SB Chevy in a '49 Hudson

[HardLuck]

Callin’ all Hudson nuts,
I was ‘bout to start cuttin’ on my ’49 Hudson brougham to drop in a (yawn) SBC. I’ve got some thoughts on how to “notch” the center crossmember but wanted to see what had been tried an done before. I’ve got the motor mounts made an’ ready to go from my 4d (the city made me haul off before I could get them in then I found my 2d).
Any help?
-HL

[Turbopackman]

Center crossmember meaning the trans mount crossmember?

Eric

[yorgatron]

get the crossmember from a '51-'54 with hydra-matic,then you can drop in a early Olds or Cad pretty easily.that's about all i know on the subject.dehudso has a desoto in his,but i don't know what kinda trans he has-george

[yorgatron]

i would avoid notching the crossmember if you can,it is a uni-body car after all...

[HardLuck]

Turbo:
Could be, don't remember if the gearbox was bolted to it or not, prob so though. You gotta remember these are unibody an it's the back crossmember closest to the firewall on the frame stub.
I've mocked in the engine an tranny (turbo 350) in my 4d '49(how I made my motor mounts) an the tranny pan would pretty much be restin' on this crossmember.
I talked to an ol' guy drivin' a Hudson with a SBC at Dewy a few years ago an he told me he notched his to get it in but bein' in such a hard to see spot I couldn't take a look at what he had done.

Yorg:
My gut feelin' on notching the crossmember, was not to, but I don't see havin' room if you don't.
I might know where a few of those crossmembers are, but most Hudsons are gone (crushed) from the yards 'round here.
http://members.cox.net/49hudson/DCP00672.JPG
http://members.cox.net/49hudson/DCP00676.JPG
http://members.cox.net/49hudson/DCP00674.JPG
>>Snagged the doors off this one<<

I just wanted to pick some brains before I got started cuttin'.


-HL

[Turbopackman]

It's a bitch, but I chopped the upper part of my crossmember to leave just the 1/4" flat on the bottom. I've got a hydro crossmember out of a '53 that I was gonna use, but now with the straight eight, it's all gotta go, as the oil pan will be resting where the tranny was. I figure that I can weld another one in where I need to. It's best to at least have it removeable if your tranny's sittin on it.

Eric

[hudsoncustom]

I dont know about runnign an SBC, but I have a 460 in mine. I wound up putting a clip in the car and had to cut out the x member all together. I fabbed up a new one that dropped below the trans, and then added a second to support the tail of the c6. It isn't pretty, but it works.

[HardLuck]

My thoughts on notchin' the crossmember was to cut out the square top, down to the flat of the crossmember. Weldin' in some heavy (1/4") plate for fill-in an cappin' off an' then add a piece of 2" angle across the bottom (longer than the piece I notched). This would be well above the scrub line, so that shouldn't be a prob.
Any thoughts on this idea?
-HL

[Turbopackman]

Sounds good, you could try a piece of 2X2 tubing, too. I'd still try to make it removeable, if possible. I'll let you know how mine turns out when I cut it out to mount the inline eight.

Eric

[Crease]

I don't know crap about 49' Hudsons, but they look damn cool. Keep us posted.

[dehudso]

The way we did mine was to notch that crossmember. We cut out the middle of the 'member and made a box section out of the top plate that was left. The middle of the crossmember ended up being about 1/2" - 1" high, I dont exactly recall. My dad and I thought that having the engine as far back and as low as possible would be beneficial.
I have about 1/4" between the crossmember and my transmission pan. We left the bottom of the crossmember as it came from hudson. I have seen other ways of doing it though.

Like this one:
http://home.comcast.net/~dehudso/crossmember.jpg
This guy is running a SBC with a 700r4 in his '49 four door.

I am running a 700r4 behind my hemi.


The image will come soon.
My uploading is really sucking at the moment.

[HardLuck]

DeHudso:
Looks real good to me.

"My dad and I thought that having the engine as far back and as low as possible would be beneficial."

Yep,it is. I got mine as far back as the distrib an stock firewall will let me, not countin' any future "ball and peen massaging". Looks like you were able to get yours pushed back a good ways more than I was.

Your photo got me thinkin', I'm goin' to have to make a new tranny mount anyways an that will become another crossmember (makin' it like you guys did), that's just another crossmember, maybe that would be enough with what I mentioned before.
-HL

[dehudso]

I should clarify, as to not lead people on. That is not my car. It is a guy off of the classicar message board. He was showing me how he did his car. I like how he did it. Mine was quite different. My dad and I had to add a little hump to the transmission tunnel to accomodate the height of the 700r4. One really cool thing was that the stock hudson linkage works perfectly for the 700r4.

My mount for the transmission is welded in on one side of the frame behind the master cylinder, and bolted in on the other side of the frame. It was made out of a "universal" trans mount. We torched, drilled and cut to make it fit correctly though. You could go straight across and get rid of the single line M/C and fit in a dual circuit one, making more room for a transmission crossmember. Just a thought.

Good luck with your project!

Here is another pic of how he did his mounting, maybe this will help even more.

My uploading still sucks, but the pics will be there in a bit.

http://home.comcast.net/~dehudso/sbcmount.jpg

Here are some pics of how my engine is mounted in there:
http://home.comcast.net/~dehudso/hemi.jpg
http://home.comcast.net/~dehudso/hemi2.jpg

[Turbopackman]

The real bad thing about Hudson's is that "true center" steering. It makes mounting a rear-sump engine a pain. I totally did away with it, and put in a 1977 AMC Pacer front end. Parts are easier to find (you can only get brake LININGS for the front on stepdown Hudsons), and the rack and pinion setup is in the front of the crossmember, making it even easier. I put in a 429 ford in mine, and it fit wonderful. (soon to be removed for the straight eight) Also, FWIW, '89-97 T-Bird/Cougar/MKIII independent rears are a total BREEZE to put in one of these!

Eric

[HardLuck]

I got a SBC mocked up real nice in my '49, the steerin' passed right in front of the sump pan no prob with enough clearance that I was confortable with. I know that early steerin’ is goofy looking an all but I was going to not mess with it if I didn’t haft to, besides, everything I’ve heard I don’t need to.
Back at Hanin’ Dice I talked with a guy from Georgia (actually, I’ve talked to this same guy ‘bout Hudsons at car shows over the past few years) who clipped his ’49 with a early ‘70s chevy front end. He drove it for a year an stuck the Hudson front clip back in, he liked the way it handled better with the stock clip, not to boot he drives it from Georgia to Texas/Oklahoma/Kansas/Arkansas more than a couple a times a year for diff car shows…

http://members.cox.net/hardluck-13/post1.jpg

http://members.cox.net/hardluck-13/post2.jpg

-HL

[dehudso]

[ QUOTE ]
...Parts are easier to find (you can only get brake LININGS for the front on stepdown Hudsons...

[/ QUOTE ]

You can still get brake shoes for the front and rear of stepdown hudsons. They are the same as some mid seventes ford F-150's. They have the same bendix brake setup on 'em. Just dont walk into a kragen and ask for hudson parts because they will look at you funny. There is an interchange parts book out there for stepdown hudsons.

But the stock brakes are the death knell for us stepdown guys. They work ood when cold, and really start to suck as they heat up. There is a disc brake conversion out there that I am going to look into either duplicating or buying.

[Turbopackman]

I have tried every source I can think of, and all I was able to find was linings for the front. Is there a specific year for the front brakes? None of the parts books I've seen that have pics in them, have anything that looks close.

Eric

[dehudso]

You best bet would be to go to www.classicar.com (http://www.classicar.com), and ask in the hudson forum there. I am off at college and my dad has the interchange book at home. Those guys on there should be able to help you out.

[HardLuck]

My 26th Hollander for brake shoe interchange has:

Hudson
'48-51 exc. Pacemaker....88/64 (front/back)

#88: Hudson '48-52 exc. Pacemaker
Hudson '53 exc. Jet &amp; 4C Wasp DeL.
Hudson '54 4D Wasp w/ 11 x 2 1/4" Fr. brakes
Hudson '54 5D Super Wasp, 7D Hornet
Pontiac '49-54

#64: Ford '52-54 Sta. Wag., Sdn. Dely. Rr.
Ford '54 Police, Rr.
Hudson '48-51 All, Rr.
Hudson '50-51 Pacemaker, Fr.
Mercury '49-54 Rr.

Note: Our #16 fits.

#16: Chev '51-58 Pass., Dely. exc. Corvette
Chev Tr. '51-58 1/2T.
Chev Tr. '59 1/2T. 4x4
GMC '51-56 1/2T. 100 ser. w/ HO33 axle

Note: Our #64 fits.

Hope that helps somebodies out.

BTW: I've got Hollander's:
22nd (circa '37-55)
26th (circa '48-60)
38th (circa '57-72)
...if anybody needs anything looked up.
-HL

[Turbopackman]

It's too late for me now, my '49 Hudson now has disc brakes on all 4 wheels. Yeah, I took the easy way out....http://www.jalopyjournal.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif


Eric