ClassicCar

jsrail

I guess its time for another update on the Pace. As some of you have heard, frame rot has become a major factor in my work. The entire outer framerails from behind the doors all around the trunk to the other side has rot from the bottom thru the top of the rails, and rot along the bottom from the rear of the doors to the front crossmember. Someone had gooped black stuff all over the rails and painted it black so it wasn't seen. I have no idea if it was the guy I bought it from or a prior owner, and its not really important now anyway. Even the sill under the quarter windows behind the rear fenders is almost rotted half away.

I called Al Saffrahn and we went in together to buy another 50 Pacemaker here in AZ. I will use the shell and frame (and probably the front fenders as well) and he will sell the rest. For any of you who haven't dealt with Al, he's a top notch guy and knows his Hud stuff well. I'm glad that he lives so close and is here to help. Kudos to you Al.

Dany Spring came by last weekend and took the original motor and tranny out of mine as I will be going with the modern drivetrain. He's got a nice plan for the gear, but I'll let him tell you about it! :-)

My wife and I meet his wife and daughters and had a great time.....they are good folks. And his daughter Ashley got right in there to work with us.....there's a Hudnut! :-)

I didn't realize that he was the K-Gap guy, my stupidity at its best! lol

So Al will have the 2nd Pace for a couple months which helps me since tax season is here and I have little to no time for any work until after June (we are traveling to New Zealand in May). I have some roof line work on the new Pace as it looks like someone lifted it with a cable and put small kinks on both sides. It looks very repairable and hasn't effected the door jambs or door alignment at all. And of course, I'll have to start stripping parts off mine to put on the new Pace when its ready.

The frame rot presents a small setback, but I'm not deterred. I take encouragement from Dan who has a bad (if not worse) problem than I, but he trudges forward. And many others have helped out as well (you know who you are!). Its still going to be a cool "leadsled" when I'm finished. May just a take a bit longer to get on the road than I originally anticipated! :-)

Jay
"too bad it got to AZ 55 years too late!"

ESSX28-1 · ESSX28-1 February 2006 Posts: 1,005Platinum Member

jsrail wrote:

So Al will have the 2nd Pace for a couple months which helps me since tax season is here and I have little to no time for any work until after June (we are traveling to New Zealand in May). I have some roof line work on the new Pace as it looks like someone lifted it with a cable and put small kinks on both sides. It looks very repairable and hasn't effected the door jambs or door alignment at all. And of course, I'll have to start stripping parts off mine to put on the new Pace when its ready.

Jay

"too bad it got to AZ 55 years too late!"

Hi Jay

If you are in Wellington New Zealand in early May or after June 10 we love to offer you some real NZ hospitality & a ride in one of two '28 Essex RS Coupes (assuming the 2nd one is finished by then!!)

Dave Young :o :o

jsrail

ESSX28-1 wrote:

Hi Jay
If you are in Wellington New Zealand in early May or after June 10 we love to offer you some real NZ hospitality & a ride in one of two '28 Essex RS Coupes (assuming the 2nd one is finished by then!!)
Dave Young :o :o

I appreciate it Dave! Unfortunately, we will arrive around May 24th and leave for a brief to see friends near Sydney around June 6th. We will be in the Doubtless Bay area, possibly Mangonui. Isn't Wellington on the southern end of the North Island? Wish we could hook up, but maybe down the road, as we are going to look at real estate and maybe buy in NZ in the next couple of years. I hear it is just beautiful country you have there.

Jay

hemiEssex

Isn't is funny Jay, you took a lot of flack from the purist crowd on modifying your car because to them it was too nice to rod and then you find out that you have major frame problems and such. Now because you will have to switch out frames and such it becomes a hot rod project more than likely. You just saved a car that would probably not be safe to restore in its current shape. Hope all works out!

jsrail

Thanks hemi! I'm learning to take it all in stride! :-)

The hot rod gods are smiling on me! But I think this gives me an opportunity to build a better rod since the cab will be stripped and I can put a nice thorough paint job on it. I'm gonna shave the door handles, but not sure what to do about the rocker trim, since it covers the retainers which bolt the rockers to the body. I can't see how you put the rockers on without the trim, but wish I could. Maybe someone out there has an idea on this? And since the front clip (fenders, etc.) has to be worked, I was wondering how another grill set-up would work, like a 55 Olds de-"V'd" so it wasn't too pointy in the center. Wish I was a metal fab guy, but no such luck. "A man must know his limitations!" Everytime I pick up my Custom Rodder magazine, I get all kinds of ideas, most of which are not affordable to me at this time.....but its still fun!
Now maybe I can figure out how to find/build an over head console with a DVD for my kid? Or how about the new electric button shifter mounted in the overhead console like switches in an airplane? Oh, if only I could win this upcoming Powerball! I'd sell my practice and play with cars all days!

Jay

rambos_ride

jsrail wrote:

Thanks hemi! I'm learning to take it all in stride! The hot rod gods are smiling on me! But I think this gives me an opportunity to build a better rod since the cab will be stripped and I can put a nice thorough paint job on it. I'm gonna shave the door handles, but not sure what to do about the rocker trim, since it covers the retainers which bolt the rockers to the body. I can't see how you put the rockers on without the trim, but wish I could. Maybe someone out there has an idea on this? And since the front clip (fenders, etc.) has to be worked, I was wondering how another grill set-up would work, like a 55 Olds de-"V'd" so it wasn't too pointy in the center. Wish I was a metal fab guy, but no such luck. "A man must know his limitations!" Everytime I pick up my Custom Rodder magazine, I get all kinds of ideas, most of which are not affordable to me at this time.....but its still fun!
Now maybe I can figure out how to find/build an over head console with a DVD for my kid? Or how about the new electric button shifter mounted in the overhead console like switches in an airplane? Oh, if only I could win this upcoming Powerball! I'd sell my practice and play with cars all days!

Jay

Careful there Jay - you don't want that thing looking like you drove into a Schucks store and everything fell on it! :eek:

jsrail

Whats a "Shucks Store"? Of course it'll have to look good, whatever I do. :-)

Jay

royer

Schucks is the same as Checker Auto Parts.

jsrail

You mean none of that reflective tape with wording on it? lol Come on guys, give me some credit! :-)

Jay

rambos_ride

jsrail wrote:

You mean none of that reflective tape with wording on it? lol Come on guys, give me some credit!

Jay

You don't like the Hudson grille? I like the Hudson because of its uniqueness...I guess I don't get the idea of putting BrandX griller in there when the Hudson is...well perfect, unique and timeless!

Don't get me wrong I am a huge fan of big chrome covered front ends like the Buicks, Caddies and such - in fact I almost bought a 48 Buick, but went with the Hudson instead.

Chop the top, shave the handles, but FTLOG please leave the Hudson grille in!

You know I'm just funnin' with you

...As I'm doing enough custom stuff to mine to make most purist's hair stand on end - I really can't talk too much!

jsrail

No big deal, Dan, I know you're just playing! :-)

I guess if it had the 51 grill, but I like the big and simple look of the Olds grill. I'll tell ya, I never really think in terms of brand x or this or that, just like certain aspects of various cars. And Custom Rodder is a bad influence on me! lol They sure got some interesting rods in there. Maybe I should remove the triangle pieces? Its an okay grill and who knows, I probably won't have the cash for that kind of custom front work anyway. But I like to play in my mind anyway. And as much as I'd like to chop the top, its probably not going to happen anytime soon. The more extreme changes you want to make, the longer its not on the road. Then, Dan, when will I have time to cruise up your way and check out your rod! :-)

Nobody has any ideas on my rocker question? I want to run lake pipes, but I think too many chrome strips down the side take away from the effect. Though I have no idea on the solution. Maybe all you have is to paint them the body color?

Dan, was on your website last night, and really dig that HUD system, very cool! I still like my idea of an overhead console, gives room for a DVD for my kid (can't center it on the seat back as its a 2 door with fold forward seats) and the electric buttons for the shifter in the overhead, seems like a clean way to keep the dash.

Jay

rambos_ride

You mean working lakes pipes or the fake ones? Sorry it does make a difference...

They make overhead flipdown monitors - no need to make a special console.

I would use butterfly or paddles shifters with an electronic indicator - you'd never want to drive another car! Since I have a TH400 not an option for me but thats what I would do...

billjharris

I really do not understand the anamosity that thrust upon street rodding any brand of vehicle by the purists, actually rodding many cars saves them from the crushers and in addition to that it provides MANY hard to find parts for the purists. I wish all antiquers/street rodders/purists/rat-rodders/etc would recognize that this is a HOBBY, a car thing, not WWW 3.

bill a

hi SDJay, Bill Albright here, must give you much credit for GIVING THE ENGINE AND TRANS TO dANY sPRING AND FAMILY, QUITE A GENEROUS DONATION. They will make good use of it and Have good things to say about you and your family. If you ever get to Fontana, Ca. stop at the TWIN H RANCH and visit my Hudson collection and restoration shop. Always 30 or mor Hudsons on Han, Including a custom or two.. HUDSONLY BILL ALBRIGHT

arionrjw

Jay, We were in Casa Grande for several weeks and naturally had to make a trip out to Al Saffrahn for some parts for the Ugliest Hudson. I may have got some parts off of your joint venture car(grill). I tried to call you several times but you were working hard doing taxes.

I have a 55 Olds center grill that was left over from a car I did several years ago. I looked at using this grill in the Pacemaker but decided to use a modified 50 Hudson grill.

We are having friends from Casa Grande visit us here in Modesto next week and if they have room could send it down with them. We could swap Hudson parts for Olds part. We come to Casa Grande every February so next year could figure out what to trade for. Let me know if you are interested.

Roger

jsrail

Hi Roger!

What a small world! So you where the one Al was hunting the grill for! Its a good one. Did you see the car? Needs some roof line work, but since my frame is wasted, its a good base for mine to start from. Al's a great guy and very knowledgeable. I didn't get any message that you had called, sorry to have missed you!

I'm always interested in trading. What else are you looking for? Interesting that you also thought of using the Olds grill insert. I love the way it looks. Maybe you have an idea on mounts for the grill? Yes, I'm interested in the Olds grill.

One of my best friends lived in Modesto and worked many years for the Gallo brothers (just moved to Boise though) and I grew up in Galt, lived in Lodi and worked in Lodi, Stockton, and Manteca over the years. Seems like its really grown up there (I was up there in Auburn last year for a funeral). My grandmother stills lives in Galt.

Send some pics on your modified grill, sounds cool!

Jay

arionrjw

Hi Jay,

It is a small world. I also worked in the Manteca(Lathrop) area managing a operation for Occidental/Simplot before opening my own business.

The Hudson grill is in great shape for being 55 years old. Only plan to take out the V in the middle and only use the horizontal pieces. Of course as one goes along on the project many things change. Your donor car looks like it will be a good one to use for your project.

I have purchased many parts from Al and find him very helpful and his prices are reasonable.

I will check with our friends from Casa Grande when they come by this week or next to see if they will bring the Olds grill to Arizona. Currently I do not need any parts but sure by the time we return to Arizona next year will need something. If not you can buy us a lunch.

Roger

jsrail

Sounds great Roger! Parts, lunch or dinner......be glad to! Sorry again we missed you, but next year. Thanks, I think I can do something with the grill. Let me know.

Jay

arionrjw

jsrail wrote:

Sounds great Roger! Parts, lunch or dinner......be glad to! Sorry again we missed you, but next year. Thanks, I think I can do something with the grill. Let me know.

Jay

Jay, The Olds grill is on its way to Arizona. See private message.

Roger

jsrail

arionrjw wrote:

Jay, The Olds grill is on its way to Arizona. See private message.

Roger

Thanks much Roger!

Jay

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