Walt,

Two people who had owned their car since it was new (a 1946 Hudson six, and a 1937 Packard eight) told me that they had driven their car at highway speeds since it was new, and the engine was "used to going fast". For the Hudson, in New York City, this was 55 to 60 mph. For the Packard, in Denver, Colorado, this was 65 to 70 mph. Their engines were both still in good shape.

I had no experience with new cars. Most of them had between 75,000 and 115,000 miles when I got them. Three of them began to burn oil (and exhaust valves) after I had driven them fast for a while (1935 Hudson 8, 1936 Packard, 1939 Packard).

Robert,

My issue is not with bearings in Hudsons. As I mentioned in my last post, my 1935 Hudson's bearings are OK, it was the rings and pistons that deteriorated, (as well as some of the exhaust valves). The car had about 150,000 miles on it when I replaced the pistons (and exhaust valves).

Six cylinder Plymouths and Dodges (prior to the slant six) tended to develop low oil pressure and eventual bearing failure if driven fast. Chevrolets had heavy rocker arms in their overhead valve train, and tended to need valve jobs very often if driven fast. So, different engines have their own stronger and weaker points.

To obtain really long engine life with older engines I chose piston speed as the measurable quantity to concentrate on.

Per

Thank you again, Per. We are not terribly far apart in our analysis of the problem of high-mileage engines and road speed and what happens. I'm interested more in driving with a sound, that is, not extremely high mileage, semi-worn out,engine.

I wrote, a while back: Many thanks to all who shared their experience. In the middle 1950's, I worked one summer at a gas station with mechanic on duty or call 24/7. We saw lots of cars come in at night, mostly, with engines making bad noises. One Chevrolet, one Ford, one Studebaker (1937 model), uncounted Dodges and Plymouths. No Hudsons.

You wrote this: My issue is not with bearings in Hudsons. As I mentioned in my last post, my 1935 Hudson's bearings are OK, it was the rings and pistons that deteriorated, (as well as some of the exhaust valves). The car had about 150,000 miles on it when I replaced the pistons (and exhaust valves).

Six cylinder Plymouths and Dodges (prior to the slant six) tended to develop low oil pressure and eventual bearing failure if driven fast. Chevrolets had heavy rocker arms in their overhead valve train, and tended to need valve jobs very often if driven fast. So, different engines have their own stronger and weaker points.

I agree that Chevrolet sixes of those times tended to need a valve job fairly frequently. They would burn exhaust valves, especially if set to factory specifications, which rendered nearly silent valve operation. They'd do better if the exhaust clearance was opened up a bit.

I agree that pistons with worn ring grooves may do fine at medium speeds, e.g. 70 mph and less, and become oil hogs at higher speeds. I once drove from Bryan, Texas to Marfa in far west Texas. The distances between towns out there can be immense, and it seemed at times there was nothing to do except time the speedometer: 90 seconds per mile at 80 mph indicated, 45 seconds at ninety. This was in a Ford pickup with a 460 cu in engine and more than 250,000 miles. It had not been a big oil consumer. It used 2 quarts of oil from Bryan to Marfa, and settled down to using about a quart per 400 miles after that. Overhaul cured the oil consumption.

I don't know much about driving Hudsons; they were uncommon or rare when and where I was coming up. I only knew they won NASCAR races, and set speed and endurance records (I find they did that beginning 1920 ish.) Thus my post and questions. You and Walt have come closer than any others to giving me the information and something like experience I seek. Others have said, in effect, "Don't drive those old cars too fast. The rods will go." I don't mind adding a little oil from time to time.

Thank both of you again. I'm going to be figuring some bearing loads and may be back.

Back in '53, my '38 sedan with '42 8-cyl engine would turn 5200 rpm on the highway, which translates to about 105 mph (The top speed was confirmed by some of the new cars it would beat, late at night out on our one 4-lane divided highway). The engine was built by our local, early version of Smokey Yunick . . . the guy was truly a master engine builder. The only mod's he'd made on my engine, I think, were a re-contouring of the tappets, stronger valve springs and a bit off the cylinder head. I added a split exhaust manifold, the effect of which was quickly apparent. I didn't run at top speed very often, of course . . . only when there was a challenge to be answered. I did run the car four times at the drag strip near Chicago (84 mph and 17 seconds). The only bearing problem I had was one rod that loosened up slightly, after a fair bit of the punishment just described. And I think that was brought about by a bit of 17 year-old stupidity . . . I thought the baffle plates under the valve covers were probably not needed, so took them out. The result was a fair bit of oil blown out of the breather pipes, and an oil warning light coming on at 85 mph or so. I quickly replaced the baffle plates! Bottom line here is that this critter endured some pretty hard duty, with minimal effect on the rod bearings. They're more sturdy than many folks would imagine.
(The real fun happened a year or so later, when this engine, freshened up by its original builder, got stuffed in a '35 Terraplane that was [i]800 pounds [/i]lighter than the '38 !! Given that I was buying the tires, I only smoked them once, to satisfy a couple of non-believers. Wish I'd gotten it on a drag strip for accurate timing).