Gettin' there

Some bigger pictures for those interested can be seen at :



http://hudsoncollector.com/forum_viewtopic.php?16.708.0

Dave53-7C wrote:

I've never seen a really bad case or topper yet, but I understand what you're saying about the poor quality. I'd pour the lead connectors myself and glue them on top of the battery before I'd go with a toy-like topper. What sort of flowers will you be planting in the dud battery case?



I've had good luck with Optima batteries too.

Well, I was sort of thinking of something like '59 Caddy tailights, or similar, on stalks, 3, or four in a bunch, at different lengths, with some chrome trim ends for "leaves sticking out around them, ( one or two bent over like a real leaf ), like the flowers around Stanley in the movie "Cars".



Maybe I'd put a battery in there too, and have the flowers light up !!



Nahhh -- just kidding -- the thing'll probably wind up as parts bin for old rusty bolts or some such.

Harry Hill wrote:

Wow, I'd have thought those blocks the wheels are sitting on would cause a rough ride or at least a lot of drag. I must really have some power to push those around. Just kidding, it looks great, does the Optima have a lot more starting power? I'm not at all happy with the six volt Centennial in the Hash.



Harry

The engine is probably a bit tight yet Harry, so its hard to say how it'll be when it loosens up a bit, but there is certainly no issue with the way it turns over on the starter even now. A couple flips and away she goes !!



Yes, the coil is stock, but its a new one ( six volt ), just off the shelf stuff, no super duper blow your socks off zapper snappers here - probably bought it at KGap, but can't remember now.



Got 'er all together tonight except for the hood. I'll leave that off for a day or two 'till I finish diddlin' with the carbs and tweakin' this 'n that.



Then ---- look out world -- silverone's let the Hudson out again !!

Harry Hill wrote:

My car starts but it always seems like the starter is dragging. One of the first things I did was rebuild the starter so I'm pretty confident it is okay but it feels as though the battery isn't putting out full voltage, my volt ohm meter is sick so I haven't checked what the actual voltage is but I used the battery to jump start a VW and it didn't crank over very fast either. I looked at the Optima at Autozone the other day, $180 is pretty steep. I found them online for $145 with free shipping so I think I'll go with that company. Good luck Silverone, you're car is looking great.



Harry

One thing that seems to get a puzzled look every time I do it, is if I start the car while I've got a couple of onlookers close by. You and I already know that 6 volts just won't spin a starter over as fast as a 12 will, but the torque is there nevertheless. Those of us who are old enough to remember owning and driving older 6 volt cars, ( my first car was a '53 Ford flathead 8, and second was a '50 Merc coupe ) will remember how they all turned over slower but always started just fine, if they were in tune just like any car needs to be. I remember many a 30 below morning when I'd start up that Merc, and go push start, or help someone boost start some friends 10 year newer 12 volt cars !



Now that we're all used to geared starters and twelve volts, the cranking speed of a six volt sounds rather like a 12 with a sick battery, and if we don't know any different, we think something is wrong.



I'd say, put a meter on your starter, and battery while cranking the engine and see if everything is per original spec. If so - then no worries in this department. At least you'll be hearing the same sound when you crank her over as every buyer did when they drove them off the showroom floor with a grin from ear to ear before '55. To me, that's as good as it gets !



I'm an ex logging contractor, and for twenty five winters or so I've had to start all sorts of equipment with frozen engines every morning that's sat outside at -20 or -30 all night or over a weekend. You kinda get very sensitive to what it takes to start an engine under those conditions, and compared to that situation, starting a Hudson with 6 volts is a virtual non-issue, even in sub zero weather. As for Optima batteries, my shop van had a gas welder in it that often sat unused for weeks or even months until it was needed. Never once, did it's Optima battery fail to respnd when I hit the starter button and start the engine, even at deep sub-zero temperatures! That, to me, was proof enough that Optima is the way to go for the Hudson -- providing of course I could find a way to "hide" the fact that I was using one, which is why I've used the retro case.