Santa got me a 308!!

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  • Browniepetersen
    Browniepetersen Senior Contributor
    Big Sky, Those prices are only estimates.  I sold those parts a few years ago at the same amount.  I am not big on an aluminum head, they are a lot of work/bother for the small performance you get in the end.  When I built my 52 in the late 90's there were a lot more around.  I went through three aluminum heads, one a NOS head, putting my 308 in.  First run down the black line at Bonneville it crapped out on me.  Give me a steel 308 head and I will be happy.  I have a steel one on my current 308.  I would rather spend the money on machining and a good cam grind....  I am in under 4 K on my current engine....
  • cheyenne7271
    cheyenne7271 Member
    An iron 262 head works well on a built 308 too
  • Ol racer
    Ol racer Senior Contributor
    I made a 4bbl Intake out of a '49 aluminum for my modified Hornet powered 
    '37 Terraplane with a Holley 780 carb and made a dual 2bbl out of another '49 Intake using two Pontiac v8 Carbs turned sideways..... Light & work well.....Ive posted pictures previously, but their not handy tonight.
  • Geoff
    Geoff Senior Contributor
    Off topic I know, but what exactly is "bbl" an abbreviation of?
  • terraplane8
    terraplane8 Senior Contributor
    Geoff said:
    Off topic I know, but what exactly is "bbl" an abbreviation of?
     https://www.cpgnation.com/history-of-the-4bbl-abbreviation/
  • BigSky
    BigSky Senior Contributor
    What are people using for pistons in the 308?  3&13/16” seems to come up dry in searches.  My engine is 40 over currently & ideally I’d like to find a modern piston with modern ring pack.  Is there anything out there made for another more common engine that works?

    After cleaning up the 262 & 308 iron heads I have, there is no question these are some heavy son of a guns.  Anyone have an aluminum head in good condition they would part with?
  • cheyenne7271
    cheyenne7271 Member
    Dale Cooper sells modern pistons and rings for the big Hudson 
  • BigSky
    BigSky Senior Contributor
    Dale said the pistons he sells are exact replicas of the original.  I’m not seeing how they are modern with still 4 rings & the exact same design.  
  • cheyenne7271
    cheyenne7271 Member
    Sorry I guess I assumed they were a modern 3-ring
  • BigSky
    BigSky Senior Contributor
    edited January 2021
    Found a crack in the block from the intake valve into the cylinder on #6.  Which is a bummer.  However on the good side, the friend I bought it from will take it back & refund the money.  




    The weird thing is while evaluating the crack & subsequently the other cylinders the #1 & #6 intake valves are 0.100 closer to the cylinder than the other cylinders intake valves.  Would this be on purpose or some kinda error in manufacturing.  


  • superwasp
    superwasp Member
    That bites... That #6 valve looks like the surface of the moon too. Are you giving up on having a 308 and going another direction? 
  • 54coupe
    54coupe Member
    They are all that way. They had to do that to be able to fit 12 intake and exhaust ports in the space provided. If you take the time to cc all the block and cylinder head combustion chambers, you will find variances there too. 
  • Glowplug
    Glowplug Expert Adviser
    Dany is absolutely correct on the cylinder cc comment.  If you get into the racer lore and the “secrets” of making a Hudson engine scream with HP you will uncover the actions the racers machinist took to balance the cc of each cylinder.  There are several methods but most use the head to create the chamber balance. Look into Hudson Boyz builds for the Salt.  These guys added spacers between the head and the block as a method to achieve balance.  Check this out if you are genuinely curious about what the Hudson HP makers do.  
  • BigSky
    BigSky Senior Contributor
    Glowplug, after I read Dany’s comments, that was the 1st thing I was wondering, how they balanced the CC’s.  Heck I even balanced the chambers CC’s on my little 212ci splasher head, so I’ll do some digging & see what I can find.  I’m rather
    curious because it seems really odd that they would not have just made all cylinders the same distance from the valves.  

    Superwasp: I spoke to a couple Hudson friends across the country who have some 308’s in various condition.  The one thing that still bothers me is not being readily able to attach a different manual transmission to the 308 engine as I’d love a 5 speed manual.  With that said, on the plus side the 308 bolts up to my current 3 speed Hudson tranny.  So kind of a wash & I’ll keep looking into a 308.  
  • Glowplug
    Glowplug Expert Adviser
    A friend in Florida is using a 4 speed adapter modified as required to add a 5 spd.  He runs a built 308 in a 49 coupe and drives regularly from Florida to Texas.   Pre COVID I should say.  Another fellow from WV running a stroked 308 with pull through turbo and again backed by a 5 speed.  I can be done ...
  • Kdancy
    Kdancy Senior Contributor
    Hudson to trans adapters--




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