1951 Hornet rebuild

TwinSupercharged
TwinSupercharged Expert Adviser
edited August 2018 in HUDSON
Halloooow Hudnuts,

I am new to posting here. I have been a member for a few years now and I am working on rebuilding a 1951 Hornet coupe. I finished my 1939 Stude coupe street rod project and went looking for a new one to start. The Hudson stepdown had the lines I was looking for. As I never have been a Hudson owner, I found great help within the club and I would like to give a shout out to the folks that got me started. The Fellows brothers, Jason and Val at Vintage Coach, Buzz Stahl, Danny Spring, Ol Racer and Frank Hughes, RIP. 
I bought the Hornet out of the WTN. It was complete and very sound. Paint had been stripped and primed, all exterior chrome had been refinished. Not until reading all of the issues with rust on stepdowns did I appreciate the rust free rocker panels and sub-frame.

My next post will show the Twin Supercharger installation on the 308


ready for rebuilding  



Well you can see I am still learning how to post text and pictures.
To continue with my rebuild data;
Drive Train: Rebuilt motor mounted to a Wilcap adapter for a T-5 1988 Camero trans, 10 1/2 clutch, one piece drive shaft, Ford 8" rear end with 3:84 gears with drum brakes. 
Suspension: Rebuilt front center steering, BIG MISTAKE, should have saved the money and bought the Fatman front clip, very disappointed with no ability to align front end for today roads. Added after market Mustang power steering mounted in original steering box location, Fatman 2 1/2 dropped spindles with disc brakes, new rear leaf springs with 2" lowering blocks, split header exhaust collected into one 3" pipe with electric cutout.
Interior: Stock dash with modern gauges, Bucket seats with center counsel to fit T-5, Vintage air, color tan inside and black outside.
Exterior: Love the long and flowing lines of the stepdown and will keep it stock but for a very few personal changes; no horse collar, 1954 Hudson head light rings for a mini French look, no chrome fender spears, the spears and the hood ornament chop off the following lines when viewed from the side. I added a SS strip from the hood ornament to the cowl and added a SS strip over the windshield divider to give a continued flow. 


Here is before paint stripping and re-chroming with previous owner. 


   Fatman 2 1/2 dropped spindles



power steering mounted in wood model for fit test
than final metal mount 


modern six gauge package. (I hated to do away with the stock gauges but too expensive to fix and would have to add other gauges under dash.




I tried to attach two videos of the engine test run with t-5 mounted and one showing crank and bearings assembly run in. I did not succeed.


 To KustomKreeps, sorry I have new NOS side trim and it looks great. 

Comments

  • TwinSupercharged
    TwinSupercharged Expert Adviser
    I needed to add the rebuild data for the coupe.
    Engine; complete rebuilt engine with 0.060 over bore, 0.020 under on crank, crank nose  ground for SBC dampener, Isky 3/4 race cam, stock valves, Clifford tube headers,262 head milled 0.040, twin-H, Pertronix ignition.
  • dude need more pics!
    bomb us with them.

    Keeping the side trim? If not I will buy it.
  • TwinSupercharged
    TwinSupercharged Expert Adviser
    I have added new pictures
  • Kdancy
    Kdancy Senior Contributor
    Curious about the 8" ford rearend. Not that strong. Will it handle the 308?
  • GrimGreaser
    GrimGreaser Senior Contributor
    I really want too see more pictures of your twin Graham superchargers. Those are pretty slick.
  • Ol racer
    Ol racer Senior Contributor
    edited August 2018
    Your Build looks Great with some creative engineering and nice job inserting pictures!.. Regarding Ford 8.8 rear. A friend here has one in a VW Bus with a mid-engine supercharged 350 Chevy and its holding up well so far...
  • Kdancy
    Kdancy Senior Contributor
    The 8.8 rear is much stronger than the 8" rear.
  • PaulButler
    PaulButler Administrator
    I think the modern gauge package suits it :) Good pictures Fred of what you are doing! keep them coming