Little Signs point to big problems

There have been a number of small issues that have built to critical mass. I have what appears to be a blown head gasket (foaming coolant & disappearing oil), a engine knock every time I accelerate hard or uphill, plenty of oil drips, and a distributor chewing itself up. I was told the engine was rebuilt once before, but I have no more information than that.

I could try and do band-aid fixes, replace head gasket & distributor, drive it easy and cross my fingers about the knock and hope it was just bad engine timing, ignore the oil leaks,  and why the head gasket blew in the first place.
or
I can have the engine rebuilt.

I am strongly leaning towards rebuilding, am located in South East MN, and don't have any mechanics I trust to do more than maintenance on my car. Doug Wildrick has been recommended to me by someone I trust. I plan on talking to Doug see if he is interested & willing and also to get an idea of the cost. None of this can happen until I find steady work, hopefully in the next few months. No matter what, I have a feeling the Hudson will not be moving under it own power again this summer.

I am a bit shaken that I am talking about rebuilding the engine only 6 months after buying what I thought was a rock solid car, but I am determined to help my Hudson survive another generation and hopefully be my son's or daughter's someday.

Pertronix Ignitor

Here is what my Pertronix Ignitor looks like after three months. I asked Pertronix for a return / exchange. Waiting to hear back.

When it rains it pours; Problems That Is!

I seem to be having a lot of small / moderate issues with my Hudson lately. First there was the fact that when it got stuck in a long downpour the door panels got soaked. Solution there will be to work with my glass guy on installing the new sweepers and figuring out the waterproof lining that is suppose to be in the doors. Then I had some knocking in the engine while climbing uphill in the bluffs at 70 MPH. I read up on that, and am hoping it was bad gas or the timing is too advanced. A couple of days ago a gasket for my radiator failed and after I fixed it I started having trouble with a collapsing radiator hose. Today my timing gun arrived in the mail and I could not see any chalk lines on the flywheel. When I opened up my distributor, I found a pile of debris from my Pertronix electronic ignition kit, seemingly from it rubbing even though it has clearance. I now have a message into Petronix support and also an e-mail into 21st Century Hudson to see if they can possibly just rebuild the whole distributor to make sure it is done right. As of this moment, I need a break from the Hudson troubles.

I should point out, the Hudson is actually running quite nicely, but at this point, I am not sure why.

New Toys for the amateur tuner

I now have a unisync, timing gun, and a Dwell/Tach/Volts meter. it is my hope that they along with the great support from the Hudson community, that I (a rank amateur) will be able to 'tune' my 308.

Collapsed Radiator Hose

Yesterday I noticed that the gasket around the goose-neck feeding my radiator was leaking, so I removed it, cleaned it up, and replaced it. Once that was done, I filled it up the brim with premixed 50/50 coolant. It was irritating because it was only a few months ago that I pulled the piece off to install a modern thermostat and close the bypass.

Today the family and I drove the Hudson into a nearby cruise-in, and when I opened the hood for someone to look at the 308, I noticed my upper radiator hose was collapse. Since it has never happened before, it kind of freaked me out. 

Now I am trying to find out what it means - Collapsed Radiator Hose Post on the Hudson Forum

First trip home to from MN to WI in the Hornet

A couple of weeks ago was my family's maiden road-trip in the Hudson to my home town of Oshkosh WI. It was a mad rush to get the car ready for the trip, as parts for the seat belts and the carpet kit arrived at about 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday, but we were on the road by 5:30. A special thanks for my neighbor Jon for making it possible with his help. The four hour drive home was pleasantly uneventful. The only issue I ran into was when I was trying to accelerate uphill onto the interstate. For some reason, the Hudson had trouble choosing 3 or 4 gear. The rest of the trip home averaged 75 mph on the interstate and 65 on the highways. I am happy to say my Hudson had no trouble with the speed and suffered no overheating, even with the air-conditioning running. My wife even complained that the AC was too cold. Since this was the first big trip since driving the Hudson home from TX to MN, I kept track of mileage. It always worked out to just over 12 mpg, regardless of speed (65 or 75) or if the AC was on or not.

While in Oshkosh, I convinced my my parents and Nicole's to let me part Hudson in their garages. This did not prevent me from being stuck with the Hudson parked in the rain though. It was not just any rain, it was a half hour of torrential downpour, and I mean torrential. When the rain finally let up and we got back into the Hudson, I found that all of my door panels were soaked. The windshield had not leaked and the back window had not leaked, but something in the doors had let the downpour in. It was very frustrating, but at least it happened with the old interior so I have a chance to fix it before the new interior goes in. What puzzles me is that when I wash the car it does not happen, so it mush have been the sheer volume of water. Since only the door panels were wet, I am wondering if the water came in on the bottom of the glass, but is just a guess. Fixing water leaks is top priority and must be taken car of before I have a new interior put in.

Trip home turned out to be a rainy one, and the Hudson performed beautifully in it. During the four hours in the rain, the door panels remained dry, but I did discover a weatherstripping leak on the front passenger door that let some water in the front edge of the door. The only mechanical trouble I ran into was during our ascent through the bluffs from WI to MN. During the climb if I tried to go faster than 70, I got a loud rattling sound from the engine area. This bothered me enough that I did not push it. Since it generally runs great, the high speed up hill rattle will get added to the long list of things to look into in the future.


Here is a picture of my Wife's grandfather, Harold, with the Hornet. I was thrilled to be able to give him a ride and listen to the stories of every car he ever owned. For Harold, the one that he never should have let go was his Ford Model A. His most hated was a Nash.

I also had the pleasure of giving rides to a number of relations that had not seen the car before. I always find myself apologizing for the poor condition of the interior, but no one seems to mind but me.

The plan for summer 2010

Step 1:  Put a carpet kit in and otherwise assemble my basket-case interior.
Step 2:  Drive the S%!^ out of it!

So far, I have the seats out and one coat of black enamel paint on the floor, and the rear seat-belts installed. I have parts for the front seat-belts ordered and the carpet should arrive next week.

Mostly my Hudson need lots and lots of TLC, but I have run into a number of new issues. Problems so far: I noticed that around my gas pedal rod, it is duck-tape. That just can not be right. I also noticed that I have many small screw holes in the firewall and floor. I plan to dab caulk on them to close them up. A slightly bitter concern is some sketchy work around my gas tank fill-neck. There is a 1/2 gap around part of it, leaving the trunk open to the road. I have no idea how to mount the radio. Last but not least, I am missing some interior parts such as the light covers for the rear vanity lights and the medallions for the front door panels.

Forum discussions:

What is it, and where does it go on my 52 HH?
What should go here?
Good place(s) to get interior trim parts?
How To? Install Radio in 52 Hornet
Why is there a donut on my brake?
Door bottom seal. Clips or adhesive?