My First Hudson Meet 1999 (LONG)

I had only had my '48 for 3 weeks, when I had found out through the internet, that there was going to be a Hudson meet in Shreveport. I knew the motor had a minor problem when I bought the car, so I trailered it there. We hadn't been there long, when I cranked the car, and everybody got to put their 2 cents worth as to what the problem was. Along came Bill Hinde, and he said, "Son I've been a Hudson mechanic all my life, but I can't do much with these any more." (holdin up his arthritic hands) I said," If I do the work, can you help me?" Right after he said yes, I was off to Wal-Mart to buy some tools. Around 11am, I started tearing into the motor. Turns out, a valve guide had broken, and was sitting there "wallering" out the hole. The only really technical tool we had was a micrometer. One of the local Hudson bystanders took me to his place, and we grabbed some valve guides from "I have have no idea what kind of motors", and we headed back to the Hotel. Nobody was open that had a lathe, so we got some all-thread, put the valve guide on it, and tightened nuts onto either end. Placing all that in a drill, we used emory-cloth to grind down the valve-guide. When we thought we had it just about right, we put the valve-guide in some ice, to "shrink-it". I got over the motor, like a surgeon over a patient, and very quickly drove the valve-guide in as soon as someone handed it to me. Then, it was just a matter of adjusting all the valves(while we were in that area) and re-assembling the motor. Around 8pm, I was asked to leave the re-assembling, and come inside to the banquet, where I was awarded the "HARD LUCK" trophy. After that I went back to re-assembling the motor, and around 10:30, we fired that puppy up! I thanked all the mechanical people for all the help they provided, and I certainly thanked Mr. Sanchez, for showing my wife and kids around, on the tours, while I labored on my Hudson's sick motor, in the parking lot. Our work turned out fine, because I went to the Nashville Meet that year, and also the 600mi, round trip to the Mena,Ar. meet, without any problems. When I decided to change over to a Brand X engine, I sold the Hudson motor to Bryan, in Ca. At the Shreveport Meet, it seemed funny to hear "LONG-TIME" Hudson folks say,"I've had Hudson's for years, and I've never seen inside a motor. I guess we just made it into a "TECH-SESSION".