Hot Rods Newbie Hudson 308

Hi all
13 years ago I was lucky enough to buy a 1954 Hudson Hornet leaking oil and water everywhere hydamatic gearbox slipping paint falling off but I always wanted one so it’s mine after a bare metal paint job and a lot of water and oil leak stoping it’s a lovely car not driven much but much loved anyway last year did a comp test no real reason it’s running fine anyway comps were a bit off 6=110 5=120 4=110 3=90 2=120 1=100 it has a 262 head. As I say it’s running fine no oil burning or anything did a leak down and it looks like the valves are where the problems are! Now 30 years ago I would have pulled it and sorted it but not so fit now so does anyone rebuild these 308s no one in the uk does as far as I know even a good second hand motor from somewhere any help or advise would be welcome thanks barry

 

That’s a beautiful car !!!!!!


If it’s not causing you grief , just keep enjoying it .

have you tried adjusting the valves ? Could just be a wee bit tight .

another used engine , you might be in the same boat your in now.
To RE & RE The engine is the easy part, getting the engine built will cost some sheckles .

 

Since it is not driven much, just keep an eye on it and drive on. Do a compression test every few months and see if there are any changes.

 

I would recommend to just enjoy driving it as it is.

 

Thank you for your valued reply a very good friend of mine said almost the same I am of an age and well being that it’s hard to do much now so engine out is probably not an option unless I get a lot of help now the valves that might be something I could manage but would the tapets go tight? I would have thought they would go lose with wear not tight but I am not an expert ah I guess if the cam wore a bit that might do it and my dad said you should learn a new thing every day bless him

 

Oh and thank you for liking my car over the years I have tried my best to look after it we can’t really own things can we just look after them for a while

 

Hi and thanks for your thoughts I am great full for any help I can get I love My Hudson

 

More good advise I would have just carried on driving it if I hadn’t started messing with that compression gauge ,

 

Good Looking Car!!

 

Just keep her maintained and enjoy. elegant ride you have.

 

As others have said, just enjoy. But let’s just say you loose more compression at the valves. Being it’s a flat head, why not just lap the valves with the engine still in place? Just a thought.

 

Nice car, I would agree with much of what has already been said. If it loses too much power/compression, I would pull the head and just lap the valves or maybe go so far as finding someone who can do an in-car valve job. It was a pretty common thing at one time. There must be someone in the UK who can do it. Perhaps inquire about it here.

 

Those numbers for the compression test aren’t terribly bad, have you compared them to a service manual for the engine?
It will be near the same amount of work to lap the valves vs doing a valve job with the engine in place.
If you have the ability to pull the head (probably intake and exhaust manifolds too) the next hardest part will be accessing the valve keepers. I did an L6 recently that would be similar to doing it in the car, but access to the valve covers was easy for me (engine on the stand) would be tougher with having to bend over those big fenders or finagling your way underneath. If you got this far you could then just take the valves into a shop and have them surfaced.
You can purchase the hand-seat cutters and Pilot needed. I didn’t use a stone on the seat grinder because I didn’t want all that emery in the engine, so I packed grease into the cutters, used the rough cutter, cleaned and repacked it, when done I switched to the fine cutter and did the same.
When I cleaned the grease out of the seats out, I couldn’t see a trace of metal in it.
That may be more work that you are up for, so I’d suggest looking into clubs in your area, the right clubs will always have someone who’s willing to help a fellow enthusiast out.

 

Hi and thanks for the help I think it would be a lot easier in the US to find someone to do a valve job next to no chance here in the uk I remember my dad have a guy come round and re bore his little ford 4 cylinder outside the house engine in car there just isn’t that kind of interest here now most of the older machine shops have gone the few that are left just either don’t want to bother or don’t have the knowledge one bigger worry for me is if I pull the head and there are cracks everywhere then what do I do? I did think that if it all went pear shaped I could throw a big jeep engine and box in there but it would be a shame to do that wouldn’t it Barry

 

I think I could pull the head and I already fitted headers so there’s no real problem there it’s the worry of what other stuff I could find like cracks in the valve seats etc where do you go then? The engine has 40 psi oil pressure does not smoke starts on the ****on since I fitter a 12 volt geared starter the original 6 volt kept braking the snout got fed up with welding it the car is lovely all original inc interior I am a lucky man barry

 

Well, if something is cracked, you can just put another head gasket on and run it, taking it apart won’t damage anything. I’ve taken a few FH engines apart, even put a few back together. Never found a cracked seat, loose ones, pitted ones, but not cracked.
I do understand your concerns though. But if something was really wrong with the top end, I’d want to know before a long drive. If you just use the car for local pleasure, enjoy it. I was just giving options that you could do at home. I would have suggested looking for a used refacer, but around here they’d probably run in the 200-300 range ( I picked up mine years back at an estate sale cheap) but for a one time use, getting 12 valves refaced would be 50-75 bucks in my area.
Heck, enjoy that sweet ride!

 

I don't know if the valves/lifters can tighten up, but in the Hudson maintenance literature periodic adjustment does get mentioned. Big strong engine, I say drive it.

 

I would check the valve clearances, if some of the valves have a bit of recession, that will cause the clearance to reduce, and compromise compression..

 

B36>>>Those numbers for the compression test aren’t terribly bad>>>
Look pretty good to me too for a 50s FH. Compression tests aren't all that accurate anyway.

LB>>> Big strong engine, I say drive it.>>>
Agreed. If you can afford the fuel.

Barry>>>it’s running fine>>>
Rule-of-thumb. Don't try to fix it.

 

Ok looks like the consensus of opinion says drive it so that’s what I am going to do and if it starts playing up I will worry about it then I think it will outlive me anyway thanks to all you guys for bothering with a worried older guy what a great site this is regards Barry

 

Looks you are trying to manifest a problem, I’m firmly in the drive it and enjoy it camp, if it doesn’t use oil and runs good then I’m not sure what you are worried about.

 

Hi and thanks your right I think as you get older things seem to be more serious when I was 40 this wouldn’t have been a problem I would have pulled it and sorted it 35 years later you look at things a bit different ha ha thanks again Barry

 

In America we say, "if it works, don't fix it" ! Nice car

 

Hi Barry, I love your "Big H" and like most have said, it is a strong engine. Keep quality & proper oil it it & drive that lovely old Hudson ...... enjoy.

 

Hell, probably half the cars I've ever owned didn't have compression numbers that looked as good as yours. If it was a low mileage engine or had been recently overhauled you might want to look into it a little deeper. But how many miles has this got on it? Your efforts are probably better spent elsewhere.

A cl***mate from when I was taking auto tech cl***es 40 + years ago owned a couple Hudsons. One was a '54 Hornet, I believe, a black convertible with red leather guts and a white top. He didn't drive it every day but in the warmer summer months he'd drive it to school a couple of days a week. When lunch time rolled around a group of students would "volunteer" him to drive and pile into the Hornet and pick up our burgers and fries in style. With the top down, of course, weather permitting.

Don't sweat the compression numbers unless you have other su****ions about the engine. Drive. Enjoy. Repeat.

I leave you with this quote. "Perfection is the enemy of progress." Attributed to Winston Churchill. And since my last name is Blackburn, I wouldn't lie to you about any of this.

 

Hi Again
thanks to all of you for your valued addvise i am going to carry on just driving her and enjoying her you guys do realy care thats a realy nice thing and as i have said thank you so much for your addvice i cant wait for the summer months to roll her out oh and V8 flat 44 i only use vp racing oil. thanks again Barry

 

Once the weather gets nicer and you get the Hudson outdoors, dust it off and post some more pictures of it. Everybody here LOVES looking at pictures. Well, except for this one guy a few years ago. But he got banned. . .

 

The original engine in my '51 Ford club coupe had compression numbers worse than that when I tested it in 1989. It ran well until it started making a funny noise in 2016 (which turned out to be a defective main bearing). The car ran fine, started fine, didn't smoke, and had good oil pressure; it was just a little weak. I replaced it with a good running, stock compression (110-115 on all cylinders) '51 Mercury with a few modifications.

The only difference was that, with the new engine, performance was a lot better.

 

Some pics