilding a 54 Hornet Hollywood and it had 1/2 stainless grill and

    1/2 chrome grill , chrome half badly rusted. My car had been in an

    accident on drivers side with a Hornet Special fender. So whew? KNOWS

    :D
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    I have a 52 Hornet 4 dr. Traded a 49 C8 sedan for it in Sept 1954. 19000 miles then. One owner. Never wrecked. worked with the salesman who sold it new. Chromed steel top grill bars rest of grill Stainless. A 54 Hornet sedan since 56 or 57 and some of the trim is stainless some chrome steel. I think they installed what was handy.
  • super-six
    super-six Expert Adviser
    I believe the majority of the Borg-Warners are early production cars. GM got the plant up and running and were able to supply Hydra-Matics later in the model year. My Hornet is a Hydra-Matic and it was built in June. Jet sales were so slow that they never ran out of the inventory of Hydra-Matics for them.
  • hudsontech
    hudsontech Senior Contributor
    gearhead wrote:
    thats funny,i have noticed the Hornet special,is that a higher line Hornet? and if so why would it sport wasp chrome? as a hornet should be a higher end car than a wasp im guessing.



    Hornet is a higher end car than the Hornet Special. From what I have seen, and heard, over the years I think the Special was introduced to provide a platform for using up parts from everything. :D



    Hudsonly,

    Alex Burr
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