I'm trying to give advise to a 93 year old lady and her daughter on their 1936 Hudson 8 cyl. This was the older ladies husbands car. He did some restoration work, or had it done, before he died 7 or 8 years ago. The lady and her daughter love the car. It is apparently taken out a few times a year. They have a problem with it getting hard to shift. I believe it has gotten worse over the past few years. I asked if they knew it was a fluid clutch and they did not. So naturally I told them they need to buy clutch fluid and change that. I also told them that the linkages wear and that may be causing the clutch to not really disengage. Any other causes I should make them aware of? If anybody knows of a mechanic near Columbus, Ohio that we could recommend, they need one to do routine and non-routine maintenance on their Hudson. Thanks Mike Sheridan
These trannies through 1940 Have a locking mechanism that keeps you from shifting unless the clutch is depressed to a certain point. If that gets out of adjustment, it's difficult to impossible to change gears. If the difficulty is limited to low-and-reverse, or 2d and 3rd, this locking mechanism is likely the problem. The adjustments are at the lower front end of the transmission.
Thanks Park. That's why I posted this. 🙂
I agree that this is probably a very simple "fix": either change the clutch fluid, or adjust the lockout bars on the transmission. Either one would take less than 15 minutes if the person knows what he / she is doing.
This lady needs to contact someone with a late thirties Hudson in the central Ohio region, and they might be so nice as to come over and instruct her (or her "designated mechanic" what to check.
Why not refer her to the "Chapters" listing (at the top of this page), under either the Northern Indiana, Southern Indiana, or Western Reserve chapters? Have her call the contact person that's listed, and tell him her problem, and ask if there are any late '30's owners in their chapter who live in her vicinity. She could then call those people and ask if they know any Hudson mechanics or experts who might be willing to stop by and offer some help (the person at the other end of the phone would probably be willing to do so, unless they themselves don't work on their own car). She could also ask if there are any good "old car" mechanics in the region to whom she could take her car in the future, for routine maintenance.
Mike, did the elderly lady find any help for her hard shifting 36?
Pat in Dayton, Ohio.
Pat - As near as I know, she has not. Do you know of someone knowledgeable of older cars, ideally Hudsons, that I could refer to so she can get work done on her Hudson?
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