Hasn't been started since 1963....

Unknown
Unknown
edited November -1 in HUDSON
I bought a '49 Hudson coupe Saturday that was stored in a basement garage since about 1963, has the plates on it and all. From what I'm told they just drove it in and parked it, I'm not sure the house was lived in the entire time (I think the owner died), but I'm assuming it was kept warm enough for the pipes not to freeze. It's been out of there for a couple years now, but no one has really touched it - the hood wouldn't even open all the way without some PB blaster sprayed on the hinges. Once under it, it's 100% complete, even the battery still in it.



Anyhow, the motor turns over yet, so I thought I'd play with it and see if I could get it running. Are there any peculiarities to the Hudson six I should watch for in addition to the usual stuff - changing coolant, oil, unplugging the fuel line and running it off a can (if the pump even works, if not I can prime the carb), pull the plugs and lube the upper cylinders, etc.? Any places to look for popped freeze plugs or cracks that might be easy to miss, if it did get too cold in that basement?



I'll probably just run water in it for coolant, too, in case there's any leakage into the block - I did that with the '50 Chevy I bought a couple years ago because it had a lot of condensation in the oil and I didn't want to blow it up if it had any cracks or leaks. It took about 4 oil changes in a row, running it just long enough to get hot each time, to clear that one up.





I'm not that familiar with these cars, except the basics, but I always liked the styling. Gives me an excuse to learn about them if nothing else. This seems to be the place for Hudson guys online.



I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, it's pretty solid and the interior is decent (the dash looks like new), but it needs at least one frame rail section replaced and in other places would have to be patched at a minimum. But it looks like it would be easy to get it up and running enough to lot drive a little bit. Maybe see if it pops over, then change all the hoses before really running it very long.









One other dumb question. The drivers' door will not latch closed. It seems to work, but isn't catching on the latch on the body. There's not a hunk of plastic in that that could have fallen out or something is there? I didn't think at the time to look at the right side latch and see if anything was obvious.

Comments

  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    They's some that says you should remove the oil pan and scrape out the crud.....
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Yeah, I could see that depending on just what comes out when the oil drain plug is pulled. I still have to pick the car up from the seller, so I'll do some investigating then, see what's on the dipstick, etc.
  • bob ward
    bob ward Senior Contributor
    I'd recommend dropping the sump before you go too far.



    A while ago I bought a 51 Pacemaker that had stood for 30 years. Bottom half of the oil had turned to jelly, oil pump would not have pumped, yet everything looked fine on the dipstick.
  • 7XPacemaker
    7XPacemaker Senior Contributor
    DON'T TRY AND START THAT THING!!!!!!! Pull the oil pan and clean the gunk out of the bottom! I know a guy that bought a Hudson that had low miles on it. He didn't pull the oil pan. The sump ended up pulling sludge off of the bottom of the pan once it warmed up. The engine blew up. With the cost of a new engine these days, it's just not worth it............
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    For sure pull the pan and clean the "gwadoo" out of it and you might want to pull the cylinder head as well. Remember Hudsons are put away many times for a reason, with the most common one being a blown head gasket.
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    "Hudson308" brought up a very good point. Your clutch will almost certainly be stuck, after all those years of sitting. But take heart, it will almost certainly be able to be freed without 'surgery'.



    Bookmark Ken Cates' informative page on StepDown Hudsons at http://members.aol.com/stepdown53/STEPDOWNPG.html . Click the CLUTCH link to the left and look for Ken's recipe for a solvent which you can pour into the clutch (after draining the old clutch oil). Rotate the clutch a bit, every day, and let the stuff 'cook' for a few days, constantly pressing the clutch to see if you can work it loose. Meanwhile, buy some new Hudsonite so that when everything frees up, you'll have something to refill the clutch with.



    By the way, if you haven't gone to the Hudson club main page yet, it's at http://www.hudsonclub.org/ . Here, you'll find many links to helpful pages like Ken's and Dave/Mitzi Sollon's, as well as Alex Burr's with its scads of technical information. You'll also find an application for joining the H-E-T Club, which you may want to fill out and send in. It's an invaluable source of information for Hudson owners and the bi-monthly magazine is worth the price of admission alone. Most of the webpages linked to the home page are put up by Hudson club members.
  • 50C8DAN
    50C8DAN Senior Contributor
    My Commodore 8 had been setting for over 20 years when I picked it up. My friend wanted to start it but I was very reluctant. It only had 35K miles on it, but I opted to pull the engine and see what was up. When I took out the drain plug only about one or two quarts came out, so I pulled the pan and plunk a big glob of sludge the size of a soccer ball or bigger splashed into the drain pan! I also had a burned piston and valve, so I am glad I waited to see what I had.



    Would suggest you go slow at first.
  • SamJ
    SamJ Senior Contributor
    By now the consensus is obvious...if you try and start it right away, you will have the fun of seeing if you can get it to run, but you'll still have a lot of work to do. If you drop the pan, make sure the water jackets and rad are unobstructed, and do the recommended clutch maintenance, you could end up with a car that will run nicely for years with a minimum of further work. :cool:
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    How much of a nightmare to drop the pan with the motor in the car? If it's like anything else I've messed with, you start taking it apart, you break half a dozen things that have to be replaced to put it back together.



    I figured first thing I'd drain the oil and see how much comes out and what shape it's in before I did anything else. If it's thin and I get 5 quarts or so, that's one thing, if it's like jelly and I don't get much, then the pan has to come off. Same for the coolant. Just like the Chevy I'd run water in it first and keep an eye on the oil, that way if it's getting into the oil anywhere I can shut it off with less likelyhood of damage.



    I also expected the clutch to be stuck, I caught part of a thread on here where someone explained how they unstuck one. Didn't sound super complicated.





    My understanding is the owners were elderly; this and a '56 Dodge were driven in the garage and parked, and just sat there forgotten. Other than the paint being worn through in spots, it gives the appearance of a car that was just parked one day. I could post the photos underhood and so on.



    While there is a pile of gaskets in the trunk, I need to check out what they're actually for. I don't think they're any good, but if they're Hudson, then I'd agree I should pull the head and check it out. There are some other weird parts in there, looks like part of the seat belts to a later model GM in a coffee can, some plastic stuff. But it even has the jack and spare hardware in it, it's that complete.
  • hudsonguy
    hudsonguy Senior Contributor
    pontiac59 wrote:
    How much of a nightmare to drop the pan with the motor in the car? If it's like anything else I've messed with, you start taking it apart, you break half a dozen things that have to be replaced to put it back together.



    I figured first thing I'd drain the oil and see how much comes out and what shape it's in before I did anything else. If it's thin and I get 5 quarts or so, that's one thing, if it's like jelly and I don't get much, then the pan has to come off. Same for the coolant. Just like the Chevy I'd run water in it first and keep an eye on the oil, that way if it's getting into the oil anywhere I can shut it off with less likelyhood of damage.



    I also expected the clutch to be stuck, I caught part of a thread on here where someone explained how they unstuck one. Didn't sound super complicated.





    My understanding is the owners were elderly; this and a '56 Dodge were driven in the garage and parked, and just sat there forgotten. Other than the paint being worn through in spots, it gives the appearance of a car that was just parked one day. I could post the photos underhood and so on.



    While there is a pile of gaskets in the trunk, I need to check out what they're actually for. I don't think they're any good, but if they're Hudson, then I'd agree I should pull the head and check it out. There are some other weird parts in there, looks like part of the seat belts to a later model GM in a coffee can, some plastic stuff. But it even has the jack and spare hardware in it, it's that complete.



    Dropping the pan while keeping the motor in the car is not too bad at all. The service manual recommended doing this every 6 months, not that too many people ever did this. The worst complication might involve turning the crank slightly to clear journals while removing the pan. Also, the oil pump is externally mounted, and requires only three bolts to remove, so you would probably want to do this at the same time.
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    As in most things, common sense should prevail. You will get an indication of the state of the oil in the pan by what ahppens when you drainit, and you can poke a stick into the drainhole and wipe it around a bit and see what sticks to it. If theres a heap of sticky goo on it, then by all means drop the sump and clean it out. However, if the engine turns freely I would pre-oil the cylinders through the plug holes and have a go at getting it running. Unlke the splash oiled Hudson motors there is little that can happen. It's no big deal to drop the sump, but it's a bit of a fiddle getting the front bolts out. You have to drop the centre steering bracket to get clearance, and take off the flywheel cover , and perhaps turn the engine over as you manouvre the sump off, as it may collide with the crank webs in certain positions. The main thing I find with old engines that haven't been run for long periods is that the valves are stuck, and perhaps rusted into the guides. However these sometimes freeup okay with a good squirt of kerosene and oil down the carby. If they are stuck open you can access the exhaust valves through the plug holes, and tap with a punch and hammer is usually engouh to persuade them to go up and donw again. Good luck,

    Geoff.
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