Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays to all. Here is the picture we used for our Christmas photo card this year.

New home for my Saltwater Corals

I donated my Saltwater Corals to the MN Zoo a few weeks ago. Here is a video of MN Zoo Saltwater Coral Tank. Many of the corals in the video were part of my donation :) It makes me happy.

Something else that makes me happy is to walk into the garage and see my Hudson.

Up and running, and dreaming again.

Well, the Hornet is running again. The short story is that the spark plugs were fouled. We checked for spark, checked the carburetors were squirting gas, and then pulled a plug. It was filthy and smelled like gas, so I replaced them. I put Champion H12s in because that was what was in there. I was later told H10s were a better plug for the 308.

Now that I am no longer obsessed with the car not running I am dreaming wild dreams again. I am not just talking about a new interior, hopefully paid for by a tax return. I am talking about replacing the exhaust manifold with a dual exhaust header, chroming a few small parts, touching up the red detail paint, and other fun and unnecessary things. I am not sure why, but right after crisis come unrealistic dreams. Reality is that until a fat tax return in February, the car will sit. If I am lucky I will be able to scrape up enough money for some new spark plug wires and radiator hoses, but Christmas is consuming time and money at a rapid rate.

Unable to leave well enough alone.

I have done it now. I have taken a working car that I drove home 1200 miles and broken it.

I was in the process of cleaning the air filters, so I took off the assembly blew them out with air and washed the metal filters in gas a couple of times. While I waited for the filters to evaporate I decided to spray down the carburetors and linkages with carburetor cleaner. I sprayed down the outside and went to start the car, it would not start. I assume that I got some of the carb cleaner in the carburetors. I did not think it would be too much of a problem, the stuff evaporates extremely fast. I gave it a little time, tried again, tried, and tried some more. I added a little gas to the carbs and even tried starting fluid, nothing works. The engine turns freely, the battery has lot of power (I plugged it in), It cranks and cranks, but never catches. Here is the discussion on the Hudson Forum

Another thing learned, oil bath air filters are not all the same.

Today I removed and disassembled one of my two air filters on the Hornet. Much to my surprise I did not find an oil reservoir, just a loose metal mesh on the end with the main body as a solid piece. I had assumed that since it was called and "Oil Bath" air filter that it would be like my 54 Buick with a metal element bathed in an pool of oil. I posted my situation on the HET forum and I hope to find out more about what I am dealing with and what I need to do to keep it all in good working order, original as possible.

Bittersweet Day, the end of a hobby

It was a bittersweet day today. This afternoon Doug from the MN State Zoo came and packed up my coral reef. I have been e-mailing with Doug for a few weeks, discussing donating all of my livestock to the zoo. I have had saltwater for almost 20 years, and now I have none. I am a little sad, but it makes me glad to know that they will be looked after in a professional way and not at the whim of a hobbyist. Family, friends, and fellow hobbyist have been asking me how I can give it up after so long and I tend to have trouble with a concise answer. One of the primary reasons is that saltwater does not hold my heart like it use to and it was evident in my maintenance of my system even with the automation I had built in. Many things contributed to my declining interest including the morality of saltwater tanks, the community, cost, and other assorted thoughts and feelings. In the end it was inertia that kept me going, and Doug helped me break out of that.

The picture is of Doug and I after removing all rock, corals, clams, crabs, snails, etc. from the tank. All I have left is water, sand, and the equipment to sell. The donation may get me a few dollars on my tax return but is when I sell off the equipment that I hope to have a enough money to do a little bit of work on the Hudson.

Last weekend

Last weekend was beautiful and I finally got a chance to give the Hudson the wash, polish, and wax it deserved. All that is left is a little toothbrush work where the wax accumulated in grooves. I am pleased :o)

Good news about the Buick

The good news is that the Buick sold. After my last encounter with a potential buyer I decided to sell it through a local classic car business, Valley Motors of Winona. I worked with Tom, the owner, and I could not be more pleased. Tom also can provide appraisals for use with banks and insurance companies, for a fee of course. If you are ever in the area, definitely worth the visit.

This is getting expensive

I have been trying to work on estimates for cost on what I need to do to the car. Some of it is cosmetic, but most of it really needed. After adding up the numbers, I am starting to think it will take a couple of winters to get this work done. I doubt that even a bigger than normal tax return will dent the bill enough to squeak it out this year.

That means it will be years before I can consider any re-chroming, engine work, etc.

It is not terrible news, but it brings me back down to earth.

Selling the Buick: Frustrating & Disappointing

Rick was suppose to come and buy the Buick this afternoon (the Buick is the car that came before the Hudson that we need to sell before we can move forward with restoration and maintenance work on the Hudson). Last week he drove it, said he was going to buy it, we shook hands, I took it off of eBay, and at his request I brought it in to have the brakes checked (they checked out fine and were cleaned and adjusted). This afternoon he was suppose to test drive it one more time and then buy it. We even had a plan for me to drive it over to Winona and drop it off at his house today.

Rick just called and backed out, saying it was because it is the slow time of year at work and he does not feel good about spending the money. Nicole and I are extremely frustrated and disappointed, to say the least.

Selling out of one hobby to support another.

I could blame the Hornet for getting me to sell out of my saltwater aquarium hobby, but the truth is my interest has been waning for years. I am hopeful that I will be able to generate some significant cash that I can plow into the Hornet.

Hard Decisions on the Interior.

I have been trying to make some hard decisions on the interior. Specifically I have been wrestling with the desire to preserve as much originality in the car as possible and the reality of the revenges of time, and the future abuse my family will inflict. I have reached a decision, and it is a compromise with myself. I plan on using new fabrics for the interior, while carefully saving as much of the original material as possible.

The main question now is if I try and restore the interior with Vinyl & Fabric (as close to original as I can find) or leather.

Thanks for Ryan Ankney (SMS Fabric Pictures), Kenneth Cate (52 Hornet Interior), and many others for helping me in my search and research.

Reproduction Fabric a Match?

Today in the mail the "exact match" fabric arrived from SMS Auto Fabrics. I was rather disappointed that they did not also send a sample of the matching vinyl. They list the vinyl as an exact match too, but since I have nearly perfect vinyl, it would have been great to see them side by side before shelling out $55 a yard. At first I was extremely dubious about the fabric being even close, but after studying the fabrics together I started to think that maybe it really was a match. Thinking it is a match means that my original fabric has faded massively. Going on the assumption that the reproduction colors are correct, then it is only the strip width that is off just a little. On the new fabric, the stripes are just a tiny bit too wide. I am hopeful I can get a picture from someone with better condition original fabric. $95 a yard is not cheap, but may be worth it if it is truly close to original. I now need to weigh the cost of the fabric and installation along with the many other things I want to do over the winter. Time and money are limited, and paycheck to paycheck I want to get done what I can so come spring I am not driving the car sitting on a milk crate, stopping with my feet.

Here is the Hudson forum discussion.

Seat covers on seat covers

I have more things I want to and need to do to the Hudson than I can shake a stick at. So, since I was unable to decide on anything else, I decided to uncover the seats original fabric.

The bad news is that both of the seat bottoms are pretty much shot. The fabric is very torn up on the front seat bottom and the foam is disintegrating. The back seat bottom only has a couple of tears in it but the fabric really feels dry-rotted. If pressure is applied to it, you can hear it tearing. The back seat bottom is also missing the buttons.

The good news are the seat backs. The back seat back is in perfect condition. The front seat back is in decent shape with about 1/4 of the seat (drivers side) showing heavy wear and ripping. The vinyl on all of the seats is in darn good shape. I assume it is faded, but without something to compare it to, it is hard to tell.

An interesting find was that the front seat back was covered in two layers of fabric in addition to the original.

I have fabric samples coming from smsautofabrics.com that are suppose to be dead on. I am also working with Rick Monroe on the idea of preserving as much as we can instead of just replacing. I am mildly optimistic that we can save some of the original material.

Day 3, Arriving Home

We woke up Sunday morning to freezing temperatures and some chunks of snow in the parking lot. We had a few hours ahead of us on the road before arriving home in Byron MN. During the drive I did the math for fuel economy. We were ranging between 10-12 miles per gallon, a bit shy from the 15 MPG I was hoping for. The Hornet definitely needs a tuneup, and my hope is to find another local Hudsonite with hand on experience with a 308 to guide me through the process.

We arrived home at 11AM as I sounded the horn to let everyone know we were home. There were hugs and kisses from the kids, and Nicole, my wife, even looked happy to seem me ;0) The trip had been long but definitely worth it. Working heat and a beautifully driving car definitely helped. All along the road people had waved and we had folks asking us questions about the car every time we stopped for gas.

I am happy.

Day 2, a very long day

Day two of the trip started early. Day 1 we made it as far as Salado Texas before we stopped for the night at a Super 8. Jon and I switched as drivers every tank of gas, pretty much driving for the entire day. We both really started to get a feel for the car, and it is a fantastic driver, easily going 70-75 smoothly, handling well. I am happy to say that as opposed to Day 1, Day 2 was quite uneventful. There were thoughts of driving through the night to get home, but we decided at about 10PM that we should call it a night. We ended up at a Motel 6 in Des Moines Iowa after logging nearly 900 miles, and we were exhausted. We went out to eat at Champs and were lucky enough to witness a Hawkeye win, while in a bar restaurant in Iowa. Hawkeye fans are truly unique.

Day 1, a rough start

The first day of my trip to buy the 1952 Hudson Hornet sedan had lots of bumps in it. The first trouble of the day was when I was standing in my driveway at 4:15 AM, looking across the street at my neighbors dark house. The problem was the my friend and neighbor, Jon, as suppose to be ready to go, there was no sign of life in the house, and we needed to meet the Airport shuttle in by 4:30. I called his cell phone, I called his wife's cell phone, and I called the house phone; finally getting a very groggy Jon on the phone. His alarm had not gone off. 5 minutes later Jon joined me in the car and we sped off to meet the shuttle.

We arrived at the pickup point for the Airport scuttle to find that the shuttle was not there, but there was another person waiting. At 4:45AM I called the shuttle service and after navigating the menus, finally hit a live person who informed me that the shuttle was on its way but still downtown. Eventual the shuttle arrived and we were off to the airport for our 7:05 fight.

When we arrived at the airport we were surprised to see very, very, long lines at security. Thankfully I had already printed bording passes and we had no bags to check, so we got in line. Almost an hour later we finally got through security, just in time to hear our names being paged, our flight was ready to depart. Never before had I been paged at an airport. Jon ran ahead while I grabbed some fast food for us and followed as quickly as I could. When we were about to step onto the plane they told Jon that the overhead bins were full and that we would have to gate check his bag. In the rush, Jon gave them his bag, asked him where we were headed (San Antonio through Dallas), and gave him a ticket. As we sat down and took a breath he realized that his wallet and phone were in his bag.

The flight down to Dallas was turbulent with 100+ MPH headwinds, at least we arrived, but late. When we got off the plane Jon asked about his bag and was told that it was not just gate checked, but checked all the way to San Antonio. When we got to the gate for our next flight, it was already boarding.

On the flight to San Antonio Jon checked his bag claim ticket only to discover that the flight number to San Ant0nio did not match our flight number. They had checked his bag onto a different flight, a flight that arrived an hour after hours. Thankfully Russell (HET Club member that made this all possible) met us at the baggage claim and was understanding of our late arrival and the need to wait another hour for Jon's bag to arrive. In time, Jon's bag arrived and we were ready to go and see the car.

We had a nice short drive with Russell to Chester's house. As we got close I was happy to see my beautiful Hudson Hornet in the driveway, right next to another. Two 52 Hudson Hornets in the driveway was a beautiful sight.

We looked over the car, crawled under, and took a look inside. Another HET member, Rick, was already there and proceeded to adjust the doors for us. Jon and I took the car for a test drive and quickly discovered that the car lunged left when breaking. Russell & Rich offered to take a look at it while I worked on paperwork with Chester. I was happy to finally meet Chester in person, and his son-in-law that he called Mountain. Chester seemed like a very nice man and I was sorry to see him in a condition where he had to sell his Hudson.

After completing the paperwork and actually buying the car Russell informed me that it was the right front break that was bad and that we could probably fix it at his house. The 30 mile drive to Russell's was nerve wracking. Every time I hit the breaks the car would lunge left and quite often the left front wheel would just lock up. When we finally arrived, Rich and Russell jumped into the task of fixing the brake.

Here is Russell's perspective on the brakes. "When Michael tested the brakes, the car lunged to the left like it was avoiding a starry-eyed deer in the headlights. A quick inspection told us LH front brake was working, RH front was not. Fortunately, we got them and the car out to my house in one piece and proceeded to do an impromptu brake job. The wheel cylinders looked pretty gross, but fortunately I had an extra set on hand. So we get it all fixed up and start bleeding the brakes, and whaddaya know? Brake fluid starts spewing out of inside the drum on the RH side. Take it back apart, find out that my "new" wheel cylinder apparently had some extended shelf time and the cylinder wasn't smooth, but pretty coarse from some stuck corrosion. Additionally, the rubber seals were slightly too small . . . like 1-1/16" instead of 1-1/8". Lucky for me, I had some of those as well. A big THANK YOU to RPMonroe, who not only met us at the former owner's house for a last minute informal Hudson meet, but also came out to my house to help with the brake problem. Thanks a bunch Rick, hope your wife understands!"

Jon and I finally hit the road at about 9PM and got a couple of hours on the road before calling it a night.

The excitement is building...

I am only a couple of days away from flying down to Texas and becoming a new Hudson owner. I am nervous and excited. I have so much to learn about 52 Hudson Hornets, but I have a feeling that after 1200 miles I will "know" my car. Unfortunately I will be riding home on bias ply tires, but the budget can not handle new WWW Radials and the tires on the car are only a year old. The picture is of the electric fuel pump and fuel filter. The electric pump is used when starting to ensure that the collaborators have gas in them instead of just cranking the engine.

The tickets have been bought...

Last night I bought our tickets for the flight down to San Antonio to pick up the car. I waited too long to buy the tickets so the cheap ones I was looking at on Southwest had doubled in price. Fortunately I was able to find relatively cheap tickets on American that will actually have us arriving an hour and a half earlier than we were planning on, but it comes at a price. We will have to be on the bus to the airport at 4:30AM, ouch!

Rules and Regulations

Chester, the person I am buying the Hornet from, is very concerned we get all of the details right. In the past when I have bought cars I paid, signed the title, drove the car home, and mailed in the title. My deal in TX is becoming a little more complex. In addition to signing over the title and getting a bill of sale I need to complete a Vehicle Transfer notification to release Chester of any liability before I get the title transferred. Second, I need to get a Vehicle Transit Permit to drive it home.

Here is what I dug up and shared with Chester to put him at ease.

#1 Vehicle Transfer Notification https://vision21.txdot.gov/Vehicle/MainTransferNotification.aspx
This form is something that we complete at the time of sale in addition to the tile and bill of sale. Once completed and mailed to the address on the form it transfers liability to me from Chester for the car. The form is designed to be printed and mailed by the seller. I can bring duplicate forms with me with most of the information and a stamped addressed envelope.

#2 Vehicle Transit Permit https://vision21.txdot.gov/Vehicle/VehicleLookupForPermit.aspx
This step is what I need to do to legally drive the car after Chester takes the plates. It is an online form that needs the VIN to generate a printable Vehicle Transit Permit.

An adventure: From TX to MN in a 52 Hornet

I have spoken with the owner and agreed to buy the car. The plan is to fly down to TX and drive it back to MN. It is not much to look at inside but it is a solid car, with Twin-H power ;)

An unexpected call from TX

Russel Chilton sent me an e-mail letting me know that he knew of a 52 Hudson Hornet available in TX. I called the owner and Russel kindly took pictures of the car.

In the begining

In the beginning I wanted a classic car, more specifically a 51-54 Hudson Hornet Sedan. I looked and looked and found either extremely high priced cars or cars that were rotten. I finally decided to cut my teeth on a 1954 Buick Century. It was a good looking and sturdy car. The plan was to enjoy the Buick and learn skills on maintain a classic while taking my time to find the right Hudson.