Advice on making a barnfind run

So this old guy I know drafted me to work on his Nissan truck in his barn.  I am doing the headgasket on it.  However in front of the Nissan is a 37 Flatbed truck.  He bought it 25 years ago and it has been sitting in the barn since.  The spark plugs were removed and "something" poured in the engine at some point.  It is all there and quite solid.  He has offered to let me get it going.

My plan is something like:

  •         Make sure the engine will turn over
  •         rebuild the carb and refresh the ignition
  •         see what happens, if it will run, move onto the brakes, etc

If anyone can point me to some typical issues, parts that are unavailable, availability of a replacement Hudson engine, common late engine swaps (just in case),  any information would be so appreciated.

Also a couple things in my head:

      Are 12V conversions common, any reason not to?

      What fluids does everyone use for the engine oil, transmission, differential, brake fluid?


                                                                                                      Thanks much

                                                                                                         37Flatbed



Comments

  • Kdancy
    Kdancy Senior Contributor
    I would get the truck in hand so it can be properly evaluated before getting to far ahead. Parts are available just not quite as easy as some other makes.
  • Jon B
    Jon B Administrator
    It's a Hudson flatbed truck?  That's a bit unusual!  If it's a '37 it would be a Terraplane not a Hudson, of course.

    I think all of us would recommend that you drop the pan to check the condition of the oil and clean it out if it's "sludgy". Certainly, drain the oil and start with fresh.

    I'd drain the gas tank and bypass it completely when starting the engine. run a rubber hose from a 5-gallon gas can, to the fuel pump and use new gas.  I would suspect crud in the tank and in the metal gas line. You could put an inline fuel filter in there, once you get the engine running and reconnect the tank to the fuel pump, to collect the crud.

    I would try to work with the 6-volt system before you spend time converting to 12 volt.  Six volts worked fine back in 1937 and it's worked in my '37 since I bought it 45 years ago. 

    Modern oils will work in the truck's transmission, engine, and differential. Modern brake fluid (though I chose to change to silicone in my '37, with no negative repercussions).  Some folks believe that one should use a non-detergent oil in an older (not rebuilt) engine, because a modern detergent oil will loosen "gunk"; but this has been disputed by others.   Assuming that the car still has its Hudson transmission, you will need Hudsonite, still available (in improved form) from Wildrick Restorations.  




  • Thanks for the replies gentlemen.

    So I have been looking at some pictures and I see perhaps this truck has had an engine swap at some point.  The head says Hudson and it has a distributor mounted on top of the engine at the back end.  Does this sound correct?

    I am now thinking I want go ahead and pull the motor and trans for the sake of accessibility and cleaning as I have concerns about pistons, valves stuck, general gunk accumulation and other unforeseen surprises.  Now that I know about the cork clutches, I feel it needs to be inspected and at least cleaned up.  What do you use to clean it: diesel, kerosene, mineral spirits?

    According to the owner this truck was driven into the barn some 25-30 years ago and never touched since.
  • The engine you have is from a 1940 to 1947 Hudson. The prior location of the distributor, low on the side of the engine, became impractical to reach due to changes in styling of the nose of the car, so starting in 1940, with basically the same engine, it was moved to the top of the engine at the back.
  • Take a look at a posting (presently on page 6 of this forum). It concerns a Hudson 8 (same internal construction as the Hudson 6 you have). There are two oil pans, the regular one, and a second tray-shaped one above it. The important thing is supplying oil to the upper pan when reassembling the engine. The title of the posting is "Thanks to Per ...". You can also find lots of information about the cork clutch in this forum and in the HET club forum. If any red colored oil comes out of the clutch when you remove one of the two drain plugs (located at the edge of the flywheel), you can most likely get it working without taking it apart by filling it with 6 ounces of automatic transmission fluid.
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