51 Pacemaker Resurrection
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in HUDSON
Well, introductions were made a couple a days ago, and people expressed interest in what would be the project car at hand.
First, a little background: I started looking for a Hudson back when I lived in Michigan. The salt ate the hell out of the Monobilt body/frame (as you all know), and the old "integrity test" was to jack up a rear corner and see if the doors would open and close. I looked at a bunch - some looked okay, but none passed the test.
In the early 90's, I had a chance to visit Bill Albright, and he had a nice blue 51 he was willing to sell for $3500. My kids were small and money was tight, so I ended up with an Opel Ascona for $900, but that's a different story. Great car, BTW - and I LOVED the fact it was completely rust free!
Fast forward a bunch of years. I'm back living in CA, and began the search for a Stepdown. There were some seriously crappy cars out there - and the lowest prices started at $900-1000 for an incomplete shell of a car. Cars so badly sunbaked you had no idea what color they were originally from the outside.
The search was widened, and there was indeed a huge price gap between crusty field cars and something marginally presentable. Not that I mind crusty field cars; I'm just averse to spending over $1000 on a shell.
Then, I mention the need for a Hudson as my next project to the guy buying the hot rod. The hot rod wasn't in great shape when I got it - just a rolling crusty shell and some fabrication. Anyway, I finally have pictures to share!
Chrome appears to be there and reasonably straight; bezels and hood ornament are missing.
Driver's side glass is cracked. that will have to be sourced. Body appears straight and the paint (what's left) is original, not a repaint.
Backside. That's a '63 plate, and it doesn't appear to have had a '64 sticker on it. I'm fairly certain this was a CA car for most, if not all, of its life.
The interior is what I'd expect for a sunbaked car. Steering wheel, speedometer need replacing and all the chrome will have to be replated. The nice thing is I have a specific plan for the interior, and starting with nothing is well...good!
The 232 appears intact and unmolested. I have no idea if it's free or not, but considering it still has its oil bath air cleaner, there's a good chance it will turn over. If so, a little penetrating oil on the valve stems and it may light off - but I'm probably being optimistic.
I'm getting it from a guy who's in his mid 70's, and had planned to put a Cadillac 500 Eldorado drivetrain in it (!?). I'm not a fan of anything other than a Hudson engine in a Hudson, so it makes me feel good to know this one will be returned to the road with a period correct driveline. It may be the 232, it may be a 308, or....
Anyway, it shows up next weekend now. Slight delay, and that's fine - I have other projects to tend to! Wish me luck!
First, a little background: I started looking for a Hudson back when I lived in Michigan. The salt ate the hell out of the Monobilt body/frame (as you all know), and the old "integrity test" was to jack up a rear corner and see if the doors would open and close. I looked at a bunch - some looked okay, but none passed the test.
In the early 90's, I had a chance to visit Bill Albright, and he had a nice blue 51 he was willing to sell for $3500. My kids were small and money was tight, so I ended up with an Opel Ascona for $900, but that's a different story. Great car, BTW - and I LOVED the fact it was completely rust free!
Fast forward a bunch of years. I'm back living in CA, and began the search for a Stepdown. There were some seriously crappy cars out there - and the lowest prices started at $900-1000 for an incomplete shell of a car. Cars so badly sunbaked you had no idea what color they were originally from the outside.
The search was widened, and there was indeed a huge price gap between crusty field cars and something marginally presentable. Not that I mind crusty field cars; I'm just averse to spending over $1000 on a shell.
Then, I mention the need for a Hudson as my next project to the guy buying the hot rod. The hot rod wasn't in great shape when I got it - just a rolling crusty shell and some fabrication. Anyway, I finally have pictures to share!
Chrome appears to be there and reasonably straight; bezels and hood ornament are missing.
Driver's side glass is cracked. that will have to be sourced. Body appears straight and the paint (what's left) is original, not a repaint.
Backside. That's a '63 plate, and it doesn't appear to have had a '64 sticker on it. I'm fairly certain this was a CA car for most, if not all, of its life.
The interior is what I'd expect for a sunbaked car. Steering wheel, speedometer need replacing and all the chrome will have to be replated. The nice thing is I have a specific plan for the interior, and starting with nothing is well...good!
The 232 appears intact and unmolested. I have no idea if it's free or not, but considering it still has its oil bath air cleaner, there's a good chance it will turn over. If so, a little penetrating oil on the valve stems and it may light off - but I'm probably being optimistic.
I'm getting it from a guy who's in his mid 70's, and had planned to put a Cadillac 500 Eldorado drivetrain in it (!?). I'm not a fan of anything other than a Hudson engine in a Hudson, so it makes me feel good to know this one will be returned to the road with a period correct driveline. It may be the 232, it may be a 308, or....
Anyway, it shows up next weekend now. Slight delay, and that's fine - I have other projects to tend to! Wish me luck!
Comments
Good luck with your car!
There was only 80lbs difference in the weight. I was surprised that Hudson would make a short wheel base version with only that much weight difference.
(This is found in the General Technical Policies and Information Bulletin. Date 2-2-53
__looks like you have a very good shell to start with, that is half the battle!
53 Studebaker Coupe Custom
64 Champ pickup
Wellborn, Fl
This thread will be the main thread for progress. It is a bit of a time capsule, as it appears to have minimal modifications since new. Interestingly, it does have Supermatic Drive, and a spare trans in the trunk.
The car (which doesn't have a name yet) hasn't been touched in quite some time, aside from the previous owner's attempts to do things to it. I found these in the remains of the glovebox:
Three different styles of Autolite A7's. arranged from oldest to newest. I'm guessing by the brass top on the far left that it's an original plug. The other surprise was this:
The overdrive solenoid appears to be connected as well, along with a considerable amount of linkage on the throttle. I have to believe (based on the number of wires not terminated) that it stopped working a while ago. Without going under the car, I won't know. That's for later. Engine was very complete, and I was able to roll it over by hand! YAY!
Someone tried to get it lit a while back, as evidenced by a fresher fuel pump and a replaced water pump. Hooked up a 6V battery to the pushbutton solenoid, and had to bypass the relay to get the starter to spin. Spin it did, but the Bendix didn't engage. I'll try 12V to see if a faster spin will do the trick. Suspect all these bits will have to come out and be freshened. Meanwhile, the interior is a hot mess.
At the same time, this indicates no one has opened the doors in ages, much less sat in it. Question - The gauge surround appears to be painted with chrome accents. Is this correct for a Pacemaker?
While it's decayed, it is all there, which helps with patterning. Someone put some very odd blue herringbone vinyl over the cloth at some point. It's both tasteless and tacky.
The important starting point, however, is the body is super solid. There's some pinholing in the passenger rear door, and on both quarter panels above the outer frame rail.
The single biggest hole is GARGANTUAN, tho! Of course, there's lots more rust on the backside, and we all know it.
The previous owner decided he'd make a "rat rod" out of it, and spray bombed this quarter panel and a third of the trunk. Old cars and beer are great, but not at the same time. At least I was able to get it before he ripped the subframe out to install a Cadillac 500. Ugh!
Decided to give one side a quick bath to see what lay underneath decades of crud - and this is what came out. Compare it to the top photo for contrast!
The rockers are rock solid; the car passed the "jack up one corner and open/close doors" test. Someone spraybombed the car in spots as the paint began to fade many years ago, but it's never had a full repaint. It's a helluva start to a resurrection!
53 Studebaker Coupe Custom
64 Champ pickup
Wellborn, Fl
My back isn't the best these days, so every panel that can be removed will, and will be worked on at a more comfortable position.
I was in outside sales early on, which gave me the opportunity to hang out with Jack Miller at lunchtime when in the Ann Arbor area. He tried to sell me a Pacemaker out of his side lot years ago - lots of trim missing, and the body was rusty. It's ironic I ended up with a Pacemaker, as I was dead set on a Hornet back then.
1. 232 - It runs reasonably well. It's quiet and the compression continues to go up as it runs. I'll be tying in the fuel pump and an aux tank shortly so as to give it a bit more run time in the car. I may go so far as to fix the brakes and take the car for a short spin before tearing it all down for its restoration. It's downside is it will need some sort of rebuild, and after it's all bolted back together - it's still a 232.
2. 254 straight 8 - the guy who has it has a logbook from the estate of the original owner stating the engine taken apart and inspected and was in excellent shape when taken out - a good 50 years ago. It was put up properly and has been stored inside since then. His asking price is $500, but since he's had it for sale for a year and this is the last of his Hudson stuff (he had three other engines and a ton of parts) I'm betting he'd willingly take a little less. The engine bay of the Pacemaker was measured, and with a little surgery to move the radiator forward and down a bit, the 8 appears to be a bolt in proposition. An 8 in a Pacemaker (with a few tweaks) would be both unusual and cool.
3. 308 Twin H - I know of a hot rod shop that's going to build a '53 Hornet with a modern driveline. The car is rustier than mine, so I passed on it when offered. The driveline is a stock Twin H complete from air cleaners to exhaust manifold - and runs. It smokes, though, so it needs ministration. I've made an agreement with the owner to work for him to get some projects off the ground in exchange for the driveline, which includes a Dual Range Hydramatic. This engine even has the aluminum high compression head, although the condition is unknown.
A complete Twin-H engine in exchange for labor sounds like the best deal of the bunch. What do you think?
I need to do some motor math. The 232 and the 262 share the same bore, but the 232 has a shorter stroke at 3.88". Modern piston rings seal at 6500 RPM on a 4" stroke, so it should be possible to build a 232 which revs (and makes power) past 4200 RPM with modern pistons. The shorter stroke means lower port velocities as well, which means a 232 built to a 7X spec would have slightly better breathing characteristics as well. What I don't know are the connecting rod lengths; I have to believe they're different from the 232 to the 262. If so, then the longer 262 rods would be employed with a custom piston with the wrist pin higher on the slug so as to run a shorter skirt. A theoretical build target would be 0.7 HP per cubic inch, which yields 160 HP - about the same as a Twin H 308, but it would have to twist up to 5000 RPM. This is all hypothetical at this point, mind you.
on my web page
I wish I'd met Bernie. At least he took the time to write some of his thoughts down.