1947 Hudson gets new engine

It has been a long process to get the engine rebuilt for the Hudson. We delivered the engine to Phoenix on July 9, 2013 and 3 months later, October 3rd, picked it up. It took a long time to have the parts made for the rebuild.

 



 I brought it home and started to assemble all the bolt on parts, the first was the distributor. To get #1 cylinder on top dead center I rotated the engine several times but could not feel any compression.

 I tried the other cylinders using a compression gauge tester with little or no compression. I called Bailey's machine and he had me do a leak down test using compressed air that resulted in the air leaking past the pistons, the valves seemed OK. After another call we determined it would be best to return it to Bailey's so they could check it out. So October 7th, I made the trip to Phoenix (300 mile round trip).

 They had the same results as I did and decided to bore it 30 over and install new pistons and rings. There was a delay waiting for the new pistons to arrive but they got it together, tested it and set the timing for me to pick up November 21st. 

 I started to install the clutch and pressure plate and found the wrong gasket for the clutch had been provided, the Hudson has a cork faced clutch disk that rides in oil (wet clutch).I called the Hudson club member who had sent me the clutch oil and he had the right gasket but did not receive it until after Thanksgiving. While I was waiting I installed all the bolt on parts.

 Finally, on December 6th, I was able to put the engine back in the car... that took 3 days.

 A new exhaust system was purchased on the Internet that to my surprise fit like the original.

The 4 pieces had slip to gather ends and the assembled pipes were hung in place with tie wire then aligned for welding.

                                    
 The stock hangers and supports were sand blasted, painted and reused. While the car was on the lift the oil was changed in the transmission, overdrive and rear end.

 The radiator and battery was installed, water, antifreeze, engine oil put in. I double checked everything before trying to start the engine and found the electric fuel pump was not pumping gas. After checking the gas tank pick up pipe, blowing out the fuel line and changing the fuel filter I determined the pump was at fault. There was a new 6 volt pump that came with the car so I plumbed it in with a larger filter that solved the fuel problem. While I had the gas tank apart the gas gauge sending was rebuilt.

The engine was started on December 14th, 5 months after it pulled out, and a few leaks found and fixed. When I tried to back out of the shop for a test drive it would not go in to reverse or low. There is a cable attached to the bottom of the shift lever that moves a fork inside the transmission from the 2nd / high position to the low / reverse position that did not have enough throw. I called a Hudson club member in Phoenix that works on transmissions and he gave me instruction on how to make adjustments and where they are located. With the adjustments made I was able to take the car on a 10 mile test drive on December16th. It ran OK, drove great but needs a carburetor.