ClassicCar

segajeep

Ok,
First post here, god day all!. OK , to business. With regards to my newly acquired 51 Pacemaker. the brake drums have dowel pins between the lugs holes. Now I'm having a beeyatch of a time finding some original Hudson wheels to fit. Is there some aftermarket wheels that fit these or can they be removed?

Thanks for your time.

Nolan

lostmind

Welcome, The pins are there to help center the wheel.They can be removed.
Chrysler Corporation wheels will fit.I'm sure some body will reply with after market wheel info.

Roy--lostmind

Hudzilla

segajeep wrote:

Ok,
First post here, god day all!. OK , to business. With regards to my newly acquired 51 Pacemaker. the brake drums have dowel pins between the lugs holes. Now I'm having a beeyatch of a time finding some original Hudson wheels to fit. Is there some aftermarket wheels that fit these or can they be removed?

Thanks for your time. The dowel pin is really handy for the type of drums with wheel bolts instead of wheel nuts.If you keep your car origional you will need to keep these on . they really help in locating the wheel on the drum.As far as replacement rims go, there are several brands made by Motor Wheel that will work on your car, First as mentioned MoPaR rims will work well providing you have the correct width of rim. Rims that are exactly like your Hudson Pacemaker were used on Kaisers, Frazers and Nashes. MoPaR rims the same width work OK but use a different type wheel cover clip. If thats not a problem for you, then they'll work too.

Nolan

Park_W

Ford-Lincoln-Mercury wheels also fit with the drum's guide pin removed.

hoggyrubber

i don't know where you are located, but i have several extra rims. feel free to pm me if you want. i also know of another 52 hudson a guy is parting out in town here and i'm sure he would sell his.

Uncle Josh

I've got several Chrysler rims I've drilled a hole in for the pin. Opens up the options.

46HudsonPU

As indicated, many over the years have taken a hammer or grinder to that spike on the wheel drums - either out of necessity (on the road, needed to put a non-hudson spare on the vehicle), or just because they didn't want to deal with it...
IMO, with the lug bolts, it makes it a lot easier to mount the rim.

I went to the local auto graveyard, picked up 4 Plymouth 55-56 Belvedere rims. Fit perfect, and had those positioning holes - and made my '39 into a 'roller' again...

Hudsonrules

:cheer: Two of my step downs have had those pin removed. He-- of a time replaceing the wheel and tire espesialy on the rear and at night. Bought some 1/2 x 2 inch or longer fine thread bolts, cut the heads of, screw a couple in the stud holes and mount he wheels. Just have to remember to keep them in the car and where they are at. Have a great day. Arnie in Nevada.

Browniepetersen

If you plan to run Steel Belted Radials on your stepdown you should change wheels. The stock Hudson rims have often (see other posts on this issue)split or fail under the additional side wall stress of the SBR tires. If you get a sent of "49 to 53" Mopar rims (Mine were from a 1949 New Yorker) they have an additional indented rib in the side metal just outside the bolt hole section. These rims bolt up with no modifications and the Dod Dish hubcaps fit right on. It is a ggod exchange all around.

segajeep

Thanks guys! VW likes to use the wheel bolts and they are a pain.I JUST got the car and haven't had the drums off. It came without front wheels so I want to find something to get on it so I don't have to skid it out from where it is.If the dowels hammer out of the drum with a pin pinch or the like, It won't be too much of an issue. 5x4.5" pcd is pretty common, so that shouldn't be an issue.

Uncle Josh

Yas, and make sure you have a 3-jaw puller for the rear drums and DON'T whale on the end of the axle or you'll break the block in the differential. If the shoes are frozen, remove the big nut behind the top of the backing plate and let the anchor pin come out with the shoes and deal with the adjuster etc on the ground.

segajeep

There's one other thing

A 318 Poly. The old looking install seems half assed (note angle iron motor mounts).Bolted to some kind of tranny; driveshaft is in so this may have ran at some point. Locating a proper engine could be a challenge, never see Hudsons in my area (Alberta)

segajeep

OK, time to get cereal. I have some parts car options. I did some snooping and dug up these.All Pacemakers
(alleged) 1948

(alleged) 1948

1952

Now the first thing dictating my choice is the powertrain. They all have engines/ trans. the 2 older ones(small rear window) have '500' cast into the head while the 52' has 262 cast into the head. I know 262 is the ci of the one, but what about '500'?.

Any hints for baring the engine over to ascertain the seized-ness?Hood hinges are pretty solid so I couldn't get a look but I did notice a bolt on the crank pulley. What size is this? Can it be used to turn the engine?

Also what should I be on the lookout for in a tranny? how can I tell an o/d from a direct?

Some other vehicles of interest at this yard.
28 essex sedan $400

28 Hudson Sedan
37 Hudson Sedan
(3)40 Hudson Sedans
47 Super Six

lots of 20-50s vehicles of all American makes, some Packards, McLaughlin Buicks.

I have a list form the proprietor. All cars under $1000 asking.
If you need a car I can pass on the contact info.

In Alberta Canada. I hate to see these go to waste.

Tallent R

One real easy way to tell the Hudson overdrive cars is the control knob in the car. Look on either side of the steering column under the dash for a knob that looks like a vent control or choke knob.
About 1 inch in diameter and mounted at a slight angle. May be on the left or right side depending on year.

dougson

I have Dodge truck rims on my '54. They came from late '60s, early '70s pickups and have the locater hole for positioning the wheel. They are all 15", the two in the rear are 6.5" wide, the front are 5.5". These are getting very hard to find and can be pricey.

segajeep

I scored some chrysler rims for $10 a piece. There is a stack of them. Some 16" truck rims too. One wide looking Kelsey Hayes too. What is the size and pitch of the wheel bolts, I have 3 in total, need to come up with something to keep the wheels on for the big move on Saturday.

segajeep

So, the Pacemaker is finally out of harm's way. Got my replacement wheels on,on to the deck and out to the yard.

ratlee2

American Racing Chrome Reverse rims (15 x 6) fit well. They have both 4 1/2" and 4 3/4" bolt partterns so the alignment pin can be hung in the 4 3/4" pattern without being ground off and the lugs are covered by baby moon caps.

segajeep

Pulled out the mouse and spider country club today, found some gronkyness inboard on the outer frame rails where the floors had rusted. Soaked the rocker cover/sill plates in WD-40 and fluid film. I'll let them soak for a while and try to get them off next time.

Transmission tunnel is pretty holy too. I don't think they make repros of it.

These frame rails look easy to fix. They are nice and flat, no funny bends. They'll give me a clean surface to weld the floors to. It seems that everywhere there is tarboard, it rusts out. Same story on my Beetle.

My Horn Button turned up under the front seat, too!

segajeep

I bought this one today.

The passenger doors are wired shut and I didn't have cutters so I couldn't get a hold of the serial number. The engine is sealed up (aside form the missing water pump, anyone have one?) The crank case and the air filter have good looking oil in them. This one already seems like it has a better body than my other (aside form the concave roof) and I haven't even been able to see underneath. Floor pans again, feel soft but the new car is lacking rust in areas the other one has( rear valance, rear inner frame rails). Taking into account the nature of the yard it's in, it was probably driven in and had shiny paint.

chopperchuck

nice score..

chopperchuck

where do ya plan on getting your carpet & other interior stuff from?i'm gonna be looking for that stuff soon,i looked at kanters but they don't carry weather seal/trim.---chuck

segajeep

The Best part, the 2nd car was $200. I know an Upholsterer who does the street rods in my 'hood. His work is second to none. He did the interior in my Beetle (shown here) for the cost of materials plus a bottle of Royal Reserve. It took about a year and he did in in his spare time

I'll keep an eye out for some seats out of a 70's Yank Tank for interim seating, however. Not sure about the weather strip as of yet;I'm looking at retro fit options or rolls of generic door seal. The window stuff I'm most concerned about( scrapers/felts etc.).

chopperchuck

segajeep wrote:

The Best part, the 2nd car was $200. I know an Upholsterer who does the street rods in my 'hood. His work is second to none. He did the interior in my Beetle (shown here) for the cost of materials plus a bottle of Royal Reserve. It took about a year and he did in in his spare time
I'll keep an eye out for some seats out of a 70's Yank Tank for interim seating, however. Not sure about the weather strip as of yet;I'm looking at retro fit options or rolls of generic door seal. The window stuff I'm most concerned about( scrapers/felts etc.).

tell i buy him a couple to do mine..LOL::woohoo:

segajeep

Or I could go NASCAR style, get 4 buckets,carbon fiber sheet panels,and a cage!

segajeep

Went out with the deck truck this morning and picked up the second car.

As previously mentioned, it's complete with a 232 and manual trans. Good source of body parts and trim. Clean dash.All the tires but one hold air, and maybe only because the stem from the tube is stuffed inside the rim.

segajeep

OK, kind of late but on the weekend I did some work on the Hudson. Pulled the interior out of the parts car and popped the roof back out.

Discovered a nice solid transmission tunnel

Workable cluster

Back on the builder;After letting the numerous door sill/rocker cover screws soak in nuts off for a few weeks I was able to get them off without destroying them.Outside of the frame rails look good. Inside there is some deterioration under the door pillar.

Both sets of rocker covers are beat though.

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