Pinky!!!

[Auto Rod Technologies]

We have been working on a little project for the girlfriend lately.. It's a 54 Hudson Hornet. It's getting a full resto but we are going to do some pro-touring style mods to the car.. So far the plan is to lower it a little, disc brake front suspension, over drive transmission, Re-Gear it for highway cruising, of course full mechanical overhaul, 12 volt upgrade, I would love to put A/C on it but unsure I want to have a compressor mounted up front and also unsure on where the box would go.. I want to keep the factory looking heater box. but like I said this thing is going to probably see some miles so comfort is a big consideration.. She is thinking of taking it on things like the power tour, and it may sound odd but maybe even some road courses.. I think it will be a good all around car.

If you guys have any suggestions in that department let me know..



Here are a few pictures of what we got done in the last week or so..








Taking volunteer's for mess clean up!!

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Originally was planning on cutting the floor out, building a new unibody chassis, running modern tubular front suspension and 4-link out back with full disc brakes all around but now that we have spent more time looking the car over, it is way to solid to cut up.. I have a feeling we are going to get the undercarriage blasted and bring it right in and start slinging some paint.. We will see later but it's looking really solid.

[BonzoHansen]

Cool project! Can't wait to see it progress.

Is it wrong the 1st thing I thought of was Pinky Tuscadero?

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Lol... That's way before my time!!

[wfo guy]

BonzoHansen, that's what I thought also. That's a great project. Lot's of room for everything you need.

[Wraith]

Love it! That has attitude before even messing with it, subscribed.

[Mustard_N_Catchup]

One thing I've always loved about the Hudson's, is they looked chopped in stock form. Really hope you channel the car a little to really make it flow.

[SparkyRnD]

that will be a cool ride when done

[raustinss]

What was the name of the Hudson from the movie cars...the one who won the piston cup lol....
Please don't paint it either way...it took along time to look that awesome , I bet Brett over at airride could sell you a bitchin system for handling and still have serious style points ... looks great thou

Good luck Ryan

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Doc Hudson I believe..
The paint on this car is HORRIBLE, it really doesn't have the right patina look, the problem is somebody painted it it's coming off in spots, splitting in others, it just doesn't look right.. If the car wasn't re-painted she may have left it alone, but not the case.

Air-Ride isn't in the picture yet.. It may get it eventually though.. My truck has air ride and I sometimes get annoyed with it and she just doesn't want it.. She said maybe after 2-3 years of driving it.. Make sense to me, I really looked it over and It wouldn't be terrible to add on later.

It is going to be a custom but body mods are going to be pretty minor.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

What do you guys think for transmission.. I was leaning towards a over drive, but i've had a few suggest to just re-gear it.. something like 3.0 and leave in the stock trans.. I'm pretty undecided here.. The over drive would sorta be best of both worlds but for what she's doing with it, it really may not be required.

Thoughts??

[raustinss]

Absolutely do overdrive...today's fuel prices..?...could do a 6L80 frome a new gm...6 speed auto...or a t56 if your think of a stick

[jlcustomz]

Definitely still prefer modern od trans ,auto for a chick. even the older 700 r4,it-s lower first can move the heavier car easier & feel smoother down the highway.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

That is kind of what I was thinking myself, but had a few that were kinda saying it's the wrong way to go.. I do not know the ratio's of many tranny's but I do know that the 700 has that lower 1st gear which would be good with a more suitable rear axle ratio.. Maybe 3.55 or something in there. So that should get it moving pretty good and with the overdrive keep the fuel mileage decent..

It is up to her but i'm agreeing with you guys.

[raustinss]

700r4.. Is really a 4l60e just without electronics, it was the automatic behind many camaros and corvette. Alot of guys will throw a shift kit at it and corvette servo...nice torque converter and you're set...cheap and reliable

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Well we have been making a little progress on the car, putting some time into disassembly and making plans for the car.
I've located a place that makes a plate to mount up the 700R4 transmission so we are going that route for sure.

Also going to put a different rear axle in it, most likely a Chrysler because someone I know says has a lot of them with the same bolt pattern, so we just need to find one with the correct width and rebuild it. Probably something with a 3:55 ratio or so..

[Auto Rod Technologies]

The next question at hand is brakes..

Does anybody on here know anybody that makes anything for putting a disc brake system on the front?
It looks like I can mount a different booster easy enough but getting a disc on the spindle and a mount for caliper is not something i'm going to be capable of doing..

I've heard that the spindle can be machined and a mount can be put on but haven't found out any specifics or someone that would be able to do so.

I do know someone that can fabricate a spindle for the car and we may just go that route, but undecided. We need to make a decision if we are going to go lower with the car or not. So that could be incorporated into the spindle. I've looked at a lot of pictures of these cars and some seem to sit higher than others, but if I look at the pictures I have of this car it seems to be fairly low.

[sccacuda]

With the upgrades you want to make, I think it's more practical and cheaper to buy a late model donor car or truck. This would give you the suspension, brakes, powertrain, EFI, etc...
A cheap late '90's F-body or Mustang or something.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

No way.. Want to keep a lot of it Hudson.. The car is a unibody and already fairly low, and i'm not looking to cut this one up, there is a lot of history in these car and they are known to handle well just looking to upgrade a few things really.

Worse case scenario is to have a drop spindle made that accepts disc brakes, and switch out the master cylinder, not worth swapping suspension just looking for a slight drop with disc upgrade.. It would be much more work to upgrade a newer front clip to accept the large Hudson motor than to upgrade the few things i'm looking for.
Even with a donor car it doesn't necessarily solve the master cylinder issue because it has to fit the car not the front clip.. Rear axle on donor car would only work if it were the right width.. Chances of getting one car to fit everything i'm looking for would be hard to find.. If I were to do anything like this it would have to be Chrysler but I don't see much if any benefits to a donor car with what i'm looking for.

Since my last post, I have received a few emails from a post made in another forum about people that make disc brake upgrades, so now I really just have to make a solid decision if I want to go that route or if I want to have a custom spindle made to get the car to sit a little lower.. Any thoughts on that?? The car sits fairly low as it is.

[Auto Rod Technologies]

Here are a list of upgrades we are looking at right now.
We have been back and forth on a few things but this is ultimately what we would like to see upgraded.

Overdrive trans.. 700R4

Most likely adding disc brakes if I find something that fits the budget. I found one guy that makes parts to add nascar disc brakes and that is out of question. But recently finding more options on a cost effective system. I would really like to see this so we can take it on a road coarse and see how it handles when finished. The drums just won't cut it for this.

Performance engine upgrades, cam change, etc etc

May consider fuel injection depending what options are, Need to keep the Twin H intake and filter system

Axle upgrade to a different ratio, something around 3:55

12v upgrade

Audio upgrade, nothing serious but something that sounds decent. Possibly get the factory radio rebuilt with new internals.

May look into adding A/C, but this one is pretty questionable at the moment.. Want some modern luxuries but a newer condenser will just look really out of place under the hood..

I think that pretty much covers it.

Basically trying to make a car that has a few modern upgrades, better braking, a little more performance and reliablity without being overly noticeable, would like to be able to put in a lap or two on a road coarse, be able to take it to car shows, and be able to drive cross country if so desired.